Subject- English Literature

Class - XII Paper = Second Time - 3:00                                  Hour M. M.-70

General Instructions All the questions are compulsory.

Section ‘A’

1. Explain with reference to context any four of the following passages (out of six) Each question 2 marks.

(i) Sharda Devi felt faint. Her mind went back to the days of hectic political movement. She heard shouts of Vande Mataram. Suddenly the police opened fire.

(ii) Here he was not enunciating any new proposition. He was merely declaring some fundamental truths which have come down to us from the environment which nourished him.

(iii) “We are not armed and there is no necessity for arms either. We have a strong weapon, a political weapon, in boycott. The whole of the administration,

which is conducted by a handful of Englishmen, is carried on with our assistance.”

(iv) Always have something to say. The man who has something to say and who is known never to speak unless he has, is sure to be listened to especially

in a deliberative assembly or wherever there is business to be done, while no one pays attention to the man of mere words.

(v) “Do not tell a lie to another, say what you know to be true.” This is a principle. Its usefulness becomes apparent at every step in life. We appreciate a

truthful person. If we tell a lie, we ourselves feel unhappy, life cannot go on ; there will be great confusion.

(vi) For men to come near to one another and yet to continue to ignore the claims of humanity is a sure process of suicide. We are waiting for the time when the Spirit of the age will be incarnated in a complete human truth and the meeting of men will be translated into the Unity of men. 4x2=8

Section ‘B’

Question 2. Answer any two of the following questions (out of three) in not more than 10 to 15 words. (Prose) Each question carries 1 mark

(i) Where was Arun sent for education when he was thirteen year old ?

(ii) Why did Curzon resign as Governor General of India ?

(iii) What is more important than materialistic progress ?                 2x1=2

Question 3. Answer any three of the following questions (out of five) in not more than 10 to 15 words. (Fiction) Each question carries 1 mark

(i) What is the profession of Jagan ?

(ii) What are the basic principles on which Jagan’s business is based ?

(iii) Why does Jagan plies the Charka everyday even when he is past sixty ?

(iv) Name the book written by Jagan which is in the Press and is taking a long time to come.

(v) Where does Jagan go in the end ?                          3x1=3

Question 4. Answer any four of the following questions (out of six) in not more than 20 to 30 words. (Prose) Each question carries 3 marks

(i) What incident was Sharda Devi reminded of when Arun told her about Dick ?

(ii) What were the several ways in which Mahatma Gandhi worked for the country and the world ?

(iii) Why is it necessary for you to put your ideas in some sort of order ?

(iv) In the lesson “Mathematics in Ancient India” what is the main aim of the author Jawaharlal Nehru ?

(v) How can we solve the present problems ?

(vi) How did Mrs. Clifford earn her living ?                      4x3=12

Question 5. Answer any five of the following questions (out of seven) in 20 to 30 words. (Fiction) Each question carries 2 marks

(i) What remedy does Jagan Suggest for the problem of Vagrants ?

(ii) What does Jagan say about Kalidas ?

(iii) What steps did Jagan take after he got inspired from Gandhiji ?

(iv) Why did Jagan feel that he needed an escape ?

(v) What is the technique used by the novelist in this novel ?

(vi) Why is Jagan disturbed when he comes to know the truth about Grace ?

(vii) What shock does Jagan get when the Mali returns from America ?           5x2=10

Question 6. Answer any two of the following questions (out of four) in not more than 60 to 80 words. (Prose) Each question carries 5 marks

(i) Describe how the people were highly appreciative of Arun’s heroic deed.

(ii) What was bad about the educational policy of the Government of India and what did Tilak do to oppose it ?

(iii) In what terms has Dantzig established the superiority of Indian the Mathematical genius over that of Europe ?

(iv) What is Tagore’s message to the world in his essay ‘The Voice of Humanity’.             2x5=10

Question 7. Answer any two of the following questions (out of four) in not more than 60 to 80 words. Each question carries 5 marks

(i) Do you think that Jagan is a typical Indian ? Explain.

(ii) ‘Mali is a spoiled child of westernization’ Discuss.

(iii) Jagan is a true patriot. Give instances to prove this.

