Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 10 Notes – Nine Gold Medals 

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 10 Notes -Nine Gold Medals – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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About the Poem

Sports is not only about winning medals. They are also about learning the values of cooperation, sharing, competing and complementing. In this poem ‘Nine Gold Medals’, the poet, David Roth has presented the idea of empathy and how human values are as important as the spirit of competition. The poem presents the situation of a race, where the contestants leave aside their desire to win the medal to help a smaller and weaker contestant.

They all go hand-in-hand to the finishing line. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s experience from his point of view. Simply stated, empathy is the ability to ‘put oneself in another’s shoes’. That is exactly what the eight contestants had done. One look at the fallen contestant had forced them to think ‘what would I have felt if I had fallen?’ and they knew exactly what they had to do. By awarding gold medals to all nine contestants, the authorities honoured their display of empathy, helpful nature and human values.

About the Poet

Kerrville New Folk award winner (1986), landslide top vote-getter at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s ‘Most Wanted Showcase’ (1996), and NAIRD INDIE nominee – Digging Through My Closet, singer/songwriter album of the year (1994), David Roth has often been cited for his entertaining stage presence, accomplished musicianship, and powerful singing and subject matter.

David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. In 2007, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Roth is best known as the original (1974-1985) and current (2006- present) lead singer of the Southern California-based hard rock band Van Halen. He is also known as a successful solo artist, releasing numerous RIAA-certified Gold and Platinum records. After more than two decades apart, Roth re-joined Van Halen in 2006 for a North American tour that became the highest grossing in the band’s history and one of the highest grossing of that year. In 2012, Roth and Van Halen released the critically successful comeback album, A Different Kind of Truth.

In addition to performing at music festivals, clubs and venues across the U.S. and Canada, David leads singing, songwriting, and performance workshops and is a presenter and emcee at a wide variety of conferences and retreats. He has been the artist-in ­residence for several years at New York’s Omega Institute, one of the country’s leading adult education centers, and has recorded six albums of his work.

Central Idea

Sports is not only about winning medals. They are also about learning the values of cooperation, sharing, competing and complementing. In this poem ‘Nine Gold Medals’, the poet, David Roth has presented the idea of empathy and how human values are as important as the spirit of competition. The poem presents the situation of a race, where the contestants leave aside their desire to win the medal to help a smaller and weaker contestant. They all go hand-in-hand to the finishing line.

Word Meanings

  1. Spectators – (here)persons watching especially an event or sports without taking part
  2. Block – the two starting blocks on the ground that runners push their feet against at the beginning of a race
  3. Resolved – determined
  4. Poised – ready
  5. Pistol – (here) a starting pistol used to signal the start of a race
  6. Stumbled – (here) hit his foot against something when he began to run and almost fell
  7. Staggered – lost balance
  8. Asphalt – black tarred road
  9. Anguish – pain and disappointment
  10. Dashed – destroyed

Paraphrase

The hundred-yard race is about to begin. The athletes take position at the starting blocks. They begin to run immediately after the starting pistol is fired. However, one of them is unable to run and falls on the track. The action has begun and already one episode has taken place. Notice how eight contestants are strong and run forward, while the ninth, who is the smallest, falls down. He cries out with the pain of disappointment. He has trained hard but does not get the opportunity to show his talent. All his dreams of winning the medal are broken and destroyed.

When the remaining eight contestants saw him fall, they, instead of continuing the race, came to the help of their fellow contestant. All the athletes had dreamt of winning the medal. However, they readily for got their dream and came forward to help the boy to his feet. Then all the nine contestants walked hand-in-hand to the finish line. The audience was so moved by the exemplary behaviour of the contestants that it stood up and clapped. There were now nine winners, instead of one, and each was given a gold medal. All the contestants displayed empathy turning the Special Olympics into a really ‘special’ one.

      Summary

Olympics are held once every four years. Athletes from all over the world train hard to participate in this event. Winning a medal in the Olympics is the ultimate goal of every athlete of the world. However, the setting or the scene of this poem is that of ‘Special Olympics’. In these Olympics, differently-abled persons, who have some problem/s in a particular part of the body, participate in various sports events. The contestants put in a lot of preparation and practice. Everyone hopes to win a medal. The spectators are as excited as the contestants. They cheer and encourage the contestants.

Of all the events in Olympics, the hundred-meter race is the most prestigious. The athlete, who wins it, is remembered as the fastest man in the world. So, for Special Olympics mentioned in the poem this is the final event, hence the most prestigious. The hundred-yard race is about to begin. The athletes take position at the starting blocks. They begin to run immediately after the starting pistol is fired. However, one of them is unable to run and falls on the track. The action has begun and already one episode has taken place. Notice how eight contestants are strong and run forward, while the ninth, who is the smallest, falls down. He cries out with the pain of disappointment. He has trained hard but does not get the opportunity to show his talent. All his dreams of winning the medal are broken and destroyed.

When the remaining eight contestants saw him fall, they, instead of continuing the race, came to the help of their fellow contestant. All the athletes had dreamt of winning the medal. However, they readily for got their dream and came forward to help the boy to his feet. Then all the nine contestants walked hand-in-hand to the finish line. The audience was so moved by the exemplary behaviour of the contestants that it stood up and clapped. There were now nine winners, instead of one, and each was given a gold medal. All the contestants displayed empathy turning the Special Olympics into a really ‘special’ one. Empathy is the capacity to understand another person’s experience from his point of view. Simply stated, empathy is the ability to ‘put oneself in another’s shoes’. That is exactly what the eight contestants had done. One look at the fallen contestant had forced them to think ‘what would I have felt if I had fallen?’ and they knew exactly what they had to do. By awarding gold medals to all nine contestants, the authorities honoured their display of empathy, helpful nature and human values.

Critical Appreciation

Alliteration

  1. In a line in stanza 4, the consonant sound /s/ has been repeated in order to bring about a musical effect.
    But the smallest among them, he stumbled and staggered.
    This repetition of the same sound is called alliteration.
    Here the sound /s/ has been repeated. Find another such line from stanza 5.
  2. No specific rhyme scheme has been followed in the poem. Yet the poem has a rhythm of its own. Read it aloud to feel the rhythm. Here are a few examples.
    • And a banner above that said ‘Special Olympics’
      Could not have been more on the mark.
    • And a standing ovation and nine beaming faces
      Said more than these words ever will.

(stanza 8)

  1. Poetry says a lot in a few words. Here too, the poet has used the technique of not expressing directly and encouraging the readers to infer meanings on their own.

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes Chief Seattle’s Speech

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 1 Notes Chief Seattle’s Speech – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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Introduction

Over the years, Chief Seattle’s famous speech has been embellished, popularized, and carved into many a monument, but its origins have remained inadequately explained. Understood as a symbolic encounter between indigenous America, represented by Chief Seattle, and industrialized or imperialist America, represented by Isaac L Stevens, the first governor of Washington Territory, it was first published in a Seattle newspaper in 1887 by a pioneer who claimed he had heard Seattle (or Sealth) deliver it in the 1850s. No other record of the speech has been found, and Isaac Stevens’s writings do not mention it. Yet it has long been taken seriously as evidence of a voice crying out of the wilderness of the American past.

About the Author

Seattle was a great speaker and skilled diplomat. Born in 1786, his real name, in the Lushootseed language, was See-ahth, which the whites found nearly impossible to pronounce.

Seattle’s mother Sholeetsa was Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) and his father Shweabe was chief of the Dkhw’Suqw’Absh (the Suquamish tribe). Seattle was bom around 1780 on or near Blake Island, Washington. Seattle grew up speaking both the Duwamish and Suquamish dialects.

Seattle earned his reputation at a young age as a leader and a warrior, ambushing and defeating groups of tribal enemy raiders. Like many of his contemporaries, he owned slaves captured during his raids. He was tall and broad for a Puget Sound native, standing nearly six feet tall; Hudson’s Bay Company traders gave him the nickname Le Gros (The Big Guy). He was also known as an orator, and when he addressed an audience, his voice is said to have carried from his camp to the Stevens Hotel at First and Marion, a distance of 3/4 mile (1.2 km)

Seattle was also a warrior with a considerable reputation for daring raids on other Indian tribes. After smallpox wiped out many of his people, he realized the inevitablity of the coming tide of white settlement. In 1854, he made his speech on the differences between the Indian way of life and white way of life to more than a thousand of his people gathered to greet the Government’s Indian superintendent, Isaac Stevens. A year later, the chief signed a treaty with the United States Government, ceding much of the area on which the city of Seattle now stands. Most historians agree that the speech was delivered in the Salish dialect. Dr Henry A. Smith is believed to have taken notes and translated it into English. Thus it is Dr Smith’s version published in 1887 which is referred to mostly.

He died in 1866, at the age of 80, one year after the city named for him passed a law making it illegal for Indians to live in Seattle.

About the Story

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding Chief Seattle’s speech of 1854. There are many sources of information, various versions of the speech, and debates over its very existence.

The National Archives contains two short documents attributed to Seattle. In both, he talks about accepting the treaty and how his people are looking forward to receiving the things promised by the government.

Mr. Buerge said he believed the Smith translation, which mentioned nothing about the whites ravaging the environment, is close, in spirit at least, to what Seattle really said.

By most accounts, the speech was stirring, carried by the chief’s strong voice.

Even the date and location of the speech has been disputed, but the most common version is that on March 11, 1854, Sealth gave a speech at a large outdoor gathering in Seattle. The meeting had been called by Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens to discuss the surrender or sale of native land to white settlers. Doc Maynard introduced Stevens, who then briefly explained his mission, which was already well understood by all present.

Sealth then rose to speak. He rested his hand upon the head of the much smaller Stevens, and declaimed with great dignity for an extended period. No one alive today knows what he said; he spoke in the Lushootseed language, and someone translated his words into Chinook Indian trade language, and a third person translated that into English.

