Second Set for English (H/PG)

1. ‘He is called by thy name, / For he calls himself a lamb.’—Where are these lines taken from? Briefly comment on these lines.
These lines are taken from Blake’s The Lamb.
These lines convey a tone of Christian theology. Christ is at once God and man and he is called by the name of the lamb as an emblem of his meek and mild nature.

2. ‘These beauteous forms / Through a long absence, have not been to me / As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye.’—Explain the above lines.
In these lines from Tintern Abbey, the poet says that the beautiful scenes and objects—the murmuring Wye, the lonely wooded hills, orchard, the hedge-rows running wild once viewed and enjoyed by himself had never been absent from his mind. They left a lasting impression on the poet’s mind.

3. ‘Behold! Her bosom, and half her side-- / A sight to dream of, not to tell!’—Where are these lines taken from? Who is the person referred here? What does the poet mean by ‘a sight to dream of, not to tell’?
These lines are taken from Coleridge’s long narrative poem, Christabel.
Geraldine, the demon-woman is referred here.
The naked breast and a side of Geraldine’s body were so unearthly that they beggared description. The poet thinks that this sight is like a nightmare seen in a dream and not a matter to describe.

4. ‘Like an unbodied joy whose race is just began.’—Who is called ‘an unbodied joy’ and why?
In Shelley’s To a Skylark, the skylark is called ‘an unbodied joy’.
The skylark soars high up in the sky and pours forth a shower of melody. It seems hardly a bird of flesh and blood. To the poet’s imagination, the bird is a bodiless spirit of joy, a thing of abstract beauty.

5. ‘Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget / What thou among the leaves hast never known,’—Explain the quoted lines.
Here, in the quoted lines from Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale, the poet displays his deep desire to escape the sorrows and sufferings of this world. The song of the nightingale reminds the poet of the unhappy state of affairs in the world. But the bird itself is quite unaware of the misery and anxiety of the world.

6. ‘Life piled on life / Were all too little, and of one to me / Little remains:’—Who is the speaker? What does the speaker mean to say?
The speaker is Ulysses, the legendary king of Ithaca.
Human life is very short and Ulysses has only a few more years to live. He would make the best use of this remnant of life left to him. Even if he would have possessed a number of lives he would not be able to reach the goal of his life.

7. Consider 'The Rape of the Lock' as a mock heroic poem.
The Rape of the Lock is an appropriate example of mock-heroic epic in English literature. Here Pope uses an absurd trifling subject—the theft of Belinda’s lock of hair, and treats it in a serious manner as it is done in an epic. Naturally it produces a humorous satiric effect.

8. ‘Where can we find two better hemispheres / Without sharp North, without declining West’—What are referred to as ‘hemispheres’? What does the poet mean by ‘sharp North’ and ‘declining West’?
The face of each of the lovers has been referred to by the word ‘hemispheres’.
The expression ‘sharp North’ means the cold north winds and ‘declining West’ means the western horizon where the sun declines. It seems to suggest that the physical world and the world created by the lovers are poles apart.

9. ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’—Explain the quoted line.
This is the opening line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. XVIII. Here the question implies that the beauty of the poet’s friend cannot be best described by comparing it with the beauty of a summer’s day. ‘Thee’ in the quoted line refers to the young man, of high birth and beauty, who was the poet’s friend and patron.

10. ‘But though the whole world turn to coal / Then chiefly lives’—What chiefly lives? What does the poet mean by this expression? What comparison is implicit here?
Herbert in his poem Virtue asserts that only soul ‘chiefly lives’.
By ‘chiefly lives’ the poet means that the soul lives after death.
The implicit comparison suggested here is that the soul is like a seasoned timber which cannot be burnt and changed into coal.

First Set of English (Pass)

A Set of Model Question & Answer
English (Pass)

1. ‘The Comic Muse, long sick, is now-a-dying!’—Who is the speaker? What does the speaker mean by this line?
The speaker is Mr. Woodward in Prologue to 'She Stoops to Conquer'.
By this line the speaker portrays the dying condition of the genuine comedy. The sentimental comedy was in vogue in that time and it marked the death of true comedy.

2. “I shall be struck up in caricature in all the printshops.”—Who says this? Why does the speaker say so?
Marlow says this in Act-IV of 'She Stoops to Conquer'.
When Marlow comes to know that he is staying in the house of Mr. Hardcastle, the former feels morally ashamed for his insolent behavior with Mr. Hardcastle. So he thinks that he will be printed as a fool and his picture will be sold in every shop.

3. “If pity is akin to love, gratitude is akin to the other thing.”—Who says this? Why is gratitude akin to the other thing?
Captain Bluntschli says this in Act-III of 'Arms and the Man'.
According to Captain Bluntschli, gratitude is akin to the other thing, i.e. hatred. He hates gratitude, for gratitude springs out of a sense of inferiority and is kindred to hatred.

4. “She will never marry you.”—Who says this and to whom? Who is referred to by ‘she’? How is the speaker so confident in the assertion?
Louka says this to Sergius in 'Arms and the Man'.
Raina is referred to by ‘she’.
Louka is quite intelligent and has the instinct to know things correctly. So she thinks that Raina will not marry Sergius.

5. What punishment did the court of justice give to Falder and why?
Falder was sentenced to penal servitude for three years.
The court of justice—the judge and the jury—did not agree with the argument of Falder’s defence counsel, Hector Frome. Falder’s forgery by altering the cheque and his relation with a married woman, Ruth were immoral in its eyes. Hence Falder was unanimously found guilty.

6. What impression of Cokeson do you get from Galsworthy’s play, 'Justice'?
Cokeson is the managing clerk in a solicitor’s office. He is honest and devoted to his duty. He is a devout puritan, plain, disciplined and law-abiding by nature. But he is rather meek in his protests and not of an assertive type.

7. How is the bicycle related to the story, 'The Ox'?
The bicycle of Mrs. Thurlow became an integral part of her life. We cannot think of Mrs. Thurlow or the story itself without the presence of the bicycle. She used to move around a lot with the bicycle and would go up and down with it. It was, as if, the cart of ox-like Mrs. Thurlow.

8. What do you know about Mrs. Field of Lamb’s essay, 'Dream Children: A Reverie'?
Mrs. Field was a woman of pleasing personality. She was very much respected by others. She was a religious person and knew much of the Bible by heart. She was also very popular in her area.

9. Rectify the following sentences:--
i) She, who had been the apple of his eye, he now began to disregard.
ii) I have ordered for the newly published book.
i) Her, who had been the apple of his eye, he now began to disregard.
ii) I have ordered the newly published book.

10. Rewrite the following sentences using suitable prepositions in the blanks:--
i) She produced evidence to bear ____ the charge.
ii) The old car gives ____ smoke.
iii) He has run ____ debt.
iv) Over-work is telling ____ his health.
i) She produces evidence to bear out the charge.
ii) The old car gives off smoke.
iii) He has run into debt.
iv) Over-work is telling upon his health.