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Tuesday, 13 March 2018

Quick Revision of Hornbill and Snapshot ( Important Questions)
01:59

Quick Revision of Hornbill and Snapshot ( Important Questions)

                                          The Portrait of a Lady - Khushwant Singh

Gist of the lesson

Khushwant Singh is one of the prominent Indian writers and columnists. He has written on various themes and issues. In this lesson he gives a detailed account of his grandmother who had a long association with him. The old, stout, short and a little bent grand mother is clad in white clothes and keeps on telling beads of her rosary. During their long stay in village, the grand mother used to wake up the narrator in the morning and accompanied him to school. She took care of all small things and continued her regular prayers and reading of scriptures. On the way back home she fed stray dogs with stale chapatis. Shifting to city home was a turning point as it increased distances in their relationship. Now, the author was going to a city school and studying all modern day subjects. The grand mother was not able to help the author in his studies and she felt disturbed as there was no teaching of God and scriptures. The grand mother devoted her time in praying, spinning and feeding sparrows. She did not get disturbed when the author was leaving for abroad and saw him off maintaining her peace and calm. Seeing her old age, the narrator thought that that could be his last meeting with his affectionate grandmother. But, contrary to his thinking after a span of five years the grandmother was there to receive him. She celebrated her grandson’s home coming in an unusual way by beating a drum and singing. She had a peaceful end and every one including sparrows got aggrieved at the demise of a bold, religious, practical, responsible and loving person.


                                        SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Answer these questions in 30-40 words


1. Why was it hard for the author to believe that his grandmother had once been young and pretty?
2. The author and his grandmother were good friends. Support your answer with suitable examples?
3. Why was grandmother distressed with city school’s education?
4. What change came over the grandmother when the author returned home from abroad?
5. How do the sparrows react at the death of the author’s grandmother?
6. How do you know that author’s grandmother was a religious lady?
7. How did the grand mother pass her time in her city home?
8. Why does the narrator call his grandmother a ‘winter landscape’?

                                            LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Answer these question in 100-125 words

1. Grandmother has been portrayed as a strong lady and an affectionate grandmother. Write a brief character sketch of the grandmother in the light of above statement?

2. How was grandmother’s life in the city different from her life in the village?

3. Describe the three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he went abroad for further studies?

  We are not afraid to die .... If we can all be together.

- Gordon cook and Alen East

It is a  description of a sea adventure experienced by the narrator and his family. The narrator, his wife mary, son Jonathan and daughter Suzanne were accompanied by two experienced sailors - American Lerry vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler. In July 1976 they set sail from plymouth, England in Wave Walker, a specially built boat. The first part of the journey was pleasant and everything went on smoothly up to Cape Town. Unfriendly weather and gigantic waves of Southern Indian Ocean compelled the sailors to slow their speed, drop storm jib and take other precautions. The danger was so implicit that the sailors completed liferaft drill and attached life lines and life jackets. On 2 January 1977 a giant wave hit wavewalker and caused much damage to it. The sailors got injured and the narrator was thrown overboard but he managed to get hold of wave walker’s guard rails. Inspite of his multiple injuries, he took hold of the wheel. In an atmosphere of fear and panic mary took charge of the wheel whereas larry and Herb started pumping out water. The narrator managed to stretch and cover convas across the gaps to prevent water from entering the ship. Their hand pumps stopped working and electric pumps short-circuited. They were distressed and busy in pumping, steering, repairing and radio signalling. They studied charts and calculatively decided to reach a nearby island. They all were too busy in rescue work and did not take any meal for two days. Children were injured too but they did not draw attention of their parents and just allowed them to save Wavewalker. The children said that they were not afraid to die if they could all be together. The narrator became more determined and strong seeing children’s courage. Finally they reached. Ile Amsterdem, a volcanic island where they were welcomed by 28 inhabitants. Thus, the collective strength and never failing optimism of the sailors made it possible to come out of the jaws of death. Though, Jonathan and Suzanne did not do anything to save Wavewalker but their courage, forebearance, faith and optimism gave extra strength and persistence to the narrator and his team.

1. What preparation were made by the narrator before their round the world voyage?
2. Describe the efforts made by the captain to protect the ship from sinking?
3. How did Sue and Jonathan behave during the crisis hours?
4. What destruction was caused to the ‘Wave Walker’ when hit by the storm?
5. How did Larry and Herbie help during all those crucial hours?
6. Why was the narrator getting a hug from his children?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

“We’re note afraid to die .....” is a story of team work, optimism and courage. Support this statement with suitable examples from the story?
2. Describe the destruction caused by the storm to the ‘Wave Walker’? What measures were taken by the narrator and his crew to prevent its sinking?
3. Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?


                                         Discovering Tut : The Saga Continues
- A.R. Williams
A powerful dynasty ruled Egypt. Tut the last king of this dynasty died When he was just a teenager but the cause of his death  was not known. That tomb was discovered in 1922 and investigation was done on 5 January, 2005. Some people opposed the investigation and thought that it would disturb pharaoh’s peace. That was buried with gold arte facts and every day things like board games, bronze razor, lines garments, cases of food and wine. Howard carter faced tough time in removing Tut’s mummy from the solid gold coffin. The ritual resins could not be removed with Sun heat and carter had to chisel it away to raise the kings remains. In 1968 an anatomy professor revealed that Tut’s breast bone and front ribs were missing. Amenhotep IV promoted the ‘Aten’, the sun disk and moved his capital from Thebes to Akhenaten. He smashed the images of Amun and closed its temples. During his short reign of 9 years. Tut’s restored the old God and traditional ways. After scanning and Xraying Tut’s mummy, it was placed back in his tomb. Zahi Hawaas, the secretary general of Egypt’s council of Antiquities was relieved to know that nothing wrong had gone with their popular child king.


