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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 All Summer in a Day 

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 10 All Summer in a Day – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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Comprehension Passages

Passage 1

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it ?”
“Look, look; see for yourself !”The children pressed to each other like so many  roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun. It rained. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

Question 1.
Which is the place under discussion?
Answer:
The place under discussion is the planet Venus and the weather there.

Question 2.
What is the weather like on Venus? How long has it been like this?
Answer:
The weather is dark and depressing as there is no sun for the past seven years. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain.

Question 3.
What is supposed to happen on this particular day?
Answer:
The scientists had predicted that on that particular day the sun would shine for a short while.

Question 4.
Describe the rain and its effect on life on Venus.
Answer:
The sun remains hidden for seven years on Venus and it rains continuously for those seven years, thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again.

Question 5.
Why had the rocket men and women come to Venus?
Answer:
The rocket men and women had come to the raining world of Venus to set up a civilization and live out their lives.

Passage 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Margot stood apart from these children who could never remember a time when there wasn’t rain and rain and rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night, she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering an old or a yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they thought they remembered a warmness, like a blushing in the face, in the body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, the forests, and their dreams were gone. All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:

I think the snn is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.

Question 1.
Why are the other children unable to remember the sun?
Answer:
The other children were unable to remember the sun because in case there had been a day seven years ago when the sun had shone for a short while, they would not be able to recall as they would have been only two years old.

Question 2.
What memory disturbed the children at night sometimes?
Answer:
The vague memory of the sun troubled them and they mistook it for an old yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with.

Question 3.
What were the things the children were familiar with in their world?
Answer:
The children were familiar with the tatting drum, the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, and the forests.

Question 4.
What did the children read in class all day long?
Answer:
All day they had read in class about the sun. About how it resembled a lemon, and how hot was the sun. The children had also written small stories or essays or poems about the sun.

Question 5.
What had Margot written about the sun in her poem?
Answer:
She had written that the sun was like a flower that bloomed only for an hour.

Passage 3

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would be a ghost. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass. “What’re you looking at ?” said William. Margot said nothing. “Speak when you’re spoken to.” He gave her a shove. But she did not move; rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else. They edged away from her, they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the summer did her lips move as she watched the drenched windows.

Question 1.
What did Margot look like?
Answer:
Margot was a thin and delicate girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away.

Question 2.
Why was Margot sad?
Answer:
Margot was sad because she did not like the rain and she remembered the warmth and brightness of the sun on Earth where it could be seen every day.

Question 3.
What was the reaction of the children towards Margot?
Answer:
The children found Margot strange and bullied her. They edged away from her, they would not look at her.

Question 4.
Why did they behave in this manner towards Margot?
Answer:
The children behaved in this manner towards Margot because she would not play games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved.

Question 5.
When did Margot react ?
Answer:
Margot reacted only when they sang about the sun and the summer. Then her lips moved as she watched the drenched windows. Even the mention of the sun made her happy and react in some manner.

Passage 4

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future. “Get away 1” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes. “Well, don’t wait around here !” cried the boy savagely. “You won’t see nothing!” Her lips moved. “Nothing 1” he cried. “It was all a joke, wasn’t it?” He turned to the other children. “Nothing’s happening today. Is it ?”

Question 1.
What makes Margot different from the other children? Why?
Answer:
Margot had memories of the sun and the glorious effect and warmth of the sun. But the children had no recollections and remembered only the colourless and depressing rain on Venus. This was the main difference.

Question 2.
What was the rumour? What did Margot think?
Answer:
There was a rumour that Margot’s parents were taking her back to Earth next year. It seemed important to Margot that they do so because she hated Venus and could not survive without the Sun on Venus. The decision to take Margot back to Earth would mean loss of thousands of dollars to her family.

Question 3.
Why did the children hate her?
Answer:
The children sensed that Margot was different from them. She hated the continuous rain while they were used to it. She spoke only about the sun and they had no memory of it. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her thinness, and her possible future of going back to the Earth.

Question 4.
What is the ‘it’ referred to by William?
Answer:
The ‘it’ referred to by William is the Sun which the scientists had predicted would shine for a short while that day.

Question 5.
What was Margot waiting for? Why did William say it was a joke?
Answer:
Margot was waiting to see the sun predicted to shine that day for a short while. William did not want her to have the joy of seeing the sun .

Passage 5

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever.

“Will it be seven more years?” “Yes. Seven.” Then one of them gave a little cry. “Margot!” “What?” “She’s still in the closet where we locked her.” “Margot.”

They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down. “Margot.” One of the girls said, “Well.. .?” No one moved. “Go on,” whispered the girl. They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of the cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it. Behind the closed door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out.

Question 1.
When would the Sun shine again? Why had the children locked Margot in the closet?
Answer:
The sun would shine after seven years. The children knew Margot loved the sun and had waited to see it. But they hated her and so did not want her to see the sun and locked her in the closet.

Question 2.
Why were the children avoiding looking at each other?
Answer:
The children glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They could not meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their faces down because they were guilty of hurting Margot by not letting her see the Sun. Now it would shine on Venus only after seven years. They had been cruel to Margot.

Question 3.
Why does the author describe their faces as blue and terrible?
Answer:
The author describes their faces as blue and terrible to accentuate their criminal and mean minds which are the result of living on Venus, away from the positive energy of the Sun.

Question 4.
What impression does one get of the life of people away from the Sun ?
Answer:
The power of the sun over the children living on Venus is notable. They are pale and colourless, not just physically but also emotionally. The lack of the sun has not only washed away the colour on their skin but also their compassion and empathy for other people. They do not gain this until they’ve spent time under the sun’s rays. The sun is life giving for the landscape as well as the inhabitants of Venus.

Assignment

Question 1.
How does Ray Bradbury develop the mood in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Bradbury uses lyrical language to convey a mood of longing and loss in this story of a Venus where the sun only emerges once every seven years. This mood is reinforced by the personality of the main character, Margot, a sensitive, melancholy little girl whose soul’s sadness seems reflected in the ever present rain. The sun in this story becomes the metaphor for all our longings and desires.

Bradbury doesn’t just say it rained all the time, but describes the rain: “the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy … A thousand forests had been crushed.” Likewise, Bradbury lingers over descriptions of the sun. It is like “gold” or a “lemon crayon,” “flaming bronze” and a “warm iron.”

Bradbury repeatedly uses similes and poetic language to describe this sun and this world. Rather than hurtle us forward from event to event in this stoiy, Bradbury encourages us, through his description, to stop and to experience being drenched in what it is like to be on this imaginary Venus. Only two things happen in terms of plot: the sun comes out and Margot, who longs so deeply to see it, is locked away in a closet by the other children. The rest is the longing mood Bradbury evokes.

