Class : 12 English Questions Pepper

Class : XII Subject : English B

(5 mark each question)

THE EYES HAVE IT by Ruskin Bond :

1. Would you agree that this story is a comment on
'seeing' ? Support your point with instances from the text.

2. Does the author help us anticipate the ironical twist in
the end during the course of the narrative ? If yes, give
examples from the text to support your argument.

3. Is the narrator somewhat cautious about not revealing
too much about himself? Support your point with
instances from the text.

4. How was a game of deception played between the
narrator and the girl?

5. "Then I made a mistake."— What mistake is referred to
here? Was there really any mistake? How did the speaker
get rid of his doubt?

6. How did the narrator try to impress the girl ?

7. How does 'irony' play an instrumental role in the story?

8. "You have an interesting face." - Who said this and to
whom ? How did the person spoken to react? How did the
speaker mend his/her comment?

9. "You are a very gallant young man." -Who is the 'young
man'? Why is he called 'gallant young man'? How does
the remark impress him?

10. "Oh, how lucky you are." - Who said this? Who was
considered to be 'lucky' and why? How did the person
react to the above remark?

11. Write a short note on the appropriateness of the title.

STRONG ROOTS by APJ Abdul Kalam:

1. What was Kalam's father's response to his son's query
about prayer and spirituality ? Or, What would the
author's father say to him about prayer ? Or, What was
Kalam's father's response to his question about the
purpose of prayer ? Or, What did Kalam's father tell him
about the relevance of prayers ?

2. How did Kalam's father's attitude to adversity
influence the young Kalam ? Or, What was Kalam's
father's attitude to adversity ? How far was he impressed


by that ? What was the impact of his father's attitude to
adversity on young Kalam ?

3. What picture of communal harmony do you get from
Kalam's autobiographical sketch "Strong Roots" ?

4. Describe the locality where APJ Abdul Kalam lived in his
childhood. Or, How does Dr. Kalam describe his
neighbourhood ?

THANK YOU, MA'AM by Langston Hughes:

1. Why do you think Mrs. Jones handles the situation the
way she does in the story? What is she trying to
accomplish? How do you think this experience is likely to
affect Roger?

2. Why do you think Mrs. Jones makes a point of getting
Roger to wash his face? Why does she give him food?

3. Why does she tell him about her past? Why does she
avoid asking him about his family or background?

4. Why do you think Roger decides he "[does] not want to
be mistrusted"?

5. What does Mrs. Jones mean when she says that "shoes
got by devilish ways will burn your feet"?

6. Why do you think Roger can't say "thank you" to Mrs.
Jones as he is leaving?

7. What themes does the story express? What does it
suggest about some people who commit some crimes?

8. Why did the boy in "Thank You Ma'am" not run away
though he found the door open ?

9. Justify the title of the short story "Thank You Ma'am".

10. What lesson did Roger learn from Mrs. Jones ?

11. Give a character sketch of Mrs. Jones.

THREE QUESTIONS by Leo Tolstoy:

1. Which three questions occurred to the mind of the Tsar
? What did he do to get the answers of the questions ?

2. Why did not the hermit answer the questions of the
Tsar immediately after hearing him ?

3. "You are already answered"— Do you agree with the
interpretation of the three answers given by the hermit ?
If so, give three reasons to support your answers.

4. What answers did the hermit give to the king's
questions ?

5. How did the enemy of the King become friend with the
King in Leo Tolstoy's "The Three Questions" ?

6. Why did the Tsar not agree with the answers of the


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learned men ? Who did the Tsar decide to consult again ?

What was this person famous for ? How did the Tsar go to
visit this person ?

ON KILLING A TREE by Gieve Patel:

1. Describe in detail the growth of the tree as given in the
first stanza of the poem "On Killing a Tree".

2. How does the tree heal itself ? Or, How is the life-force
of the tree described in the poem "On Killing a Tree" ?

3. The poem "On Killing a Tree" describes man's cruelty
and violence to nature. Discuss.

4. How can the tree be killed in "On Killing a Tree" ?

ASLEEP IN THE VALLEY by Arthur Rimbaud:

1. Justify the title of the poem "Asleep in the Valley".

2. How does the poet Arthur Rimbaud look upon war ?

Or, How is Arthur Rimbaud's attitude against war
revealed in his poem "Asleep in the Valley"?

Or, Evaluate "Asleep in the Valley" as an anti-war poem.

3. How does the soldier lie in "Asleep in the Valley"?

4. How does the picture of the soldier describe the
tragedy of war ? Explain.

5. What do we normally associate with the word
'asleep'? When does the readers recognise that the
soldier is asleep in a different state ?

THE POETRY OF EARTH by John Keats:

1. Show, after Keats, that the poetry of earth never comes
to an end. Or, How does Keats prove that poetry of earth
is never dead ?

2. What pictures of the two seasons does Keats draw in
this poem ? How are the two pictures related ?

3. Name the poet who composed "The Poetry of Earth".

What is meant by "The Poetry of Earth" ? How does the
poet read "The Poetry of Earth" ?

4. Identify the voices of poetry in the poem. How does
Keats establish continuity through these voices ?

SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO THE SUMMER by William
Shakespeare:

1. Who is being compared to a summer's day and by
whom ?

2. Why is the friend more lovely and temperate than the
summer's day ?

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3. Give the substance of the poem Sonnet 18 Shall I
Compare Thee to a summer's Day".

4. What does the poet compare this young person to?
Identify at least three qualities that make the person
superior to the simile.

5. State the arguments in the octave and the sestet.

6. How is the described in the sonnet "Shall I compare
thee to a summer's day?"

7. Who is being compared to a "summer's day" in the
sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"? And by
whom?

8. Why is the friend more 'lovely and temperate' than the
summer's day?

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