ICSE Class 10 English Flashcards

24 sample cards from the English deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. In Merchant of Venice Act 4, what penalty does Shylock face under the Venetian alien law?

   For plotting against a citizen's life, half his wealth goes to Antonio and half to the state, and his life is at the Duke's mercy.

2. In Act 4, what mercy is finally shown to Shylock?

   His life is spared; the state's half is reduced to a fine, Antonio takes his half in trust for Lorenzo and Jessica, and Shylock must become a Christian.

3. In Merchant of Venice Act 4, how do the disguised Portia and Nerissa obtain the rings?

   As the lawyer and clerk, they ask Bassanio and Gratiano for their rings as payment; the men reluctantly give them up, breaking their vows.

4. What is the setting and main resolution of Merchant of Venice Act 5?

   Set at Belmont in moonlight; the wives reveal they were the lawyer and clerk, the ring 'quarrel' is resolved, and news arrives that Antonio's ships have safely returned.

5. In Act 5, what good news does Portia bring Antonio?

   She gives him a letter showing that three of his argosies (merchant ships) have unexpectedly arrived safely in harbour, restoring his fortune.

6. Who wrote the poem 'The Frog and the Nightingale'?

   Vikram Seth.

7. What is the main moral/theme of 'The Frog and the Nightingale'?

   It warns against blind trust and lack of self-confidence; the naive Nightingale, manipulated by the cunning Frog, loses her individuality and dies.

8. In 'The Frog and the Nightingale', how does the Frog exploit the Nightingale?

   He poses as a music teacher, demands a fee, overtrains her with harsh practice until she loses her natural voice and confidence, leading to her death.

9. What happens to the Nightingale at the end of 'The Frog and the Nightingale'?

   Forced to sing repeatedly to please crowds, she bursts a vein from over-strain and dies, leaving the Frog to sing 'unrivalled' once more.

10. Who is the author of the poem 'Mirror', and from whose point of view is it written?

    Sylvia Plath; the poem is written from the point of view of the mirror itself (and later a lake).

11. What does the mirror claim about itself in the poem 'Mirror'?

    It is 'silver and exact,' has no preconceptions, is not cruel only truthful, and reflects whatever it sees 'unmisted by love or dislike.'

12. What is the central theme of Sylvia Plath's 'Mirror'?

    The conflict between appearance and reality, and a woman's anxiety about ageing and the loss of youth and beauty over time.

13. Explain the closing image of 'Mirror': 'a terrible fish.'

    As the woman ages, her lost young self has 'drowned'; her aged face rises in the lake-mirror 'like a terrible fish,' symbolising the dread of growing old and death.

14. Who wrote 'Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments' (Sonnet 55)?

    William Shakespeare.

15. What is the central theme of Sonnet 55, 'Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments'?

    The immortalising power of poetry; the poet's verse will outlast marble statues and gilded monuments, preserving the friend's memory until Judgement Day.

16. In Sonnet 55, what will destroy monuments but not the poet's verse?

    War, time, 'wasteful war,' 'broils' (conflicts), and the 'sluttish' (untidy) passage of time will ruin statues and stone, but the living poem will survive.

17. Who wrote 'Ode to a Nightingale'?

    John Keats.

18. What does the nightingale's song represent for the speaker in 'Ode to a Nightingale'?

    Eternal, immortal beauty, joy, and an escape from the pain, suffering, and mortality of human life.

19. In 'Ode to a Nightingale', how does Keats wish to escape with the bird, and through what means?

    He longs to fade away and join the nightingale, first wishing for wine, then choosing 'the viewless wings of Poesy' (imagination) to escape reality.

20. What famous paradox does Keats state about the nightingale in the ode?

    'Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!'—the bird's song is eternal, heard by ancient emperors and even the biblical Ruth, unlike mortal man.

21. What word breaks the speaker's reverie in 'Ode to a Nightingale', and how does it end?

    The word 'forlorn' tolls him back to his 'sole self'; the bird flies away and he questions whether the experience was 'a vision, or a waking dream.'

22. Who wrote the poem 'The Patriot', and in what form is it written?

    Robert Browning; it is a dramatic monologue subtitled 'An Old Story.'

23. What is the contrast at the heart of Browning's 'The Patriot'?

    The fickleness of public favour: a year ago the patriot was welcomed with roses and cheering crowds; now the same people lead him to execution amid scorn.

24. How does the patriot in Browning's poem console himself as he goes to his death?

    He believes that although men have failed and punished him, he is now safer in God's hands and trusts God will reward him in the afterlife (''Tis God shall repay').

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