(iv) Do you think that the novelist has conveyed a deep message through his ‘Vendor of Sweets’ Throw a light on the message and critically appreciate it. 2x5=10

Section ‘C’

Question 8.Write a critical appreciation of the following passage :

Ernest Hemingway is one of America’s most beloved twentieth century authors. He was born in 1899. During world war-I he served as a volunteer ambulance

driver in Italy, and he later served in the Italian infantry. Hemingway was badly wounded in 1918. Hemingway’s wartime experiences had a considerable

influence on his writing. In fact, most of his novels focus on the need for physical and psychological strength to cope with difficulty and often violence. He was quite disillusioned by the war and became a leader of a group of young writers living in Europe who were known as the ‘lost generation’. Hemingway was fascinated by the sport of bullfighting and described it in many of his novels and short stories. He described his experiences as a hunter in

a non-fiction book entitled ‘The Green Hills of Africa’.                  10 x 1=10

Answers

Section ‘A’

Reference and context Question 1. A, B, C, D, E, F Credit Points

(i) Identification of correct reference with appropriate context

(ii) Clarity of ideas

(iii) Language

Question 2.(i) Arun was sent to a boarding school at St. Columba’s Siliguri.

(ii) Curzon had to resign from the post because of the growing unrest and discontent followed by a tussle with the commander in chief.

(iii) Spiritual values are more important than materialistic progress.

Question 3. (i) Jagan is the ‘Vendor of Sweets’.

(ii) The basic principles on which Jagan’s business is based are the teachings of Gandhiji and Bhagvad-Gita.

(iii) Jagan plies the Charka everyday even when he is past sixty because of the vow he made to Gandhiji.

(iv) His book ‘Nature Cure and Nature Diet’ was in the press and it was taking a long time to come out.

(v) Jagan goes into the ‘Vanaprastha Ashram’ in the end.

Question 4.(i) When Arun told Sharada Devi about Dick, her mind went back to the days of hectic political movement. She remembered shouts of Vande Mataram, police firing and an old woman of seventy hit by bullet and a young boy picked her up and the flag.

(ii) Mahatma Gandhi believed in universal values of truth (Satya) and non-violence (Ahimsa) and put in herculean efforts to make the principles universally acceptable and adoptable.

(iii) It is necessary for us to put our ideas in some sort of order so that the thought can be brought to a point and irrelevant ideas can be rejected.

(iv) In the lesson, “Mathematics in Ancient India” the main aim of Pd. Jawaharlal Nehru is to bring out the superior and fundamental contribution of India towards the progress of mathematics in the world.

(v) Present problems can be solved by encouraging tolerance and brotherhood to make the world free from destruction.

(vi) Mrs. Clifford was a very busy and hard working woman. She used to make delicious cakes and sold them. She also used to make toffees and sold them.

Question 5.(i) The problem of the vagrants requires a remedy according to Jagan. The remedy would be for our nation to change its habits, for people to eat off plates and not use leaves for the purpose ; the plates could be washed and kept - unlike the leaves, which are thrown out ofter dinner for

vagrants to pick. If everyone gave up dining leaves, those engaged in the leaf trade would be thrown out of their profession and an alternative engagement would have to be found for them.”

(ii) Jagan regarded Kalidas as a village idiot, a shepherd until goddess Saraswathi made a scratch on his tongue and then he burst into that song. Syamala-dandakam and wrote his Shakuntala. Further Jagan said that Kalidas could not go to the college or study in colleges because there were no colleges three thousand years ago.

(iii) After Jagan got inspired from Gandhiji, he joined the movement for freeing India from foreign rule, gave up his studies, home and normal life and violated the British laws of the time. Neither the beatings from the police nor the successive periods of prisonterms ever touched him when he remembered that he was performing a “Service”.

(iv) Jagan felt that he need ed an escape because of his wife’s death, his son’s growth and strange later development and how his ancient home behind the

Lawley Statue was beginning to resemble hell on earth. He was full of dissapointment and despair. So he needed an escape. 5

(v) The novelist has depicted the gravity of the Situation by using the flashback technique Jagan is reminded of his own world and thinks how different his world was! He felt that the world to which he belonged was just the opposite of what it is in the present day.

(vi) When Mali returns with a half Korean, half American wife Grace, Jagan gets disturbed. For a righteous Hindu such as Jagan is, the situation becomes worse when he is told that Grace is actually not even his son’s wife and that both of them have been living in sin. The idea of pollution gives utmost pain to Jagan He closes up every window. So that the house in which he lives may not be contaminated.