The speech given by Chief Seattle in January of 1854 is the subject of a great deal of historical debate. The most important fact to note is that there is NO VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT IN EXISTENCE. All known texts are second-hand.

Version 1 appeared in the Seattle Sunday Star on Oct. 29, 1887, in a column by Dr. Henry A. Smith. He makes it very clear that his version is not an exact copy, but rather the best he could put together from notes taken at the time. There is an undecided historical argument on which native dialect the Chief would have used, Duwamish or Suquamish. Either way all agree the speech was translated into the Chinook Jargon on the spot, since Chief Seattle never learned to speak English.

Version 2 was written by poet William Arrowsmith in the late 1960s. This was an attempt to put the text into more current speech patterns, rather than Dr. Smith’s more flowery Victorian style. Except for this modernization, it is very similar to Version 1.

Version 3 is perhaps the most widely known of all. This version was written by Texas professor Ted Perry as part of a film script. The makers of the film took a little literary license, further changing the speech and making it into a letter to President Franklin Pierce, which has been frequently reprinted. No such letter was ever written by or for Chief Seattle.                                                         ‘

Version 4 appeared in an exhibit at Expo ’74 in Spokane, Washington, and is a shortened edition of Dr. Perry’s script (Version 3).

The best description of the saga of Chief Seattle’s speech can be found in an essay by Rudolf Kaiser: “Chief Seattle’s Speech(es): American Origins and European Reception” published in Recovering the Word: Essays on Native American Literature by the University of California Press, 1987. Another excellent discussion appears in David Buerge’s article “Seattle’s King Arthur: How Chief Seattle continues to inspire his many admirers to put words in his mouth,” appearing in the July 17, 1991 Seattle Weekly.

Plot

  1. Seattle delivers speech in Washington in 1854.
  2. He thanked the white Chief for his greetings and friendship.
  3. He accepted the White Chief’s proposition and says it was just.
  4. Speaks about their ecological and Native American’s land rights.
  5. Appeals to the White people to be kind and just to the natives.
  6. Wants the assurance of protection of his people by the whites.
  7. Offers greetings and friendship to the White people.

Theme

Through the speech that Chief Seattle delivered in Washington in 1854 in Suquamish language he attempted to forward a message of reconciliation and friendship to the White people. He spoke about their ecological responsibilities and respect for the native people. He felt that their hostilities should end and they should live in harmony. The White Chief should take the responsibility of protecting the natives. The native people in return agreed to live on the land marked for them. Seattle strikes a note of optimism when he accepted that the proposition made by the Whites appeared just. But as he is slightly apprehensive, he puts the condition that the natives should be allowed to visit the graves of their ancestors whenever they so wished. This is how the author puts forward the theme of respect for elders and value of the traditions of their race.

Highlights of Speech/or Summary

Chief Seattle delivered his speech at Washington in 1854 saying that whatever Seattle said, the Great Chief at Washington could rely upon with as much certainty as he could upon the return of the sun or the seasons.

He sends greetings of friendship and goodwill and thanks the White chief for their friendship in return. His people were many. They were like the grass that covered vast prairies. Seattle had few people. The White Chief had sent word that he wished to buy their land but was willing to allow them enough to live comfortably. This indeed appeared just, even generous.

There was a time Seattle’s people covered the land but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that were now but a mournful memory. Youth is impulsive and young men often grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and are often cruel and relentless, and their old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it was when the white man began to push the native’s forefathers ever westward. But he hoped that the hostilities between them may never return as there would be everything to lose and nothing to gain.

Seattle then referred to George Washington as —‘our great and good father,’ who promised the natives that if they do as he desires he would protect them. But native God is not the coloniser’s God! The coloniser’s god was partial and could not renew the native’s prosperity and awaken in them dreams of returning greatness. They are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies. There is little in common between them.

The ashes of their ancestors were sacred to the natives and their resting place is hallowed ground.

The native’s dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man. However, he agrees that the white man’s proposition seems fair and the natives would accept it and retire to the reservation offered to them. Then they would live apart in peace. Grim fate seems to be on the Red Man’s trail., He compared the native’s plight to that of the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter.

He agreed to accept the white man’s proposition on the condition that they would not be denied the privilege of visiting at any time the tombs of their ancestors, friends, and children.

He appealed to the white man to be just and deal kind to his people.

Character

Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle is a prominent and respected member of the Suquamish tribe. His people accept the decisions he makes. He is their leader. Seattle’s mother Sholeetsa was Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) and his father Shweabe was chief of the Dkhw’Suqw’Absh (the Suquamish tribe). Seattle was born around 178C on or near Blake Island, Washington. Seattle grew up speaking both the Duwamish and Suquamish dialects.

Seattle earned his reputation at a young age as a leader and a warrior, ambushing and defeating groups of tribal enemy raiders. Like many of his contemporaries, he owned slaves captured during his raids. He was tall and broad for a Puget Sound.native, standing nearly six feet tall; Hudson’s Bay Company traders gave him the nickname Le Gros (The Big Guy). He was also known as an orator, and when he addressed an audience, his voice is said to have carried from his camp to the Stevens Hotel at First and Marion, a distance of 3/4 mile (1.2 km). Seattle was also a warrior with a considerable reputation for daring raids on other Indian tribes.

He was wise enough to understand that the White colonisers were powerful and the only option his people had was to agree to their proposition. So he agreed but also made a condition that the White Chief take the responsibility of protecting his people and allowing them to visit the graves of their ancestors. This showed that he loved and respected the traditions.

Title

The title, Chief Seattle’s Speech is apt and suggestive because it is a rendition of his views about the White people, his apprehensions and his reconciliation for the sake of the survival of his people. He speaks about the proposition made by the White Chief. His acknowledgement of the friendship, his fears for the safety and survival of his people and about their ecological responsibility.

Setting

Chief Seattle delivered his speech at Washington in 1854 saying that whatever Seattle said, the Great Chief at Washington could rely upon with as much certainty as he could upon the return of the sun or the seasons.

Chief Seattle’s speech was originally addressed to Governor Issac Stevens. Seattle claimed the rare opportunity to address Euro-American representations of American Indians to express his love for his land. Governor Issac Stevens spoke to them about what later came to be called the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, which was a land treaty between the United States Government and the Native American Tribes of the area in the Washington Territory formed in 1853. The speech was a reaction to the proposition of the White settlers to buy the land of the natives and settle them on a small part of it.

Style

Few speeches have captured the imagination of both Europeans and Americans as Chief Seattle’s legendary address has. It was originally made in the Suquamish language as Chief Seattle could not speak English. Reputedly delivered in the 1850s to Isaac Stevens, the governor of the Washington Territory, it took on a life of its own in the late 20th century when several different versions, many with an emphasis on the environment, surfaced.

Chief Seattle shares his precious land’s memories by forming two different tones. Chief Seattle creates a passionate and a sorrowful tone through diction and imagery. He made his speech passionate and sorrowful to move the audience’s heart and hoping that the people would take care of the land like the chief did.

The first part of Seattle’s speech of the land is packed with memories and what they mean to his people. He says that if he sells the land everybody must remember that they should treat “every” part of the land as if they were their “brothers”. The tone of his words is sorrowful because he focused on what he’s going to lose, the things and values that are precious to him – everything in his memory, his brothers.

Every detail of the land, part of the land came from his memories. Seattle uses detailed words or imagery such as every “shining” pine needle, every “humming” insect, and every “perfumed” flower. Seattle uses detailed words to describe a scene that had impacted him. His imagery centers and puts deeper meanings to his speech that he is going to miss the land.

The second part of Seattle’s speech presents is not his memory – it is what Seattle wants the inherent of the land to do and not to do and what the land means to him. He says to love and to care for the land because it is precious to everyone and all things are united and harming the land is the same thing as to have contempt for its creator. The tone of his words is passionate because the land is very precious to him and he wants everyone to take care of the land. Seattle uses repetition of “love” and “care” in the sentence: “love it as we have loved it, care for it as we have cared for it.” Repeating the two words emphasizes them and it makes it sound that he is really passionate about the land. Seattle says that “No man, be he Red Man or White Man can be apart.”

His speech abounds in similes and metaphors.
Similes : ‘My words are like the stars that never change.’
‘Our people are ebbing like a rapidly receding tide that will never return.’
Metaphor : He calls his God, ‘the Great Spirit.
Thus we can say that in his speech he adopts a style that is literary, straightforward and emotionally stirring.

Critical Appreciation

Controversy surrounds the speech Chief Seattle delivered in 1855 during a land treaty negotiation with Governor Issac Stevens. On one hand, we worship Seattle’s eloquent words for their unique insight on the Native American perspective. On the other hand, debate rages over the authenticity of the speech’s only existing recording, a reproduction produced by Dr. Henry Smith thirty years after the event. Many facts about Smith’s situation still remain clouded.

Despite the mystery surrounding this famous speech, its contents can be understood in terms of what Mary Louis Pratt calls a “contact zone.” In Pratt’s article “Arts of the Contact Zone,” she introduces this zone as the chaotic space in which cultures collide. Essential features of the contact zone include autoethnography, the representation of one’s own culture that responds to representations made by others, and transculturation, the selective absorption of the dominant culture by a marginal group. These features of autoethnography and transculturation emerge prominently in Chief Seattle’s speech, shedding more insight on the interactions between the Native Americans and the Euro-Americans; however, in the context of the unique circumstances surrounding the text, Seattle’s speech ultimately demonstrates the inherent dangers of representation and misrepresentation in the contact zone.

Under the assumption that Smith’s recreation of the speech accurately translates Chief Seattle’s original speech, the text qualifies as an autoethnography of the Native American people.