Question 2.
What is the theme of all summer in a day by Ray Bradbury?
Answer:
The theme for “All Summer in a Day” is bullying and jealousy. Kids, and people alike, can be so mean when they are confronted with someone different than their current understanding or when they are jealous. Margot had known what the sun looked, and felt like when she lived on Earth; but, the children of Venus who get to see the sun for two hours once every seven years could not relate to her experience. The children wouldn’t have locked Margot in the closet at that very special moment when the sun comes out if it had not have been for William. William is the antagonist who suggests that they lock her up because,the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.”

Here we see that motive behind the rage and jealousy that the children felt for Margot. Whether it is one situation or another, Bradbury brings out a true principle of the human condition with this story; and that is the effects that jealousy can have when acted upon.

Question 3.
What are examples of simile, metaphor, and personification in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day” has many different types of figures  of speech. Similes compare two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Metaphors compare two unlike things using words like “is” or “was.” Finally, personification occurs when an animal or inanimate object is given human traits or qualities. These figures of speech not only help to communicate what the author wants to portray in the story, but also helps readers to connect with something they may have already understood, which then creates more meaning for them in the story. For example, the following is a passage that demonstrates the use of simile and metaphor:

‘All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot.          And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:
I think the sun is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.’
The first figure of speech is a simile because it compares the sun to a lemon using the word “like.” Then, a metaphor is used when the sun is compared to a flower using the word “is.”
The next passage has examples of two similes:
‘But Margot remembered.
“It’s like a penny,” she said once, eyes closed.
“No it’s not!” the children cried.
“It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”
Both figures of speech in this passage are similes because the sun is compared to a penny and then to fire using the word “like.” The next example demonstrates how personification is used in the story:

‘They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.’

In animate objects do not have the ability to tremble like people do; therefore, this is an example of personification. The door “trembles” because it receives the impact of Margot’s protest and anxiety about being trapped. It also seems as though Bradbury uses personification when Margot is locked in the closet to describe how her emotions powerfully transfer through the door as she pounds on it.

Question 4.
What is the central conflict of the story “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The central conflict of the story is that Margot does not fit in with the other children.

The basic situation is that it has been raining on Venus for seven years. The children, who are nine years old, do not remember ever seeing the sun. The sun is scheduled to come out, so the kids are very excited. Margot is excited too, but she is a child who just doesn’t fit in.

Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.

They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood * alone. She was a veiy frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair.

The other kids tease Margot and don’t understand her. They are envious of her, and like many kids they turn that envy to cruelty. When the class is preparing for the sun to come out, the children tease Margot for the poem she wrote. She remembers the sun, and that really eats at them.

When the teacher leaves the room just as the sun is about to come out, the conflict comes to a head.
“Get away !” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”

Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.

The boy tells Margot it was all a joke, and suggests they lock her in the closet. He is using her desperation and expectation against her, even though all of the children want the same thing. They are all ramped up, and need a target for their energy and aggression. Margot is an easy target.

Question 5.
What is the climax of Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day?”
Answer:
The climax of Bradbury’s short story is when the sun comes out for the first time in seven years. The kids have locked Margot in a closet and to their astonishment, the sun comes out. They bolt outside to the sun, frolicking and playing in the illumination. They play until it begins to rain and then they have to come back inside. It becomes evident to them, in a dawning- like realization, that they left Margot in the closet.

This moment of the sun appearing is the climax because it is the point in which the action is the greatest. In the conflict between Margot and the group of students, it is at this point where the tension between both is the highest in an almost contradictory moment of unity and symmetry. It is Bradbury’s genius to construct the situation so that Margot was actually right. Rather than praise her for her correct world view, the kids flock towards her absolute sense of accuracy and her vision, something that she is not able to appreciate because of being marginalized. The height of the plot, the moment where the action is most intense, is in this moment of unity, one in which there is validation but not for the person who advocated it. In this, there is a climax and a sense of diminishing action appears at the end when the children come to the silent realization that they have to release Margot out of the closet.

Question 6.
What is the setting of “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The story is set in Venus sometime in the future on a day when the rain stops briefly.

A group of children are living on Venus. It rains every day for seven years. The children have not seen the sun in all that time. The children are nine years old, and have not seen the sun since it came out seven years before for an hour.

And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

A girl named Margot came from Earth, and remembers the sun. The other children are angry because she has seen it and they haven’t. On the one day the sun comes out they decide to lock her in a closet, and she misses the few minutes of sun.

The story demonstrates that children are children, no matter the setting. The children are cruel to Margot because she is different, and because they are jealous. Due to their actions, she misses seeing the sun. Only then do the children regret what they have done.

Question 7.
What does “I think the sun is a flower” mean in Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day”?           Answer:
In Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day,” the metaphor “ think the sun is a flower” was written in a poem about the sun by the protagonist Margo. In her poem, Margo aimed to describe the glow of the sun as a blooming flower. Though she doesn’t specify what kind of flower, the reader might visualize a round golden daisy or poppy. The image of the flower helps capture the round, yellow image of the sun.

In addition, Margo’s metaphor parallels with the other children’s experience in seeing the sun for the first time. As they look outside as the sun comes out, they see the “great jungle that covered Venus” transform. Suddenly, because of the sunshine, the jungle looks alive, flowing, and full of color, similar to a flower, as we see in the narrator’s following description:

It was a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring.

Hence, as we can see, Margo’s metaphor serves the purpose of likening the sun to a flower to capture the sun’s color, shape, and glowing warmth. Margo’s description of the sun parallels with the effect the sun has on nature found on Venus.

Question 8.
Why was Margot unhappy on Venus in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Margot is unhappy on Venus because she came from Earth and misses the sun. The story takes place on Venus, a planet where it rains almost all of the time. In fact, the sun has not come out in seven years. Margot, however, came from Earth five years before the story starts. That means that unlike the other children in her class, she remembers what the sun looks like. She misses it terribly.

[She] sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family.

Margot does not get along with the other children. She doesn’t play their games, and they are jealous of her for having recently been to Earth and for having the chance to go back. For this reason, the children bully Margot and she isolates herself. She doesn’t seem to make any friends.

On the day the sun is supposed to finally come out, the children decide to play a cruel trick on Margot. They tell her the scientists were wrong, and then lock her in a closet so that-when it does come out, she won’t see it. She is horrified.

They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then ciying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.

Although the children are cruel bullies, the trick they played was terrible. Margot is very sensitive and this will likely have a great effect on her. They know this, and seem just as horrified when they realize what they have done. After the sun leaves, they go to take her out again knowing that she will never be the same.

