Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
From the library or Internet, read the story ‘How much land does a man need?’ by Leo Tolstoy and write a review of the same, covering the following points.
- Background of the story
- Characters
- Plot/Theme
- Climax
- Message/Moral
| If necessary, the students can read the same story two or three times to understand all the points. |
Advertisements
उत्तर
Background of the story:
Leo Tolstoy wrote "How much land does a man need?" against the backdrop of massive changes in the 19th century in Russia. Until the emancipation of Russian serfs by Czar Alexander II, the peasants were virtual slaves of landowners and aristocrats, Tolstoy wrote this story after the Serfs had already got their freedom for 25 years. They now had rights and their own land. There was progress among the peasants but Tolstoy was apprehensive about whether the peasants' progress brought changes they would regret. This story brings a harsh warning of unchecked materialism which is clearly established through the fate of Pahom, the protagonist of the story, and his sad, untimely death.
Characters - Pahom (the protagonist), his wife, his sister-in-law, the Bashkirs, and the Devil.
Plot/Theme - Pehom, a Russian peasant, overhears his wife and her sister having an argument over whether it is better to live in the country or the city. This lands Pahom to make the dangerous declaration that if he had just enough land, he would not even fear the Devil. The Devil hears this boast and decides to put this to the test and exploits the greed of Pahom. The story relates to Pahom's success in buying land, yet also his dissatisfaction.
Climax - Pahom comes to know about the Bashkir region where very fertile land can be purchased very cheaply. The Bashkirs agree to sell him for 1000 roubles, as much land as he can pace off in a day as long as he returns before the end of the day to the starting point. Pahom walks far, trying to get as much as land as possible, but when he sees more fertile land ahead of him, greed overtakes his senses and he keeps walking further and further away without realizing it would be difficult for him to return to the starting point. In his rush to get back to the starting point. In his rush to get back to the starting point which he succeeds in, he collapses and dies. When he dies the Baskhins ask Pahoms servant to bury him on the same land and he ends up with six feet of land, enough to bury him instead of all the land that he had acquired.
Message/Moral:
The story tells us about the destructive consequences of human ambition & greed. The message is clear, a warning against biting off more than you can chew. The story shows us how human nature pushes us to want more and more. We are never content, no matter how well off we may be. While trying to improve our standard of living, we put ourselves in danger of ending up with nothing, It gives us the message, how greed and excessive desire for earthly desires can destroy a person.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Dairying is an important source of subsidiary income to marginal farmers and agricultural labours. They play a very important role in milk production of the country. In 1986 - 87, about 73 percent of rural households owned livestock. According to the National Sample Survey of 1993 - 94, the livestock sector produces regular employment to about 9.8 million persons in principal status and 8.6 million in subsidiary status, which constitutes about 5 percent of the total workforce.
The milk processing industry is a small one. Only 10 percent of all the milk produced is delivered to some 400 dairy plants. A specific Indian phenomenon is the unorganized sector of milkmen and vendors, which handles around 65 - 70 percent of the national milk production. They collect milk from local producers and sell it in both urban and non - urban areas.
Summary:
Discuss in pairs and guess the correct alternative for the following.
The type of summary that consists of a paragraph to express the main idea is _______.
Complete the following as instructed. Read the passage and write its summary according to the given steps.
Communication is a part of our everyday life. We greet one another, smile or frown, depending on our moods. Animals, too, communicate, much to our surprise. Just like us, interaction among animals can be both verbal or non-verbal. Singing is one way in which animals can interact with one another. Male blackbirds often use their melodious songs to catch the attention of the females. These songs are usually rich in notes variation, encoding various kinds of messages. Songs are also used to warn and keep off other blackbirds from their territory, usually a place where they dwell and reproduce.
Large mammals in the oceans sing too, according to adventurous sailors. Enormous whales groan and grunt while smaller dolphins and porpoises produce pings, whistles, and clicks. These sounds are surprisingly received by other mates as far as several hundred kilometers away.
Use of noun in apposition:
Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to identify the other in a different way; the two elements are said to be in apposition.
Apposition can be used to make compound sentences short and simple.
Neha is their eldest child and she is very intelligent.
- Neha, their eldest child, is very intelligent. [Here, Neha and their eldest child are the same person.] Provide two such examples of apposition.
Find some professions that require the skill of summary writing and editing. Write them in your notebook.
Read the script from:
Joan (Girl) : Good morning, Captain
Squire up to __________
Joan : (simply) ________
Polly and Jack have promised to come with me.
Write a summary of that part of the script (in the indirect speech) in 15 to 20 lines. Do it in your notebook.
