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Sergius Tells Bluntschli in the Play "You'Re Not a Man, You'Re a Machine." Do You Agree with Sergius' Assessment of Blunts Ii? Give Your Views. - English Language

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Sergius tells Bluntschli in the play "you're not a man, you're a machine." Do you agree with Sergius' assessment of Blunts ii? Give your views.

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Solution

In the lesson, “Arms & The Man” written by George Bernard Shaw, is a play that describes Bulgarian – Serbian war in the 1880s. It includes romance, suspense & fear. As we all know the story that Raina & Sergius were engaged in & later there comes Bluntschli who was captain & was a Swedish professional soldier who fought servians during the war. He thought courage is overrated & that war is more ugly than noble. Raina used to call Bluntschli as “ Chocolate cream soldier”.  Raina & Sergius were in “higher love” but then due to misunderstandings between both of them due to Bluntschli & Louka they both started creating distance between themselves. Raina could notice that Sergius was getting closer to their servant Louka wherein Sergius felt that Raina was getting close to Bluntschli. Anybody would feel jealous if they see their partner or fiance getting close to anyone else. Hence, out of anger & frustration. Sergius told Bluntschli that he was a machine & not men as he was an army person and used to deal with ammunitions all the time which was correct as he lost his partner & could feel that pain & emotion of losing someone from the life.

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2017-2018 (March) English Set 2

RELATED QUESTIONS

A1. Choose two sentences that appropriately mention the theme of the passage :

(1) The extract deals with the writer’s concern over Chaitanya's handicap.
(2) The extract depicts the writer’s proud feelings towards her son’s achievement.
(3) The extract deals with how Chaitanya made the writer see positively towards life.
(4) The extract deals with how the writer helps Chaitanya to buy the bus ticket.

          Early in 1997-98, when he returned from state-level inter-school sports, he had two prizes to his credit and a silver medal. He had won his laurels in athletic events and the silver medal in a running race.
         When I saw the prizes and read the citation Chaitanya had received, I was stupefied, in total disbelief, then–hugged him, kissed him and cried unabashedly to my heart’s content. That day, I cried for the first time out of joy and a sense of being vindicated. Without practice, he had competed with approximately 1,800 children drawn from various schools all over the state. He was subsequently selected for the marathon race, but he could not participate due to a health problem. “Maybe next year, he would”, I assured myself. And I, as his proud mother, would proudly chronicle his future achievements and success to inspire other - mothers of the world.
                 Looking back at my own life, I feel that it is the spirit with which we can accept our life gracefully is what
matters ultimately; and it is love that nourishes us. All other things are unimportant. Chaitanya has made me look inwards. His handicap doesn’t disturb me any longer. He and I shall live with it and still be happy. The mental strength which he has given to me is inexhaustible.
         One day, as both of us got onto a public transport bus, Chaitanya offered to buy the tickets for us.
           “One full, one half ”, he said to the conductor beaming with joy.
               Looking at him, I wondered whether he was really only a half? An incomplete person? Was I really full?
Complete in all respects? Why do then normal people feel that they are ‘full’ and others like Chaitanya are ‘half’ or incomplete? Chaitanya’s world is complete in itself, pure and innocent while our lives are full of deceit, jealousies, ill-feelings. 

A2. Point out - 

Point out two instances where you find Chaitanya's victory over his disability. 

A3. Give reasons - 

Chaitanya’s silver medal in a running race was very special for the writer, because :
(i) __________________
(ii) __________________ 

A4. Vocabulary - 

Match the pairs of the words in column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’: 

  Column ‘A’   Column ‘B’
(1) stupefied (a) official statement about the special act of courage
(2) chronicle (b) record events in the order they happened
(3) vindicated (c) surprised or shocked
(4) citation (d) justified

A5. Personal response -

Explain, your views about the ill-treatment the special children receive in society. 

A6. Grammar - 

Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) He had won his laurels in athletic events and the silver medal in a running race.
(Rewrite the sentence using ‘not only...but also’.)
(ii) When I saw the prizes, I was stupefied.
(Rewrite the sentence using ‘No sooner.... than’.)


