Childhood by Markus Natten

Childhood by Markus Natten

Short Answer-type Questions (About 30-40 words each)

Q1. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the first stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. He answered himself by asking if it was the day when he completed the eleventh year of his age. It was the time when he had started realising the difference between ‘Hell and Heaven’. He came to know that ‘Hell and Heaven’ did not exist (present) anywhere. Those were only the states of mind.

Q2. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the second stanza: “When did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answered himself by asking if it was the time when he realised that adults were not
what they all seemed to be. They appeared that they were not from inside. They talked and preached about love. But they did not follow what they preached. They were hypocrites.

Q3. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the third stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. He answered himself by asking if it was the time when he found his mind was really his and he started using his own thoughts to decide the problems. At that time he had stopped depending on others for solving his own problems.

Q4. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the fourth stanza:  “Where did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answers himself by saying that it went to some forgotten place. The line “That’s hidden in an infant’s face” shows that the poet has searched his childhood everywhere. At last, he found its reflection on an infant’s face. It means that the poet has been able to reach the realization that childhood lives in the innocence reflected in the infant’s face.

Q5. What truth does the poet seem to realize at the end of the poem?

Ans. The poet seems to realize the truth that the state of innocence must give way to the state of experience. The knowledge of worldly wisdom is desirable for the human mind. Otherwise, it would be difficult for human beings to live peacefully.

Q6. What does the poet say about the adults?

Ans. He tells us about the hypocrisy shown by the adults. He lost faith in the adults because they did not act on what they preached. They always preached to him to love others, while they themselves did not love others. They showed to others as if they were very close and loving to them. But in reality, they criticised and disliked them. They showed them only mouth honour.

Q7. When did the poet’s mind start rationalize the thoughts and how?

Ans. In the third stanza, the poet talks about his adulthood although he does not mention it. He has gained the wisdom of life. His faculty of mind to rationalize things has developed. Now he can differentiate between good and evil; right and wrong. He can make his own decisions and form opinions about others. He would no longer depend on others’ opinions which are usually full of prejudice and jealousy.

Q8. What does the poet conclude at the end of the poem?

Ans. Thus the poem ends at the poet’s conclusion that his childhood has been transferred to another child. If a person wants to see his own childhood, he or she can watch a child’s face and feel glad to see the lost childhood reflected in it.

(B) Some Important Stanzas for Comprehension

Stanza 1

When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!

Q1. Name the poem and its poet.

Ans. The poem is “Childhood’ and its poet is Markus Natten

Q2.When did the poet’s childhood come to an end according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It came to an end when the poet completed his eleventh year of his age.

Q3. What knowledge did the poet gain about ‘Hell and Heaven’?

Ans. He gained the knowledge that Hell and Heaven cannot be found in geography because these are the states of the human mind.

Q4. Give the meaning of ‘ceased’.

Ans. Stopped

Stanza 2

When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realised that adults were not
all they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!

Q1. What did the adults talk about and preach to the poet?

Ans. The adults talked of love and preached of love.

Q2. What knowledge did the poet gain about the adults?

Ans. He came to know that the adults did not do what they talked and preached.

Q3. What did the behavior of the adults show to the poet?

Ans. It showed their hypocrisy.

Stanza 3

When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not those of other people,
But my own, and my alone,
Was that the day!

Q1. What does the poet mean by “my mind was really mine”?

Ans. It means that the poet has become able to depend on his own thoughts.

Q2. What has the poet stopped doing now?

Ans. The poet has stopped depending on others for taking opinions.

Q3. How does the poet use his own thoughts now?

Ans. He uses his thoughts in his own way now. He solves his problems himself now.

Stanza 4

Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.
Q1. Where did the poet’s childhood go according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It went to some forgotten place.

Q2. Where did the poet find his childhood?

Ans. He found it in the infant’s face.

Q3. How does the poet feel after losing his childhood?

Ans. He feels sad after losing his childhood.

Q4. Which poetic device has been used in this poem?

Ans. It is ‘refrain’.