(vii) He is shocked to find that his son, amongst other things, also drinks. Mali is caught red handed breaking the prohibition laws. When the cousin suggests Jagan the ways in which a lawyer can get Mali out by fastening a grudge against the police officer who caught him and by making a plausible story as to how the half bottle of whisky got into his car. Jagan is also shocked when he saw his son has brought Grace without marriage and they were living in sin.

Question 6. (i) When the local boys started bathing with the Londoner’s in the river, one of them (Dick Jackson) started to drown. None dared to save him except Arun. It was Arun who liked that boy much and he wanted to take this brave risk. Arun took the risk and did not care about his own life. When Arun was successful in saving the life of Dick he was appreciated by all particularly Mr. Martin. Father Ronaland and Subhir Roy. Later Arun’s mother felt

overjoyed to hear about this heroic deed and she gave a revolver as a gift to her son. She was happy that her son had done a brave deed.

(ii) B.G. Tilak was a prominent and dynamic leader of India. He had presented programmes of national interest. The educational policy of the government was very defective.

During that period, imparting of education was on such lines which supported the interest of the Britishers. For solidarity and awareness of Indian

people, a different kind of education was needed which could help in serving the welfare of the Indian people and the sought people’s co-operation to support him and join the ‘boycott’ of government.

(iii) Dantzig established the superiority of Indian Mathematical genius over that of Europe by saying that the discovery of position by an Indian was a great world event. It removed the stagnation of thousands of years of Europe. The numeration was quite inflexible and crude. It had a calculating device, which was limited in scope. Even the elementry calculations needed the services of an expert. Dantzig also felt that algebra also originated in India. In this manner

he tries to prove the greatness of the Indians.

(iv) The voice of Humanity is based on an address that Tagore delivered at Milan in Italy. Tagore’s real purpose of visiting Europe was to give a frank expression to the voice of humanity or in other words to show that spiritual growth is much more important than the materialistic progress which will endanger peace, fraternity and friendship. The  people should cultivate a spiritual attitude towards humanity.

Question 7. (i) Jagan is a typical Indian. He was certain business priniciples based on the teachings of Gandhiji and the Bhagvad Gita. Jagan is a patriot. He plies the charka everyday even when he is past sixty because of the vow he made to Gandhiji. He is a typical Indian as he uses only non violent foot wear i.e. Chappals made out of animals not killed for the purpose but those which die a natural death. He believes in the profound wisdom of our ancestors. He is an ardent believer in Indian culture. When Mali returns up with a foreign girl whom he calls his wife Jagan is baffled. His typical Indianness is visible in all the chapters of the fiction.

(ii) ‘Mali is a spoiled child of westernization.’ This is true in every sense. Mali leaves his studies to go to America to become writer. After a year or two Mali returns with a half Korean-half American wife and grandiose scheme for marketing novel writing machine. Mali is a spoiled child of westernization as he is confronted with the ‘brave new world’ - a world where his cherished notions of marriage and morals seem to have no existence. Mali does not believe in Indian culture. Mali drinks and he is caught red handed breaking the prohibhition laws. So in the end we can say that. Mali is a spoiled child in all true sense.

(iii) Jagan is a true patriot. He had his skull cracked trying to pull down the Union Jack from the flagpost in the collector’s bunglow and in consequence spent some years in prison. He plies the charka everyday even when he is past sixty because of the vow he made to Gandhiji. At the end of the novel he decided to quit his world and move to an Ashram across the river, he takes the charka with him. He uses non-violent footwear i.e. chappals made out of animals not killed for the purpose but those which die a natural death. He has great respect for Gandhiji and the principles of the Bhagwad Gita.

(iv) Yes, the novelist - has conveyed a deep message through his ‘Vendor of Sweets’ ‘The Vendor of Sweets’ is a story of a sixty year old widower named Jagan. He is a vendor of sweets. He has certain business principles based on Gandhian philosophy. He has a son named Mali and he deeply loves him yet there is a communication gap between the father and the son and Jagan always feels embarrased in his son’s presence. This novel brings home to the readers so poignantly the sadness of the generation gap. His son is a spoiled child of westernization and Jagan is shocked and sad about it. The novelist has conveyed his message of the changing values. Jagan remains in his own world of values and thinks how different his world was from today’s world - full of sin, and degrading moral values and no respect for elders.

Question 8 .Credit Points (i) Clarity of ideas

(ii) Language accuracy

(iii) Critical Appreciation