I. His
First Flight
THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
5
1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly?
Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight or are some
birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a
challenge to take its first steps?
Answer:
The young seagull was afraid to fly as he felt his wings would not support him.
I don’t think all birds are afraid to make their first flight. In the lesson
itself, it is clearly mentioned that the seagull’s brother and sister had flown
away a day before without getting scared. And as far as a human baby is
concerned, there is no doubt that it finds it challenging to take its first
steps. Initially, it may fall and get hurt, but over a period of time, it will
definitely succeed and won’t be afraid of walking or running.
2. “The sight of the food maddened him.”
What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
Answer:
The young seagull’s mother was flying across to him with a piece of fish in her
mouth. However, she did not get too close to him. She stopped opposite him in
such a way that the young seagull would have to fly to reach it. The sight of
the food maddening him suggests that he was hungry and needed something to eat
in order to satiate his hunger. He finally dived at the fish and realised soon
after that he was flying. Hence, it can be said that the sight of the fish and
his profound hunger compelled the young seagull to fly.
3. “They were beckoning to him, calling
shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him
to fly?
Answer:
The seagull’s mother and father threatened and cajoled the young seagull to fly
because his siblings, who had much shorter wings than he had, had already flown
away the day before. They were beckoning to him and calling shrilly after he
had made his first flight. They did so as they wanted him to land on the green
sea that was there beneath.
4. Have you ever had a similar
experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too
scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups.
Answer:
Yes. I have had more than one experience similar to the one detailed in the
lesson. In my childhood, I used to think that I would never be able to write an
essay. My writing skills were bad, and I had been asked to work on my writing
skills on more than one occasion. I had never composed an essay until my
parents asked me to write about a trip we had taken a month before. I wrote
whatever I could, and the write-up was appreciated not only by my parents but
also by many of my relatives. I came to the conclusion that I could write well.
5. In the case of a bird flying, it seems
a natural act and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples
you have given in answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed,
or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure?
Answer:
I think in the example mentioned above, it was important for me to try
regardless of the possibility of failure. I knew that my parents would not be
judgemental. However, before that, I was afraid of what others would think
about my writings. I knew though that what my parents thought about me or my
writings was not important as they had always supported me in all my
endeavours; and hence, they would only give me tips that would enhance my
writing skills.
WRITING PAGE
5
Write a short composition on your initial
attempts at learning a skill. You could describe the challenges of learning to
ride a bicycle or learning to swim. Make it as humorous as possible.
Answer:
A skill that I have learnt after a lot of practice is playing the veena. I
remember the day when I was asked to hold the veena by my teacher. It was so
heavy that I thought I would never be able to handle its weight. I was in the
fifth standard at that time.
The veena looked much bigger than me, and I almost
always stumbled while learning to play Hindustani songs. I even have a photo
where the veena is visible, and I, on account of being thin, invisible. My
mother and I often laugh looking at that awful picture.
I need to mention here that my mother played a great
role in keeping me motivated. I would come back from my veena classes and would
tell her that I could not learn particular notes. She would ask me to calm down
and tell me that with practice I would get better.
II. The
Black Aeroplane
THINKING
ABOUT THE TEXT PAGE
9
1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the
risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Answer:
Flying through the black storm clouds hovering right in front is the risk the
narrator is talking about. Despite knowing well that he would not be able to
fly over or around them, the narrator decides to take the risk because he
desperately wanted to get home to have the English breakfast.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as
he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Answer:
Upon entering the clouds, the narrator could see nothing. It was black all
around. Not only could the narrator not see anything outside, but he was not
also able to find a way out with the help of the compass he had. It had stopped
working. Soon after, in the black clouds nearby, the narrator saw another
aeroplane without any lights on its wings. He could also see the pilot waving
his hand and asking him to follow him. All the narrator did was go behind the
plane like an obedient child. When he came out of the clouds, he saw the
runway. But when he turned back, he saw an empty sky. The black aeroplane had
disappeared.
