FLAMINGO

1.The Last Lesson- Alphonse Daudet

1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
2. What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
3. What had been put up on the bulletin-board?
4. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
5. How did Franz’s feelings about Mr. Hamel and school change?
6. Why did Franz not want to go to school that day? [2017 Delhi]
7. What was more tempting that the rules for participles for Franz?
8. What orders had come from Berlin?
9. “What a thunderclap these words that shocked and surprised the
narrator? [2016-17 (SET-3)
10. Why did the elders of the village attend the last lesson? [2019-20
(SET-2)
11. How is the mother tongue important to a person? What does
M.Hamel, the teacher, say about it? [2019-2019 (SET-3)
12. Who did M.Hamel blame for the neglect of learning on the part of
boys like Franz? [2018-19 (SET-1)]
13. ‘We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with,” said M.Hamel.
Comment. [2017-18 (SET-3)]
14. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”
What could this mean?
15. “When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their
language it is as if they had the key to their prison.” Talk about the
importance of mother tongue. (same as Q. 11)
16. What surprised Franz when he entered M.Hamel’s class on the day
of the last lesson? [2019-20(SET-2)]----6 marks
17. “I've plenty of time. I'll learn it tomorrow.’ And now you see where
we've come out.
What does M.Hamel mean to convey through these lines? 2024-25 (set 3)
2m
 2.Lost Spring (Stories of Stolen Childhood)- Anees Jung

