1.1 THE PERSON I AM LOOKING FOR
If you accept counsel without getting sore
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof.
If you pledge not to be obstinate any more
And meet others without any frown or scoff.
You may be the person I am looking for.
If you have the will to live and courage to die
You are a beacon-light for people far and wide.
If you ignore the jeers and, thus, expose the lie
‘That virtue and success do not go side by side’.
You are the person I am looking for.
Q.1 How should we accept counsel?
Ans: We should accept counsel without getting sore and
irritated.
Q.2 What kind of person the poet is looking for?
Ans: The poet is looking for the kind of person who has
the will to live and courage to die.
Q.3 "You are a beacon-light for people far and
wide." Name and explain the Figures of speech
Ans: Metaphor: A man is implicitly compared to a
beacon-light.
Q.4 What gives thematic effect to the poem?
Ans: The repetition of last line of the stanzas gives
thematic effect to the poem.
2.1 I RAN INTO A STRANGER
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh, excuse me Please" was my reply.
He said, "Please excuse me too;
Wasn't even watching for you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said good-bye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My daughter stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked her down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.
She walked away, her little heart was broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
Q.1 How does the poet behave with stranger and her
daughter?
Ans:The poet behaves politely with stranger and strangely
with her daughter.
Q.2 On what occasion parents get angry?
Ans: Parents get angry when we commit mistakes.
Q.3 Write four pairs of rhyming words.
Ans: by-reply ; told-old ; meal-still ; down-frown
Q.4 What effect does the use of dialogue add to the poem?
Ans: The use of dialogue makes the poem effective and
lively.
3.1 Suburbs
"I celebrate the virtues and vices
of suburban middle-class people
who overwhelm the refrigerator
and position colorful umbrellas
near the garden that longs for a pool:
for my middle-class brother
the principle of supreme luxury:
what are you and what am I, and we go on deciding
the real truth in this world.
Q. 1 What is a middle-class man's principle of luxury?
Ans:A middle-class man's principle of luxury is to have
refrigerator, a big garden with swimming pool.
Q.2 What difference do you see between rich class and
middle class?
Ans: The rich class can enjoy the luxuries of life
easily. But middle class people have to just dream about it.
Q.3 Symbolic use of words makes the expression pointed.
Give one example?
Ans: The poem has many symbolic words such as
refrigerator, colourful umbrellas,granaries, shy hotels,endless
track.Refrigerator, colourful umbrellas stand for luxuries of life.Granaries
symbolize shaby workplaces.
Q.4 I celebrate the virtues and vices?( Identify the
figure of speech)
Ans: Parodox: Celebrating virtues is contrasting.
Antithesis: Opposite ideas Virtues and vices are put
together.
4.1 Old Women
They whisper like drizzles
as they roam the street
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.
Q.1 Why are old women seen roaming aimlessly?
Ans: The old women are seen roaming aimlessly because
they are not taken care of.
Q. 2 What role do your grandparents play in your life?
Ans: Our grandparents play a vital role in our life.They
keep family united.They take care of us.
Q. 3 which lines reveal the loneliness of the old women?
Ans: "as they roam the street with a lost gaze
Q. 4 Find out an example of Simile.
Ans: "They whisper like drizzles" "They
shiver like December nights"
5.1 The Felling Of The Banyan Tree
My father told the tenants to leave
Who lived in the houses surrounding our house on the hill
One by one the structures were demolished
Only our own house remained and the trees
Trees are sacred my grandmother used to say
Felling them is a crime but he massacred them all
The sheoga, the oudumber, the neem were all cut down
But the huge banyan tree stood like a problem
Whose roots lay deeper than all our lives
My mother ordered it to be removed.
Q. 1 Why were the tenants asked to leave their houses?
Ans. The tenants were asked to leave their houses because
one by one their houses were demolished.
Q. 2 What ,according to the grandmother, is a crime?
Ans. The poet's grandmother used to say that the trees
are sacred and felling them is a crime.
Q. 3 'But the huge banyan tree stood like a problem'.
Identify and explain the figures of speech.
Ans. Simile: As two dissimilar things "the banyan
tree" and a "problem" is directly compared by using a word like.
Q. 4 What did the poet's father do with the trees?
Ans. The poet's father massacred all the trees.
6.1 A Nation's Strength
What makes a nations pillars high
And its foundation strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?
It is not gold. its kingdoms grand
Go down in battle shock :
Its shafts are laid on sinking sand
Mot on abiding rock.
Q. 1 How should be the foundation of nation?
Ans The foundation of nation should be strong.
Q.2 How can we make our nation strong?
Ans:Neither wealth nor strength makes the nation strong.
Hard work with honesty and devotion can make our nation strong.
Q. 3 What figure of speech is used in "it is not
gold"?
Ans: Metonymy: The word "gold" is used to mean
wealth.
Q. 4 What is the rhyme scheme followed in the poem?
Ans:abab
7.1 Peace Is A Woman And A Mother
How do you know
Peace is a woman?
I know, for
I met her yesterday
on my winding way
to the world's fare,
She had such a wonderful face
just like a golden flower faded
before her prime.
Q.1. How does the poet know that peace is a woman?
Ans :She has a wonderful face just like a golden flower
faded before her prime.
Q.2. Do you think a mother can be a symbol of destruction
or evil? How?
Ans: No, she can’t be a symbol of destruction or evil as
she gives birth to mankind and loves humanity.
Q.3. Name and explain the figure of speech in the
following line : ‘on my winding way’
Ans: Alliteration as the sound ‘w’ is repeated.
Q.4.Pick out the lines from the extract that describe the
face of peace.
Ans: Peace has a wonderful golden face and symbolizes a
woman.
