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Question
The poem Beethoven explores the role of pain and suffering in the process of artistic creativity and excellence. Justify this statement in 200-250 words.
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Solution
The poem "Beethoven" vividly illustrates how pain and suffering are integral to the process of artistic creativity and excellence. Ludwig van Beethoven, a renowned composer, faced numerous personal challenges, most notably his progressive hearing loss, which could have easily ended his career. Instead, these adversities fueled his creative genius, transforming his pain into profound musical compositions that continue to resonate deeply with audiences.
Beethoven’s suffering, particularly his deafness, is a poignant example of how personal tribulations can enhance artistic expression. The poem likely highlights how, despite his deteriorating hearing, Beethoven’s inner world became richer and more complex. His inability to hear external sounds may have intensified his focus on the internal melodies and harmonies that he translated into his music. This paradoxical relationship between his disability and his creativity underscores the idea that suffering can lead to heightened sensitivity and insight, crucial elements in the creation of profound art.
Moreover, the emotional and psychological struggles that Beethoven endured are reflected in the depth and intensity of his music. His compositions, marked by their emotional range and structural innovations, mirror his inner turmoil and resilience. The poem likely emphasizes this connection, illustrating how Beethoven's music became an outlet for his pain, allowing him to communicate emotions that words could not express. This transformation of suffering into artistic excellence underscores the therapeutic and cathartic role of art.
In essence, "Beethoven" underscores the role of pain and suffering as catalysts for artistic creativity. Beethoven's ability to transcend his personal hardships and channel them into his music serves as a powerful testament to the idea that adversity can enhance artistic expression. His legacy demonstrates that great art often emerges from the depths of human experience, where pain and beauty coexist. Through his suffering, Beethoven achieved a level of artistic excellence that continues to inspire and move people worldwide.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Thinking about the Text
Here are some headings for paragraphs in the text. Write the number(s) of the
paragraph(s) for each title against the heading. The first one is done for you.
| (i) | Einstein’s equation 9 |
| (ii) | Einstein meets his future wife |
| (iii) | The making of a violinist |
| (iv) | Mileva and Einstein’s mother |
| (v) | A letter that launched the arms race |
| (vi) | A desk drawer full of ideas |
| (vii) | Marriage and divorce |
Answer these question in one or two sentences . (The paragraph numbers within brackets provide clues to the answer.)
When did she leave home for Delhi, and why?
- When I was a girl of about twelve, I used to stay in a village in north Karnataka with my grandparents. Those days, the transport system was not very good, so we used to get the morning papers only in the afternoon. The weekly magazine used to come one day late. All of us would wait eagerly for the bus, which used to come with the papers, weekly magazines and the post.
- At that time, Triveni was a very popular writer in the Kannada language. She was a wonderful writer. Her style was easy to read and very convincing. Her stories usually dealt with complex psychological problems in the lives of ordinary people and were always very interesting. Unfortunately, for Kannada literature, she died very young. Even now, after forty years, people continue to appreciate her novels.
- One of her novels, called Kashi Yatre, was appearing as a serial in the Kannada weekly Karmaveera then. It is the story of an old lady and her ardent desire to go to Kashi or Varanasi. Most Hindus believe that going to Kashi and worshipping Lord Vishweshwara is the ultimate punya. This old lady also believed in this, andher struggle to go there was described in that novel. In the story, there was also a young orphan girl who falls in love but there is no money for the wedding. In the end, the old lady gives away all her savings without going to Kashi. She says, 'The happiness of this orphan girl is more important than worshipping Lord Vishweshwara at Kashi.
- 'My grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school. So, she could not read. Every Wednesday, the magazine would come and I would read the next episode of the
story to her. During that time, she would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration. Later, she could repeat the entire text by heart. My grandmother too never went to Kashi so she identified herself with the novel's protagonist. More than anybody else, she was the one most interested in knowing
what happened next in the story and used to insist that I read the serial out to her. - After hearing what happened next in Kashi Yatre, she would join her friends at thetemple courtyard, where we children would also gather to play hide and seek. Shewould discuss the latest episode with her friends. At that time, I never understoodwhy there was so much of debate about the story.