There are two pauses when Kaspar tells Wilhelmine in the last stanza that it was a famous victory. Nay … nay…my little girl, quoth he.What do these pauses show?


Identify examples of the following devices in the poem: alliteration, personification, rhyme, rhythm. How do these devices contribute to the overall effect of the poem?


(A) Some of the cakes had been eaten by the boys before the party began.
(B) The boys………………………… 


Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 

Lying in bed, Swami realized with a shudder that it was Monday morning. It looked as though only a moment ago, it had been the last period on Friday; already, Monday was here. He hoped that an earthquake would reduce the school building to dust but that my good building, Albert Mission School, had withstood similar prayers for over a hundred years now.

At nine o'clock, Swaminathan wailed, “I have a headache.”

His mother said, “Why don’t you go to school in a bullock cart?”

“So that I may be completely dead at the other end? Have you any idea what it means to be jolted in a cart?”

“Have you any important lessons today?”

“Important! Bah! That geography teacher has been teaching the same lesson for over a year now. And we have arithmetic, which means for a whole period we are going to be beaten by the teacher............ Important lessons!”

And Mother generously suggested that Swami might stay at home.
At 9:30, when he ought to have been lining up in the school prayer hall, Swami was lying on the bench in Mother’s room.

Father asked him, “Have you no school today?”

“Headache,” Swami replied,

“Nonsense! Dress up and go.”

“Headache.”

“Loaf about less on Sundays, and you will be without a headache on Monday.”

Swami knew how stubborn his father could be and changed his tactics.

“I can’t go so late to class.”

“I agree, but you’ll have to; it is your own fault. You should have asked me before deciding to stay away.”

“What will the teacher think if I go so late?”

“Tell him you had a headache, and so are late.”

“He will beat me if I say so.”

“Will he? Let us see. What is his name?”

“Mr. Samuel.”

“Does he beat the boys?”

“He is very violent, especially with boys who come late. Some days ago, a boy was made to stay on his knees for a whole period in a corner of the class because he came late, and after getting six cuts from the cane and having his ears twisted, I wouldn’t like to go late to Mr Samuel’s class.”

“If he is so violent, why not tell your headmaster about it?”

“They say that even the headmaster is afraid of him. He is such a violent man.”

And then Swami gave a lurid account of Samuel’s violence; how when he started caning, he would not stop till he saw blood on the boy’s hand, which he made the boy press to his forehead like a Vermillion marking. Swami hoped his father would be made to see that he couldn’t go to his class late. But his father’s behaviour took an unexpected turn. He became excited.

“What do these people mean by beating our children? They must be driven out of service. I will see…..”

The result was that he proposed to send Swami late to his class as a kind of challenge. He was also going to send a letter with Swami to the headmaster. No amount of protest from Swami was of any avail: Swami had to go to school.

By the time he was ready, his father had composed a long letter to the headmaster, put it in an envelope, and sealed it.

“What have you written, father?” Swaminathan asked apprehensively.

“Nothing for you. Give it to your headmaster and go to your class.”

Swami’s father did not know the truth—that, actually, Mr. Samuel was a very kind gentleman. 

 

(a) Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. (3)

One-word answers or short phrases will be accepted.

  1. jolted 
  2. stubborn 
  3. avail 

(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words: 

  1. What did Swami wish for on a Monday morning? Why was his wish unlikely to be answered?  (2)
  2. Which sentence tells us that Swami’s father was completely unsympathetic to his son’s headache? (2)
  3. In what way was Swami’s mother’s response different from his father’s? (2)
  4. Why did Swami give a colourful account of Mr. Samuel to his father?  (2)
  5. In what way did Father’s behaviour take an unexpected turn?  (2)
  6. What was Swami finally ordered to do by his father? (2)

(c)

(i) In not more than 60 words, describe how Swami tries to prove that Mr. Samuel is a violent man. (8)
(ii) Give a title to your summary in 3

(c). Give a reason to justify your choice. (2)


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a citation

an epitaph

a glossary

an abstract

a postscript


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  3. Talk about what others say about the character.
  4. Write if the character appealed to you, with reasons.
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Friends always love each other

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Respect each Other

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Interact with each other

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Enjoy playing with each Other

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Never hurt your friends

 

Do everything together

 

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