📚 CBSE 2026–27 · English (Kaveri) · 80+20 Marks

English Syllabus Tracker

Reading · Writing & Grammar · Literature (Kaveri). Sub-topics with literary devices, themes, CBSE question patterns.

3
Sections
30
Sub-topics
0
Tracked
0
School Covered
0
Self-Study Done
School0%
Self-study0%
Section AReading Skills20 marks
Section AReading Comprehension
Unseen passage comprehension — descriptive/discursive + case-based passage with visual/data inputs
◻ Not started
▾ Sub-topics & dates📄 2 sub-topics
Sub-topic · Skills · Tips🏫 School date✅ Done date
A.1Unseen passage — Descriptive/Discursive (10 marks)
  • Passage length: 400–450 words. Tests factual recall, inference, vocabulary in context, author's tone and purpose.
  • Question types: MCQs (selected response), VSAQs (1 sentence), SAQs (2–3 sentences).
  • Skills tested: identifying main idea and supporting details; distinguishing facts from opinions; cause–effect relationships; inferring meaning from context.
  • Tone words to know: formal/informal, objective/subjective, optimistic/pessimistic, satirical, critical, nostalgic, persuasive, analytical.
  • Strategy: skim first for gist → scan for specific answers → re-read difficult parts → answer in own words, not lifted text.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Marks split (R1)Passage 1: 10 marks | Passage 2: 10 marks
Word limitsPassage 1: 400-450 words | Passage 2: 200-250 words
Total passage length600-700 words combined
A.2Case-based passage with visual/data input (10 marks)
  • Passage length: 200–250 words. Accompanied by a chart, graph, table, infographic, or statistical data.
  • Tests ability to read and interpret visual information alongside a text.
  • Skills: reading charts/tables, integrating visual data with textual information, drawing inferences from combined sources.
  • Common visual types: bar graph, pie chart, line graph, table with statistics, infographic with labels.
  • Strategy: read the title and labels of the visual first → understand what it shows → connect it to the passage → answer questions that integrate both sources.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Key skillIntegrate text + visual input = complete answer
Common question"What does the data suggest?" + "According to the passage..."
Section BWriting Skills and Grammar30 marks
Section B1Grammar
Tenses, modal auxiliaries, reported speech, conditionals, subject-verb concord, determiners, clauses
◻ Not started
▾ Sub-topics & dates📄 7 sub-topics
Sub-topic · Skills · Tips🏫 School date✅ Done date
B1.1Sequence of tenses
  • When the main clause verb is in past tense, the subordinate clause verb also shifts to past: "She said she was tired" (not "is").
  • Present perfect in main clause → any tense possible in subordinate clause.
  • Future tense in main clause → present tense in subordinate clause: "I will go when she arrives."
  • Exception: universal truths and habitual actions stay in present even after past main clause: "He said the Earth revolves around the Sun."
  • CBSE tests: editing passages for tense errors; completing sentences with correct tense sequences.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
RulePast main → Past subordinate (except universal truths)
ExampleShe said → she was/had been/would come (not "is/comes")
Exception"He said the Sun rises in the east" ✓ (universal truth)
B1.2Modal auxiliaries
  • CAN: ability in present; COULD: ability in past / polite request / possibility.
  • WILL: future certainty; WOULD: past future / polite form / hypothetical.
  • SHALL: future (formal, 1st person); SHOULD: obligation/advice/expectation.
  • MAY: permission (formal) / possibility; MIGHT: lower possibility than may.
  • MUST: strong obligation/deduction; HAVE TO: external obligation; NEED NOT: absence of obligation.
  • OUGHT TO: moral duty (stronger than should); DARE: challenge/boldness.
  • CBSE focus: choosing the right modal for given situations — ability, permission, obligation, advice, possibility, deduction.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Abilitycan (present) | could (past)
Permissionmay (formal) | can (informal) | could (polite)
Obligationmust (strong/internal) | have to (external) | should (advice)
Possibilitymay > might (higher to lower certainty)
Deductionmust be (certainty) | can't be (impossibility) | might be (guess)
B1.3Reported speech
  • Direct speech: exact words in quotes. Reported (indirect) speech: paraphrase, no quotes, tense shift.
  • Reporting verb changes: says/said; tells/told; asks/asked; orders/commanded; requests/requested.
  • Tense shifts in reported statements: is→was; are→were; have→had; will→would; can→could; may→might; must→had to.
