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Question
How does Iswaran describe the uprooted tree on the highway? What effect does he want to create in his listeners?
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Solution
Iswaran’s descriptions were greatly influenced by the Tamil thrillers he read. When he came across an uprooted tree on the highway, he said very dramatically that the road was deserted and he was all alone. Suddenly, he spotted something that “looked like an enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road.” He was half-inclined to turn and go back. However, as he came closer, he saw that it was a fallen tree with its dry branches spread out.
Even if he was narrating the smallest of incidents, he tried to introduce suspense and a surprise ending to the story.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Answer these question in 30–40 words.
How is a shehnai different from a pungi?
Now fill in the blanks with suitable words from the ones that you have formed.
(i) Mass literacy was possible only after the ___________ of the printing machine.
(ii) Ramesh is unable to tackle the situation as he lacks ____________.
(iii) I could not resist the _____________ to open the letter.
(iv) Hardwork and ___________are the main keys to success.
(v) The children were almost fainting with ______________after being made to stand in the sun.
Thinking about the Text
Answer these question.
I said it with bullets.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) What does it mean?
(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?
Activity:
Find Dhanuskodi and Rameswaram on the map. What language(s) do you think are spoken there? What languages do you think the author, his family, his friends and his teachers spoke with one another?
“A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel bitter grief? Or does he feel a great peace?
After having read the story, you realise the anguish of the illiterate adults. You want to make your friends aware of it and contribute something in bringing about a change in the lives of the illiterate adults. Deliver a speech in the morning assembly at your school about the Importance of Adult Education and ways to implement it.
Read the following to make your speech effective:
The introduction of a speech is like the nose of an airplane. The nose sets the course and leads the plane off in a specific direction. A good introduction sets the direction of your speech by
- getting the attention of your audience
- introducing your topic
- stating your central idea or purpose
- briefly identifying the main points
- making your audience eager to hear what you have to say
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:
Explain the symbolism used by the poet.
“If you are rested I would go,” I urged. “Get up and try to walk now.”
“Thank you,” he said and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards in the dust.
“I was taking care of animals,” he said dully, but no longer to me. “I was only taking care of animals.”
There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward the Ebro. It was a grey overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how to look after themselves was all the good luck that the old man would ever have.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Explain the line, ‘There was nothing to do about him.’
“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?
Then there it lay in her wet palm, perfect, even pierced ready for use, with the sunset shuffled about inside it like gold—?dust. All her heart went up in flames of joy. After a bit she twisted it into the top of her skirt against her tummy so she would know if it burst through the poor cloth and fell. Then she picked up her fork and sickle and the heavy grass and set off home. Ai! Ai! What a day! Her barefeet smudged out the wriggle— ?mark of snakes in the dust; there was the thin singing of malaria mosquitoes among the trees now; and this track was much used at night by a morose old makna elephant—the Tuskless One; but Sibia was not thinking of any of them. The stars came out: she did not notice. On the way back she met her mother, out of breath, come to look for her, and scolding. “I did not see till I was home, that you were not there. I thought something must have happened to you.” And Sibia, bursting with her story, cried “Something did). I found a blue bead for my necklace, look!”
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
Why did Sibia feel overjoyed?
Who was the first person to feature in 'his' assignment? What did 'he' say about him?
Answer the following question.
Kari learnt the commands to sit and to walk. What were the instructions for each command?
The king got angry when he was shown to be wrong ______.
The beggar was leaning against what in Ravi’s garden?
The king rewarded the shepherd twice. How and why?
What was troubling the talking fan?
Why does the poet want to peep through the window as he passes it?
Why does the speaker’s brother lie to him?
What does Nishad find out about Mr Nath from Ramesh?
Arrange the information as suggested below.
- What he eats
- When he eats
- What he drinks and when
- How he pays
The words helper, companion, partner and accomplice have very similar meanings, but each word is typically used in certain phrases. Can you fill in the blanks below with the most commonly used words? A dictionary may help you.
I’m mother’s little ………………