1. Who was Tut? Why was his demise a big event?
2. Who was Howard Carter? What was his discovery?
3. Why was King Tut’s  mummy subjected to a CT scan?
4. What were the everyday things buried along with Tut’s mummy?
5. Carter had to Chisel away the Tut’s mummy. How did he justify it?
6. Why was Carter’s investigation resented?
7. Why did Ray Johnson describe Akhenaten as “Whacky”?
8. Why did Egyptians store daily use items along with the mummies of their popular kings and queens?

                                           LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

1. Who discovered Tut’s mummy”? What were the funerary treasures and everyday things buried along with it?
2. How did Carter manage to separate Tut’s mummy from its coffin? Why was it subjected to repeated scrutiny?
3. Why was Howard Carter’s investigation not approved by the experts? What argument did he give in his defence?


                     The Ailing Planet : The Green Movement’s Role-- Nani Palkhivala

This article written by Nani Palkhivala appeared in ‘The Indian Express’ on 24 November 1994. It focuses On the deteriorating condition of the earth because of man’s growing lust to exploit all the natural resources. The earth has been turned in to a barren land. The Green movement is the only answer to solve many problems. The entire human race is involved in the Green Movement which was started in 1972. There has been an irrevocable shift from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. There is a growing world wide conciousness that the earth itself is living organism - an enormous being of which we are parts. But its vital signs reveal a patient in declining health. The efforts of the environmentalists have gone futile. The immediate need is to promote the concept of sustainble development’ as mooted by the world commission on Environment and Development in 1987. The author feels that it is a matter of relief that the people have now started thinking of saving the planet by thinking of development as a means to control population, the mother of all problems.

                              
1. Who was Tut? Why was his demise a big event?
2. Who was Howard Carter? What was his discovery?
3. Why was King Tut’s  mummy subjected to a CT scan?
4. What were the everyday things buried along with Tut’s mummy?
5. Carter had to Chisel away the Tut’s mummy. How did he justify it?
6. Why was Carter’s investigation resented?
7. Why did Ray Johnson describe Akhenaten as “Whacky”?
8. Why did Egyptians store daily use items along with the mummies of their popular kings and queens?



                                           The Browning Version - Terence Rattigan

The present extract is from The play “The Browning Version” written by Terence Rattigan which is focused on a good but unpopular school teacher Mr. Crocker - Harris. It vividly brings about the agony of a dedicated teacher who has a strict attitude towards his students. It starts with the conversation between a school boy Taplow and another teacher Frank. Teachers like Frank encourage student like Taplow to make comments on their fellow teachers. Frank asks Taplow not to wait for Cracker-Harris and leave. But Taplow waits for him. In between Millie, the wife of Crocker Harris arrives there and sends him to  chemist’s shop with a prescription. The play exhibits that the boy Taplow is much afraid of his teacher and has to stay till his arrival. In this extract the author brings out the character of Crocker Harris through Taplow in a direct contrast to Frank.


1. Why did Taplow go to school on the last day?
2. Why did crocker Harris not disclose Taplow’s result?
3. What do you learn about Mr. Frank as a teacher from this lesson?
4. Why did Taplow laugh at Crocker Harris’s joke?
5. Crocker Harris was a man of principles. Discuss?
6. Who is Millie? Why does she send Taplow to the chemist?
7. Why did Taplow keep on waiting, even after knowing that Crocker Harris was ten minutes late?

                                           LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :
1.Compare and contrast Mr. Crocker Harris and Mr. Frank as a teacher and as a person?
2. What opinion do you form about Taplow as a student from the play ‘The Browning Version’?
3. Frank was encouraging Taplow to mimic his teacher Crocker Harris. Support your answer with suitable instances from the play?


                                                              HORNBILL (POETRY)
                                                                
                                                         A Photograph  by Shirley Toulson


The poet discribes the photograph that captures interesting moments of her mother’s childhood when she went for a sea holiday with her two cousins. Poet draws a contrast between the sea in which the girls are standing and their transient feet to suggest shortness of human life and slow changing sea. Poet also recollects how her mother would have laughed at the photograph and felt disappointed at the loss of her childhood joys. Now poet’s mother has been dead for twelve years. In this situation she feels very sad and lonely. This loss has left her speechless. But she has learned to reconcile with this loss with great difficulty.

What does the word ‘Cardboard’ denote in the poem ‘A Photograph’?
2. What does the picture taken by the Uncle Show?
3. What does the phrase “transient feet” suggest?
4. What are the feelings of the poetess when she sees her mother’s photograph?



                                                             The Voice of the Rain
                                                                By Walt Whitman
The poet gives imaginative description of the answer given by a soft falling shower. When poet asks it “Who are You”? It says that it is the poem of the earth and it is everlasting. The poet compares the rain to a song. Just as a song rises from the heart of a poet and gives pleasure and joy to the poet similarly Rain originates from the earth and the bottomless sea, takes a vague shape of clouds and comes down to make its birthplace (earth) clean, pure and beautiful.

