Core English Language

B.A. / B.Com. Programme

SAMPLE PAPER

Unique Paper Code:

Title of the paper: Language Through Literature

Semester: I / II

Maximum marks: 75 marks

Time: 3 hours

QUESTION PAPER FORMAT

Question I - Unseen Reading comprehension 15 marks

Question II – Grammar 10 marks

Question III – Unseen literary text (poetry/drama) 15 marks

Question IV – Unseen literary text (fiction) 15 marks

Question V – Composition (linked to Q. I / Q. II / Q. III) 2 x 10 marks

TOTAL: 75 marks

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 Model Question Paper

B.A. / B.Com. Programme, Sem I / II

Core English Language: Language Through Literature

Time: 3 hours Max. Marks: 75

All questions are compulsory

Q I. On the basis of your reading of the given passage, answer the questions below: (15 marks)

[passage to be 600 – 650 words in length]

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom
in the history of our nation…In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the
architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note
was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable
Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on
this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred
obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked
"insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient
funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that
will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time
to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to
make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of
racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's
children.…But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which
leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of
wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and
hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic
heights of meeting physical force with soul force…

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be
satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be
satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the
highways and the hotels of the cities. **We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from

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a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-
hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."** We cannot be satisfied as long as
a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream"…

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"…

(645 words, From ‘I Have A Dream’ by Dr Martin Luther King)

a. What is the form of the passage that you just read? Is it a Speech, a Confession, a Free Verse
Poem, or a Lecture? Give reasons for your answer. (1 m + 2 m = 3 m)

[Evaluation Rubric:

Identifying the correct form: 1 mark

Describing any 2 valid aspects of the passage that support the answer: 1 mark each ]

b. Who is the target audience for the given passage? Give reasons for your answer. (3 m)

[Evaluation Rubric:

Identifying the target audience of the passage accurately: 1 mark

Describing any 2 valid aspects of the passage that support the answer: 1 mark each ]

c. " It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of
color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro
people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds.""

i. What is the figure of speech being used in the above extract; is it a Metaphor, a Simile, an

Onomatopoeia, or an Alliteration? (1 m)

ii. Explain the meaning of the above extract. (2 m)

[Evaluation Rubric:

Accurate annotation of the imagery: 1 mark

Appropriate explanation of the metaphorical meaning of the extract: 1 mark]

d. Find synonyms for the following words in the given passage: (3 m)

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 a. Inadequate d. Chance

b. Sacred e. Tiredness

c. Duty f. Humid

[Evaluation Rubric:

Correct Answer: 0.5 mark per correct answer (0.5 X 6 = 3 marks) ]

e. What is Dr King's 'Dream'? (3 m)

[Evaluation Rubric:

Listing any one demand of Dr King: 1 mark

Identifying the basis for his demands and defining the dream: 2 marks ]

Q II A. Fill in the blanks with the given options. (5 marks)

Leeches ………1……… (are / is / have) segmented worms with suction cups at each end. Their
bodies ……..2……… (are / is / have) wider rather than thick. They……….3…….. (are / is /
have) usually dark colored, often brown and sometimes black or dark green. While some species
…….4…… (are / have / has) no markings, others have spots and stripes. Most leeches
………5…….. (are / have / were) found in shallow, slow-moving freshwater, but some
……….6…… (live / lives / lived) in the oceans. They ……….7……….. (search / searched / are
searching) for prey by following the scent of the animals they ………..8……….. (want / wanted
/ wants) to eat. Leeches ……..9……… (have / are / were) very poor vision but ……..10………
(are / were / have) very sensitive to touch.
[ Evaluation Rubric:

Students will have to fill up the blanks with the correct answer. All omissions are based on
the prescribed grammar topics listed in the syllabus document.

0.5 marks per correct answer x 10 = 5 marks ]

Q II B. Edit and rewrite the following passage to remove errors. There is an error in each of the

five parts of the passage. (5 marks)

a. The other day we discuss the setting up of a Debating Club in our school. b. We talked about
the club but how many students would be interested in it. c. When we began to talk about the
rules and regulations that would govern the club. d. They couldn’t reach an agreement and
began to argue. e. Finally, our English teacher had to be informed, and she came and said:
“Please fight like little children. Let’s have a mature discussion and come to a consensus.”
[ Evaluation Rubric:

Students will have to carefully read the passage, identify the errors, and then rewrite the entire
passage without rearranging the position of each part (a,b,c,d,e) within the whole. Only errors
must be rectified. All errors are based on the prescribed grammar topics listed in the
syllabus document.

