Priyanshu

Critical Appreciation of The Poem Macavity: The Mystery Cat

Question 1.
Attempt a critical appreciation of My Grandmother’s House.
Answer
Among the several pleasures enjoyed by the people who belonged to the generation of Kamala Das the most important was certainly the state of living with one’s grandparents. The enjoyments of childhood were doubled when grandparents were around. They gave unstinted love to children and spent more time with them, telling them stories and attending to their needs.

Kamala Das pays a tribute to her loving grandmother in this poem when she remembers the idyllic days she spent in her grandmother’s louse. The grandmother is chiefly remembered through the house she kept, the things that the house possessed and the strong emotional association that Kamala Das formed with them.

Written in free verse the poem is virtually an unrolling of the scenes vividly preserved in the minds, camera. But first of all Kamala Das talks of receiving love. This is most important- the grandmother’s house may not be valuable as a piece of architecture, but it was a storehouse of love.

In everything of the house these was the impression of love, of fulfillment of desires, and of absolute freedom. But unfortunately the old lady is no more. And it is a memory of the old lady that gets attached to the memory of that old house. Like the dead old lady the house is also silent. It was full of books which fascinated Kamala Das they were beyond her comprehension at that time. The memory of a few snakes moving in the library is also clear, the snakes actually symbolizing terror and mystery’

Now that Kamala Das is no longer a child, she still has a desire of breathing the atmosphere of the house Even the darkness of that house has a protective air and Kamala Das compares it to a dog,’ to a creature of faith and service and wishes to transplant it to her bedroom now.

The last few lines of the poem assume a poignant touch when the old experience of grandmother’s love is shared with the poet’s beloved for a moment and then suddenly the poet’s statement of her present condition, of her begging of love that is seldom available to her. The loss of the grandmother’s house is the loss of love, of a world that exists in memory and remains a counterpoint to the present loneliness.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Critical Appreciation of The Poem The Soldier

Question 1.
Attempt a critical appreciation of The Soldier.
Answer:
Rupert Brooke is known for his war sonnets that he wrote after being enlisted in the British Army in course of the first world war. His war poems vibrate with patriotism and the euthusiasm felt by a soldier in the service of his nation.

In this sonnet, he expresses his wish to be remembered as an English soldier who even in his death conquered a small portion of the earth in a foreign land. He advances an argument which is of course logical and forceful but reminds of the wit of a metaphysical poet. Rupert Brooke says that in case of his burial in a foreign soil he will only be making another England for himself and his countrymen.

The argument is that his body, made up of the English soil, will anglicise that small portion of the foreign land. It is a wonderful argument which develops in the octave. A person represents a nation in all its details as he is brought up by its peculiar norms, values, traditions and culture. Even, in death he continues to represent his nation in a greater degree because of subtle freedom that death provides in the form of release from the body.

The sestet is even more impressive. It speaks of the heart, freed from all malice and prejudice, fused with eternity. And it will remain alive, enjoying the beauty of the experiences that the English nation gave to him. There is thus a prefound feeling of indebtedness to England that gives Such beauty and meaning to the sonnet.

Patriotism is a common feeling but it is certainly intensified in times of war, in times of foreign aggression when a person strongly feels his link with the soil of his nation. Rupert Brooke has given marvellous expression to this beautiful feeling.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Critical Appreciation of The Poem An Epitaph

Question 1.
Write down a critical appreciation of An Epitaph.
Answer:
There is a tradition in European countries to inscribe short verses on a stone tablet or on the cover of a grave in which there is a summing-up of the personality of the dead person. It is not a biographical sketch; it is a poignant write-up on chief qualities of the person.

Walter de la Mare who is known for his interesting poems on themes of childhood interests and the supernatural has written this poem about a beautiful woman who is no more. The woman was renowned for her beauty and was very popular in the west country. The poet however is skeptical of the lasting fame of the woman. Beauty is not a lasting thing, being associated with youth. As young age vanishes beauty also vanishes.

The poem has clearly a didactic strain. The poet wants beautiful women to possess noble qualities of mind and heart which will be the cause of their being remembered for a long time. There is however a grace and simplicity about the poem which gives it a Wordsworthian aura.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Critical Appreciation of The Poem Ode to Autumn

Question 1.
Attempt a critical appreciation of Ode to Autumn.
Answer:
About John Keats, it is said that if he had been content with only his odes he would have been acclaimed a great poet. This opinion is true as it is the judgement of a poet on the basis of creativity and not on the basis of out put. Ode to Autumn justifies the praise showered on Keats. Autumn is nowhere considered beautitul – being a season in which trees shed their leaves it has no romantic image it is identified generally with old age, chequered movement and depression.

Known for his devotion to the principle of beauty keats, in this poem, has taken up a utilitanian stand. In the beauty of autumn, in its oneness with agriculturists and farm workers keats sees a concern for practical usefulness and health in the human and natural world which only a day-dreamer can overlook.

