Dr.

DASARATHAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, COIMBATORE – 17

(Affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi)

FIRST 1OO% EXAMINATION - DECEMBER 2024

Name: _____________ ENGLISH LITERATURE Marks: 80
Class: VIII ____ Date: 31.12.2024 Time: 2hours

• The paper has four sections.

• Section A is compulsory- All questions in Section A must be answered.
• You must attempt one question from each of the Sections B, C and D and one other question from any
Section of your choice.
Section A
(Attempt all questions from this Section.)
Question 1 Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options.
(Do not copy the questions, Write only the correct answers only.) [16]
1) “Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. “Who says this line and why?
a) Brutus, because he fears that their plans will be discovered.
(b) Cassius, because he fears that their plans will be discovered.
(c) Brutus, because he wants to prevent the assassination.
(d) Cassius, because he wants to prevent the assassination.
(2) Which of the following is NOT true about Antony’s speech?
(a) It sways the crowd against the conspirators.
(b) It praises Caesar’s achievements.
(c) It condemns Brutus as an honourable man.
(d) It reveals Caesar’s will to the crowd.
3) Statement 1: Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus review a list of names. Statement 2: they plan to examine
Caesar’s will.
Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements 1 and 2.
(a) 1 is the cause for 2.
(b) 1 is an example of 2.
(c) 1 is independent of 2.
(d) 1 is a contradiction of 2.
4) Who is seen as a messenger bringing word that Cassius is approaching in act 4 scene 2?
(a) Brutus
(b) Lucilius
(c) Pindarus
(d) Titinius
5) What is the significance of Portia’s death?
(a) It symbolizes the personal cost of the political schemes in Rome.
(b) It shows that Portia is weak.
(c) It proves that Brutus was right to kill Caesar.
(d) It indicates that Portia was a traitor.
6) Why does Brutus send Messala with orders for Cassius's forces in the midst of battle?
(a) Because he wants to retreat from the battle.
(b) Because he sees Octavius's forces are vulnerable.
(c) Because he wants to form an alliance with Antony's troops.
(d) Because he intends to betray Cassius.
7) From the story, ‘With the Photographer’ when the photographer made unpleasant comments about
Leacock’s face, Leacock experiences:
i. anger ii.surprise iii.sadness iv.humiliation
 (a) (i) and (ii)
(b) (ii) and (iii)
(c) (iii) and (iv)
(d) (i) and (iv)
8) Choose the correct option that lists the sequence of events in the correct order as mentioned in the
story, ‘The Girl Who Can’: -
a) 1.You don’t know what life is all about and the problems of this life.
b) 2.All my friends have legs that look like legs.
c) 3.The first topic that I met was my legs.
d) 4.If those legs had meat on them or not that I don’t know.
(a) 1234
(b) 2413
(c) 1324
(d) 3142
9) From the story, ‘The Elevator’, the father deciding to get down on the 9th floor brings about:
(a) an eerie effect
(b) a twist in the story
(c) the ending of the story
(d) a cliff hanger moment
10) The story, ‘The Pedestrian’ envisages a state where things are not happening in the right way. What
is this type of narration known as?
(a) Pessimistic
(b) Dystopian
(c) Cynical
(d) Utopian
11) Who was reading the bulletin board in the story, ‘The Last Lesson’?
(a) Wachter, the blacksmith
(b) The mayor
(c) M. Hamel
(d) Hauser
12) Longfellow’s portrayal of the ghost in the poem, ‘Haunted Houses’ is:
(a) Traditional
(b) Unusual
(c) Unpredictable
(d) Unimaginative
13) Identify a phrase from the poem ‘The Glove and the Lion’ that uses a similar figure of speech as
‘horrid laughing jaws’.
(a) rampaged and roared
(b) leap was quick, return was quick
(c) threw the glove, but not with love
(d) they bit, they glared
14) Which of the following reactions is NOT mentioned in the poem When Great Trees Fall’?
(a) rocks shuddering
(b) welkin weeping
(c) elephants lumbering
(d) air getting rarified
15) Which of the following idioms can be closest from the story, ‘The Power of Music’ to the following
lines: “The strains of song are tossed and whirled by blast of brutal violence, and Bhishma Lochan grants
the world the golden gift of silence.”

