ISC English Literature 2019 Specimen Paper with Answers
All 34 questions of the ISC English Literature 2019 Specimen Paper, in printed order. Open a question to read it in full and see its answer.
- Q1(a) Prospero : Be collected No more amazement. Tell your piteous heart There’s no harm done. Miranda : O woe the day. Prospero : No… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q1(b) Antonio : O, out of that no hope, What great hope have you? No hope that way is Another way so high a hope that even Ambition… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q1(c) Caliban : A plague upon the tyrant that I serve! I’ll bear him no more sticks, but follow thee Thou wondrous man. Who is Caliban?… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q2(a) Proserpine : Another lecture? Morell : Yes. The Hoxton Freedom Group want me to address them on Sunday morning (he lays great… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q2(b) Marchbanks (seriously) : I suppose a machine could be made to write love letters. They’re all the same, aren’t they? Proserpine… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q2(c) Marchbanks : I was afraid of making you uneasy too. It looked as if it were a weapon. If I were a hero of old, I should have laid… 10 marks · Short answer
- Q3(a) Give a vivid description of the events that occur in the first scene of the play ‘The Tempest’. 8 marks · Short answer
- Q3(b) How does the conversation between the various characters bring out their innate nature? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q3(c) In what way, does Gonzalo stand out from the rest of the characters? What does he say to calm the others? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q4 Referring closely to the relevant scenes in the play, describe how Antonio convinces Sebastian to murder Alonso? How is the… 20 marks · Long answer
- Q5(a) Referring closely to the first Act of the play ‘Candida’, give an account of the conversation between ‘Lexy’ or Rev Alexander… 8 marks · Short answer
- Q5(b) What do you conclude about Proserpine and Candida from the conversation? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q5(c) When Candida finally enters, does she match up to Proserpine’s assessment of her? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q6 Burgess is presented as a blackguard yet he has certain likeable traits. Give your views with examples from the play. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q7(a) Which characteristics of Unoka are brought out in the story ‘Things Fall Apart’? 8 marks · Short answer
- Q7(b) How is Okonkwo different from his father? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q7(c) Mention two episodes which serve to highlight Okonkwo’s character. 6 marks · Short answer
- Q8 Give a description of the Ibo society before the coming of the white man. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q9 Examine the various social and cultural roles filled by women in the novel. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q10(a) Which stories does the narrator tell his dream children in the Essay ‘Dream Children’? 8 marks · Short answer
- Q10(b) How do the children behave while the story is being told to them? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q10(c) How is the note of pathos brought in towards the end of the story? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q11 Referring closely to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s writing, discuss the visions that he had for India. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q12 Referring closely to the Essay ‘On the Decay of the Art of Lying’, explain what the writer means by “lying is a necessity of our… 20 marks · Long answer
- Q13(a) Referring closely to the short story ‘Fritz’, relate why Jayonto wanted to visit Bundi instead of any other place. 8 marks · Short answer
- Q13(b) What does he tell the narrator about Fritz? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q13(c) What is your reaction to the ending of the story? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q14 The short story ‘B. Wordsworth’ explores an unusual friendship between an old man and a boy. Discuss. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q15 Referring closely to the short story ‘A Gorilla in the Guest Room’ describe the slow development of the narrator’s relationship… 20 marks · Long answer
- Q16(a) Referring closely to the poem ‘The Gift of India’, relate what Mother India says about her brave sons. 8 marks · Short answer
- Q16(b) What idea does the poem give you of the role of Indian soldiers during British rule? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q16(c) In what way is the poem a celebration and yet suffused with pathos? 6 marks · Short answer
- Q17 Analyse the poem ‘Desiderata’, as a guide to live a meaningful life. 20 marks · Long answer
- Q18 ‘The Dolphins’ is a poem of protest against the slow destruction of Nature and natural creatures by Man. Discuss. 20 marks · Long answer