Project

Question 1.
What makes Margot different from the other children? Why does this cause the other children dislike Margot?
Answer:
Margot is different from the other children because of her looks, her personality, and her experiences. Margot is “frail,” and she is fair-haired and white-skinned, so much so that she looks colorless, like a washed-out photograph. Margot is quiet and withdrawn—she doesn’t have the boisterous personality that many of the other children have. Her voice is soft, and often she doesn’t speak at all. She keeps her distance from the other children rather than joining in their antics. In fact, she is a very sensitive girl who seems to have some deep-seated emotional issues. When she screamed when the water touched her in the showers, that confirmed to the others how odd she was. Because she can remember living on Earth where the sun shone often, she finds the constant rain on Venus oppressive, and she seems to be depressed. That’s why her parents plan to send her back to Earth soon. She doesn’t fit in on Venus.                                                        ‘

Despite all those differences, the one thing that seems to set the children against Margot more than any other is that she has experiences they don’t share. All the other children have a homogeneous background: They have been raised on Venus and know nothing of life outside the underground complex they live in. That Margot remembers seeing the Sun and that she knows about life on Earth first-hand makes the children jealous of her, even though Margot doesn’t act like a know-it-all. Beyond that, the children know that she will have a chance to go back to Earth soon, a chance that evades the others. Her past experiences and her future plans set her apart from the others.

Why the other children dislike Margot is a strong theme in the story. Bradbury creates a scenario that allows modern Earth-bound readers to examine their prejudices. Margot represents the “other,” and human beings instinctively despise those outside their own tribe. Perhaps her rich and varied experiences caused them to wish they could escape their underground home, so they became jealous. The fact that she wouldn’t join their games might feel like an insult to them, so they lashed back to give her pain. But part of their dislike stems from a simple lust for power: Margot is weak and alone; they are strong and have numbers on their side. Such a condition spurs bullying, and that’s what happens in the story.

Although the story is overtly about children on a different planet in the future, it makes all readers, children and adults, think about how they treat others and whether they allow prejudices to mar their behavior.

Question 2.
What is the central conflict of the story “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The central conflict of the story is that Margot does not fit in with the other children.

The basic situation is that it has been raining on Venus for seven years. The children, who are nine years old, do not remember ever seeing the sun. The sun is scheduled to come out, so the kids are very excited. Margot is excited too, but she is a child who just doesn’t fit in.     –

Margot is from Earth, and the other children are from Venus. In addition to that, Margot is delicate and sensitive and just doesn’t associate with the other kids.

‘They turned on themselves, like a feverish wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair.’

The other kids tease Margot and don’t understand her. They are envious of her, and like many kids they turn that envy to cruelty. When the class is preparing for the sun to come out, the children tease Margot for the poem she wrote. She remembers the sun, and that really eats at them.

When the teacher leaves the room just as the sun is about to come out, the conflict comes to a head.

“Get away !” The boy gave her another push. “What’re you waiting for?”

Then, for the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes.

The boy tells Margot it was all a joke, and suggests they lock her in the closet. He is using her desperation and expectation against her, even though all of the children want the same thing. They are all ramped up, and need a target for their energy and aggression. Margot is an easy target.

Question 3.
What are examples of simile, metaphor, and personification in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day” has many different types of figures of speech. Similes compare two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Metaphors compare two unlike things using words like “is” or “was.” Personification occurs when an animal or inanimate object is given human traits or qualities. These figures of speech not only help to communicate what the author wants to portray in the story, but also help us to connect with something that we may have already understand, which then creates more meaning in the story. For example, the following is a passage that demonstrates the use of simile and metaphor:
All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how hot.
And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:

I think the sun is a flower,
That blooms for just one hour.
The first figure of speech is a simile because it compares the sun to a lemon using the word “like.” Then, a metaphor is used when the sun is compared to a flower using the word “is.”
The next passage has examples of two similes:
But Margot remembered.
“It’s like a penny,” she said once, eyes closed.,
“No it’s not!” the children cried.
“It’s like a fire,” she said, “in the stove.”
Both figures of speech in this passage are similes because the sun is compared to a penny and then to fire using the word “like.” The next example demonstrates how personification is used in the story:                                                                                     .

They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing herself against it.

In animate objects do not have the ability to tremble like people do; therefore, this is an example of personification. The door “trembles” because it receives the impact of Margot’s protest and anxiety about being trapped. It also seems as though Bradbury uses personification when Margot is locked in the closet to describe how her emotions powerfully transfer through the door as she pounds on it.

Question 4.
Why was Margot unhappy on Venus in “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
Margot is unhappy on Venus because she came from Earth and misses the sun.

The story takes place on Venus, a planet where it rains almost all of the time. In fact, the sun has not come out in seven years. Margot, however, came from Earth five years before the story starts. That means that unlike the other children in her class, she remembers what the sun looks like. She misses it terribly.

She sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference and kept away. ‘There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family.’

Margot does not get along with the other children. She doesn’t play their games, and they are jealous of her for having recently been to Earth and for having the chance to go back. For this reason, the children bully Margot and she isolates herself. She doesn’t seem to make any friends.

On the day the sun is supposed to finally come out, the children decide to play a cruel trick on Margot. They tell her the scientists were wrong, and then lock her in a closet so that when it does come out, she won’t see it. She is horrified.

‘They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from her beating and throwing * herself against it.’

The children are cruel bullies, the trick they played was terrible. Margot is very sensitive and this will likely have a great effect on her. They know this, and seem just as horrified when they realize what they have done. After the sun leaves, they go to take her out again knowing that she will never be the same.

Question 5.
What is the theme of all summer in a day by Ray Bradbury?
Answer:
The theme for “All Summer in a Day” is bullying and jealousy. Kids, and people alike, can be so mean when they are confronted with so pie one different than their current understanding or when they are jealous. Margot had known what the sun looked and felt like when she lived on Earth; but, the children of Venus who get to see the sun for two hours once every seven years could not relate to her experience. The children wouldn’t have locked Margot in the closet at that very special moment when the sun came out if it had not been for William. William is the antagonist who suggests that they lock her up because,. .the biggest crime of all was that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.”

Here we see the motive behind the rage and jealousy that the children felt for Margot. Whether it is one situation or another, Bradbury brings out a true principle of the human condition with this story; and that is the effect that jealousy can have when acted upon.

Question 6.
What is the climax of Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day?”
Answer:
The climax of Bradbury’s short story is when the sun comes out for the first time in seven years. The kids have locked Margot in a closet and to their astonishment, the sun comes out. They bolt outside to the sun, frolicking and playing in the illumination. They play until it begins to rain and then they have to come back inside. It becomes evident to them, in a dawning- like realization, that they had left Margot in the closet.

