List of top English Questions

Why is the act of nature described as ‘precise’?
Which of the following reflects the poet’s attitude towards communal disharmony
1. Critical condemnation
2. Helpless acceptance
3. Wistful lament
Is the poet’s attitude a representation of how the average Indian feels both towards human violence and nature’s fury?
What makes the depiction of a crumbling village house so authentic in the poem? Is this a common feature of most village houses in the context of rapid urbanisation? Is the poet speaking from actual experience?
What aspects of Indian society and history get highlighted in the poem?
Does the poem bring out the contrast between tradition and modernity? Illustrate your answer with examples from the poem.
What imagery does the poet use to delineate Summer’s day more picturesquely than any painter could?
What do you understand by ‘Psalteries of Summer’?
In which lines are creatures attributed with human qualities? How does this add to the beauty of the Summer’s day?
How would you explain the image of the ‘Hindered Flags’?
Why are the pronouns referring to the Sun capitalised?
Give examples from the poem to show that great poetry is a result of close observation of natural phenomena.
How do the ‘trees in their autumn beauty’, ‘dry woodland paths’, ‘October twilight’, ‘still sky’ connect to the poet’s own life?
What do ‘the light tread’ and ‘the sore heart’ refer to?
What is the contrast between the liveliness of the swans and human life?
What contributes to the beauty and mystery of the swans’ lives?
Count the syllables in the lines of ‘The Divine Image’. Do you see a pattern? The first line has eight and the second line has six syllables. Two syllables make a foot in poetry. Here the first syllable of each foot is unstressed and the second syllable is stressed.
Does the poem have a real geographical location? How does the poet mix up the real and the imaginary to give a sense of the surreal?
Pick out
1. contrasting images that are juxtaposed throughout the poem.
2. images that strike the eye and images that strike the ear, both positive and negative.
3. the words used to describe the movement of water.
What is the discordant note heard at the end of the third stanza? Can we relate this to the grandeur and turmoil that are a part of an emperor’s life?
Which are the lines that refer to magical elements?
What is poetic ecstasy likened to?
The poem is a fragment. What do you think has made it a lasting literary piece?
How did Tao Ying’s son influence the way she led her life?
Pick out instances from the story to show that official rules are often arbitrary.