Prepare a summary of the extract given in Q. 2 (A). Give it a suitable title. You may use the following points :
Luxurious houses in nature – fear of wild animals – leopards enjoy human habitation – provide food
Write a summary of the above extract with a suitable title with the help of the given points/hints.
|
"I don't believe in taking the right decisions. I take decisions, I take decisions and then make them right:' One of them make them right. One of Ratan Tata's inspiring words which made me dream beyond shadows. I feel fortunate that I discovered him in the early stage of my life and now I am using his teachings to mould my future the way I want. Even though Ratan Tata was born into a very posh family in India, he never took money and power for granted. He graduated from Riverdale country from New York, Ratan Tata began his career in the Tata Group working on the shop floor of Tata Steel. After working for almost 10 years he was appointed as the director-in-charge of the National Radio and Electronics Company Limited (NELCO) in order to help its struggling finances. He worked hard to build a better consumer electronics division but the economic recession and union strikes prevented him from achieving success and this success helped Tata to be appointed as the chairman of the Tata Group of companies. He started with a very basic job in his father's company and today he owns a billion dollar company. The tag of greatness does not come without making any sacrifices and this tag on Ratan Tata suits to its best. Tata group launched its passenger car Tata Indica in the year 1998 but Tata Indica was a failure in its first year and the experiment seemed to be failing. Many people started advising Ratan Tata that he should sell the passenger car business. Ratan Tata also agreed to this and a proposal was given to Ford. they showed interest too. The three-hour meeting at Ford headquarters in Detroit, chairman of Ford (Bill Ford) said to Ratan Tata, "Why did you enter in the passenger car business when you were not knowing of it. It will be a favour if we buy this business from you." Ratan Tata decided to move back home. Whi le travelling he was very tense as the feeling of being insulted was on his mind. After earlier failures, Tata Motors did well with its business of passenger cars but in the same period, Ford did very bad. In 2008 when Ford was on it way of bankruptcy, Tata Group offered Ford to buy its luxury car brand, Jaguar Land Rover. Ford arrived in Mumbai for the meeting. In the meeting, Bill Ford said to Ratan Tata, you are doing a big favour for us by buying-Jaguar-Land Rover is now owned by Tata Group and is currently making profits. |
Ratan Tata's early career - early setback in passenger car business - his meeting with Bill Ford - his success in passenger car business - purchase of Ford's Land Rover and Jaguar.
Write the summary of the following extract with a suitable title, with the help of the given points/hints.
| It is a matter of general agreement that the war has had a chilling effect upon those little everyday civilities of behaviour that sweeten the general air. We must get those civilities back if we are to make life kindly and tolerable for each other. We cannot get them back by invoking the law. The policeman is a necessary symbol and the law is a necessary institution for a society that is still some-what lower than the angels. But the law can only protect us against material attack. Nor will the lift-man's way of meeting moral affront by physical violence help us to restore civilities. I suggest to him, that he would have had more subtle and effective revenge if he had treated the gentleman who would not say "Please" with elaborate politeness. He would have had the victory, not only over the boor, but over himself, and that is the victory that counts. The polite man may lose the material advantage, but he always has the spiritual victory. I commend to the lift-man a story of Chesterfield. In his time the London streets were without the pavements of today, and the man who "took the wall" had the driest footing. "I never give the wall to a scoundrel;' said a man who met Chesterfield one day in the street. "I always do;· said Chesterfield stepping with a bow into the road. I hope the lift-man will agree that his revenge was much more sweet than if he had flung the fellow into the mud. |
toys going electronic - development of the child - vital skills - advantages gained - encourage imagination and creativity - approach of psychologists.
Write a brief summary of the following extract with the help of the given points and suggest a suitable title.
|
The call of the seas has always found an echo in me. Not being rich enough to roam in a private yacht, I have taken the poor man's way out. I swim across them. I have always been fascinated by the Indian ocean, whether at Mumbai, at Puri or at Gopalpur. I have swam in all these places and have felt the thrill. But the idea of swimming the Palk Strait did not occur to me until after I swam in the English channel. Steeped in the history and tradition of this nation, practically unconquered. teaming with hair-raising hazards, the sea between India and Sri Lanka had all the elements of challenge, danger and difficulty that tempted me. By the way, for preparation, I continued a strict and rigorous course of training which began in 1960. I also had to collect a comprehensive range of facts and information about this sea. Neither of these was easy. Despite all the information I had gathered, I soon found that very little was known about the Palk Strait, especially about the tides and currents. Everything about the English channel is known-there is the Channel Swimming Association, there are trained pilots there are wants to be hired, accurate weather forecasts, dependable tide tables and every other form of assistance was readily available. All that one needed was money. Here in the Palk Strait one has to find out firstly from where information could be obtained and then decide how much of it could be incorrect or misleading! |
Attraction for the seas - fascination for the Palk Strait - comparison between the English channel and the Palk Strait.