This moment of the sun appearing is the climax because it is the point in which the action is the greatest. In the conflict between Margot and the group of students, it is at this point where the tension between both is the highest in an almost contradictory moment of unity and symmetry. It is Bradbury’s genius to construct the situation so that Margot was actually right. Rather than praise her for her correct world view, the kids flock towards her absolute sense of accuracy and her vision, something that she is not able to appreciate because of being marginalized. The height of the plot, the moment where the action is most intense, is in this moment of unity, one in which there is validation but not for the person who advocated it. In this, there is a climax and a sense of diminishing action appears at the end when the children come to the silent realization that they have to release Margot out of the closet.

Question 7.
What is the setting of “All Summer in a Day”?
Answer:
The story is set in Venus sometime in the future on a day when the rain stops briefly.

A group of children are living on Venus. It rains every day for seven years. The children have not seen the sun in all that time. The children are nine years old, and have not seen the sun since it came out seven years before for an hour.

And this was the way of life forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.

A girl named Margot came from Earth, and remembers the sun. The other children are angry because she has seen it and they haven’t. On the one day the sun comes out they decide to lock her in a closet, and she misses the few minutes of sun.

The story demonstrates that children are children, no matter the setting. The children are cruel to Margot because she is different, and because they are jealous. Due to their actions, she misses seeing the sun. Only then do the children regret what they have done

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ML Aggarwal ICSE Solutions for Class 6 Maths Chapter 9 Algebra

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ML Aggarwal ICSE Solutions for Class 6 Maths Chapter 9 Algebra

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Understanding ICSE Mathematics Class 6 ML Aggarwal Solutions Pdf Download Chapter 9 Algebra

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Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations

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Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Modern English Translation Meaning Annotations – ICSE Class 10 & 9 English

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Original Text
Act I Scene II

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 1

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 2

Modern English Reading
Act I Scene II

PORTIA : Honestly, Nerissa, my little body is weary of this great world.

NERISSA : You would be, sweet madam, if your miseries were as abundantas your good fortunes are; and yet, for all I see, they that are sick from over-eating are as sick as those that starve with nothing. It’s not an insignificant happiness, therefore, to be well situated in regard to financial resources: having more than enough comesat some time or other to old men, but having a sufficient income lasts longer.

PORTIA : Good sentences, and well said.

NERISSA : They would be better sentences, if you followed them well.

Word Meaning With Annotation

By my troth : A mild form of oath, surfeit : to be supplied with anything to excess, it is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean : Nerissa says, “It is no small happiness to be situated in a position mid-way between poverty and riches.” superfluity : the man who lives wastefully through excess of luxuries, comes sooner by : obtains more quickly, competency : the man who possesses just sufficient for a reasonably comfortable life, good sentences : fine opinions.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 3

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : If knowing what to do were as easy as knowing what was good to do, chapels would have been churches, and poor men’s cottages would have been princes’ palaces. It is a good prophet that follows his own instructions; It’s easier for me to teach twenty people what was good to do than to be one of that twenty and follow my own teaching. The brain may come up with laws to control society, but one hot temper jumps over a cold law; Madness the Youth is just such a jumper,: skipping over the nets of Good Advice the Cripple. But thinking this way is not the way to choose a husband for me. Oh, me, the word “choose!” I cannot choose someone I like or refuse someone I dislike; so is the behavior of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Isn’t it hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one or refuse none?

Word Meaning With Annotation

Chapels had been churches : a chapel is a church, which accommodates a small number of worshippers. Portia says that if it were as easy to follow out the moral ideal as it is merely to know about it, then there would be so many worshippers that all the small chapels would have to be replaced by big churches. It is a good divine : he is a good preacher. I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching : the general sense of the lines is that to obey instructions is twenty times more difficult than it is to give good instructions, brain : the reasoning powers; the mind, blood : passion; the desires of the body, such a hare is madness the youth, to skip o’er the meshes of good counsel the cripple : here madness typifies a reckless young man, while wisdom typifies an old man. The youth is as agile and active as a hare, while the old man is as feeble and slow as a lame man (cripple), in the fashion : of the proper type, would : would like; care for. nor refuse none : an example of Shakespeare’s double negative, which is used as being stronger than a single negative. We should expect “nor refuse one.’’

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 4

Modern English Reading

NERISSA : Your father was always a holy man, and holy men have good ideas when they die; so the lottery that he has thought up in these three chests, made of gold, of silver, and of lead, by means of which who ever chooses the right chest chooses you, will, no doubt, never be chosen by the right man except the one you shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affections towards any of these princes that have already come to try?

Word Meaning With Annotation

Have good inspirations : receive divine guidance, the lottery that he hath devised : “lottery” signifies the winning of a prize by drawing numbers or chances at random. The belief in olden times was that such a method was not decided by chance, but was directed by divine guidance and intervention, princely suitors : It has been thought that there is a topical reference in the mention of the “princely suitors” for the hand of Portia.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 5

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 6

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : Please say their names again, and, as you name them, i’ll describe them; and, according to my description, you can figureout how I feel about them.

NERISSA : First, there is the Neapolitan prince.

PORTIA : Yes, he’s a cunning fellow indeed, because he doesn’t do a thing but talk about his horse; and he makes it a great attribute to his own good qualities that he can shoe him himself, I am very afraid, my lady, his mother had an affair with a blacksmith.

NERISSA : Then there is the Count Palatine.

PORTIA : He doesn’t do a thing but frown, as someone would say, “If you will not have me, choose.” He hears happy tales and doesn’t smile: I’m afraid he will probably be the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of rude sadness in his youth. I would rather be married to a skull with a bone in his mouth than to either of these princes. God defend me from these two!

NERISSA : What do you have to say about the French lord, Monsieur Le Bon?

Word Meaning With Annotation

Over-name : name them over; read over their names, level at : conjecture; arrive at. appropriation to his own good parts : addition to his own merits, county Palatine : The count from Palatine, as who should say : just as if he were saying, an you will not have me, choose : Palatinate has an abrupt manner which infers, “If you do not want me, you can do whatever you like. I don’t care.” weeping philosopher : the old Greek philosopher, Heracleitos of Ephesus, who “wept at everything in the world.” death’s head with a bone in his mouth : the emblem of a skull with two bones crossed underneath was usually known as a “death’s head.” Portia speaks of a different type, of a grinning skull with a bone in its mouth, just as if it were smoking a pipe, monsieur Le Bon : The description which Portia gives of this character is a satire on the traditional, affected, vivacious Frenchman.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 7

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 8

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : God made him, and so let him pass for a man. Intruth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker, but him! Why, he has ahorse better than the Neapolitan’s, a better bad habit off rowning than the Count Palatine; he is every man in no man. If athrush sings, he starts dancing right away; he will fence with his own shadow; if I should refuse him, I would be refusing twenty husbands. If he would only despise me, I would forgive him, because if he loves me like crazy, I’ll never be able to return such love.

