Appreciation of English Literary Texts I,II
Section A – Poetry, Prose and Drama
I. Poetry
1. “Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And the then lion glares through the dun forest”
a. Name the poem from which these lines are taken. Who is the writer? (01 mark)
b. To whom are these words spoken? (01 mark)
c. Name a literary device used in the second line. (01 mark)
d. What is the significance of the second line to the theme of the poem? (02 marks)
2. “In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place”
a. Name the poem from which these lines are taken. Name the poet. (01 mark)
b. Who are referred to as “we”? (01 mark)
c. What was the living condition of “we”? (01 mark)
II. Prose
1. “Ma and Da, they will walk out of their room. We will get out of here first and they’ll
join us. I had an image of my father walking out of the hotel, there were puddles
everywhere, he had his trousers rolled up”
a. Name the text from which these lines have been taken. Who wrote it? (01 mark)
b. Who is the speaker? (01 mark)
c. Where was she when these thoughts came to her mind? (01 mark)
d. Comment on the attitudes of “we” towards the “he”. (02 marks)
2. “Your wicked cousin said to me,” continued Nicholas, “you may be the Evil One
tempting me but I say nothing to you.”
a. Name the text from which these lines have been taken. Who wrote it? (01 mark)
b. Where is the aunt at this moment? (01 mark)
c. Why does the speaker call her an “Evil One”? (01 mark)
d. What qualities of the speaker are revealed through these lines? (02 marks)
III. Drama
1. “I’d rather sit on a barrel of gunpowder than talk to a woman. Brr… I feel quite chilly—
and it’s all on account of that little bit of fluff!”
a. From which play these lines have been taken? Who wrote it? (01 mark)
b. Who speaks these words? (01 mark)
c. When does the speaker say this? (01 mark)
d. Comment on the character of the speaker. (02 marks)
2. “If you say so I’ll can’t I’ll leave you”
a. From which play these lines have been taken? Who wrote it? (01 mark)
b. Who says this and to whom? (01 mark)
c. What does the refusal “can’t” refer to? (01 mark)
d. Comment on the reason behind the threat of the speaker. (02 marks)
Section B – Novels
a) The Vendor of Sweets
Read the following passage and answer all the questions given below.
“New things are coming your way; Your son wants to go to America. Didn’t I hint to you long
ago that it was coming?”
The first shock of the impact blanked out Jagan’s mind for a time, and he caught his breath as
he had a momentary panic at the thought of his son’s removing himself so far geographically.
He inanely repeated, “America! What America? What has happened to his book? Hasn’t he
written it?” He thinks he will have to learn the art in America. Jagan was furious at this
notion; it was outrageous and hurt his national pride. Going there to learn story-telling! He
should rather go to a village granny he said, all his patriotic sentiment surging.
a. Who are the two people involved in this conversation and what do they talk about? (02
marks)
b. How did Jagan react to the news? (02 marks)
c. Explain the meanings of the following in this context:
i. Inanely
ii. Patriotic sentiment (02 marks)
d. What light does this extract throw on Mali’s character? (04 marks)
