ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2015

Getting the English Literature past years papers is easy for students but getting the answers of those papers is quite difficult. Due to this, most of the students were not able to evaluate their exam performance and could not find out how much they are prepared to face the English Literature Board exam. So, to help them, we have provided the ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2015. The solution pdf contains the answers to every question explained in a well manner for easy understanding.

The ICSE Class 10 English 2015 Paper 2 was of 2 hours of time duration. The link for downloading the ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2015 PDF is provided below.

Students can have a look at the ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2015 below:

Topics Found Confusing and Difficult in English Literature 2015 Question Paper

Students can have a look at the difficult and confusing topics of 2015 English Language paper 2.

• Question 1: Students were confused and failed to give specific answers as the answers to the questions were point specific and required detailed study.-
• Question 2 (v): Students were confused – Portia’s verdict in the Trial Scene, the way in which Antonio distributed Shylock’s property.
• Question 5 (iii): Students were unable to identify the sound and the manner in which the bell sank under water.
• Question 6 (ii): Students were confused between the things ground by the maidens with those which were weighed by the vendors.
• Question 8: The various clauses of the agreement were not clear to the pupil’s mind.
• Different events that happened in the years of the prisoner’s life in solitary confinement were mismatched. The candidates found it difficult to retain the facts.

ICSE Class 10 English Literature (Paper 2) Question Paper 2015 With Solution

Question 1: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Portia: ……But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word “choose”! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

(i) What test had Portia’s father devised for her suitors? What oath did the suitors have to take before making their choice?

(ii) Who is Nerissa? What does she say to cheer up Portia?

(iii) Why does Portia disapprove of the County Palatine? Whom would she rather marry?

(iv) How, according to Portia, can the Duke of Saxony’s nephew be made to choose the wrong casket? What do these suitors ultimately decide? Why?

(v) Whom does Portia ultimately marry? Who were the two other suitors who took the test? Why, in your opinion, is the person whom she marries worthy of her?

Answer:

(i) Portia’s father had devised a lottery / by which she would marry the suitor who chose correctly from three caskets / made of gold, silver and lead.

If the suitors chose the wrong casket they took an oath not to marry anyone else.

(ii) Maid / attendant / lady in waiting

She says that Portia’s father was virtuous / Holy men have divine guidance on their deathbeds / That is why he devised the lottery of the three caskets / The right casket will no doubt be chosen by the one whom Portia will love.

(iii) He does nothing but frown / The expression on his face says, “If you do not marry me, choose anyone, I do not care” / He doesn’t smile when he hears amusing stories / He will become like the weeping philosopher when he grows old / He is so full of unpleasant sadness in his youth.

Portia would rather marry a death’s head (skull) with a bone in his mouth.

(iv) If a deep glass of Rhenish wine is kept on the wrong casket the young German will choose that.

The suitors decided to return to their homes / and not trouble Portia with requests to marry

They did not wish to risk the penalty of choosing the wrong casket.

(v)

• Bassanio
• Prince of Morocco and Prince of Arragon.
• He truly loved her / he chose the right casket / he was not swayed by external appearances / he was truthful and did not hide his true financial situation from Portia / Portia loved him.

Question 2: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Duke : What, is Antonio here?

Antonio : Ready, so please your grace.

Duke : I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer

A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch

Uncapable of pity, void and empty

From any dram of mercy.

(i) What are the terms of the bond that Antonio has signed?

(ii) Why does the Duke call Shylock ‘inhuman’? What does the Duke expect Shylock to do?

(iii) What reason does Shylock give for choosing rotten flesh over money? What are the things hated by some people?

(iv) State three examples Antonio gives to illustrate Shylock’s stubborn attitude.

(v) How is Shylock’s property distributed at the end by Antonio?

Do you think Shylock deserves the punishment given to him?

Give a reason to justify your answer.

Answer:

(i) If three thousand ducats /are not paid in three months/ Antonio will have to pay the penalty of having exactly one pound of flesh cut off and taken from whichever part of Antonio’s body that pleases Shylock.

