English - Songs Of innocence

 Comprehension questions
  What was the piper doing? Who did he meet? (Piper was merrily going around playing
his pipe. He met a child who appeared in the cloud.)

 What did the child ask piper to do? ( Child asked him to pipe a song of Lamb and th

child asked him to pipe it again and again)
 What was the child’s reaction? ( He wept with joy after hearing the song)
  List the rhyming words in the first three stanzas. ( wild-child, glee-me, cheer-hear)
 What is the mood of the poem according to the vocabulary? ( The vocabulary is

restricted and simple – ‘piping', ‘happy', ‘merry', ‘pleasant', ‘glee', ‘laughing', ‘joy'. All this

suggests a happy mood at the surface of things)

 Is this poem thought provoking? ( Yes)  Which rhyme scheme is followed in these stanzas? ( stanza 1 follows traditional abab pattern where as stanza 2 and 3 follow abcb pattern)
 What is a pastoral Poem? ( It is poetry that deals with the lives of sheperds and other

countery folk. Countryside is glorified)

 What is the title of the poem? (Song of Innocence-Introduction))

 Are opening and closing lines of poem significant?( Yes, the poem opens on ahppy

note and ends with a hopeful note)

 What is the setting of the poem? ( It a rural pastoral setting amidst the beauty of

nature)

 What is the mood of the poem? Is it cheerful, jolly, happy,mysterious, festive,

provocative, hopeful or thoughtful? ( it is happy and hopeful)

 What is the tone of the poem? ( is it a satiric, serious, playful,teasing or somber? ( It is

somber)

 What is the theme? ( Innocence of children is very cheerful and contagious)

*** Figures of speech:

Repetition:

Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, Alliteration: Piper, pipe that song again.

So I piped

Metaphor: And I made a rural pen


Personification: And I stained the water clear

English - Flying Sikh

*Why did the person who is narrating the story of Milkha Singh become a journalist? (Because he

was his role model and his struggle and rise to glory had inspired many.)

*What made Milkha Singh run fast? (during his school days he had to run for 10 kms to reach

school . He ran for his life during partition when his family was massacred. All this running perhaps

made him a runner)

*What motivated him to join the army? (he was becoming wayward and was getting involved in

petty crimes , when his brother suggested to him to use his skills at better place and join the

army.)

*What is the meaning of the phrase “ Burn the midnight oil” ( It means to work very late into the

night)

*Why did Milkha Singh have a sincere gratitude for the army? (because it was in the army

that his talent was first noticed)

*What was his religion and what was his inspiration? ( Training for running was his religion

and Havaldar Gurudev Singh was his inspiration)

*Which was his first international race? ( 1956 Melbourne Olympics)

*How did Milkha feel after winning the Cardiff Commonwealth Race? (He was elated, he

wanted to scream and run even more.)

*What is a success mantra for any athlete? ( Take no short cuts)

*What worries Milkha Singh and what is he ashamed of? (He is worried by the way

athletes take performance enhancing drugs and he is ashamed of the young athletes

who do so.)

*Who gave him the title of Flying Sikh and when? (General Ayub of Pakistan gave him this

title when he beat a Pakistani athlete Abdul Khaliq in a race that was witnessed by

60000 spectators)

Social Science- History- Indian Renaissance

Indian Renaissance

Extra Questions

1.    What was the condition of women in the early nineteenth century? (At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the position of women was very miserable. In this period, female infanticide, child marriage, marriages between young girls and aged men, prohibition of widow remarriage, dowry system, purdah system, sati, slavery and polygamy were the main social evils affecting the position of women. (Sati was one of the barbaric practices prevalent during the time in which a widow burnt herself on the funeral pyre of her husband). They were deprived of social and economic rights.’)

2.    Why was caste system a curse to society? ( It created social divisions in the society, which was largely based on exploitation, inequality and injustice)

3.    What was the attitude of the educated Indians towards the social evils prevalent in India during the nineteenth century? (The educated Indians influenced by a spirit of rationalism began to inquire and argue before accepting anything. The superstitious beliefs and practices were examined by applying scientific knowledge. They felt an urgent need to reform the Indian society in order to bring out nation’s progress.

4.    Why is Syed Ahmad Khan’s role important in the Muslim reform movement? (Sir Syed Ahmed Khan opposed the ignorance, superstitions and evil practices such as purdah system, polygamy and the Muslim system of divorce. He also emphasized the value of education for women. He opened the Aligarh Muslim University. He Founded translation society for translating  books from English to Urdu. He firmly believed that acquisition of Western education and science would be significant for the progress of Muslim society.)

5.    Explain the role of the Singh Sabha in Sikh reforms. (He worked to promote education in the Sikh society. It sought to rid Sikhism from the prevailing superstitious and caste distinctions and to bring modernization.)

6.    List the important changes brought about by the Parsi reforms. (1) The Pardah system was abolished. 2) Campaigned against the child marriage. 3) The spread of education, especially among girls also made good progress.)

7.    What did the Book ‘Stree-Purush Tulana’ written by Tarabai Shinde criticise? (Criticised the social differences between men and women.)

8.    How did the Sharda Sadan established by Pandita Ramabai help women? (She wrote a book which showed the miserable condition of upper-caste Hindu women. She established the Sharda Sadan to provide shelter and help to widows by training them to support them economically.)

9.    How did Begum Rokeya contribute to women education? (Begum Rokeya set up schools for muslim girls in Patna and Kolkatta. She fearlessly criticized conservative ideas and argued about the inferior place accorded to women by the religious leaders of every faith.

Name the following:

1.    Reformers who established the Prarthana Samaj. (Dr. Atmaram Pandurang, M. G. Ranade and R. G. Bhandarkar)

2.    The two types of reforms supported by the Prarthana Samaj. (Theistic worship and social reforms)

3.    The person who started an all India reform movement to fight against child marriage and purdah system. (M. G. Ranade)

4.    The person who started a girls’ school at Pune with the support of his wife Savitribai. (Mahatma Jotirao Phule)

5.    The book written by Mahatma Jotirao Phule which he dedicated to all the Americans who had fought to free slaves. (Gulamgiri)

6.    Two organisation founded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to fight the cause of the downtrodden. (All India Scheduled Caste Federation and Bahishkrut Hitkarini Sabha)

7.    The temple Dr. N.R. Ambedkar wanted entry for the dalits. (Kalaram Temple at Nashik)

8.    The place where the significant satyagraha to assert the right of the untouchables to draw water was made by Dr. Ambedkar. (Chavdar lake in Mahad)

9.    The person who established Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam to carry out social reforms. - Sri Narayan Guru

10. The message given by Sri Narayan Guru- (‘One Religion, one Caste, and one God for mankind’).

11. The reformer who championed the cause of widow remarriage and female education in Andhra Pradesh. (Kandukuri Veerasalingam Pantulu)

12. The reformer who started the Self Respect Movement. – (E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker)

13. The two cultures subjugated by the Brahmins according to Periyar. – (original Tamil and Dravidian culture)