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How does the poem bring out the elusive nature of happiness in human existence? - English Elective - NCERT

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प्रश्न

How does the poem bring out the elusive nature of happiness in human existence?

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उत्तर

The poem is an attempt to distinct happiness and true happiness, the real and imaginary, reality and dream, the pleasure and pain, the ideal, and the actual as Richard Fogle calls it. The everlasting and the momentary have been differentiated in the poem. The true pleasure as Keats defines lies not in the physical world which is full of miseries and pain and loss. We chase the beauty and happiness the way the poet chases the bird's song and still at a point the spell is bound to break like a bubble bursts and the human is thrown into the reality to realise the ultimate and inevitable, the death! Happiness is elusive and evanescent and can not be held forever. It is fickle and promiscuous. The poet when felt that he has found true happiness in the singing of the nightingale, which is beyond age and time; he wakes up to reality. He realises that it was just a vision of a dream, so is happiness, like a dream, not stationary! All that we can do is delay the inevitability of death through this beauty that gives transcendental happiness.

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अध्याय 2.11: Ode to a Nightingale - Understanding the Poem [पृष्ठ १३८]

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एनसीईआरटी English (Elective) - Woven Words
अध्याय 2.11 Ode to a Nightingale
Understanding the Poem | Q 6 | पृष्ठ १३८

संबंधित प्रश्न

B1. Find reasons
(i) The effect of receding forest …………………………………. .
(ii) The number of animals is reduced because ………………………. .
(iii) Elephants entered the city because…………………… .
(iv) Elephants lived a wary life …………………….. .

On the left bank of the Ganga, where it emerges from the Himalayan foothills, there is a long stretch of heavy forest. There are villages on the fringe of the forest, inhabited by bamboo cutters and farmers, but there are few signs of commerce or pilgrimage. Hunters, however, have found the area an ideal hunting ground during the last seventy years, and as a result, the animals are not as numerous as they used to be. The trees, too, have been disappearing slowly; and, as the forest recedes, the animals lose their food and shelter and move further on into the foothills. Slowly, they are being denied the right to live
Only the elephants can cross the river. And two years ago, when a large area of the forest was cleared to make way for a refugee resettlement camp, a herd of elephants - finding their favourite food, the green shoots of the bamboo, in short supply - waded across the river. They crashed through the suburbs of Haridwar, knocked down a factory wall, pulled down several tin roofs, held up a train, and left a trail of devastation in their wake until they found a new home in a new forest which was still untouched. Here, they settled down to a new life but an unsettled, wary life. They did not know when men would appear again, with tractors,bulldozers and dynamite.

B2. Find out
Mention four things the elephants did when they found shortage of food:
(i)………………
(ii)………
(iii) …………
(iv) ………….

B3.Phrases
Make meaningful sentences by selecting any two of the following phrases:
(i) to make way for
(ii) in short
(iii) on the fringe of.

B4. Language study
Select the proper alternative to make the correct voice:
(i) Hunters have found an ideal hunting ground.
-An ideal hunting ground ........found by hunters. (had been, has been, was)
(ii) They are being denied the right to live.
- The people ........them the right to live. (are denying, were denying, denying)

B5.Personal response
What would be your contribution to protect the natural habitat of animals?


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:      

'..... and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
"Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with the sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;
..................

(a) Identify the poem and the poet.
(b) What is the role of the clear rills?
(c) How has the mid forest brake become rich?
(d) Name the figure of speech in 'cooling covert'.


Read the following passage carefully and do the given activities:
A.1) True or False:

Write the statements and state whether they are true or false:
(i)
Those who choose to live well must help others.
(ii)
If neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily improve the quality.
(iii)
The farmer grew award-winning corn.
(iv)
The reporter discovered that the farmer didn’t share his seed corn with his neighbors. 

             There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his sweet corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked. 
             “Why sir”, said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.” He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches.
              The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn. 

A.2) Consequences:
Write the consequences:
(i) The farmer shares the corn. 
(ii) The farmer doesn’t share the corn. 

A.3) Antonyms:
Find out the words opposite in meaning from the passage: 
(i)
superior x _______ 
(ii)
lost x _______ 
(iii)
improve x _______ 
(iv)
inconstantly x _______ 

A.4)  Language study:
(i)
We must help our neighbors. (Replace the modal auxiliary showing advice). 
(ii) The wind picks up pollen from ripening corn and swirls it field to field. (Use “not only…….. but also” and rewrite)

A.5)  Personal Response: 
What do you learn from the story? Suggest a suitable title.


Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.


Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?


Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.


'The Address' is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment


How do Shahid and the writer react to the knowledge that Shahid is going to die?


Think and answer in your own words.

Does the poet really wish to become a hawker/gardener/watchman? Justify your response.


Think and answer in your own words in your notebook.

Why do you think God created worms? What is their ecological importance?


Trees are revered because:

  1. They give us joy.
  2. _________________
  3. _________________
  4. _________________
  5. _________________

Answer the given question in your own words.

What decision did the Swallow finally make? Was it a wise one? Comment.


The drone is given a death sentence because he ______.


Dos and Don'ts for Email Etiquettes. Discuss and add one or two Dos and Don'ts on your own.

Sr. No. Dos Don'ts
1. Have a clear subject line. Don’t forget your signature.
2. Use a professional salutation. Don’t use humour and sarcasm.
3. Recheck your e-mail. Don’t assume the recipient knows what you are talking about.
4. Keep private material confidential. Don’t punctuate poorly.
5. Keep your email short and flawless. Stay concise. Don't hit 'Reply All'.
6. Check your attachments before sending them. Don’t think that no one but the intended recipient will see your email. (No predictions)
7. Include your name or a signature with additional details and contact information. Don't forward emails without permission.

Answer the following question in short.

Why was Tenali Raman summoned to the court?


List the four elements of drama.


Form groups and hold debates on the following topics. Make bulleted lists of points in favour of the topic (pros) and those against it (cons). (3-6 points each)

You should never lose a match.


Read aloud/Enact the play.


Read the following words. Write the words that are combined to make these words.

  • faraway
  • nobleman
  • whoever
  • moneylender 
  • sometimes

Add ten more words to the list on your own. Each of the component words must be meaningful.


What did Mr. Gizare appreciate the most?


Imagine you are visiting the Science Fair. What other stalls (apart from the ones mentioned here) are you likely to find there? Try to list at least five more stalls.


Draw word webs for the following.
Begin with the given word and go on writing as many other words associated with it, as you can.
Use these words to write other related words to form a word web.


Write a short note on the following:

Sujata’s offering


Using the information given in the passage, write a short note on the following in your mother tongue.

Gond art


Write the symbol that is used in the poem to represent the following idea.

Some other time.


Present Mr. Wilson’s story as it would be shown in a comic strip. Write what picture you will show in each frame along with the dialogues. Write the dialogue with the help of the story. Examples:


If you were to grow very tiny like a Lilliputian, what are the things you would like to do? Write about any three of these things.


Complete the following table with information from the anecdote about Mr. Scotti’s short trip.

Name Nicholas Scotti
Occupation  
Reason for his trip  
Means of transport  
Destination  

Two scary events from this section are listed here. Write the events that take place in between in the correct order.


How did the children react when they met each other at the ruins?


Take a stanza from the poem. Write it in the blanks and find the rhyme scheme.

Lines from the poem Rhyme scheme (a/b/c/d)
   
   
   
   

when to fight for a righteous cause

one did gain considerable applause.

When will one get an applause?


Sea turtles come to the shore to ______.


What did Amma mean when she said tomatoes, ladies' fingers and corn came from other countries?


What made the trip a memorable one?


What word could best replace ‘charges’ in the poem - marches, rushes or pushes?


Identify the speaker/character.

"Don't let us down now, Gulliver; we need your help."


Match the planet with its feature.

1. Mars blue ice giant
2. Saturn red storm
3. Jupiter red planet
4. Neptune ring and moons

The blue lights seen through the window were aliens.


Why did Santhosh forget to watch television or play video games?


_________ is the memorial for the soldiers.


Name the character or speaker.

"You want me to strain my back?"


Match the following.

1. garden very small
2. trash can hungry and tired
3. old man well maintained
4. hut earthen pot
5. gruel wasted food

What will you do if someone ensnares birds?


What was his master’s advice?


Anbu was talented in catching______.


Match the rhyming words.

1. flow know
2. grow week
3. seek blow

______was with Robinson.


______is next to parents in care.


Do you think you treat everyone equally? Justify with an example.


Amir realised his mistakes.


Tenzin is from ______.


What did the leader see on the river?


