Icse class 10 english exam 2020 board paper analysis

ICSE Class 10 English Exam 2020 - Board Paper Analysis

Read all about the ICSE Class 10 English Exam 2020 for both English Language and English Literature papers in this Board Paper Analysis by our subject matter expert.

By Topperlearning Expert 06th Mar, 2020 | 06:45 pm

ICSE Class 10 students across the country answered their English board exam on 5–6 March 2020. The English board exam comprises two papers—English Language and English Literature. Most students found the ICSE Class 10 English Language paper easy and straightforward. And although students were expecting difficult questions, they seemed cheerful as the question paper was easy and scoring. The English Literature paper, however, was quite lengthy but thankfully was not as difficult as was expected.

Both papers were of 80 marks and had a duration of 2 hours each.

The English Language paper carried questions on essay writing, comprehension writing, letter writing, e-mail writing and notice writing. The letter writing and notice writing questions had topics which were easy to write on. The grammar section of 20 marks had questions on prepositions, transformation of sentences and rewriting sentences as per the usual paper pattern.

The sub-questions in Question 1 had topics on which much could have been written because the topics were all so familiar. But what could help students to perform really well was the first sub-question. We all have secrets, and it was a good opportunity for students to share one in their very first answer of the English board paper.

Students' views of how a family without pets makes it incomplete is a question most would find a tad bit tricky. But, students would have to express their views carefully either for or against keeping in mind that the pet should be considered a family member, at least to answer this question correctly. Scoring? Definitely yes!

Describing your favourite time of the day is what would give students marks in the third sub-question. It's a great question which would test students writing skills because it calls for writing from memory as well as observation. Although an interesting question, it's not a difficult question to answer if students can actually write on just one time of the day in vivid detail.

Similarly, the fourth sub-question also required some brain activity making students ponder in retrospect and recall of how something they did made a difference to someone. Students had to focus on writing how the experience made them feel.

Writing about the cute picture of a group selfie was another question which may have enthralled ICSE Class 10 students. The fact that the boy clicking the picture has used a slipper or chappal could help students either connect poverty with technology or describe the simple joys of rural life kept away from mindless tech. Going beyond and using a little more imagination, students could also describe in some detail of how the picture may have gone viral and broken the Internet!

Letter writing was on easy topics. A letter to a friend telling him/her about shifting school and what is it that you miss about the old school and like about the new school is something most students would find easier than having to write to the Municipal Commissioner suggesting ways in which water wastage can be prevented. Writing an e-mail to the principal of a neighbouring school seeking permission for students to attend a school fete was the second part of the next question [Question 3 (b)]. And had students read the whole question and chosen to write on their school organising a fete or carnival rather than on raising funds for victims in the state in the notice writing sub-question of Question 3 (a), writing this e-mail would seem like feeding two birds with one scone. 5 + 5, so a neat 10 marks if students wrote those right!

The unseen passage adapted from Totto-chan was easy to read and was written in simple language. Answering questions on the passage only served to test students' reading comprehension skills.

Answers to questions from Question 5 onwards (aka the grammar section) were pretty straightforward, and students who went through previous years' question papers would have found it easy to answer these questions.

The Literature paper was a very easy one. It had the usual long answer-type questions and short answer-type questions. Average students would perform well in the exam had they gone through TopperLearning's sample papers and past years' papers which normally give an idea of the pattern and the way in which these questions are asked in the exam.

Special emphasis was given to the themes taught in all chapters in English Literature. The questions seemed to require answers to test students' understanding of the key takeaways from the chapters and poems. While the questions from the drama section were a little tough, students who made optimal use of the reading time would do well here.

Overall, it shouldn't be difficult to score above 90% in the English paper. Yes, if all answers were well written and special care was taken to incorporate all the details when writing, even an average student would make an English teacher very proud!