To Keats autumn is a season of mellowing and of gradual ripening of fruits. This actually discovery of a nourishing principle in nature – She by a serious purpose of providing such fruits and grains that nourish the health of men and women. Like a true observer of details Keats even names them – during autumn apples are in full bloom, vines are laden with fruits, small buds are abundantly growing. More activity can be noticed in the village people can be seen around gramaries, swaths engaged in winnowing or glancing.

One is reminded of the festivities of spring – its music and plentifulness. Autumn has however its own atmosphere and music. This atmosphere is set by a landscape of ripening fruits, human labour and by the sky over-cast with little dots of clouds; the music is composed of the waiting sound of gnats, the loud bleatings of full-grown lambs, the singing of crickets in hedges and the soft whistling sound of robins.

There is thus enough cheerful music to sway the heart of the listencers. The poem is remarkable in its power of catching the spirit of the autumn season. Keats has loaded the poem with very accurate details of nature and human action. For the first time he seems to be building up a poem from facts as we find in Wordsworth.

The three stanzas reveal the bounty of autumn, the scenery of autumn, and its pensive music with the rarest economy of words and every picture has a definite clearness of outline not to be found in any romantic poet. The warmth of stubble-plains, the rich glow of the setting sun illumining the bus of clouds, the golden apples, the flowers full of honey – there scenes have filled the poet’s soul with peace and quiet.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Critical Appreciation of The Poem Song of Myself

Question 1.
Write down a critical appreciation of Song of Myself.
Answer:
Deeply influenced by the Indian Upanishads Walt Whitman, the American poet, composed such poems that give us a synthetic view of man and cosmos. And yet one can notice in his poems the assertion of individuality, the self that has industriously acquired a true sense of its infinite potential.

In this poem the poet tries to engage another human being, probably a friend, in a dialogue and asks him to pay attention to the similarities that exist between man and man. The song is thus not exactly a song of the selt, but of ‘ the discovery of the identities between one and the other. The reference to the atom that is a definite constituent of everyone is to reinforce the scientific basis of the poet’s argument.

The mood of the poet is to be taken note of he is cheerful, optimitic and full of confidence. This is in a sense the general mood of the poet, forming a whole attitude towards self and the universe.

Having advanced the argument the poet enlarges upon his relations with the world around him. He says that he just enjoys wandering, looking at even the smallest things with the greatest pleasure. This pleasure is again bom of the understanding that his body and the soil from which so many natural objects, including the summer grass which he likes so much, have sprung are formed of the same atom. One can see that such an understanding belongs not to the realm of science but to the realm of spirituality especially to the teaching of the Upanishads.

There is also a complete rejection of all philosophical theories and social ideologies which tend to divide one man from another. The poet asserts his willingness to raise voice against all such divisive forces. The poem is thus a manifesto of the poet’s participation is the world of man and nature.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Critical Appreciation of The Poem Sweetest Love I do not Goe

Question 1.
Write down a critical appreciation of the poem Sweetest Love, I do not go.
Answer:
John Donne, the great metaphysical poet, wrote many exciting poems which are quite radical in content and innovative in structure. There is a bold rejection of death in his poems- sometimes he firmly denies the very existence of death like a mystic who is fully convinced of the soul’s immortality, but most of the time he speaks as a lover who can find enough strength in love to reject death. It is the second attitude that is the subject of this poem and it is here that we notice Downe’s power of argument, his ability to turn every negative circumstance in his power.

The speaker of the poem is a lover who is trying to speak to his beloved after death. Knowing very well that his beloved is quite upset over this incurable 2 separation, the speaker is trying to fashion arguments against any influence of death. He plainly says that death has had no influence over his relationship with her because of the profound love that he had for her. In such a love the souls and the body are so united that death cannot sever them. In spite of death the speaker feels that he is living in the body of his beloved.

The sense of total oneness that is possible to be achieved in a relationship of love is forcefully presented by the speaker. There is Donne’s familiar mockery of the sun, the agent of change, of the flow of time, and therefore, the measure of death. That even the sun has stopped and that the imagination of the lover is speedier create new fanciful pictures of a life-after-death.

After life has been a subject of the scriptures as well. But Donne has given it a fantastic twist only to present a more colourful picture in relation to love. So the appeal of the speaker to his beloved to preserve his life that is within her makes a powerful statement of their oneness.

By using certain common motifs of his poetry Downe ensures a living unity to his individual poems through which a set of new ideas is dramatically introduced and cleverly sustained by play of logic. But within this intellectual ingenuity, the feeling of emotions cannot be denied-they appear to be deeper, less spontaneous but certainly growing stronger with every moment of reflection.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Bihar Board Class 12th English David Copperfield Important Questions

Question 1.
Give a detailed account of the childhood of David Copperfield.
Answer:
The childhood of David Copperfield is a story of great pain and hardship, of loss of mother and home and of such scars on mind and heart that cannot be erased.

