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Question
Do you think that friendship is not a matter of age but of emotional connect? Give your views with close reference to V.S. Naipaul's short story B. Wordsworth.
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Solution
In the short story 'B. Wordsworth,' V.S. Naipaul portrays an exceptional friendship between an unnamed boy, the story's narrator, and a poet named Black Wordsworth. The narrative unfolds with the introduction of this friendship as the poet arrives at the school-aged boy's gate. As the story progresses, a deepening bond between the characters becomes evident. The boy learns that Black Wordsworth is a poet and the brother of White Wordsworth, who shared a similar taste in poetry.
After the poet leaves, the boy experiences a sense of sadness and prays for another meeting, indicating the emergence of affection for the old poet. When they meet again, Black Wordsworth invites the boy to his house for mangoes from his garden. Despite the untidiness, the boy willingly accompanies the poet, signifying the trust he has developed. The boy even turns to his new friend when faced with punishment from his mother.
During a walk, the old poet encourages the boy to lie on the grass and contemplate the distance of the stars. The boy complies, finding joy in following Wordsworth's instructions, showcasing the enjoyment of their companionship despite the age gap. The poet shares personal stories, including that of his wife's death during childbirth, revealing a shared emotional connection between the two.
The depth of their bond becomes apparent when the poet is on his deathbed, leading the boy to uncontrollable tears upon witnessing the poet's passing. The author emphasizes the uniqueness of this friendship, transcending age and cultural differences. The emotional connection prevails, highlighting that age disparity does not hinder the growth of their special bond.
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Thinking about the Poem
What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?
What are the two strange things the guru and his disciple find in the Kingdom of Fools?
Read the newspaper clipping.
Listen to an interview between the police inspector in charge of the case, the housekeeper, Ms. Lakshmi and the watchman, Ram Singh. As you listen, note down the details of the burglar.
Inspector: Hello, madam. I am Inspector Maan Singh. I am in charge of the burglary
case which occurred in the flat of your employer, Mr. Ravikant. It must have
been a harrowing experience for you.
Lakshmi: Yes, it was a terrible experience. People like that should be locked up in a
prison.
Inspector: If you will cooperate with us, we will catch them in no time. Were you alone
in the apartment at that time?
Lakshmi: Yes, it was 11 :30 in the night and I was alone as my master and his wife had
left for Shimla.
Inspector: How do you think the burglar gained entry into the house?
Lakshmi: He might have come through the balcony and entered my room.
Inspector: Now tell me something about his physique. What about his build? How tall
was he?
Lakshmi: He was about 6 ft tall.
Inspector: What about his physique?
Lakshmi: He was not thin. He was well-built and rather plump.
Inspector: What about his dress? What was he wearing?
Lakshmi: I think his clothes were rather old and faded. He was wearing a black shirt
which was faded.
Inspector: Do you remember the colour of his trousers?
Lakshmi: They were of a dark shade -either black or blue.
Inspector: Can you tell me something about his face?
Lakshmi: Unfortunately no. When he entered my room I panicked. But then I
gathered courage and screamed and tried to run away. But I was a bit late.
He struck me with a staff and I really don't remember anything after that.
May be I was knocked out.
Later on, I came to know that he broke into the bedroom and ran off with the
jewellery. But Ram Singh, the watchman, who tried to catch him may be
able to describe him better.
Inspector: OK Lakshmi, thank you! If I need your help I will come again. You may have
to identify the burglar. Now, I will speak to Ram Singh.
Inspector to Ram Singh:
Ram Singh you were on duty and you tried to catch the burglar. You may be
able to give a good description of him. First, tell me about his hair.
Ram Singh: He had straight black hair.
Inspector: What about the shape of his face and his complexion?
Ram Singh: He had an oval face with grey eyes and I think he was dark complexioned.
Inspector: Did he wear spectacles?
Ram Singh: Yes, with a plastic frame and his nose was rather sharp.
Inspector: What else can you remember about him? What about his teeth and lips?
Ram Singh: His lips were quite thick.
Inspector: Is there anything else that you remember about him?
Ram Singh: When I heard some noise from inside, I ran in. I tried to stop the burglar and
we had a scuffie. During the struggle I noticed that he had six fingers on his
right hand. But he managed to run away and made good his escape on a
motorbike.
Inspector: Thank you Ram Singh. We will make sketches on the basis of your
description and nab him.
| DESCRIPTION | |
| Built | |
| Height | |
| Clothes | |
| Shape of the face | |
| Complexion | |
| Eyes | |
| Hair | |
| Nose | |
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Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling,luminous,tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Besides visual imagery the poet also uses auditory imagery.Pick out the lines.
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And,with a natural sigh,
"Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.
"I find them in the garden,
For there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men,"said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Why does the poet use a skull?
Of the seven hundred villages dotting the map of India, in which the majority of India’s five hundred million live, flourish and die, Kritam was probably the tiniest, indicated on the district survey map by a microscopic dot, the map being meant more for the revenue official out to collect tax than for the guidance of the motorist, who in any case could not hope to reach it since it sprawled far from the highway at the end of a rough track furrowed up by the iron-hooped wheels of bullock carts. But its size did not prevent its giving itself the grandiose name Kritam, which meant in Tamil coronet or crown on the brow of the subcontinent. The village consisted of fewer than thirty houses, only one of them built from brick and cement and painted a brilliant yellow and blue all over with
gorgeous carvings of gods and gargoyles on its balustrade, it was known as the Big House. The other houses, distributed in four streets, were generally of bamboo thatch, straw, mud and other unspecified material. Muni’s was the last house in the fourth street, beyond which stretched the fields. In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock of sheep and goats and sallied forth every morning driving the flock to the highway a couple of miles away.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What did the Big House look like?
