Expected answers to the questions

Part 1

Contextual questions
Question 1

a) In the poem „Mid-term break‟ by Seamus Heaney

b) The death of the speaker‟s younger brother. He sees his father crying when he is taken
back from the school by a neighbor

c) Father seems to be a tough man who does not get easily emotional over a death.

Question 2

a) The poem „Leave taking‟ by Cecil Rajendra.

b) „Others‟ refer to all the inmates of the home
c) When all the others come to know about the death of the old man, they make a scene by
crying aloud which is all pretentious

Question 3
a) „A minor bird‟ written by Robert Frost
b) The poet has realized that he has done something wrong in chasing away the bird.
c) The poet notices his mistake/folly in chasing away the bird which implies the fact that he
reflects upon his mistake and becomes remorseful.
Question 4
a) The line has been taken from „ Villa for sale‟ by Sacha Guitry
b) These lines are spoken by Gaston to his wife Jeanne
c) While they were arguing about in buying the Villa, Jeanne reminded of her dowry Gaston
received. The remarks show how insensitive and rude Gaston was towards his wife.
Question 5
a) These lines are taken from the poem „Anne Frank Huis‟ by Andrew Motion.
b) It creates very pathetic and deplorable atmosphere under which Anne was living.
c) It seems writer feels sorry for the character of Anne and indirectly admires her unwavering
determination.
Question 6
a) We get these lines in the poem „Anthem for doomed youth‟ written by Wilfred Owen
 b) The bugles are symbolic of formal declarations made by military and calling for youth to
join the army.
c) Readers feel sorry for the plight of the young soldiers they in fact feel the pain that they
undergo.

Section B

The questions are based on the paragraph taken from ‘Village by the sea’

1) „He‟s referred to Hari‟s father and „wicked men‟ are the people who brew toddy and sell them to
people.
2) we hardly eat anything

We won‟t be able to buy them any new books

3) He is referred to their father and he is addicted to toddy therefore he doesn‟t care about his
family.
4) These two characters are Hari and Leela. They are burden with all the household problems.
Earning money, looking after young sisters and taking care of their ill mother.
5) It seems that he has lost all hopes of his father and bit spiteful of his behavior.

The questions are based on the paragraph taken from ‘Jane Eyre’

1) The thoughts reflected here are those of Jane Eyre during the eve of her marriage.
2) Because of the strange happening of the night before worried her so much.
3) The two split halves of the trunk
Though the two halves are decayed they are still hanging with the each other just like two
faithful friends.
4) This is symbolic of the separation of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester.

Part 2

Poetry

1)
 Leave taking is a poem with a very poignant theme written by a Malaysian poet Cicel
Rajendrab. The language used here in the poem is very simple which itself implies
the idea that how much generalized this phenomenon in our society has been. People
have almost unnoticed it and simply let it pass as something natural.
  Though it highlights the segregation of elders in their own homes the overall
rendering of the poem doesn‟t have any scathing criticism of the practice at all.
 His presentation of the issue is very dispassionate where he simply spotlights one
slice of the present society for the readers to make their own judgment.
 Poet very dexterously maneuvers his poetic language in order to put across his point.
 The childhood ignorance and the adult hypocrisy are juxtaposed with vivid
description.
 The adults‟ exaggerated grief seems to be ridiculed and insulted at, whereas child‟s
nonchalant farewell pulls at our heart strings.
 The personification of death “when death rattled” gives a sense of unruffled
acceptance of death in the late years of the old man.

2)
 It‟s an extremely funny poem.
 Poet tries to ridicule the so called scholarly people.
 The sage in the poem tries to change the position of his pigtail.
 But his efforts are in vain since he makes very insensible and vacuous means.
 Poem seems to have a very easy rhythm.
 The lyrical effect gives it a touch of a song.
 The language used in the poem is very simple hence it could be easily understood.

3)
 This is a war poem based on a true incident during 1853-1856.
 The incident described in the poem is related to a decision made by the military top
brass during the war.
 Poem seems to have a skipping rhythm which highlights the galloping moments of
horses.
 The repetition also contributes to the idea of looming battle between two forces.
 The writer tries to eulogize the valor and, gallantryof the soldiers.
 The lines of the poem seem to be relatively short which highlight the brisk movements
of the battle field( quick and fast actions of soldiers)
 This shortness of lines also contributes to the lyrical effect of the poem.

