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O-LevelLiterature in EnglishPoetryOct/Nov 2014Paper 1 Q1625 Marks

Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: A Different History Great Pan is not dead; he simply emigrated to India. Here, the gods roam freely, disguised as snakes or monkeys; every tree is sacred and it is a sin to be rude to a book. It is a sin to shove a book aside with your foot, a sin to slam books down hard on a table, a sin to toss one carelessly across a room. You must learn how to turn the pages gently without disturbing Sarasvati, without offending the tree from whose wood the paper was made. Which language has not been the oppressor's tongue? Which language truly meant to murder someone? And how does it happen that after the torture, after the soul has been cropped with a long scythe swooping out of the conqueror's face the unborn grandchildren grow to love that strange language. (by Sujata Bhatt) Explore the ways in which Bhatt vividly conveys her feelings about different cultures in this poem.

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About This O-Level Literature in English Question

This structured question appeared in the Cambridge O-Level Literature in English (2010) Oct/Nov 2014 examination, Paper 1 Variant 2. It tests the topic of Poetry and is worth 25 marks.

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