Class X - Literature

Q.1 Choose one of the following extracts given below and answer the question.
Write the answer in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answer correctly.
My mother only said
Thank God the Scorpion picked on me
And spared my children
(a) Name the poem and poet 1
(b) What do you mean by ‘picked on me’ 1
(c) Give two words that would best describe the mother 1
(d) Why did the mother thank God even after suffering such a great pain for
long twenty hours. 1
OR
The wedding-guest sat on a stone
He cannot choose but hear
And thus spake on that ancient man
The bright-eyed Mariner
(a) What does the wedding ‘guest’s sitting on a stone’ 1
(b) Explain ‘He cannot choose but hear’ 1
(c) What does ‘bright eyed’ mean? 1
Q.2 Read the extract below and answer the following questions. Write the
answer in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number
the answers correctly.
‘That’s not much to boast about’
Said the heartless frog ‘Without
proper training such as I
-And few others-can supply
You’ll remain a mere beginner
But with me you’ll be a winner’
(a) What do the word ‘beginner’ and ‘winner’ suggest here? 1
(b) What should the nightingale not be boasting about? 1
(c) What tall claim did the boastful frog make? 1
Q.3 West Wind as presented by the poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’ by P.B. Shelley is the epitome of power, strength and vitality. Give evidence from the poem to show the omnipresence of the West Wind over the land, sky and water bodies. (Word limit 50-75 words)
OR
How has the mirror described itself in the poem, ‘The Mirror’. Bring out the
physical features and qualities.
Q.4 (a) Pen down scrooge’s attitude towards Christmas as portrayed in the initial part of the play ‘The Christmas Carol’.
(b) Why did Marley’s ghost visit Scrooge?

Q.5 Brutus was indeed motivated by a passionate urge of patriotism when he joined in the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar. Attempt a charater sketch of Brutus as you can comprehend from his speech to the people of Rome
‘Romans, countrymen and lovers! hear me for my cause’ (50 words)
OR
Antony was indeed an excellent orator who would ignite the spirit of revenge in the minds of the Roman people. Describe how would he mould the mind of the Roman people and turn them against the conspirators. (50-75)
Q.6 ‘I shivered with the cold and my own ingratitude’ says Babuli who was immensely touched to see the process of division of the family property and the past flashed in front of his eyes. In what recollections of the past did he get engrossed? (50-75 words)
OR
How did Cutie Pie happer to be present in the planet Qutapi (50-75 words)
Q.7 In the story The Letter, Laksmi Das is touched when Ali gave five golden guineas to him to ensure that his daughter’s letter reaches his grave. He writes a letter to his wife describing Ali’s regular visit to the post office, the humiliation he had to encounter, also relating Ali’s handing over the five gold guineas to him. (150-175 words)
OR
Imagine yourself to be the narrator of The Ultimate Safari. You felt greatly
moved when grandmother spoke to the white woman. ‘There is nothing. No
home’ Write down your feelings in your diary, how are you spending your life in the refugee camp and what are your hopes and aspirations. (150-175)