 

 

The Tale of Melon City by Vikram Seth

Lesson 7.The Tale of Melon City by Vikram Seth (from Snapshot)

Mixed Type of Questions: Short & Long Answer-type Questions

Q1. What did the king order to get constructed on the major thoroughfare? What happened when he rode there?

Ans. The king proclaimed (announced) that an arch should be built in commemoration of (in memory of) his victories. It should be erected (built) at the main road entering the city so that it would edify (motivate) the spectators (people watching it while passing by).

The workers went there and built the arch as it was the king’s orders.

Q2. What made the king angry? What did he do then?

Ans. The king rode off towards the arch so as to edify (instruct/educate) the spectators there. As he was passing under the arch, his crown was touched by the arch as it was not made keeping in view the height of any person riding a horse. So the king’s crown fell down. It was a matter of dishonour to the king’s crown. So a ‘frown’ of anger appeared on the king’s placid (peaceful) face. He at once ordered that the chief of the builders must be hanged for the negligence (carelessness) in building the arch at a low height.

Q3.Why did the king order that the chief of the workmen would be hanged? How did he save his life?

Ans. The chief of the workmen had not constructed the arch of the gate keeping in view the height of the king while riding his horse. As his crown touched the arch and fell down, he ordered the the chief to be hanged. But he saved his own life by blaming the workmen for that fault.

Q4.How did the workmen save their life? Whom did they shift the blame to?

Ans. They stood stunned and surprised. They told the king that it was not their fault as the bricks were made of the wrong size. The king heard the workmen’s plea (appeal/request) and understood the situation. He forgave them and called the masons.

Q5. What did the masons say to save themselves from being hanged?

Ans. They stood trembling in front of the king with folded hands.   They also passed the buck on (to blame someone or make them responsible for a problem that you should deal with:) the architect. He was brought in front of the king.

Q6. The architect was also successful in saving his life from being hanged. What did he say to the king in his defence?

Ans.  He explained to the king that his majesty had made some amendments (changes) in the map when he had brought the map in front of him.   The king gave a patient hearing to the architect and forgave him.

Q7. Why did the king need the advice of the wisest man? What was his advice?

Ans.   The king was confused a little bit by the tricky situation. So he announced that he needed some advice in that matter to reach a justified decision. He ordered that the wisest man of the country must be brought in front of him.   When he was told to speak on the ‘tricky matter’, he spoke in a quavering voice (shaking voice) that the culprit (offender/guilty person) must be punished. He further expressed his opinion saying that the arch was the real offender as it banged (hit to make it fall) the king’s crown off. So it must be hanged.

Q8. Did the king hang the arch? Who changed the king’s decision to hang the arch and how?

Ans. The arch was brought to the scaffold (the wooden structure on which a culprit was hanged to death in the past) and then, all of a sudden, one of the king’s councillors (ministers) interrupted the proceedings (series of events) by saying that the arch must not be hanged as it respectfully had touched the king’s crown.

It would be a matter of shame for the country if it had been hanged.  The king thought (mused) for some time and then he was swayed (influenced) by the logic given by his councillor. He agreed with his minister on the logic forwarded by him.

Q9. Under what circumstances was the king hanged?

Ans. The king did not hang the arch. But the crowd was muttering some words as they were restless at the delay in hanging. They were in a mood to see someone being hanged (executed). The king was afraid of the mood of the public. They all wanted someone to be hanged.   The king declared at once to postpone giving thought to the finer points like guilt.  The noose (/nuːs/: the rope when tied in such a way that it can be put into a person’s (usually a criminal’s) neck to kill is called a noose) was set up at some height. Each man’s height was measured one by one to suit it, but only one tall man was found to fit the height at which the noose was set. The king was the only one person, and that was none other than the king himself. So the king was hanged in compliance with the king’s decree (an official statement that something must happen:)

Q10. Under what circumstances a melon was selected as the ruler of the state?

