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Dear Visitors,

Some menus and sub-menus are in editing mode. Syllabus for class X has changed. Therefore, I am uploading content of First Flight and Footprints one by one. First Chapter of First Flight has already been uploaded. The second chapter is being uploaded.

Kindly bear with me. Towards the end of April Term I contents will be ready. Till then, keep browsing......

Regards,
Monotosh Sir
HOD ( Dept. of English)

Nelson Mandela-Long Walk to Freedom

                                               Nelson Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom

Page 18

1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?

Ans:  The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Public buildings in India that are made of sandstone are  Rashtrapati  Bhavan , Parliament House and Supreme Court of India in New Delhi.

2.  Can you say how 10 may is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?

Ans:  The inauguration ceremony after the first democratic election  was held amidst the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil. Therefore, 10^th May is regarded as the ‘autumn day’ in south Africa.

3. At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions ‘ an extraordinary human disaster’. What does he mean by this? What is the ‘glorious human achievement’ he speaks of at the end?  

Ans: By ‘an extraordinary human disaster’ Mandela means the exploitation of the Black people by the Whites for decades together leading to untold suffering and multitude of deaths.

‘Glorious human achievement’ refers to the abolishment of the evil practice of apartheid and the birth of democracy where there will be no discrimination of any sort henceforth.

4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?

 Mandela  thanked the international leaders  for their indispensable presence  in his investiture ceremony  as the first Black President of South Africa. He  thanked  all distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of their  country of what is, after all, a common victory for  justice, for peace, for human dignity.

5. What ideals does  he set out for the future of South Africa?

Ans He reiterated with unspeakable pride that they  achieved their  political emancipation. He then pledged  to liberate all his  people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. He further emphasized that never and never again the beautiful land of South Africa  will again experience the oppression of one by another.

6. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why? 

The military generals of the South African Army demonstrated  not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy,  to a new government that had been  freely and fairly elected. The highest generals of the South African defence force saluted Mandela  and pledged their loyalty to him.

Their attitude underwent a sea change as instead of arresting Mandela, they pledged their loyalty towards him and saluted him. This is because of the landmark achievement that South Africa achieved in terms of the birth of new democracy. 

7. Why were two national anthems sung? 

Ans:  The national anthems of the blacks and the  whites were sung in order to express their happiness over the birth of new democracy in  South Africa. They jointly displayed their pledge to be together and work towards the  development  of the nation  with  the support of the new government. 

8. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country (i) in the first decade, and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century? 

i) In the first decade:  The white-skinned peoples of South Africa patched up their differences and erected a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned peoples of their own land. The structure they created formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhumane, societies the world has ever known.

ii) In the Final decade :In the last decade of the twentieth century, the system of racial discrimination that the Whites erected  had beenoverturned forever and replaced by one thatrecognized the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.

9. What does courage mean to Mandela? 

Ans: Courage, according to Mandela, is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. 

10. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate? 
Ans: According to Mandela,No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than hatred. 

11. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention? 

Ans:  ‘Twin obligations’refers to obligations to one’s  family, to his parents, to his wife and children as well as his  obligation to his people, his community and his country.

12. What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How does he contrast these “transitory freedoms” with “the basic and honourable freedoms”? 

Ans: Being free to Mandela as a boy refers to the   freedom of being able to stay out at night, read what you pleased and go where you chose. But when he grew up as a student,  he yearns for ‘the basic and honourable freedoms’ of achieving his potential, of earning his keep, of marrying and having a family.


‘Transitory freedoms’ refers to the freedom that we enjoy during our childhood. This is very much transitory in nature as when we grow up, such types of freedom take a back seat. But when we grow up, ‘the basic and honourable freedom’ is what we crave for because it is a kind of freedom that is required for every one of us as adults in a civil society. 

Thinking About the Text ( Page 24) 

1.Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of? 

Ans: A rainbow gathering of different colours and nations attended the inauguration in order to pay their respect  for the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government.

It signifies the triumph of the sacrifice of a large multitudes of patriots to liberate South Africa from thralldom of White racial government. In other words, it signifies the victory of democracy over dictatorship. 

2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had gone before him? 