Why does rain call itself ‘the poem of Earth’?
2. Why does the rain descend ‘on the Earth’?
3. How does rain give back life to its origin?
4. Why is the rain described as eternal?


                                                     Childhood By - Markus Natten

In this small and beautiful poem the poet recalls his childhood and wonders where it has gone. He narrates various stages where he lost his childhood.

The poet is in a fix as he is unable to understand about his childhood. He is trying to reason out its timings. He wondered whether it was at   the age of eleven, when he started reaching logical conclusions based on his reasoning power.

The second possibility is when he reached his adulthood where people do not act what they preach.
The third possibility seemed to be when he could produce his own thoughts and practise independently.

In the final stanza the poet is trying to locate the place where his childhood has disappeared.
He realises that the adolescence follows childhood in the same way as childhood had replaced infancy. Thus he concludes that his childhood went to some forgotten place that was hidden in an infants face.

What are the poet’s feeling at the loss of his childhood?
2. What does the poet observe about the behaviour of adults?
3. What does the poet feel about his own mind in the poem “Childhood”?
4. What changes are involved in the process of growing from childhood to adulthood?


                                                       Father to Son by Elizabeth Jennings

The poem describes a father’s agony over a sense of estrangement from his son. They have lived in the same house for years. Yet they behave as strangers.
The father gave his son all love and care when he was a little child. He wanted him to grow up into a man of his choice. He had his own likes and dislikes. However there was hardly any communication or conversation between them which made the father not to understand why in his grief he becomes angry with his son. As both of them intensely love each other, they are always in search of some excuse to forgive themselves. Thus its a clash between two generations and their ego, though both of them have love and feeling for each other.

1. What kind of relationship exists between father and his son?
2. How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
3. Explain the phrase ‘silence surrounds us’?
4. How is father trying to build a bridge between his son and himself?


                                                               SNAPSHOTS

                                     The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse.


SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

 Answer these questions in 30-40 words.

1. When and why did Mourad come to Aram’s house?
2. How does Aram justify Mourad’s act of stealing the horse?
3. Where did the boys hide the horse everyday?
4. What do you learn about uncle Khosrove’s temperament after reading this story?
5. Who is John Byro? Why did he not accuse the boys of stealing his White Horse?
6. What happened when Aram rode the horse alone?
7. Why was Mourad considered the natural descendant of uncle khosrove?

                                       LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

1. Aram and Mourad belong the Gargholanian tribe. What are the hallmarks of their tribe?
2. Did the boys return the horse because they were conscience - Stricken or because they were afraid? Support your answer with suitable arguments.
3. Do you agree with Aram’s remark that Mourad was considered the natural descendant of Uncle Khosrove? Explain.

                                                         
                                                                     The Address

1. Who is Mrs. Dorling? What opinion do you form about Mrs. Dorling on the basis of the Lesson “The Address”.
2. How was the narrator received by Mrs. Dorling when she visited her for the first time?
3. What arguments were given by Mrs. Dorling for taking away things from narrator’s house?
4. The narrator visited Mrs. Dorling many years after the War. Why did she wait so long?
5. Describe the narrator’s feelings when she found herself in the midst of her mother’s belongings?
6. Why did the narrator resolve to forget ‘the address’?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :
In what respect was the narrator’s second visit different from her first visit to Mrs. Dorling?
2. ‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.
3. Justify the title of the story ‘The Address’?


                                                              Ranga’s Marriage

1. Why did people rush to Ranga’s house?
2.What were Ranga’s views about marriage?
3. Who is Ratna? Why does the author consider her the most suitable bride for Ranga?
4. What did the writer tutor Shastri to do?
5. How has the author made fun of English Language in the story ‘Ranga’s marriage’?
6. Why did Ranga name his son as ‘Shyama’?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

1. Describe the role played by the narrator in arranging Ranga’s marriage?
2. What kind of a person do you think the narrator is?
3. Do you think astrologers manipulate things in arranging marriages in modern times? Discuss.



                                                        Albert Einstein at School
1. Why did Einstein refuse to learn dates and facts?
2. Why did Albert feel miserable. When he left school after having an argument with the history teacher?
3. Why was Einstein not happy in his lodgings?
4. What did Mathematics teacher think of Einstein?
5. Who is Elsa? What advice does she give to Eintein to pass the examination?
6. What were the reasons given by the head teacher for expelling Einstein?
7. What was Einstein’s future plan for further education after leaving school at Munich?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

The school system often curbs individual talents. Discuss this statement with reference to the lesson ‘Albert Einstein at School’.?
2. What do you learn about Einstein’s nature from his conversation with his history teacher, mathematics teacher and Yuri?
3. What was Einstein’s plan to get away from the school? How did Yuri help him?
4. What changes have been incorporated in the present education system? Describe in short.


                                                               Mother’s Day
1. Give any two instances from the Lesson to show that Mrs. Pearson was treated like a servant by her family?
2. How does Mrs. Fitzgerald help Mrs. pearson to get back her lost respect in her family?
3. What shocks Cyril when he comes back home?
4. Who is Charlie Spencer? How does Mrs. Pearson show her dislike for him?
5. What advice does Mrs. Fitzgerald give to Mrs. Pearson after they change back their personalities?
6. At the end of the play how does Mrs. Pearson plan to spend evening with her family?


LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

1.‘Mother’s Day’ is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family? What are the important issues it raises? How does the play resolve the issues? 
2.. What difference do you find in the attitude and personalities of Mrs. Pearson and Mrs. Fitzgerald? 3 What change do you observe in the behaviour of Doris, Cyril and Mr. George? 
4. What problems are being faced by mothers these days? Have they become stronger and more independent than earlier?

                                                                  Birth
1. Who was Andrew Manson? Why was Joe Morgan waiting for him?
2. What was the conflict in Andrew’s mind regarding marriage?
3. How did the child appear when it was born?
4. What last effort was made by Andrew to revive the child?
5. “I have done something ; Oh, Good! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew think so?



1.Give an account of efforts made by Dr. Andrew Manson to revive the still born child? 
2. There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician? Discuss this statement with reference to the story ‘Birth’?


                                                 The Tale of Melon City
1. Where and why did the King order the construction of an arch?
2. What happened when the king went down the thoroughfare?
3. Who was the wisest man? What was his verdict?
4. Why did the King order to hang someone immediately?
5. What was the criteria for choosing a person to be hanged? Who was found fit finally?
6. What do you learn about the ministers from their behaviour?
7. How was a melon crowned to be the new King of the country?

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

1. Suggest few instance in the poem “The Tale of a Melon City’ which highlight humour and irony. 
2. How has the poet made fun of governance system by using the phrase ‘Just and placid’. 
3. How was the blame for the arch passed on? Who was ultimately punished?














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Saturday, 29 December 2012

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHIRLEY TOULSON
10:14

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHIRLEY TOULSON


Shirley Toulson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1924, Toulson resides in Somerset and has worked as a teacher, editor and poetess. SHIRLEY TOULSON, who lives in Somerset, was drawn into the spell of Celtic Christianity as she worked on her books dealing with the oldest roads and folklore of Britain and Ireland, and found herself following the routes taken on their journeys by the saints of the early church.

SUMMARY
The poet looks at the photograph of her mother, which was taken when her mother was 12 years old. The mother had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly and while they were paddling, her uncle took a photograph of them.

Each of the cousins was holding the hands of the poet’s mother who was the eldest among them. All three of them stood smiling through their hair while the photo was taken. Her mother had a sweet face. All this happened before she was born.

Years fled past. Her mother grew up into an adult. They all underwent changes, while the sea stood still and seemed unaltered despite the passage of time. After about twenty or thirty years, the poet’s mother would look at the photograph, laughing nostalgically and remembering the past.

She would comment on the dress worn by her cousins Betty and Dolly and herself. The sea holiday belonged to the past of her mother and the poet still remembers how her mother would laugh looking at the snapshot.

The smile Shirley Toulson’s mother had on her face when she thought of her past (the sea holiday) and Shirley’s thoughts when she recalls her mother’s laughter, both, seem to be wry i.e. filled with dry or sad amusement for a time that was happier but cannot be re-lived.


For the poet, both these (the photograph and her memories of her mother) bring great sadness and an acute sense of loss. However, time has been a healer of sorts. Although the sense of loss that may never go away completely, with time, she has come to accept this eventuality of life.

She has been able to come to terms with her mother’s demise. Her mother died about 12 years ago and now, the poetess has nothing to say about this circumstance. It leaves her sad and yet at ease. It leaves her in pain, but with acceptance. The photograph is silent and leaves her silent as well.

The three stanzas depict three different phases. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother. The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza refers to the poet’s adulthood when she is not with her mother.

LINE EXPLANATION
1) The cardboard (photograph) shows the narrator who it was that day (poetic device: allusion as the cardboard’s lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence of human life)

2) When two of her mother’s cousins went paddling (on the beach, with the narrator’s mother)
3) Each of the cousins held one of her mother’s hands.
4) Her mother was the eldest – about twelve years old at this time.
5) All three of them stood smiling, their hair strewn across their face (possibly tossed by the beach wind or water) (poetic device: alliteration... stood still to smile)
6) As her mother’s uncle clicked their picture with a camera. Her mother’s face was sweet
7) And the picture was taken much before the narrator was born.
8) The sea in the picture is still the same today (has changed very less)
9) And in the picture it seems to wash their feet which by nature, are transient because human life is short-lived as compared to nature. (Poetic device: Transferred Epithet. Human life itself is temporary not the feet. When the adjective for one noun like life is transferred to another noun like feet, it is called transferred epithet. It is also alliteration due to the repetition of the ‘t’ sound but writing only alliteration as the poetic device will lead to a loss of marks)


10) Some twenty, thirty years later from when the picture was clicked,
11) her mother had looked at the snapshot and laughed. She had pointed out her cousin Betty and Dolly and talked nostalgically of how oddly they used to be dressed for the beach.
The sea holiday was remembered by her mother with a fondness as well as a sense of loss because that time would never return.

12) Similarly, her laughter would never return to the narrator. The sea holiday was the narrator’s mother’s past and her mother’s laughter is the narrator’s past.
13) Both these pasts, the sea holiday as well as the laughter of her mother are remembered with a difficult and yet easy sense of loss. (Poetic device: oxymoron. The coming together of two opposite ideas to describe the same entity. ‘Laboured’ and ‘easy’ are opposite words describing the same entity ‘loss’. The loss of the holiday and the laughter was easy because these things have to be accepted as a part of life. They are merely a part of the past and cannot be brought back or relived. However, precisely because they cannot be relived, there will always be a tinge of difficulty letting them go completely. They will always be seen as loss.)