NERISSA : What do you say then about Falconbridge, the young baron of England?

PORTIA : You know I say nothing to him, because he doesn’t understand me, and I don’t understand him: He doesn’t know Latin, French, or Italian, and you will come into the court and swear that I only know a penny’s worth of English. He’s the picture of a proper man, but alas, who can talk with someone who can’t talk? How oddly he is dressed! I think he bought his shirt in Italy, his hose in France, his hatin Germany, and his behavior everywhere.

Word Meaning With Annotation

Throstle : name often applied to the common English bird, the thrush, falconbridge : the young English baron, is a good-humoured satire on the typical travelled Englishman of that time, pennyworth : very little knowledge, he is a proper man’s picture : he is certainly a man of fine appearance, dumb show : knowing no French, the young man had to converse by means of signs, his behaviour every where : he had acquired certain manners and customs from all the nations which he had visited.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 9

Modern English Reading

NERISSA : What do you think about the Scottish lord, his neighbor?

PORTIA : I think that he has neighborly charity in him, because he borroweda money box from the Englishman, and swore he would pay him again when he was able; I think the Frenchman became his guarantor and it was sealed by another.

Word Meaning With Annotation

The Scottish lord, his neighbour : King James I of Scotland had then ascended the throne of Great Britain, and it was thought advisable to change this lest it should give offence to the King, that he hath a neighbourly charity in him; for he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, and swore he would pay him again when he was able: I think the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed under for another : there was great jealousy between Scotland and England at this period, owing to the long wars and numerous causes of quarrel between the two countries. In order to please his audience, Shakespeare makes the Scotsman and Frenchman both deficient in courage, submitting to a blow from the Englishman without having the spirit to return it. The Frenchman became his surety: the Frenchman gave an assurance that the Scotsman would pay back the blow he had received, and sealed under for another : the language is such as would be used to describe the drawing up of an agreement between two countries. The actual document would contain the seal (in wax) of Scotland, while the French seal would also be placed under it.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 10

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 11

Modern English Reading

NERISSA : How do you like the young German, the Duke of Saxony’s nephew?

PORTIA : Very disgusting in the morning when he is sober, and most disgusting in the afternoon when he is drunk: when he is best, he isa little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast. If the worst that could happen happens, I hope I’llbe able to go on without him.

NERISSA : If he offers to choose, and chooses the right chest, you would be refusing to perform your father’s will, if your efused to accept him.

PORTIA : So, for fear of the worst, please set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the wrong chest; because if the devil were within the chest and that temptation on top of it, I know he will choose it. I will do anything, Nerissa, before I’ll be married to a sponge.

NERISSA : You don’t need to be afraid, lady, of having any of these lords; they have told me their intentions, which is indeed to go back to their homes, and to trouble you with no more suits, unless you may be won by some other way than your father’s command, that getting you depends on the chests.

Word Meaning With Annotation

When he is best : he is at his best, on the worst fall that ever fell : even the worst stroke of fortune that may befall me, I hope, will not be so bad that I cannot manage to get rid of him. Rhenish wine : wine made from grapes grown in the Rhine valley, on the contrary casket : on the wrong casket: the one which is opposite to the right one. if the devil be within and that temptation without, I know he will choose : for even if that casket contained the devil himself, he would risk opening it as long as there was such a strong temptation as a flask of wine outside, sponge : used to denote a drunkard, i.e., one who soaks up or absorbs liquor, some other sort : by some different method, your father’s imposition : the conditions imposed by your father.

Original Text

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 12

Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 2 Translation Meaning Annotations 13

Modern English Reading

PORTIA : If I live to be as old as Sibylla the witch, I’ll die as pure as Diana the goddess of purity, unless I am obtained by the letter of my father’s will.I am glad this batch of would be husbands are so reasonable; because there isn’tone of them that I am not foolishly in love with his very absence, and I pray God grant them a fair departure.

NERISSA : Don’t you not remember, lady, in your father’s time, a Venetian, ascholar and a soldier, that came here in the company of the Marquis of Montserrat?

PORTIA : Yes, yes, it was Bassanio, I think, or so he was called.

NERISSA : True, madam; he, that, of all the men that I have ever seen with my foolish eyes, was the most deserving of a beautiful lady.

PORTIA : I remember him well, and I remember him worthy of your praise.How is it now! What’s the news?

SERVINGMAN : The four strangers are looking for you, madam, to say their goodbyes,and there is a messenger come from a fifth, the Prince of Morocco, who brings word the Prince, his master, will be here tonight.

PORTIA : If I could welcome the fifth with as good a heart as I can bid the other four goodbye, I would be happy of his arrival; if he has the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I would rather he heard my confession than marry me. Come, Nerissa. Servant, go ahead of me. While we shut the gate on one would-be husband, another knocks at the door. [Exeunt]

Word Meaning With Annotation

Sibylla : this refers to Deiphobe, the traditional old woman of the ancient Romans. Apollo promised her that she would live as many years as there were grains in a handful of sand which she carried, as chaste as Diana : the classical goddess Diana is always used as typical of chastity. She was the goddess of hunting, and also of the moon, parcel of wooers : crowd of suitors, dote on : long for. marquis of Montferrat: this was the title of a high-bom Italian nobleman, who would possibly be known by this name in England, yes, yes, it was Bassanio; as I think, so was he called : it will be observed that Portia’s interest is awakened at once by the mention of Bassanio. Her manner here should be compared with the attitude of satire and mockery with which she heard of the other suitors. Shakespeare shows her as already in love with Bassanio. the four strangers seek for you, madam, to take their leave : we have already been told of six suitors staying at Belmont, and it is strange that only four are mentioned here. The most probable explanation is that two of the six were added to the play at a later date, and this line was not altered to correspond with the change, forerunner : one who runs before to announce the coming of his master, the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devn : a saintly character combined with a black colour. The Elizabethans were accustomed rather to seeing negro people than Moors, and the black skin of the pure negro was by no means admired. I had rather he should shrive me than wive me : I would rather have him as my priest, to administer spiritual comfort, than as a husband.

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes – The Heart of a Tree

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes – The Heart of a Tree – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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About the Poet

Henry Cuyler Bunner was born in Oswego, New York to Rudolph Bunner, Jr. (1813­1875) and Ruth Keating Tuckerman (1821-1896) and was educated in New York City.

