Question

Attempt any one question from Q. 11 (a) or Q. 11 (b) in about 150-200 words.
Gulliver's Travels
(a) Give a detailed account of Gulliver's departure from the house of the farmer to the kings palace at Brobdingnag ?
OR
(a) Give a brief character sketch of the Queen of Brobdingnag ? Three Men in a Boat

(b) What happens when both Harris and J. wait for the cab with their packed things at their door steps ?
OR
(b) Give the character sketch of J. in about 150 words.

Answer 1

After the illness which left Helen deaf and blind, her parents went to meet an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist in Baltimore. He put them in touch with Alexander Graham Bell who worked with deaf children. Bell advised them to contact Perkins Institute for the Blind. This institution sent Miss Anne Sullivan as Helen’s instructor. The eventful day, on which Miss Sullivan was to arrive, Helen felt that something unusual was going to happen. She had no idea that the future held marvel and surprise in store for her. Miss Sullivan arrived and filled Helen’s life with brightness. Both of them shared a wonderful relationship. Miss Sullivan was like a mother to her. She taught her the spellings of words by writing them on her hand like d-o-l-l. Later, she taught her abstract words like love, water, think, etc. Once she improved her vocabulary, Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to use the words in sentences, thus gradually increasing her knowledge. She accompanied Helen everywhere and Helen also looked towards her whenever she wanted to know about something, their relationship lasted for 49 years and eventually turned from a governess to that of a companion.
OR
Helen was a great woman who lost her sight and hearing when she was a child. The beautiful bright world became dark and dull. It took her some time to realise that she was different from others as she felt that others did not communicate like her. There was movement of their lips when they communicated. At first she became impatient. She threw tantrums at times but gradually realized that there was an another way to come out of the dark and silent world. It was to be done with the help of her feelings of the heart and touch. Miss Anne Sullivan, her teacher, helped her a lot in adjusting to the new dark world. She taught her everything right from words to sentences. Miss Sullivan, sometimes, had to face problems while teaching the abstract nouns like ‘love’ but with her patience, she handled Helen and made her learn such words. Once Helen had gone swimming when she was at Brewstar. She was enjoying the feel of water when suddenly her foot struck against a rock and she felt herself drowning. All her efforts to save herself went in vain. But somehow, the water threw her back on the shore and she was saved. She took some time to recover and then again went to sit on a big rock and feel the ocean water. This incident didn’t deter her. In another instance, she had almost jumped down a big tree when there was heavy rain and she got terrified. She took some time to gather her courage and she climbed another tree. Thus, we can say that she had a great strength and courage which helped her come out of her dark and silent world.
OR
Mrs. Van Daan was a friendly, teasing woman. She was a fatalist, egotistical, flirtatious, and disagreeable woman. She quarrelled over petty issues and no body in the Annexe got along well with her. Mrs. Van Daan frequently complained that Anne didn’t admire or respect her. She was a timid lady who got frightened at the slightest noise. She didn’t behave well with Mrs. Frank, Mr. Dussel and even Peter. She was always ready to pick up a fight. On September 2, 1942 she had a quarrel with Mrs. Frank as she had found out that the Franks were using her China instead of their own. She got annoyed with Anne when she broke one of her soup bowls. All these incidents point towards Mrs. Van Daan being short-tempered. Whenever, she picked up a row with anyone it was only Mrs. Van Daan who came out as a winner because she seemed a ‘born debater’ to Anne. In the later stage of her hiding, she became uncomfortable during her hiding and gave vent to her feeling by frequently hitting others with her speech. Like all others, Mrs. Van Daan did not survive the war.
OR
It is a well known fact that war causes a lot of destruction. The same happened here. The air planes rained down bombs on Amsterdam heavily. It started after the siren. The guns boomed loudly. There were sounds of gun fires and swarms of planes. According to British reports, Schilpol Airport had been bombed. Entire streets were in ruins after the bombardment in North Amsterdam. The Carlton Hotel, the German officer’s club and the entire corner of Vijzelstraat and single seemed to be in flames. About two hundred people were killed and countless were wounded. Children were seen searching frantically for their dead parents in the smouldering ruins. It was a pathetic sight. In an act of a sabotage on March 27, 1943 the Labour Exchange was set on fire and a few later the County Clerk’s office also went up in flames. Some men posed as German police and bound and gagged the guards, they managed to destroy some important documents. Thus, there was destruction all around.