14) Now, it has been twelve years since her mother passed away. The girl in the photograph seems like a different person altogether. Thus, the use of the words, ‘that girl’.
15) And about the fact that her mother has passed away leaving behind nothing but memories and photographs like this one,

16) there is nothing to be said. It is a part of life and on thinking of it, one really has no words to express how one feels.

17) The silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet. (poetic device: alliteration and personification. The situation has been given the human quality of silence and the sound of ‘s’ has been repeated)
The camera thus managed to capture a moment in time. It kept the memory of the mother and for the mother alive. The sea holiday brought a sad smile (wry) to the mother’s face because she couldn’t relive it but was glad that she once had. Similarly, thinking of her mother’s laughter brought a sad smile to the poet’s face because although that laughter was now gone she was glad to have once had it in her life.

Nature is perennial while human life is temporary or transient. The poet uses a transferred epithet (terribly transient feet) in order to make this comparison and highlight the terribly short-lived life of her mother.

As in the Portrait of a Lady, this poem also deals with the theme of loss and bereavement and the impact it leaves on those who are left behind.

Reference to Context (RTC) questions:

1. The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,                                                          And she the big girl- some twelve years or so.

a. What does the cardboard refer to?
b. Who was the big girl and how old was she?
c. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?

2. All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face
My mother’s, that was before I was born
a. Who does ‘all three’ refer to here?
b. Where are they now?
c. Why did they smile through their hair?

3...A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.
a. Where was her mother?
b. When did this incident take place?
c. How is the poet able to remember her mother’s childhood?
d. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?



4. Some twenty- thirty- years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.”


a. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?
b. How did mother remember her past?
c. Who were Betty and Dolly?

6. ...The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
a. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?
b. What does ‘both’ refer to?
c. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?

7. Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all,
Its silence silences.
a. How many years are over after the death of her mother?
b. What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?
c. Why has the poet nothing to say about this circumstance?
d. What impact has the photograph on the poet?

Oxymoron – Are either literary effects designed to create a paradox/opposition of two parallel ideas, or deliberately added/created for humour. E.g. Parting is such sweet sorrow, Controlled chaos, Laboured ease etc.

UNDERSTANDING THE LESSON THROUGH KEY SENTENCES:

1. The poet looks at the cardboard on which there is a childhood photograph of her mother.
2. She had gone for a sea holiday with two her cousins Betty and Dolly
3. While they were paddling, their uncle took a photograph of them.
4. Both the cousins were holding the hands of her mother who was the eldest among the girls.
5. This was before the poet was born
6. Time fled past since and all those who are in the photograph under went changes while the sea remained the same.
7. Her mother would look at the photograph after about twenty to thirty years and laugh nostalgically.
8. Now for the poet her mother’s laughter and her sea holiday is a thing of the past.
9. Her mother died about 12 years ago.
10. The silence of the photograph silences the poet.
11. She experiences great loss.

TEXT BOOK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
‘Cardboard’ refers to the photograph only. In the past photographs used to be fixed to a cardboard and hung from the wall for every one to see it.

2. What has the camera captured?
The camera has captured some happy moments from the childhood of the poet’s mother. It was a scene taken from a beach where she had gone with her cousins and her uncle for a sea holiday. The girls were paddling in the water.

3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
The sea has not changed over the years. It is still the same. The sea symbolizes eternity.

4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.

5. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease or loss”
‘Both’ refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet remembering her mother’s laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is no more now.

7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

The three stanzas depict three different phases. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother. The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza refers to the poet’s adulthood when she is not with her mother.

ADDITIONAL SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What scene from mother’s childhood has been captured in the photograph? Who had taken the photograph?
The scene that has been captured in the photograph is from mother’s childhood when she went for paddling with her two cousins. Mother’s uncle had taken the photograph.

2. How did the cousins accompany mother for paddling?
Her cousins accompanied mother by holding her hands when they went for paddling.

3. Explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the first stanza.
The contrast is between the sea and the humans. The sea had remained the same for all these years, but the humans have undergone changes. Her mother grew up and now she had been dead for the past twelve years.

4. How does the poet feel when she remember the sea holiday of her mother?
The poet feels sad when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother. Her mother died twelve years ago.

5. Why doesn’t she want to think about the photograph any more?
She doesn’t want think about the photograph any more because it brings the pain of loss to her mind.



 

 

 

REFERENCE PASSAGE QUESTIONS

1.The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl- some twelve years or so.

a. What does the cardboard refer to?
The cardboard refers to the childhood photograph of her mother.
b. Who was the big girl and how old was she?
The big girl was the poet’s mother. She was then twelve years old.
c. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?
The girl cousins went paddling with mother holding her hand.

2.All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face
My mother’s, that was before I was born

a. Who does ‘all three’ refer to here?
‘all three’ refers to the poet’s mother and her two cousins.
b. Where are they now?
They have gone to the seashore. They are paddling in the water.
c. Why did they smile through their hair?
They smiled through their hair because they were posing for a photograph.

3. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.

a. Where was her mother?
Her mother was on the sea shore with her cousins and posing for a photograph.


b. When did this incident took place?
This incident took place when she was twelve years old.

c. How is the poet able to remember her mother’s childhood?
The poet is able to remember her mother’s childhood when she looks into the photograph of her mother.

d. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?
The sea has stood the onslaught of time. It is still the same. However, her mother and her cousins underwent changes. Her mother grew up to be an adult and now she is no more.

4 Some twenty- thirty- years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.”

a. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?
The poet’s mother would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later.

b. How did mother remember her past?
Mother remembered her past with nostalgia.

c. Who were Betty and Dolly?
Betty and Dolly were her cousins who had gone with her to the beach for paddling.

6. The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
a. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?
The poet’s mother had gone for the sea holiday in the past when she was a young girl.

b. What does ‘both’ refer to?
‘Both’ refers to the poet’s mother remembering her past sea holiday as well as the poet remembering her mother’s laughter.

c. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?
The poet experiences great sorrow when she remembers her mother who left for heavenly abode twelve years ago.

What does the poet compare her laughter to and why?

The mother’s laughter that used to echo in the house when she was alive has now become the poet’s past. The comparison is given in order to remember the mother with fondness while looking at her photograph.

What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

The sea has not changed over the years. It suggests the immortality of sea as compared to the mortal human beings whose life comes to an end finally.

The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What does this laugh indicate?

The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. This is an indication of the fun and joy she had experienced during the beach holiday and she had fond memories of that particular incident. It brought joy to her when she looked at the snapshot.                                                                                                           

What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?

‘This circumstance’ refers to the loneliness and the sense of loss that the poet suffers as she remembers her mother who is no more.                                           

What do you learn about the poet’s mother from the photograph?

The poet’s mother had been a fun loving girl, who had taken great delight with her cousins at the beach and had the fond memories of the holiday that she cherished even when she was a grown up.

 

 

 

 

 

Short answer questions
Q.1. What is the significance of the ‘cardboard’ frame?
Q.2. What tone has the poetess adopted in the poem?
Q.3. What comparison between the sea and human beings has been drawn in the second stanza?
Q.4. What emotions do you associate with the mother looking at the photograph?
Q.5. What emotions would you associate with Shirley as she looks at the photograph?
Q.6. Why does the poetess seem to have nothing to say about the ‘circumstance’?
Q.7. What is silenced and how has it silenced the poetess?

Long answer questions
Q.1. Each photograph is a memory. Justify the statement, in the light of the poem.
Q.2. The past can be a source of inspiration as well as regret. Comment, based on any two chapters (prose, poem or drama) that you have read. One may be this poem. The other will require recall.
Q.3. A photograph captures a moment in time. Discuss with reference to one of your favourite photographs.
Q.4. If you were the poet, what title would you give to this poem and why.
Q.5. You are the uncle who took the photograph of your mother. At her birthday this year, you came across a copy of this poem. Write a letter to your niece, Shirley, remembering the day at the beach.
Q.6. When we look at something, it looks right back at us. Imagine that you are a photograph, (not necessarily the one in the poem). Write a diary entry commenting on the various people who have come into your life.
Q.7. Discuss man’s relation to nature based on any two chapters you may have read (poems, prose, or drama).
Q.8. You are a member of the Blossoms team at Bluebells. You have been assigned the task to interview students at various class levels and write an article about our relationship with our parents. Write the article referring to this poem in context.
Q.9. We only realise the significance of something or someone in our lives, in their absence. Discuss with reference to the text and your real life..

17
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PHOTOGRAPH BY SHIRLEY TOULSON
10:14

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHIRLEY TOULSON


Shirley Toulson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1924, Toulson resides in Somerset and has worked as a teacher, editor and poetess. SHIRLEY TOULSON, who lives in Somerset, was drawn into the spell of Celtic Christianity as she worked on her books dealing with the oldest roads and folklore of Britain and Ireland, and found herself following the routes taken on their journeys by the saints of the early church.

SUMMARY
The poet looks at the photograph of her mother, which was taken when her mother was 12 years old. The mother had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly and while they were paddling, her uncle took a photograph of them.

Each of the cousins was holding the hands of the poet’s mother who was the eldest among them. All three of them stood smiling through their hair while the photo was taken. Her mother had a sweet face. All this happened before she was born.

Years fled past. Her mother grew up into an adult. They all underwent changes, while the sea stood still and seemed unaltered despite the passage of time. After about twenty or thirty years, the poet’s mother would look at the photograph, laughing nostalgically and remembering the past.

She would comment on the dress worn by her cousins Betty and Dolly and herself. The sea holiday belonged to the past of her mother and the poet still remembers how her mother would laugh looking at the snapshot.

The smile Shirley Toulson’s mother had on her face when she thought of her past (the sea holiday) and Shirley’s thoughts when she recalls her mother’s laughter, both, seem to be wry i.e. filled with dry or sad amusement for a time that was happier but cannot be re-lived.


For the poet, both these (the photograph and her memories of her mother) bring great sadness and an acute sense of loss. However, time has been a healer of sorts. Although the sense of loss that may never go away completely, with time, she has come to accept this eventuality of life.

She has been able to come to terms with her mother’s demise. Her mother died about 12 years ago and now, the poetess has nothing to say about this circumstance. It leaves her sad and yet at ease. It leaves her in pain, but with acceptance. The photograph is silent and leaves her silent as well.

The three stanzas depict three different phases. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother. The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza refers to the poet’s adulthood when she is not with her mother.

