List of top English Questions

Dreams and clairvoyance are as much an element of the poetic vision as religious superstition.
The story hinges on a gold ring shaped like a serpent with emerald eyes. Comment on the responses that this image evokes in the reader.
What is the best tribute that posterity has bestowed on Shakespeare?
Notice the spelling of the following words
houres                  shadowes                   Sunne   noone                  clearnesse                  behinde 

The ‘e’ that was used in Donne’s period got dropped from English orthography later. Pick out the other words in the poem that have this peculiar feature.
Take note also that the apostrophe is not used for indicating the possessive form: loves philosophy
Examples from other poems from this period:
• How neatly doe we give one onely name
• To parents issue and the sunnes bright starre!
Notice the adjectives in phrases such as ‘infant loves’ and ‘brave clearnesse’. What is the meaning of these adjectives?
(i) in isolation
(ii) as part of these phrases
Why has the poet pitted the flight of Time against the ‘lazy leaden-stepping hours’ and ‘the heavy Plummets pace’?
What are the things associated with the temporal and what are associated with the eternal?
What guides human souls towards divinity? Who is the final winner in the race against Time?
Why does Milton feel it is not necessary to put up a monument in stone for Shakespeare?
What does the ‘weak witness of thy name’ refer to?
How does Milton describe Shakespeare as the source of inspiration for all succeeding generations of poets?
In which section of the play does Mr. Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr. Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?
Love is described as light. What makes the poet talk about shadows?
Comment on the use of the image of the shadows for the idea that the poet wants to convey
The poet seems to be addressing his beloved in the poem. What is the message he wishes to convey to her?
Instead of ‘A Lecture Upon Love’ the poet calls the poem ‘A Lecture Upon the Shadow’. What is the effect that this has on our reading of the poem?
How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self absorption?
While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during war time, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the circumstances?
Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A. J. Cronin that you read in Snapshots last year? What are the similarities?
Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?
Who is Mr. Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?