VICTORIOUS KIDSS EDUCARES®

Academic Year 2023-24

Student’s Name :

Class : MYP 2

Subject : English Language and Literature

Unit : Mythological Stories

Assessment Type : Practice Paper 1

Duration : 1 hour

Signature-____________________

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Background – In this unit, you have studied the elements and characteristics of
mythological stories. Also, you have explored Greek & Indian mythological tradition. With
this understanding, complete the given task appropriately.

Task: Read the story from Indian Mythology and analyse the elements of
mythological story to answer the questions that follow:

Story of Lord Narasimha

Hiranyakashipu (the brother of Hiranyaksha who was killed by the

VarahaAvtar) wanted to take revenge on the Devatas and in particular on
Lord Vishnu. He wanted to become the master of all the three worlds -
Heaven, Earth &Pathala. He went to Mount Mandarachala and began
penance which continued for years. Due to the intensity of Penance,
Lord Brahma appeared before Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyakashipu
asked for immortality as boon. Brahma, however, declined, saying "All
living beings must face death Hiranyakashipu. You can, however, choose
your death wish."

Hiranyakashipu then asked for three conditions, as his death wish, "'O
Brahma, let not death come to me either by man or beast, nor devil, nor
god shall cause my death by day or by night with steel or stone or wood,
indoors or outdoors, or earth or in sky. Grant me undisputed lordship
over the world". Brahma agreed and Hiranyakashipu got his death
wishes granted. Thus, he became practically immortal.

After securing such a boon Hiranyakashipuconquered the worlds and

became a tyrant. He banned all poojas on Vishnu and declared himself
as God. The Devtas approached Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu asked
them to be patient and said, "Hiranyakashipu' s son Prahlad is a devotee
of me. When Hiranyakashipu seeks to kill my devotee, I will slay him."
Hiranyakashipu's wife Kayadhu gave birth to Prahlad in the Ashrama of
Narada who told Prahlad about the glory of Lord Vishnu. Prahlad grew
up and became an ardent devotee of Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu, however,
wanted his son to be the king of the Asuras, strong and ruthless.
Realising that Prahlad always prayed to Lord Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu
took his son to Shanku and Amarka, the sons of Shukracharya, for
schooling. All their efforts to influence Prahlad failed.

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Hiranyakashipu ordered his servants to kill Prahlad if he refused to
accept the supremacy of his father. They tried to kill him by throwing
down a mountain, drowning, poisoning, burning etc. and failed in all
attempts since Lord Vishnu saved him from all the attempts. The king
got angry on hearing the reports about Prahlad.

One day the king challenged his son in the open court:

"Prahlad! Is my enemy, whom you worship, present anywhere here?".

Prahlad replied, "Vishnu is omnipresent. There's not a single place where

he's not found."

Hiranyakashipu's fury was at its climax. He got an iron pillar heated and
asked Prahlad, "Can you embrace this pillar if your Vishnu is in it also?"

Prahlad did not hesitate even for a moment but rushed towards the pillar
and embraced it. The heated iron did not burn him. The king got up from
his throne in fury and hit the pillar with his mace.

And to his surprise! The pillar cracked with a thundering sound and
Vishnu appeared there in the form of Narasimha.

One half of his body was of a lion and the other half of a man. He had
matted hair on his head, large moustaches on the face and terrible teeth
in the mouth. His paws had terrible nails onthem.

Hiranyakashipu remembered his first death wish, "To be killed by

someone who is neither human nor beast." It was also the twilight hour,
neither day nor night, the second death wish.

The demon king hit Narasimha with his mace but Narasimha brushed it
aside swiftly. It was twilight and Narasimha caught hold of the demon
Hiranyakashipu.

He sat on the threshold of the court room, placed the body of the demon
on his thighs, and pierced his nails into the body of the demon and broke
open his stomach. The demon was killed on the spot in a moment. The
place was neither inside nor outside. This was Hiranyakashipu’s third
death wish.

Lord Narasimha was furious and roared. However, he was pacified when
Prahlad touched his feet and goddess Lakshmi also tried to cool him.
Lord Narasimha then made Prahlad the King.

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a. Examine the conflict between good and evil depicted in the Story of Narsimha.

b. Analyse the plot structure (arrangement of events) and discuss its significance in
the development of the story of Narsimha.

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 Story 2: Watch the story of Perseus and Medusa and based on your analysis of
the story answer the questions that follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLePx0dH2Tc

c. Examine the significance of intervention of supernatural powers in the story of

Perseus and Medusa.

d. Comment on the character of Perseus as a mythical hero.

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e. Compare and Contrast how the two mythological stories represent the theme of
contrast between destiny and heroic deeds. (150- 200words)

Assessment by teacher

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Teacher’s signature: ________________________________