4)
 This in fact is a classic example for a nature poem written by William Wordsworth.
 The poem is written in a remarkably simple language which is a characteristic trait of
most of the nature poems.
 Poet seems to be lamenting over a lost opportunity.
 He reminiscences over an incident where he sees a beautiful rural damsel who lives
unnoticed by many.
  Poet laments over her untimely demise.
 More so it indicates that he is in a state of limbo where he flashes back of his
inadequate appreciation of this gal whom he accidently meets in countryside.

Drama

1)
 Villa for Sale by Sacha Guitry is a French drama
 It is a drama full of witty remarks, sarcasm, scorn and insult.
 It also bears the marks of common cultural and social trends in France.
 There are five characters along with the housemaid
 These characters represent a large social spectrum in France at the time.
 The incidents described in the drama unfold in a luxurious residential area near the
famous city called Norgent-sur-marne
 The situation creates a classic paradigm of hollowness, immortality and vile business
mentality.
 The dramatist has made a mockery of cinema industry prevailing in France by that
time.
 The dialogue between Juliet and maid seems to have insult and amusement.
 Maid‟s citing of the butcher didn‟t open his shop since him being shot in a film and the
police officers deployed on duty being taken for film shoot are very hilarious
 The film director‟s desire to employ a real beggar and the readiness to pay thousand
dollars are embedded with lot of insult and amusement.
 Towards the end, the dialogue between Gaston and AL Smith drives the audience into
fits of laughter.
 Gaston‟s deceitful self comes more evident towards the end of the drama.
 AL Smith‟s unnecessary haste costs her large sum of money.
 All these otherwise unnatural incidences make the drama extremely hilarious.

2)
 Drama Everyman possesses an underlying didactic tone.
 It highlights fundamental human weaknesses which bring about man‟s ethical and
moral degradation.
 Man‟s insatiable worldly cravings, selfishness and distancing from the religion make
him a more dangerous being.
 The characters represent God, man, goods, good deeds, etc.
 The futility of stock piling of worldly goods.
 Finally what accompanies the man to the God and saves his soul from evils are vividly
juxtaposed.
 The man‟s helplessness in the face of death and how he struggles to abscond that `
 inevitable truth is what traverses across the drama.
  The drama shows how man becomes the victim of his own action.
 The drama can be observed as clinical analyses of Christian religion and how it treats
the subject of death and beyond.
 The drama reveals what remains of man after death.
 The good deeds he has done become stronger only after he gets cleansed.it is only the
knowledge; sense of awareness that leads him to confession.
 Everyman becomes enlightened after confession.
 The only indestructible force could be man‟s good deeds that he performs in his life.
 His soul becomes stronger provided he has indulged himself in virtuous and righteous
life style.
 The moral lesson that surfaces right across the drama is that what you say or do in your
life will make an unequivocal bearing on your soul after your death.

