Students can refer to the following Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set H with Answers provided below based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued for ICSE English Literature. All specimen papers have been prepared covering all chapters given in ICSE English Literature book for Class 10. You should also refer to ICSE Class 10 English Literature Solutions.
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set H with Answers
Subject : ENGLISH – II
• You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.
• This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
• The time given at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.
• This paper consists of 9 printed pages.
• Attempt five questions in all.
• You must attempt at least one question from each of the Section A, B and C and not more than two other questions from the same books you have already compulsorily chosen.
• The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set H
SECTION A – DRAMA
Answer one or more questions from only ONE of the following plays
The Merchant of Venice
or
The Mousetrap
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare
Question 1
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
JESSICA
Farewell, good Launcelot. [Exit Launcelot]
Alack, what heinous sin is it in me
To be ashamed to be my father’s child!
But though I am a daughter to his blood.
I am not to his manners.
(i) Where does this scene take place? Who is Launcelot? Why is Jessica bidding him farewell?
(ii) What does Jessica say in praise of Launcelot? What does she give him as a parting gift? [3]
(iii) What else does Jessica give Launcelot? What does she instruct him to do? Why does she do so hurriedly? [3]
(iv) How does Launcelot bid adieu to Jessica? What does he address her as? [3]
(v) What is Jessica’s dilemma concerning her father? What does she wish Lorenzo would do? What does it reveal about her character?
Question 2
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
ANTONIO
I once did lend my body for his wealth;
Which, but for him that had your husband’s ring
Had quite miscarried: I dare be bound again,
My soul upon the forfeit, that your lord
Will never more break faith advisedly.
(i) Where is the scene set? Explain: lend my body [3]
(ii) Who has the ‘husband’s ring? What loopholes in the bond did this person find out to save Antonio in the court? [3]
(iii) What is Antonio ready to do again? How? What does he promise? [3]
(iv) What does Nerissa give to Lorenzo a little later in the scene? What does it state? How does Lorenzo describe it? [3]
(v) Explain: Dear lady, you have given me life and living.
Question 3
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow: [16]
ARRAGON
Oh, that estates, degrees and offices
Were not derived corruptly! and that clear honour
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover that stand bare!
How many be commanded that command!
(i) How according to the Prince of Arragon are the estates, degrees and offices obtained? What would happen if they are obtained on merit? [3]
(ii) What oath did Prince of Arragon take before he came to choose the casket? [3]
(iii) Which casket does the prince choose? What does it reveal about his character?
Explain.
(iv) Why does the prince reject the other two caskets? [3]
(v) What does Prince of Arragon find in the casket that he chooses? What had he expected to be in the casket? How does he react to it?
The Mousetraps: Agatha Christie
Question 4
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
MOLLIE: (Moving down to the sofa and sitting) OH! I do so want everything to go well at first. First impressions are so important.
GILES: (Moving down to Right of the sofa) Is everything ready? Nobody’s arrived yet. I suppose?
MOLLIE: No, thank goodness. I think everything’s in order. Mrs. Barlow’s hooked it early. Afraid of the weather, I suppose.
GILES: What a nuisance these daily women are. That leaves everything on your shoulders.
MOLLIE: And yours! This is a partnership.
(i) When and where does this conversion take place? Briefly describe the weather outside. [3]
(ii) On whom do Mollie and Giles wish to make a favourable impression? Why is it important that they do so? [3]
(iii) Who is Mrs. Barlow? Why has she left early? [3]
(iv) Explain what Mollie is referring to when she says, “This is a partnership.” [3]
(v) What mood does the playwright seek to create in the above extract? What techniques does she use? [4]
Question 5
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
Mrs. Boyle: You’re very young.
Mollie: Young?
Mrs. Boyle: To be running an establishment of this kind. You can’t have had much experience.
Mollie: (backing away) There has to be a beginning for everything hasn’t there?
Mrs. Boyle: I see. Quite inexperienced. (She looks around) An old, old house, I hope you haven’t got dry rot. (She sniffs suspiciously)
Mollie: Certainly not!
(i) State the three complaints that Mrs. Boyle makes. [3]
(ii) What answer does she give when Giles tells her that she is welcome to leave?[3]
(iii) What does this tell you about her character? [3]
(iv) Who is she really? [3]
(v) What happens to her at the end? Why? [4]
Question 6
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
Trotter: We don’t actually know a thing. All we’ve got so far is that the woman
who joined with her husband in ill-treating and starving those children has
been killed, and that the woman magistrate who was responsible for
placing them there has been killed. (He moves down to Right of Sofa.)