Ans: Mandela means to say that those countless patriots who fought for liberating their country from the oppression of the Whites are no longer alive to see the fruits of their harvest. Therefore, Mandela is paying tribute to all those patriots as their sacrifices have wrought freedom. He further says that the long chain of legacy  and noble line  of patriots ended with the birth of democracy and will again begin with him another chain of committed people who would take South Africa to a greater heights of excellence and glory. 

3. Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument? 

Ans: Yes, of course. The more hardships you face in life, the more mental endurance you develop. Mandela illustrates the concept very aptly when he said that the decades of oppression and brutality inflicted on the Blacks had produced the likes of  Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the Robert Sobukwes of our time. 
 History is replete with examples from India during our freedom struggle. The depths of oppression that people underwent created heights of character like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and many more. 

4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?

Ans: Mandela realized that the chains on anyone of his people were the chains on all of them. Similarly, the chains on all of his people were the chains on him. According to him, one is  not truly free if he is taking away someone else’s freedom, just as he is not free when his freedom is taken away from him.  Therefore, both the oppressor and the oppressed need to be liberated to ensure freedom in the right sense. 

5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life? 

Ans: As a young man Mandela  saw that it was not just his freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone in his  Black community. Therefore, he  joined the African National Congress, and then the hunger for his own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of his  people. It was this desire for the freedom of his people to live their lives with dignity and self respect that animated his life and he began to work tirelessly for the emancipation of his community from the tyranny of the Whites.

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Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice 
By Robert Frost

This is a poem of contrast. Fire in this poem represents greed, desire, fury etc, whereas Ice represents indifference, intolerance, enmity etc. The poet presents ideas as to how the world would come to an end one day.

In the first verse, the poet says that the world would end one day either by fire or by ice. Both are capable of igniting enough heat that can end the world. But the poet takes the side of desire or greed being one of the most important causes of destruction of the world. As the desire increases, so does the ambition and the corresponding greed to acquire by fair means or foul. Desire gives rise to restlessness and the rat race ultimately brings about the destruction of civilization.

In the Second stanza, the poet again gives us the possibility of destruction of the world by the ice. Ice symbolizes indifference and hatred, which is also capable of bringing about destruction of the earth.

What Frost means to say is that if desire and greed represented by Fire is responsible for the downfall of human beings, so are hatred and indifference, which can also ignite the world for destruction. Both the possibilities are equally pertinent in so far as destruction of civilization is concerned.

                                          Thinking about the Poem

2. For Frost, what do ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for?

Ans: According to Frost, ‘fire’ stands for greed, desire, conflict and fury. Greed gives rise to conflict, which in turn destroys the society. On the other hand, ‘ice’ stands for intolerance, indifference, hatred and insensitivity.  Indifference and hatred in the minds of human beings also breed intolerance and cruelty, which ultimately spells disaster for human kind.

3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? How does it help in bringing out the contrasting ideas in the poem?

Ans: The rhyme scheme of the poem is: a, b, a, a; b. c, b, c, b.

The two sets of varied rhyme schemes present the contrasting ideas. The poet says that the world would end one day either by fire or by ice. Both are capable of igniting enough heat that can end the world. Not only can the greed, desire represented by fire, but also intolerance and enmity among human beings represented by ‘ice’ can equally contribute to the depletion of our society.

Dust of Snow

Dust of Snow

        By

Robert Frost

Synopsis:     To quote Robert Frost, ‘Always, always a larger significance… A little thing touches a larger thing.’’ The poem presents the contrasting mood of the poet. The mood of regret has been associated with the corresponding words like ‘hemlock tree’ and a ‘crow’. On the other hand, the poet experiences a switch in his mood when the crow from the top of the hemlock tree drops a dust of snow on him. He immediately feels relaxed and his mood undergoes a transformation from the state of regret to that of relaxation. The image of snow here has a tranquilizing effect on the poet. Therefore, the touch of a dust of snow has helped him come out of the state of regret and helped him enter the refreshing mode of joyfulness.

Q1.  What is a “dust of snow”? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?

Ans: A dust of snow refers to ‘particles of snow’. The poet says that a dust of snow being dropped by a crow from the top of the hemlock tree has changed his mood.

The poet was sitting under the hemlock tree in a state of regret. Suddenly a dust of snow, which fell over his body, brought about a change in his mood.