From being a clerk in an importing house, he turned to journalism, and after working as a reporter, and on the staff of The Arcadian (1873), he became in 1877 an assistant editor of the comic weekly Puck. He soon assumed the editorship, which he held until his death. He developed Puck from a new struggling periodical into a powerful social and political organ. In 1886, he published a novel, The Midge, followed in 1887 by The Story of a New York House. But his best efforts in fiction were his short stories and sketches Short Sixes (1891), More Short Sixes (1894), Made in France (1893), Zadoc Pine and Other Stories (1891), Love in Old Clothes and Other Stories (1896), and Jersey Street and Jersey Lane (1896). His verses Airs from A ready and Elsewhere (1884), containing the well-known poem, The Way to Arcady; Rowen (1892); and Poems (1896), displaying a light play of imagination and a delicate workmanship. He also wrote clever parodies.

Bunner married Alice Learned (1863-1952), daughter of Joshua Coit Learned (1819— 1892), and granddaughter of Joshua Coit (1758-1798), U.S. Representative from Connecticut. Bunner died on May 11, 1896 in Nutley, New Jersey.

The position which Henry Cuyler Bunner has come to occupy in the literary annals of our time strengthens as the days pass. If the stream of his genius flowed in gentle rivulets, it traveled as far and spread its fruitful influence as wide as many a statelier river. He was above all things a poet. In his prose as in his verse he has revealed the essential qualities of a poet’s nature: he dealt with the life which he saw about him in a spirit of broad humanity and with genial sympathy.

The work upon which Bunner’s fame must rest was all produced within a period of less than fifteen years. He was born in 1855 at Oswego, New York. He came to the city of New York when very young, and received his education there. A brief experience of business life sufficed to make his true vocation clear, and at the age of eighteen he began his literary apprenticeship on the Arcadian. When that periodical passed away, Puck was just struggling into existence, and for the English edition, which was started in 1877, Bunner’s services were secured. Half of his short life was spent in editorial connection with that paper. To his wisdom and literary abilities is due in large measure the success which has always attended the enterprise. Bunner had an intimate knowledge of American character and understood the foibles of his countrymen; but he was never cynical, and his satire was without hostility. He despised opportune journalism. His editorials were clear and vigorous; free not from partisanship, but from partisan rancor, and they made for honesty and independence. His firm stand against political corruption, socialistic vagaries, the misguided and often criminal efforts of labor agitators, and all the visionary schemes of diseased minds, has contributed to the stability of sound and self-respecting American citizenship.

About the Poem

It is a poem which shows the poets affinity with nature. The Heart of the Tree also subtitled as an Arbor-day Song and was written in April 1893. It is a comment on the benefits of planting a tree. Divided into three stanzas the poem tells us about the various benefits of planting a tree. Each stanza opens with the same question: What does he plant who plants a tree? The poet then provides answers himself. He who plants a tree, plants many things: the gentle sunshine, cool, free breezes, beauty, music and harmony. He ensures cool shade and tender rain. The one who plants a tree is conscious about the well being and growth of his country and in fact leaves a invaluable legacy for future generations. The poet tells us that trees are a boon for our environment and are symbolic of innumerable things . He motivates us to plant trees.

Central Idea

Heart of Trees relates to the cycle of life that is very evident in the growth of a tree, which germinates in soil, grows and flourishes, then dies, decays and returns to the soil to support new saplings. Transformation is the central concept and reveals interest in the way that something exceptional can be produced from a simple beginning, that base matter can give life to something infinitely more elaborate. This relationship mirrors the pairing of body and soul, the body being material and limited in scope, and the soul being immaterial and boundless. As the tree grows we can imagine that it may either break the shackles of the body that surrounds it, or be smothered by it; a conflict that represents the relationship between body and soul.

The poem highlights the need to plant trees as it benefits all and sundry. A tree not only provides shade and cool breeze but it also is a legacy for future generations and binds the present to the future. It represents values like love and loyalty. One who plants trees not only ensures the development of his nation but also the peace and prosperity of the world. Thus, the poet tells us that planting a tree has ecological, social and economic advantages. In fact a tree according to him is a metaphor for peace, growth, beauty, harmony and prosperity.

Word Meanings

  1. Shaft – a ray of light or bolt of lightning, body of a spear or arrow, or similar.
  2. Towering – extremely tall, especially in comparison with the surroundings.
  3. Anigh – (archaic) near, close
  4. Croon – hum or sing in a soft, low voice, especially in a sentimental manner.
  5. Hushed – (of a voice or conversation) quiet and serious.
  6. Twilight – the soft glowing light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon, caused by the reflection of the sun’s rays from the atmosphere, ambiguity, or gradual decline.
  7. Treble – consisting of three parts; threefold.
  8. Days to be – days to come,future.
  9. Harmony – the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce a pleasing effect.
  10. Flush – (of a person’s skin, face, etc.) become red and hot, typically as the result of illness or strong emotion.
  11. Heritage – property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance.
  12. Harvest – reward
  13. Coming age – Coming of age is a young person’s transition from being a child to being an adult. The certain age at which this transition takes place changes in society, as does the nature of the change. … It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual or spiritual event, as practiced by many societies.
  14. Unborn eyes – unborn children
  15. Sap – the fluid which circulates in the vascular system of a plant, consisting chiefly of water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts.
  16. Far-cast – wide
  17. Civic – relating to a city or town, especially its administration; municipal.
  18. From sea to sea – all the world
  19. Stirs – moves, arouses a feeling.

Paraphrase

Stanza 1
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes - The Heart of a Tree 1

Paraphrase

When a man plants a tree he plants many things. He plants a congenial environment. A tree reduces temperature Wand purifies the atmosphere as it traps dust , pollen and smoke. It ensures cool and gentle breezes. Thus it is truly, ‘a friend of sun and sky.’ It makes a heaven on earth as a green place is truly a heaven. One who plants a tree provides safe haven for birds whose sweet crooning in silent and happy twilight delights us. One who plants a tree ensures peace, harmony and comfort for himself and others.

Stanza 2
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes - The Heart of a Tree 2

Paraphrase

What does he plant who plants a tree? A simple answer. One who plants a tree provides cool shade in summer and tender rain in all seasons which are essential for existence of life on this planet. A tree gives us seeds which sprout, and buds which bloom in times to come. It is a forest heritage as one tree leads to a whole forest in the future and a’ harvest of a coming age or in other words a reward and legacy for the future in the form of wood and a congenial environment. It provides benefits in the present and in the times to come. In fact it provides a link between us and our future generations.

Stanza 3
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes - The Heart of a Tree 3

Paraphrase

When a tree is planted many benefits accrue. Values like love and loyalty are planted in the form of a tree. We learn to nurture and grow with love. The there is a civic good in planting a tree. It benefits the neighbours around. A county’s growth and development depends on the wealth of its trees. One who plants a tree is aware about this fact as a ‘nation’s growth from sea to sea Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.’ Thus the world prosperity and peace is represented in the planting of a tree.