The telephone wire that links me with police headquarters has been cut….
(i) What is Mollie’s response to this? How is she answered? [3]
(ii) What new does Trotter give Mollie about the children’s father? [3]
(iii) What is Mollie’s ‘surmise’? [3]
(iv) Why is Major Metcalfe a possible suspect? [3]
(v) How is the mystery solved?
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set H
SECTION B – POETRY
Answer one or more from this section
A Collection of Poems
Question 7
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
There’s nobody on the house-tops now
Just a palsied few at the windows set:
For the best of the sight is, all allow,
At the Shamble’s Gate — or, better yet,
By the very scaffold’s foot, I trow.
(i) What change has taken place at the roof tops? Where has all the crowd gathered? [3]
(ii) Explain: Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun. [3]
(iii) Describe the sight when the President is taken for execution. [3]
(iv) The Patriot could see the light even in the darkest of the situations. Comment with reference to the last stanza of the poem. [3]
(v) A year ago, the poet was considered a national figure. Prove this statement with reference to the behaviour of the crowd
Question 8
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows: [16]
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
(i) Who has the poet compared himself with? Name the figure of speech used in the first line of the extract? [3]
(ii) What does the poet come across on his way? Which movements are associated with ‘them’? [3]
(iii) Where does the poet see ‘them’? [3]
(iv) Who are ‘they’ compared to? What is the bases of the comparison? [3]
(v) Why has the poet called the sight of ‘them’ as wealth
Question 9
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray.
Go throw your TV set away
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
(i) Who is the speaker? Who is the speaker talking to? What does the speaker want the listener to do? [3]
(ii) How do the children behave in front of the television? [3]
(iii) The ‘listeners’ find it convenient to let the children watch television . Justify this statement with evidence from the poem. [3]
(iv) What assurance does the speaker give the listener if the listener follows his advice? [3]
(v) According to the speaker, how does the television affect the children?
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set H
SECTION C – PROSE
Answer one or more questions from only ONE of the following books that you have
studied:
A Collection of Short Stories
or
Animal Farm
or
The Call of the Wild
A Collection of Short Stories
Question 10
Read the following extract and ask the questions that follow: [16]
But no one said, “I’ll take Maggie.” Pitying glances were cast on her wan and wasted form and thoughts were troubled on her account. Mother brought cast off garments
and removing her soiled and ragged clothes, dressed her in clean attire.
(i) Why did no one want to take Maggie? Pick out evidences from the extract to prove that Maggie did touch many hearts [3]
(ii) Why was Maggie confined to her bed? What did the villagers want to do with her? [3]
(iii) Who were Maggie’s siblings? What had happened to them after their mother’s death? [3]
(iv) What kind of reaction was Mr. Joe Thompson expecting from his wife while he was carrying Maggie home. Why? How did he tactfully calm his wife down. [3]
(v) How does Maggie emerge as an ‘angel in disguise’ for the Thompson couple? [4]
Question 11
Read the following extract and ask questions that follow: [16]
That night I walked over to Luz Long’s room in the Olympic village to thank him. I knew that if it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t be jumping in the finals the following day. We sat in his quarters and talked for two hours – about track and field, ourselves, the world situation, a dozen other things.
(i) Why has Jesse Owens been to Luz Long’s room? What did they talk about? What did Jesse realise when he finally got up to leave? [3]
(ii) How had Jesse Owens prepared himself for the Olympics? Which game did he expect to win a medal in? Why? [3]
(iii) How did Jesse Owens react when he first saw Luz Long? Why
(iv) What advice does Luz Long give Jesse Owens? What does this gesture of Luz Long’s tell us about his views in the Aryan supremacy theory? [3]
(v) How did Luz Long live up to Pierre de Coubertin’s ideas about Olympics?
Question 12
Read the following extract and ask the questions that follow: [16]
She pulled one out – scr-r-ratch! – how it spluttered and burnt! It had warm, bright flame like a candle when she held her hand over it – but what a strange light!
(i) Who does ‘she’ refer to? What does ‘one’ stand for? What happened when ‘one’ spluttered and burnt? [4]
(ii) What vision did ‘she’ have when she struck the match for the fourth time? What did she want the vision to do? What was ‘she’ afraid would happen to the vision? What did ‘she’ do in fear? [4]
(iii) The vision that ‘she’ had were all about her desires . Comment with reference to the story.
Animal Farm : George Orwell
Question 13
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
These three had elaborated old Major’s teachings into a complete system of thought, to which they gave the name Animalism.
