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प्रश्न
Why is Macavity called the ‘Napoleon of Crime’?
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उत्तर
Napoleon of crime means the commanding leader of criminals. Here the Macavity is the commanding leader for other wicked cats (Mungojerrie and Griddle bone). So Macavity is called the ‘Napoleon of crime’.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
What does the poet long for?
Explain the following lines with reference to the context.
I want to be what I used to be.
‘Face is the index of the mind.’ Does this adage concur with the views of the poet?
Why do accidents usually happen in the playground? Give your own examples and explain
Read the following line and identify the figure of speech used in each extract.
What Man has made of Man?
Read the poem once again. Identify the rhyme scheme and pick out the rhyming pairs of words.
How does the poet feel while enjoying the beauty of Nature?
Does Nature affect a person’s thoughts and feelings? Explain.
How do people bring grief and sorrow to one another?
The poet finds joy in various objects of Nature. Explain.
The poet experiences sadness because ______.
The poem speaks of ______.
Answer in a paragraph of about 100−150 words.
Do you think the poet wants to say that man is unhappy because he has lost his link with nature and forgotten how to enjoy nature, or because man is cruel to other men?
When humanity fails to live in harmony with Nature, its effects are felt around the world. Why and how?
Describe the appearance and qualities of Macavity.
Read the given lines and answer the question that follow.
For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity
- How is the cat described in this line?
- Explain the phrase ‘monster of depravity’.
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s
Give four instances where the poet has used alliteration in the poem.
Who are the ‘deserving ones’?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
Our nature it is that whatever we try We do with devotion deep and true.
- Who does ‘we’ refer to?
- How should we carry out our duties?
The historical background:
The poem is an extract from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard the Second. The play is based on true events that occurred towards the end of the 14th century.
Richard II was crowned the King of England in the year 1367. He continued to be the British Monarch until 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who crowned himself King Henry the Fourth in the same year. Shakespeare’s play is a dramatic rendition of the last two years of King Richard II’s life. In this brief span of time, he was ousted from his royal position and sent to prison, where he died in captivity.
The following extract is set in the Coast of Wales. King Richard and some of his followers awaited the arrival of the Welsh army [after facing defeat at the hands of his cousin, Bolingbroke], of about 10000 warriors. But to their shock and surprise, they received the message that the army was not coming to their rescue. His followers tried to boost their King’s courage against the news, only in vain. When Richard came face to face with the reality of his terrible fate, he spoke the following verse, famously known as the “Hollow Crown” speech in theatrical circles. In it, King Richard is reminded of the power of Death that overshadows everything else, including the power of rulers, and renders them as powerless as any commoner at a moment’s notice.
Fill in the blanks using the words given in the box to complete the summary of the poem:
King Richard the Second, had surrendered to his (a)______cousin, Bollingbroke. He experienced deep distress at the horror of his circumstances. In that desperate situation, he speaks of (b)______, (c)______, (d)______and other things connected with death. He spoke of how people leave nothing behind and can call nothing their own, except for the small patch of (e)______, where they will be buried. King Richard yielded to dejection and talked of all the different ways in which defeated kings suffer how some had been deposed, (f)______in war, (g)______by their wives and so forth. He attributed this loss of lives to (h)______, who he personified as the jester who watches over the shoulder of every ruler, who mocks kings by allowing them to think their human flesh, was like (i)______brass. However, Death penetrates through the castle walls, silently and unnoticed like a sharp (j)______, thus bidding (k)______to him and all his pride forever. Finally, Richard appealed to his soldiers not to mock his mere flesh and blood by showing (l) ______and respect to him. He added that he too needed bread to live, felt want, tasted (m)______and needed (n)______. He concluded thus, urging his men not to call him a (o)______as he was only human, just like the rest of them.
| barren-earth | friends | graves | slain |
| rebellious | poisoned | worms | grief |
| impregnable | epitaphs | death | farewell |
| reverence | king | pin |
Fill in the blank with appropriate word from the box and complete the statement suitably:
The business woman wished to ______all her riches to an orphanage, after her death.
What does ‘flesh’ mean here?
Explain the following line with reference to the context in about 5 to 8 line:
“Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke’s,
And nothing can we call our own but death;”
Explain the following line with reference to the context in about 5 to 8 line:
“Comes at the last, and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!”
Read the poem once again carefully and identify the figure of speech that has been used in each of the following line from the poem:
“Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,…”
Pick out the alliteration from the following lines:
“Comes at the last, and with a little pin…”
