ICSE Class 10 English Literature Half Yearly Sample Paper 2025: Download PDF for FREE

Board

ICSE

Class

10

Subject

English Literature

Full Marks

80

Total Section

Section A, B, C & D

Exam Duration

2 Hours 15 Mins

CHECK: ICSE Class 10 English Language Half Yearly Sample Paper 2025

Sl.No

Question 1: Choose the correct answer to the questions from the given options: (16)

1.

What societal expectation does the story, ‘The Girl Who Can’, challenge?  

a) The importance of athletic prowess  

b) The significance placed upon physical appearance and gender roles  

c) The necessity of academic success  

d) The value of obeying elders

2.

Choose the option that lists the sequence of events in the correct order from the story, ‘The Girl  Who Can’:  

1: Nana had taken it upon herself to go ‘ask into it properly’.  

2: Nana came home to tell her mother that it was really true.  

3: Adjoa's mother exclaimed, “Is that so?”  

4: Adjoa's mother and Nana did not take Adjoa seriously when she told them that she was  running for the junior section of the school’s district games.  

a) 1, 2, 3, 4  

b) 4, 1, 2, 3  

c) 4, 3, 1, 2  

d) 1, 2, 4, 3

3.

At the end of the story, ‘The Girl Who Can’, Nana’s character appears as _____  

a) A kill joy  

b) A progressive dynamic woman  

c) A frustrated woman  

d) A woman compromising with the way of the world

4.

Which literary device has been used in the sentence, “She smiled as the door slammed” from the  story, ‘The Elevator’?  

a) Metaphor 

b) Irony 

c) Foreshadowing 

d) Simile

5.

Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements (1) and (2) from “With  the Photographer”.  

(1) The photographer took the narrator’s head in his hands and twisted it sideways.  (2) The narrator thought the photographer meant to kiss him, and he closed his eyes.  a) 1 is an example of 2  

b) 1 is the cause for 2  

c) 1 is a contradiction of 2  

d) 1 is independent of 2

6.

What does the word ‘pudgy’ mean as used in the story, ‘The Elevator’?  

a) Slim 

b) Small 

c) Slightly fat 

d) Tall and skinny

7.

The poem, A Considerable Speck, is essentially about:  

a) The importance of cleanliness 

b) The power of observation  

c) The recognition of life in small things 

d) The fear of insects

8.

In the poem, The Glove and the Lions, what did the King imply by saying, “Not love, but vanity,  sets a task like that.”?  

a) That love should not involve dangerous tasks.  

b) That self-importance can lead to unreasonable demands in love.  

c) That the Count did not truly love the lady  

d) That the lady was not truly in love with the Count 

9.

In the poem, When Great Trees Fall, which of the following lines DO NOT contain the same  literary device as the one in “Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines, gnaws on kind words  unsaid"?  

a) “when great trees fall In forests" 

b) “rocks on distant hills shudder"  

c) “as reduced to the unutterance ignorance of" d) “lions hunker down"

10.

What does Brutus mean when he says, “Judge me, ye Gods! Wrong, I mine enemies?”  

a) He believes he has done no wrong to anyone  

b) He believes he has wronged Cassius and is willing to be judged for it  

c) He believes that the Gods are the only ones who can judge him  

d) He believes that Cassius is not his enemy

11.

In the poem, Haunted Houses, what is the nature of the “phantoms" that the poet refers to?  

a) Malevolent and dangerous 

b) Loud and noisy  

c) Harmless and quiet 

d) Visible and scary

12.

How does Antony describe Lepidus’ character?  

a) As a valuable ally with a strong leadership ability  

b) As a loyal soldier who deserves to be rewarded  

c) As a weak and unimportant person who is easily manipulated  

d) As a competent and intelligent individual who is underestimated

13.

What is the tone of the conversation between Antony and Octavius?  

a) Hostile and argumentative 

b) Respectful and cooperative  

c) Suspicious and secretive 

d) Sarcastic and mocking

14.

What does Cinna the poet say about his relationship with Caesar?  

a) He is an enemy of Caesar’s 

b) He is a friend of Caesar’s  

c) He is neutral towards Caesar 

d) He is indifferent to Caesar

15.

What does “low march within" signify?  

a) The arrival of Cassius and his army 

b) The departure of Brutus' army  

c) The start of a battle 

d) The sound of a retreat

16.