(i) Who had elaborated on Old Major’s teachings? [3]
(ii) When and where did they hold their secret meetings? How did the meetings end? [3]
(iii) What had Old Major said about the nature of this life of ours? [3]
(iv) Who were the most faithful disciples? How did they contribute towards the preparations for the rebellion? [3]
(v) Mention any two changes that were seen on the farm in the days immediately after the rebellion? How would you justify such change?
Question 14
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
Snowball had made a close study of some back numbers of the Farmer and Stockbreeder which he had found in the farmhouse, and was full of plans for innovations and improvements….. Napoleon produced no schemes of his own, but said quietly that Snowball’s would come to nothing, and seemed to be biding his time. But of all their controversies, none was so bitter as the one that look place over the windmill.
(i) In what ways, according to Snowball, would the building of a windmill make the lives of the animals easier? [3]
(ii) How did the animals respond to the idea of building a windmill? [3]
(iii) What did Napoleon do just before the animals could vote on Snowball’s Windmill proposal? What was the outcome of his action? [3]
(iv) What did Napoleon announce after the Snowball’s expulsion? [3]
(v) Compare the character traits of Napoleon and Snowball. Show how the Windmill controversy led to the confirmation that had been building since the start of the novel.
Question 15
With reference to George Orwell’s “The Animal Farm”, answer the following questions: [16]
(i) What are the some of the problems that the animals faced during the winter? Why did the animals wish to conceal their suffering? [4]
(ii) Why did the Hens rebel against Napoleon? What was the result of their rebellion? [4]
(iii) Do you think life was better or worse for the animals on Animal Farm since the revolution? Use examples from the text to support our answer. [8]
The Call of the Wild : Jack London
Question 16.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows: [16]
And this was the manner of dog Buck in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike Strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North.
(i) What is meant by, ‘the Klondike Strike’? Why did it attract men to the frozen North? Why did these men require dogs? [3]
(ii) Who is Buck? Give a brief description of his parents. [3]
(iii) What act of treachery does Manuel, the gardener’s assistant commit? Why does he do this? [3]
(iv) Name the men who buy Buck from the man in the red sweater. What does Buck learn of their nature?
Question 15
With reference to George Orwell’s “The Animal Farm”, answer the following questions: [16]
(i) What are the some of the problems that the animals faced during the winter? Why did the animals wish to conceal their suffering? [4]
(ii) Why did the Hens rebel against Napoleon? What was the result of their rebellion? [4]
(iii) Do you think life was better or worse for the animals on Animal Farm since the revolution? Use examples from the text to support our answer. [8]
The Call of the Wild : Jack London
Question 16.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows: [16]
And this was the manner of dog Buck in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike Strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North.
(i) What is meant by, ‘the Klondike Strike’? Why did it attract men to the frozen North? Why did these men require dogs? [3]
(ii) Who is Buck? Give a brief description of his parents. [3]
(iii) What act of treachery does Manuel, the gardener’s assistant commit? Why does he do this? [3]
(iv) Name the men who buy Buck from the man in the red sweater. What does Buck learn of their nature?
(v) Describe Buck’s first encounter with snow. How does it serve as an introduction to what lies ahead of him in the days to come? [4]
Question 17.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
A warning snarl told him that the trespasser was Spitz. Till now Buck had avoided trouble with his enemy, but this was too much. The beast in him roared. He sprang upon Spitz with a fury which surprised them both, and Spitz particularly; for his whole experience with Buck had gone to teach him that his rival was unusually timid dog who managed to hold his own only because if his great weight and size.
(i) Why did Buck attack Spitz? What was the nature of the relationship that existed between Buck and Spitz? [3]
(ii) Where did their masters decide to make camp? Describe the weather conditions at the time. [3]
(iii) Briefly describe the unexpected happening which distracted the dogs and their master just then. [3]
(iv) What do you learn about Spitz’s character from his actions during the unexpected happening? [3]
(v) What was the condition of the camp when the dogs returned at daybreak? To what extent is Buck’s behaviour guided by his instinct to survive? [4]
Question 18.
Answer the following questions with reference to Jack London’s ‘The Call of the Wild’. [16]
(i) What are the “laws of club and fang” that Buck learns in chapter II? How are these laws different from what Buck was used to? [4]
(ii) What trait in Buck’s character ensures that he will survive in the north? How is this aspect of this character shown in the story? [4]
(iii) Show with references drawn from the text how Buck balances his love for Thornton with his more primitive self.