English
Maharashtra State BoardSSC (English Medium) 10th Standard

Choose the correct alternative. The peasants chant the name of God to _______________. - English

Advertisements
Advertisements

Question

Choose the correct alternative.

The peasants chant the name of God to _______________.

Options

  • nullify the stinging experience

  • praise God.

  • appease God.

MCQ
Advertisements

Solution

The peasants chant the name of God to nullify the stinging experience.

shaalaa.com
Night of the Scorpion
  Is there an error in this question or solution?
Chapter 3.1: Night of the Scorpion - English Workshop [Page 104]

APPEARS IN

Balbharati English Kumarbharati [English] Standard 10 Maharashtra State Board
Chapter 3.1 Night of the Scorpion
English Workshop | Q 3. (9) | Page 104

RELATED QUESTIONS

Read the following extract and do the activities.
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Patting with his poison – flash
Of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother’s blood, they said.

(A1) Choose the correct option for the following.
(1) The incident in the poem took place in
(i) the morning (ii) the night
(iii) the afternoon (iv) the evening

(2) ‘The Evil’ mentioned in the poem was
(i) the peasant (ii) the God
(iii) the scorpion (iv) the mother

(3) The scorpion crawled beneath a sack of
(i) sugar (ii) a wheat
(iii) corns (iv) rice

(4) The peasants are compared with
(i) flock of sheep (ii) group of monkeys
(iii) swarms of flies (iv) herds of cattle

(A2) Write the reactions of the people when they knew that the mother was stung by a scorpion.
(i)..................................................................
(ii)................................................................
(iii)...............................................................
(iv)...............................................................

(A3) Write down the rhyming words from the stanzas for the following.
(i) fight - (ii) clash -


Get into pairs and discuss the following with your partners and complete the table.

Many people are superstitious. This means that they have a belief for which they have no logical reason.

An example of superstition is that - walking under a ladder brings bad luck. In pairs, list any superstitions that you know of.

Superstition What it implies
(1) Smashing a mirror Brings seven years of bad luck.
(2)  
(3)  
(4)  
(5)  

Brainstorm what you know about Scorpions. Use the points given below.


Complete the following table.

Imagery

Look at the description of the village peasants.
What does the imagery suggest about them?
The Images What images suggest
They came like swarms of flies.  
They buzzed the name of God.  
They threw giant scorpion shadows on the mud-baked walls.  
They clicked their tongues.  

Choose the correct alternative.

The poet seems to see the villagers as impractical and almost irritating which suggests that ________________.


Choose the correct alternative.

‘The scorpion picked on me. And spared my children’ depicts ____________.


Choose the correct alternative.

The poem does not have a rhyme scheme, which means the poem is a perfect example of a ___________.


Read the poem and complete the table showing the qualities of the father and mother giving sufficient evidence from the poem.

Qualities
Father Mother
   

Prepare a Presentation (on paper or on a PC) as a piece of reference to other students. Make use of the following points.


Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format:

Night of the Scorpion

I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother's blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
more insects, and endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the
poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my children.

Points:

  • The title and the poet of the poem
  • Rhyme scheme
  • Figures of speech
  • Central Idea/Theme

Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी


      Forgot password?
Use app×