Traditional Euro-American representations of the American Indians consistently degraded them to the level of “savages.” From the beginning of their contact, Europeans contrasted their civilization with the savageness of the Indians.

This view of the beastly, godless, and devil-worshipping nature of the Indians continued for a vast part of the contact, shaping the violent interactions between the natives and the settlers. This view also led to the notion that the Native Americans had no claim to the land. The continual claiming of Indian land, even to the time of the Chief Seattle’s land negotiation with Governor Stevens in Washington, demonstrates the widespread acceptance of Gray’s view among the Euro-Americans. In his speech, Chief Seattle counters these Euro-American representations of the Native Americans. In response to the portrayals of savageness and godlessness, he emphasizes the nobility and religiousness of his people.

In particular, Chief Seattle condemns the violence that occurred between the two races and elevates his people above the mutual savagery. Seattle acknowledges the involvement of his race in the statement, “Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry… they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them” However, he carefully creates the distinction between the “impulsive” youth and the wiser “old men and old women” who wish for peace, displaying the complexity within Indian society. Chief Seattle also points out that the Euro-Americans were equally at fault for the violence. He refers to the time “when the white man began to push our forefathers ever westward” and how his “paleface brothers [hastened] our untimely decay”. While acknowledging the violence, Seattle suggests that his “paleface brothers” were the true savages who slaughtered vast numbers of Indians during the westward push. Meanwhile, Seattle expresses his “hope that the hostilities… never return”, given the extent that they have hurt his people. In doing so, he completes the reversal of representations; the Euro-Americans are the barbarians waging war while the Natives are the victims begging for peace.

Chief Seattle also responds to the charge of “godlessness” circulated by the conquerors by comparing his religion with Christianity. He exclaims, ‘Your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine! … If we have a common Heavenly Father He must be partial, for He came to His paleface children. We never saw Him. He gave you laws but had no word for His red children.’

These statements highlight the absurdity of expecting the American Indians, having been isolated from the Europeans for thousands of years, to have adopted the same  religion. In place of Christianity, Seattle introduces the religion of his people: “Our religion is the tradition of our ancestors… ”. He points out several areas in which his religion is superior to Christianity. He says, “Your religion was written upon tablets of stone… so that you could not forget… Our religion… is written in the hearts of our people” . Similarly, “Your dead cease to love you… Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being”. These comparisons pose a direct challenge to the earlier portrayals of the Indians as godless and devil-worshiping. Furthermore. Chief Seattle also responds to the Euro-American belief that the Indians had no claim to the land by expressing their profound attachment to it. He declares, “The very dust upon which you now stand

responds more lovingly to [our] footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors.” In direct opposition with Euro-American representations, Seattle demonstrates that the Natives, like the Europeans, have a complex religion and culture.

The speech has elements of transculturation. Although Seattle tended to emphasize the differences between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, the Euro-American idea that the Native Americans were going to become extinct, surfaced throughout his speech.This idea of the inevitable extinction of the Native Americans as a race originated from the colonists. This idea served the colonists quite conveniently. It justified what Ring calls the “transfer of real estate,” the process in which European settlers gradually moved into established Indian communities as the Indians “disappeared”. Apparently, killing and stealing from an already-doomed race was easier to accept.

Throughout his speech, Chief Seattle indicates his acceptance of this belief that the Native Americans would become extinct. He refers to their “untimely decay” and laments, “It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many”, although he does not provide any concrete reasons for these sentiments. Instead, Seattle settles with the warning, “When the last Red Man shall have perished… these shores will throng with the invisible dead of my tribe… The White Man will never be alone”. In accepting the ultimate defeat of the Indians, Chief Seattle adopted an element of the dominant, Euro- American thought, demonstrating the transculturation predicted.

While the contents of Chief Seattle’s speech, as recreated by Dr. Smith, demonstrate both autoethnography and transculturation in a contact zone, their presence alone does not confirm the authenticity of the speech. In fact, numerous historical details question its legitimacy. Considering, for instance, that the original speech was given in Lushotseed, translated in Chinook Jargon a language with around 300 words and then into English from thirty-year-old notes , we should view the speech with at least some degree of suspicion.

In fact, Dr. Smith admits in the publication that his version fails to reproduce Seattle’s exact statements.

In addition to a lack of historical evidence, an analysis of the Chief Seattle himself also casts doubts on the very existence of the speech. The only two paragraphs of Chief Seattle statements on the official record present him as compliant and reserved: at one point, Seattle says, “My mind is like yours, I don’t want to say more” William Abruzzi suggests that Seattle was selected for the negotiation over local leaders precisely because he demonstrated this allegiance, not opposition. This picture of Chief Seattle, which sharply  contrasts the forceful, passionate tone of Smith’s text, suggests that the speech produced by Dr. Smith may not have taken place at all.

Regardless of the final verdict on the authenticity of Seattle’s speech, it is safe to conclude that Dr. Smith played at least a significant role in the formation of Chief Seattle’s speech. As Dr. Smith belongs to the dominant culture, the speech can no longer be considered as a pure autoethnographic text; elements of ethnography inevitably contaminate the speech. The transculturation present in the speech suffers a similar fate; we can no longer take Chief Seattle’s acceptance of the extinction of the Indians as an actual absorption of dominant material by a marginal group.

Significantly, each new version of Seattle’s speech, beginning with that of Dr. Heniy Smith and ending with the latest reincarnation of Ted Perry’s script, has been created entirely by non-Indians. Not one Native people has translated Seattle’s speech into their own indigenous language

The true interests of the Native Americans become lost as Euro-American culture continues to fabricate images of Native Americans through figures like Chief Seattle.

In sum, while autoethnography and transculturation offer valuable insights into cultures and their interactions, we must also remain wary of misrepresentation in the contact zone. Chief Seattle’s speech appears to shed valuable light on Native American reactions to the representations of the Euro-Americans, but the increasingly larger role that Dr. Smith is believed to have played in the production of the speech challenges the validity of those reactions. Perhaps then, one day, we can begin to understand Chief Seattle’s real message.

Glossary

  1. Yonder : there
  2. Compassion : sympathy
  3. Eternal : permanent.
  4. Prairies : wide areas of grassland.
  5. Dwell on : think a lot about something.
  6. Mourn over : grieve over.
  7. Reproach : blame/criticize.
  8. Denotes : indicates.
  9. Restrain : check,stop somebody from doing something.
  10. Hostilities : strong and angry opposition.
  11. Receding : moving away.
  12. Tide : wave of water.
  13. Prosperity : progress
  14. Multitudes : many.
  15. Firmament : the sky.
  16. Ancestors : persons in the family who lived long ago.

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Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 2 Notes Old Man at the Bridge

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers Chapter 2 Notes Old Man at the Bridge – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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About the Author

Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway is seen as one of the great American 20th century novelists, and is known for works like A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), was born in Oak Park, Illinois and started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. After the United States entered the First World War, he joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army. Sewing at the front, he was wounded, was decorated by the Italian Government, and spent considerable time in hospitals. After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers and was soon TT’’” back to Europe to cover such events as the Greek Revolution. During the twenties, Hemingway became a member of the group of expatriate Americans in Paris, which he described in his first important work, The Sun Also Rises (1926). Equally successful was A Farewell to Anns (1929), the study of an American ambulance officer’s disillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter. Hemingway used his experiences as a reporter during the civil war in Spain as the background for his most ambitious novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Among his later works, the most outstanding is the short novel, The Old Man and the Sea (1952), the story of an old fisherman’s journey, his long and lonely struggle With a fish and the sea, and his victory in defeat. Hemingway – himself a great sportsman – liked to portray soldiers, hunters, bullfighters – tough, at times primitive people whose courage and honesty are set against the brutal ways of modern society, and who in this confrontation lose hope and faith. His straightforward prose, his spare dialogue, and his.predilection for understatement are particularly effective in his short stories, some of which are collected in Men Without Women (1927) and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (1938). Early on the morning of July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway committed suicide in his Ketchum home.

Hemingway left behind an impressive body of work and an iconic style that still influences writers today. His personality and constant pursuit of adventure loomed almost as large as his creative talent.

When asked by George Plimpton about the function of his art, Hemingway proved once again to be a master of the “one true sentence”: “From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality.”

About the Story 

Ernest Hemingway’s economical short story “Old Man at the Bridge” first appeared in Ken Magazine (Volume 1, Number 4, May 19, 1938) prior to its later publication in the book The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, also published in 1938. The Fifth Column is Hemingway’s only full-length play and also includes all of his previously published short stories.

At just two pages in length, “The Old Man at the Bridge” is one of Hemingway’s shortest tales. It is based upon an Easter Sunday stopover at the Ebro River during his coverage of the Spanish Civil War in April 1938. Although employed by the North American Newspaper Association (NANA), Hemingway apparently decided to submit it to Ken Magazine as a short story instead of using it as a news article.

Plot

In the middle of a military action, an army scout encounters an old man at a bridge where people are crossing to escape the war zone. The scout engages the old man in conversation and by the end of it, he realizes the old man is not going to move and will probably die at the bridge.

Theme

‘Old Man at the Bridge’ demonstrates the power of narrative art. It takes a small, ordinary detail in a situation and by the art of story-telling transforms it into a powerful story about the tragedy of war. The old man becomes a symbol of the countless civilian victims of war— those “without politics.” The old man is going to die at the bridge— displaced, disoriented, alone. He’s not a cat, nor a dove, but a goat—who was “only taking care of animals.”

Another theme in Hemingway’s The Old Man at the Bridge is sense of duty. The old man, whom the soldier meets at the bridge, feels it is his duty to act as a shepherd, and watch over his flock. The old man believes that he must watch over the four doves, the cat, and the two goats in San Carlos.