Born posthumously, David’s only support was his affectionate mother who brought him up with great care. This bliss was short-lived. David’s mother, Clara, married one Mr. Murdstone who, in a very planned manner, created distance between the boy and the mother.

Mr. Murdstone, first of all, struck terror in the mind of David by threatening him with his use of slick. His next step was to deprive Clara of the right of running her household by inviting his sister Miss Murdstone and handing over all the charge to her.

David’s mother had earlier tried to teach the boy kindly with the result that he learnt his lessons quickly. But the same boy was so frightened by die mere presence of Mr. Murdstone and his sister that he made mistakes again and again. In order to teach firmness to Clara which was merely a pretext of isolating the boy Mr. Murdstone not only thrashed David But locked him up inside a room to which Clara was not permitted access. David remained in this position for a couple of days from where he was taken directly to a school in London.

The school Salem House did not have a proper academic character. The boys were noisy, indisciplined and completely lacking in interest in studies. The headmaster Mr. Creakle was a thoughtless person who indulged in favouritism in order to maintain a semblance of order in the institution. Steerforth, the bully of the school, incidentally became friendly to David and he was spared the hardship that other students suffered.

On his return from the school during vacations David found the atmosphere of his home even more sickly. His mother had a baby boy by then; but she had withdrawn herself entirely from every affair. David maintained a sullen silence. He could not stay for long is school as he was called to attend the funeral services of his mother who died in great misery. Mr. Murdstone did not like David to go back to his school.

He rather sent him by a factory where there were many child workers like him. David worked hard in the beginning and learnt to live independently. An important gain of this period was David’s friendship with Mr. Micawber, another factory worker whose life of poverty, bankruptcy and eventual imprisonment grade Alcides impression on the growing boy. But the conditions in the factory deteriorated and he decided to approach his great aunt, Betsy Trotwood.

These bitter experiences, however, made David conscious of the value of education and hard work. It helped him rise steadily once he let himself be guided by his great – aunt. The boy who was acutely deprived of love grew up ‘ to be a man who gave his love to all who were in need.

Question 2.
Discuss David Copperfield as a novel of child psychology.
Answer:
It is quite appropriate to view David Copperfield35 a novel of child psychology as the first part of the novel of child psychology as the first part of the novel certainly gives a detailed account of the mind and emotions of David Copper field. But is should also be noted that Charles Dickens makes these details fit into the picture of the lower middle class to which David Copperfield belongs.

In file beginning, we notice the strong attachment of David to his mother. The latter takes great care of him; it is she who is teacher as well as his nurse. Under the guidance of his mother, David makes great progress in his studies. In fact, his progress in linked as a whole to the moral support of his mother and her trust in his abilities. The entry of Mr Murdstone changes this pace of progress.

In his presence David becomes absent-minded; he cannot say his lessons properly. The result is that he starts going back in his studies, learning of a child can never be a mechanical activity. It must have a sense of purpose and these should be perfect trust between the teacher and the taught.

Lack of affection can make a child sullen and pervert. This is seen in Mr Murdstone’s treatment of David- The farmer, in his attempt to terrorize the latter, only creates a indignation in him. David would rather be thrashed than he would obey Mr Murdstone.

At school also David does hot get a favourable atmosphere-from the headmaster to the senior students^ they all bully him. His attachment to Steerforth shows David’s search for protection. Later on, he inspires total confidence in Steerforth with whom therefore he strikes a bound of friendship.

David’s nobility and gentleness are revealed in his relations with domestic. He never bothers them in any way; so they play with him and become found of him. As a child labourer, David cuts a pathetic figure. But he is heard-working and realistic. Moreover, he is gifted with a high sense of self-respect that prompts him to better his fortune by seeking help from his greataunt.

Charles Dickens thus lets us have an insight into the mind of a growing child, a prisoner of circumstance, who retains his playfulness and good humour and thrives because of them.

Question 3.
Give an account of the school that David Copper field attended.
Answer:
While even the best of schools strike fear in a child when he attends it for the first few days Salem House, the school David Copper field went to was a source of night mare through out his brief stay. From the shabby building to the teachers and students who inhabited it, everything. created a feeling of disgust – a feeling that could not have been conducive to a schedule of study.

When David entered it he found it virtually vacant, the students having not returned from holidays and the headmaster being away at sea. The classroom gave a foul smell and its walls were stained with ink.

For a few days David lived there only in the company of Mr, Mell, a school leader of peculiar habits. He was a pitiable creature, poor and utterly lacking in qualities that make a teacher. He employed his time in writing or in playing sad tunes on his whistle. The company of such a weird person only made David more melancholic.

