Practice Questions for 0486 Literature in English May/June Session 2013 onwards

Transcription

1 S.NO SONGS QUESTIONS 1 A Different History 1. Explore how Bhatt critically conveys her ideas of language and culture in the poem A Different History. CEQ 2. In the two poems, explore in detail lines, which you find particularly striking. A Different History (by Sujata Bhatt) Pied Beauty (by Gerard Manley Hopkins) Summer Farm (by MacCaig) CEQ 3. Explore how Bhatt powerfully communicates the culture of India and loss of language in the poem A Different History. PBQ 2 Pied Beauty 1. Explore how Gerard Manley Hopkins words create striking pictures of nature in the poem. PBQ 2. Explore how Gerard Manley Hopkins expresses his response to the natural world in the poem Pied Beauty'. PBQ 3. Explore the ways in which Hopkins memorably portrays creations of God in the poem Pied Beauty. PBQ 4. Explore the ways in which G.M Hopkins vividly portrays the dappled things in the poem The Pied Beauty. CEQ 3 Continuum 1. How does Allen Curnow vividly portray the hardships of writing a poem in Continuum? CEQ 2. Explore how Allen Curnow vividly portrays the search for inspiration to write a poem in Continuum. PBQ 3. Explore in detail Allen Curnow s treatment of contradictions in the poem The Continuum. PBQ 4 Horses 1. Explore how Edwin Muir vividly conveys his admiration and fear of horses as child in the poem Horses. PBQ Page 1

2 5 Hunting Snake 1. How does Judith Wright vividly convey her admiration and fear of snake in the poem The Hunting Snake? PBQ 2. How does Judith Wright present her response to the snake in the poem? PBQ 6 Pike 1. How does Hughes powerfully convey the presence of violence in the natural world in the poem Pike? CEQ 2. Explore how Ted Hughes words powerfully create eerie and chilling atmosphere in the poem The Pike. Support your ideas with detail from the poem CEQ 7 A Birthday 1. Explore the ways in which Christina Rossetti memorably conveys her feelings about love in the poem. PBQ 2. Explore how Cristiana Rossetti memorably conveys her happiness in the poem A Birthday. PBQ 3. Explore how Cristina Rossetti memorably conveys her happiness through exotic nature of things in the poem A Birthday. PBQ 8 The Woodspurge 1. Explore how Gabriel Rossetti powerfully conveys his grief in the poem The Woodspurge. PBQ 9 The Cockroach 1. Explore how Kevin Halligan presents his ideas through the movements of Cockroach in the poem. CEQ 2. In the two poems, explore how the poets respond to animals/creatures to present their ideas. The Cockroach by Kevin Halligan Pike Ted Hughes by Horses by Allen Curnow CEQ 3. Explore the ways in which Halligan vividly develops his observations of the movements of cockroach in the poem The Cockroach. PBQ Page 2

3 10 The City Planners 1. Explore how Margaret Atwood critically presents the image of nature and city planners in the poem The City Planners. CEQ 2. Explore how either The City Planners (by Margaret Atwood) or Horses (by Edwin Muir) conveys the powerful feelings of the speaker. 11 The Planners 1. Explore the ways Boey Kim Cheng presents the planners in the poem. PBQ 2. How does Boey Kim Cheng critically express his thoughts/ideas/views about soullessness of the city in the poem Planners? CEQ 12 Summer Farm 1. Explore how MacCaig vividly portrays his self/the persona through the Nature in the poem Summer Farm. PBQ 2. How does MacCaig vividly presents the idea of self in the poem Summer Farm PBQ 13 Where I Come From 1. How does Elizabeth Brewster memorably convey her thoughts about people and places in the poem Where I Come From? PBQ 14 Sonnet: Composed Upon Westminster Bridge 2. Explore how Elizabeth Brewster vividly conveys her concerns with identity and place in the poem Where I Come From. CEQ 1. Explore the ways in which William Wordsworth vividly conveys his amazement of the city in the poem Sonnet: Composed upon Westminster Bridge. CEQ 2. In two of the following poems explore in detail lines which you find particularly striking. Sonnet Composed Up on Westminster Bridge (by William Wordsworth) The Woodspurge (by Dante Gabriel Rossetti) Where I Come From (by Elizabeth Brewster) CEQ 3. How does William Wordsword vividly portray the city of London close to the Nature in the poem Sonnet: Composed upon Westminster Bridge? PBQ Page 3