(ii) Shylock is insisting on extracting the penalty specified in the bond./He wants to kill Antonio.

The Duke expects Shylock to show mercy at the last moment/ not only will he let go of the penalty / but also forgive half the original money lent to Antonio / the Duke expects a gentle answer from Shylock.

(iii) It is his humour (fancy, desire, whim)/He hates Antonio (bears a loathing)

Antonio is like a rat in his house. He will pay ten thousand ducats to have the rat poisoned.

There are people who do not like a gaping pig,

Some get mad when they see a cat,

Some cannot tolerate the shrill notes of a bagpipe.

(iv) We cannot expect the high tide of the ocean to reduce its height / ask the wolf why he made the ewe cry for its lamb / you may forbid the mountain pines from waving their high tops / and make no noise when they are shaken by gusts of wind / it is easier to do something as difficult as these than try and soften a Jew’s hard heart.

(v) Antonio requests the Duke to forgive the fine that is equal to one half of his wealth

(let him keep half of his wealth) / Antonio will keep the other half in trust and hand it over to Lorenzo after Shylock’s death /Shylock will have to make a will that all his wealth and property will be inherited by his son-in-law Lorenzo and daughter Jessica.

• Yes / No
• Personal response

Question 3: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Lady Adela : Oh! Charlie, he did look so exactly as if he’d sold me a carpet when I was paying him

Winsor : [changing into slippers] His father did sell carpets, wholesale, in the City.

Lady Adela : Really? And you say I haven’t intuition! [With a finger on her lips] Morison’s in there.

Winsor : [Motioning towards the door, which she shuts] Ronny Dancy took a tenner off him, anyway, before dinner.

(i) How did Dancy take a ‘tenner’ from De Levis?

How does De Levis later connect this trick with the theft?

(ii) Why, according to Lady Adela, did Dancy leave the army?

Why does she call him reckless?

(iii) Where had De Levis kept the money which was stolen? Where had he gone after keeping the money? How much did he lose?

(iv) Why is Winsor outraged when De Levis says he had locked his door? What was the height of the room from the ground? How do they know that the thief did not use a ladder to climb up to De Levis’ room?

(v) How does General Canynge react when De Levis first accuses Dancy of committing the theft? What is your opinion of De Levis?

Give one reason to justify your answer.

Answer:

(i)

• Dancy took a standing jump on a book case four feet high.
• De Levis tells Canynge that they had seen how Dancy can jump. / The distance between Dancy’s balcony and his was only seven feet. / If a man can take a standing jump on a narrow book case, he’d make nothing of that.

(ii)

• Dancy found the army too dull, since there was no fighting.
• Dancy was reckless because he got married / even though he had no money or a job. ( he was on his bones )

(iii)

• Under the pillow
• To have a bath
• Nearly a thousand – nine hundred and seventy pounds.

(iv)

• He feels outraged that such precaution should be taken in his house / resents the lack of trust.
• Twenty-three feet from the terrace.
• The ladder was not moved from the stable. / there were no marks on the ground.

(v)

• Canynge defends Dancy. / Says Dancy is a soldier and a gentleman / It is an outrageous accusation / De Levis must withdraw unreservedly.
• Personal response.

Question 4: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Mabel : Oh! Why didn’t I face it? But I couldn’t- I had to believe.

Dancy : And now you can’t. It’s the end, Mabel.

Mabel : [Looking up at him] No.

Dancy : Forgive me!

Mable : [Putting her hand on his head] Yes; oh, yes! I think I’ve known a long time, really. Only – why? What made you?

(i) How does Dancy respond to Mabel’s question?

(ii) What makes Dancy say ‘that’s not in human nature’ a little later?

(iii) Why does Inspector Dede arrive at Dancy’s house?

How does Mabel try to stall him?

(iv) To whom was Dancy’s suicide note addressed? What had he written in it?

(v) What does Margaret mean when she says that keeping faith is ‘not enough’ and ‘we’ve all done that’?