One evening at last David was summoned by Mr. Creakle who said that he knew Mr. Murdstone as a man of character and he also knew that David was used to biting people. His use of the term character only showed his perverted nature, and his reference to Mr. Murdstone’s allegation against David showed his prejudice Needless to say, this interview only excited terror in the heart of David.

In a few days, the school hummed with life on return of the boys. David clearly remembered Tommy Traddles and J. Steerforth – the two boys having two entirely different dispositions. Traddles was weak and nervous; Steerforth was strong and had a bullying tendency.

By sharing the money that he had Davids truck friendship with Steerforth became his protector. This Steerforth even ill-treated his traders. He abused Mr. Mell and called him a beggar and the latter was’dismissed by Mr. Creakle on instigation by Steerforth.

David did learn a few things. But he did not have a pleasant experience of any teacher. Mr. Creakle, the headmaster, appeared to be a frustrated person who beat the boys not to reform them but simply to create fear in them.

Naturally, all this factual narration of a school by Charles Dickens has a purpose. He wished to make his readers aware of the condition of schools that were founded merely by a motive of earning profite. There the quality of teachers was very poor. The teachers neither taught efficiently nor could they maintain discipline. Students who turned out from such institutions could never cultivate the qualities that make a responsible citizen.

Question 4.
Describe Dickens as a social reformer.
Or
“In David Copperfield, we find the picture of Victorian society.” Discuss
Or
Dickens was “that rare type of reformer who could moralise with a smile on his lips, and mix his sermonic powers in such excellent jam that his contemporaries did not realise for a while that he was doctoring them for their good.” Discuss.
Answer:
Like GB. Shaw, Dickens is not a propagandist. Nor is he a professional ” social reformer. Whatever social reforming zeal is found in his works is the novelist’s zeal to present evil existing in the society. His suggestions for the removal of those evils are also the gifts of an artist or novelist.

Actually Dickens is primarily a great story-teller and entertainer. His popularity in his own age and even today rests on his achievements as a great entertainer. He has no delibrate intentions of preaching any maxims from the pulpit. His main concern in writing his novels is to cater to the demands and expectations of the reading public of his day, and keep it interested in his novels.

So as to make the readers wait anxiously for the next issue of the narrative, thereby enhancing his saies. Dickens is a typical Victorian. He has been affected by the dominant features , of the contemporary society. He has seen the social, political, economic and educational drawbacks of the Victorian society and has raised his voice against them through the medium of humour and satire.

He does not fire shots at his society directly, but he does it with a smile on his lips. He tries his best to grouse the public conscience to the evil ramparts so that healthy reforms can be introduced. He does not believe in the effectiveness of legal machinery. He realises that no real improvement can be introduced through parliamentry legislation.

The public itself must be aware of the defects and the need to try and get out of them. His aim is to present all the weaknesses of the Victorian society through his novels.

Dickens is a great humanitarian. He harnesses his pen for the amelioration of the miserable and pathetic conditions of the poor factory workers, little children groaning under the whips of tyrannical school-masters, litigants moving about law courts without getting any justice and prisoners subjected 1 to the hardships of rigorous prison life.

In his novel, Dickens tries to reform his society by satirising the injustice of the poor laws, delays in administration of justice, the cruelties of school-masters and imprisonment for debts and so on.

Thus, we can say that Dickens is a great social reformer. He has exposed the drawbacks and evils of the Victorian society. His merit as a social reformer lies in the fact that he can moralise with a smile on his lips and mix his sermonic powers in such excellent jam, that his contemporaries do not realise for a while that he is doctoring them for their good. ‘

Question 5.
Write a note on the autobiographical element in Dickens’ novel David Copperfield.
Or
“The pen that wrote David Copperfield was after dipped in its own blood.” Discuss.
Or
“David Copperfield is in great part autobiographical.” Discuss.
Or
Describe David Copperfield as an autobiographical novel.
Answer:
David Copperfield is one of the best creations of Charles Dickens. lt is an autobiographical novel. Its story is narrated by the novelist in the first person. The details in the novel and several of the places, persons and situations are related to the life of the novelist. Regarding this novel, Dickens himself wrote. “Of all my books I like this the best. I have in my heart the favourite child and his name is David Copperfield.”

David Copperfield is the hero of the novel. But he is none else but Dickens himself. At the age of ten, David was put to work by his callous step father. Like Dickens, he felt degraded at having to mix with boys of his own age whom he did not consider his social equals.

Like David, Dickens was also first taught at home by his mother and was later sent to the Wellington House Academy of Mr. Jones where he had experiences like those of David at Mr. Creakle’s school.

The school master of David Copperfield resembles the worthless and brutal head master of the Wellington House Academy which Dickens attended at the age of fifteen. Like David, Dickens also had to quit the school after a brief stay and take up a menial job.

We find some similarities between the careers of David and Dickens. Like David, Dickens also took to the legal profession and like him again Dickens gave it up. He, then, learnt short hand and became a reporter. Dickens’ experiences as a stenographer and his success as a novelist are also the part of David’s experiences.

