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प्रश्न
Read the following extract from Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’ and answer the questions that follow:
| When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear. |
- What effect does the falling of a ‘great tree’ have on the creatures of the forest? [3]
- How does the death of a great soul affect the lives of those left behind in the immediate aftermath of their passing? [3]
- What long-term effect does the death of a ‘great soul' have? [3]
- What feeling is being expressed by the following lines/phrases? [3]
- small things recoil into silence
- kind words/unsaid,
- Beand be/better. For they existed
- What is a ‘Great tree’ a metaphor for? [4]
What is the central message of Angelou’s poem, “When Great Trees Fall"?
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उत्तर
- Lions burrow down, elephants lumber and little things recoil into stillness.
- Breathing becomes difficult due to rarefied and sterile air, emotional choking, clear vision, and remorse for unfulfilled promises.
- Breathing becomes difficult due to rarefied and sterile air, emotional choking, stinging clarity, and remorse over unfulfilled promises.
- (a) little things recoil into silence—shock, numbness, startled.
(b) Kind words and unsaid remorse
(c) Be and be better. They existed: optimism, hope, and happy acceptance. - The tree represents a great soul. 'Losing a loved one is both devastating and inevitable. 'The memories and influence of the magnificent soul will continue to positively alter our lives. It gives us hope and healing to become better versions of ourselves.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
Thinking about the Poem
“Beneath all uniforms…” What uniforms do you think the poet is speaking about?
Read the diary entry written by Charles Hooper on the day he received the order, Charles Hooper is appointed Assistant National Sales Manager.”
March 1, 19… Thursday 10 pm
Last four years have been eventful. The day I brought Duke home… (Marcy was almost impolite to him because she would have preferred a Pomeranian to a Doberman)… to a stage on October 12, 1957 (when she would not allow anyone else to carry the injured Duke to the vet)… much water has flowed under the bridge. From being a very fit high-charging zone sales manager, I was reduced to a paralysed cripple forced to lie on a bed alone with my thoughts due to a small error by a car driver. Despair had led me on to helplessness… Was I to be a vegetable for the rest of my life ? I never wanted to be a burden on Marcy.
Duke’s re-entry into my life lifted my numb spirits. The day he made me take my first step, there was a rekindled hope. Duke assumed all the responsibility for leading me back to my office desk… Life had taken a full circle. From shock to denial and helplessness to anger, Duke taught me to cope with the challenge and led me to accept the changed mode of life. I am happy to be living as well as working successfully.
The order that I have received today is my tribute to Duke who would always be alive with me and be a part of everything else I achieve in my life.
When a person loses something, he is shocked and gets into a state of denial leading to anger. In such a situation coping well leads to acceptance and a changed way of living in view of the loss. Taking clues from what happened or might have happened with Hooper, write your views in the form of an article about’ ‘Coping with Loss’ in 150-175 words.
Is it possible to make accurate guesses about the people you have never met? Read the poem, to see how conclusions can be drawn about people.
Abandoned Farmhouse
He was a big man, says the size of his shoes On a pile of broken dishes by the house; A tall man too, says the length of the bed In an upstairs room; and a good, God-fearing man, Says the Bible with a broken back On the floor below a window, bright with sun; But not a man for farming, say the fields Cluttered with boulders and a leaky barn.
A woman lived with him, says the bedroom wall Papered with lilacs and the kitchen shelves Covered with oilcloth, and they had a child Says the sandbox made from a tractor tyre. Money was scarce, say the jars of plum preserves And canned tomatoes sealed in the cellar-hole, And the winters cold, say the rags in the window frames. It was lonely here, says the narrow country road.
Something went wrong, says the empty house In the weed-choked yard. Stones in the fields Say he was not a farmer; the still-sealed jars In the cellar say she left in a nervous haste. And the child? Its toys are strewn in the yard Like branches after a storm - a rubber cow, a rusty tractor and a broken plow, a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say. Ted Kooser
How do desert plants and animals differ from most plants and animals?
How did the mongoose oblige its master? What was the reward of his service?
Use the word ‘shade’ in a sentence of your own.
What does the word ‘bake’ in the above passage mean?
Find out the meaning of the following words by looking them up in the dictionary. Then use them in sentences of your own.
mystic
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
| Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, "What writest thou?" |
- To whom did Ben Adhem address these words? Mention the context in which he said this. [2]
- What was the ‘presence’ doing in Ben Adhem’s room? What did the presence say in response to Ben Adhem’s question? [2]
- What did Abou ben Adhem say after this exchange? How did the presence respond to his words? [3]
- Describe the events of the following night. [3]
What does Portia ask of Antonio as a remembrance before she leaves the courtroom?
