📚HS ENGLISH SUGGESTION-2023📚
👉Prose:
1.Then I made a mistake.” - What ‘mistake’ did the speaker make? Why was it a ‘mistake’? What removed the speaker’s doubts? What did the speaker do then? 1+2+1+2
Ans:
👉The speaker made the ‘mistake’ of asking the girl, his first co-passenger, what it was like outside the train.
👉The speaker considered it to be a mistake’ because a person with proper eyesight is not supposed to ask such a weird question. The speaker was afraid that the girl might discover the truth that he was blind.
👉When the girl asked the speaker why he did not look out of the window himself, it was then that the speaker’s doubts were removed.
👉To establish his lie more firmly as the truth, the speaker moved easily along the berth and felt for the window ledge. He faced the open window pretending to study the landscape like any person with proper eyesight and tried to convince the girl that he could see.
2. “His answer filled me with a strange energy and enthusiasm.” Who is the speaker? Whose answer is being referred to here? What was the answer? 1+1+4
Ans:
👉A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the speaker.
👉The answer of Jainulabdeen is being referred to here.
👉While communicating the spiritual concepts to Kalam, Jainulabdeen said to him when troubles come, we should try to understand the relevance of our sufferings. He added that adversity always presents opportunities for introspection. At this, Kalam asked his father why he did not tell the people coming to him for help and advice that there was nothing mysterious about prayer. Jainulabdeen answered that every recurrent anguish, longing and desire demands its own helper. For the people in distress, he only played the role of a mediator in their attempts to appease the demonic forces with prayers and sufferings. He also confessed this approach was not a right one. Then he referred two distinctly different visions of destiny--the fear ridden vision of destiny and the vision of finding out the enemy of fulfilment within ourselves. Hearing the answer, Kalam was filled with strange energy and enthusiasm.
3.“Our locality was predominantly Muslim” - Who is the speaker? How does the speaker describe the locality? What picture of communal harmony do you find in this description? 1+3+2
Answer—
,👉 The speaker is Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
⚫ The position where Kalam lived was generally Muslim. multitudinous Hindu families live their amicably with their Muslim neighbours. There was a great Shiva temple in our position. The temple made rameswaram truly notorious to pilgrims. It was a 10 minute from kalam's own house. There was a truly old temple in our position too. Kalam used to go there for evening prayers with his father's.
⚫ A picture of cooperative harmony we find in the text" Strong Roots". Hindu and Muslims lived Together amicably. The Shiva temple and old temple where deposited in the same position. Though" Pakshi lakshmana Shastri" and kalam's father belong to different persuasions. They were close friend and always bandy spiritual matters. So There was no determination among persuasions.
4.“Why don’t you say this to the people who come to you ... ?” Who says this and to whom ? What is referred to by the word ‘this’? Why do the people come to the person spoken to? 1+1+3+1
Ans:
👉APJ Abdul Kalam says this to his father, Jainulabdeen.
👉Jainulabdeen has explained to his son that every human being is an integral part of the entire spiritual cosmos. Instead of being afraid of difficulties, sufferings and problems, one must try to find the relevance of sufferings in human life as adversity provides people with the opportunity for introspection. This philosophical teaching of Jainulabdeen is referred to as 'this'.
👉Jainulabdeen told Kalam as a reply to his question that whenever people are alone, as an obvious reaction, they look for companionship. He also added, that whenever people are in problem, they look for someone's assistance. Whenever people reach an impasse, they seek someone to help them find a solution.
👉The distressed people come to Jainulabdeen for they consider him to be a medium in their effort to please the demonic forces with prayers and offerings.
5. “You gonna take me to jail?” Who asked this question and to whom? When did the speaker ask this question? What reply did the speaker get? 2+3+1
Ans :
👉Roger asked this question to Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones .
👉Roger tried to snatch the purse of Mrs Jones but could not do so as he lost his balance while snatching and fell on the pavement . She held him by his shirt front and dragged him from the street straight to the middle of her room . On reaching her home Mrs Jones asked the boy's name first and then asked him to go to the sink and wash his face as she had earlier noticed that his face was dirty . She then advised him to let the water run until it got warm and pointed out to a clean towel there . While washing his face bending over the sink , Roger asked this question .
👉Mrs. Jones replied that she would not take him anywhere with the dirty condition of his face .
6.“You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong.” - Who speaks to whom ? Did the speaker manage to teach what he / she claimed to teach ? Give reasons for your answer. 2+4
Ans:
👉Here the speaker is Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones and she is speaking to a boy named Roger.
👉The speaker, Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones tried to teach Roger how to differentiate between right and wrong. Roger wanted a pair of blue suede shoes and so he attempted to snatch her purse but got caught. Mrs Jones took the responsibility of teaching him when she came to know that he had nobody to turn to for guidance, She took him home, fed him like her own son and gave him ten dollars so that he could buy the blue suede shoes. Her motherly affection moved him so much that he did not try to escape from her house or steal money from her purse in spite of getting an opportunity to do so. Instead he wanted to assist her in her household work. Mrs Jones advised him to avoid wrong means to fulfil his desires. So, from the above discussion it can be said that the speaker managed to teach him what she claimed and reformed Roger.
