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प्रश्न
With close reference to the short story, To Build a Fire, discuss how the Man's lack of imagination led to his paralysing death while the dog's primitive instincts helped him to survive.
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उत्तर
In the short story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the central character, an unnamed man, embarks on a journey with his wolf-dog through the frozen Yukon Wilderness. Unfortunately, the man's demise results from his excessive self-assurance and failure to envision the dire circumstances, contrasting sharply with the dog's survival based on primitive instincts.
The absence of imagination in the man is apparent from the story's outset. He disregards the perilous weather conditions he is bound to encounter, dismissing the warnings of the old-timer and obstinately relying on misplaced confidence to conquer the extreme cold. Even the dog's evident unease, signaling impending danger, goes unnoticed. The man neglects essential precautions, such as building a fire, and fails to prepare when faced with an emergency.
As the man proceeds, a series of errors stemming from his lack of imagination unfolds. Ignoring the dog's warning, he falls into a creek, soaking his feet and placing himself in a life-threatening situation. Despite last-minute efforts, he struggles to build a warming fire and ultimately succumbs to death.
In contrast, the dog's reliance on primitive instincts enables it to adapt to changing circumstances. Recognizing the man's demise, the dog instinctively understands the necessity to return to the base camp, where food and fire are available. This quick thinking ensures the dog's survival, highlighting the man's fatal outcome due to his failure of imagination.
The narrative underscores the significance of imagination, thoughtfulness, and adaptability for survival in extreme conditions. While the man's lack of imagination leads to his premature death, the dog's instinctive actions spare it from a similar fate. The story serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the need to respect the formidable power of nature.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Answer of these question in a short paragraph (about 30 words).
How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Match the meanings with the words/expressions in italic, and write the appropriate
meaning next to the sentence.
You really gave me a fright when you crept up behind me like that.
Use the suffixes −ion or −tion to form nuns from the following verbs. Make the necessary changes in the spellings of the words.
Example:proclaim − proclamation
| cremate ___ | act ___ | exhaust ___ |
| invent ___ | tempt ___ | immigrate ___ |
| direct ___ | meditate ___ | imagine ___ |
| dislocate ___ | associate ___ | dedicate ___ |
Why does the disciple’s decide to stay in the Kingdom of Fools? Is it a good idea?
Read the lines given in the boxes on the next page. They are in random order.
Now listen to the recording of the poem carefully. As you listen, number the
stanzas given in the boxes sequentially.
I am beautiful pearls, plucked from the
Crown of Ishtar by the daughter of Dawn
To embellish the gardens
I emerge from the heart of the Sea and
Soar with the breeze. When I see a field in
Need, I descend and embrace the flowers and
The trees in a million little ways
The voice of thunder declares my arrival :
The rainbow announces my departure.
I am like earthly life, which begins at
The feet of the mad elements and ends
Under the upraised wings of death
I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven
By the gods. Nature then takes me to adorn
Her fields and valleys.
I touch gently at the windows with my
Soft fingers and my announcement is a
Welcome song. All can hear but only
The sensitive can understand
The field and the cloud are lovers
And between them I am a messenger of mercy.
I quench the thirst of the one,
I cure the ailment of the other.
I am the sigh of the sea, the laughter of the field;
The tears of heaven.
When I cry the hills laugh;
When I humble myself the flowers rejoice;
When I bow, all things are elated
So, with love-
Sighs from the deep sea of affection; Laughter
from the colourful field of the spirit; Tears from
the endless heaven of memories.
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs;
The first man held his back.
For on the faces around the fire,
He noticed one was black.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
What does the phrase ‘six humans’ signify?
Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
How are the bangles described in the first stanza of the poem?
Some are Purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished , whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worship the gods at her husband's side.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
What hues of bangles are cherished by a bride ? What are they symbolic of?
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set-----
Or better still, just don't install
The Idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
we've watched them gaping at the screen
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.
Describe the effects of television on children’s mind.
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good , what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr.Tod,the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin,Pigling Bland,
And Mrs.Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr.Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.
Which animal characters does Dahl mention?’
Unleashing the goats from the drumstick tree, Muni started out, driving them ahead and uttering weird cries from time to time in order to urge them on. Me passed through the village with his head bowed in thought. He did not want to look at anyone or be accosted. A couple of cronies lounging in the temple corridor hailed him, but he ignored their call. They had known him in the days of affluence when he lorded over a flock of fleecy sheep, not the miserable grawky goats that he had today.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Describe Muni’s prosperous times.
