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Question
Justify how ‘Animals’ by Walt Whitman is a criticism of mankind and its ways.
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Solution
- human beings seem to have dropped/ shed their values/virtues/attributes.
- human society is blemished by ego, hypocrisy, hatred, materialism, fake display.
- the profusion of complaints, race for greed and lack of contentment.
- the poet wishes to leave the human world and join animals as he finds them better than humans (a testimony).
Notes
Guidance:
The question indicates that the examiner knows that the poet appreciates the animals for the display of virtues and hence that requires no elaboration.
The question requires an explanation of criticism of mankind and evidence to justify the same.
Content -
Award 1 mark for a full explanation of the two strands-criticism & evidence.
Award ½ mark for a partial explanation.
Expression -
1 mark when both aspects included
✓ Answer organised effectively
✓ usage of words supporting explanation & justification (that’s why, because, therefore etc.)
½ mark when either aspect is missing.
Deduct ½ mark from the overall score if the error density is high (more than a total of 2 spellings and grammatical errors).
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RELATED QUESTIONS
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
so placid and self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things.
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
(A1) Complete the following sentences with the help of the poem.
(a) The poet wishes he could.............................
(b) Animals do not complain about............................
(c) Animals do not merely discuss.............................
(d) Animals are not crazy about .............................
(A2) The qualities of animals that highlighted by the poet in the poem are
.............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................
(A3) Name and explain the figures of speech.
“I stand and look at them long and long.’’
Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…”. What is the poet turning from?
Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.
Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.
Put the following attributes/abilities.
- self-control
- communicates
- love and care
- cooks
- good manners
- has 360° vision
- shows gratitude
- lives for more than 150 years
- swims
- learns computing
- worships god
- sleeps in standing position
- stands up immediately after birth
- brings up children
- belongs to various species
At times, especially when you are frustrated, you wish you were an animal/a bird/a fish/a butterfly and not a human being.
Say which of the above you would choose to transform to and give 3 or 4 reasons for your choice.
I wish I could be a ............................................
Find adjectives from the poem which refer to positive and negative thinking.
| Positive | Negative |
| 1. ................... | 1. ................... |
| 2. ................... | 2. ................... |
| 3. ................... | 3. ................... |
The poet wishes he could ______.
Animals do not complain about ______.
Animals do not merely discuss ______.
State whether the following statement is true or false.
Animals suffer humiliation.
Read the text again, and complete the web, highlighting the good values/habits which we can learn from animals.
Read the poem again and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format with the help of given points.
Points
- Title
- Poet
- Rhyme scheme
- Favourite line
- Theme/Central idea
- Figures of speech
- Special features - Type of the poem, language, tone, implied meaning, etc.
- Why I like/dislike the poem.
Why does the poet wish to 'turn' and live with animals?
Walt Whitman speaks of the human race with a tinge of sarcasm. Which are the two reasons that you agree with?
What two attributes of the Animals please the poet?
