English

---
target: 495+/500
author: Senior Sibling
name: english
description: >-
  CBSE Grade 12 English Language and Literature — First Flight, Footprints Without Feet,
  Grammar, and Writing Skills. Activate for English concepts, literature analysis, and board exam prep.
---

# English Language and Literature — CBSE Grade 12

## Syllabus Coverage (2026–27)

| Section | Content | Marks |
|---------|---------|-------|
| A | Reading Skills (Unseen Passages) | 20 |
| B | Writing Skills & Grammar | 20 |
| C | Language through Literature | 40 |
| | **Theory Total** | **80** |
| | Internal Assessment | 20 |
| | **Grand Total** | **100** |

## Question Paper Design

| Section | Content | Marks | Questions |
|---------|---------|-------|-----------|
| A | 2 Unseen passages (factual + discursive) | 20 | MCQs + Short answer |
| B | Grammar (10M) + Writing (10M) | 20 | Gap fill, editing, transformation + Letter, Paragraph |
| C | Extract (10M) + SA (18M) + LA (12M) | 40 | From First Flight + Footprints |
| **Total** | | **80** | |

---

## Section A: Reading Skills (20 Marks)

### Passage 1 — Factual/Informational (10 Marks)
- ~400-450 words, factual content
- MCQ-based questions testing comprehension, vocabulary, inference
- **Tips**: Read passage twice. Underline key phrases. Answer in passage's language.

### Passage 2 — Case-based/Discursive (10 Marks)
- ~350-400 words, may include data/table/chart
- MCQ and short answer questions
- **Tips**: For data questions, read ALL options before choosing. Look for tricky wording.

### Strategy for 20/20 in Reading
1. Read the questions FIRST, then the passage
2. Answer in complete sentences (not fragments)
3. Don't add your own knowledge — answer from the passage only
4. For vocabulary questions, use context clues from surrounding sentences
5. Time allocation: 30-35 minutes maximum

---

## Section B: Writing Skills & Grammar (20 Marks)

### Grammar (10 Marks)

**Topics covered:**
1. **Tenses** — Past, Present, Future (Simple, Continuous, Perfect)
2. **Modals** — can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, need
3. **Subject-Verb Concord** — singular/plural agreement
4. **Determiners** — a, an, the, some, any, each, every, few, little
5. **Reported Speech** — direct to indirect and vice versa
6. **Active-Passive Voice** — transformation

### Reported Speech Rules
```
TENSE CHANGES (Direct → Indirect):
  Simple Present → Simple Past
  Present Continuous → Past Continuous
  Present Perfect → Past Perfect
  Simple Past → Past Perfect
  Will → Would
  Can → Could
  May → Might

PRONOUN CHANGES:
  I → he/she
  We → they
  My → his/her
  You → he/she/they (context dependent)

TIME/PLACE CHANGES:
  Today → that day
  Tomorrow → the next day
  Yesterday → the previous day
  Here → there
  This → that
  Now → then
  Ago → before

REPORTING VERBS:
  Said → told (when "to" + person)
  "Will you..." → asked if/whether
  "Please..." → requested
  "Don't..." → ordered/forbade
```

### Writing (10 Marks)

**Formal Letter (5 Marks)** — 100-120 words
```
FORMAT:
  Sender's Address
  Date
  Receiver's Designation
  Receiver's Address
  Subject: ___
  Sir/Madam,
  Body (3 paragraphs: introduction, details, conclusion)
  Yours faithfully/sincerely,
  (Name)

Types: Complaint, Request, Application, Enquiry, Suggestion
```

**Analytical Paragraph (5 Marks)** — 100-120 words
```
Based on: Chart / Graph / Map / Data / Cue
FORMAT:
  Topic sentence → Data analysis (trends, comparisons) → Conclusion
  Must include: specific numbers, percentages, comparisons
  Transition words: however, moreover, in contrast, on the other hand
```

---

## Section C: Literature (40 Marks)

### FIRST FLIGHT — Prose

#### 1. A Letter to God — G.L. Fuentes
- **Theme**: Unshakeable faith, irony
- **Key points**: Lencho writes to God for 100 pesos; post office employees collect 70 pesos; Lencho calls them "bunch of crooks"
- **Irony**: The very people who helped him are called crooks
- **Message**: Blind faith can make one ungrateful

#### 2. Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom — Nelson Mandela
- **Theme**: Apartheid, freedom, equality, courage
- **Key points**: May 10, 1994 — inauguration; rainbow nation; true freedom = freedom of all; courage is not absence of fear but triumph over it
- **Quotes**: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin"

#### 3. Two Stories about Flying
**i. His First Flight — Liam O'Flaherty**
- **Theme**: Overcoming fear, courage
- **Key points**: Young seagull afraid to fly; hunger forces him; mother holds fish to motivate; he finally flies
- **Message**: Fear is the only barrier; one must take the first step

**ii. Black Aeroplane — Frederick Forsyth**
- **Theme**: Mystery, unknown help
- **Key points**: Pilot flying through storm clouds; mysterious black aeroplane guides him; no record at control tower
- **Message**: Some help comes from unknown sources

#### 4. From the Diary of Anne Frank — Anne Frank
- **Theme**: Adolescence, loneliness, diary as confidant
- **Key points**: Anne names diary "Kitty"; feels no real friend; records life in hiding during WWII
- **Character**: Sensitive, observant, witty, yearning for normalcy

#### 5. Glimpses of India
**i. A Baker from Goa** — Lucio Rodrigues (Goan traditions, importance of bakers)
**ii. Coorg** — Lokesh Abrol (beautiful landscape, brave Kodavus, martial traditions)
**iii. Tea from Assam** — Arup Kumar Datta (Assam tea gardens, legends of tea)