  • Pronoun changes: I→he/she; we→they; you→he/she/they; my→his/her; our→their.
  • Time/place changes: now→then; today→that day; yesterday→the previous day; here→there; this→that.
  • Questions in reported speech: "She asked if/whether + statement order (no inversion)". Wh-questions: "He asked where she lived."
  • Commands: Direct "Sit down" → Reported "He told/ordered me to sit down." Requests: "He requested me to help."
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Statement"I am tired" → She said she was tired
Yes/No question"Are you hungry?" → He asked if/whether I was hungry
Wh-question"Where do you live?" → She asked where I lived
Command"Open the door" → He ordered/told me to open the door
Request"Please help me" → She requested me to help her
B1.4Conditional clauses — Type 1
  • Type 1 (Real/Possible condition): If + present simple, will/can/may + base verb.
  • Expresses conditions that are real or likely to happen in the present or future.
  • Examples: "If it rains, we will stay indoors." "If you study hard, you can pass."
  • Note: The if-clause can come first or second. Comma used only when if-clause comes first.
  • Distinguishing from Type 2 (Unreal): Type 2 uses "If + past simple, would + base verb" for unlikely/imaginary situations.
  • CBSE tests: sentence transformation — converting direct statements to conditional; filling blanks; error editing.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Type 1 formulaIf + V1 (present simple), will/can/may + V1
Example"If she comes, I will tell her" ✓
Type 2 (for contrast)If + V2 (past), would/could + V1 (unreal)
B1.5Subject-verb concord
  • Singular subject → singular verb; plural subject → plural verb.
  • Collective nouns (committee, team, family): singular verb when acting as one unit; plural when acting individually.
  • Either…or / Neither…nor: verb agrees with the nearer subject.
  • Indefinite pronouns (everyone, nobody, each, either): always singular verb.
  • Uncountable nouns (furniture, information, advice, news): always singular verb.
  • "The number of" + plural noun = singular verb. "A number of" + plural noun = plural verb.
  • Who/which/that: verb agrees with the antecedent noun.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Either/orEither he or they ARE coming (nearer=plural)
The number of"The number of students IS high" (singular)
A number of"A number of students WERE present" (plural)
Each/every/neitherAlways singular — "Each of them HAS a book"
B1.6Determiners
  • Articles: a (any singular countable before consonant sound), an (before vowel sound), the (specific/unique).
  • "The" with: unique things (the sun), specific things already mentioned, superlatives, ordinals (the first).
  • No article with: uncountable nouns in general (water is essential), plural nouns in general (dogs are faithful), proper nouns (India, Delhi).
  • Quantifiers: much/little (uncountable); many/few (countable); some/any (positive/negative); a lot of/lots of (both).
  • Possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
  • Demonstratives: this/that (singular), these/those (plural).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Vowel sound rule"an hour" ✓ (h silent) | "a university" ✓ (y sound)
Much vs Manymuch water (uncountable) | many bottles (countable)
Few vs A few"few" = negative (hardly any) | "a few" = positive (some)
Little vs A little"little" = negative | "a little" = positive (some amount)
B1.7Clauses — Noun and Relative clauses
  • Noun clause: acts as a noun (subject or object); introduced by that, whether, if, wh-words.
  • "That she passed made everyone happy" (subject clause). "I know that he is right" (object clause).
  • Relative clause: modifies a noun; introduced by who (person subject), whom (person object), which (thing), that (person/thing), whose (possession), where (place), when (time).
  • Defining (restrictive) relative clause: essential information, no commas. "The boy who won is my friend."
  • Non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clause: extra information, use commas. "My brother, who lives in Delhi, is a doctor."
  • "That" cannot be used in non-defining clauses. "Who/whom" not used for things.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Noun clause markerthat | whether | if | what | where | when | why | how
Defining rel. clause"The book that I read was good" (no commas, essential)
Non-defining rel. clause"My sister, who is a nurse, helped us" (commas, extra info)
Omitting relative pronounOnly when it is the object: "The book (that) I read" ✓
Section B2Writing Skills
Notice, formal letter, e-mail, article, speech, essay — formats, structures, mark schemes
◻ Not started
▾ Sub-topics & dates📄 4 sub-topics
Sub-topic · Skills · Tips🏫 School date✅ Done date
B2.1Notice and Informal Invitation (3 marks, ≤50 words)
  • Notice: formal announcement for a group. Format: Name of school/organisation | NOTICE | Date | Title/Heading | Body (what, when, where, who) | Name & Designation.