What, in your opinion, should his friends have done?

Answer:

(i) He was only looting a looter. / The money was as much Dancy’s / a decent person would have offered him half / De Levis had a contemptuous look on his face / this made Dancy angry / He is proud of the jump / nothing in the war took such nerve.

(ii) Mabel says she will go on loving him / If Dancy goes to prison she will wait / She doesn’t care what he did / She will be the same when he comes back to her.

(iii)

• To arrest Dancy.
• Asks him to come back in half an hour. / Two lives are at stake / they have only been married four months.

(iv)

• Major Colford
• This is the only decent thing he can do. / It is unfair to Mabel. / It is only another jump. / A pistol keeps faith

(v)

• Comments satirically on Dancy’s observation that only a pistol keeps faith / everybody stood by Dancy / supported him even though he had committed the theft / it was not enough to protect his honour / or save his life.
• Personal response.

Question 5: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen

A darker speck on the ocean green;

Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,

And fix’d his eye on the darker speck.

(The Inchcape Rock: Robert Southey)

(i) Contrast the weather when Sir Ralph the Rover passed the Inchcape Rock the first time with the weather when he returned to the place.

(ii) Why had the Abbot of Aberbrothok hung a bell on the Inchcape Rock?

(iii) Why did Sir Ralph cut the bell from the Inchcape Rock? Describe the manner in which it sank underwater.

(iv) What did Sir Ralph say to reassure his men when it became very dark? What opinion did one of the sailors have about their location? What did they all wish for?

(v) How did the ship sink? What sound did Sir Ralph imagine he could hear in his dying moments? What is the message of the poem?

Answer:

(i)

• The air was still/ the sea was calm/ the sun was shining brightly
• A thick fog (haze) covered the surroundings / it was dark / the sun could not be seen / the whole day strong winds had been blowing / the storm died down by the evening.

(ii) When the sea was calm the waves flowed gently and did not move the bell. / When there was a storm the bell floated and rang / warned the sailors of the presence of the Inchcape Rock. / When the rock was hidden by the waves the Mariners heard the warning bell / they knew then the location of the dangerous rock /and were saved from crashing into it.

(iii)

• Sir Ralph was jealous of the Abbot’s popularity. / He wanted to undo the good deed done by him. / He said, “The next who comes to the rock, will not bless the Abbot.”
• The bell sank with a gurgling sound.
• The bubbles rose and burst around.

(iv)

• Sir Ralph told them that there would be light soon/ because the moon was going to rise.
• The sailor thought they were near the shore
• They wished they could hear the Inchcape Bell

(v)

• The ship struck against the Inchcape Rock and sank
• Sir Ralph could hear the dreadful sound of the ringing of the Inchcape bell / as if the Devil was ringing his funeral bell
• As you sow, so shall you reap./ Punishment follows a criminal act.

Question 6: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

What do you call, O ye pedlars?

Chessmen and ivory dice.

What do you make, O ye goldsmiths?

Wristlet and anklet and ring, … .

(In the Bazaars of Hyderabad: Sarojini Naidu)

(i) What all were being sold by the merchants?

(ii) What is being ground by the maidens? Which items are the vendors weighing?

(iii) Describe the bells that the goldsmiths are crafting for blue pigeons?

What do the goldsmiths make for the dancers and the king?

(iv) Which instruments are the musicians playing? What are the magicians doing?

(v) Mention the happy as well as the sad occasions for which the flower girls are weaving flowers. Write one reason why the poem has appealed to you.

Answer:

(i) Crimson and silver turbans / tunics of purple brocade / mirrors with panels of amber / daggers with handles of jade

(ii)

• The maidens are grinding sandalwood/ henna/spice
• The vendors are weighing saffron/ lentil/ rice

(iii)

• Frail (delicate, light) as a dragon fly’s wing.
• The goldsmiths are making girdles (belts) for dancers
• Scabbards for the king

(iv)

• The musicians are playing sitar / sarangi / drum
• The magicians are chanting spells for aeons to come / spells that will remain potent for ages

(v)

• The flower girls are weaving garlands of blue and red flowers / They are making crowns to be worn by a bridegroom / garlands to decorate his marriage bed.
• They are making sheets of white flowers to perfume the sleep of the dead /.
• Personal response.