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 For each correct answer: 1 mark (1* 5 = 5 marks) ]

Q III. On the basis of your reading of the given poem, answer the questions below: (15 marks)

[ Unseen poem /extract from dramatic text ( 600 – 650 words ) ]

Urban

The hills are always far away. [1]

He knows the broken roads, and moves

In circles tracked within his head.

Before he wakes and has his say,

The river which he claims he loves

Is dry, and all the winds lie dead.

At dawn he never sees the skies [2]

Which, silently, are born again.

Nor feels the shadows of the night

Recline their fingers on his eyes.

He welcomes neither sun nor rain.

His landscape has no depth or height.

The city like a passion burns. [3]

He dreams of morning walks, alone,

And floating on a wave of sand.

But still his mind its traffic turns

Away from beach and tree and stone

To kindred clamour close at hand.

– Nissim Ezekiel

a. Identify the tone of the speaker in stanza 1: (1 m)

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 i. angry ii. hopeful iii. comforting iv. hopeless

b. The most suitable meaning of 'Nor feels the shadows of the night / Recline their
fingers on his eyes' is : (1 m)

i. He cannot see shadows at night

ii. Night brings rest and sleep

iii. Nor does night bring any rest or respite

c. The poetic device used in 'But still his mind its traffic turns' is: (1 m)

i. Simile ii. Hyperbole iii. Metaphor iv. Personification

d. Describe the setting of this poem. (4 m)

e. Whom does 'He' refer to in this poem? Analyse the images used to characterise
‘him'. (4 m)

f. What, according to you, is the main theme of this poem? (4 m)

Q IV. On the basis of your reading of the short story extract given below, answer the

questions that follow. (15 marks)

[extract from unseen short story; to be of 600 – 650 words in length]

Alive, the foxes inhabited a world my father made for them. It was surrounded by a high guard
fence, like a medieval town, with a gate that was padlocked at night. Along the streets of this
town were ranged large, sturdy pens. Each of them had a real door that a man could go through,
a wooden ramp along the wire, for the foxes to run up and down on, and a kennel — sometimes
like a clothes chest with airholes — where they slept and stayed in winter and had their young.
There were feeding and watering dishes attached to the wire in such a way that they could be
emptied and cleaned from the outside. The dishes were made of old tin cans, and the ramps and
kennels of odds and ends of old lumber.

Everything was tidy and ingenious; my father was tirelessly inventive and his favourite book in
the world was Robinson Crusoe. He had fitted a tin drum on a wheelbarrow, for bringing water
down to the pens. This was my job in the summer, when the foxes had to have water twice a
day. Between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, and again after supper, I filled the drum at the
pump and trundled it down through the barnyard to the pens, where I parked it, and filled my
watering can and went along the streets.

The foxes all had names, which were printed on a tin plate and hung beside their doors. They
were not named when they were born, but when they survived the first year’s pelting and were
added to the breeding stock.

Naming them did not make pets out of them, or anything like it. Nobody but my father ever
went into the pens, and he had twice had blood-poisoning from bites. When I was bringing them

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their water they prowled up and down on the paths they had made inside their pens, barking
seldom — they saved that for nighttimes, when they might get up a chorus of community
frenzy--but always watching me, their eyes burning, clear gold, in their pointed, malevolent
faces. They were beautiful for their delicate legs and heavy, aristocratic tails and the bright fur
sprinkled on dark down their back — which gave them their name — but especially for their
faces, drawn exquisitely sharp in pure hostility, and their golden eyes. Besides carrying water I
helped my father when he cut the long grass, and the lamb's quarter and flowering money-musk,
that grew between the pens. He cut with they scythe and I raked into piles. Then he took a
pitchfork and threw fresh-cut grass all over the top of the pens to keep the foxes cooler and
shade their coats, which were browned by too much sun.

