Probable 10 mark questions from Rhapsody: ISC poem Class 12, 2025

All 10 mark questions to be answered between 200-250 words:

Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka

• How is prejudice dealt with in a humorous way in the poem?
• The narrator's politeness turns to biting sarcasm as the lady's prejudice becomes covert to overt. Explain with reference to the poem.
• How is colour and imagery used to denote racism in the poem.

Tithonus by Lord Alfred Tennyson

• "Pride leads to our fall". How does the poem embody this saying?
• From the story of Tithonus, show how it is futile to try to attain the impossible. Should human beings tamper with the natural order of things?
• How does the poet use imagery to make this poem a lament conveying the pain and frustration of Tithonus?
• How is Tithonus an elegy and a dramatic monologue?

Beethoven by Shane Koyczan

• Discuss the aptness of the title of this poem.
• How does parental control and behaviour affect a child. Would Beethoven become Beethoven without this?
• Is pain a prerequisite for true creative genius? Answer with reference to the poem.

Small Towns and the River by Mamang Dai

• How is the poem a contrast between the transient human life and eternal nature?
• How does the poem epitomise the theme of "Life and death, life and death,/only rituals are permanent."
• How does the poet use different figures of speech of imagery and personification to bring forth beauty of the tribal towns and river?

Death Be Not Proud by John Donne

• Discuss Death Be Not Proud as a metaphysical poem.
• How does the poet use metaphors to suggest the powerlessness of death?

        Think about it: Compare how Shakespeare and Donne relate sleep and death in Macbeth and Death         Be Not Proud.