(a) Tit for tat

(b) After the storm comes the calm
(c) Calm before the storm
(d) Man proposes God disposes
16)‘No one can know how glad I am to find On any sheet the least display of mind’ Explain this line from
the poem ‘A Considerable Speck’.
(a) Intelligence can be found anywhere.
(b) One has to respect every form of life.
(c) No one displays intelligence.
(d) No one cares about intelligence.
Section B
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
DRAMA(Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)
Question 2 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.
(i) Who is the speaker of the given lines? Where is he at this moment? What is the context of the above lines?[3]
(ii) The speaker subtly expresses doubt about the conspirator’s intentions. What are those intentions? What
request does he mention about ‘that specific hour’ being fit to satisfy those intentions? [3]
(iii) What reason does Brutus give for not granting the speaker’s wish?How does he justify to the speaker the
reasons for their act? What does the speaker do to show his act of friendship? [3]
(iv)What is the second request made by the speaker? What character traits do you assess of the speaker? Justify
with reference to the scene. [3]
(v) The speaker curses the outcome of the conspiracy and prophecies doom for Rome. What specific threats
does the speaker anticipate and how does his speech contribute to making them a reality? [4]
Question 3 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
Remember March, the ides of March remember:
Did not great Julius bleed for justice’ sake?
(i) Who is the speaker of the above lines? Whom is the speaker addressing? Where is the conversation taking
place? [3]
(ii) What do the above words reveal about the speaker’s motives for assassinating Caesar? What are his views
about justice? How does this speech set the tone for the rest of the scene? [3]
(iii) In the line, “I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, than such a Roman”, what does the speaker’s
comparison of himself to a dog signify? How does this reflect his feelings towards the corruption he perceives
in Rome? [3]
(iv) How does the listener boast about himself following the speaker's explanation? How does this contribute
to the escalating tension between them? [3]
(v) How do the following events in Act IV scene 3 set the stage for the climax: [4]
• The argument between the speaker and the listener.
• The appearance of Caesar’s ghost.
• The decision to march to Philippi.
Section C
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
PROSE – SHORT STORIES
Question 4 Read the extract from Alma ata Aidoo’s short story, ‘The Girl
Who Can’ given below and answer the questions that follow: [16]
And my problem is that at these seven years of age, there are things I
can think in my head, but which, maybe, I do not have the proper
language to speak them out with.
(i) Who is the narrator? What problem does the narrator face? What are the consequences of this problem? [3]
(ii) What struggles does the narrator face to put forth her point to the grandmother? Which sentence would her
grandmother repeat to her every time? What would the grandmother end up doing? [3]
(iii) According to Nana, what was wrong with narrator’s legs? How did narrator's mother try to defend the
narrator? How does Nana’s perspective change? [3]
(iv) Describing the setting of the story. Explain the relationship of Nana with the narrator and the narrator’s
mother. [3]
(v) How does the author throw light on the mentality of the women in the Pre-Colonial society? Write the
character traits of Nana giving valid references from the text. [4]
Question 5 Read the extract from Ray Bradbury’s short story, ‘The Pedestrian’ given below and answer
the questions that follow: [16]
He would stand upon the corner of an intersection and peer down
long moonlit avenues of sidewalk in four directions, deciding which
way to go, but it really made no difference.
(i) Whom does the word ‘he’ refer to? Where does the story take place and at what time of day and in which
month does it take place? [3]
(ii) What direction did the character take on this particular evening? Describe the atmosphere and its effect on
the lone walker. [3]
(iii) What did he ask the lonely looking houses? What is the implication of these questions? [3]
(iv) What happens to him when he starts to turn towards his home? Why was his behaviour considered
threatening? What does his brightly lit house convey? [3]
(v) Explaining the theme of a dystopian world with valid references used by the writer in the story, what kind
of life does the protagonist hint at? [4]
Section D- POETRY
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
Question 6 Read the following extract from the poem ‘When Great Trees Fall’ by Maya Angelou and
answer the questions that follow: [16]
We breathe briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
(i) What is said about the air around us as we hear the news of the death of inspirational souls? What happens
to our eyes and vision? [3]
(ii) What regrets are mentioned in the poem? Why do they keep gnawing? [3]
(iii) Mention the repercussions felt by the features and creatures of nature at the fall of great trees. Explain them
and their reaction. [3]
(iv) Describe the effect on people when ‘great souls die’, as portrayed in the poem. What emotions are impacted
after the death of the ‘great souls’ [3]
(v) ‘Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration.’ What is the 'electric vibration' mentioned in the above
line? By explaining two themes of the poem, what profound message does the poet aim to convey to the readers?
[4]
Question 7 Read the following extract from the poem ‘The Power of Music’by Sukumar Ray and answer
the questions that follow: [16]
They’re trampled in the panic route or languish
pale and sickly.
(i) Whom does ‘they’ refer to in the extract? What happens to them and what do they plead? [3]
(ii) What are the animals referred to? What is Bhisma's reaction ? What kind of people does he represent? [3]
(iii) What word does the poet use to describe the sky a little later? How according to the poet do the birds react?
What happens to the mansions? [3]
(iv) Which figurative technique is used to bring out the excessive effect of loud music? Whose entry is
mentioned in the extract? What does this creature do? [3]
(v) What is the after effect of the creature’s entry? Comment on the theme of the poem. [4]