4 STORIES QUESTIONS 1 The Son s Veto 1. Explore some of the ways in which Thomas Hardy memorably ridicules prejudice about social class in The Son s Veto. Support your ideas with details from the writing. CEQ 2. Do you think Thomas Hardy makes it possible to sympathise with Sophy in any way or is she simply an incapable poor woman unable to shape her life well? Support your ideas with details from the writing. CEQ 3. How does the writer make any one of the following characters particularly memorable? Muni (A Horse and Two Goats by Rarayan) Sophy (The Son s Veto by Thomas Hardy) The red-faced man (A Horse and Two Goats by Rarayan) Remember to support your answer with details from your chosen story. CEQ 4. You are Sophy in the story The Son s Veto. You buy time from Sam Hobson after Randolph denied the proposal of remarriage for the first time. Write your thoughts. 5. How does Thomas Hardy movingly portray the power the son has over Sophy in the story The Son s Veto? CEQ (If passage based, It was on an evening. I owe this to my father! he said.) 2. Her First Ball 1. Explore the ways in which Mansfield presents Leila s thoughts and feeling before and during the ball. CEQ 2. How does Mansfield vividly capture the excitement of the ball? PBQ 3. How does Mansfield vividly portray Leila s excitement and apprehensions in the story? CEQ Page 4

5 3 The Fly in the Ointment 1. How does Pritchett vividly portray the relationship between Harold and the father in the story The Fly in the Ointment? Support your answer with details from the writing. CWQ 2. You are Harold. You have offered to raise money for your father and he asked By when. Write your thoughts. EEQ 3. How does Pritchett make you feel sympathy for the old man in the passage? PBQ (Page ) 4 The Destructors 1. How does Graham Greene powerfully create suspense in this passage? PBQ 2. Explore how Graham Greene presents the shifting power within the group as leadership passes from Blackie to T. CEQ 3. How does Graham Greene vividly portray the act of destruction as a form of creation in the story? PBQ 5 A Horse and Two Goats 1. Explore how in this passage Narayan develops the humour of the conversation. PBQ 2. How does the writer make any one of the following characters particularly memorable? Muni (A Horse and Two Goats by Narayan) Sophy (The Son s Veto by Thomas Hardy) The red-faced man (A Horse and Two Goats by Narayan) CEQ Remember to support your answer with details from your chosen story. 6 The Rain Horse 1. Explore how Ted Hughes vividly builds up sense of fear and menace as the horse stalks the young man in the story. Support your answer with details from the writing. CWQ 2. How does the sudden charging of the horse contribute to the dramatic impact of the writing? PBQ 3. Explore how Ted Hughes vividly creates the effects of relentless rain on the young Page 5

6 man. PBQ 7 My Great Ambition 1. How does Morris Lurie vividly portray the feelings of anxiety and excitement of the boy in the story? CEQ 2. How does Morris Lurie movingly capture the disillusionment of the boy s ambition? PBQ (Page 370 Jim said, Mr Randall till the end of the story) 3. How does Morris Lurie vividly present the development of the boy s ambition in the story? 4. Explore the ways in which Morris Lurie vividly depict the father-son relationship in the story. CEQ 5. You are the narrator at the end of My Great Ambition (by Morris Lurie). You have decided not to be a comic-strip artist after all. Write your thoughts. EEQ 8 Sandpiper 1. Explore how Ahdaf Soueif movingly portray the disappointment of fading relationship between the speaker and her husband. 9 At Hiruharama 1. How does Penelope Fitzgerald make this such a moving and dramatic moment in the story? PBQ (Page 411 I don t want you to feel that you are not welcome...throw Nothing Away. ) 10 The Custody of Pumpkin 1. Explore the moments in the story The Custody of the Pumpkin by P.G Wodehouse that you find so amusing, showing how the writing creates the humour for you. Support your ideas with detail from the story. CEQ 2. You are Lord Emsworth in The Custody of the Pumpkin. You have just fired Mr McAllister from the job as head-gardener. Write your thoughts. EEQ 3. You are Lord Emsworth. You are taking a ride in the cab to Kensington Gardens after a reading Freddie s note. Write your thoughts. Page 6

