Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
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the thought was almost revolting
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an expanse of pure white serenity
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a turning-point
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accepted her seclusion with resignation
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a veritable bedlam of chirrupings
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frivolous rebukes
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the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum
Concept: Reading Skills
Mention the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Concept: Reading Skills
Mention three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.
Concept: Reading Skills
Mention three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Concept: Reading Skills
Mention the odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Concept: Reading Skills
Mention the way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Concept: Reading Skills
The author’s grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this?
Concept: Reading Skills
Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings for each other change?
Concept: Reading Skills
Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
Concept: Reading Skills
Have you known someone like the author’s grandmother? Do you feel the same sense of loss with regard to someone whom you have loved and lost?
Concept: Reading Skills
Which language do you think the author and his grandmother used while talking to each other?
Concept: Reading Skills
Which language do you use to talk to elderly relatives in your family?
Concept: Reading Skills
How would you say ‘a dilapidated drum’ in your language?
Concept: Reading Skills
Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
Concept: Reading Skills
Notice the following uses of the word ‘tell’ in the text.
1. Her fingers were busy telling the beads of her rosary.
2. I would tell her English words and little things about Western science and learning.
3. At her age, one could never tell.
4. She told us that her end was near.
Given below are four different senses of the word ‘tell’. Match the meanings to the uses listed above.
1. make something known to someone in spoken or written words
2. count while reciting
3. be sure
4. give information to somebody
Concept: Reading Skills
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal?
Concept: Reading Skills
How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Concept: Reading Skills
Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.
Concept: Reading Skills
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Concept: Reading Skills
Talk with your family members about elderly people who you have been intimately connected with and who are not there with you now.
Write a short description of someone you liked a lot.
Concept: Writing Skills
