English Notes

Click for the summary Comprehension I  1. What prevented the slaves from knowing their birthdays?  Ans : The wish of most masters to keep their slaves ignorant. 2. How would the master look at the enquiries about the slaves’ birthday? Ans : He would deem all such enquiries to be improper and impertinent.   3. What was whispered about Douglass’ parentage? Ans : That his master was his father.  4. When was Douglass separated from his mother? Ans : When he was an infant.   5. Douglass’ mother was able to meet him only at  Ans : night .  6. What was the penalty to the field hand for not being in the field at sunrise?  Ans : A whipping was the  penalty. 7. How old was Douglass when he lost his mother?  Ans : He was about seven years old. 8. Name the person who was believed to be both Douglass’ father and master.  Ans : Captain Anthony 9. What was Mr. Plummer ? Ans : He was an overseer.   II.  1. Why wasn’t Dougla...

Comprehension I.  1. How do people feel when they give  a. one pound? Ans: A pang  b. ten pounds?  Ans : A tremor 2. “Money has got us down” could mean  Ans : (d) it has made us its slaves.  3. How are people without money, usually treated?  Ans : They are made to eat dirt and go cold. 4. What things should be made available free of cost? Ans : Bread, Shelter and Fire.  5. The speaker is frightened of  Ans : (c) eating dirt.  6. What happens if we do not regain our sanity about money?  Ans : We start killing one another.  II .  1. How does money trigger fear in an individual?  Ans : The poet D.H. Lawrence in his poem “Money Madness” looks at money as madness of mankind. He takes us through the situations wherein money influences every individual from all walks of life. Money can trigger fears when one has it and when one doesn't have it. It can create pangs in an individual who has to hand out a pound note and it can ...

Comprehension I.  1. What did Mara do when they found the creeper?  Ans : He tied one of the tendrils to a nearby tree. 2. Mention the curse about the medicinal plant.  Ans : When someone needs this plant, they shall not find it.  3. What surprised the white man?  Ans : There was no blood and no wound on Mara’s hand. 4. How did the mongoose and cowcal cure themselves of snakebite?  Ans : When they were bitten by the poisonous snakes they would immediately chew the leaves of the medicinal creeper and would cure themselves.  5. Why had Mara lost his teeth on the right side?  Ans : He brushed his teeth with a small stick from a nearby plant on the right side a third or a fourth time. As he rinsed his mouth and spat water out, the teeth that had been touched by the stick tumbled out.   6. What did Mara’s wife find on opening the packet of meat?  Ans : She found a live wild buck. 7. What happened when the milk was mixed with the juice of...

Click for Summary   Comprehension I  1. Who do ‘you’ and ‘I’ in the poem refer to? Ans : “You” refers to the speaker’s husband and “I” refers to the speaker / the wife of the farmer.   2. Why has the speaker’s husband committed suicide? Ans : Due to the failure of the cotton crop.  3. What series of contrasts does the speaker draw between herself and her husband?  Ans : The speaker mentions that he is virtuous even when he has committed suicide while she is a sinner without having committed anything evil. At his death he cannot bend his head and outstretch his hand whereas she is used to bending her head as a woman and stretching her hand out for assistance. He found release with poison, but he poisoned their already bitter existence. She survived the extreme situations while he committed suicide. Though he chose to end his life, the speaker vows to live her life with all the challenges.   4. What expressions in the poem bring out the contrast bet...

Click for Summary Comprehension I.  1. Where does Babar Ali run classes for poor children?  Ans: In his family backyard 2. How is Babar Ali’s routine described by the writer?  Ans: Babar wakes up every morning at 7 and starts his day by doing some household chores. Then he takes an autorickshaw first and later walks five kilometres to the Cossimbazar Raj Govinda Sundari Vidyapeeth where he is a class XII student. After his school he makes his way to an afternoon school where he is the headmaster of a school of 800 students.  3. Give a picture of Babar Ali’s school.  Ans: It is a dilapidated concrete structure covered in half torn posters. Behind the office is a gate that opens to Babar’s home. Here under the open sky sit rows of poor, underprivileged children learning the basics and fundamentals of life.  4. Why is Babar Ali called ‘a fortunate soul’ in his village?  Ans: He went to school and got formal education.  5. What, according to Babar’s f...

Click for Summary Comprehension I 1. Why was the headman in a hurry to complete the road work? Ans: The king was passing that way 2. The village headman asked Mara to keep away from the road workers because Ans: he didn’t want a fool like Mara to show up and disturb the workers.   3. How did Mara manage to draw the attention of the king? Why? Ans: By jumping down from a tree. Since he couldn’t appear in public, he was hiding in a tree. 4. The Goddess’ command to Mara was to Ans: build a tank across the river Veda. 5. How does the king respond to Mara’s information about the tank? Ans: That Mara’s words are weighty and the King asks Mara to accompany him to the capital. 6. What does Mara advise his son in saving the lake and the creatures? Ans: He advises his son that nothing that flies or swims or walks around the lake should ever be killed. 7. Why did the visitor approach Mara? Ans: For water. 8. Mara rushed to the king because he wanted to save An...

Click for Summary Comprehension I. 1. The speaker wants to be a tree because Ans: a. trees are not treated as objects of defilement. 2. What wouldn’t the bird ask the tree? Ans: The bird wouldn’t ask the tree of its caste. 3. When does the sacred cow scrape her body onto the b ark? Ans: Whenever it itches her body.  4. How does the speaker want to be purified? Ans: By burning in the holy fire hacked into pieces of dry wood.  5. How does the speaker view his friendship with cool breeze and leaves? Ans: As sweet.  II.  1. Why would mother earth not flee according to the speaker? Ans : Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy feels that being born a tree in nature is more meaningful than being born as a low caste member  in human society. This is because humans have built barriers among themselves based on their castes. The upper caste individuals feel that they are superiors and enjoy the privileges. In contrast, the lower caste people are denied their rights. Besides, this discrimi...