7.“Eat some more, son.” Who is the speaker ? What is offered by the speaker to the listener? What picture of the speaker’s character is revealed in this line ? 1+1+4
Ans:
👉Here, the speaker is Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones.
👉Mrs Jones offers Roger some lima beans, ham, cocoa made out of canned milk and half of her tencent cake.
👉From the beginning of the story, we see Mrs Jones as a tough lady with occasional flashes of generosity. The line mentioned above reveals the motherly instinct in her. She does not enquire about Roger’s whereabouts because she does not want to embarrass him. Rather, she shares the details of her workplace with Roger to make him feel at home. Without exaggerating or making any false show of generosity, she pours her love and concern for a fallen young boy. Significantly enough, her stern attitude towards misdeeds, in combination with tenderness and care makes Roger’s transformation possible.
8. How did the Tsar nurse the wounded man ?
Ans: In the story Three Question by Leo Tolstoy, a bearded man came running towards the hut of the hermit where the hermit and the Tsar were talking. That man had a deep wound in his belly near the stomach and the blood was flowing from it. He fell fainting on the ground in front of them. Then the Tsar, along with the hermit, started to nurse the wounded man. The Tsar bandaged the wound with his own handkerchief and a towel that the hermit had in his hut. When blood did not stop flowing, the Tsar washed and rebandaged the wound again and again. At last, when the blood ceased flowing, the man gradually revived from his illness. The Tsar gave him some fresh water to drink. At last, the Tsar with the help of the hermit carried the wounded man into the hut and laid him on the bed.
👉Poem:
1.Justify the title of the poem “On Killing a Tree”.
Ans:The word "killing" means the complete destruction of an object's existence or wiping out something from the earth. In this poem, the poet describes how man encourages deforestation, defying the eternal bond shared by the earth and the tree. While hacking and chopping, trees do not die but bleed. This signifies that they are living beings. But man ignores their usefulness and to fulfil their immediate needs involve themselves in cutting down the trees, which according to the poet is, akin to murder. The poet gives vent to his protest against this disgusting crime through a unique ironical criticism, wherein he instructs the murderers to be more harsh and vigorous in their act of killing a tree. The title appropriately indicates the very essence of the poem and thus the title is appropriate.
2.Why does it take “much time to kill a tree” ? How is the tree finally killed ?
Ans:Killing a tree is not an easy task. It takes much time to completely fell a tree. For, it has grown slowly consuming the earth. It rises out of it. It is being fed upon the earth's crust. It has absorbed years of sunlight, air and water. It has grown tall and thus been firmly fixed on the earth. Hence a simple jab of the knife can't destroy a tree.
The tree is finally killed when the root is pulled out. The root is the main strength of the tree. It lies hidden under the earth. It is to be pulled out entirely from there. To do this the tree is to be roped, tied and then snapped out. Then the uprooted tree is scorched or choked in sun and air. Finally it is browned and hardened, twisted and withered. In this way the tree is completely killed.
3.“But thy eternal summer shall not fade” Who is being referred to as ‘thy’? What is meant by ‘eternal summer’? Why shall not ‘thy eternal summer’ fade? 1+1+4
Ans:
The poet is William Shakespeare. The phrase 'eternal summer' refers to the everlasting beauty of the poet's friend. 'Eternal summer' means timeless beauty. The poet's friend is lovelier and more temperate than the summer's day, free from the decline of the 'fair' things and his beauty is beyond the power of death.
In this mortal world, every lovely natural object is vulnerable to decay or change that is inevitable. But the poet's friend's beauty is imperishable. The cold, cruel touch of death is unable to claim his beauty and drag him down to the dark, lifeless realm. The poet's friend's 'eternal summer shall never fade. He will, in fact, live and thrive through Shakespeare's verse. The beauty of the poet's friend will never diminish as he would preserve his friend's beauty in the perpetual lines of his poem and this is the conclusion that the poet draws at the end of the poem.
4.“In his side there are two red holes.” - Who is the person referred to here? What do the ‘two red holes’ signify? What attitude of the poet to war is reflected here? 1+2+3
Ans:The person referred to here is a dead soldier who seems to be apparently sleeping in the lap of nature.
The “two red holes” imply that the soldier has been a casualty of the war with two rifle-shots in his side. Suddenly we realize that he will never ever wake up from his deep sleep.
The bullets used in the war caused the two red holes in the side of the young soldier. The “two red holes” reveals the fact that the soldier had suffered two bullet injuries and is a victim of the cruel and meaningless war.
The bullet marks in the ribs were deep and red but they were not easily noticed just as the pity of war is not felt easily until and unless it hurts someone directly. When everything does look placid in the bountiful nature,” two red holes” leaves us shocked at the horrible brutality of war and this antithesis has been judiciously used by Arthur Rimbaud to arise human consciousness against the war.