Dickens wrote a few of his novels in foreign countries. He went to Italy in 1844 and Switzerland in 1846. David also visited Italy and in the later period of life he settled in Switzerland to write his novels.

Besides these similarities, there are several emotional similarities between David and Dickens. For instance, David’s flight from the firm of Murdstone and Grins by may be taken to be representation of a similar flight of which Dickens must have frequently dreamed, when horrors of his menial job were too much for him.

Betsey Trotwood may be taken to be the longed-for fairy god-mother. Indeed, Mr. Murdstone, Miss Murdstone, Mr. and Mrs. Micawber may be said to represent the different facets of his parent’s personality, as they must have appeared to the suffering child.

David’s education with Dr. Strong, his marriage first with Dora and then with Agnes, may all be interpreted as examples of wish fulfillnents. What Dickenes could not enjoy in life, he enjoys vicariously in the novels.

There is a close similarity between the Micawber and Dicken’s parents. Micawbers are as poor as Dickens, own parents. Micawber’s optimism, his shiftlessness, his irresponsibility, his grandiloquent way of speaking, were also the important traits of the character of Dickens’ father.

Like Micawber, Dicken’s father was also in debt and their creditors come to them at all hours. Like him the father of Dickens was arrested for debt and sent to prison. As Dickens went to the prison for visiting his father in the same way little David also visits Mr. Micawber. Thus above mentioned observations make it clear that David Copperfield is an autobiographical novel.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Bihar Board 12th English The Story of English Important Questions

Question 1.
Write a short note on the importance of English as an international language of business, commerce and culture. .
Answer:
English is the language of the Anglo-Saxon invaders who settled in Britain from the fifth century onwards. But today it has become the most widely spoken language today on earth, with every tenth person in the world employing it as his primary tongue.

Today it is used by more than 400 million people as the primary means of communication, and nearly one in every four persons in the world today could be reached by it in some degree. Its speakers cover one-fifth of the globe. The following statistics speak for themselves

(A) More than 70% of the world’s mail is written and addressed in English. More than 60% of the world’s radio programmes are in English.

(B) Throughout Africa and the Middle East English serves as the lingua franca.

(C) Today English is taught in all schools and colleges in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, The Netherland, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Japan.

(D) Throughout Asia and Latin America, English is spoken and understood almost everywhere except in the remoter areas.

(E) In the European communist countries — East Gern ,any, Poland, Yugoslavia and even Soviet Russia —’ English is taught from the primary school level.

One of the most important reasons for the phenomenal spread of the English language around the world is its rich and luxuriant vocabulary of more than half a million words and the flexibility of their use. It is also one of the easiest to learn. There is a hard core of about 1000 energetic words and a few liberal rules of grammar which can be learnt with ease and speed. In 1920, Professor I.A.

Richards and C.K. Ogden, two eminent Cambridge scholars, discovered a distilled form of the English language, known as Basic English, which contains in elixir form 850 versatile and energetic words with which almost any idea can be expressed in a simple non-technical fashion. Basic English proved an invaluable tool during the second world war when foreign soldiers were given a good working knowledge of English in a concentrated course of only about sixty hours.

Another reason for its world-wide popularity is the cosmpolitan character of its vocabulary. Throughout the centuries it has borrowed so freely and profusely from almost every important language on earth. The following random list of various borrowings from various sources would provide the evidence of its cosmpolitan nature.

• Arabic —alcohol, algebra, alkali, camel, chemistry, magazine etc.
• Dutch—brandy, duck, golf, measles, uproar, wagon etc.
• Italian—colonel, duet, infantry, miniature, umbrella, volcano etc.
• Persian—check, chess, jasmine, khaki, lilac, paradise, shawl, spinach etc.
• Spanish— Canyon, cigar, mosquito, ranch, stampede, vanilla etc.

English today has attained an unrivaled position as the international link language. Various historical factors have helped it across the centuries in its evolution as the most supple, flexible, easy-to-leam language taking rapid and firm strides towards a world monopoly.

Question 2.
Write a short note on the characteristics of Modern English.
Answer:
The period of Modem English extends from about 1500 A.D. to the present day. However, a modem linguist says that it is clearly necessary to subdivide it at about 1700 A.D. (Queen Anne’s accession) into early and later Modem English.
Although English belongs to the Teutonic branch it has been under the continuous influnce of the Romance languages. As a result the English vocabulary is a balanced mixture of the Teutonic and Romance elements.

Although the essential grammatical structure of the English language is Saxon, with Saxon verbs, conjunctions and prepositions forming the necessary’ frame work of English, The richness and variety of the language are enchanced by Latin and French.

It is again unquestionable that in many instances the Saxon word has a more emotional quality than the corresponding word of French or Latin origin, which is often the more formal of the two; foe. deep, lovely, for example, are more feeling words, and therefore more poetic words than enemy, profound, solitary.