  • Notices must be boxed in exam. Use formal language. Avoid first person ("I"). Use third person or passive.
  • Common notice topics: lost and found, meeting, event, club activity, competition, holiday announcement.
  • Informal Invitation: warm, personal tone. Includes: occasion, date, time, venue, RSVP details. Word limit strictly ≤50 words.
  • Mark scheme: Format (1) + Content (1) + Language/Expression (1).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Notice formatSchool name | NOTICE | Date | Title | Body | Designation
Mark schemeFormat: 1 | Content: 1 | Language: 1 = 3 marks
Word limitStrictly ≤ 50 words (examiner counts!)
B2.2Letter to Editor / Formal E-mail (5 marks, 120–150 words)
  • Letter to Editor format: Sender's address | Date | The Editor | Newspaper name | City | Subject | Salutation (Dear Sir/Madam) | Body (3 paragraphs) | Yours faithfully | Name.
  • Body structure: Para 1 — introduce issue/purpose; Para 2 — elaborate with examples/evidence; Para 3 — suggest solution/call to action.
  • Common topics: environment, traffic, civic problems, education, social issues, public health.
  • Formal E-mail format: To | Subject | Salutation | Body | Closing | Name. Similar to letter but no address blocks.
  • Language: formal register; no contractions; no slang; use connectors (however, moreover, therefore, consequently).
  • Mark scheme: Format (1) + Content (2) + Language/Expression (2).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Letter formatAddress | Date | Editor details | Subject | Dear Sir | Body | Yours faithfully | Name
Mark schemeFormat: 1 | Content: 2 | Language: 2 = 5 marks
Word limit120–150 words (penalty for much over/under)
B2.3Factual Description / Magazine Article (5 marks, 120–150 words)
  • Factual Description: objective account of a place, event, person, or process. Present tense usually. No personal opinions.
  • Magazine Article: slightly less formal; can include personal voice; includes a catchy title; has introduction, development, conclusion.
  • Article structure: Title (catchy) | By-line (name) | Introduction (hook) | Body (points developed in paragraphs) | Conclusion (summary/call to action).
  • Topics: technology, environment, youth, culture, social issues, sports, travel.
  • Language tips: use varied sentence structures; topic sentences for each paragraph; use statistics/examples to support points.
  • Mark scheme: Content/Ideas (2) + Organisation (1) + Language/Expression (2).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Article structureTitle | By Name | Hook intro | Body paras | Conclusion
Mark schemeContent: 2 | Organisation: 1 | Language: 2 = 5 marks
B2.4Descriptive / Narrative Essay (7 marks, 200–250 words)
  • Narrative essay: tells a story (real or imaginary). First person or third person. Time sequence — beginning, climax, resolution.
  • Descriptive essay: describes a scene, person, place, experience using sensory details (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).
  • Expository essay: explains or informs. Logical structure. Evidence-based.
  • Persuasive essay: argues for a position. Counter-argument addressed. Concludes with strong appeal.
  • Structure: Introduction (1 para, hook + thesis) | Body (2–3 paras, each with topic sentence + development) | Conclusion (restate thesis + reflection).
  • Language: varied vocabulary; avoid repetition; use literary devices (simile, metaphor) in descriptive/narrative; strong connectors in all types.
  • Mark scheme: Content/Ideas (3) + Organisation (1.5) + Language/Expression (2.5).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Essay structureIntro (hook+thesis) | Body ×2-3 | Conclusion
Mark schemeContent: 3 | Organisation: 1.5 | Language: 2.5 = 7 marks
Word limit200–250 words — aim for 220-240 for safety
Narrative tipShow, don't tell: "Her hands trembled" not "She was scared"
Section CLanguage through Literature30 marks
Section C1Kaveri — Prose Texts
Prose chapters from Kaveri textbook — themes, characters, questions
◻ Not started
▾ Sub-topics & dates📄 11 sub-topics
Sub-topic · Skills · Tips🏫 School date✅ Done date
C1.1The Fun They Had — Isaac Asimov (Science Fiction)
  • Theme: Technology vs human connection; the value of traditional schooling vs mechanical learning.
  • Characters: Margie (11 years), Tommy (13 years) — children in 2157 who discover an old printed book.