#### 6. Mijbil the Otter — Gavin Maxwell
- **Theme**: Human-animal bond
- **Key points**: Maxwell gets otter from marshes of Iraq; names him Mij; otter's playful nature; challenges of traveling with an otter

#### 7. Madam Rides the Bus — Valliammai Subramanian
- **Theme**: Curiosity, adventure, maturity of a child
- **Key points**: 8-year-old Valli saves money for bus ride; observes life and death (dead cow); returns wiser

#### 8. The Sermon at Benares — Betty Renshaw
- **Theme**: Death, suffering, acceptance
- **Key points**: Kisa Gotami's dead son; Buddha tells her to find mustard seed from house where no one has died; she understands death is universal
- **Message**: Death is inevitable; grief should not cloud wisdom

#### 9. The Proposal (Play) — Anton Chekhov
- **Theme**: Satire on marriage negotiations, petty disputes
- **Key points**: Lomov comes to propose to Natalya; they argue about Oxen Meadows and dogs; Chubukov (father) tries to mediate; proposal happens despite fighting

### FIRST FLIGHT — Poetry

| Poem | Poet | Theme | Key Lines |
|------|------|-------|-----------|
| Dust of Snow | Robert Frost | Nature's ability to change mood | "Has given my heart / A change of mood" |
| Fire and Ice | Robert Frost | World's end — desire (fire) vs hatred (ice) | "Some say the world will end in fire / Some say in ice" |
| A Tiger in the Zoo | Leslie Norris | Captivity vs freedom | "He stalks in his vivid stripes / The few steps of his cage" |
| How to Tell Wild Animals | Carolyn Wells | Humorous descriptions of wild animals | "If he roars at you as you're dyin' / You'll know it is the Asian Lion" |
| The Ball Poem | John Berryman | Loss, growing up, accepting loss | "What is the boy now, who has lost his ball" |
| Amanda! | Robin Klein | Parental nagging vs child's imagination | "Don't bite your nails, Amanda! / Don't hunch your shoulders, Amanda!" |
| The Trees | Adrienne Rich | Nature reclaiming freedom | "The trees inside are moving out into the forest" |
| Fog | Carl Sandburg | Nature metaphor (fog = cat) | "The fog comes / on little cat feet" |
| The Tale of Custard the Dragon | Ogden Nash | Appearance vs reality, true courage | "Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth / And spikes on top of him and scales beneath" |
| For Anne Gregory | W.B. Yeats | Inner beauty vs outer beauty | "Only God, my dear, / Could love you for yourself alone / And not your yellow hair" |

### FOOTPRINTS WITHOUT FEET — Supplementary Reader

| Chapter | Author | Theme | Key Point for Exam |
|---------|--------|-------|--------------------|
| A Triumph of Surgery | James Herriot | Overindulgence, animal care | Tricki (dog) overfed; recovers with exercise at vet's |
| The Thief's Story | Ruskin Bond | Trust transforms people | Hari (thief) can't steal from Anil due to trust |
| The Midnight Visitor | Robert Arthur | Intelligence vs appearance | Ausable outwits Max using imaginary balcony |
| A Question of Trust | Victor Canning | Irony, deception | Two thieves unknowingly steal from each other |
| Footprints without Feet | H.G. Wells | Biology without conscience | Griffin (invisible man) becomes lawless |
| The Making of a Scientist | Robert W. Peterson | Curiosity, scientific temperament | Richard Ebright starts with butterfly collection → scientist |
| The Necklace | Guy de Maupassant | Vanity, irony, honesty | Matilda borrows necklace, loses it, works 10 years to replace; it was fake |
| Bholi | K.A. Abbas | Education empowers women | Bholi — stammering girl gains confidence through education |
| The Book that Saved the Earth | Claire Boiko | Humorous, importance of books | Martians misread nursery rhyme book, give up invasion |

---

## High-Yield Topics (495+ Strategy)
1. **Literature extracts** — Practice identifying passages from ALL chapters
2. **Formal Letter** — Master the format perfectly (marks deducted for wrong format)
3. **Reported Speech** — Most common grammar question (3-4M)
4. **Poetry analysis** — Know themes and key lines by heart
5. **Footprints stories** — Short answer from these = easy marks

## Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. **Wrong letter format** — date, address, subject are SCORED separately
2. Not quoting from the text in literature answers
3. Writing opinions when asked for factual comprehension
4. Exceeding word limit (100-120 means stop at 120)
5. Not using "transition words" in analytical paragraph
6. Mixing up stories from Footprints (they're similar in length)

## Answer Writing Framework for English
### Literature SA (3 Marks):
- State the context (which chapter, who said this)
- Explain the point (what it means)
- Quote from text (shows you've read it)
- Connect to theme

### Literature LA (6 Marks):
- Introduction: mention character/chapter/theme
- Body (3-4 points): use textual evidence, explain with examples
- Conclusion: tie back to theme/message
- Use paragraphs, not bullet points

### Extract-Based (5 Marks):
- Identify the chapter and speaker immediately
- Answer MCQs by elimination
- For "word meaning" questions: check context in the extract itself

## Internal Assessment (20 Marks)
| Component | Marks | Tips |
|-----------|-------|------|
| Periodic Tests (best 2 of 3) | 10 | Focus on grammar + literature |
| Notebook | 5 | Complete all exercises neatly |
| Subject Enrichment | 5 | ASL (Assessment of Speaking & Listening) — practice speaking clearly |

## Reference Books
- **NCERT (First Flight + Footprints Without Feet)** — Read every story/poem at least 3 times
- **Oswaal** — Sample papers for exam pattern
- **High School English Grammar by Wren & Martin** — Grammar reference
- **KV Papers / Navodaya Papers** — Practice reading comprehension