ENGLISH
CLASS XII -2007
The Price of Flowers:
Short Questions
1. The story shows that there are some myths about India in the minds of the Western People. What are they?
2. What made Mr. Gupta conclude that Maggie’s family was poor?
3. How was Frank duped by a saint?
4. Describe the second meeting between the narrator and Maggie.
5. The narrator says, “Superstition is not confined to India”. What made him realize that?
6. The ring plays an important part in the story. Discuss.
Broad Questions:
1. Justify the title of ‘The Price of Flowers’.
2. Bring out the irony in the story ‘The Price of Flowers’.
The Awakening of Women
Short Questions:
1. Why did Gandhiji address his appeal directly to women?
2. What changes did the Gandhian movement bring about in the status of Indian women?
3. Why were Indian women in the 18th and 19th centuries the most backward as compared to women in other countries?
4. Why did the position of women sink in the 18th and 19th centuries?
5. ‘Gandhian movement released women from social bondage’. Justify.
Broad Questions:
1. How do legislative reforms ensure the quality of women?
2. Gandhiji was uncertain about the role of women in the freedom struggle, but they became the main support of the movement. Comment.
What India Can Teach Us
Short Questions:
1. What opportunities do various disciplines offer for intellectual work?
2. What important problems of the Science of Language can be studied in India?
3. What can India teach the world & and how can it do so?
4. What is the writer’s advice regarding Indian Literature?
5. The study of fables owes its new life to India. Justify the statement.
6. What can India offer to the students of jurisprudence?
7. Why does Max Mueller criticize the genius of the world?
Broad Questions:
1. Through his writing, Max Mueller has paid a tribute to India. Justify.
2. India occupies a place second to no other country. Justify.
The Andaman Islands
Short Questions:
1. Why was the silver Jail constructed?
2. Why was the silver jail constructed?
3. How did Pingale and Kartar Singh react before their execution?
4. What were the difficulties that the convicts faced during their journey to Kolkata?
5. Who was the ‘Lord of the Jail’? Why was he called so?
6. Why was the pucca jail constructed?
Broad Questions:
1. Describe the train journey of the convicts to Kolkata.
2. Describe the journey of the prisoners from the Presidency Jail to Andaman Islands.
3. Describe the Silver Jail and its jailor.
The Importance of Being Ernest
Short Questions:
1. Why was Jack writing frantic letters to Scotland Yard?
2. ‘Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others’. In what context did Lady Bracknell say so?
3. Why did Lady Bracknell call on Lady Harbury? What was her observation after the visit?
4. Bring out the irony in the statement ‘When one is in the country, one amuses other people’.
5. Why does Jack say, “I want to kill my brother”?
Broad Questions:
1. Bring out the element of farce in The Importance of Being Ernest.
2. Character sketch of Jack Worthing / Algernon / Lady Bracknell.
Machines and Emotions
Short Questions:
1. Why does the praise of ‘the wisdom of the East’ annoy an educated Asiatic?
2. How can social institutions curb the desire to be rich?
3. How do machines deprive us of two important ingredients of happiness?
4. The writer feels that there is a craze for machines across the world. Comment.
5. What are the other things that men desire more than wealth?
6. What is the basic difference in machines and emotions?
7. ‘The prevention of destitution does not depend upon machines’. Explain.
Broad Questions:
1. ‘The desired to be admired is very powerful’. Discuss.
2. ‘A machine is like a Djinn in the Arabian nights’. Discuss.
3. Discuss the role of competition in our life and our attitude towards happiness.
4. Machines are both worshipped and hated. Why?
5. Describe the role of competition in our lives.
A Man Who Had No Eyes
Short Questions:
1. Why was Mr. Parsons ‘very glad to be alive’?
2. Bring out the irony in the story.
3. Mention three differences between Markwardt and Mr. Parsons.
4.
Broad Questions:
1. This story is about two men who lost their eyesight. To whom does the title refer to and why?
2. Bring out the differences between the two men, Mr. Parsons & Markwardt.
POEMS
The Noble Nature
Short Questions:
1. What does the poet want to convey by ‘beauty in small proportions’?
2. How can we make our lives perfect?
Broad Questions:
1. We live in deeds, not in years. Explain.
2. What is the central idea of the poem?
Written in Early Spring
Short Questions:
1. Why did the poet become sad though he was in a sweet mood?
2. What is the link between man’s soul and nature?
3. The expression, ‘What man has made of man’ is used twice in the poem. What does the poet want to convey through this?
Broad questions:
1. What kind of attitude does the poet want us to adopt towards nature and why?
2. Central idea of the poem.
Once Upon a Time
Short Questions:
1. Contrast the laughter of the people of the past with the present.
2. Describe the hospitality that the visitors receive now.
3. The poet has learnt many things. What are they?
Broad Questions:
1. Describe the irony in the poem, Once Upon A Time.
2. Why does the poet address the poem to his son?
The Man He Killed
Short Questions:
1. “Not men but countries breed enemies”. Explain.