Question 7: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Baldeo, the watchman, was awake. He stretched himself, slowly unwinding the heavy shawl that covered him like a shroud. It was close on midnight and the chill air made him shiver. The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was a station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains only slowed down before taking the sharp curve before the cutting.

(i) What were Baldeo’s duties as a watchman?

What question did his son ask him before he left for his nightly errand?

(ii) Describe the axe that Baldeo carried with him. Who had made the axe?

(iii) Which sound made Baldeo realise that the tiger was close by?

Why was he worried that the tiger may be going in the opposite direction? Why didn’t the tiger fear the man?

(iv) Give an account of the encounter between Baldeo and the tiger.

(v) How did the tiger die? Point out a similarity in the characters of Baldeo and his son Tembu. Give an example for each to justify your answer.

Answer:

(i)

• Baldeo was responsible for signalling whether the tunnel was clear of obstruction / at night it was his duty to see that the lamp was burning / and that the train passed through safely.
• Tembu asked him if he should accompany his father.

(ii)

• Small axe / fragile to look at / but deadly when in use. / the axe head was made of pure steel / thin but ringing true like a bell.
• His father

(iii)

• A low grunt (growl; snarl) from the top of the cutting.
• His son Tembu was sleeping unprotected in the hut.
• It had been preying on men for years. / It was used to the ways of men. /Baldeo was a puny man.

(iv) The tiger ran towards him and struck him with his paw / Baldeo avoided the paw / he brought his axe down on the tiger’s shoulder / the tiger attempted to close in / Baldeo struck again with his axe / the beast moved and the axe caught the tiger on the shoulder / the axe remained struck in the bone / Baldeo was left without a weapon / the tiger sprang upon Baldeo / killed him.

(v) The tiger had been wounded and he was in agony (pain) / he did not notice the overland mail approaching / the train entered the cutting / the tiger tried to run but was run over by the train in the tunnel.

• Both were courageous / sense of duty and responsibility
• Appropriate examples from the text.

Question 8: With close reference to the story ‘The Bet’ by Anton Chekhov, mention the clauses of the bet as laid down between the young lawyer and the old banker. Give an account of the events that follow the bet.

Answer:

The old banker argued that the death penalty is more moral and humane than imprisonment for life. The young lawyer said he would choose imprisonment over death.

The old banker bet two million that the young lawyer would not be able to stay in solitary confinement for five years. The lawyer himself raised the stake to fifteen years.

It was decided that the young man should spend the years of his captivity in one of the lodges in the banker’s garden. He would not see or even listen to another human being. He would not receive letters and newspapers. He was allowed to have a musical instrument, books, and was allowed to write letters, to drink wine and smoke. He could have what he wanted through a little window in the room. If he left his room even two minutes before the end the banker would not be obliged to pay him the two million.

During the first year of his confinement, the lawyer suffered from loneliness and depression. He played the piano, refused wine and tobacco. The first year he read light novels.

The second year he read classics. In the fifth year he played music and drank wine. He could be heard crying. During the sixth year the prisoner began studying languages, philosophy and history. In four years he read six hundred volumes. He learnt six languages. After the tenth year he read nothing but the Bible. In the last two years he read a large number of books.

In those fifteen years the Banker’s financial situation had changed. Gambling and reckless speculations had lead to the decline of his fortune. In paying two million to the lawyer he would be left completely bankrupt. He decided to kill the lawyer. He broke the seals off the door and entered the room.

The lawyer was sitting motionless. He looked emaciated and old. The banker thought of stifling him to death. He picked up a page that the lawyer had written and began reading. The lawyer had written that he despised freedom, life, health and all the good things of the world. He had experienced earthly life through the books he read. He realised that he despised all the blessings of the world. Everything is worthless, fleeting and illusory. Death will wipe everyone off the face of the earth.