“So that is what you are doing out here? A marshal!” “My dear Miss Fairchild,” said ’ Easton, calmly, “I had to do something. Money has & way of taking wings unto itself, and
you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening in the West, and—well, a marshalship isn’t quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but—” “The ambassador,” said the girl, warmly, “doesn’t call any more. He needn’t ever have done so. You ought to know that. And so now you are one of these dashing Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That’s different from the Washington life. You have been missed from the old crowd.” The girl’s eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs. “Don’t you worry about them, miss,” said the other man. “All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business.” “Will we see you again soon in Washington?” asked the girl. “Not soon, I think,” said Easton. “My butterfly days are over, I fear.”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Easton says, “it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington.” What do you suppose he means by this?
The boy looked up. He took his hands from his face and looked up at his teacher. The light from Mr. Oliver’s torch fell on the boy’s face, if you could call it a face. He had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on top of it.
And that’s where the story should end, as indeed it has for several people who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of inexplicable heart attacks. But for Mr. Oliver, it did not end there. The torch fell from his trembling hand. He turned and scrambled down the path, running blindly through the trees and calling for help. He was still running towards the school buildings when he saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. He stumbled up to the watchman, gasping for breath and speaking incoherently.
What is it, Sahib? Asked the watchman, has there been an accident? Why are you running?
I saw something, something horrible, a boy weeping in the forest and he had no face.
No face, Sahib?
No eyes, no nose, mouth, nothing.
Do you mean it was like this, Sahib? asked the watchman, and raised the lamp to his own face. The watchman had no eyes, no ears, no features at all, not even an eyebrow. The wind blew the lamp out and Mr. Oliver had his heart attack.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did Mr Oliver tell the boy that he should not be out at that hour?
The boy looked up. He took his hands from his face and looked up at his teacher. The light from Mr. Oliver’s torch fell on the boy’s face, if you could call it a face. He had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on top of it.
And that’s where the story should end, as indeed it has for several people who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of inexplicable heart attacks. But for Mr. Oliver, it did not end there. The torch fell from his trembling hand. He turned and scrambled down the path, running blindly through the trees and calling for help. He was still running towards the school buildings when he saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. He stumbled up to the watchman, gasping for breath and speaking incoherently.
What is it, Sahib? Asked the watchman, has there been an accident? Why are you running?
I saw something, something horrible, a boy weeping in the forest and he had no face.
No face, Sahib?
No eyes, no nose, mouth, nothing.
Do you mean it was like this, Sahib? asked the watchman, and raised the lamp to his own face. The watchman had no eyes, no ears, no features at all, not even an eyebrow. The wind blew the lamp out and Mr. Oliver had his heart attack.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What was Mr Oliver’s reaction when he saw the faceless boy? Whom did he stumble into?
From the day, perhaps a hundred years ago when he sun had hatched him in a sandbank, and he had broken his shell, and got his head out and looked around, ready to snap at anything, before he was even fully hatched-from that day, when he had at once made for the water, ready to fend for himself immediately, he had lived by his brainless craft and ferocity. Escaping the birds of prey and the great carnivorous fishes that eat baby crocodiles, he has prospered, catching all the food he needed, and storing it till putrid in holes in the bank. Tepid water to live in and plenty of rotted food grew him to his great length. Now nothing could pierce the inch-?thick armoured hide. Not even rifle bullets,
which would bounce off. Only the eyes and the soft underarms offered a place. He lived well in the river, sunning himself sometimes with other crocodiles-muggers, as well as the long-? snouted fish-?eating gharials-on warm rocks and sandbanks where the sun dried the clay on them quite white, and where they could plop off into the water in a moment if alarmed. The big crocodile fed mostly on fish, but also on deer and monkeys come to drink, perhaps a duck or two.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What protected him now? How?
They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever.
“Will it be seven more years?” “Yes. Seven.” Then one of them gave a little cry. “Margot!” “What?” “She’s still in the closet where we locked her.” “Margot.”
They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down. “Margot.” One of the girls said, “Well.. .?” No one moved. “Go on,” whispered the girl. They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of the cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it. Behind the closed door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why were the children avoiding looking at each other?
Why does Portia disapprove of the County Palatine? Who would she rather marry?
What is meant by 'dead habit'? What is 'dead habits' compared to and why?
Answer the following question.
Where was the tiger cub hiding when Grandfather found him?
The following sentence has two blanks. Fill in the blanks with appropriate forms of the word given in brackets.
Hermits are_________men. How they acquire their________ no one can tell. (wise)
Find in the poem lines that match the following. Read both one after the other.
He says cats are better.
How did Golu help the python?
Why did the customer hate Mr. Purcell?
What did the Keepers of the zoo reveal to the narrator’s grandfather?
What was the farmer’s comment on his wife’s fears?
Why was the monkey happy/unhappy?
If you were a baby crocodile, would you tell Makara that he was wrong? What would you say to convince him?
Which incident made the visitor to the school ten times more thoughtful than ever?
What are some of the particular habits of the mongoose and the camel?
Answer the following question:
Why was Rasheed upset?
Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against the following sentence.
The king lost his temper easily.
Complete the following sentence by providing a reason:
In the short story, The Sound Machine, Dr. Scott thought Klausner was ill when Klausner rang up the doctor because ______.
How is Death personified in the opening lines of the poem, Death be Not Proud?
Referring to the poem Tithonus, show how his immortality becomes a curse. Answer in 100-150 words incorporating the following details.
- Circumstances leading to Tithonus receiving a boon
- Reasons for the boon becoming a curse