Ans. The King was hanged in compliance with the orders issued by him. It was a royal decree to hang someone. The ministers thanked God as they found a suitable person for hanging.  After some time, the king was dead and the Ministers uttered loudly: “Long live the King!’ The King is dead”

 Then they thought deeply about the situation and decided to find out the next King for the throne to sit on it.

Since they were practical-minded persons, they sent messages here and there, declaring that any person passing the City Gate would select the next ruler of the state according to the custom of the state. The custom will be followed with due ceremony. Then, the guards stopped a man passing by the City Gate and asked him to name the next king to the throne of that country. He was an idiot, so he cried ‘A Melon’. The idiot liked melons, so replied to all the questions asked to him ‘He liked melons’. After that, the ministers crowned a melon and said that it was their King now. Then they carried the melon to the throne and respectfully set it down there.

Q11.What was the tradition of the state described in The Tale of Melon City about selecting the king?

Ans. The incident of making a melon their king belonged to the remote past. If anyone now asks the people of that city as to why their king looks like a melon and how it happened, they reply that it was a decision taken due to a custom.  They have no objection if their king likes to be a melon. They have no right to question the king as to how he looks. They are bothered about their peace and liberty. They are happy because the principle of ‘laissez faire (lɛseɪˈfɛː)’ is followed there. It is the policy of leaving things to take their own course, without interfering.

Note: [ What is    "a laissez-faire attitude to life”?

When things are allowed to happen of their own and people are allowed to make their own decisions without  the govt.’s interference, this type of policy is called ‘laissez-faire’.]

 

 

  

 

A Photograph by Shirley Toulson

 Poem 1: A Photograph by Shirley Toulson

(A)          Short Answer-type Questions (About 30-40 words each)

Q1.Why does the poetess use ‘cardboard’ for the photograph? Whose photograph is being described here? Why is the word ‘cardboard’ used here?

Ans. The poetess uses the ‘cardboard’ for the photograph of her mother. The photograph was very old. So it has been called cardboard.  In the old days, cardboard was used to paste a photograph on it. It gave the photograph a firm base.

Q2. What has the camera captured?

   Ans. The camera captured three girls in their teenage. They were standing with their smiling faces in the shallow water of the sea beach. The narrator’s mother stood in the middle, while her cousins stood on both sides of her.

Q3. The poetess’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

 Ans. It shows that the mother was amused to see her photograph along with her two cousins. She might have thought about how they looked at that small age in their dresses. It is natural to laugh when one watches his or her childhood photograph.

 Q4. How does the poetess describe the photograph? Who were there in it?

Ans. The poet describes three girls in the photograph. The tallest of them was the poet’s mother. She was about twelve years old at that time. The girls who stood on both sides were her cousins. Each of them held the mother’s hands. They were out on the beach to enjoy the cool touch of the wet sand.

Q5. What does the phrase “...some twelve years or so” mean?

Ans. The phrase “...some twelve years or so” shows that the poetess was not definite about the exact age of her mother. She might have been approximately twelve years.

Q6. How were the three girls posing for the photograph? Who was the person clicking it?

Ans. All three girls stood motionless smiling through their hair when their uncle was about to click the photograph from his camera. They were holding the hands of the girl who stood in the middle.

Q7. What does the phrase ‘smile through the hair’ mean?

Ans. The words ‘smile through the hair’ show that the wind was moving the hair that was falling on their faces. So the moving hair might have been covering the lips also. That is why the word ‘through’ has been used here.

Q8. What does the poetess say about her mother’s face? What has not changed yet?

Ans. The poetess says that her mother’s face was sweet at the time when she (the poetess) was not born. It went through a change after that with the passage of time. One grows older as time passes. But the sea has undergone fewer changes since that day on which the photograph was clicked.

Q9. What is the symbolic significance of the words ‘transient feet’ and ‘the sea’? What is the role of Time in the physical world?

Ans. Here ‘the sea’ stands for nature that is long-lived. The words ‘transient feet’ stands for human life, that is mortal Time has its ravaging (destroying) effect on mortal (perishable: those are prone to die) things only. There is alliteration in the words: ‘....terribly transient’.