  • Plot: They find a real book; Tommy tells Margie about old schools; Margie wishes she could have gone to a school with other children.
  • Mechanical teacher: calculates what each child can do and adjusts accordingly — no social interaction.
  • Margie's struggle: She doesn't do well in Geography; inspector adjusts the teacher; she hates school.
  • Key quote: "She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy."
  • Literary devices: contrast (old school vs new), irony (the title — is it really fun?), first-person narration.
  • CBSE questions: character analysis of Margie; themes; predict what old schools were like; contrast old/new education.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorIsaac Asimov — American science fiction writer (1920-1992)
SettingYear 2157 — future earth where schools are mechanical
Central themeTechnology isolates children; human interaction in learning is irreplaceable
CBSE likely QWhy did Margie hate school? | What made the old schools fun?
C1.2The Sound of Music — Deborah Cowley
  • Part 1 — Evelyn Glennie: profoundly deaf percussion musician; loses hearing at age 11; learns to feel music through her body (vibrations); wins Grammy, performs barefoot to feel vibrations from floor.
  • Part 2 — The Bishnoi Musicians of Rajasthan: folk musicians preserving traditional Rajasthani music; perform at weddings, fairs; their music reflects community identity and oral heritage.
  • Theme: Overcoming disability through passion; the universality of music; music as cultural identity.
  • Evelyn Glennie's approach: She proves hearing is not just by ears — she uses every part of her body; challenges assumptions about disability.
  • CBSE questions: How does Evelyn hear music? Compare the two parts. What does music mean to the Bishnoi musicians?
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Evelyn GlennieScottish percussionist; deaf since 11; over 60 honorary doctorates
Key themeMusic transcends physical limitation; cultural heritage in folk music
C1.3The Little Girl — Katherine Mansfield
  • Theme: Father-child relationship; overcoming fear; understanding parents' pressures.
  • Character: Kezia — a little girl terrified of her stern father. She later understands why he behaves as he does.
  • Plot: Kezia tears up father's speech to make a pincushion for his birthday; gets punished; has a nightmare and father comforts her. She realises he is a "big man" but has his own burdens.
  • Character of the father: appears harsh, strict, intimidating — but is actually tired from overwork; shows tenderness when Kezia has a nightmare.
  • Irony: Kezia's punishment (the thing she did out of love) leads to her understanding her father's love.
  • Literary devices: symbolism (the burnt speech = misunderstood intentions), first-person perspective of a child.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorKatherine Mansfield — New Zealand modernist writer (1888-1923)
CBSE likely QHow did Kezia's perception of her father change? | Role of the mother
C1.4A Truly Beautiful Mind — excerpt about Albert Einstein
  • About Einstein's life: born 1879 in Ulm, Germany; late talker; dismissed from school in Zurich; submitted doctoral thesis and published Special Theory of Relativity (1905) at age 26.
  • Personal life: married Mileva (brilliant physicist); divorced; later married cousin Elsa; left Germany when Hitler rose to power; moved to USA.
  • Theory of Relativity: E=mc²; changed physics permanently. Nobel Prize 1921 (for photoelectric effect, not relativity — the theory was too radical).
  • Humanitarian work: wrote to US President Roosevelt about nuclear bomb dangers; campaigned for world peace; supported civil rights.
  • Quote: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
  • Theme: Genius is not always conventional; responsibility that comes with knowledge.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Einstein Nobel Prize1921 — for photoelectric effect; theory of relativity still controversial
Key equationE = mc² (energy = mass × speed of light squared)
CBSE likely QWhy is Einstein called "truly beautiful mind"? | His humanitarian contributions
C1.5The Snake and the Mirror — Vaikom Muhammad Basheer
  • Genre: Humorous short story with irony and suspense.
  • Narrator: A homeopathic doctor who is vain (obsessed with his reflection in mirror); lives in a rented room.
  • Plot: A cobra lands on the doctor's shoulder while he admires himself in the mirror; he freezes; the cobra sees its reflection in the mirror, coils around itself (distracted), and slithers away. The doctor's landlady claims her pet cobra came back to her.
  • Theme: Vanity; fear; the humour in unexpected situations; life's unpredictability.
  • Irony: The same mirror that the doctor was using to admire himself ended up saving his life (it distracted the snake).