- Once I went for a wedding with my cousins to the neighbouring village. In thosedays, a wedding was a great event. We children enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
We would eat and play endlessly, savouring the freedom because all the elders were busy. I went for a couple of days but ended up staying there for a week. - When I came back to my village, I saw my grandmother in tears. I was surprised,for I had never seen her cry even in the most difficult of situations. What had happened? I was worried.
- 'Avva, is everything fine? Are you alright?'
- I used to call her Avva, which means mother in the Kannada spoken in north Karnataka.
- She nodded but did not reply. I did not understand and forgot about it. In the night, after dinner, we were sleeping in the open terrace of the house. It was a summer night and there was a full moon. Avva came and sat next to me. Her affectionate hands touched my forehead. I realized she wanted to speak. I asked her, 'What is the matter?'
- When I was a young girl I lost my mother. There was nobody to look after and guide me. My father was a busy man. He got married again. In those days, people never considered education essential for girls, so I never went to school. I got married very young and had children. I became very busy. Later I had grandchildren and always felt so much happiness in cooking and feeding all of you. At times I used to regret not going to school, so I made sure that my children and grandchildren studied well ...'
- I could not understand why my sixty-two-year-old grandmother was telling me, a twelve-year-old, the story of her life in the middle of the night. One thing I knew, I loved her immensely and there had to be some reason why she was talking to me. I looked at her face. It was unhappy and her eyes were filled with tears. She
was a good-looking lady who was almost always smiling. Even today, I cannot forget the worried expression on her face. I leaned forward and held her hand. - 'Avva, don't cry. What is the matter? Can I help you in any way?'
- 'Yes, I need your help. You know when you were away, Karmaveera came as usual. I opened the magazine. I saw the picture that accompanies the story of Kashi Yatre and I could not understand anything that was written. Many times, I rubbed my hands over the pages wishing to understand what was written. But I knew it was not possible. If only I was educated enough... I waited eagerly for you to return. I felt you would come early and read for me. I even thought of going to the village and asking you to read for me. I could have asked somebody in this village but I was too embarrassed to do so. I felt so very dependent and helpless. We are well-off, but what use is money when I cannot be independent?'
- I did not know what to answer. Avva continued.
- 'I have decided I want to learn the Kannada alphabet from tomorrow onwards. I will work very hard. I will keep Saraswati Pooja day during Dassara as the deadline.
That day I should be able to read a novel on my own. I want to be independent.' - I saw the determination on her face. Yet I laughed at her.
- 'Avva, at this age of sixty-two you want to learn the alphabet? All your hair is grey, your hands are wrinkled, you wear spectacles and you have so much work in the
kitchen...' - Childishly I made fun of the old lady. But she just smiled.
- 'For a good cause if you are determined, you can overcome any obstacle. I will work harder than anybody but I will do it. For learning, there is no age bar.'
- The next day onwards, I started my tuition. Avva was a wonderful student. The amount of homework she did was amazing. She would read, repeat, write and recite. I was her only teacher and she was my first student. Little did I know then that one day I would become a teacher in Computer Science and teach hundreds of students.
- The Dassara festival came as usual. Secretly, I bought Kashi Yatre which had been published as a novel by that time. My grandmother called me to the pooja place and made me sit down on a stool. She gifted me a frock. Then she did
something unusual. She bent down and touched my feet. I was surprised and taken aback. Elders never touched the feet of youngsters. We have always touched the feet of God, elders and teachers. We considered that as a mark of
respect. It is a great tradition but today the reverse had happened. It was not correct. - She said, "I am touching the feet of a teacher, not
my granddaughter; a teacher who taught me so well, with so much of affection that I can read any novel confidently in such a short period. Now I am independent. It is
my duty to respect a teacher. Is it not written in our scriptures that a teacher should be respected, irrespective of the gender and age?' - I did return namaskara to her by touching her feet and gave my gift to my first student. She opened it and read the title Kashi Yatre by Triveni and the publisher's
name immediately . - I knew, then, that my student had passed with flying colours.
About the Author
Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in North Karnataka. A prolific writer in Kannada, she has written seven novels, four technical books, three travelogues and two collections of short stories. Her previous English book 'Wise and Otherwise' has
been translated into thirteen Indian languages. Her stories deal with common lives and human values such as charity, kindness and self-realisation. As a sensitive writer, she writes about the suffering of the people. The main characters in all her
books are highly educated, non compromising, highly principled women.