This duality of influence has led to the evolution of two more or less distinct types of English style — the simple and direct which is Saxon; the omatse and the elaborate which is largely Latin.

One of the most important characteristics of the English language has been its extraordinary receptiveness and adaptability which has given it an extremely flexible and heterogeneous character. The other remarkable features are its freedom from inflexions and its relatively fixed word-order. Jespersen refers appreciatively to its masculinity, well-defined sound system, business¬like compactness and freedom from pedantry.

Question 3.
Write a short note on American English.
Answer:
American English has very considerably influenced Modem English, especially in the last quarter of the twentienth century. And this has been due to a far wider set of circumstances than the mere fact of America’s leading position in commerce, films and finance, though these have produced a body of slang in English some of which has already penetrated to good colloquial usage.

The word caucus, for instance, came to England as a political term from America, and has now developed a slightly different meaning. The use of cut as a word of reduction was originally American, but became fixed in good English largely through the financial slump of 1931 in Britain and its consequences. Sense as a verb, which has been in use in the British written language for nearly a century, was an importation from America.

With the abrupt shifting of the political and economic centre of gravity of the western hemisphere from Europe to the United States, the American variety of English has forced itself, often for commercial and technical reasons, upon the attention of millions who were previously unacquainted with it, and what is even more important, it has become respectable, that is to say, it is no longer regarded merely as a quaint, barbarous or amusing appendage to the British original.

Many American expressions today are freely used by British speakers and writers also— O.K., down – and – out, tasty, movie, bill-board, rail road, he-man, to engineer, to author, faucet, to brass tacks, double talk, break down,radio, disk jockey, blurb, fan,backlog, gimmick, forum, commuter, band wagon, bogus etc.

Some of the important features of American English are—

• Cinema, radio, press and television have contributed to its popularity.
• The primary difference between English and American is in the rhythm and intonation of speech.
• The most marked American influence is in the slang of the younger generation in Britain.

Question
Bring out the characteristics of Old English.
Answer:
For a modem reader it would be a little difficult to understand the available texts of Old English because it was not a single uniform language. It was composed of four dialects-Kentish, Northumbrian, Mercian and west Saxon. It was so because three different Anglo-Saxon tribes spoke it in areas of their own.

In the second place the old English differs from Modem English in spelling, vocabulary and even grammatical structure. With the spread of Christianity around 600 AD many Latin words related to religion entered the English language. The important words were-heaven, hell, God, gospel, angel, priest, nun etc.

As a result of the Scandinavian attack on England many words of Scandinavian origin entered which have since then become part of everybody interaction. The important Scandinavian words are-birth, bank, call, die, egg, give, get, sky, sister, window etc.

Many family names and place names have a Scandinavian stamp. In addition to nouns, verbs and adjectives, conjunctions and prepositions of Scandinavian origin also made way to English vocabulary. They, their, them, both, same, to, till, though are Scandinavian words in current use.

Question 4.
Name the four manuscripts of the Old English that have survived.
Answer:
The four major manuscripts of Old English that have survived are as follows—

• Bewowulf
• Junius
• Exeter Book
• Vercellibookz

Question 5.
Write a short note on Runic Characters.
Answer:
Runic characters formed a system of writing which was in use in the Northern and Western part of Europe. These characters were composed of sharp straight lines without curves.

Many of these letters are found on weapons; such as arrows, axes, knife-handles, swords etc. Some are to be seen in monumens, jewellery or caskets. But, being symbolic in nature, they are difficult to be fully understood.

Question 6.
Write a short note on Middle English.
Answer:
The transition from Old English to Middle English was.influenced by one very important political factor, that is, by Norman attack. The French element made a considerable impact over English language, changing its character sharply, making it a vehicle of administration, law and literature.

The nature and variety of dialects changed during this period. There were five dialects in oral and written use this time-they were Northern, Southern, East Midland, West Midland and Kentish. The Northumbrian OE is now called

Northern; West Saxon is known as Southern; and the Mercian is divided into East Midland dialect and West Midland dialect evolved gradually into Modem English.

The most significant change is the expansion of English vocabulary with the help of extensive borrowing from French language. When a linguist says that borrowings were largely in the fields of science, medicine, law and literature it implies that there was significant academic progress also. Anyway, the important French words borrowed during the period are-history, index, intellect, legal, summary, magnify, temperature etc.

Together with the loss of infection the Great Vowel Shift was another linguistic development.’ Between Middle and Modem English there is the important difference in vowel system. For instance, the long vowels have virtually disappeared and the short vowels have hardly altered. The change in long vowels is known as the Great Vowel Shift.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Preface to Bombay London New York Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Write down a Summary of the preface to Bombay – London – Newyork.
Answer:
The present essay is a fine exercise in unravelling the thoughts of an upcoming writer. We enter into a writer’s formative years, his gropings into the bygone days when literature was patronized by kings and caliphs. And yet it is also full of his disgust over the present cultural decline.

