ICSE Class 10 Question Paper 2026 Literature in English

ICSE | Class 10

Literature in
English
Question Paper 2026

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

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LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

(ENGLISH PAPER – 2)

Maximum Marks: 80

Time allowed: Two hours

1. Answers to this Paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

2. You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.

3. This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.

4. The time given at the head of this Paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.

5. The paper has four Sections.

6. Section A is compulsory – All questions in Section A must be answered.

7. You must attempt one question from each of the Sections B, C and D and one other
question from any Section of your choice.

8. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].

Instruction for the Supervising Examiner

Kindly read aloud the Instructions given above to all the candidates present in the
Examination Hall.

This paper consists of 12 printed pages.
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SECTION A
(Attempt all questions from this Section.)

Question 1
Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. [16]
(Do not copy the questions, write ONLY the correct answers.)
(i) What were Julius Caesar’s dying words?
(a) ‘Caesar, now be still…’
(b) ‘Et tu brute? Then fall Caesar!’
(c) ‘This is the most unkindest cut of all;’
(d) ‘By your leave, gods; this is a Roman’s part.’
(ii) Which of the following phrases best describes Antony’s mood when he says:
‘O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure?’
(a) frustration and rage
(b) grief and sorrow
(c) hate and anger
(d) remorse and regret
(iii) Which of the following does Antony NOT say about Caesar in his funeral
speech?
(a) Caesar was ambitious and wanted to be crowned king.
(b) Caesar had compassion for the poor and cried when they cried.
(c) Caesar was valiant in battle and had brought riches to the Roman
treasury.
(d) Caesar had left seventy-five drachmas to every Roman citizen.

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(iv) Antony says, ‘These many then shall die; their names are prick’d.’
These words reveal that he is ___________.

(a) ruthless

(b) anxious

(c) frustrated

(d) angry

(v) During their quarrel, Brutus says to Cassius, ‘Away, slight man!’
Brutus’s tone in the above line can be best described as ___________.

(a) disappointed

(b) argumentative

(c) vengeful

(d) dismissive

(vi) Towards the end of the play, Pindarus reports that Titinius had been captured
by enemy troops. What does Cassius do on hearing this news?

(a) He orders an immediate attack to rescue Titinius.

(b) Fearing defeat, he decides to flee the battlefield.

(c) He persuades Pindarus to help him take his life.

(d) He surrenders to Antony’s forces to save his men.

(vii) What did Martin dislike about the elevator in his apartment building?

(a) The unpleasant smell

(b) Its dirty floor

(c) Its small size

(d) The poor ventilation

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(viii) Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Stephen Leacock’s
short story, ‘With the Photographer’ in the correct order:

1. Even as he was protesting, the photographer managed to take a candid
photograph with which he was very pleased.

2. At the studio, the photographer’s criticism of his face, made the author
feel worthless and unattractive.

3. Disturbed and upset by the photographer’s criticisms and instructions,
the author voiced his protest.

4. The author wanted to have his photograph taken.

(a) 3, 2, 1, 4

(b) 4, 2, 3, 1

(c) 2, 3, 4, 1

(d) 1, 4, 3, 2

(ix) ‘Nana has many voices. There is a special one she uses to shut everyone up.’

What do these lines from Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, ‘The Girl Who Can’,
tell us about Nana?

(a) She is a loud, rude woman.

(b) She has a strong, powerful voice.

(c) She can speak many languages.

(d) She dominates the household.

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(x) What were the people in Mead’s neighbourhood doing when he was out
walking at night?
(a) Watching television
(b) Reading magazines
(c) Driving to the gas station
(d) Staring out of their windows

(xi) In Alphonse Daudet’s short story, ‘The Last Lesson’, Franz says that ‘all our
bad news had come from there.’ What does ‘there’ refer to?
(a) The school building
(b) The bulletin board
(c) The clock tower
(d) The town hall

(xii) Which of the given options contains the figure of speech that appears in the
following lines from Longfellow’s poem, ‘Haunted Houses’?
‘The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere, …’
(a) ‘Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.’
(b) ‘When Frost was spectre-gray’
(c) ‘An hundred years should go to praise / Thine eyes’
(d) ‘She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;’
(xiii) The mood in the poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’, moves from __________.
(a) hurt to wonder
(b) calm to distress
(c) hope to despair
(d) fear to hope

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(xiv) In the poem, ‘The Glove and the Lions’, King Francis exclaims, ‘rightly
done!’. What action of Count de Lorge does he applaud when he says this?

(a) Leaping into the pit full of angry lions.

(b) Retrieving the lady’s glove from the pit.

(c) Flinging the glove angrily in the lady’s face.

(d) Sighing for the ‘beauteous lively dame’.

(xv) Select the option that shows the correct relationship between Statement 1 and
Statement 2 based on the poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’.

Statement 1: The mite on the paper ran, crept, faltered, hesitated and
cowered.

Statement 2: The poet-narrator realised that it was an intelligent living
creature.

(a) Statement 1 is true and Statement 2 is false.

(b) Statement 1 is false and Statement 2 is true.

(c) Statement 1 is the reason for Statement 2.

(d) Statement 2 is a contradiction of Statement 1.

(xvi) Sukumar Ray’s poem, ‘The Power of Music’ can be classified as _________.

(a) nonsense verse

(b) a sonnet

(c) a lyrical poem

(d) an ode

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SECTION B
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
DRAMA
(Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)

Question 2
Read the extract from ‘Julius Caesar’ Act 3, Scene 1, given below and answer the
questions that follow:
Antony: Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bay’d, brave hart;
Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand,
Sign’d in thy spoil, and crimson’d in thy lethe.
O world, thou wast the forest to this hart;
And this indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
How like a deer, strucken by many princes,
Dost thou here lie!
Cassius: Mark Antony —
Antony: Pardon me, Caius Cassius:
The enemies of Caesar shall say this;
Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty.