1. Why does Anees Jung say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious
web?- (2m)
2. “Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds……” In the context of Mukesh,
the bangle maker’s son, which two worlds is Anees Jung referring to?-(2m)
3. How bad were the living conditions in which Mukesh and his family
survived? [2019-20 (SET-3)] - (2m)
4. How is Mukesh’s attitude towards his situation different from that of
Saheb? Why? [2017-18 (SET-1)] - (6m) (Text book question)
5. “Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it,
metaphorically.” Explain. [2018-19 (SET-2)] - (6m)
6. Garbage to them is gold. How do ragpickers of Seemapuri survive? [2017
(Delhi)] – (6m)
7. “But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” Which
promise did the author Anees Jung make?
8. Why is garbage more important for a child in Seemapuri?
9. Why did the steel canister seem heavier than the plastic bag that Sahib used to
carry so lightly?
10. What explanation does the author offer for the children not wearing
footwear?
11. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
12. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
13. “Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.” Explain the metaphor in this
sentence.
 3.Deep Water- William Douglas
1. How did William Douglas’s fear of water start? [2019-20 (SET-2)]- (2m)
2. How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer? [2018-19, 2017-18
(SET-1)] –(2m)
3. How did Douglas’s experience at YMCA pool affect him? [2017-18 (SET-
3)]- (2m)
4. How did Douglas develop a fear of water? [2019-20 (SET-3)] – (6m)
5. How did the swimming instructor build a swimmer out of Douglas?
[2019-20 (SET-2)] – (6m)
6. Fear is something that we must learn to overcome if we want to succeed in
life. How did Douglas get over his fear of water? –(6m)
7. “All we have to fear is fear itself.” Explain.
 4.The Rattrap- Selma Lagerlof
1. What was the content of the letter written by the peddler to Edla?
2. How did the peddler feel after robbing the crofter? What course did he
adopt and how did he react to the new situation? What does his reaction
reveal? [2016-17 (SET-3)]- (6m)
3. Why did the crofter repose confidence in the peddler? How did the
peddler betray that and with what consequences? [2017-18(SET-1)] –(6m)
4. ‘The Rattrap’ focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with
others. Comment. [2018-19(SET-1)] –(6m)
5. The peddler thinks the whole world is a rattrap. This view of life is true
only of himself and of no one else in the story. Comment. [2017 DELHI] –
(6m)
6. Why did the peddler finally change his ways? [2019-20(SET-2)] –(6m)
7. How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the human
predicament?
8. Why does the peddler sign himself as ‘Captain Von Stahle’?
9. How does the peddler interpret the acts of kindness and hospitality shown by
the crofter, the ironmaster and his daughter?
10. But just as he laid his head on the ground, he heard a sound- a hard
regular thumping. There was no doubt as to what that was. He raised himself.
“Those are the hammer strokes from an iron mill,” he thought. [2019-20(SET-
2)]-4m
a. Who is ‘he’?
b. Where was ‘he’ at that moment?
c. Why did he lay his head on the ground?
d. Did he feel comfortable on hearing the thumping sound? Why?
 5.Indigo-Louis Fischer
1. Though the sharecroppers of Champaran received only one-fourth of the
compensation, how can the Champaran struggle still be termed a huge success
and victory?
2. How did Rajkumar Shukla persuade Gandhiji to visit Champaran? [2019-
20(SET-2)] –(2m)
3. Why do you think Gandhiji considered the Champaran episode to be a turning
point in his life? [2018-19 (SET-1)] –(2m)
4. How did Gandhiji succeed in getting justice for the Indigo sharecroppers? –
(6m)
5. How did the court scene at Motihari change the course of India’s struggle for
freedom? [2019-20(SET-3)] –(6m)
6. How did Civil Disobedience triumph at Motihari? [2019-20(SET-3)] –(6m)
7. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. The poor indigo farmers were
exploited by the British landlords to which Gandhiji objected. Even after our
independence we find exploitation of unorganized labour. What value can we
learn from Gandhiji’s campaign to counter the present day problems of
exploitation? [2016-17(SET-3)] –(6m)
 6.Poets and Pancakes- Asokamitran
1. How was the make-up room in the Gemini Studios a fine example of national
integration? [2019-20(SET-2)] – (2m) or What is the example of national
integration that the author refers to? (textual question)
2. What made the lawyer stand out from the others at Gemini Studios? [2017-
18(SET-3)] –(2m)
3. Author has used gentle and subtle humour to point out human foibles and
idiosyncrasies in the lesson ‘Poets and Pancakes.’ Elucidate. (6m)
4. What does the writer mean by ‘the fiery misery’ of those subjected to make-
up?
5. What work did the ‘office boy’ do in the Gemini Studios? Why did he join the
studios? Why was he disappointed?
6. Why did the author appear to be doing nothing at the studios?
7. Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on?
8. Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. List four of his special abilities.
9. Did the people at Gemini Studios have any particular political affiliations?
10. Why was the Moral Rearmament Army welcomed at the Studios?
11. Name one example to show that Gemini studios was influenced by the
plays staged by MRA.
12. What caused the lack of communication between the Englishman and
the people at the Gemini studios?
13. Why is the English man’s visit referred to as unexplained mystery?
14. Who was the English visitor to the studios?
15. How did the author discover who the English visitor to the studio was?
16. What does “The God that failed” refer to?
17. Why was Kothamangalam Subbu considered No. 2 in Gemini Studios?
18. How does the author describe the incongruity of an English poet
addressing the audience at Gemini Studios?
 7.The Interview-Christopher Silvester
1. What does Umberto Eco mean by the concept of “Interstices” in our
lives? [2019-20(SET-2)] –(2m)
2. What are some of the positive views on interviews?
3. Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
4. What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
5. What do you understand by the expression “Thumbprints on his windpipe”?
6. Who in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
7. Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your
opinion.
8. How does Eco find the time to write so much?
9. What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
10. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic
scholar?
11. What made the American publisher think that the novel, ‘The Name of
the Rose’ won’t sell well in America? What actually happened? What was
the secret of its success? [2016-17(SET-3)] –(6m)
 8.Going Places- A.R.Barton

1. Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her meeting with Danny
Casey? [2019-20(SET-2)] –(2m)
2. What was Sophie’s ambition in life? How did she hope to achieve that? [2017
(Delhi)]- 2m
3. Why did Sophie like her brother, Geoff more than any other person? [2016-
17 (SET-3)] –(2m)
4. Attempt a character sketch of Sophie as a girl who lives in her dreams. [2018-
19(SET-1)] –(6m)
5. In one's approach to life one should be practical and not live in a world of
dreams. How is Jansie’s attitude different from that of Sophie? – (6m)
6. Here I sit, she said to herself, wishing Danny would come, wishing he would
come and sensing the time passing, I feel the pangs of doubt stirring inside
me. I watch for him but still there is no sign of him. I remember Geoff saying
he would never come, and how none of them believed me when I told them.
[2019-20(SET-2)] –(4m)
a. Who is ‘she’? Who is ‘he’?
b. Why did ‘she’ doubt that ‘he’ would not come?
c. When did ‘she’ realize that ‘he’ would not come?
d. Which word in the passage is opposite in meaning to the word ‘certainty’?
 POETRY
1. My Mother at Sixty Six- Kamala Das
1. What does the poet’s smile in the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ show?
2. Why has the poet mentioned ‘merry-children spilling out of their homes’ in
the poem? [2019-20 (SET-3)]- (2)
3. What kind of pain does Kamala Das feel in ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’? [2017
(Delhi)]
4. Why has the poet’s mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’? [2016-
17(SET-3)]-(2)
5. Reference to context:

