Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Do you go for leisurely walks? If you are a city-dweller, what or who would you expect to see on your way?
Advertisements
Solution
Yes, I do go for morning walks with my classmate Ragu. I live in Chennai. We go to the beach for a walk. We come across policemen, doctors, aged people, and some small children too briskly engaged in long walks. They enjoy the morning sun at the backdrop of the golden sea. Also, I find a host of vendors selling vegetable soups, bitter gourd soup, and nourishing drinks on the seashore. There are points where pure water is sold in glasses. The spring dug out a few hundred meters near the sea is really sweet. I find one ‘Green volunteer group’ collecting all plastic garbage and cleaning the beach.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
How does the poet compare his face with dresses?
Mention the qualities the child in the poem symbolises.
Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem:
The poet Okara in this narrative monologue painfully condemns the (a)______ displayed by adults, both in their words and actions. Here, a father laments to his son about the negative changes that creep into the attitude and behaviour of humans, when they grow into (b)______. He says that people used to be (c)______ when they laugh and the honesty would be reflected in their eyes. But, people of modern times laugh (d)______. Their handshakes used to be warm and happy conveying a sense of togetherness, but nowadays the handshakes have become a mere (e)______. He warns his son that people are not trust-worthy and have become so selfish that they are concerned only about their own (f)______benefits. People utter words of welcome and exchange (g)______, but those words come only from the tip of their tongues and not from the depth of their hearts. Humans have learnt the art of changing their (h)______ expressions according to situations merely to ensure social acceptance. They wear(i)______ and exhibit multiple faces. The narrator admits that he has also changed into a hypocrite. However, he tells his son that though he (j)______ his expressions, he does all these against his will. He says he wants to become a (k)______ again and laugh genuinely. He wants to (l)______ the unreal things and (m)______how to laugh as he had done once upon a time. When he laughs before the (n)______, he sees no expression. His teeth are bare like that of the (o)______of a snake. So, he asks his son to show him how to laugh the way he used to laugh when he was a kid like him.
| relearn | adults | facial |
| personal | fangs | child |
| fakes | superficially | duplicity |
| genuine | unlearn | falsity |
| masks | mirror | pleasantries |
Interpret each of the following expression used in the poem, in one or two line.
to unlearn all these muting things
‘Face is the index of the mind.’ Does this adage concur with the views of the poet?
The poet does not wish to exchange position with the runners. Why?
Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow in a sentence or two.
Well, ego it might be pleased enough But zealous athletes play so rough…
- What pleases the ego?
- Why are athletes often rough during play?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a sentence or two
When snaps the knee and cracks the wrist….
Identify and explain the use of the literary device in this line.
Explain the following with reference to the context in about 50–60 word each.
Athletes, I’ll drink to you, Or eat with you, Or anything except compete with you…
Would you like to exchange your place with someone else? Why/why not?
Explain the following line with reference to the context in about four to five sentence each.
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
Read the following line and identify the figure of speech used in each extract.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran.
Read the following line and identify the figure of speech used in each extract.
And ‘tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
Read the poem once again. Identify the rhyme scheme and pick out the rhyming pairs of words.
A French proverb goes thus: ‘The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.’ You may have observed that all animals possess a number of unique qualities. Fill in the columns with words and phrases associated with each of the following animals.
| DOG | CAT | WOLF | ELEPHANT |
People admire some of these animal qualities. What are they? Have you noticed some of them in yourself or in others? Share your views with the class.
Who does the Secret Service suspect when a loss is reported?
Which two characters does the poet refer to as examples of wicked cats?
What are the mysterious ways in which Macavity acts?
Read the given lines and answer the question that follow.
He’s the bafflement of Scotland
Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime
— Macavity’s not there!..
- What is ‘Scotland Yard’?
- Why does the flying squad feel disappointed?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair
But it’s useless to investigate…
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
He, who does not stoop, is a king we adore. We bow before competence and merit;
- Who is adored as a king?
- What is the figure of speech used in the first line?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
Honour is a property, common to all: In dignity and pride no one need to be poor.
- Who are considered rich?
- What is their asset?
Creative Activity
- Write eight words you associate with success.
- Use the words to write eight lines that mean success to you or how success makes you feel.
- Arrange your lines into a poem.
- Share your poem with the class and post a copy on the notice board.
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 |
How does the king establish that he and his subjects are equal in the end?
Pick out the alliteration from the following lines:
“And tell sad stories of the death of kings:”