Particularly in the course of his visit to the Khudabaksh Library in Patna the writer is drawn towards the changes of a writer’s world, the difficulties of writing and its rewards spread over a vast expanse of time.

The library takes the mind of the author to both the glorious past of Patna and its present sad decline. He visits the library with Surendra Gopal, an eminent historian who recounts not only the history of ancient Pataliputra but also of the modern Patna—the launching pad of Gandhiji’s movement and the J. P. movement against the misrule of the Congress.

But sadly that spirit seems to be completely missing. Rather the author remembers a personal experience—how her mother was operated upon in P.M.C.H. in the light of torches and lanterns. Such libraries, educational institutions and memory of the glorious past should have galvanized the people. But nothing of this sort is visible in modem Patna. The people seem to be in a state of oblivion, their awareness is poor and they are not prepared to put things in order.

In the library itself, the author comes to see the contrast between a writer’s vocation and the real world. He notices the beautiful content preserved in gold binding, beautiful calligraphy and decorative setting and he thinks of the anxieties of the modem writer regarding response of readers, the sale of his books.

Kitab-UI-Hashaish a book on medicine is introduced by the old librarian: It is a proud possession of the library, a rare book that belonged originally to Caliph Haroun-Ul-Rashid. Translated from’ Greek into, Arabic the book is beautifully illustrated in herbal and mineral colours that look bright even today.

This reminds the author of the renascence. When the translation of Greek and Roman works was done in( oriental languages. A new world was in the making, the chief elements of which were enlightenment and scientific inquiry. The author comes across a book of Hafiz, the Persian poet.

The book was given as a present from the Emperor of Iran to Humayun. Jahangir used the book to know his future when he was in exile in Allahabad. The lines that he took for angry told him that he should return to Delhi where there was a chance of becoming the emperor. On being crowned emperor Jahangir noted in the margin of the page his experience of the anthenticity of the lines.

The admission of Jahangir makes the book a valuable historical document and also reveals how like a common man, a prince could also worry about his future. Such writings have value in bringing the past and the present together—nostalgia is here fused to an anxious concern for the present so that it could match the glories of the past. Amitava Kumar’though he focusses mainly on the past tries to create an inspiration for the present generation.

Question 2.
“Khudabaksh Library has been used a symbol in this essay”. Explain.
Answer:
It is a well-known fact that Khudabaksh Library was originally the personal library of Sir Khudabaksh Khan who donated it to the government. Sir Khudabaksh Khan was a lover of books and manuscripts which he collected from far-off countries at great expense.

He was successful in getting some very rare Persian manuscripts which are not only a fine specimen of calligraphy and ornamental work but happen to be associated with the great Mughals of India Sir Khudabaksh Khan paid special attention to rare copies of the Holy Quran and books on Islam. The result is that at present Khudabaksh Library possesses all the valuable books and treatises on Islam.

The most important thing is that while so many institutions put under the care of the government have failed in maintaining their standard, this library of Patna has well preserved its aura of the past and its stature. The books and manuscripts which were formerly in the possession of kings and emperors are in excellent condition even today.

Amitava Kumar has certainly used Khudabaksh Library as a symbol of the rich cultural heritage which has the power of inspiring the whole of the world. There are books written by emperors and there are books which influenced the destiny of princes. From these books one can understand the interest of the Arabs in the learning acquired by western philosophers, historians and scientists.

It is also proved beyond doubt that the western countries never could match the art of book-binding and of decorating books with gold filigree and precious gems as it was practised in the eastern countries. It is no coincidence simply that an institution of such a stature is situated in the heart of Patna which was formerly the capital of the Mauryan empire.

Anyone who enters the library is reminded at once of the golden past of Pataliputra, its brave and noble kings, their love of art and splendour and their might and power. There is a secret hope in Amitava Kumar that this institution can act as a catalyst in quickening the intellectual faculties of the modem young men of Patna.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

Cold Wave Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Write down a Summary of Cold Wave.
Answer:
K.A. Abbas was among those few Indian writers who were deeply influenced by Marxism. A versatile person who wrote stories for several successful films, he reveals in his writings a touching concern for the poor, their simple and honest way of living, and the exploitation they are continuously subjected to.

The present story is about an idealistic young man of an affluent family who is disowned by his father for his love for Radha, a dancing girl Nirmal, the handsome protagonist of the story, is a poet who little cared for the worldly prospects. He never knew that his father would not permit him to marry Radha, the beautiful dancing girl of the town. When the father threatened to disown him, Nirmal immediately left his palatial house.

He came to the house of Radha with the fervent hope that she would be as devoted to him as he was to her — he tHoiiglit the two could get some job which would help them live independently. But Radha’s reactions were quite different — She refused to have anything to do with a young man who had been disinherited by his rich father.

