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Aunt Jennifer from Adrienne… (Class 12 English 2026, Q12b)

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EnglishCBSE Class 12 · Board exam 2026, set 301/5/1 · 5 marks · Long answer

CBSE Class 12 English 2026: question 12(b)

Set in the CBSE Class 12 board exam of 2026, paper 301/5/1, section C, question 12(b), for 5 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q12(b) · 5 marks · Long answerAunt Jennifer's Tigers

Aunt Jennifer from Adrienne Rich's poem 'Aunt Jennifer's Tigers' and Gandhi from 'Indigo' struggle against oppression to fight for freedom, even though the contexts are different. Discuss.

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2026 board paper, set 301/5/1.

Hints

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

Hint 1

Compare who oppresses each person.

Hint 2

Compare how each resists: art versus civil disobedience.

Hint 3

Compare the results for each.

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.

Verified: two independent solves agree and the official marking scheme matchesChecked 2026-11-01

  1. Oppression: Aunt Jennifer is oppressed by a dominating husband and patriarchal society, and her wedding ring weighs heavily on her. Gandhi fought for the Champaran peasants oppressed by British landlords through the indigo system.

    1 mark

  2. Nature of struggle: Aunt Jennifer struggles alone and silently, expressing her longing for freedom through her art, the fearless tigers she embroiders. Gandhi's struggle became a mass movement, with peasants and lawyers uniting and using civil disobedience.

    1 mark

  3. Outcome: Gandhi won a 25% refund for the peasants and made them self-reliant. Aunt Jennifer, though her tigers will live on, will remain mastered by her ordeals even after death.

    1 mark

  4. Expression: Coherent, grammatically correct, 120-150 words.

    2 marks

Answer: Both fight oppression, but Aunt Jennifer struggles silently through art and stays unfree, while Gandhi leads a successful mass movement.

Where the marks are

  • Oppressor and context contrasted (1 mark)
  • Method of struggle contrasted (1 mark)
  • Outcome contrasted (1 mark)
  • Expression (2 marks)

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