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Both Bama and Zitkala-Sa face difficult situations in their lives.
Describe how they face these situations.
Concept: The Cutting of My Long Hair
Read the given extract to attempt the questions with reference to context.
| A girl from the countryside, she hadn’t gone through all the stages of worldly experience that generally precede a position of importance and sophistication that she had found herself catapulted into. She never quite recovered from the terror she felt that day. That was the end of a brief and brilliant acting career — the legal adviser, who was also a member of the Story Department, had unwittingly brought about that sad end. While every other member of the Department wore a kind of uniform — khadi dhoti with a slightly oversized and clumsily tailored white khadi shirt — the legal adviser wore pants and a tie and sometimes a coat that looked like a coat of mail. Often, he looked alone and helpless … |
(i) Select the option that completes the given sentence appropriately. (1)
‘Stages of worldly experience’ in the given context would refer to ______
- good education to gain knowledge.
- situations that require one to be street smart.
- smaller, not so important roles in acting.
- training in soft skills.
(ii) Select the suitable word from the extract to complete the following analogy: (1)
sealed: closed :: propelled: ______.
(iii) Select the correct option to fill in the blank. (1)
The harm done to the actress was a/an ______
- well-planned act.
- unintentional act.
- act of jealousy.
- act of male dominance.
(iv) Based on the above extract, choose the statement that is TRUE for the legal adviser. (1)
- He disliked the actress from the countryside.
- He acted after thinking through things carefully.
- He did not gel well with others in the Department.
- He was always dressed smartly.
(v) Identify the textual clue that allows the reader to infer that the writer is sympathetic towards the professional fate of the actor. (1)
(vi) Complete the sentence with an appropriate explanation, as per the extract. (1)
The writer uses the word ‘uniform’ to refer to the outfits of the Department members because just like a uniform ______.
Concept: Poets and Pancakes
Both Bama and Zitkala-Sa experienced the harsh reality of discrimination in their childhood. Instead of letting it pull them down, they both found a way to overcome it. You wish to include a cameo* of both in your upcoming blog post.
As a part of the research, compare and contrast the experiences faced by the two and their response/s to these experiences, in 120-150 words.
Concept: We Too Are Human Beings
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
What does the story of Subbu's success in the film industry reveal about the importance of loyalty, creativity, and versatility in this field?
Concept: Poets and Pancakes
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
How can we say that the vadai packet incident reveals that the writer lacked the cognitive and emotional maturity required to understand the implications of untouchability?
Concept: We Too Are Human Beings
Answer the following question in about 120-150 words.
A grown up Zitkala-Sa, reflects on the incident about cutting of her long hair and is conflicted that she did not do enough to resist and surrendered easily. She also wonders if she could have tried something else to prevent the incident.
As the grown-up Zitkala-Sa, create a diary entry, expressing these thoughts and conclude by absolving yourself of any blame.
You may begin like this:
I find myself reflecting on an event that happened many years ago…
Concept: The Cutting of My Long Hair
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
What did Judewin tell the narrator? What was the effect?
Concept: The Cutting of My Long Hair
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
How did Zitkala-Sa try to save her long hair?
Concept: The Cutting of My Long Hair
Answer the following in 125-150 words:
What made the American publisher think that the novel, ‘The Name of the Rose’ won’t sell well in America? What actually happened? What was the secret of its success?
Concept: The Interview
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Concept: The Interview
Read the given extract to attempt the questions with reference to context.
| Some might make quite extravagant claims for it as being, in its highest form, a source of truth, and, in its practice, an art. Others, usually celebrities who see themselves as its victims, might despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or feel that it somehow diminishes them, just as in some primitive cultures it is believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then one is stealing that person’s soul. |
(i) What is the most likely reason some people consider the practice of interview to be an art? (1)
This could be because it requires-
- fluency of words.
- sensitive and careful handling.
- creativity and imagination.
- probing and focusing on details.
(ii) Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with its inference. (1)
Celebrities feel that an interview diminishes them.
(iii) On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below. (1)
(1) Celebrities don’t consent to be interviewed.
(2) Interviews intrude the privacy of celebrities.
- (1) Can be inferred from the extract but (2) cannot.
- (1) cannot be inferred from the extract but (2) can.
- (1) is true but (2) is false.
- (2) is the reason for (1).
(iv) Rationalise, to support the given opinion: (1)
To say that an interview, in its highest form, is a source of truth, is an extravagant claim.
(v) Replace the underlined word with its antonym from the extract. (1)
Some celebrities hate the idea of having to give an interview because it makes them feel like supporters.
(vi) The author’s views on interview, in the extract, can best be described as statements based on ______. (1)
- facts
- hypothesis
- beliefs
- superstitions
Concept: The Interview
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
Umberto Eco, with reference to "The Name of the Rose" says, “I think if I had written The Name of the Rose ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same.” What could he have meant?
Concept: The Interview
Why did Jansie not approve of Sophie’s dream ?
Concept: Going Places
Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
Concept: Going Places
Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Concept: My Mother at Sixty-six
State the common issue faced by most of the aged in the current times, with reference to the poem My Mother at Sixty-six.
Concept: My Mother at Sixty-six
Read the given extract and answer the questions.
| …I looked again at her, wan, pale as a late winter’s moon and felt that old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear, but all I said was, see you soon, Amma, all I did was smile and smile and smile...... |
- What is the speaker's emotional state when looking at her mother? (1)
- Confused and disoriented
- Nostalgic and longing
- Empathetic and understanding
- Fearful and apprehensive
- What does the use of the word "but" at the beginning of the line, ‘but all I said..’, suggest? (1)
- Select the word that WILL NOT complete the sentence appropriately. (1)
The description of the mother as "wan, pale/as a late winter's moon" creates a vivid image of ______.- vulnerability
- sensitivity
- frailty
- mortality
- State whether the given statement is TRUE or FALSE. (1)
The poetic device used in the line, ‘pale as a winter’s moon’ is the same as the one used in the line, ‘the winter wind wistfully wailed at night’. - What message do these lines highlight, in the context of familial relationships, and the speaker’s sense of anxiety and fear at the prospect of losing her mother? (1)
- Complete the sentence appropriately. (1)
The repetition of the word, ‘smile’ suggests that ______.
Concept: My Mother at Sixty-six
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
(a) Whom does the word ‘those’ refer to?
(b) What does the poet mean by : ‘put on clean clothes’?
(c) Describe the irony in the third line.
(d) When can a person walk about with ‘their’ brothers?
Concept: Keeping Quiet
Give two reasons why, according to Pablo Neruda, is ‘keeping quiet’ essential to attaining a better, more peaceful world.
Concept: Keeping Quiet
Answer the following question in about 120-150 words.
Imagine you are Pablo Neruda, the poet of Keeping Quiet.
What advice might you offer to Robert Frost, the poet of A Roadside Stand, in the context of his conflicted emotions, as displayed in the given lines-
| The requisite lift of spirit has never been found, Or so the voice of the country seems to complain, I can’t help owning the great relief it would be To put these people at one stroke out of their pain. |
Pen down your advice, in a letter to Frost.
You may begin this way:
Dear Robert
I recently read your poem, "A Roadside Stand," and...
You may end this way:
I hope this advice is helpful to you. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to support you.
Warmly,
Pablo Neruda
Concept: Keeping Quiet
