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Question
Walt Whitman speaks of the human race with a tinge of sarcasm. Which are the two reasons that you agree with?
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Solution
The poet claims that once upon a time, both people and animals shared the beautiful attributes of love, serenity, contentment, and simplicity. As time went on, people abandoned all such signs of morality. Even now, animals travel the path of great virtues. Instead, people have a maniacal need to own stuff that other animals do not.
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| 1. ................... | 1. ................... |
| 2. ................... | 2. ................... |
| 3. ................... | 3. ................... |
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The poet has retained all his natural virtues.
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| Always complain about their condition | Never complain about anything |
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|
Animals I think I could turn and live with animals, they are |
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- Rhyme scheme [1]
- Figures of speech [1]
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Read the following extract and do the given activities.
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| 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? |
A2. Answer the following question with the help of the given extract: (2)
(i) What craze do animals never display? Why?
A3. Pick out one example of Rhetorical question from the extract. (1)
Read the following extract and do the given activities.
A1. Match the words from cloud 'A' with cloud 'B': (2)
| Cloud 'A' | Cloud 'B' |
| (a) Stand and look | (i) Not one is demented |
| (b) Not one is dissatisfied | (ii) long and long |
| (c) They do not sweat | (iii) over the whole earth |
| (d) Not one is unhappy | (iv) about their condition |
|
I think I could tum and live with animals, they are -Walt Whitman |
A2. Why does Walt Whitman feel more at home with animals? (2)
A3. Name and explain the figure of speech in the given sentence. (1)
'They bring me tokens of myself'.
'They do not sweat and whine about their condition.' What human traits does the poet condemn in these lines?