LINE EXPLANATION
1) The cardboard (photograph) shows the narrator who it was that day (poetic device: allusion as the cardboard’s lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence of human life)

2) When two of her mother’s cousins went paddling (on the beach, with the narrator’s mother)
3) Each of the cousins held one of her mother’s hands.
4) Her mother was the eldest – about twelve years old at this time.
5) All three of them stood smiling, their hair strewn across their face (possibly tossed by the beach wind or water) (poetic device: alliteration... stood still to smile)
6) As her mother’s uncle clicked their picture with a camera. Her mother’s face was sweet
7) And the picture was taken much before the narrator was born.
8) The sea in the picture is still the same today (has changed very less)
9) And in the picture it seems to wash their feet which by nature, are transient because human life is short-lived as compared to nature. (Poetic device: Transferred Epithet. Human life itself is temporary not the feet. When the adjective for one noun like life is transferred to another noun like feet, it is called transferred epithet. It is also alliteration due to the repetition of the ‘t’ sound but writing only alliteration as the poetic device will lead to a loss of marks)


10) Some twenty, thirty years later from when the picture was clicked,
11) her mother had looked at the snapshot and laughed. She had pointed out her cousin Betty and Dolly and talked nostalgically of how oddly they used to be dressed for the beach.
The sea holiday was remembered by her mother with a fondness as well as a sense of loss because that time would never return.

12) Similarly, her laughter would never return to the narrator. The sea holiday was the narrator’s mother’s past and her mother’s laughter is the narrator’s past.
13) Both these pasts, the sea holiday as well as the laughter of her mother are remembered with a difficult and yet easy sense of loss. (Poetic device: oxymoron. The coming together of two opposite ideas to describe the same entity. ‘Laboured’ and ‘easy’ are opposite words describing the same entity ‘loss’. The loss of the holiday and the laughter was easy because these things have to be accepted as a part of life. They are merely a part of the past and cannot be brought back or relived. However, precisely because they cannot be relived, there will always be a tinge of difficulty letting them go completely. They will always be seen as loss.)

14) Now, it has been twelve years since her mother passed away. The girl in the photograph seems like a different person altogether. Thus, the use of the words, ‘that girl’.
15) And about the fact that her mother has passed away leaving behind nothing but memories and photographs like this one,

16) there is nothing to be said. It is a part of life and on thinking of it, one really has no words to express how one feels.

17) The silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet. (poetic device: alliteration and personification. The situation has been given the human quality of silence and the sound of ‘s’ has been repeated)
The camera thus managed to capture a moment in time. It kept the memory of the mother and for the mother alive. The sea holiday brought a sad smile (wry) to the mother’s face because she couldn’t relive it but was glad that she once had. Similarly, thinking of her mother’s laughter brought a sad smile to the poet’s face because although that laughter was now gone she was glad to have once had it in her life.

Nature is perennial while human life is temporary or transient. The poet uses a transferred epithet (terribly transient feet) in order to make this comparison and highlight the terribly short-lived life of her mother.

As in the Portrait of a Lady, this poem also deals with the theme of loss and bereavement and the impact it leaves on those who are left behind.

Reference to Context (RTC) questions:

1. The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,                                                          And she the big girl- some twelve years or so.

a. What does the cardboard refer to?
b. Who was the big girl and how old was she?
c. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?

2. All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face
My mother’s, that was before I was born
a. Who does ‘all three’ refer to here?
b. Where are they now?
c. Why did they smile through their hair?

3...A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.
a. Where was her mother?
b. When did this incident take place?
c. How is the poet able to remember her mother’s childhood?
d. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?



4. Some twenty- thirty- years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.”


a. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?
b. How did mother remember her past?
c. Who were Betty and Dolly?

6. ...The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
a. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?
b. What does ‘both’ refer to?
c. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?

7. Now she’s has been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all,
Its silence silences.
a. How many years are over after the death of her mother?
b. What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?
c. Why has the poet nothing to say about this circumstance?
d. What impact has the photograph on the poet?

Oxymoron – Are either literary effects designed to create a paradox/opposition of two parallel ideas, or deliberately added/created for humour. E.g. Parting is such sweet sorrow, Controlled chaos, Laboured ease etc.

UNDERSTANDING THE LESSON THROUGH KEY SENTENCES:

1. The poet looks at the cardboard on which there is a childhood photograph of her mother.
2. She had gone for a sea holiday with two her cousins Betty and Dolly
3. While they were paddling, their uncle took a photograph of them.
4. Both the cousins were holding the hands of her mother who was the eldest among the girls.
5. This was before the poet was born
6. Time fled past since and all those who are in the photograph under went changes while the sea remained the same.
7. Her mother would look at the photograph after about twenty to thirty years and laugh nostalgically.
8. Now for the poet her mother’s laughter and her sea holiday is a thing of the past.
9. Her mother died about 12 years ago.
10. The silence of the photograph silences the poet.
11. She experiences great loss.

TEXT BOOK QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
‘Cardboard’ refers to the photograph only. In the past photographs used to be fixed to a cardboard and hung from the wall for every one to see it.

2. What has the camera captured?
The camera has captured some happy moments from the childhood of the poet’s mother. It was a scene taken from a beach where she had gone with her cousins and her uncle for a sea holiday. The girls were paddling in the water.

3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
The sea has not changed over the years. It is still the same. The sea symbolizes eternity.