Prose

1)
 The text 'Dark Years‟ is an extract taken from the autobiography written by Nelson
Mandela.
 The incidents described in the extract are so very emotional which no ordinary person
can endure.
 All the incidences are very tragic and cause unexplainable pain upon Nelson Mandela.
 The first tragedy he encounters is the death of his mother.
 Even before he recovers from the devastating blow in the form of his mother‟s death he
has to face another blow.
 His wife Winnie is arrested and brutally interrogated during a nationwide crackdown
on terrorism.
 He is under tremendous pain and suffering but the forces of these tragedies do not
hinder his firm resolute in standing for the rights of his people.
 But without giving him any respite he is pounded by horrendous news of the death of
his oldest son Thembekile in a motor accident.
 This could probably be the most devastating out of all the tragedies he has faced.
 The following quotation vividly explains how devastating that news is.‟ It left a hole in
my heart that can never be filled.‟
 The title is apt and precise in conveying the feelings of his emotional turbulence during
that darkest period.
2)
 The Life and Death of Cholmondeley effectively highlights an aspect of unnecessary
human involvement in the lives of wild animals.
 These unnecessary human involvements not only disturb their behavior sometimes
even cost their lives.
 The text is an extract taken from a diary kept by a well-known naturalist, Gerald
Durrel.
  The text describes a tragic incident where the life of a chimpanzee is brutally snapped
by senseless and callous humans under the pretext of protecting worthy human lives.
 The writer simply puts forward the case for the readers to make their own judgments
over the issue.
 It is quite obvious that he wants us to have a close and hard look at this incident which
usually goes unnoticed.
 Even though he does not tangibly show any aversion or tough stance over the case. His
distraught feelings seem to have been subtly flowing underneath.
 The certain phrases and words that he uses magnify his unspoken annoyance and
displeasure.
 If the animal was released back to his natural surroundings its life could have been
saved.
 The text, after all, questions the very act of capturing animals and taming them for
various purposes including human enjoyment.
 It further argues that the unfriendly environment at the zoo where the animal is kept
may also contribute to its tragic end.
 If Chamley was kept in a friendly environment he could have been saved.
 It seems that Chamley always needs some attention. No sooner he loses this attention
he gets wilder. This can be observed in several instances where he gets out of the zoo.

3)
 The short story “Gift of Magi” by William Sydney Porter alias O.Henry throws some
light on more than one theme.
 He questions in a very subtle manner the way people celebrate Christmas.
 The lavish spending over the gifts during the Christmas Eve is spotlighted as one
subtext.
 The writer, though not in explicit terms, explains how people get used to the habit of
exchanging gifts.
 The element of unnecessary spending on gifts during Christmas, he seems to have said,
can be averted with simple gesture of love and affection.
 The characters in the story seem to have understood this truth in the hardest way
possible after sacrificing the most valuable possessions they have.
 O. Henry makes an attempt to imply in a very subtle manner that this practice of
exchanging lavish gifts is not really necessary to show one‟s love.
4)
 Though the story pulls at our heart strings with its poignant nature, Oscar Wilde
strongly condemns certain social injustices which were prevailing during the Victorian
era.
 He renders an outright blow to the aristocratic class which exploits the poor working
class and the down trodden people in the society.
 He ridicules the people who represent the so called higher echelon in the society.
 The way he describes the Mayer and the officials is a classic example to show how
disgruntled and displeased he has been towards the dumb bureaucracy.
  They not only thrive upon the sweat and blood of poor masses but plunders their
limited resources as well.
 The writer seems to be highly critical about these malpractices and corruptions which
the society was infested with during the time of Victorian era.
 It‟s manifestly clear that the resources were concentrated around only few individuals
in the royal family depriving even the basic needs for the ordinary masses.
 The work of the seamstress and the young man writing a script show how the royal
family enslaved the people for their own pleasure.

Fiction
1)
 In the first place Hari is a very determined character. He is firmly resolved to find a
job.
 Being a school dropout he doesn‟t stand much chance in finding a decent job in Thul.
 He is considering about three possible options available. Working on Biju‟s fishing
boat, waiting until the proposed fertilizer factory is built or going to Bombay to get the
help of De Silva‟s to find a job.
 On top of above reasons he gets constantly pounded by sufferings at home with the
sick mother and the drunken father.
 The threating by two rioters and the poisoning of their pet dog Pinto may probably
have contributed to his leaving the village.
 Though not explicitly discussed Hari is looking forward to his future. He does not see
his village holds any future for him.
 After all his childish adventuresome nature may drive him to explore the world.
2)
 Charlotte Bronte‟s Jane Eyre presents the life of Jane from childhood to adulthood.
 Her upbringing at Gateshead probably may have molded her to become a strong
character. She undergoes lot of sufferings at the hands of her aunt‟s children
 Even her aunt herself ill-treats her.
 Eventhough she is subjected to many persecutions and bulling at the hands of her
aunt‟s children her gentleness doesn‟t seem to get hurt.
 Reason and passion are seen when she confronts Mrs. Reed after Mr. Brocklehurst‟s
visit.
 Helen Burns and Miss Temple‟s association seems to have a strong influence upon
Jane as well.
 She becomes gentler and less resentful therafter.
Prepared by Nanda Gunasekare
31st July 2014