He renounced the two million and to deprive himself of the money he decided to leave five hours before the end of the time.

The Banker felt great contempt for himself. He went out of the lodge weeping.

The next morning the watchmen informed the Banker that the prisoner had escaped from the lodge. He took the letter where the lawyer had renounced the millions and kept it in a fireproof safe.

Question 9: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

….. Once again Clover and Benjamin warned him to take care of his health, but Boxer paid no attention. His twelfth birthday was approaching. He did not care what happened so long as a good store of stone was accumulated before he went on pension.

Late one evening, in the summer, a sudden rumour ran round the farm that something had happened to Boxer. He had gone out alone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill. And sure enough, the rumour was true…. .

(i) In what condition did the animals find Boxer?

(ii) Why did the animals feel uneasy when Squealer told them that Boxer would be sent to a hospital at Willingdon for treatment?

How did Squealer reassure them?

(iii) How much longer did Boxer expect to live?

How did he plan to spend his remaining days?

(iv) What was written on the van that took Boxer away? What did Boxer do when he heard the screams of the animals?

(v) What was the new name given to Animal Farm by Napoleon?

What strange transformation did the animals notice on the faces of the pigs? What is the significance of this transformation

Answer:

(i) Boxer had fallen / he was lying on his side and could not get up / his neck was stretched out / he was unable to raise his head / his eyes were glazed / his sides were matted with sweat / a thin stream of blood had trickled out of his mouth

(ii)

• Except for Molly and Snowball no other animal had left the farm. / they did not like to think of their sick comrade in the hands of human beings.
• Squealer convinced them that the veterinary surgeon in Willingdon would treat Boxer better than anyone on the farm.

(iii)

• Boxer expected to live another three years
• He looked forward to peaceful days / he would live in the corner of the big pasture / he would have the leisure to study and improve his mind / he wanted to learn the remaining twenty two letters of the alphabet

(iv)

• Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler, Willingdon / Dealer in Hides and Bone – Meal. / Kennels Supplied
• He tried to kick his way out

(v)

• The Manor Farm
• The faces of the pigs were just like the human faces
• The pigs resembled the men against whom they had rebelled to set up the Animal Farm / Power had corrupted them / they were just like the humans

Question 10: Give an account of how lies were spread against Snowball after his expulsion, in order to paint him as a traitor.

Answer: Squealer declared that Snowball was no better than a criminal. Snowball’s part in the Battle of the Cowshed was exaggerated.

Building the windmill was Napoleon’s idea. The plan which Snowball had drawn on the floor had actually been stolen from among Napoleon’s papers.

Snowball had caused the windmill to fall in sheer malignity to avenge himself for his expulsion. The traitor had crept there under the cover of night and destroyed the windmill. Snowball had come from the direction of the Foxwood Farm.

It was declared that Snowball was secretly visiting the farm. Every night it was said, he visited the farm under cover of darkness and performed all kinds of mischief. He stole the corn, he upset the milk pails, he broke the eggs, he trampled the seed-beds, he gnawed the bark off the fruit trees. Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball. If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the stores-shed was lost the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well. Curiously enough they went on believing this even after the mislaid key was found under a sack of corn meal. The cows declared that Snowball crept into their sheds and milked them in their sleep. The rats were said to be in league with Snowball.

Napoleon snuffed the ground and said he could smell traces of Snowball almost everywhere.

Squealer called them together and reported a terrible thing. Snowball had sold himself to Frederick of Pinchfield Farm, and was plotting to attack the animals. Snowball was in league with Jones from the start! He was Jones’s secret agent all the time. During the battle of the Cowshed, Jones’s bullet had only grazed him. The plot was for Snowball, at the critical moment, to give the signal for flight, and leave the field to the enemy.

Four pigs who confessed to keeping in touch with Snowball were executed by the dogs. The hens who said Snowball had told them to rebel were also killed.