Summary

The poet emphasises the advantages of planting a tree. In every stanza he poses the question, ‘What does he plant who plants a tree?’ And the answer he simply provides is that the one who plants a tree ensures cool shade and tender rain in summer. The planting of a tree makes the atmosphere fresh and pollution free giving peace and comfort not only to the one who plants a tree but to all and sundry.

The poet the repeats his question and answers that one who plants a tree provides cool shade in summer and tender rain in all seasons which are essential for existence of life on this planet. A tree gives us seeds which sprout, and buds which bloom in times to come. It is a forest heritage as one tree leads to a whole forest in the future and a’ harvest of a coming age or in other words a reward and legacy for the future in the form of wood and a congenial environment. It is a link of the present to the future.

Finally the poet says that Values like love and loyalty are planted in the form of a tree. We learn to nurture and grow with love. The there is a civic good in planting a tree. It benefits the neighbours around. A county’s growth and development depends on the wealth of its trees. Thus the poet feels that the planting of a tree leads to social, ecological and economic growth and prosperity and is a metaphor for peace, harmony, growth and pollution free environment.

Critical Appreciation

The message is that a tree is more symbolic than meets the eye. It is a heart, and whenever a heart is planted it will sprout into beaming life, and will create new life! Trees are a fundamental image for alchemists. The roots are in dead matter, minerals, earth, and they are able to create life. The trunk is like a bridge; and the branches are a link to the cosmos. The philosophical tree was represented as growing out of a man’s sex and a woman’s head. Alchemists claimed that when humans died, dead matter gave birth to a new life. The tree was a metaphor for transformation.

The poet uses similes and metaphors to describe what a tree. He uses literary devices like metaphors, alliteration and imagery in the poem. The poet describes the tree metaphorically: ‘a friend of sun and sky,’ ‘the flag of breezes free.’

He uses alliteration when he says: He plants a friend of sun and sky.
In hushed and happy twilight heard’
Visual Imagery is used in the poem: The shaft of beauty, towering high:, ‘ the flag of breezes free. ’ And auditory imagery is also used : ‘For song and mother-croon of bird.”

Repetition is used to show how a person should feel after he/she plants a tree. The first line of the poem, “What does he plant who plants a tree?” is repeated three times, and is followed by, “These things he plants who plants a tree,” which is repeated twice, and on the last line it says, “A nation’s growth from sea to sea (new line) Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.” All put together it tells you that this man thinks that planting a tree is like planting a new nation and it will bring peace and harmony to the Earth!

The tone of the poem is rhetorical and motivating. The rhyme scheme is ababbccda, ababbccaa, ababbccaa.The poem is in the form of a short lyric consisting of three stanzas. It creates good rhythm and music and like a good lyric incorporates only a single emotion and appeals to our hearts at once.

Though the poem was written many years ago when there was little importance given to ecology and environment yet it is relevant today also because it tells us that trees are an integral and important part of our ecological and economic growth and environmental well -being. In our times forests are being decimated for building houses, roads and bridges. Trees seem to attract none of our concern. But in the poem the poet draws our attention to the advantages of planting trees. He rightly says that one who plants trees, plants many things: beauty, peace, shade, harmony and good values.

The tree is used as a symbol of all the good in our lives. It symbolises peace and prosperity in our country and in the world. It teaches the vales of love and loyalty. It symbolises rich rewards for our future generations and represents a link of our present with the future. It stands as a symbol of growth, prosperity and harmony.

The title of the poem is very apt and suggestive. The tree is the main focus in the poem and the poet refers to the heart of the tree. What kind of heart is it- it is generous, loving and magnanimous. It shows no discrimination based on colour or creed. It blesses all alike- all who take care of it and even those who neglect it. Whenever a tree is planted it turns the earth into a heaven and the poet rightly says:

The shaft of beauty, towering high:
He plants a home to heaven anigh.
Thus the poet in his lyrical poem motivates us to plant trees for our own and the world’s development and harmony.

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 2 Notes -The Cold Within

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 2 Notes – The Cold Within – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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About the the Poem

The Cold Within” was written in the 1960s by an American poet known as James Patrick Kinney.lt has appeared in countless church bulletins, web sites and teaching seminars, as well as magazines and newspapers. According to the poet’s widow, he submitted the poem first to the Saturday Evening Post, but it was rejected as “too controversial for the time”. Kinney sent it later to Liguorian, a Catholic magazine, which was the first commercial publication to print it.

According to Timothy Kinney (the poet’s son), the poem was originally read at an ecumenical council meeting, after which the ministers, priests and rabbis in attendance requested copies of it. They read the poem to their congregations and, before long, “The Cold Within” became well known throughout the United States. According to James Patrick Kinney’s son, the poem is in the public domain. A short and sweet poem written by James Patrick Kinney in the 60’s that gives an extreme euphemism for the consequences of racism.

About the Poet

The late James P. Kinney fueled by a sense of justice, and wanted to change the world for the better. With this motive in mind he wrote his most famous poem, “The Cold Within ”, which is a simple, straightforward and powerful poem. It also describes the man who wrote it. When you understand the man, you’ll see why he wrote the poem. Thanks to Timothy Kinney, James Kinney’s son, we have insight into the man behind this now- classic poem:

The poet talks about Cheviot, Ohio, which is a township on the west side of Cincinnati,Ohio. There was still a law on the books there that a black person was not allowed on the streets of the city after dark. This was during the civil rights movement. The poet and a group of men from his church felt that this was an outrage, so they approached the City Council to have the law abolished. They were told that, since there were no black families in Cheviot, any black person on the streets after dark was obviously up to no good, so the law would remain. My father’s group found a family of black activists who were willing to move to Cheviot. They helped them move in and tried to make them feel at home. Then they approached the City Council again and said “under the new circumstances, the law must be changed.”

The City Council changed the law, but they were not very happy about it. The poet I    was really unhappy with the community and the way they reacted to the change, so he pulled out and shared with the community a poem he had written during the early years .of the civil right movement; it was “The Cold Within”, a parable about the things that separate us and how the coldness in men’s hearts is a kind of death. The message was  so powerful, the poem took on a life of its own. The poem beautifully captured the futility and stupidity of racism and bigotry. Helping out someone you hate can be one of the hardest things that you have to face, and when you are put in that situation what would you do? Could you be brave enough to save someone you despise in order to save yourself? In “The Cold Within”, James Patrick Kinney uses diction, figurative language,and rhyme to project his point that prejudices controlling people’s lives and actions.