I saw my mother, beside me,

doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like
that of a corpse and realized with pain
that she was as old as she looked but soon
put that thought away,…[2017-18(SET-3)]- 4m
a. What worried the poet when she looked at her mother?
b. What was there pain in her realization?
c. Why did the poet put that thought away?
d. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.

I looked again at her, wan, pale

as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile……[2017-18(SET-3)]- 4m
a. Name the poet and the poem.
b. What was the poet’s childhood fear?
c. What is the poetic device used in lines 1-2?
d. Explain: ‘late winter’s moon’.
 2. An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender
1. Why does the speaker call Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad
example? [2019-20 (SET-2)]- 2m
2. Inspite of despair and disease prevading the lives of the slum children,
they are not devoid of hope. How far do you agree? [2017-18 (SET-3)]-
2m
3. Reference to context:

Far-far from gusty waves these children’s faces.

Like rootless weeds, he hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. [2017-18 (SET-3)]- 4m
a. Who are these children?
b. What does the poet mean by ‘gusty waves’?
c. What has possibly weighed-down the tall girl’s head?
d. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.

…On their slag heap, these children

Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones. [2017-18 (SET-2)]- 4m
a. Name the poem and the poet.
b. Explain: ‘slap heap’.
c. What future awaits these children?
d. Name the figure of speech used in the 3rd line.

…the stunted, unlucky heir

Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.
a. Who is the unlucky heir?
b. What has he inherited?
 c. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
d. How is he different from rest of the class?
3. Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda

1. Which symbol from nature does the poet invoke that there can be life under
apparent stillness? [2017-18 (set-1)]- 2m
2. Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death ?
3. What is the sadness that the poet refers to in the poem?
4. Reference to context :
Perhaps the Earth can teach us
As when everything seems dead
And later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
And you keep quiet and I’ll go
a. What does the Earth teach us?
b. What does the poet mean to achieve by counting up to twelve?
c. What is the significance of ‘Keeping Quiet’? [2017-18 (set-3)]- 3m
 4. A Thing of Beauty
John Keats

1. Reference to context :
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead ;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
And endless fountain of immortal drink
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
a. Which two things of beauty are mentioned in these lines?
b. Why are the ‘lovely tales’ called an endless fountain?
c. Where is the fountain situated?
d. Explain: ‘grandeur of the dooms.’

2. A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er- darkened ways
Made for our searching. [2017-18 (SET-3)]
a. What are we doing every day?
b. What evil things do we possess and suffer from?
c. What are the circumstances that contribute towards making humans unhappy
and disillusioned with life?

3. …. And clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms; [2017-18 (SET-2)]
a. Identify the poem and the poet
b. What is the role of the clear rills?
c. How has the mid forest brake become rich?
 d. Name the figure of speech in ‘cooling covert’
4. How can ‘mighty dead’ be things of beauty?

5. A Roadside Stand
Robert Frost
1. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand? [2017-18
(SET-3)]
 6. Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Adrienne Rich
1. How are Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers different from her? (2m)
2. Describe the tigers created by Aunt Jennifer? (2m)
3. Why does Aunt Jennifer create animals that are so different from her own
character? [2017-18 (set-1)] (2m)
4. What will happen to Aunt Jennifer tigers when she is dead? [2016-17 (Set-3)]-
(2m)

Reference to Context:
When Aunt is dead……………………………proud and unafraid.
a. Who is the aunt afraid of?
b. What do the tigers represent here?
c. How has Mrs. Jennifer failed in her aim?
d. Name the figure of speech used in the second line. [2019-20 (Set-2)] – (4m)