  • Author: Vaikom Muhammad Basheer — major Malayalam writer known for humour and humanity.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorVaikom Muhammad Basheer — Malayalam short story master
IronyMirror (symbol of vanity) becomes the instrument of salvation
CBSE likely QWhat saved the doctor? | Trace the elements of humour in the story
C1.6My Childhood — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
  • Autobiography extract: childhood of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (former President of India, "Missile Man").
  • Setting: Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu — small town with communal harmony despite poverty.
  • Key people: Father (Jainulabdeen — wise, pious, poor), mother (Ashiamma), teachers (Sivasubramania Iyer — who broke caste barriers at dining table), Reverend Father Bodal (gave scholarship).
  • New teacher episode: Kalam (a Muslim) was asked to sit separately by new teacher; Sivasubramania Iyer invited him for lunch, even breaking his wife's initial objections — lesson in secularism.
  • Three friends: Ramanadha Sastry (Brahmin), Aravindan, Sivaprakasan — showed religious harmony.
  • Theme: Communal harmony; importance of mentors; hard work transcends social barriers.
  • Message: India's strength lies in its diversity and the ability of good individuals to transcend prejudice.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
A.P.J. Abdul KalamBorn 1931, Rameswaram | President of India 2002-07 | Bharat Ratna 1997
Key themeCommunal harmony; education as a great equaliser
CBSE likely QRole of Sivasubramania Iyer; what Kalam learned from his father
C1.7Packing — Jerome K. Jerome (from "Three Men in a Boat")
  • Genre: Comic prose/humour. Narrative: autobiographical fiction.
  • Plot: Jerome volunteers to pack; does it incompetently; forgets soap, packs it inside; sits on things; Harris and George pack (worse — George steps on butter); dog Montmorency adds chaos by sitting in the jam.
  • Jerome's character: overconfident, bumbling but claims expertise; classic unreliable narrator.
  • Humour techniques: understatement, irony, exaggeration (hyperbole), comic timing, self-deprecating humour.
  • Theme: The comic side of ordinary activities; contrast between intention and action; the fun of travel preparations.
  • Literary devices: first person narrator; irony (the more Jerome "helps", the worse it gets).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorJerome K. Jerome — English humourist (1859-1927), "Three Men in a Boat" (1889)
Humour devicesUnderstatement | Irony | Hyperbole | Comic reversal | Self-deprecation
CBSE likely QTrace elements of humour | What is the irony in the packing episode?
C1.8Reach for the Top — Santosh Yadav and Maria Sharapova
  • Part 1 — Santosh Yadav: First woman to scale Mt Everest twice; from Rewari, Haryana; defied family opposition; gave up comfortable life to be a mountaineer.
  • Part 2 — Maria Sharapova: Russian tennis champion; left Siberia at 9 for USA with father; mother couldn't join due to visa issues; trained hard at IMG tennis academy Florida; won Wimbledon at 17.
  • Theme: Determination, sacrifice, and breaking gender stereotypes; single-minded pursuit of excellence.
  • Common thread: Both women overcame enormous obstacles through sheer will; their families sacrificed for their dreams.
  • CBSE questions: Compare the two sportswomen; what qualities make them role models; sacrifice theme.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
Santosh YadavFirst woman to scale Everest twice | Born 1969, Haryana
Maria SharapovaWon Wimbledon 2004 at 17 | Born 1987, Siberia | 5 Grand Slams
Key themePerseverance + sacrifice → extraordinary achievement
C1.9The Bond of Love — Kenneth Anderson
  • Narrative: Kenneth Anderson's account of his wife's pet bear (Bruno → Baba).
  • Plot: Wife adopts bear cub; Baba grows; sent to zoo (too big/dangerous); wife visits zoo, Baba recognises her; Baba brought back home, lives in special island enclosure in the garden.
  • Theme: Love between humans and animals; the depth of animal bonds; the bond between Bruno and the narrator's wife transcends species.
  • Characterisation: Wife — deeply loving and compassionate; Bruno/Baba — devoted, playful, recognises his human mother.
  • The bond: Baba would not eat in the zoo; became depressed without his human mother — showing the depth of his emotional bond.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorKenneth Anderson — British-Indian wildlife writer
Key themeAnimals experience love and bonding just as humans do
CBSE likely QDescribe the bond between Baba and the narrator's wife | Why was Baba unhappy in the zoo?