3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed
and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
Answer:
As the narrator has a horrific experience flying his old Dakota, he says he was
not sorry to walk away from it. Then, all the narrator needed was a respite. He
was also eager to know the truth about the black aeroplane.
4. What made the woman in the control
centre look at the narrator strangely?
Answer:
The narrator asked the woman in the control room if she knew where he was and
who the person in the black aeroplane was. As there was no other aeroplane that
flew at that time, the woman looked strangely at the narrator.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator
to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your
answer.
Answer: I think a supernatural force helped the narrator to reach safely. It is highly unlikely that a mortal being could come to the rescue of someone who was covered by black clouds all around. Furthermore, the compass in the narrator’s old Dakota had stopped working inside the black clouds. But the person in the black aeroplane seemed to know where exactly the narrator was heading. Thus, it is probable that the person was a supernatural being.
THINKING
ABOUT LANGUAGE PAGE
9
I. Study the sentences given below.
(a) They looked like black mountains.
(b) Inside the clouds, everything was suddenly black.
(c) In the black clouds near me, I saw another
aeroplane.
(d) The strange black aeroplane was there.
The word
‘black’ in sentences (a) and (c) refers to the very darkest colour. But in (b)
and (d) (here) it means without light/with no light.
‘Black’ has a variety of meanings in
different contexts. For example:
(a) 'I prefer black
tea' means 'I prefer tea without milk'.
(b) 'With
increasing pollution, the future of the world is very black’ means ‘with
increasing pollution the future of the world is very depressing/without hope’.
Now, try to guess the meanings of the
word ‘black’ in the sentences given below. Check the meanings in the dictionary
and find out whether you have guessed right.
1. Go and have a bath; your hands and
face are absolutely black. __________________
2. The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look as he crossed the road when
the traffic light was green. __________________
3. The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of
the blackest crimes against humanity.
__________________
4. Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy. ________________
5. Sometimes shopkeepers store essential
goods to create false scarcity and then sell these in black. ___________________
6. Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue.
Answer:
1. dirty
2. angry
3. disastrous
4. harshly
ironic/sinister
5. in
black: illicitly/illegally
6. black and blue: badly/terribly
II. Look at these sentences taken from
the lesson you have just read:
(a) I was
flying my old Dakota aeroplane.
(b) The young
seagull had been afraid to fly with them.
In the first
sentence, the author was controlling an aircraft in the air. Another example
is: Children are flying kites. In the second sentence, the seagull was afraid
to move through the air, using its wings.
Match the phrases given under Column A
with their meanings given under Column B:
|
A |
B |
|
Fly a flag |
- Move quickly/suddenly |
|
Fly into rage |
- Be successful |
|
Fly along |
- Display a flag on a long pole |
|
Fly high |
- Escape from a place |
|
Fly the coop |
- Become suddenly very angry |
|
A |
B |
|
Fly a flag |
- Display a flag on a long pole |
|
Fly into rage |
- Become suddenly very angry |
|
Fly along |
- Move quickly/suddenly |
|
Fly high |
- Be successful |
|
Fly the coop |
- Escape from a place |
III. We know that the word ‘fly’ (of
birds/insects) means to move through air using wings. Tick the words which have
the same or nearly the same meaning.
Swoop flit paddle flutter
Ascend float ride skim
Sink dart hover glide
Descend soar shoot spring
Stay fall sall flap
Answer: Swoop, flit, flutter, soar, flap.
Poem:
How to Tell Wild Animals
by
Carolyn Wells
THINKING
ABOUT THE POEM PAGE
14
1. Does ‘dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’?
Can you say it in such a way that it does?
Answer:
No. 'Dyin', which is rightly spelt as dying, doesn't rhyme with 'lion'.