The story explores Nirmal’s mind and maps his wonderings in search of help and success from his friends. With the small amount that he had in the pockets of his Kurta he came to Delhi and approached a number of his friends. But none was kind enough to lend him some money with which he could pass off his days in peace.

Shivering in the cold wave he wanders from street to street till he reaches Connaught Place in the night. A blind beggar accosts him for help. As Nirmal tries to cover his shivering body with an old newspaper his eyes turn to the news of cold wave that is sweeping Delhi currently.

Already he is feeling frozen, the newspaper only adds to his anxieties. In the meantime, he notices a woman who asks for a match box. The woman also notices the young man in silk Kurta and immediately guesses that he is a victim of circumstances. She to come closer.’Together, she argues, they could fight the cold wave.

K.A. Abbas has cold wave as a metaphor for the suffering inflicted by the rich over the poor. The rich have their own social code, they will not stand deviation from it. A man can allow his son to be intimate with a dancer, but he won’t permit him to marry her. Thus a way of exploitation is established and continues for ever. The young man’s rebellion is used as a wave of change.

Question 2.
Sketch the character of Baldeo alias Nirmal Meeruti.
Answer:
Baldeo is the protagonist of the story Cold Wave. He is a handsome young man, properly educated and is a poet. But he seems to be a romantic and an idealist who does not understand the ways of the world. He is sincere in his beliefs and actions. He is in love with a beautiful dancer, Radha.

When he announces his intention to marry her his wealthy father threatens to disown him. Paying no heed to the consequences that could follow this. Baldeo alias Nirmal Meeruti leaves his house and proceeds to Radha’s house.

Nirmal had expected a little sympathy from Radha, also a reiteration of her pledge to be with him in all circumstances. But the young lady has greater common sense to attach herself with this penniless man. She coolly refuses to do anything with him. This is the most shocking realization for Nirmal — for the first time he comes to understand that even love in this world is not without material concerns.

Nirmal has not fully broken yet. He has belief in his friends who, he thinks, may help him tide over the crisis. With a little money that he had in the pockets of his Kurta he comes to Delhi. He tries several of his rich friends but without success. On knowing that Nirmal stands disowned by his father, they all turn distant and cool.

Swallowing all this indifference, Nirmal decides to spend the night in Connaught Place – As he tries to cover his body with a sheet of newspaper, he catches the sight of a report of the cold wave sweeping Delhi and the suburbs in the current season.

Already Nirmal is suffering, the report only adds to him mental agitation as well as to his feeling of cold. The way  Nirmal accepts the invitation of the destitute woman shows that he is free from all prejudice. He seems to believe the woman’s words. Without a care for his future he accepts her invitation with the belief that he can now face all inclement weather with strength.

Nirmal thus is a young man of radical ideas, sincere and warm, who is not ready to make any compromise with the exploiting elders of the society. It is this display of guts, this integrity that makes Nirmal’s character so appealing.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions

A Trick Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Write down a Summary of A Trick.
Answer:
A Trick is a short story written by Prof. R.K. Sinha, the eminent English teacher of Patna University. In this story he writes about a trick played upon a young man by his friend and its impact on him as well as the narator himself. Like the writer, the narrator is a student of English literature. He and his friend, Mr. Varma, have appeared at an examination. There are a very few very brilliant students in the class, including these two. So the atmosphere is very competitive.

One day the narrator congratulates Mr. Varma, saying that he has topped in the examination. The latter is incredulous; but the same thing is repeated in such enthusiastic tones by some friends of the narrator that Mr. Varma is convinced of the truth. However, to as certain the truth he visits, along with his friend, Kamla, to Prof. Chatterjee’s house. The cryptic laughter of the professor is sufficient to make Mr. Varma understand that a trick has been played.

Naturally, Mr. Varma is very angry with the narrator. He sent the ward servant with a ship of paper to the narrator, asking him to return a few books that he had lent him. Now the narrator felt a little guilty for ruffling the sentiments of Mr. Varma. As he was trying to locate the books Mr. Varma himself entered the hostel room and asked forgiveness. Both the friends reqlized that the matter was being taken beyond its natural limit. The narrator renamed his self-control and went together with Mr. Varma to the mess.

Afterward the narrator continued to be haunted by an acute feeling of guilt which was increased when he saw dreams in which the Almighty sat in judgement over his misdeed and pronounced that he would have to be punished. So afraid did the narrator become that he thought that he might fail in the examination. But the result was different from the fear of the dreams — the narrator, in fact, topped.

The story has been written with mastery of detail. The carelessness of the young people, their competitiveness, and their jealousy have been admirably portrayed by Dr. Sinha. But more significant is the psychological treatment of the narrator, his acute feeling of guilt, and the magnanimity of Mr. Varma.

Bihar Board Class 12th English Important Questions