4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.

5. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease or loss”
‘Both’ refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet remembering her mother’s laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is no more now.

7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

The three stanzas depict three different phases. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother. The second stanza refers to the poet’s childhood when her mother was an adult. The last stanza refers to the poet’s adulthood when she is not with her mother.

ADDITIONAL SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What scene from mother’s childhood has been captured in the photograph? Who had taken the photograph?
The scene that has been captured in the photograph is from mother’s childhood when she went for paddling with her two cousins. Mother’s uncle had taken the photograph.

2. How did the cousins accompany mother for paddling?
Her cousins accompanied mother by holding her hands when they went for paddling.

3. Explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the first stanza.
The contrast is between the sea and the humans. The sea had remained the same for all these years, but the humans have undergone changes. Her mother grew up and now she had been dead for the past twelve years.

4. How does the poet feel when she remember the sea holiday of her mother?
The poet feels sad when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother. Her mother died twelve years ago.

5. Why doesn’t she want to think about the photograph any more?
She doesn’t want think about the photograph any more because it brings the pain of loss to her mind.



 

 

 

REFERENCE PASSAGE QUESTIONS

1.The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl- some twelve years or so.

a. What does the cardboard refer to?
The cardboard refers to the childhood photograph of her mother.
b. Who was the big girl and how old was she?
The big girl was the poet’s mother. She was then twelve years old.
c. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?
The girl cousins went paddling with mother holding her hand.

2.All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face
My mother’s, that was before I was born

a. Who does ‘all three’ refer to here?
‘all three’ refers to the poet’s mother and her two cousins.
b. Where are they now?
They have gone to the seashore. They are paddling in the water.
c. Why did they smile through their hair?
They smiled through their hair because they were posing for a photograph.

3. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.

a. Where was her mother?
Her mother was on the sea shore with her cousins and posing for a photograph.


b. When did this incident took place?
This incident took place when she was twelve years old.

c. How is the poet able to remember her mother’s childhood?
The poet is able to remember her mother’s childhood when she looks into the photograph of her mother.

d. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?
The sea has stood the onslaught of time. It is still the same. However, her mother and her cousins underwent changes. Her mother grew up to be an adult and now she is no more.

4 Some twenty- thirty- years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty
And Dolly,” she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach.”

a. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?
The poet’s mother would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later.

b. How did mother remember her past?
Mother remembered her past with nostalgia.

c. Who were Betty and Dolly?
Betty and Dolly were her cousins who had gone with her to the beach for paddling.

6. The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss
a. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?
The poet’s mother had gone for the sea holiday in the past when she was a young girl.

b. What does ‘both’ refer to?
‘Both’ refers to the poet’s mother remembering her past sea holiday as well as the poet remembering her mother’s laughter.

c. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?
The poet experiences great sorrow when she remembers her mother who left for heavenly abode twelve years ago.

What does the poet compare her laughter to and why?

The mother’s laughter that used to echo in the house when she was alive has now become the poet’s past. The comparison is given in order to remember the mother with fondness while looking at her photograph.

What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

The sea has not changed over the years. It suggests the immortality of sea as compared to the mortal human beings whose life comes to an end finally.

The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What does this laugh indicate?

The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. This is an indication of the fun and joy she had experienced during the beach holiday and she had fond memories of that particular incident. It brought joy to her when she looked at the snapshot.                                                                                                           

What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?

‘This circumstance’ refers to the loneliness and the sense of loss that the poet suffers as she remembers her mother who is no more.                                           

What do you learn about the poet’s mother from the photograph?

The poet’s mother had been a fun loving girl, who had taken great delight with her cousins at the beach and had the fond memories of the holiday that she cherished even when she was a grown up.

 

 

 

 

 

Short answer questions
Q.1. What is the significance of the ‘cardboard’ frame?
Q.2. What tone has the poetess adopted in the poem?
Q.3. What comparison between the sea and human beings has been drawn in the second stanza?
Q.4. What emotions do you associate with the mother looking at the photograph?
Q.5. What emotions would you associate with Shirley as she looks at the photograph?
Q.6. Why does the poetess seem to have nothing to say about the ‘circumstance’?
Q.7. What is silenced and how has it silenced the poetess?

Long answer questions
Q.1. Each photograph is a memory. Justify the statement, in the light of the poem.
Q.2. The past can be a source of inspiration as well as regret. Comment, based on any two chapters (prose, poem or drama) that you have read. One may be this poem. The other will require recall.
Q.3. A photograph captures a moment in time. Discuss with reference to one of your favourite photographs.
Q.4. If you were the poet, what title would you give to this poem and why.
Q.5. You are the uncle who took the photograph of your mother. At her birthday this year, you came across a copy of this poem. Write a letter to your niece, Shirley, remembering the day at the beach.
Q.6. When we look at something, it looks right back at us. Imagine that you are a photograph, (not necessarily the one in the poem). Write a diary entry commenting on the various people who have come into your life.
Q.7. Discuss man’s relation to nature based on any two chapters you may have read (poems, prose, or drama).
Q.8. You are a member of the Blossoms team at Bluebells. You have been assigned the task to interview students at various class levels and write an article about our relationship with our parents. Write the article referring to this poem in context.
Q.9. We only realise the significance of something or someone in our lives, in their absence. Discuss with reference to the text and your real life..

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