“Jane,” said the wheelwright, with an impressiveness of tone that greatly subdued his wife, “I read in the Bible sometimes, and find much said about little children. How the Savior rebuked the disciples who would not receive them; how he took them up in his arms, and blessed them; and how he said that ‘whosoever gave them even a cup of cold water should not go unrewarded.’ Now, it is a small thing for us to keep this poor motherless little one for a single night; to be kind to her for a single night; to make her life comfortable for a single night.”
The voice of the strong, rough man shook, and he turned his head away, so that the moisture in his eyes might not be seen. Mrs. Thompson did not answer, but a soft feeling crept into her heart.
“Look at her kindly, Jane; speak to her kindly,” said Joe. “Think of her dead mother, and the loneliness, the pain, the sorrow that must be on all her coming life.” The softness of his heart gave unwonted eloquence to his lips.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What did Joe want to convey to his wife from his quotes from the Bible?
Joe did not see the Guardians of the Poor on that day, on the next, nor on the day following. In fact, he never saw them at all on Maggie’s account, for in less than a week Mrs. Joe Thompson would as soon leave thought of taking up her own abode in the almshouse as sending Maggie there.
What light and blessing did that sick and helpless child bring to the home of Joe Thompson, the poor wheelwright! It had been dark, and cold, and miserable there for a long time just because his wife had nothing to love and care for out of herself, and so became soar, irritable, ill-tempered, and self-afflicting in the desolation of her woman’s nature. Now the sweetness of that sick child, looking ever to her in love, patience, and gratitude, was as honey to her soul, and she carried her in her heart as well as in her arms, a precious burden. As for Joe Thompson, there was not a man in all the neighbourhood who drank daily of a more precious wine of life than he. An angel had come into his house, disguised as a sick, helpless, and miserable child, and filled all its dreary chambers with the sunshine of love.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What had changed Mrs Thompson?
Beside him in the shoals as he lay waiting glimmered a blue gem. It was not a gem, though: it was sand—?worn glass that had been rolling about in the river for a long time. By chance, it was perforated right through—the neck of a bottle perhaps?—a blue bead. In the shrill noisy village above the ford, out of a mud house the same colour as the ground came a little girl, a thin starveling child dressed in an earth—?coloured rag. She had torn the rag in two to make skirt and sari. Sibia was eating the last of her meal, chupatti wrapped round a smear of green chilli and rancid butter; and she divided this also, to make
it seem more, and bit it, showing straight white teeth. With her ebony hair and great eyes, and her skin of oiled brown cream, she was a happy immature child—?woman about twelve years old. Bare foot, of course, and often goosey—?cold on a winter morning, and born to toil. In all her life, she had never owned anything but a rag. She had never owned even one anna—not a pice.
Why does the writer mention the blue bead at the same time that the crocodile is introduced?
Ans. The author mentions the blue bead at the same time that the crocodile is introduced to create suspense and a foreshadowing of the events’to happen.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Describe Sibia.
I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broad-jump trials, I was startled to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps! He turned out to be a German named Luz Long. 1 was told that Hitler hoped to win the jump with him. I guessed that if Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ “master race” (Aryan superiority) theory. After all, I am a Negro. Angr about Hitler’s ways, 1 determined to go out there and really show Der Fuhrer and his master race who was superior and who wasn’t. An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes, as any coach will tell you. I was no exception. On the first of my three qualifying jumps, I leaped from several inches beyond the takeoff board for a foul. On the second jump, I fouled even worse. “Did I come 3,000 miles for this?” I thought bitterly. “To foul out of the trials and make a fool of myself ?” Walking a few yards from the pit, 1 kicked disgustedly at the dirt.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did Owens kick the pit in disgust?
How did Ravi link his cat with the Pallava kings?
Was it right for the author’s friend to dismantle the bicycle?
Give the character sketch of the narrator.
If you had to make some rules for grown-ups to follow, what would you say? Make at least five such rules. Arrange the lines as in a poem.
Who reaps the benefits when the wind blows through the trees?
Why was Dad sure he wouldn’t fall?
How many times does the narrator’s father try to climb the tree?
What surprises do the meadows have to offer you?
Multiple Choice Question:
Who is the poet of this poem?
Multiple Choice Question:
Who is the poet of this poem?
Answer the question.
What are the things normal people do that the poet talks about?
What did the speaker do while hiding himself in the banyan tree branches?
What does a little child think of his/her teacher? What does the child decide to explore?
What do you think, the rebel doesn’t like?
Referring closely to the poem, Dover Beach, show how the poet correlates the gradual receding of the "Sea of Faith" with the gradual loss of human faith in religion.