Q2. How does Frost present nature in this poem?

Ans: Frost has presented a crow and hemlock tree from nature and associated these two with his mood of regret. Crow and hemlock tree respectively symbolize sorrow. So the poet used the two images to match with his mood of regret. The poet, on the other hand, has also made use of ‘dust of snow’ from nature to represent  state of joyfulness.

Q3. What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent − joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?

The ‘Crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent the state of sorrowfulness. The dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree represents the state of joyfulness. Here to show the contrast of his mood the poet has used the contrasting images.

A Letter to God

                                                              A Letter to God By G. L. Fuentes

Comprehension Check(Page 5)

Q1. What did Lencho hope for?

Ans:  Lencho  hoped for a spell of a shower as it would ensure good harvest for his crops.

Q2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?

Ans:  Lencho was expecting raindrops as they would pave the way for healthy harvest. Rain-fed harvest would bring financial gain for him in the market. Therefore, Lencho  thought that raindrops are like ‘new coins.

Q3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

Ans:  A spell of downpour suddenly gave way to torrential rain accompanied with hailstones.  For an hour the hailstones rained on the field resulting in a complete damage to Lencho’s crops.

Q4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?

Ans:  After the storm had passed over, Lencho stood in the middle of the field and told his sons with a heavy heart that a plague of locusts would have spared his crops to some extent. But the hail  had left nothing for him for the entire year.

Comprehension Check (Page 6)

Q5.  Who or What did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

Ans: Lencho had profound faith in the dispensation of almighty God whose eyes are able to discern every minute thing.

He decided to write a letter to God entreating Him to send him hundred pesos  to sow his field again and to sustain himself till the time his crops had full harvest.

Q6.Who read the letter?

Ans:  An employee of the post office  spotted the envelope addressed to God and took it to the postmaster, who eventually read the letter.

Q7. What did the postmaster do then?

Ans:  On seeing  the letter of Lencho addressed to God, the postmaster burst out into laughter. But he  was taken aback to  see his unflinching faith on God. He immediately  entreated his employees to give donation  for an act of charity for Lencho and send the sum to Lencho.

Comprehension Check (Page 7)

Q8.  Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Ans: No, Lencho did not appear to have been surprised on receiving a letter with money inside it. His faith in God was so profound and unshaken  in nature that he  was expecting  that  his wishes would be obliged by God.

Q9. What made him angry?

Ans: On counting the pesos he discovered  only seventy pesos instead of hundred. His unflinching faith in God made him believe that God could not make any mistake. Therefore, the post  office officials incurred his wrath and he held them  guilty of stealing his thirty pesos.

                                              Thinking about the Text( Page 7)

Q1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in ? Which sentences in the story tell you this?

Ans: Lencho had complete faith in the dispensation of the almighty God.

The following sentences reinforces the faith of Lencho in God.

(i)But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God.

(ii)All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.

(iii)“God,” he wrote, “if you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.”

Q2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Ans: The Postmaster was highly impressed by Lencho’s unflinching faith in God. Therefore, in order to sustain his faith on God, the postmaster decided to do the act of charity by sending money to him.

He signed the letter ‘God’ so that Lencho’s expectation from God remained unshaken.

Q3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money go him? Why/Why not?

Ans: No, Lencho did not try to find out as his unflinching faith on God did not allow him to think otherwise. He never thought even in his wildest dreams that someone else could even send him money on behalf of God.

Q4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?

Ans: Lencho thinks that the post office employees have taken the rest of the money.

The irony in the situation lies in the fact that instead of being grateful to the charitable gesture shown by the post office employees, Lencho   considers them a bunch of crooks and becomes suspicious of them.

Q6.There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?

The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated when there was a mismatch of Lencho’s expectation of rain being a harbinger of new coins for him. On the other hand , nature represented by torrential rain and hailstones threw cold water in Lencho’s expectation by destroying his crops. Therefore, the conflict between man and nature which always exists, is justified.

The conflict between humans is also  justified when Lencho shows an act of ungratefulness and  suspects post office officials of being  a bunch of crooks. He refuses to even enquire where the money has come from. Therefore, the act of  not trusting post office employees is a metaphor to the fact that man has lost faith in man and thus illustrates the conflict between humans. 

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