Series : OSS/1 Code No. 3111
CREATIVE WRITING AND TRANSLATION STUDIES
Time allowed : 3 Hours Maximum marks : 80
SECTION A
Reading Comprehension 20 Marks
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 7 marks
(1) Cooking a meal for the family in most middle class Indian homes is a familial obligation that must be fulfilled by the women of the house. To a westerner this is seen as drudgery and an artless job. Unfortunately, western men did not instantly pick up the apron and make elaborate meals. So the art of cooking was lost forever as a day-to-day activity and reserved for those special days as an alternative to a Sunday outing. The TV dinner was born and everyone thought the refrigerator and fast food home delivery service were the greatest inventions of the world.
(2) There is something to be said for Indians who refuse to give up on their need for home-cooked meals. Westernised Indians make fun of the Indian family on international flights constantly opening and shutting bags with home-cooked and other food-stuffs that they cannot do without. On the other hand, no one makes fun of the miserable looking nuclear-family raised businessman or computer professional ordering pizzas at home and substituting the eight glasses of water routine with four cans of aerated drinks.
(3) The Indian way of eating involves all the senses. Being brought up in a middle-class home, the first sign of comfort is when you hear the hiss and crackle of tadka and you know that the daal will be taken off the stove in a minute. The third whistle of the cooker tells you that the sabji and rice are steamed to perfection. Then the aroma of spiced kadhi or succulent seasonal vegetables in the saambar can send you on a high, like a drug. When you see the rich greens and reds, your mouth is already watering in anticipation of the taste. Here comes the best part as Indians we get to touch our food !
(4) The greatest privilege I have had is that there was always a home-cooked meal at the table. The clichéd joke is, ‘he is still hanging on to his mother’s apron strings’. I regret that I was never a part of the process of making the food, but I am eternally grateful that I was at the receiving end of it. I never lose an opportunity to pass on the love and nurturing I received through my mother’s cooking by offering to cook a meal for friends. It may not be as good as mother used to make, but as long as it has the vital ingredient called love, it shall pass as good wholesome Indian cooking.
1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following :
(a) What does the author think about the West in connection with cooking a meal ? 1
(b) What is the opinion of the Westernised Indians about traditional Indians ? 1
(c) How are kids in most nuclear families raised ? 2
(d) In what way is traditional way of eating a sensory delight ? 2
(e) Find words from the passage which mean the same as
(i) a phrase or an idea used very often (para 4)
(ii) containing a lot of juice (para 3)
2. Read the story given below and answer the questions that follow : 7 marks
The purposeless pandas were being televised. ‘Emblematic’, they were told. “You are emblematic aid now symbolize what man has done to man, not to speak of the other species”.
“Thank you,” murmured the pandas. They were polite creatures, modest, shy, self- effacing. They were also uncertain about what ‘emblematic’ meant, but they understood that it was a great honour and that they would be expected to live up to it.
‘We want to help you,’ their fiends whispered., ‘and in order to do that we’ve persuaded people who wish to purge themselves of guilt that’s why the cameras and the press release.’ You are now officially an endangered species.
“Thank you”, said the pandas, not quite sure what ‘purge’ meant, nor what ‘help’ wed exactly, fiat When the friends of friends looked gratified, they felt relieved.
“Now,” said the producer. “First dings first. Here are six hundred cans of processed protein. Please taste it.”
The pandas obligingly tasted the stuff and quickly proceeded to bury it.
“What are you doing ? Don’t you like it ?” The producer was horrified. “It was produced for penurious pandas. You must eat it.”
The pandas thought quickly. “Well, you see”, they said, “we were storing it away for a season of scarcity.”
The friends of friends laughed happily. ‘Oh, ms’s all right,’ they told the pandas.
‘There’s plenty more where that comes from. We’ve set up factories...”
‘Next things next”, the producer went on. “Here is your enclosure. We’ve fenced it about. Inside these limits you’re perfectly safe. And look we’ve stuck a few palm trees.”
“We don’t eat coconuts,” a young panda muttered; but since she muttered softly, nobody heard her, which, perhaps, was as it should be.
“Good, good,” the producer was looking pleased. “Now, smile please.”
“What ?” asked the pandas.
“Smile, you sweet a creatures,” he producer cajoled. “We need the pictures for publicity.”
The pandas smiled anxiously.
“Good, good, now some action shots. Run about and play happily.”
Even the good nature of the pandas was wearing thin. “Please,” they protested, “it’s mid-afternoon. It’s much too hot for anything.”