2. The poem is about shifting attitudes in peace and wartime. Explain.
Broad Questions:
1. How does the war destroy the inherent goodness in a man and lead him into killing?
2. What is the message conveyed by Hardy in his poem, The Man He Killed?
Freedom
Short Questions:
1. What sort of freedom is Tagore referring to and what is the fear?
2. What does the poet mean by ‘beckoning call of the future’?
3. How does the ‘shackles of slumber’ affect India and Indians?
4. Why does the poet call the path of truth adventurous?
Broad Questions:
1. Justify the title of the poem.
2. How does Tagore inspire his countrymen to be free from ‘fear’ and the shackles of slavery and ‘mindless habits’?
The Plate of Gold
Short Questions:
1. What proclamation did the priests make? What were the people asked to prove?
2. ‘At his first finger touch, it changed to basest lead!’ What did it prove?
3. Why did the temple become an attractive place for the beggars?
Broad Questions:
1. Narrate the story element of the poem, The Plate of Gold.
IMPRESSIONS (Supplementary Reader)
The Face on The Wall
Short Questions:
1. What kind of an experience did the little man with the anxious white face offer to narrator?
2. How did the search for the face become an obsession with the narrator?
3. What were the two peculiarities about the human face on the wall?
4. Give four instances that highlight the ‘supernatural’ and mysterious in the story.
Broad Questions:
1. The stranger was a clever and witty man. Justify.
2. E. V. Lucas’s treatment of supernatural in the story.
Gandhiji As A Schoolmaster
Short Questions:
1. How was vocational training looked after?
2. How did the students become teachers of Gandhiji?
3. Why did Gandhiji not want to import teachers from outside?
4. Who are Trappists? What sort of life do they lead?
5. What were Gandhiji’s views on literary training? What difficulties did he face in trying to justify this aspect?
6. Why and how did Gandhiji once lose his temper?
Broad Questions:
1. Discuss the role of teacher as pointed out by Gandhiji.
2. Describe Gandhiji’s views about textbook.
The Old Demon
Short Questions:
1. Describe Mrs. Wang’s concern about her husband.
2. What was Mrs. Wang’s reaction when the Japanese actually attacked?
3. What was Mrs. Wang’s idea of resolving the issues concerning wars & disputes?
4. Why was the Yellow river both a blessing and curse for the village?
5. What was Mrs. Wang’s attitude towards war?
Broad Question:
1. The river was like a demon for the Wangs but it turned out to be their saviour. How?
2. Fellow feeling is the lifeline of humanity. Explain.
Youth And The Task Ahead
Short Questions:
1. What advice did Sri Aurobindo Ghosh give to the youth of the nation?
2. Why is there a need for the youth in this nuclear age to be academically inclined?
3. Having achieved freedom, what note of caution does Dr. Karan Singh give to the youth?
4. How can youth repay their debt to the society?
5. What does Jawahar Lal Nehru advice the nation?
Broad Questions:
1. What is expected to those who belong to the post independent era?
2. “Muscles of iron and nerves of steel” is the need of the hour for the youth. Explain.
The Hour Of Truth
Short Questions:
1. Why was Mr. Gresham arrested?
2. What was Gresham’s offer to Baldwin?
3. How did Baldwin react to the avarice of the members of his family?
4. How was Baldwin’s honesty rewarded?
5. The papers had been unfair to Baldwin. Comment.
Broad Questions:
1. Elaborate on how the play ‘The Hour of Truth’ justifies the moral dilemma and the final victory of the good.
2. How did the wrecking of the bank take place? Do you hold Baldwin responsible in any way?
The Future Is Now: A Zest For Living
Short Questions:
1. Give examples from the text to show that the physically challenged have also achieved remarkably at various fields.
2. How has the media helped in spreading awareness about the capabilities of the challenged?
3. How were the handicapped babies disposed off by the Greeks and Romans?
4. How can parents play a positive role in helping their physically/ visually challenged children?
Broad Questions:
1. Justify the title, The Future is Now.
2. How can the parents of the challenged help themselves and their children lead happy life?
The Bet
Short Questions:
1. What were the terms and conditions of the bet?
2. When was the turning point in the lawyer’s life & how did it come about?
3. What was written in the note found on the lawyer’s table?
4. Why did the guests of the party think of the capital punishment as obsolete?
5. Why did the lawyer decide to escape the prison five minutes before the stipulated time?
6. Justify the title of The Bet.
Broad Questions:
1. Who emerges as a better human being- the lawyer or the banker? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Describe the fifteen years of confinement of the lawyer.
Barin Bhowmik’s Ailment
Short Questions:
1. Why did Barin say, “God laid such a lot of traps to embarrass one”?
2. Mention two occasions when Barin found himself on the verge of being caught.
3. How had Barin achieved success?
4. Why did Barin decide to confess his sin?
Broad Questions:
1. Barin Bhowmik’s Ailment is a story if ‘incredible coincidence’. Elaborate.
On Conduct In Company
Short Questions:
1. What is Chesterfield’s opinion about telling stories in a company?
2. Why should one not speak about oneself?
3. ‘Take rather than give, the tone of the company you are in’. Explain.
4. What does the writer advocate ‘a prudent and reserved exterior’ as well as ‘a seeming openness’?
Broad Questions:
1. ‘Vanity and pride are strong elements in human nature’. What does the author mean by this and how should this be avoided?
2. Briefly state the ‘golden rules of conduct’ in company that Lord Chesterfield wanted his son to imbibe?