C1.10Kathmandu — Vikram Seth
  • Extract from "Heaven Lake" — Vikram Seth's travelogue.
  • Setting: Kathmandu, Nepal — describes the Pashupatinath temple, the Baudhnath stupa, and a flute seller in a busy street.
  • Pashupatinath temple: Hindu temple on Bagmati River; sacred funeral pyres; priests, orange-robed sadhus; tourists; a chained Shiva bull.
  • Baudhnath stupa: Buddhist monument; serene; prayer wheels and streamers; pilgrims.
  • The flute seller: plays different tunes simultaneously; emblem of life continuing amid chaos.
  • Theme: Contrast between sacred and commercial; the vitality of Kathmandu; the co-existence of the sacred and mundane.
  • Writing style: Observational, lyrical, detailed descriptions of sights, sounds, smells.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorVikram Seth — Indian novelist ("A Suitable Boy", "Heaven Lake")
CBSE likely QContrast Pashupatinath and Baudhnath | What impression of Kathmandu does the author give?
C1.11If I Were You — Douglas James (Play)
  • Genre: One-act play; drama; thriller with irony and comedy.
  • Characters: Gerrard (playwright; calm, witty), Intruder (criminal planning to assume Gerrard's identity to escape police).
  • Plot: Intruder enters Gerrard's isolated cottage to kill him and steal his identity. Gerrard outwits him by pretending he too is a criminal on the run; lures the intruder to a cupboard; locks him in; calls police.
  • Theme: Wit over force; the irony of the "perfect plan" backfiring; intelligence as the best weapon.
  • Irony: The intruder plans to use Gerrard's identity to escape danger; Gerrard turns the tables using the same intelligence the intruder underestimates.
  • Dramatic devices: suspense, irony, reversal of fortune, comic dialogue, climax at the cupboard scene.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorDouglas James — playwright
Central ironyThe intruder's plan is defeated by the very intelligence he underestimated
CBSE likely QHow does Gerrard outwit the intruder? | Character contrast: Gerrard vs Intruder
Section C2Kaveri — Poetry
Poems from Kaveri — themes, literary devices, critical appreciation
◻ Not started
▾ Sub-topics & dates📄 7 sub-topics
Sub-topic · Skills · Tips🏫 School date✅ Done date
C2.1The Road Not Taken — Robert Frost
  • Theme: The importance of choices in life; individuality; taking the road less travelled.
  • Plot: The speaker stands at a fork in the woods and must choose one path; both paths seem equally worn; he chooses one and wonders about the other.
  • Famous lines: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less travelled by, / And that has made all the difference."
  • Irony: The speaker admits both roads "had worn them really about the same" — yet he tells himself he took "the one less travelled by." The difference is in the mind, not the roads.
  • Rhyme scheme: ABAAB in each of 4 stanzas.
  • Literary devices: metaphor (road = life choices), irony, imagery (yellow wood), symbolism.
  • CBSE: Explain the irony; what does the road symbolise; what is the speaker's attitude?
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorRobert Frost — American poet (1874-1963), 4 Pulitzer Prizes
Rhyme schemeABAAB (each stanza)
Central metaphorRoad = life choices | Yellow wood = autumn of life
Key line"I took the one less travelled by / And that has made all the difference"
C2.2Wind — Subramania Bharati (translated from Tamil)
  • Theme: Courage and resilience; the wind as a metaphor for life's challenges and difficulties.
  • The wind is personified: it breaks shutters, scatters papers, destroys weak things — but befriends the strong.
  • "Don't break the shutters of the windows, don't scatter the papers" — poet pleads with wind, then shifts to a defiant tone.
  • Key message: Build strong minds and bodies; the strong can harness even the destructive wind. Weak things (weak fire, weak hearts) are destroyed.
  • Tone shift: From complaint/plea to acceptance and challenge.
  • Literary devices: personification (wind as a living force), imagery, apostrophe (addressing the wind directly), metaphor (wind = hardship in life).
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorSubramania Bharati — Tamil poet and nationalist (1882-1921)
Central themeStrength and resilience overcome adversity — like a strong fire is fed by wind
Key literary devicePersonification of wind | Metaphor: wind = difficulties in life
C2.3Rain on the Roof — Coates Kinney
  • Theme: Nostalgia; the comfort of memories; nature and human emotions.
  • Setting: Poet lies in bed listening to rain on the cottage roof; the sound triggers fond memories of his deceased mother.