The young soldier feels that it is his duty to carry out the orders of the evacuation to ensure overall success in the war. Although he encounters the old man at the bridge and feels some empathy for him, the soldier does nothing to aid the old man. The old man is tired and old, yet the soldier does nothing for him, opting to adhere to his sense of duty to the military and obey his orders.

The old man places the needs of other living things over his own well being and the need to save himself. Though, he does leave the living things behind, it is due to the fact of old age and the forced evacuation. He would have taken care of them otherwise. The old man represents nature and morality. His duty is to care for nature.

The soldier places the need of the man made and unnatural as his priority. He offers a kind ear to the old man but does nothing physically to change the old man’s situation.

While the soldier has orders, he could have take a moral point of view in the old man’s dilemma. The young soldier represents man’s neglect 01 nature and tendency toward war or violence.

Highlights of Speech/or Summary

The narrator, who says that his mission is to cross the bridge and find out how far the enemy has advanced, does so and finds the old man who was sitting by the bridge when he crossed toward the enemy still sitting there when he crosses back. He begins conversing with the old man and elicits the information that his hometown is San Carlos; he was the last person to leave the town, as he was anxious on behalf of some animals he had charge of.

The narrator, while nervously awaiting the advent of the Fascist army and the ensuing battle between the armies, asks the old man about the animals. The old man says he had charge of two goats, a cat, and four pairs of pigeons. He says a major told him to evacuate the town and the animals because of artillery fire. He says he has no family.

The old man expresses concern about the fate of his animals. He says that the cat would be all right because cats can look after themselves, but he was not sure about what would happen to the other animals.

The narrator, more concerned for the old man’s safety than that of the animals, inquires what the old man’s politics are, and the old man replies that he has none. He told the soldier that he was an old man of 76, had walked 12 kilometers and was too tired to go any further. The narrator tells him to walk up the road and catch a ride on a truck to Barcelona.

The old man thanks him, but continues to express concern over the fate of the animals he left behind. The narrator reassures him, saying that the animals would be fine. He says that the doves would fly away, but the old man continues to worry about the goats. The narrator advised him not to think about the animals, and that he should get up and walk to the trucks.

The old man tried to get up and walk, but was too tired and sank back down. In the end, the narrator who was reluctant to listen to the old man’s story in the beginning, felt pity for him. He thought that the old man’s only luck was that the cats could look after themselves and that the day was overcast so the Fascists were unable to launch their planes.

Characters

Old Man : The central character is the 76 yr. old man, a war refugee who has been up rooted and displaced by the war. The old man is “without politics,” who was only taking care of his animals, but who has had his world destroyed. He is disoriented, confused and disconnected. He has retreated into his isolated world in which he can only cling to his obsessive thoughts about his animals, and is too tired to go any further. He will die at the bridge—another nameless innocent victim of war.

He loves his animals and continues to worry about them. He feels it is his duty to act as a shepherd, and watch over his flock. The old man believes that he must watch over the four doves, the cat, and the two goats in San Carlos. He was not that worried about his cat because he believed that cats could look after themselves. But he was constantly worried about the other animals. Since he was forced to leave and the other people were evacuating the city, he too had to leave the city. He walked twelve Kilometers and stopped just before the bridge which carried them to the other side of the river which was considered as the safe area. But the old man refused to cross the bridge claiming to be tired. Crossing the bridge promised a physically unharmed life . But it failed to give psychological happiness to everyone. Those who were with their families crossed because they had hope to keep their families safe and to live with them. But the old man was deprived of any hope. He lost his hope at the very moment he left his animals. Therefore we can say that he psychologically and symbolically died at the moment he left his animals. That is because he lost his hope and his whole reason for existence. The old man is associated with his goats. The others can take care of themselves. “But the others(the goats). It’s better not to think about the others.” The old man is a goat figure as he is unable to escape, an innocent victim of the civil war.

The Scout is the narrator who creates the story of the old man at the bridge. Through his telling of the story, he gradually articulates who the old man is and what he represents. The Scout at the beginning is the impersonal narrator who sees the old man and decides to engage him in conversation. By asking the old man questions about himself, the Scout gradually understands the situation of the old man. At the beginning he thinks the old man is just resting so he encourages him to move on. In the course of his conversation he realizes the old man is disoriented, displaced and that he will not be able to move on, but that he will likely die at the bridge. The scout who begins as a detached observer comes to the painful realization that “there was nothing to do about him.” And he ends with the bitterly ironic observation about Easter Sunday and the old man’s luck, which is no luck. The old man will soon cross that final bridge. The scout engages the old man in conversation and by the end of it, he realizes the old man is not going to move and will probably die at the bridge. ‘There was nothing to do about him.’ The fatalism of the old man and the narrators despair are conveyed through the conversation of the scout and the old man.

Title

The story is about the old man , sitting on the bridge, unable to walk to safety as he is too tired, waiting for his inevitable death. Hence the title ‘Old Man On The Bridge’ is very apt. The old man is sitting on the bridge which represents uncertainty and dangers. He has left his home and animals and is worried about their fate where as the nameless soldier is worried about his safety. The old man is a goat figure as he is unable to escape, an innocent victim of the civil war.

Setting

The place is a war zone at a pontoon bridge across the Ebro river during the Spanish Civil War. The time is Easter Sunday 1938. The setting is a spot in the countryside during

the Spanish Civil War. An old man with spectacles sits exhausted by the side of the road near a pontoon bridge that crosses a river. Peasant refugees and Republican soldiers laden with munitions and supplies flee the advancing Fascist army.

Style

Basically, his style is simple, direct, and unadorned, probably as a result of his early newspaper training. He avoids the adjective whenever possible, but because he is a master at transmitting emotion without the flowery prose of his Victorian novelist predecessors, the effect is far more telling. Hemingway has often been described as a master of dialog, and most readers agree, upon being first introduced to his writing, that “this is the way these characters would really talk.”He is able to capture the complexity of human interaction through subtlety of dialogue and implication as well as direct discourse and calculated emphasis and repetition. He is a master in the art of economy of words and understatement as evident in the story.

Symbols

  1. The 3 symbolic animals, which have a long history of conveying symbolic meaning.
  2. The cat—It is said that a cat has nine lives. It is a survivor.
  3. Pigeons, which become doves in the second mentioning. Birds can fly away from the war; doves are associated with peace, which in this context is ironic. The doves will fly away.
  4. The goats are the animals who can’t escape. They are sacrificial animals. Scape goats who are innocent victims. In the course of the story, the old man is associated with his goats. The others can take care of themselves. “But the others(the goats). It’s better not to think about the others.” The old man is a goat figure as he is unable to escape, an innocent victim of the civil war.
  5. Easter Sunday. This is an ironic contrast. The day of the celebration of the resurrection will be the day another innocent victim is crucified.
  6. The 4 repetitions of the old man’s words: “I was taking care of animals.” His last repetitions: “I was only taking care of animals,” “I was only taking care of animals” becomes the eloquent symbolic expression of all those voiceless innocent men, women and children who are the victims of wars they neither support nor understand. Without politics, only living in their everyday world and taking care of animals, a world which is destroyed by forces beyond their ability to comprehend.

Critical Appreciation

“Old Man at the Bridge” was inspired by Hemingway’s travels as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. In fact, the story was originally composed as a news dispatch from the Amposta Bridge over the Ebro River on Easter Sunday in 1938 as the Fascists were set to overrun the region. Hemingway was writing for the North American Newspaper Association but decided to submit this snippet of writing as a short story to a magazine instead of as a journalistic article, which accounts, to a certain extent, for its short length.

For all of its unorthodox origins, the story deals with familiar Hemingway themes of depression, resignation, and impending death. The old man is the heroic fatalist or fatalistic hero of the story, resigned to his fate as a casualty of the war. He is too old and tired to move, and the narrator reflects that he is sure to be killed once the Fascists advance to the bridge across the Ebro. His life is prolonged by the fact that the day is overcast and the Fascists cannot launch their planes, and his mind is eased by the fact that cats can look after themselves, but aside from that, the narrator says that nothing can be done for him and his death seems certain.

The narrator of the story seems more affected by the inevitability of the man’s probable fate than by the old man. Just as the old man worries about the goats he left behind, the narrator worries about the old man he will have to leave behind, but is obviously not able to stop thinking about him.

There is irony inherent in the situation. The animals for which the old man is so concerned have a greater chance of survival than their caretaker during the next crucial twenty-four hours. Unable to walk and barely able to stand, the old man’s luck has run out, and he, too, seems resigned to his fate at the bridge.

Nevertheless, one lingering rhetorical question occurs as the story ends and the narrator bemoans the old man’s impending death. Why doesn’t the narrator help the old man at least part of the way to the trucks bound for Barcelona? Surely everyone, including the narrator and the old man, is going in the same direction. Surely it would not be a great imposition for the narrator to help a 76-year-old man who had already walked 12 kilometers along at least part of the way to safety. Are the old man’s fatalism and the narrator’s despair justified? Since this story began as a news dispatch recounting an encounter Hemingway actually had, this question takes on more than academic significance.

A first person narrator tells the story through careful description, reportage of dialogue and insightful commentary about the old man. The narrator makes the reader see the old man. His engagement with him suddenly brings the old man into focus, he emerges out of the faceless, voiceless crowd. The Narrator’s consciousness of the approaching enemy “contact” is used to create the dramatic tension between the immobility of the old man and the coming destruction as he constantly observes the movement of carts across – the bridge while talking. The narrator’s conversation allows the old man to have a voice. As he speaks to the scout, we along with the scout, gradually understand his plight and what the war has done to him. The voiceless victims speak through the old man. The narrator captures the helplessness of the old man as a innocent victim of war in the dialogues he exchanges with the old man who has had to leave his home and animals behind due to the war and now faces inevitable death as he is too tired to walk any further to seek safe haven. The first person narrative enables the reader to identify and understand the plight of the victims of war ,their feelings of being under threat of death and their helplessness to avert the danger.