The grandmother had kept the plate in memory of her ______.


Who lived in the old house?


What did Helen learn when the teacher put her hand into running water?


How was the stump of the tree useful?


Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

The Stationmaster’s Supreme Sacrifice by Sanchari Pal (Adapted)

  1. Thirty-three years ago, on the night of December 2, 1984, Bhopal was hit by a catastrophe that had no parallel in the world’s industrial history. An accident at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal had released almost 30 tons of a highly toxic gas called methyl isocyanate, turning the city into a vast gas chamber. The result was a nightmare; more than 600,000 people were exposed to the deadly gas cloud that left thousands dead and many more breathless, blind and in agonizing pain. Few people know that during the Bhopal gas tragedy a heroic stationmaster risked his own life to save others.
  2. On the evening of December 3, 1984, Ghulam Dastagir was settling down in his office to complete some pending paperwork. This work kept him in his office till 1am in the night, when he emerged to check the arrival of the Gorakhpur Mumbai Express. As he stepped on to the platform, the deputy stationmaster felt his eyes burn and a queer itching sensation in his throat. He did not know that poisonous fumes leaking from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory were stealthily enveloping the railway station.
  3. Beginning to choke, Dastagir did not know then that twenty-three of his railway colleagues, including his boss, station superintendent Harish Dhurve, had already died. It was later reported that Dhurve had heard about the deadly gas and had immediately tried stopping the movement of trains passing through Bhopal before collapsing in his office chamber. His suddenly worsening health and years of experience told Dastagir that something was very wrong. Though he did not fully comprehend what was happening, he decided to act immediately when he did not get any response from the station master. He alerted the senior staff at nearby stations, like Vidisha and Itarsi, to suspend all train traffic to Bhopal.
  4. However, the jam-packed GorakhpurKanpur Express was already standing at the platform and its departure time was 20 minutes away. Listening to his gut instinct, Dastagir summoned his staff and told them to immediately clear the train for departure. When they asked if they should wait until the order to do so came from the head office, Dastagir replied that he would take complete responsibility for the train’s early departure. He wanted to ensure that the train left immediately, without any delay. His colleagues later recalled that Dastagir could barely stand and breathe as he spoke to them. Breaking all rules and without taking permission from anyone, he and his brave staff personally flagged off the train.
  5. But Dastagir’s work was not done. The railway station was filling up with people, desperate to flee the fumes. Some were gasping, others were vomiting, and most were weeping. Dastagir chose to remain on duty, running from one platform to another, attending, helping and consoling victims. He also sent an SOS to all the nearby railway offices, asking for immediate medical help. As a result, four ambulances with paramedics and railway doctors arrived at the station. It was winter and the gas was staying low to the ground, a thick haze poisoning everything in its path. Besieged by hordes of suffering people, the station soon resembled the emergency room of a large hospital. Dastagir stayed at the station, steadfastly doing his duty, knowing that his family was out there in the ill-fated city. That day all he had for his protection was a wet handkerchief on his mouth.
  6. Ghulam Dastagir’s devotion to duty saved the lives of hundreds of people. However, the catastrophe didn’t leave him unscathed. One of his sons died on the night of the tragedy and another developed a lifelong skin infection. Dastagir himself spent his last 19 years shuttling in and out of hospitals; he developed a painful growth in the throat due to prolonged exposure to toxic fumes. When he passed away in 2003, his death certificate mentioned that he was suffering from diseases caused as a direct result of exposure to MIC (Methyl Isocyanate) gas. A memorial has been built at platform No.1 to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty on the fateful night of December 3, 1984. However, Ghulam Dastagir, who died later, is not one of them. A forgotten hero whose sense of duty and commitment saved countless lives, Dastagir’s story deserves to be recognized and remembered by our fellow countrymen.
  1. Why was the accident at Union Carbide unparalleled in the world’s industrial history?
  2. How was Dastagir affected by the poisonous gas?
  3. What was the action taken by the station superintendent?
  4. How did Dastagir and his staff break rules?
  5. What was the cause of Dastagir’s death?
  6. Find words from the passage which mean the opposite of the following.
  1. safeguard (para 1)
  2. common or familiar (para 2)
  3. prompt (para 4)
  4. cause (para 6)

Pick out word which mean the same as

stop doing something (para 1) 


Being a bachelor, the stranger had no patience with children.


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