Students can refer to the following Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set F 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 F with Answers
ICSE CLASS 10
ENGLISH LITERATURE
SAMPLE PAPER
ime – 2 Hours Max. Marks: 80
General Instructions –
1. Answers to this Question paper must be written on the answer sheet provided separately.
2. You will not be allowed to write for the first 15 minutes.
3. This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
4. Attempt all the questions.
5. The intended marks for the question or parts of questions are given in the brackets ().
Section-A Drama (The Merchant of Venice)
Q.1. Bassanio: Wrest once the law to your authority; To do a great right; do a little wrong. And curb this cruel devil of his will.
Portia: It must not be. There is no power in Venice, can alter a decree established. Twill be recorded for a precedent, AND many an error by the same example will rush into the state. It cannot be.
(a) What does Bassanio request Portia to do? By what name has she been introduced into the court? [3]
(b) What danger does Portia see in any modifications of the law? [3]
(c) Why would it be dangerous for the laws of Venice to lose their credibility? [3]
(d) What is Shylock’s reaction to this statement made by Portia? [3]
(e) Shylock relied upon his bond: it was just this reliance that brought about his defeat, comment briefly.
Q.2
Shylock: Well, Jessica, go in.
Perhaps I will return immediately.
Do as I bid you; shut doors after you
‘Fast bind, fast bind; A proverbs never stale in thrifty mind.
Jessica: Farewell; and if my fortune be not crossed, I have a father, you a daughter lost.
(a) Where is Shylock going? What is unusual about his? [3]
(b) What has he bid Jessica to do, and why has he given these orders? [3]
(c) What does the proverb means? What will Shylock come back to find? [3]
(d) What does Jessica hope that her fortune will be? [3]
(e) Explain the lines spoke by Jessica. What significant comment has she made about being the daughter of Shylock?
Q.3
Portia: If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good heart as I can bid the other four farewells, I should be glad of his approach: If he has the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather be should shrive me than wive me.
(a) What is Portia talking about in this extract? Who is the ‘fifth’? [3]
(b) What mistake of numbers has been made when Portia refers to this person as the ‘fifth’. Explain fully [3]
(c) Mention any three things that the ‘fifth’ has said about himself to illustrate his superiority over other suitors. [3]
(d) Explain ‘if he have . . . . . wive me’. [3]
(e) Who is Portia hoping will arrive? When had she met that person, and how had she felt about him at that time?
Section – B Poetry
(A Collection of Poems)
Q.4 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
It was roses, roses, all the way,
With myrtle mixed in my path like mad:
the house-roofs seemed to heave and sway;
The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,
A year ago, on this very day.
i) What is the significance of the roses and myrtle in the extract? [3]
ii) Why did the house-roofs ‘heave and sway’? [3]
iii) What significance does the line “A year ago on this very day” hold in the context of the poem? [3]
iv) How did the crowd show their displeasure with the patriot?
Give one example of a figure of speech used in the extract. Comment on the irony of the poem.
Q.5 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
She saw her brother Peterkin
Roll something large and round!
Which he beside the rivulet
In playing there had found;
He came to ask what he had found,
That was so large, and smooth, and round.
i) Who is ‘She’? What was this ‘large and round’ object that her brother had found? [3]
ii) What did old Kaspar say when Peterkin asked him about the object? [3]
iii) What personal suffering had Kaspar’s family experienced because of the war? [3]
iv) What words did Old Kaspar repeatedly use to describe the success of the English Army? What ‘shocking sight’ is associated with this success? [3]
v) What innocent thoughts and questions are voiced by the children at the end of the poem? What themes does the poet touch on through these questions?
Q.6
‘All right! You’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say
But if we take the set away
What shall we do to entertain?
Our darling children? Please explain.”
(a) What important lesson does the poet say he has learnt at the start of the poem? [3]
(b) Describe some of the scenes that the poet says he has seen in houses which have televisions. [3]
(c) What effect does the television cast on a child’s innocent mind? [3]
(d) What other activity does the poet recommend entertaining? Mention two ways in which this activity would benefit them.
(e) What does the poet advise the readers to do at the end of the poem? What does he assure them will happen if they followed his suggestion? What would you say in the central idea in this poem?
Section – C Prose
(A Collection of Short Stories)
Q.7
“Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must”.
(a) Who is the speaker? How is the speaker described just before the extract? [3]
(b) Which train is Miss Fairchild travelling in? Who is Mr. Easton whom she is talking to? [3]
(c) How does Mr. Easton look? Describe his companion. [3]
(d) Who are referred as the ‘linked couple’? Where do they get seated? What is the reaction of the co-passenger? [3]
(e) Why did the color of Miss Fairchild fade away and what made it come back? [3]
Q.8
“Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew older and Colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any Matches and could not bring a fathing of money:
from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too.”
i) Explain how the girls visions are symbolic of her undying hope [4]
ii) Explain why the girl lighted the whole bundle of matches at the end? [4]
What kind of relationship the girl shared with her father and her deceased grandmother? [8]
Q.9. Answer the following questions with reference to Ernest Hemmingway’s short story. ‘The old man at the Bridge’.
(a) Explain why the narrator takes so much time to converse with the old man. Use details form the story to support your answer. [4]
(b) What statements from the story suggest that the old man is about to give up on life? Quote specific statements to back you answer. [4]
(c) How does Hemingway show that war disrupts the lives of ordinary people? Is this portrayal realistic? Explain why you think so?