The story abounds in symbols and metaphors. There is one symbol of hope in the story. At the beginning of the narrator’s conversation with the old man, the birds the old man was looking after were referred to as “pigeons,” but by the end of the story, they become “doves,” symbols of peace in wartime. The narrator makes this switch as he asks, “Did you leave the dove cage unlocked?” It is unclear whether this is a slip of the tongue, because the narrator is clearly distracted by the impending arrival of the enemy, or if Hemingway is attempting to give the image of the birds flying away an even more positive tint by referring to them as symbols of peace. They maybe the symbols of refugees fleeing the war. The cat symbolises independence as it does not need anyone to survive. The goat is a symbol of sacrificial animal and represents the old man who is reconciled to his impending death. The bridge represents the uncertainty of death.

The story adopts a conversational form between the narrator and the old man who had to evacuate his hometown during the Spanish civil war. The problems of war as faced by the victims are conveyed in the form of dialogues. The conversation moves the story forward culminating in its logical conclusion and at the same time reveals the theme and characteristic traits of the characters.

As Hemingway observes the movement of vehicles and civilians fleeing across the pontoon bridge from an anticipated enemy attack, he notices a solitary old man sitting at the edge of the structure. Upon questioning him, Hemingway determines that the old man has just walked the twelve kilometers from his home village of San Carlos, but fatigue forces him to halt at the bridge, for he can go no further. The last man to leave the village, the old man’s duty is to take care of the animals left behind. It is obvious that he takes his obligation seriously, for he worries more about the cat, two goats, and eight pigeons that were under his care than for his own safety. Sadly, he explains, he was forced to leave them behind. The cat will be able to take care of itself, he adds, but the goats and pigeons will have to fend for themselves. The correspondent suggests that the displaced man cross the bridge to the next crossroads, where he can catch a truck toward Barcelona, but the man explains that “I know no one in that direction.” Although the correspondent is curious, he is not particularly helpful, and when the old man is unable to proceed, the journalist decides that “there was nothing to do about him.” The enemy would cross the bridge soon, and death appears imminent for the old man.

This is the type of story in which the conflict is not between the principal characters but between much larger forces whose struggle affects the lives of the little people unavoidably involved. On the one side of the great conflict is the army of the Loyalists. They are fighting to preserve the legally elected Spanish government. On the other side is the army of the Fascists under the leadership of Generalissimo Francisco Franco, who eventually won the rebellion because they were supported by the Fascist governments of Germany and Italy. The little people, such as the weary old man at the bridge, are forced to scramble to keep from getting crushed between the opposing juggernauts. The old man symbolizes the Spanish people in general. He is not concerned about the greater issues involved in the conflict. He isn’t capable of understanding them. The Spanish Civil War was considered to be a prelude to World War II, which covered the entire globe and resulted in the deaths of some seventy million people, half of whom were civilians. The old man is only concerned about a few animals—a cat, two goats, and eight pigeons— which he had to leave behind when he fled the advancing Fascists. The narrator presents this slice-of-life as a picture of the face of war. The advancing Fascist army might be said to symbolize the great conflict which seems to be threatening much of the entire world. Hemingway’s story was published in 1938. Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939. America was drawn into the international conflict when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 1941.

Hemingway was trying to capture the aspects of war that people often forget. In Old Man at the Bridge he reminds us human life is not the only life disrupted by war. Hemingway states that “cats can take care of themselves”, however the cats have still been disrupted from their normal activities and in fact may find it difficult to survive even if they make it through the actual fighting. Of course the goats will be dead, either killed for food or by some random piece of shrap metal. Hemingway wasn’t just showing the disruption to animals though, he made a point to state the old man hasn’t any political side. The old man is just someone trying to live his life to the best of his ability but because the war has reached the old man, he will lose many of the years he had left. The old man has seen what the ravishes of war can do to people. In this short story Hemingway has captured many parts of war and its disruption to both people and animals.

Glossary

  1. Steel rimmed spectacles: glasses with a round metal frame.
  2. Pontoon bridge: temporary floating platform made of pieces of metal.
  3. Bridgehead: strong position that the army had conquered, from which it could control or attack the enemy.
  4. Ebro Delta: the Ebro river is the longest
  5. Staggered: walked with unsteady steps
  6. Plodded: walked slowly.
  7. Artillery: heavy guns moved on wheels
  8. Mysterious: strange
  9. Blankly: disinterestedly.
  10. Cage: a structure made of wires in which animals are kept.
  11.  Fascists: a person who supports an extreme right wing political system.

For More Resources

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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Comprehension Passages

Lines 1-16

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 1
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 2

Read the lines given above and answer the questions given below.

Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem TELEVISION, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’. It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl expresses concern over what the modern invention the television set has done to children. He points out that watching TV has become a craze in modem time. Children of today spend hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. Roald Dahl is addressing all British parents and telling them that the most important thing one must learn while raising children is to keep them away from the television set. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the first place.

They are unable to take the eyes off the screen. They are fascinated and intoxicated by the meaningless entertainment that is churned out on TV. They laze around in front of the television and gape at the screen. They lose the capacity to think. It also prevents them from using their imagination in a creative way. They laze around in front of the television and gape at the screen. They lose the capacity to think. It also prevents them from using their imagination in a creative way. They behave like zombies, and have no control over their minds.

The poet bemoans the fact and feels that parents should encourage children to read books instead of watching TV. The poet uses rhyming couplets. The use of verbs like Toll’, ‘pop’ and lounge aptly describe the postures adopted by children while watching television. Dahl further speaks as if he has undertaken a long research on the bad effects of watching television by visiting a large number of households in Britain. In most houses, he has found the children lazing about all day and staring at the television screen without doing any productive work at all. Next, he indulges in a bit of exaggeration that is nonetheless amusing when he says that sometimes the children stare so hard that their eyeballs fall off and he has seen a dozen eyeballs rolling about on the floor in one house. Dahl says that children entire attention is captured by the television screen and they cannot concentrate on anything other than what they are watching.

Question 2.
What is the most important thing that the poet has learnt?
Answer:
The most important thing that the poet has learnt is that children should be kept away from the television set or not to install the television set at all.

Question 3.
How does television keep the children still?
Answer:
Children do weird things like climbing a window, jumping over it, etc. they may accidentally hurt themselves. So, it is better to switch on the television and let them watch it to keep them still.

Question 4.
What should parents do for the entertainment of their children?
Answer:
Parent, instead of making their children watch TV so that they would be busy, should provide their kids with story books. When children will develop the habit of reading books, they will not feel like watching TV. They will enjoy reading books as it will help them imagining and entertaining.

Question 5.
Name some of the things that the poet has seen in house which have televisions.
Answer:
Children always are gaping at the TV screen. They loll, slop and lounge about while watching the television. They sit in front of the TV and stare it continuously.

Question 6.
Describe the effects of television on children’s mind.
Answer:
Watching television, according to the poet, is not good for younger minds. According to the poet, it kills their imagination; it blocks their minds, and makes them dull.

Lines 17-33

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 3

Read the lines given above and answer the questions given below.

Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem TELEVISION, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’. It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl expresses concern over what the modem invention the television set has done to children. Fie points out that watching TV has become a craze in modem time. Children of today spend hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. Roald Dahl is addressing all British parents and telling them that the most important thing one must learn while raising children is to keep them away from the television set. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the’ first place.

Dahl admits that he knows that television can be a convenient way to keep children occupied. While watching television, children never cause trouble or throw tantrums. As a result, their parents can go about doing their household chores without any interruption.

However, parents do not stop to consider what television might do to their children.
Lines 25-33 are written in capitals to emphasize that they carry the main message of the poem. This message is that watching too much television fills up.the minds of children with useless facts while at the same time destroying their ability to create or understand worlds of fantasy in their imagination. It takes away their ability to think and they can only keep staring at the television screen.

Question 2.
What technique does Dahl use to convey the main message of the poem?
Answer:
To convey the main message of the poem, Dahl writes in capital letters.

Question 3.
How are televisions helpful to parents?
Answer:
Television proves helpful to parents as it keeps the children occupied and as a result ;  parents can do their household chores.

Question 4.
The children Describe the effects of television on children’s mind.
Answer:
Watching television, according to the poet, is not good for younger minds. According to the poet, it kills their imagination; it blocks their minds, and makes them dull.

Lines 34-52
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 4

Read the lines given above and answer the questions given below.

Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem TELEVISION, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’. It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl expresses concern over what the modem invention the television set has done to children. He points out that watching TV has become a craze in modem time. Children of today spend hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. Roald Dahl is addressing all British parents and telling them that the most important thing one must learn while raising children is to keep them away from the television set. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the first place.

In these lines, Dahl anticipates what the parents’ next question would be. They might agree to take away the television set from their children but will ask how they are supposed to now keep their children entertained and occupied.

In these lines, Dahl tells parents that they cannot have forgotten how children kept themselves entertained before the recent invention of the television.

In these lines, Dahl says that before the coming of television children would read and it is a shame that now they don’t.

In these lines, Dahl creates the alternate landscape that has been mentioned in the section on the poem’s setting. In this landscape, children’s rooms are filled to the brim with books.

Question 2.
According to the poet, what should be done to save children from the hypnotism of television?
Answer:
According to the poet, children should be given different story books to read in order to save children from the hypnotism of television.

Question 3.
How according to the poet, can children benefit from reading books?
Answer:
According to the poet, children should read book. It will help in developing their imagination and creative thinking skills. It will awaken their senses. It will give them enough opportunity to imagine and visualize a scene explained in the story.

Question 4.
What should be done to keep the children occupied?
Answer:
The children should be encouraged to read and read books.