     Central Idea

The Cold within refers to the lack of feelings for or hatred of , others which is a unforgivable sin. Many of us fall a prey to this coldness or hatred within our hearts due to racial discrimination or hatred and this leads to our doom. This prejudice may result due to race, colour, creed, caste or region. It changes our thinking and corrupts us making us mean, cruel, greedy or unkind. Six men in the poem had a stick each and could have kept the fire going by relinquishing their sticks and all would have been saved. But the frigidity of their hearts prevented them from saving the others. This is the major theme that the colness in men’s heart is a kind of death.

Word Meanings

  1. Trapped – caught in a difficult and inescapable situation.
  2. Happenstance – chance, here refers to an event which seems to be pre-arranged and not accidental.
  3. Stick of wood – small log of wood.
  4. Back – did not give up.
  5. Black – of African origin.
  6. Not of his church – person of different religion.
  7. Bring himself to give – force himself to give something
  8. Tattered clothes – rags.
  9. Gave his coat a hitch – tightened his coat, symbolic of his meanness.
  10. Idle rich – the rich who do not work hard but thrive on the labour of the poor.
  11. Lazy – who shirks work.
  12. Shiftless – without ambition to succeed in life.
  13. Bespoke – showed.
  14. Spite – hatred.
  15. Forlorn – lonely.
  16. Nought – nothing
  17. Gain – profit.
  18. Cold without – cold weather outside.
  19. Cold within – lack of human feelings like kindness, generosity, selflessness, etc.

Paraphrase

Six people were trapped in the cold and it was dark. Each possessed one stick of wood, and their fire was dying. This is how the story is told.

The first man saw a black man in the group and did not want to give his stick because it would save the black man’s life.

The second who had a birch stick, didn’t want to help the other-religion person who did not belong to his church.

The third man didn’t want to use his little stick to warm the rich; he was very poor and so hated the rich.

The fourth man was rich and wanted to keep his great amount of money away from the undeserving, lazy poor people. The fifth man-a black wanted revenge from the white people- he wanted to hurt the white people somehow, so he kept his stick

The sixth man didn’t receive any help from the others since none of them gave up their stick, so he wouldn’t either since they didn’t.

They all kept their sticks,tightly clutched in their hands and this was a proof of their human sin of hate and racism. As a result they all died but it was not the cold outside which killed them but the cold and hate in their hearts for each other that killed them.

Summary

The people in this poem illustrate the coldness within and how destructive it is and how it works. The poem as a whole is about the need for human beings to tolerate one another. It speaks of how hatred of other people because of their race or religion or some other characteristic ends up hurting all people. We are introduced to the basic setting – ^ – there are six people around a fire, each with a stick of wood. The second stanza shows us the first instance of bigotry. One of the people notices that another of the six is black. He did not put his log in the fire because he did not want to help a black person. The second man is a bigot and does not want to help the man who was not from his religion. The poor man did not want to help the idle rich and the rich did not want to share with the poor. The black wanted to take revenge from the white and the consequence of all this feelings of hate, revenge and religious bigotry was that none of them gave his stick to keep the fire going. Thus the fire died and they too died of the cold, each a prisoner of the hate within, the coldness of their hearts which killed all of them. Having a log still in their hand shows that they kept it back (sinning, being unkind). The cold outside did not kill them (for if they gave up their sticks, they would all live), the cold sins in their minds led to their death.

Critical Appreciation

‘A Cold Within’ is a short and sweet poem written by James Patrick Kinney in the 60’s that gives an extreme euphemism for the consequences of racism The poem is a parable- that is a story with a moral. It is so because the pet is trying to bring home a very important lesson to his readers. The six men die not because of the cold weather but because of the cold within-the hatred, racism, prejudice, revenge and arrogance. In the beginning, the poem unwraps as a story or a tale. The author uses negative language   ‘idle,’ ‘lazy’, ‘shiftless’. The people in this poem illustrate the coldness within and how destructive it is and how it works. These six people have a fire keeping them all alive. If even one would have relinquished his stick to feed the dying flame, then they would ; have all survived. However, each of them was held back by a sin:

1st: prejudice – He didn’t want to save the black man
2nd: intolerance – He did not want support one of another religion
3rd: bitterness and envy – He felt that it would be unjust for her, a poor person, to give ; what little he had to warm the others who had more than she.
4th: greed, stinginess – He felt that he earned what he got and that the poor were poor because they were lazy, thus meaning he shouldn’t give anything to help the undeserving (in his opinion).
5th: …spite, – The black man knew that he could save the white people, but he didn’t,feeling vindicated.
6th: lack of generosity – He would only give to those who gave first.

The line that Kinney starts his poem with is “six humans trapped by happenstance”. His diction in this line is very important to the overall theme of the poem. By saying “six  humans”, it is almost as if he is talking about all humans. If he would have said “people” then we might have different associations with the words. Another curious use of diction is by saying “trapped in happenstance”. Happenstance means an event that might have been arranged although it is accidental. This use of diction is important because by saying that it is accidental, yet almost seems arranged, gives the reader a sense that they are supposed to be there. The fact that he says they are trapped suggests that they do not  want to be in the situation, but they cannot escape.

Figurative language plays a vital role in developing the poems theme. “Their dying fire in need of logs” literally means the fire that is keeping them warm, but also stands as a metaphor for their sinful souls. They are committing sins such as racism, envy, arrogance, revenge, and greed. By saying they need to add logs to the fire suggest that they need to help out someone other than themselves, or they will “freeze” to death. Opening up and not being greedy will warm their souls and will save them, unfortunately it has overcome them and is an impossibility.

The poet uses various literary devices. Symbols are used extensively. Each log of wood is suggestive of a sin. If the logs of wood are put into the fire it would mean helping out someone , other than one’s own self. But if they are held on as they are, it means holding onto sins even beyond death. Each man’s prejudice- greed, envy, arrogance, revenge, spite, intolerance – are represented symbolically by the stick held by each man. The cold within is a metaphor for lack of warm – heartedness, selfishness, hard-heartedness and inability to reach out to others.

The rhyme of the poems sets up an easy read. Each stanza having four lines has the rhyme scheme of abcb. This allows for your eyes to simply glide and take in Kinney’s message: the frigidity of people is what ends up killing them. The rhythm is important to the theme of the story because it makes reading the poem faster. This is important because this indirectly shows how fast arrogance, greed, and sin can “kill” anyone.

The poet effectively portrays his point about hatred killing by using diction, figurative language, and rhyme. His persuasion in this poem is really helpful in understanding the entirety behind his point. This poem really makes you think about yourself and the lengths to which you would go to either hurt someone else, or save yourself. His tone seems condemning, scornful. Also, it seems to be warning you somewhat about the results of a cold heart.

Thus it was not the cold which led to their death but the cold of hate and racism and bitterness which killed all of them. The poet emphasises the idea that it is the coldness within men’s hearts which leads to their death and doom.

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