The friends of the friends looked disappointed. They consulted among themselves and with producer. They said, “Sure. All right. What we really need is a few close-ups of pandas. Now get a good rest. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
They left, but the pandas friends stayed back. Now, nothing has been proven. The friends claim that all they did was feed the pandas on bamboo shoots and apologies. Nonetheless, the fact remains that that night the pandas vanished. They left a note, it said : “We are no longer endangered. Please consider us quite extinct.” A world alert was sent out at once, but to no avail. As a result, their emblematic status remains doubtful, particularly in view of the rumour that they are neither emblematic nor extinct, they are merely lurking.
2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following :
(a) Complete this sentence : 1
The friends of the pandas were__________and the friends of friends were __________
(b) What does the author mean when he says, ‘You are now officially an endangered species’ ? 1
(c) Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct answer :
(1) ‘Look, we’ve even stuck a few palm trees’ shows
(i) concern for the pandas
(ii) ignorance about pandas
(iii knowledge about pandas
(iv) none of the above
(2) The pandas decided to vanish because
(i) they were fed up with posing for the TV
(ii) they needed to take rest
(iii) they were shy and modest
(iv) none of the above
(d) Why do you think the pandas were given processed proteins ? 1
(e) What does the author wish to convey through this story ?
(f) Make a sentence of your own with ‘endangered’ and ‘extinct’ to bring out the difference in their meaning. 1
3. Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow : 6 marks
The Weavers
I was sitting, I was knitting
On a sweater I could wear.
When I finished, I said proudly,
“Hey, I’ve done some weaving there.”
But the old spider on the wall said,
“Can you spin it out of gossamer
from the ceiling to the stair ?
Can you Id the wind blow thro’
So it sways but doesn’t tear ?
Then can you grab on to it
And swing lightly on a hair ?
When you can-then you may truly say,
‘I’ve done some weaving there’.”
Shel Silverstein
3.1 On the basis of your understanding of the poem answer the following questions :
(a) What made the poet proud of himself ? 1
(b) Who is a better weaver and what makes him a better one ? 2
(c) What does the poet wish to communicate through the poem ? 1
(d) Find two words from lines 1-4 which have similar meaning in the context of the poem. 1
(c) lead a wool from the poem which means ‘a light and fine thread’. 1
SECTION-B (20 Marks)
Creative Writing Skills
4. Write a diary entry of about 200 words of a ten year old child who works in a factory. He/she wants to go to school and study and take up the job of a teacher in future. He/she dreams of a childhood like other children, but is forced to work to help his/her parents run the household. Celebration of festivals is a time to rejoice for all the other children but this child has nothing to look forward to good food, clothes and lots of fun. 6 marks
5. Imagine that you are a writer and that you visited an imaginary city of great heritage and beauty. Write a travelogue in about 200 words. You could keep the following points in mind : 6 marks
(a) general information about the place
(b) historical background of the place
(c) special attractions
(d) any special festivals of that place
6. Read the beginning of a story with the title ‘THE LAST STONE MASON’, and continue the story and take it through the various stages of a short story. 8 marks
The young man flung the hammer and the chisel to the ground and cried : “I’m leaving you, father. I’m leaving you and this work. Look what it has brought us.” He spread out his arms, took in the small, congested work-room, the slabs of stone and marble stacked up on one corner, the cot covered with heaps of used clothes in the other. The paint of the white-washed walls was stained by many monsoon showers, the window, bare of curtains, opened into a tiny backyard. “Look what it has brought us - nothing, nothing !” the young man repeated in disgust. “This kind of work just doesn’t pay.”
The old man stared at his son, aghast. His voice, though trembling, hadn’t lost its usual gentleness : “It is not the money alone that matters, son. It is the service, our service to God.”
“Father,” the young man cried impatiently, “Times have changed. The stone mason’s work has changed too. You can’t live on these sculptures for temples only. You have to mass-produce, like all the other people in Agra. Come on, father !”
Translation (20 Marks)
7. Given below is a passage in Hindi. Read the passage and complete the translation into English. 4 marks
Jealousy disturbs our mental peace,________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________.
As a result________________________________________________________________
we should not be jealous of the success of others. In fact this feeling of jealousy
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________.
Hence, if we wish for success,_____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________.
8. Translate this passage into Fish in about 100 wands. 8 marks
9. Translate the given poem into English. 8 marks
SECTION C (20 Marks)
(a) What is a ‘point of view’ with regard to a short story ? What are the various ‘points of views’ used in a short story ?
(b) Why can there be no, one to one substitution in transcreation ?
(c) Describe the key features of a newspaper article.
(d) What is the difference between a book review and a movie review ?
(e) How do marked collocations get used in writing poetry ?
11. What are the essentials of effective writing and what things must be avoided by a writer ? (in about 200 words) 8
OR
Aristotle suggested six focal points to be kept in mind while reading a play. Describe in detail the importance of Dianoia, Opsis and Melos in the understanding and appreciation of a play. (in about 200 words)