Lines 53-72
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 5
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 6

Read the lines given above and answer the questions given below.
Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem TELEVISION, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’. It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl expresses concern over what the modern invention the television set has done to children. He points out that watching TV has become a craze in modem time. Children of today spend hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. Roald Dahl is addressing all British parents and telling them that the most important thing one must learn while raising children is to keep them away from the television set. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the first place.

In these lines, Dahl talks about the kind of typical fantasy stories that the children would read in his day. These were stories of adventure with many interesting characters.
In these lines, Dahl pays a tribute to another children author like him- Beatrix Potter. Potter’s books were known for the use of animals as characters, and the various colorful illustrations.

Question 2.
Why does Dahl call television an idiot box?
Answer:
The television according to Dahl makes children lose their imagination and creativity. It dulls their sensibilities and they behave like zombies. Hence they lose their ability to think for themselves. So Dahl calls it an idiot box.

Question 3.
To which author does Dahl pay a tribute?
Answer:
Dahl pays a tribute to another children author like him- Beatrix Potter. Potter’s books were known for the use of animals as characters, and the various colourful illustrations.

Question 4.
Which animal characters does Dahl mention?’
Answer:
Dahl mentions animal characters from Beatrix Potter’s books like the squirrel, toad, mole and camel.

Lines 73-80
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 5 Television 7

Read the lines given above and answer the questions given below.

Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem TELEVISION, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’. It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl expresses concern over what the modem invention the television set has done to children. He points out that watching TV has become a craze in modern time. Children of today spend hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. Roald Dahl is addressing all British parents and telling them that the most important thing one must leam while raising children is to keep them away from the television set. He also says that it is possible to come to a better solution to the problem by not installing a television set in their homes in the, first place.

In these lines, Dahl makes an earnest appeal to parents to throw away their television set and replace it with a bookshelf, ignoring all the objection of their children.
In these lines, Dahl feels sure that sooner or later the children will turn to reading books to pass the time.

In these lines, Dahl says that the children will not be able to stop reading books once they have started and then will wonder why they had ever liked watching television. In the end the children will thank their parents for introducing them to books.

Question 2.
What does Dahl ask the parents to do?
Answer:
Dahl asks the parents to throw away the television sets and replace them with shelves crowded with books of all kinds.

Question 3.
Will the children appreciate this action of their parents?
Answer:
Initially the children will be angry with their parents but when they have nothing else to do they will start reading the books. And then the joy of reading will envelop them and they will wonder why they ever watched television.

Question 4.
Will the children thank the parents? Why?
Answer:
Yes, once the children discover the pleasure of reading they will thank their parents for introducing them to reading.

Project

Question 1.
Explain and discuss the themes of the poem.
Answer:
Idiot Box:
That the television is called the ‘idiot box’ might have something to do with the kinds of effect Dahl imagines it has in children. This phrase is actually a transferred epithet, in the sense that it is not the television set that is idiotic, but that idiocy is produced in the watchers of television. When we watch television, it is a passive process on our parts. We do not actively engage with the material as we do while reading and imagining the words on the page coming to life. This passivity ultimately makes the work of our brain slower and more strained.
Death of imagination:
Amidst all the people of his time, Dahl was perhaps singularly ahead of his time when he predicted that television would spell the death of imagination in children’s minds. As a children’s author, he must have known more than others how children’s faces light up when they read or listen to a story, and how they often lose „ themselves in the details of a book as their imagination constructs entire worlds for them in their minds. However, television hands them ready images. As a result, their imagination suffers and they later become sceptical in thinking that what they cannot see is not real. If all children thought that way, an author like Dahl would actually go out of business.
Reading as a habit to be inculcated:
Even though Dahl was writing primarily for children, the message of this particular poem seems more intended for their parents than for them. Dahl believes that it is a parent’s duty to inculcate the habit of reading in his or her children. Children might not know any better than watching television for hours, but parents do. In their hurry to get all their work finished, they ignore their children’s long hours of television-watching. However, by putting their own convenience aside, they should introduce their children to the wonderful world of books.

Question 2.
How does Dahl compare the leisure activities of children in the past and their activities now.
Answer:
The poem TELEVISION is, written by Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer and a poet. It is taken from his collection ‘Revolting Rhymes’ It is a stinging satire on Television. In this poem Roald Dahl points out how TV crushes the creativity and spontaneity of children. He laments that children do not read books any more. He reflects with nostalgia on olden days when children eagerly immersed themselves in books.

In the past reading was the main activity and hobby of children books would lie scattered in every nook and corner of the house. Children read books with enthusiasm and keen interest. They would be transported at once to a land of fantasy. Their imagination would be stimulated and their mind would be active.

With the advent of TV, however, a marked change can be seen in children. The child of today spends hours together in front of the ‘idiot box’. He does nothing else all day. He is fascinated by the meaningless entertainment that is churned out on TV. He loses the capacity to think. He behaves like a zombie, as though he Dahl believed that young people need to experience life to really grow and thrive. He was concerned that watching too-much television worked against actualizing a child’s potential. .

Question 3.
Dahl is annoyed that people – including children – watch too much television. Do you agree, or disagree? Why, or why not?
Answer:
Yes I agree. Television dulls the senses and one behaves like a zombie. I share Roald Dahl’s judgement about the television set & its morbid shows that are turning our young generation into zombies where thinking is concerned. Values, morals and ethics are thrown into the dustbin & bizarre information provided by the media is being constantly chewed & digested by children these days…and also by adults at times…if not all the time.

A person who watches television all day loses the capacity to think. Dahl believed that young people need to experience life to really grow and thrive. He was concerned that watching too-much television worked against actualizing a child’s potential. Dahl believed that young people need to experience life to really grow and thrive. He was concerned that watching too-much television worked against actualizing a child’s potential. Television hands them ready images. As a result, their imagination suffers and they later become sceptical in thinking that what they cannot see is not real.

Question 4.
Do you think Dahl is being extreme when he recommends that television sets should be tossed-out of our homes? Is there a balance which could be struck between watching television and reading books? What would that balance be?
Answer:
Roald Dahl in this poem describes the way an adult can initiate the reading habit in children by throwing the television away! I would not go to that extreme but, I would certainly delimit television watching among children. According to Roald Dahl, by the installation of a book shelf with a lot of books, children in a few days time would definitely take the hint and start to read. I use the same method of suggestion by setting up a lot of books in the house which indirectly will influence their minds. Television has its uses. We can see the cultures and traditions of far away countries without visiting them. We learn about their habits, climate, traditions etc. But like all things watching television should be within limits. Other forms of entertainment like reading should also be encouraged. Reading helps to sharpen our sensibilities and improve our language skills and vocabulary. It enhances our creativity. So there should be a balance between watching television and reading.

Question 5.
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Answer:
Roald Dahl follows the same simple rhyme scheme throughout this poem – AABB and so on in a series of rhyming couplets. Only on one occasion does he diverge from this when the end words of the lines rhyme in lines 31, 32 & 33.

Question 6.
Explain the use of the rhetorical device like the apostrophe by the poet.
Answer:
This rhetorical device is used when a poet addresses his or her poem to an absent audience. Dahl uses the device of apostrophe when he addresses his poem to English parents and advises them on doing away with their television sets.

Question 7.
How has Dahl used personification in his poem?
Answer:
Dahl uses the device of personification in two cases – first, when he gives television the human ability to kill something, and second, when he gives ‘Imagination’ the human ability to die at its hands.

Question 8.
Explain and analyse the use of hyperbole in the poem.
Answer:
If we look at the expression rots, kills, dead, clogs, clutters, dull ad blind, as soft cheese, rust and freeze, they are full of negative connotation and exaggeration. They are there to emphasises the threat brought by television to the child’s growth. It is not a matter of fact that the voice is talking about but the impacts of television are seen as negative as that expression. The word choices support the tone of anger, anxiety, even sarcastic of the voice. Consequently, they reveal the negative attitude of the voice towards television.

Question 9.
How does the hyphen and font help to advance the theme?
Answer:
The pause made by the hyphen gives a sense of hanging. It means to invite the readers to read and think at a certain pace. As a result, voice is able to make the up and down to the emotional effect and in the same time infiltrate the readers with a continuous meaning transfer.
Any type of font does not change the meaning of the words. But the font changing in the middle of a written will change the focus and the emphasis. Here, the poet uses capitalized word for all words in the line 25-33 in a row.

Extra Questions

Question 1.
Who is the we referred to in the first line?
Answer:
The ‘we’ refers to the adults and the parents of the children who watch television continuously.

Question 2.
What is the advice of the poet? Is there any relevance of this advice to our present day?
Answer:
The poet advices  parents not to install the television or if installed to throw it away. Yes, it is relevant today as children have started watching television and given up reading.

Question 3.
When do eyes pop out?
Answer:
Eyes pop out when the children stare continuously at the television and stare unblinkingly at it.

Question 4.
Which figure of speech is used in the lines:
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
Answer:
The poet has used hyperbole to exaggerate.

Question 5.
What are the advantages of reading mentioned by Dahl?
Answer:
He states in his poem in a very unique fashion that before the television had come to pass, children used to spend their time reading quality books which he states in an indirect manner:

  • Develops their imagination
  • Sharpens their senses
  • Transports them to the most wonderful places
  • Allows them to spend their leisure time qualitatively.

Question 6.
Explain the phrase, that ‘shocking ghastly junk’.
Answer:
This phrase refers to all the useless, mind numbing visuals that the children watch on the television.

Question 7.
What is the activity referred to later in the poem, that sharpens their brains?
Answer:
The activity of reading books sharpens the brains of the children.

Question 8.
Why has the poet used the expressions, ‘ Great Scott’ and ‘Gadzooks’?
Answer:
Great Scott is an expression used to express shock and disbelief and Gadzooks means god’s hooks or the nails on the cross and is a kind of oath. The poet wants to emphasize the importance of reading and the uselessness of watching television.