(i) Why does Antony say, ‘Pardon me, Julius!’ ? [3]

(ii) Where was Caesar ‘bay’d’? [3]
Explain the meaning of the words, ‘Here wast thou bay’d, brave heart;’

(iii) Name any two of the ‘hunters’ who were present at the scene. [3]
Why are they described as being, ‘sign’d’ and crimson’d’?

(iv) What does Cassius ask Antony immediately after this exchange? [3]
How does Antony respond to his question?

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(v) What request does Antony make to Brutus a little later in the scene? [4]
Who warns Brutus against granting this request?
What reason does this person give for doing so?
What does this tell us about this person’s character?

Question 3
Read the extract from ‘Julius Caesar’ Act 5, Scene 3, given below and answer the
questions that follow:
Brutus: O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails. [Alarums]

Cato: Brave Titinius!
Look whe’r he have not crown’d dead Cassius!

Brutus: Are yet two Romans living such as these?
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe more tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay --
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.

(i) Explain what Brutus means when he says, [3]
‘O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails’.

(ii) What were Cassius’ last thoughts before he died? [3]
How did Titinius honour the dead Cassius?

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(iii) What does Brutus promise when he says, ‘I shall find time, Cassius, I shall [3]
find time.’?
Why does he make this promise?
What aspect of Brutus’ character does this reveal to us?

(iv) Explain the term ‘funerals’. [3]
Why does Brutus not want to hold ‘his funerals’ in their camp?
Where will ‘his funerals’ be held?

(v) How does Lucilius demonstrate his loyalty to Brutus at the end of the play? [4]
What does this tell you about Brutus’ character?
How is Lucilius rewarded for his loyalty by Antony?
What does this reveal to us of Antony’s character?

SECTION C
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
PROSE - SHORT STORIES
(Treasure Chest – A Collection of Poems and Short Stories)

Question 4
Read the following extract from Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, ‘The Girl Who Can’
and answer the questions that follow:
‘Like all this business to do with my legs. I have always wanted to tell them
not to worry. I mean Nana and my mother. That it did not have to be an
issue for my two favourite people to fight over. But I didn’t want either to
be told not to repeat that or it to be considered so funny that anyone would
laugh at me until they cried. After all, they were my legs…’

(i) Where was Adjoa born? [3]
Who were her ‘two favourite people’?

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(ii) What ‘issue’ did her two favourite people fight over? Why? [3]

(iii) What other issue concerning Adjoa, did Nana and Adjoa’s mother [3]
disagree on?
What opinion did each of them have on this issue?

(iv) Mention three little clues in Nana’s behaviour that led Adjoa to realise that [3]
Nana’s views on her legs had changed.

(v) How does Adjoa’s success as a runner bring about a change in the [4]
traditional views held by Nana?
Mention two of Nana’s character traits that make her a remarkable person.

Question 5
Read the following extract from Ray Bradbury’s short story, ‘The Pedestrian’, and
answer the questions that follow:
‘Sometimes he (Mead) would walk for hours and miles and return only at
midnight to his house. And on his way he would see the cottages and homes
with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a
graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in
flickers behind the windows.’

(i) In which year is Bradbury’s story set? [3]
What did Leonard Mead ‘most dearly love to do’?

(ii) In the given extract, what does Bradbury compare Mead’s experience of [3]
walking through the city late at night to?
List two reasons why you would consider the comparison suitable.

(iii) Which three responses from Mead are viewed with suspicion by the police [3]
car?

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(iv) Where is Mead taken to at the end of the story? [3]
What observation does the author make about Mead’s house as the police
car drives through the street?

(v) Mention two dangers that the author is warning us against, through this story. [4]
Suggest an alternative title for the story. Give one reason for your choice.

SECTION D
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
POETRY
(Treasure Chest – A Collection of Poems and Short Stories)

Question 6
Read the following extract from Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’,
and answer the questions that follow:
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

(i) What three images from the natural world does Angelou use to describe [3]
the effect of great trees falling?

(ii) Angelou compares great trees to great souls. [3]
Mention two ways in which this comparison is appropriate.
What is the mood created by the lines in the above extract?

(iii) What words does the poet use to describe the condition of the air around [3]
us when great souls die?
What feeling is being expressed in the line, ‘We breathe, briefly’?

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(iv) What, according to the poet, are the two things we remember and regret [3]
when a great soul dies?
What happens to our souls when great souls die?

(v) ‘Angelou’s poem is about the lasting influence of great souls.’ [4]
Explain the above statement briefly.
What aspect of the poem appeals to you?
Give one reason for your response.

Question 7
Read the following lines from Sukumar Ray’s poem, ‘The Power of Music’ and
answer the questions that follow:
When summer comes, we hear the hums
Bhisma Lochan Sharma.
You catch his strain on hill and plain from Delhi
down to Burma.
(i) What is Bhisma Lochan Sharma known for? [3]
When can one hear him?
Explain the following words from the given extract: ‘You catch his strain’.
(ii) How can we tell that his singing was not appreciated by the people who [3]
heard him?
(iii) The poet uses ridiculous images to exaggerate the effect of Bhisma Lochan [3]
Sharma’s voice on his listeners. Mention any three such images.
(iv) How does the poet describe the billy goat which appears at the end of the [3]
poem?
What does it do to help bring relief to the suffering people?
(v) Bring out the significance of the title of the poem. [4]
Do you feel sympathy for Bhisma Lochan Sharma or for those who
listened to him?
Give reasons for your response.

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