(a) Given below are five lines from a poem but they are not in the right order.
Get into groups of four. Read the lines and put them in the right order. Read
the version that you develop to the whole class.
(b) Who is 'I' in these lines?
(c) Imagining yourself as the subject of this poem, write five lines about
yourself in less than five minutes.
You may like to
- define yourself
- state what you do
- explain why people like/dislike you
- mention any other characteristic about yourself
What does he plant who plants a tree? a
He plants a friend of sun and sky;b
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard____
The treble of heaven's harmony_____
These things he plants who plants a tree.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
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.
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death's still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn't die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
What do you mean by the ‘cold within’? How’it is responsible for their deaths?
The village consisted of less than thirty houses, only one of them built with brick and cement. 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 forty 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 is the name of the village referred to here? Where is it situated?
At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.
As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman’s glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.
“Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, 1 suppose 1 must. Don’t vou ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?”
The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.
He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining “bracelet” to the left one of his companion.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What is strange about the way the two men are travelling? Why do you suppose they are like this?
Answer the following question
Whom does Golu ask, “Why don’t you ever fly like other birds?”
Answer the following question.
Golu’s relatives did not answer his questions because
How did the king and the hermit help the wounded man?
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)
Read the following.
A group of children in your class are going to live in a hostel.
•They have been asked to choose a person in the group to share a room with.
•They are asking each other questions to decide who they would like to share a room with. Ask one another questions about likes/dislikes/preferences/hobbies/personal characteristics.
Use the following questions and sentence openings.
(i) What do you enjoy doing after school?
I enjoy...
(ii) What do you like in general?
I like...
(iii) Do you play any game?
I don’t like...
(iv) Would you mind if I listened to music after dinner?
I wouldn’t...
(v) Will it be all right if I...?
It’s fine with me...
(vi) Is there anything you dislike, particularly? Well, I can’t share...
(vii) Do you like to attend parties?
Oh, I...
(viii) Would you say you are...?
I think...
Describe the bearded man in your own words.
Why was the crocodile unwilling to invite his friend home?
There are four pairs of rhyming words in the poem. Say them aloud.
Do you agree with what the poet says? Talk to your partner and complete these sentences.
(i) A house is made of ____________.
(ii) It has ____________.
(iii) A home is made by ____________.
(iv) It has ____________.
Multiple Choice Question:
A family is made of the people who ________
Read the first and second stanzas of the poem again. Note the following phrases.
Corn growing, people working or dancing, wind sighing, rain falling, a singer chanting
These could be written as
-
Corn that is growing
-
People who are working or dancing
Can you rewrite the other phrases like this? Why do you think the poet uses the shorter phrases?
Where did the author usually spend his afternoons?
In groups of four, discuss the following lines and their meanings.
And everyone’s longing today to hear
Some fresh and beautiful thing
Answer the following question.
“God lives in the heart of the Panch.” the aunt said. What did she mean?
Replace the italicised portion of the sentence below with a suitable phrase from the box. Make necessary changes, wherever required.
They criticised him in the meeting but he accepted without protest all the criticism.
Write ‘True’ or ‘False’ against each of the following sentences.
Gopal was a madman. ________
Which of the following characters can be described as quick-witted, daring and loyal?
What role does Ariel play in Act IV of the play, The Tempest?
Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Alphonse Daudet’s short story ‘The Last Lesson’ in the correct order.
- But, when he arrived at school, Franz was dismayed to find his classmates already seated quietly and solemnly in their places ... and shocked when M. Hamel simply urged him to take his place.
- Franz hurried to school that morning he was very late and dreaded being scolded by M. Hamel, the teacher.
- After he had settled at his desk, he noticed something really odd: the back benches of the classroom were occupied by adults from the village!
- He hoped to slip into the classroom unnoticed, under cover of the bustle and noise of a typical school day morning.
Complete the following sentences by providing a reason.
Macbeth returns to the witches in Act IV Scene i because ______.
Complete the following sentence by providing a reason.
In the short story, Indigo, Aniruddha asked Sukhanram if there were ghosts in the bungalow because ______.