Question 9.
What kinds of stories captivated the young minds in the past?
Answer:
In the past children’s minds were captivated by fairy tales, adventure stories, stories about magic and wonder and about voyages etc.

Question 10.
Who was Beatrix Potter?
Answer:
Beatrix Potter was a children-books author like Dahl. Potter’s books were known for the use of animals as characters, and the various colourful illustrations.

Question 11.
Whose dirty looks are referred to?
Answer:
The poet refers to the angry looks of the children to their parents when they throw away the television sets.

Question 12.
What impression do you get of the children after reading the poem?
Answer:
The impression one gets of the children is that they are spoil and rude and have no energy and zest left in them. They appear dull and stupid.

Question 13.
Why is the poet so much against watching television? Give two reasons.
Answer:
The poet is against watching television because it makes children devoid of creativity and imagination. And secondly, they start believing that only what they see in television is the reality.

For More Resources

 

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils – ICSE Class 10, 9 English

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Comprehension Passages

Lines 1-2

Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils 1

Read the lines given above and answer the questions that follow.

Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem ‘Daffodils’ written by William Wordsworth. The poem expresses Word worth’s love for nature and how he sought solace in it from the woes and worries of this world.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker is feeling lonely and sad. As he walks along, he sees a large area of daffodils along the side of a lake, blowing in the breeze with bright yellow flowers reflected in the water in spite of the waves due to the wind. The sight of the flowers on the shore and their reflection cheers him greatly.

Question 2.
Who wandered like a lonely cloud and where ?
Answer:
The poet William Wood sworth wanders like a lonely cloud over the valleys and hills .

Question 3.
Who does he come across while wandering ?
Answer:
While wandering among the valleys and hills the poet comes across the host of the golden daffodils flowers .

Question 4.
Where were the daffodils and what where they doing ?
Answer:
The daffodils were by the side of the lake under the trees. They were fluttering under in the breeze as if they were dancing like human beings expressing their joy and energy.

Lines 7- 12
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils 2
Read the lines given above and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem ‘Daffodils’ written by William Wordsworth. The poem expresses Word worth’s love for nature and how he sought solace in it from the woes and worries of this world.
There are as many daffodils as there are stars in the sky–so many they can’t be counted. He says in one glance he saw “ten thousand,” which is a large number used to express how large the bed of flowers was . They seem to be dancing in the breeze.

Question 2.
What is being compared to the stars and why ?
Answer:
The host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake under the tree are being compared to the stars. A milky way is a cluster of stars which shine brightly across a huge stretch of space . Similarly like the stars in the milky way the poet feels that the daffodils are not only uncountable but also they are dancing with full energy and joy in never ending line along the margin of the lake .

Question 3.
How many did the poet see at a glance?
Answer:
The poet saw maybe ten thousand at a glance.

Question 4.
What were the daffodils doing? Which literary device is used here?
Answer:
The daffodils were dancing merrily in the breeze. The poet is using personification here when he compares the movement of the daffodils in the breeze to dancing humans.

Lines 13-18
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils 3
Read the lines given above and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem ‘Daffodils’ written by William Wordsworth. The poem expresses Word worth’s love for nature and how he sought solace in it from the woes and worries of this world.
The waves of the lake lap at the shore, but the sound the daffodils make as they dance in the wind outdos the sound of the water. The poet can’t help being happy when he is in such joyful (jocund) company. He looks at them for a long time, but he doesn’t yet appreciate what experiencing these flowers has done for him.

Question 2.
Which wealth is referred to by the poet?
Answer:
The wealth which is referred to here by the poet means wealth of joy and happiness; which actually comes from happy and fond memories when the poet saw a host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake beneath the trees.

Question 3.
Whom did the daffodils out do and how ?
Answer:
The daffodils outdid the waves in the lake. The daffodils seemed to be dancing like human beings expressing their joy and energy when the breeze blew over them. Both the flowers and waves seem to be in competition to show their feelings and expressions.

Question 4.
Which jocund company is the poet referring to ?
Answer:
The poet is referring to the jocund company of the host of golden daffodils dancing in joy by the side of the lake under the trees. Along with them the waves in the lake too were dancing by the side of the daffodils . A poet was bound to be happy in such a joyful company of the daffodils and the waves.

Question 5.
Which wealth is referred to by the poet?
Answer:
The wealth which is referred to here by the poet means wealth of joy and happiness; which actually comes from happy and fond memories when the poet saw a host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake beneath the trees.

Lines 19-24
Treasure Trove A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers Chapter 6 Daffodils 4

Read the lines given above and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
Explain with reference to context.
Answer:
These lines are taken from the poem ‘Daffodils’ written by William Wordsworth. The poem expresses Word worth’s love for nature and how he sought solace in it from the woes and worries of this world.
In the final stanza, the poet knows how much the flowers have affected him. Often, when he is lying on his couch or when he is in a thoughtful (pensive) mood, an image of the daffodils comes to him, and then his heart fills with pleasure and “dances with the daffodils.”

Question 2.
What happens to the poet when he is sometime in a pensive mood?
Answer:
Whenever the poet lived on his couch in a unoccupied and sad mood the fond and happy memory of the daffodil flowers flushed upon his eye of imagination which is a source of joy and inspiration to the poet in such his lonely mood.

Question 3.
What is the bliss of solitude referred to here?
Answer:
By the term ‘bliss of solitude’ the poet wants to express that he felt really happy in the joyful company of the daffodil flowers and the waves. They seemed to compete with each other in such a mood. The poet caught the joyful mood and thus became a part of nature itself. He only kept on watching the scene, unable to decide what wealth of joy, he had received from it. The greatest benefit of this experience was that whenever the poet lay on his couch in an unoccupied and sad mood, the fond and the sweet memory of the daffodils crashed upon his eye of imagination; which a source of joy and inspiration to’the poet in his lonely and pensive mood.

Question 4.
What does he mean by the ‘inward eye’?
Answer:
The inward eye refers to the eye of his imagination , his soul which can provide him the sight of the daffodils in his memory and he can once again experience the same joy which he had experienced when he had seen the daffodils.

Project

Question 1.
Describe in your own words the poet’s feelings when he sees the host of golden daffodils ?
Answer:
The poet was thrilled to see a host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake under the trees moving their head in a joyful dance. They seemed to be dancing like a human being expressing their energy and joy. When the poet saw the flowers, his imagination traveled to another world to find a comparison. He was reminded of the stars twinkling in the milky way at night. The long line of the daffodils flowers bore comparison with the bright stars seen across the night sky.

Question 2.
Why does the poet say I gazed and gazed but a little thought / what wealth that show to me had brought?
Answer:
The poet was alone. He was moving about aimlessly over the high valleys and hills watching the beautiful scenes of nature. Suddenly he saw a great number of golden coloured flowers by the side of the lake under the trees moving their heads in joyful dance. The waves in the lake, by the side of the flowers, were also dancing but the daffodils had outdone the waves in their expression of joy. A poet felt happy in such a joyful company of the dancing flowers and the waves. In sheer delight and surprise he could not decide what joy this sight had brought for him. He could perhaps gaze at the pleasure of the present moment but he could not imagine how again and again in the future he would recall and re-live this experience and what ecstasy that memory would bring for him.

Question 3.
Mention the two moods of the poet?
Answer:
The two moods of the poet are:

  1. Happy mood when he is free from worries.
  2. A pensive mood when he is serious and thoughtful.

Question 4.
How can the heart dance?
Answer:
The heart can dance when a man feels happy. His heart is filled with great pleasure and he feels great thrill. Then it is said that his heart dances.

Question 5.
How is the last verse different from the other verse? Is the poet deriving a different mood than that expressed in the previous verse?
Answer:
The last verse of the poem ‘Daffodils’ explores the poet’s feelings when he reminisces the scene of daffodils he witnessed much earlier. The first three verses describe the host of golden, happy and beautiful daffodils he saw one day. The last verse discusses what an enriching experience that had been. That sight still plays on in the mind of the poet and gives him inner peace andinspires him.

Question 6.
What does Wordsworth compare himself to? Why?
Answer:
Wordsworth is comparing himself to a cloud in the sky, wandering without a destination, as can be seen in Line 1 of the poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud”. Since he is in the sky like a floating cloud the poet is able to see all the things and events in the world. He has a comprehensive view but he can only observe the world at a distance. There is the suggestion of perfect detachment.

In addition the poet compares himself with the wandering cloud in the beginning of the poem because he perceives himself as aimless and as passive as a cloud, which depends completely on the weather and nature for its direction and speed. Being lonely like a floating cloud in the sky, the poet experiences freedom and loneliness at the same time. The freedom allows the poet to appreciate the beauty of the world whole-heartedly, such as the daffodils. As a powerless and aimless cloud, the poet could only watch and appreciate, but he could not join the daffodils in dancing and fluttering in the breeze.

The reader might conclude that the poet recognizes himself as an outcast in his society; that he feels he can only watch silently from afar. The continuing use of the image may further suggest to us that the poet may not be satisfied with what he observes of social affairs and is away from the social trend as he is looking at things from a distance. There is always a distance, psychologically and physically, between the daffodils and the poet. At the end the poet remains living in solitude, but the moment of the daffodils is in his heart, treasured and appreciated.This comparison is quite effective in a sense that it captures the helplessness and a sense of lost of the poet, it also captures the infinite distance between the passive pensive aimlessly cloud (the poets’ solitude) and the active cheerful daffodils (happiness).

