B.A/I ENGLISH-Stream A-Paper I
(Text, Anthology of Essays etc, and Composition)
(Meant for those who have passed Elective/Core English in Class XII or have been permitted to offer it)
Time : 3 Hours Maximum Marks : 100
Attempt All questions.
1. (a) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :
Standing outside the cottage we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine-shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountain walls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of the lake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista, it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in Mount Bogda itself.
For those who live in the resort there is a small mess-hall by the shore. We eat here sometimes, and sometimes buy food from the vendors outside, who sell kabab and naan until the last buses leave. The kababs, cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, are particularly good, highly spiced and well-done. Horses' milk is available too from the local Kazakh herdsmen, but I decline this. I am so affected by the cold that Mr. Cao, the relaxed young man who runs the mess, lends me a spare pair of trousers, several sizes too large but more than comfortable. Once I am warm again, I feel a pre-dinner spurt of energy-dinner will be long in coming- and I ask him whether the lake is good for swimming in.
(i) Describe the shape and appearance of the lake. 3
(ii) How do you know the writer likes the food arrangements in the cottage ? 3
(iii) What arrangements have been made for the tourists lodging and food ? 3
(iii) What makes the writer feel that he wants to swim in the lake ? 3
(v) Make sentences of your own with
stream, vendor, comfortable. 3
(b) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
All this was perplexing and upsetting. For at that time I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically-and secretly, of course-I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear. In a job like that you see the dirty work of Empire at close quarters. The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lockups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men who had been flogged with bamboos-all these oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt. But I could get nothing into perspective. I was young and ill-educated and I had had to think out my problems in the utter silence that is imposed on every Englishman in the East.
Questions
(i) What was Orwell's job ? Why did he hate it ? 3
(ii) Why were his beliefs about imperialism ‘theoretical’ and ‘secret’ ? 3
(iii) What ‘dirty work’ of Empire does Orwell describe ? 3
(iv) Why is `utter silence' imposed upon every Englishman in the East ? 3
(v) Give the antonyms of : Sooner, theoretical, problems. 3
2. Answer in about 250 words : 15
(a) Why had the writer in `Coming Home' left her home some time back ? How does she make herself at home once again ?
Or
(b) Do you find a touch of exaggeration in Neville Cardus’ account of W.G. Grace’s fame ? What details does Cardus offer in support of this claim ?
3. Answer in About 250 words : 15
(a) Does the anonymity of the characters in ‘The Park’ weaken the story or make it dramatic and powerful ? Why ?
Or
(b) In the story 'How the Quit India Movement came to Alipur’, describe the meeting between the British Collector and the Congress delegation. What makes the delegation turn violent in the end ?
4. Answer in about 150 words :
(a) Is ‘Last Lesson of the Afternoon’, a serious expression of Lawrence's views on school education ? Or is it an emotional outburst ? Give a reasoned answer. 10
Or
(b) Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow:
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering
And then it is done.
(i) Name the poem and the poet. 2
(ii) Wherein does the strength of the tree lie ? Why is it called ‘Sensitive’ ? 3
(iii) What finally kills the tree ? 2
(iv) What does the last line mean ? What is it that has been ‘done’ ? 3
5. Answer in about 150 words:
(a) In the play 'Leaving Horne' do you agree with the reasons Sulbha gives for leaving home ? Give a reasoned answer. 10
Or
(b) Read the following lines carefully and answer the questions that follow :
Any battle is just like any other battle. There are some acts of chivalry, some deeds of treachery, a hint of courage, a touch of cowardice. But the heroes, and the cowards, and the patriots, and the traitors have one thing in common : they all end up as dead as each other. This is nothing. I've seen battles that make this look like a squabble between sticklebacks. Not that I'm offering any prizes for the best battle. Every battle ends in the same way. One side thinks it has won, the other side thinks it ought to have won. Someone cleans up the mess, and the ground is left clean and tidy-ready for someone else to fight over another lime.
(i) Name the play and the playwright. 2
(ii) Identify the speaker of these lines. 1
(iii) What do battles have in common? 3
(iv) What does the last sentence of the above passage suggest ? 1
6. (a) Write a letter to Your grandparents congratulating them on their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
Or
(b) Write a letter to the Editor, Times of India, mentioning the lack of playing fields in your locality. l0
7. (a) Draft a notice informing students of your college about the D.J. session on the ‘Annual Day’.
Or
(b) Draft an advertisement to be placed in a local newspaper for the sale of your household furniture Furnish relevant details. 10