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A character arc is the… (English 2024 2/2/1 Q11b)

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EnglishCBSE Class 10 · Board exam 2024, set 2/2/1 · 6 marks · Long answer

CBSE Class 10 English 2024: question 11(b)

Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2024, paper 2/2/1, section C, question 11(b), for 6 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q11(b) · 6 marks · Long answerThe Necklace

A character arc is the transformation or development of a character throughout a story and refers to the changes a character undergoes as a result of their experiences, challenges, and interactions with other characters.
In the light of the above information, trace the character arc of Matilda in Guy De Maupassants' 'The Necklace', in about 120 words.

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2024 board paper, set 2/2/1.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Think of Matilda at the start, then in the middle, then at the end.

Hint 2

Which event changed her life?

Hint 3

What kind of person is she after ten years of work?

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

  1. Beginning: Matilda is a vain, discontented woman, married to a petty clerk. She is unhappy with her modest life and dreams of wealth.

    1 mark

  2. Desire for luxury: she longs for fine clothes, jewels and a rich lifestyle, and she is dissatisfied with her home.

    1 mark

  3. Turning point: she borrows a diamond necklace from Madame Forestier for the ministry ball. She shines there but loses the necklace.

    1 mark

  4. Consequence: she and her husband replace it with a costly one by borrowing heavily. They suffer great losses.

    1 mark

  5. Change: for ten years she works hard, doing housework and living in poverty. She becomes strong, rough-handed and humbled.

    1 mark

  6. End: her pride has gone and she accepts the truth bravely, though she learns the necklace was false. Expression and accuracy.

    1 mark

Answer: Matilda moves from vanity and dissatisfaction, through loss of the necklace and ten years of hardship, to humility and maturity.

Where the marks are

  • Her vain and dissatisfied nature (1 mark)
  • Her longing for luxury (1 mark)
  • Borrowing and losing the necklace (1 mark)
  • Debt and suffering (1 mark)
  • Her humbled, matured state (1 mark)
  • Expression and accuracy (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from The Necklace, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2024 board paper, set 2/2/1: every question, by section.

The question is transcribed from the official paper; figures are described in words. The solution, hints and chapter tag are ours. Spotted an error? Write tosupport@questionbuddy.in.