Ques 1.

Aim at independence of mind. There are some men who go in leading strings all their days. They always follow in the paths of others, without being able to give any reason for their opinions. There is a proper mental independence which all should maintain; self-respect and the stability of our character require it. The man who pins his opinions entirely on another’s sleeve can have no respect for his own judgment and is likely to be ever changing. When we consider carefully what appeals to our minds and exercise upon it our own reason, taking into respectful consideration what others say upon it and then come to a conclusion of our own, we act as intelligent beings should act and only then this proper independence of mind is far removed from presumptuous self-confidence, than which there is nothing more severely to be condemned. Presumption is the associate of ignorance; and it is hateful in the extreme to hear some halftaught stripling delivering his opinions with all the authority of an oracle.

Ques 2.

All the rooms were prepared. There were pictures on the walls, painted on the paper, with gold frames complete. Red carpet covered all the floors except the kitchen; red plush chairs in the drawing-room, green in the dining-room; tables, beds with real bed clothes , a cradle, a stove, a dresser with tiny plates and one big jug. But what Kezia liked more than anything, what she liked frightfully, was the lamp. It stood in the middle of the dining-room table, an exquisite little lamp with a white globe. 

Ques 3.

t was only on the night of the concert, when we assembled on stage behind drawn curtains, that he gave me the notes to be played. I always hoped he would bring himself to do this earlier and I hovered around him all evening, tuning his sitar and preparing his betel leaves, but he would not speak to me at all. There were always many others around him – his hosts and the organizers of the concert, his friends and well-wishers and disciples – and he spoke and laughed with all of them, but always turned his head away when I came near. I was not hurt: this was his way with me, I was used to it. Only I wished he would tell me what he planned to play before the concert began so that I could prepare mysel

Ques 4.

On Seeing England for the First Time’ is laced with sarcasm and irony with a thread of pathos running through it’. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer quoting examples from the text

Ques 5.

Describe Orwell’s experience of shooting an elephant in Burma in detail.

Ques 6.

Discuss the character of Gilbert Clandon as he goes from illusion to reality in the short story “The Legacy”.

Ques 7.

Discuss some of the main features of Margaret Laurence’s speech “My Final Hour”.

Ques 8.

Write a detailed note on how Gandhi spent his days in Calcutta and in Burma as is seen from his An Autobiography.

Ques 9.

What do you understand by the stream-of-consciousness novel? Explain with reference to The Binding Vine.

Ques 10.

swell’s Life of Johnson is a piece of art. Discuss.