Question 11: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Each Friday morning the whole school spent the pre-recess period in writing their Weekly Review. This was one of the Old Man’s pet schemes; and one about which he would brook no interference. Each child would review the events of his school week in his own words, in his own way; he was free to comment, to criticise, to agree or disagree, with any person, subject or method, as long as it was in some way associated with the school …. .

(i) Why did Mr. Florian feel that the weekly review was of advantage to both pupil and teacher?

(ii) Why did Braithwaite feel both relief and disappointment at the first weekly review his students had written since he joined the school?

(iii) How was he given the silent treatment by his students?

(iv) What does Braithwaite term the second and more annoying phase of his relationship with his students? What did some students do to disrupt his class?

(v) Mention two qualities in Braithwaite’s character which help him to become a model teacher. Give suitable examples to illustrate your choice.

Answer:

(i) If the matter is important to the child he will write carefully and in detail / that will improve his written English / teachers get a good idea of what the children think of them / if the children did not enjoy a well prepared lesson, it will help the teacher to plan better

(ii) Very little attention was given to Braithwaite / they had mentioned they had a new black teacher / they were more concerned with failure of the radiogram during their dance session / and the success of some boys as representatives of the local club’s boxing team

(iii) They would do any task he set them / without interest or enthusiasm / they would sit and stare at Braithwaite / he would feel their eyes on him and look up to see them watching him

(iv)

• Noisy treatment
• Someone would lift the lid of a desk and let it fall with a loud bang
• Especially when he was reading or speaking to them.

(v)

• Patient / intelligent / loving and caring / hard working / innovative /sensitive/able to motivate his students
• Personal response.

Question 12: Which courtesies did Braithwaite ask his class to observe and how did the students react to these ‘new rules’? Describe the incident that brought about a change in Denham’s hostile attitude towards Braithwaite.

Answer: Braithwaite told his students they would be treated not as children but as young men and women. When Pamela Dare rushed in the class late he said that the right way to enter a room is in a controlled and dignified manner. Pamela did as she was told. She went out of the room and came back with grace and dignity. He told his students to address him as ‘Mr. Braithwaite’ or ‘Sir’. The young ladies should be addressed as ‘Miss’ and the young men will be addressed by their surnames.

When a student objected Braithwaite asked him if the young ladies did not deserve to be addressed as Miss.

The young ladies must show that they are worthy of the courtesies that the men will show them. He told the boys to be cleaner and tidier. There is nothing weak and unmanly about clean hands and faces and shoes that are brushed. A man who is strong and tough never needs to show it in his dress or the way he cuts his hair. Being the top class of the school they must set the standards for the rest of the school.

The students expressed their reactions in the Weekly Review. They commented on the new method of addressing each other. Some of the boys thought that it was silly to address the girls as Miss. Some girls thought that asking Mrs. Dale-Evans to talk to them about washing themselves and their clothing was unnecessary. In spite if these negative comments they were pleased to be treated like grownups.

Denham and his close friends remained hostile to Braithwaite. During the P.T. period Denham requested Braithwaite to have boxing first. He told them get into pairs. At the end only Denham remained unpaired. He asked Braithwaite to have a bout with him. Braithwaite refused but he could see disappointment and disgust on the faces of the students. He agreed and faced Denham. Denham was a good boxer and Braithwaite decided to dodge for a short while till he could stop it. Suddenly Denham hit him on his face. Braithwaite was angry now and he hit Denham. Denham doubled up and sank to the floor. He hurried to Denham and helped him. Gradually Denham’s attitude changed after this incident.

The ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper Solution 2015 must have helped students with their exam preparation. The answers in the Solution pdf have provided an in-depth to 2015 questions and the way answers to be written to score high marks in the board exam. Apart from the 2015 paper solution, students can find the answers to other papers of ICSE Class 10 Previous Years Questions by clicking here. Happy Learning and stay tuned to BYJU’S for the latest update on ICSE/CBSE/State Boards/Competitive exams. Also, don’t forget to download the BYJU’S App.