7 JULIUS CEASAR-PLAY QUESTIONS 1 1. Explore how Shakespeare makes the characters of any two conspirators (Marcus Brutus, Cassius, Casca and Decius Brutus) so sad for you. CEQ 2. How does Shakespeare make this such a moving and dramatic moment in the play? ACT IV Scene 3 PBQ 3. Impractical and gullible Noble and honourable Which of these views do you think more accurately describes Shakespeare s portrayal of Marcus Brutus? Support your answer with details from the play. CEQ 4. Explore how Shakespeare makes this moment in the play so powerfully emotional. PBQ (pp) 5. Does Shakespeare make you sympathise with Brutus or despise him? Support your ideas with details from the play. CEQ 6. You are Antony. You have just given conceited political speech in front of the people of Rome at Caesar s funeral. Write your thoughts. EEQ 7. How does Shakespeare make you feel about the relationship between Brutus and Cassius at this point in the play? ACT IV Scene 3 PBQ 8. In what ways does Shakespeare make Julius Caesar continue to dominate the play even after his death? CEQ 9. You are Brutus. You have just killed Julius Ceasar with other conspirators at Senate House. Write your thoughts. EEQ 10. In what ways does Shakespeare make Cassius so persuasive at this moment in the Page 7

8 play? PBQ 11. The noblest Roman of them all. How far do you agree with this description of Shakespeare s portrayal of Brutus? CEQ 12. You are Calpurnia. Ceasar has just left for the Senate House on the morning of Ides of March. Write your thoughts. EEQ 13. You are Julius Ceasar. Your wife has requested you not to go to the Senate House as she had a terrible nightmare the previous night. Write your thoughts. EEQ 14. You are Cassius. You have just left the other conspirators on the night before the assassination of Caesar. Write your thoughts. EEQ 15. What does Shakespeare make you feel about Octavius by the end of the play? Refer to details from Shakespeare s writing as you answer. CEQ 16. In what ways does Shakespeare vividly convey the feelings of Calphurnia and Caesar at this moment in the play? PBQ (pp) THE SIEGE-NOVEL QUESTIONS 1 1. Explore the ways in which Dunmore in this extract memorably conveys both Marina s powerful personality and Anna s mistrust of her. PBQ 2. What features of The Siege do you think are most vividly created in this novel? Support your views with detail from Dunmore s writing. CEQ 3. Explore the ways in which Dunmore in this novel makes vivid what it was like to live in Russia when Stalin was in power. CEQ Page 8

9 4. You are Marina, just after you have tried to give Mikhail Levin a renewed will to live. He has gone to sleep. Write your thoughts. EEQ 5. You are Andrei as you walk back through Leningrad after your first night out with Anna. Write your thoughts. EEQ 6. What do you think makes this scene such a touching and sad moment in the novel? Be sure to support your ideas with detail from the passage. PBQ(pp) 7. What do you find particularly memorable about Dunmore s portrayal of Anna? Remember to support your views with detail from the novel. CE 8. You are Pavlov going on the plane to Leningrad to take control of food distribution in the city. Write your thoughts. EEQ 9. Explore how Dunmore powerfully portrays Marina s love for Mikhail in the novel. Support your ideas with details from the novel CEQ 10. Explore how Dunmore vividly portrays Marina s feelings in the passage. (Page ) PBQ 11. How does Dunmore powerfully convey vivid impressions of Marina? (Page ) PBQ 12. Explore how Dunmore movingly portrays cruelty of hunger and winter during the block out in the novel. Support your ideas with details from the novel CEQ 13. What do you think makes Evgenia such a striking and significant character in the novel? Support your ideas with details from Dunmore s writing. CEQ Page 9

10 14. You are Anna at the end of the novel as you walk silently with Andrei and Kolya in the May sunshine. Write your thoughts. EEQ 15. What do you think makes the developing relationship between Anna and Marina so fascinating? Support your ideas with details from the novel. CEQ 16. You are Anna s father, Mikhail Levin. After having volunteered to fight the Germans, you are on your way to the Luga line. Write your thoughts EEQ NOTE: The above are possible questions that might appear in the board examinations. Obviously, I strongly believe that the wording of the questions would definitely change to bring out deeper and varied insights from the students. However, the questions set would greatly help the students to practice and check themselves of their perceptions of the songs, stories, play and the novel. Teachers are recommended to choose appropriate and suitable extracts from stories/play for passage based questions. I would love to receive your comments and feedback. Please do not hesitate to write to asciefl@gmail.com PBQ : Passage based question CEQ : Critical essay question EEQ : Empathic essay question Page 10