  • Key lines: "the melancholy darkness / Gently weeps in rainy tears" — pathetic fallacy (nature reflects emotion).
  • The rain brings memories: of his mother tucking him in bed as a child; the "darling dreamers" who no longer live.
  • Tone: Melancholic, nostalgic, tender, comforting.
  • Literary devices: pathetic fallacy, alliteration ("humid shadows hover"), imagery, onomatopoeia ("pit-pat"), metaphor.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorCoates Kinney — American poet (1826-1904)
Pathetic fallacyNature (rain/darkness) reflects human emotion (sadness)
Key themeNostalgia for childhood and lost loved ones triggered by rain
C2.4The Lake Isle of Innisfree — W.B. Yeats
  • Theme: Escapism; longing for a peaceful, simple life in nature; dissatisfaction with city life.
  • The speaker imagines building a small cabin at Innisfree (an island in County Sligo, Ireland) and living alone in peace.
  • "I will arise and go now" — repeated sense of determination and longing.
  • Key image: "And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow" — the slow, steady arrival of peace.
  • The "deep heart's core" — the innermost desire that never quietens, even in the middle of city pavements.
  • Literary devices: imagery (bee-loud glade, lake water lapping, midnight glimmer), alliteration, repetition, romantic idealism.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorW.B. Yeats — Irish Nobel laureate (1865-1939)
SettingInnisfree — real island in Lough Gill, County Sligo, Ireland
Central themeUrban alienation vs. the peace of nature; escapism
Key phrase"Deep heart's core" = innermost longing for peace
C2.5A Legend of the Northland — Phoebe Cary
  • Genre: Ballad (narrative poem with a moral). Written in quatrains (4-line stanzas).
  • Story: Saint Peter, tired and hungry, asks a woman baking cakes for food. She keeps making cakes smaller and smaller until she cannot bear to give any away. Saint Peter transforms her into a woodpecker as punishment.
  • Moral: Selfishness is punished; generosity is a virtue; there are consequences for stinginess.
  • The woodpecker pecks at wood all day to find food — now unable to make or enjoy proper food.
  • Literary devices: ballad metre (alternating 8-6 syllables), repetition, moral lesson embedded in a folk tale.
  • Saint Peter: acts as agent of divine justice; embodies the teaching of Christian generosity.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorPhoebe Cary — American poet (1824-1871)
GenreBallad — narrative poem with a moral lesson
MoralSelfishness is punished; true generosity never leads to loss
Rhyme schemeABCB in each quatrain
C2.6No Men Are Foreign — James Kirkup
  • Theme: Universal brotherhood; anti-war message; the underlying sameness of all humans.
  • "None are foreign — beneath all uniforms a single body breathes."
  • Key images: the same earth we walk on, same sun, the same winter and summer, same hands we labour with.
  • Stanza 5 warning: When we are told to hate our brothers, we are merely hating ourselves; wars defile the very earth and air we share.
  • Tone: Pacifist, universal, humanitarian.
  • Literary devices: anaphora ("Remember..."), parallelism, imagery, metaphor, rhetorical appeal.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorJames Kirkup — English poet and translator (1918-2009)
Central themeAll humans are fundamentally the same; war against others is war against ourselves
Literary deviceAnaphora: "Remember..." repeated to drive home universality
C2.7On Killing a Tree — Gieve Patel
  • Theme: The strength of nature; the destructive nature of human beings towards the environment; the resilience of trees.
  • Ironic poem: written as instructions for killing a tree, revealing how difficult it is to destroy nature.
  • "It takes much time to kill a tree / Not a simple jab of the knife will do it."
  • The root is the key: The "white and wet" root anchors and regenerates the tree; only by pulling out and scorching the root is the tree truly killed.
  • Message: Trees (and by extension, nature) are tougher than we think; our destruction of them takes deliberate, sustained effort — an indictment of human destructiveness.
  • Literary devices: extended metaphor, irony (killing instructions reveal the tree's life force), imagery.
Key Points & Mark Scheme
AuthorGieve Patel — Indian English poet and playwright (born 1940)
Central ironyInstructions on killing reveal the tree's extraordinary vitality and life force
Key imageThe root — "white and wet" — is the source of the tree's strength and regeneration
Class 9 English (Kaveri) · CBSE Syllabus 2026–27 · GEMS New Millennium School Dubai