English Literature question insights
What 2 years of ICSE Class 10 English Literature papers actually asked — by chapter, question length, type, difficulty and diagrams. Every figure is computed from the 92 questions in this bank.
These are descriptive statistics of past papers, not predictions. A chapter appearing often historically does not guarantee it will appear again.
Which chapters carry the most weight
A prominence index combining how many papers a chapter appeared in and its share of total marks.
Chapter prominence index (0–100)
- Julius Caesar (Drama)100/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 33.9% of all marks (76) · 32 Qs
- The Glove and the Lions69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- When Great Trees Fall69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- A Considerable Speck69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- The Power of Music69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- The Elevator69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- The Pedestrian69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- The Girl Who Can69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- The Last Lesson69/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 8.0% of all marks (18) · 7 Qs
- Haunted Houses61/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 0.9% of all marks (2) · 2 Qs
- With the Photographer61/100Appeared in 100% of papers (2/2) · 0.9% of all marks (2) · 2 Qs
Index = 60% appearance frequency + 40% marks share, across all available papers. Historical, not predictive.
Julius Caesar (Drama) leads: it appears in 100% of papers (2 of 2) and carries 33.9% of all marks (76) across 32 questions.
Most questions asked
Share of all questions, by chapter.
Percentages are of the full 92-question bank.
Most marks asked
Share of total marks, by chapter.
Percentages are of the 224 marks across all papers.
Short vs long questions
Short = less than 2 marks (recall / one-liners). Long = 2 marks or more (explanations, diagrams, reasoning).
Overall split
- Short (<2 marks)32(35%)
- Long (≥2 marks)60(65%)
Short vs long by chapter
How each chapter's questions divide between short and long.
- Short (<2 marks)
- Long (≥2 marks)
- Julius Caesar (Drama)38% short (12) · 63% long (20)
- The Glove and the Lions29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- When Great Trees Fall29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- A Considerable Speck29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- The Power of Music29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- The Elevator29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- The Pedestrian29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- The Girl Who Can29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- The Last Lesson29% short (2) · 71% long (5)
- Haunted Houses100% short (2) · 0% long (0)
- With the Photographer100% short (2) · 0% long (0)
Most short-answer-heavy chapters
Best for quick recall and one-mark practice.
Most long-answer-heavy chapters
Where higher-mark, explanation-type questions cluster.
How questions are framed
Question types
Share of all questions, by format.
- Short answer36%33
- MCQ35%32
- Reasoning29%27
By marks
Share of all questions, by weight.
- 1 mark35%32
- 3 marks52%48
- 4 marks13%12
By difficulty
Share of all questions, by rating.
- Easy32%29
- Moderate52%48
- Hard16%15
Diagram load
Chapters where diagram-based questions are most concentrated.
Most diagram-heavy chapters
Share of the chapter's questions that include a diagram.
Year-by-year trends
Shown as a share of each paper, so years stay comparable even though 2021 and 2022 used the reduced semester format with fewer questions.
Short-answer share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions worth less than 2 marks.
Diagram share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions that include a diagram.
Chapter coverage by year
How many questions each chapter contributed to each paper. Darker = more questions.
Chapter × year heatmap
| Chapter | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|
| A Considerable Speck | 6 | 1 |
| Haunted Houses | 1 | 1 |
| Julius Caesar (Drama) | 16 | 16 |
| The Elevator | 6 | 1 |
| The Girl Who Can | 1 | 6 |
| The Glove and the Lions | 6 | 1 |
| The Last Lesson | 6 | 1 |
| The Pedestrian | 1 | 6 |
| The Power of Music | 1 | 6 |
| When Great Trees Fall | 1 | 6 |
| With the Photographer | 1 | 1 |
Most frequently tested topics
Recurring topics across chapters.