5. Justify the title of the poem “The Poetry of Earth”.
Or,
How does Keats show that the ‘poetry of earth’ never cease? 6
Ans:John Keats, in his sonnet 'The Poetry of Earth', unfolds the theme of never-ending poetry inherent in nature. This poetry of earth is expressed in the form of the songs of different creatures, big or small. In summer, when the unbearable heat silences the song-birds, the grasshopper keeps the song of earth going through its merry voice. Undaunted by the fury of summer, the grasshopper sings merrily from hedge to hedge. Then in winter, as the frost engulfs the earth and creates a contrasting environment of summer immersed in numbness and silence, the shrill voice of the cricket announces that the poetry of earth just can't stop. There is always somebody or the other through the cycle of seasons to recite it in admiration and delight. So, the title of the poem is appropriate and accordant to the theme of it.
👉Drama:
1.“Why are you so formal in your get up?”—Who is the speaker? Who is being spoken to? What led the speaker to make this comment? 1+1+4
Ans: In Anton Chekhov's one-act play 'The Proposal', Chubukov, the aged landowner, is the speaker here.
The person who is being spoken to is Lomov. /Lomov is being spoken to.
Lomov has come to visit Chubukov's house.He is in a formal evening dress. He is wearing a dress jacket and white gloves. Actually his purpose is to propose to Chubukov's daughter, Natalya. He is well-dressed because he wants to impress Natalya as her smart suitor.Moreover, a formal dress suits a formal occasion. But Chubukov cannot understand why Lomov is so gorgeously dressed. It seems to him that Lomov is going to attend a New Year's Eve party to welcome the New year. This situation led the speaker to make this comment.
2. “If you like, I’ll make you a present of them.” - Who is the speaker? Who is the person spoken to? What would the speaker make a present of? Why did the speaker say so? 1+1+1+3
Ans. The speaker is Vassilevitch Lomov in Anton Chekhov’s play ‘The Proposal’.
The person spoken to here is Natalya Stepanovna.
The speaker Lomov would make a present of the land Oxen Meadows
During the time of argument regarding the possession over the land Oxen Meadows, Lomov made this comment. Natalya told Lomov that she did not want anything from him and she did not want to give up anything of her. In response to Natalya’s remark, Lomov said that he would act on principle. The value of the property meant nothing to him. That was why he offered her the land as a present.
3. “She’s like a love-sick cat’, - Who said this and about whom? Analyse the character of the person, referred to here, under the light of the comment above. 1+1+4
Ans. Chubukov said this about his daughter, Natalya.
Natalya was very eager to get married to Lomov. His father was right in his comment. After the quarrel, when Natalya came to know that Lomov had come to propose to her in marriage, she felt ill. She fell into an easy chair and started lamenting over the lost chance of marriage. She begged her father to bring him back. This extreme desperation of marriage to Lomov shows her love-sickness.
4.Sketch the character of Natalya. 6
Ans. Natalya is one of the major characters in Anton Chekhov 's one act play "The Proposal".She is the twenty five years old daughter of a rich and affluent landlord, Chubukov.
She is good looking, well educated and an efficient manager of her father's household. She has enough knowledge of agricultural works. Natalya proves herself as an obstinate young lady having sound knowledge of her family's property. She never allows Lomov to overpower her when the arguments continue regarding the possession of Oxen Meadows and the superiority of -dogs. She is again very keen to marry as she has reached her nuptial age already. When she comes to know about the marriage proposal, she turns frantic and restless to bring Lomov back. She somehow wants to manage the situation to get the proposal from Lomov.
Now she changes her standpoint and surrenders her tenacity in order to accept Lomov as her husband. She is egocentric too as she gets herself involved once again in a bitter argument over the hunting dogs, and continues to quarrel even- after getting married. However she is an interesting character.
5.Describe the character of Chubukov as a sensible father. [6]
Ans. Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov is a sensible father. He is a neighbour of Lomov. He knows everything about Lomov’s property and social status. When he came to know that Lomov had come to propose to her daughter, he was extremely elated. As a sensible father, he addressed his son-in-law with the words like ‘my precious and ‘my angel’ and so on. Sometimes it seems that he acted in an apparently insensible way when he was involved in quarrels with Lomov. But on the other hand, he supported his daughter as a sensible father. When Lomov was expelled, he controlled his mental agitation and fetched Lomov to secure his daughter’s future. At the end, when Lomov got his sense back, Chubukov could not wait any longer and put Lomov’s hand into her daughter’s.
6. Justify the title of the play “The Proposal”.
Ans:The title of the play is ‘The proposal’ and it is a very apt one because the whole play is about Lomov proposing Natalya. Right from the beginning to the end of the play, the story revolves round a marriage proposal. Lomov comes to Natalya’s house to propose to her but even before he does it, they both start fighting. As a result, Lomov becomes sick and leaves. Natalya’s father informs her about the intention of Lomov and she starts lamenting over the loss. Lomov is called back and once again an argument ensues before proposing. Hence, we can say that the title is perfect for the play.
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