Nonetheless, the poet uses this word only to make the poem sound rhythmic,
thereby bringing about a poetic effect to the stanza. A word that would rhyme
with dyin' us pryin'. Similarly, a word that would rhyme with 'lion' is
'scion'. However, it is possible to say 'dyin' is a way so that it ends up
rhyming with 'lion'. That is seemingly the intention of the poet.
2. How does the poet suggest that you
identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?
Answer:
The poet refers to the tiger as a 'noble beast', saying it will have yellow
stripes on a black background. The lion, on the other hand, is described as a
'large and tawny beast' who will roar while one is dying.
3. Do you think the words ‘lept’ and
‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them
like this?
Answer:
No. The words have been spelt incorrectly. The correct spellings are 'leapt'
and 'leap' respectively. The poet deliberately spells them incorrectly to bring
about a certain poetic effect. He wants the reader to remember how to identify
leopards. And because 'lep' and 'lept' sound much better than ‘leap’ in the
given situation, he goes ahead and uses them without caring about the spelling
mistakes.
4. Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is? It’s
a friendly and strong hug — such as bears are thought to give, as they attack
you! Again, hyenas are thought to laugh, and crocodiles to weep (‘crocodile
tears’) as they swallow their victims. Are there similar expressions and
popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?
Answer:
Note:
To be done by the student.
5. Look at the line “A novice might
nonplus”. How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the poet’s ‘incorrect’
line better in the poem?
Answer:
The
correct way of writing this line would be ‘a novice might be nonplussed’,
meaning a novice or beginner might get perplexed or surprised. The poet’s
‘incorrect’ line, however, is better because the word rhymes with ‘thus’ that
appears after a line. The poet’s intention is not to use the correct grammar or
spelling but to bring a poetic effect to the stanzas.
6. Can you find other examples of poets
taking liberties with language, either in English or in your own language(s)?
Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?
Answer:
Note:
To be done by the student.
7. Much of the humour in the poem arises
from the way language is used, although the ideas are funny as well. If there
are particular lines in the poem that you especially like, share these with the
class, speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that
you like or find funny.
Answer: Note: To be done by the student.
Poem: The Ball Poem by John Berryman
THINKING
ABOUT THE POEM PAGE
16
In pairs, attempt
the following questions:
1. Why does the poet say, “I would not
intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
Answer:
The
poet says he would not intrude on him because he knows very well the transient
nature of material possessions. While the poet knows that any amount of
grieving is not going to bring the lost ball back, he wants the boy to know the
value of things as well. He doesn’t offer money to the boy so he can buy
another ball as he knows that buying another ball is not going to bring the
lost ball back.
2. “… staring down/All his young days
into the harbour where/His ball went …” Do you think the boy has had the ball
for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?
Answer:
Yes, I think the boy had the ball for a long time. It is evident that the boy
used to play with the very same ball that would bounce down and roll into the
harbour. How long he had this particular ball is unclear, but it can be safely
inferred that the ball is only a metaphor for materialistic possessions.
3. What does “in the world of
possessions” mean?
Answer:
‘In the world of possessions’ refers to the material world, the world in which
everything is transient and unreal.
4. Do you think the boy has lost anything
earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Answer:
No, I don’t think the boy had lost anything before. The part where the poem
states, ‘He senses first responsibility’ suggests this.
5. What does the poet say the boy is
learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
Answer:
From the loss of the ball, the boy is primarily learning two important things:
He is learning the value of material possessions, and at the same time he is
realising that everything that is material is impermanent. In other words, he
is getting to know that while a lost object cannot be brought back, it is also
not possible to retain the object for eternity.
6. Have you ever lost something you liked
very much? Write a paragraph describing how you felt then, and saying whether —
and how — you got over your loss.
Answer: I felt terrible when I lost my school bag while journeying to Assam by train. It had many books and a couple of my belongings. The fact that the bag was actually a gift from my mother on my fifteenth birthday made things worse. I cried inconsolably for two days after losing the bag. Eventually, it was my mother who pacified me. She told me that my crying would not bring the bag back. I was consoled thus.
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