Questions answered
What is the word limit for the ICSE composition, and why does staying within it matter?
About 300 to 350 words. Too short a composition leaves the subject underdeveloped; too long a piece wastes time needed for other questions and usually contains more errors.
Define a narrative composition and name its four parts.
A narrative composition tells a story, real or imagined, as a sequence of connected events with a beginning, a middle and an end. Its parts are the opening, the development, the climax and the resolution.
Why is it a mistake to cover a whole week's events in a 350-word narrative?
There is no space to bring any event to life, so the composition becomes a list. One main incident developed fully, with a clear climax, makes a stronger story.
What is a dominant impression, and how does it help a descriptive composition?
A dominant impression is the single overall mood that every detail supports. It helps the writer select details and gives the description unity.
Rewrite this sentence so that it shows rather than tells: "The market was very crowded."
One possible version: "Shoppers pressed shoulder to shoulder between the stalls, and I had to turn sideways to squeeze past a man balancing a basket of onions on his head."
Distinguish between an argumentative and a persuasive composition.
An argumentative composition weighs reasons on more than one side before reaching a reasoned conclusion; a persuasive composition takes one side firmly and tries to convince the reader to accept it or act on it.
What is a counter-argument, and why should you answer one?
A counter-argument is a reason given by the opposing side. Stating it fairly and answering it shows that you have thought about the issue and makes your own case stronger.
Why should you not invent statistics in an argumentative composition?
Invented figures cannot be trusted and weaken credibility. Examples from experience, common observation and widely known facts are more convincing in a school composition.
Past board exam questions
ICSE 2027 sample paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(i) Write an original short story that begins with the words: ‘He was the funniest boy I had ever met…’
Show answer
(An original short story beginning with the given words.)
The Boy Who Made Us Laugh
He was the funniest boy I had ever met, and on his very first day at our school, Kabir proved it. When our strict class teacher, Mrs Mathur, asked him to introduce himself, he bowed like a magician, pulled a crumpled paper rose from his pocket and said, "For the queen of Class Seven." The whole class burst out laughing, and even Mrs Mathur had to hide a smile behind the register.
Kabir could imitate anyone: the grumpy canteen uncle, the peon's shuffling walk, even the crow that cawed outside our window every morning. During the dullest lessons, he would pull a face so ridiculous that I had to bite my lip …
ICSE 2027 sample paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(ii) You were punished for something you had not done. Give an account of the incident and how you proved your innocence.
Show answer
(A first-person account of an unjust punishment and how innocence was proved.)
Last year, in Class Nine, I learnt how painful it is to be punished for something one has not done.
It was the day of our science practical. Our teacher, Mr Fernandes, had placed a new digital weighing balance on his table, warning us that it was very expensive. During the lunch break I went back to the laboratory to collect my forgotten notebook. A few minutes later, when the class returned, the balance lay on the floor with its display cracked.
Since I had been seen leaving the laboratory, everyone assumed I had broken it. Mr Fernandes was furious. In spite of my protests, he sent me to the Principal, who …
ICSE 2027 sample paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(iii) ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’. Express your views either for or against this statement.
Show answer
(Views expressed FOR the statement; a well-argued essay against it is equally acceptable.)
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth
The old proverb 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' means that when too many people try to manage the same task, the result is confusion and failure. Although teamwork is valuable, I firmly agree with this statement, because a task without clear leadership and defined roles usually goes wrong.
Firstly, when many people take decisions, there is no single direction. Each person has his or her own ideas, and each wants them to be followed. If five people cook one dish, one adds salt, another adds more salt without asking, and a third decides it needs sugar. The broth is …
ICSE 2027 sample paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(iv) You recently took part in an interesting class project. Describe how your group planned and carried out the task. Explain how this will help you in the future.
Show answer
(A description of planning and carrying out a class project and its future benefit.)
Our Rainwater Harvesting Project
Last month, our geography teacher asked each group in Class Ten to complete a project on water conservation. My group of five, Ananya, Rohit, Imran, Megha and I, decided to make a working model of a rainwater harvesting system and to study how much water our school could save.
We began by planning carefully. In our first meeting, we sat in the library and divided the work. Imran, who is good with numbers, would measure the roof area of the school building and calculate the rainfall it could collect. Megha and Ananya would collect information from books and from the …
ICSE 2026 board paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(i) Write an original short story beginning with the words: It was midnight and the doorbell rang…
Show answer
It was midnight and the doorbell rang. I sat up in bed, my heart thumping. My parents had gone to my aunt's wedding in Pune and I was alone at home with only our old dog, Bruno, for company. Bruno, who usually barked at every falling leaf, did not make a sound.
The bell rang again, longer this time. I tiptoed to the window and peeped through the curtains. Under the yellow street lamp stood a small figure in a raincoat, holding something close to its chest. I could not see a face.
I picked up my cricket bat, switched on every light in the hall and opened the door just a crack, keeping the chain on. "Who is it?" I asked, trying to sound braver than I felt.
"Please, didi," whispered a thin …
ICSE 2026 board paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(ii) If you could change one period in your school timetable, which one would you choose? Why do you think it needs to be changed and with which subject or activity would you replace it?
Show answer
Every school timetable is a careful balance of subjects, but if I were given the chance to change just one period in mine, I would choose the seventh period on Fridays, which is a second, back-to-back Mathematics period.
My reason has nothing to do with disliking Mathematics. In fact, it is one of my favourite subjects. The problem is the timing. By the seventh period on a Friday, after a long week and a heavy lunch, most of us are tired and restless. Our teacher works very hard, but even she admits that the class is half asleep. Problems that would take ten minutes in the morning take thirty in the afternoon, and many mistakes creep in. A double period of an abstract subject at the very …
ICSE 2026 board paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(iii) You and your family enjoy eating out. Give a description of your favourite restaurant or food stall, and the sights and smells that attract you to the place. Explain why you like eating here.
Show answer
My family loves eating out, and though we have tried many fancy restaurants, our favourite place is a small food stall called "Shankar Dosa Corner" at the end of the market road near our home.
It is nothing more than a wooden cart under a large neem tree, with a blue tarpaulin roof and a few plastic stools and steel tables arranged on the pavement. A string of bright bulbs hangs from the branches, and a hand-painted board lists the menu: plain dosa, masala dosa, onion uttapam, idli-vada and filter coffee. Behind the cart stands Shankar Anna himself, a cheerful man with a towel over his shoulder, who greets every customer by name.
The sights here are a show in themselves. Anna pours a …
ICSE 2026 board paper · 20 marks
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(iv) 'Homework is a necessary evil.'
Express your views either for or against this statement.
Show answer
(Answer written FOR the statement.)
Few words make a student groan as loudly as "homework". It eats into play time, causes late nights and is the cause of many arguments at home. Yet, in my opinion, homework is truly a necessary evil: unpleasant in many ways, but something we cannot do without.
Let me first admit why it is called an evil. Too much homework leaves children tired and stressed. After six or seven hours in school and often tuition classes, students have little time left for games, hobbies, family or even sleep. Badly planned homework that simply asks us to copy answers or repeat the same sums again and again is boring and teaches nothing. When parents end up doing the …
