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Question
Write an appreciation of the poem considering the following points:
- About the poem/poet/title.
- Theme
- Poetic devices, language, style
- Special features/ novelties/focusing elements
- Values, message
- Your opinion about the poem.
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Solution
Appreciation of the poem 'The Sower'
About the poem/poet/title: 'The Sower' is a poem about the hard work and persistence of a sower, who works tirelessly and relentlessly while the poet observes his actions and terms him as an august personality, who works not for himself, but for others. Originally written by Victor Hugo in French, this poem has been translated to English by the Bengali poet, Torulata Dutt, who was the first Indian poetess to write verses in English and French. The title of the poem represents the central character of the poem, that is, the sower.
Theme: The central idea of the poem revolves around the act of sowing seeds by the sower, while the poet observes him and begins to revere him for his noble actions.
Poetic devices, language, style: The poetic devices used in the poem are Alliteration, Antithesis, Consonance, Hyperbole, Inversion, Personification, Repetition, and Synecdoche. An example of Personification from the poem is 'Twilight hastens on to rule' where 'Twilight' has been given the animate quality of 'hastening (rushing in)'. The language used by the poet is slightly complex because it has been written in a way that it maintains the rhyme scheme of 'abab'. It has a steady rhythm and a consistent metre, meaning that there is consistency in the number of syllables used in a line. The poet follows the narrative style of writing, where he gives a first-person account of observing the sower working hard in the field.
Special features/novelties/focusing elements: The special features used in the poem are imagery and symbolism. The poem is full of descriptive imagery, as each line either describes the scene or the action of the sower or the poet. The dominance of the silhouette of the sower over the deep furrows is symbolic of the dominance of man over nature. The 'precious grain' is so-called because each grain holds importance for the sower. He shall sow these grains carefully and hope for a good harvest.
The novelties in this poem are the exact translations of lines from French by Toru Dutt. She chose to provide a true account of the observations, as written by Victor Hugo, instead of trying to refine the lines that sound inelegant when translated. Her retention of the optimistic tone of the poem makes the poem refreshing and appealing. The focussing elements in the poem are the dedication and commitment of the sower, his perseverance, and the poet's acknowledgment of the sower's actions as being selfless and noble.
Values, message: The values that one can learn from this poem are determination, perseverance, and selflessness. The message given by the poet, through this poem, is that one should keep working with a positive attitude in life because one shall eventually reap the benefits of one's hard work.
Your opinion about the poem: The sower's commitment towards his work and the poet's admiration of the sower, give the poem a positive and encouraging tone, thus making it a fine read.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
They whisper like drizzle
as they roam the streets
with a lost gaze as though
something they had thrown up
never returned to earth.
They shiver like December nights
in their dreamless sleep
on shop verandahs.
(1) Why do the old women in this extract roam the streets?
(2) What would you like to do for the betterment of the old people?
(3) Find out an example of 'onomatopoeia' from the first stanza of the extract.
(4) Pick out the expressions from the extract showing the sad situation of the old women.
Have you are wondered why soldiers are always clad in green? This is to enable them to camouflage themselves during wartime. Hiding in the jungles, their green attire blends into the surrounding trees and shrubs, making it difficult for the enemies to spot them.
Long before man-made use of camouflaging, insects have already adopted the tactic of disguise to escape from the clutches of their predators. By having body colour close to those of the rocks and dried leaves, they can escape from being pursued by the predators.
Butterflies and moths have developed a variety of camouflage strategies since they are quite defenceless and their predators are abundant. Possessing wings which resemble dried leaves help certain butterflies and moths to hide among heaps of dried leaves when predators are around.
Fortunately, not all insects choose the art of disguise to escape from their predators; otherwise, the world would be so dull and colourless. There are insects which assimilate the bright body colours of bees and wasps to escape from being pursued by their predator. Long ago, birds have already learnt to avoid brilliantly coloured wasps and bees in fear of their painful stings. Hence, over millions of years, many harmless insects have assimilated the bees and wasps by imitating. their bright body colours and shapes. In this way, they appear dangerous and hence ward them off.
The beefy, not only appears like the bumblebee in terms of body colour, even its hums sound similar too. The only difference is that the beefy does not have a stirring and is hence harmless. The hoverfly is another insect which imitates. the body colours of the wasps. Their bodies are striped yellow and black. The only deviations are that hoverflies do not have stings, and they have only one pair of wings each while wasps have two pairs each. These variations are hardly noticed by the predators and hence help them to escape.
A1. Complete the table with the information from the passage : (2)
| Insects | Similarity | Difference |
| Bumblebee - Beefy | ||
| Wasp - Hoverfly |
A2. Complete the tree diagram : (2)
A3. Find out : (2)
‘Nature has given a self-protection mechanism to insects’.
Find out at least two examples from the passage to prove this statement.
A4. Vocabulary - (2)
Find the words from the passage for :
(i) animal or bird that hunts other for food
(ii) to get free from danger
(iii) to prevent something from harming
(iv) to make a copy
A5. Personal response - (2)
‘Soldiers disguise themselves to prevent enemies to spot them’.
Give two more examples when the disguising technique is used by humans.
A6. Grammar - (2)
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) They have only one pair of wings.
(Make it negative without changing the meaning)
(ii) Insects have already adopted the tactic of disguise to escape from the clutches of their predators.
(Replace infinitive with gerund and rewrite)
(B) Summary : (3)
Summarise the above extract with the help of the points given and suggest a suitable title.
Camouflage of soldiers and insects - reason and ways for disguising - assimilation of insects - need of imitation.
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