My father did not talk to me unless it was about the job we were doing. In this he was quite
different from my mother, who, if she was feeling cheerful, would tell me all sorts of things –
the name of a dog she had had when she was a little girl, the names of boys she had gone out
with later on when she was grown up, and what certain dresses of hers had looked like – she
could not imagine now what had become of them. Whatever thoughts and stories my father had
were private, and I was shy of him and would never ask him questions. Nevertheless I worked
willingly under his eyes, and with a feeling of pride. One time a feed salesman came down into
the pens to talk to him and my father said, "Like to have you meet my new hired hand." I turned
away and raked furiously, red in the face with pleasure.

"Could of fooled me." said the salesman. "I thought it was only a girl.”

(635 words, from ‘Boys and Girls’ by Alice Munro)

Answer the following:

1. Do the foxes enjoy living in their cages? What in the extract above allows us to understand
what the foxes feel? (2 m)

2. Whose point of view is the story told from? (1 m)

3. Are the narrator’s conclusions reliable? What in the extract above substantiates your
answer? (3 m)

4. The foxes are given names only when they were added to the breeding stock. How can this
statement be interpreted? (3 m)

5. What does the salesman mean when he says: "Could of fooled me…. I thought it was only a
girl." (3 m)

6. How does the story show men’s work as distinct from women’s work? (3 m)

[Evaluation Rubric for Q. III and Q. IV:

Questions in this segment will primarily focus on student's ability to perform close reading.

• Questions on literary form may be set for up to 6 marks of a total of 15, and shall
focus on elements like linguistic tropes and symbols; rhyme/rhythm; plot, narrator,
voice, tone, setting and character; protagonist, antagonist, conflict, dialogue,
resolution; comedy, tragedy, melodrama; monologue, soliloquy, etc, as may be

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 relevant for the three basic forms of poetry, fiction and drama. Students should know
the meanings of the following Figures of Speech - Alliteration, Personification,
Metaphor, Simile, Hyperbole, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Assonance, Euphemism,
Onomatopoeia, Oxymoron, Paradox.
• Questions may be of multiple choice or descriptive nature. The purpose of these
questions is to help students incorporate various forms as part of their usage of
language and thus, these questions will be phrased to be generative and exploratory
rather than to privilege skills that they may have been acquired at a previous level of
education.
• The range and variety of questions will be determined by the difficulty of the
comprehension extract itself. Mode of testing can be varied so as to enable students
sufficient time to complete the paper as a whole.
• During grading, marks are to be awarded first for accurate comprehension; imperfect
grammatical skills need not be penalized so long as the student is able to
communicate what she has comprehended with accuracy. If expression distorts
accurate comprehension, then marks may be deducted accordingly.
• Marks are to awarded for content, for development of content and for using
analytical and supporting evidence from close reading of passage. Marks may be
provided in increments, in keeping always with the effort to interpret the extract
provided.

For instance,

For Q. IV. 2 , 0.5 marks are to be awarded for identifying the first person speaking voice of the piece
as the narrator and 0.5 marks for identifying this speaking voice as female.

For Q. IV. 3, one mark is to be awarded for stating whether the narrator is reliable or not, and one
mark for each substantive argument thereon.

For Q. IV. 4, 1.5 marks are to be awarded for each interpretation or substantive argument provided
for interpretation in answer to the specific question about the naming of the foxes. ]

Q V. Attempt any two composition questions (in 400 - 450 words each) from the three choices

provided below. Each question is linked to the comprehension pieces in Qs. I / III / IV.

(2 x 10 = 20 marks)

a. Imagine you are the person referred to as 'He / him' in the poem, 'Urban' (see Q.III). Write
a short personal essay describing yourself and your life in the city.

b. Imagine you are a journalist who were asked to cover Dr King’s ‘I Have A Dream’
(see Q. I). Write a report on the basis of the given passage.

c. Rewrite the extract in Q. IV from the point of view of the foxes. You may write using any
of the following forms: an essay or a fragment from a novel or as a segment of dialogue
from a play.

[Evaluation Rubric:

Content: 6 marks to be subdivided as follows:

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Key facts that can be inferred from the passage (Who is speaking? Why?
Describe/suggest/imply the target audience. Paraphrase Dr King’s assertions and demands.
Communicate through the narrator why the foxes think what they think) are outlined clearly.

Language and structure: 4 marks to be subdivided as follows:

a. Use of appropriate register and voice

b. Structure/technique: Paragraph organization, topic sentences;

use of stylistic devices such as symbols/tropes ]

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