What does Brutus suggest they do before discussing their problems?  

a) End the battle 

b) Talk in front of both their armies  

c) Have a fight to settle their differences 

d) Dismiss their armies and then talk in private

Drama: Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

(Answer one or more questions from this section)  

Question 2: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:  

Brutus: Good countrymen, let me depart alone,  

And, for my sake, stay here with Antony:  

Do grace to Caesar’s corpse, and grace his speech  

Tending to Caesar’s glories; which Mark Antony,  

By our permission, it is allowed to be made.  

(i) Where is Brutus at this juncture? Why is he there? Which error of judgement does he make at this point? (3)  

(ii) Outline the conditions under which Antony was allowed to address the countrymen. (3)  

(iii) Later in the scene how does Antony prove to the countrymen that Caesar was not ambitious? (3)  

(iv) How does Brutus justify his intention of killing Caesar? Was he successful in convincing the  countrymen? (3)  

(v) What change of attitude do we see in the countrymen as Antony proceeds with his speech? What  light does it throw on the attributes of the countrymen? Bring out one contrasting character trait  between Brutus and Antony at this juncture of the play. (4) 

Question 3: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:   

Caesar: Are we all ready? What is now amiss,  

That Caesar and his Senate must redress?  

Metellus: Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,  

Metellus Climber throws before thy seat  

A humble heart, ---- (He kneels)  

(i) Where are the speakers? What does ‘puissant’ mean? (3)  Explain: ‘Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat a humble heart’. 

(ii) At the beginning of the scene, Caesar says, ‘The Ideas of March have come.’ (3)  Why do you think Caesar said this? What does the Soothsayer say in response?  

(iii) What specific duties do the conspirators allot to Trebonius and Casca? (3)  Why does Cassius become nervous when Popilius Lena speaks to him as they enter?  

(iv) What does Artemidorus want of Caesar? How does Caesar respond to his plea? (3)  

(v) Shortly after this exchange, Caesar is stabbed to death by the conspirators. Whom do you  sympathise with – Julius Caesar or the conspirators? Give reasons for your choice. (4)

Prose-Short Stories: Treasure Chest – A Collection of Poems and Short Stories 

(Answer one or more questions from this section)  

Question 4: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:  

As far as I could see, there was only one problem. And it had nothing to do with what I knew Nana  considered as ‘problems', or what Maami thinks of as ‘the problem’.  

1) Who is “I" here? Where was “I" born? What problem does “I" think they have? (3)  

2) Who is Nana? What was the process of the narrator trying to tell Nana something she took a long  time to figure out? (3)   

3) Why did the narrator find it difficult to express her thoughts? (3)

4) What opinion do you form of the narrator from her understanding of “good adults" and “bad  adults"? (4)    

5) What kind of legs did Nana believe a woman should have? Why? (3)

Question 5: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:  

One morning the elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor, and a fat lady got on.  

1) What did Martin wonder about the fat lady after school? (3)    

2) What did Martin notice about the fat lady when she entered the elevator? (3)

3) What did Martin do after he got to his room? Why? (3)    

4) On which floor did the elevator stop when Martin was returning home? Who did Martin see  

waiting for the elevator? What were Martin’s thoughts once the elevator started going up? (3)

5) In what ways did the fat lady have an impact on Martin’s physical and emotional well-being? (4)

Poem: Treasure Chest – A Collection of Poems and Short Stories

(Answer one or more questions from this section)  

Question 6: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:  

When great trees fall  

In forests,  

Small things recoil into silence,  

Their senses  

Eroded beyond fear.  

1) When a great soul passes away, how are the lives of the ones left behind impacted? (3)  

2) What effect did the falling of a “great tree" have on the creatures of the forest? (3) 

3) What feeling is expressed by the following lines/phrases? (3)    

4) What long-term effect does the death of a ‘great soul' have? (3)

(a) small things recoil into silence  

(b) kind words/ unsaid  

(c) be and be/ better. For they existed.  

5) What is a “great tree" a metaphor for? What is the ultimate message of Maya Angelou's poem,  “When Great Trees Fall"? (4)

Question 7: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:  

When something strange about it made me think,  

This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,  

…  

Then paused again and either drank or smelt—  

With loathing, for again it turned to fly.  

1) Why do you think the speck paused “with suspicion" of the speaker’s pen and its movement? (3)    

2) Why does the speaker emphasise that the speck is “no dust speck"? (3)

3) As far as writing is concerned, what do the wet manuscript and the presence of the speck symbolise? (3)    

4) What all might one assume about the speck when it “drank or smelt"? (3)

5) What do you think can be the reasons for the speck to fly with loathing after pausing? (4)

CHECK:ICSE Class 10 English Literature Half Yearly Sample Paper 2025, Download PDF