Question 7.
How is he affected by the experience of seeing the daffodils?
Answer:
He is delighted by the wonderful sight. This is explicitly revealed in the use of diction of ‘bliss’ and ‘pleasure’, and he is so happy that his heart seems to dance with the daffodils. He also feels the bliss of solitude, because it is peaceful and comfortable to be alone sometimes in such a huge open area, and seeing the flowers, he wants to become a part of them. In the beginning, he’s aloof and prefers to stay in his comfort zone, “Which is the bliss of solitude”. But when he witnesses the “gay” daffodils, he has a desire to be part of the world he has been observing, to join the “crowd” and to belong to the happiness.

“And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.” The fact that only his heart “dances with the daffodils suggests that spiritually, he feels like he belongs to the group; physically, he still doesn’t dare to step out from his little world. Though it may seem that he has stepped out of his comfort zone, still it is only a desire in his heart. Again this may suggest that he enjoys living in a better little world on his own rather than the harsh reality of existing in society degraded by humans although he can still feel the beauty of nature.

Question 8.
How does the poem make use of contrast? Consider the contrast between the poet and the daffodils, and between his feeling before, while and after seeing the daffodils.
Answer:
The poet was wandering lonely and aimlessly as a cloud while the daffodils were together as a crowd and lively. He was a bit lost.He floats with the wind as a cloud purposelessly. Everything he saw and felt, eg. the breeze, the daffodils, effect his thoughts. He ‘wandered’, ‘floats’,’gazed’, he took a more passive and quiet way to observe the world. In contrast, the daffodils, took a more active part, they ‘fluttering and dancing’,’stretched…along the margin of a bay’,’tossing their heads’.they are enjoying in the breeze and the nice weather by energetically joining and responding to it.

‘They out-did the sparkling waves in glee’, this may suggest that the daffodils even make the world a more wonderful place to live in. The sparkling waves represent the mother nature while the daffodils symbolize human beings. The poet thinks that the dance of the daffodils is more attractive than the the waves. Somehow, deep down in the poet’s heart, he desires to join the daffodils and be as happy and joyful as they are. Futher more, the daffodils have roots deep down in the earth.

They are already tightly bound with each other. In contrast, the loneliness of the poet is then enhanced because everyone is enjoying being together, while he has no company at all. Before he sees the daffodils, he is lonely and detached and uses the word “wandering” to describe his aimless floating. As soon as he sees the crowd of “sprightly” daffodils, he is brought to think about the meaning of his life. After seeing the daffodils, he finds out that his heart is filled with pleasure. He feels a lot more relieved. However, he still has not joined the daffodils and the nature completely.The experience he had of the nature and daffodils is good memory to him and his heart ‘opened’ a bit, but overall he is more or less the same with his ‘vacant or in pensive mood’.

Extra Questions

Question 1.
What does Wordsworth compare the daffodils to? Is the comparison appropriate?
Answer:
The writer is amazed by the daffodils’ number and beauty, thus he compares the daffodils
with the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way continuously, and also refers them as personified characters, a crowd that dances and flutters in the breeze, and tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Question 2.
Identify examples of the following devices in the poem: alliteration, personification, rhyme, rhythm. How do these devices contribute to the overall effect of the poem?
Answer:
The use of Alliteration is evident in: “Beside” and “Beneath” (stanza l),”Ten” and “Thousand”
(stanza 2).”Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”, are the uses assonance, of “s” sound which sounds soft and comfortable. Simile is used when daffodils and stars are compared. Emphasis is evident in the the lively pace of the flowers’ “continuously”. The poet uses personification: daffodils dancing, tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The flowers share the same happiness as the poet has. Repetition is used with the word gazed to emphasize that he wanted to join in the hilarious dance of the flowers.
The literary device of inversion:

  1. “Continuous as the stars that shine… the margin of a bay”
  2.  “Ten thousand saw I at a glance”

Question 3.
What do you think is the poet’s attitude towards the following 3 things: nature, memory, loneliness?
Answer:
The poet clearly shows appreciation and love for nature and it is very influential.However his strong feeling of loneliness never fades away even when he sees the beautiful .absorbing and cheerful sceneries of the daffodils. He is deeply impressed by the beauty of nature, and it remains a very good memory to him. Whenever he is in his ‘pensive mood’ and feeling ‘vacant’, perhaps emotionally and physically, the good memory of the daffodils flash back to him as a ‘bliss’ and ‘pleasure’, which release him for a while from the loneliness and ‘solitude’ that he is experiencing.

Question 4.
Which line(s)/stanza(s) do you enjoy most? Why?
Answer:
The lines I enjoy the most are:

  1. A host, of golden daffodils;
    Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
    Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
  2. Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
    Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

These lines impress because they create a colourful, lively and beautiful word picture which uplifts the mood and spirit of the reader.

Question 5.
Who are ‘they’ referred to in the third line of the last stanza? When had the poet come across them?
Answer:
The ‘they’ referred to in the third line of the last stanza are the lively and beautiful dancing daffodils. The poet had earlier seen them when he was wandering in solitude over hills and valleys and he had suddenly come across a multitude f daffodils beside a lake dancing in the breeze.

Question 6.
Explain the phrase ‘bliss of solitude’ in the context in which it has been used.
Answer:
The phrase ‘bliss of solitude’ implies that solitude is pleasant as it gives the poet the opportunity to dwell on the memory of the daffodils dancing in the breeze. lt is only when he is free and alone that the sight of the daffodils flashes upon his imagination and he can once again experience the happiness he had earlier felt. But this happens only in solitude.

Question 7.
What do you think is the message of the poem?
Answer:
The message of the poem is that the little moments in life could be the most profound. He felt that nature gives man peace and joy and is a constant source of happiness. He believed that man and nature are one.

Question 8.
Why does the poet use the word ‘wandered’?
Answer:
“Wandered” means roaming around without a purpose, like when you explore something. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But in its metaphorical use, “wandered” can mean feeling purposeless and directionless in general.

Question 9.
The poet uses the word lonely in reference to a cloud. Explain.
Answer:
The first concept that we want to take a look at is that the cloud is “lonely.” Are clouds lonely? Well, maybe the ones that float about valleys (“vales”) and hills are lonely. It’s more likely, the speaker is projecting his own loneliness on the clouds. But that still doesn’t explain the strange image, because clouds usually travel in groups. Maybe a cloud is lonely because it is so far above the rest of the world. Its thoughts are just so “lofty,” and maybe the speaker’s thoughts are, too.Also, the cloud could be lonely because it floats over a natural landscape with no people in it. Maybe the speaker has thought of hills and valleys because he happens to be “wandering” through such a landscape.

Question 10.
Explain the use of words like ‘fluttering’ and ‘dancing’ as used by the poet.
Answer:
“Fluttering” suggests, flight, which could bring us to angels or even birds or butterflies.”Dancing” is something that usually only humans do. The daffodils are given the qualities of humans and also of some kind of otherworldly creatures, perhaps.

Question 11.
The poet compares the flowers to the milky way. Is the comparison apt?
Answer:
Like the Milky Way , the flowers are roughly concentrated in a line that seem to stretch as far as the eye can see (“never-ending”). The flowers line the shore (“margin”) of a bay of the lake, which must be a relatively large lake.The Milky Way appears to be a band that has more stars and a brighter appearance than the night sky around it. It’s not a perfectly clear line, but more like a fuzzy approximation of a line. We imagine the same effect with the flowers. It’s not as if there are no flowers outside the shore of the lake, but most of them are concentrated on the shore. So to a large extent the comparison is apt.

Question 12.
How does the poet describe the flowers by using personification?
Answer:
The speaker takes in “ten thousand” dancing flowers at once. The flowers “toss their heads” while dancing to the wind. By “heads” we think he means the part of the flower with the petals, the weight of which causes the rest of the flower to bob. “Sprightly” means happily or merrily. The word derives from “sprite,” which refers to the playful little spirits that people once thought inhabited nature. “Sprites” are supernatural beings, almost like fairies. The day that inspired this poem was a stormy one, so the waves on this medium-to-large sized lake must have been larger than usual. Maybe they were even cresting into whitecaps.The point is that the entire scene has suddenly been invested with a joyful human-like presence. Since waves do not bring as much joy as the yellow flowers, the flowers “out-did” the water with their happiness. The waves “sparkle,” which creates yet another association with the stars. Everything seems to be gleaming and twinkling and shining-and sparkling.Despite his earlier loneliness, the speaker now can’t help but feel happy, or “gay,” with such a beautiful vision to look at.Or, as he puts at, with such joyful and carefree (“jocund”) “company” to hang out with. The flowers and waves feel like companions to him.

Question 13.
Explain the following:
They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude;
Answer:
Whenever the poet gets in a pensive mood, the image of the daffodils “flashes” through his mind. The “inward eye” or his imagination expresses what Wordsworth felt to be a deeper, truer spiritual vision. A person cannot share his or her own spiritual vision completely with others, and so it is a form of “solitude.” But its truth and beauty make it “blissful.” When the memory of the flowers and the lake flashes into his head, he feels happy again. It’s almost like the same experience he had while “wandering” through nature at the beginning of the poem, when the real daffodils pushed the loneliness out of his head.The memory of the daffodils is as good as the real thing. His heart is set to dancing, just like the flowers. He dances along “with” them – they are his cheerful companions once again.

Question 14.
Analyse the symbol of Clouds, Sky, and Heavens.
Answer:
“I wandered lonely as a Cloud” has the remote, otherworldly atmosphere that is suggested by the title. The speaker feels like a cloud, distant and separated from the world below. But this distance becomes a good thing when he comes upon the daffodils, which are like little stars. It’s as if the problem at the beginning is that he hasn’t ascended high enough.The beginning of the poem makes a simile between the speaker’s wandering and the “lonely” distant movements of a single cloud. Clouds can’t be lonely, so we have another example of personification.The second stanza begins with a simile comparing the shape and number of the daffodils to the band of stars that we call the Milky Way galaxy.

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