Author name: Prasanna

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

The Blue Bead Summary by Norah Burke

The Blue Bead Summary About the Author

Norah Aileen Burke (2nd August, 1907-1976), was a celebrated English novelist and non-fiction writer famous for her descriptions of life in India during the early 20th century. Her father was a forest officer in India during her early childhood. Thus, she got an ample chance to interact with the wildlife in India, which inspired her to include them in her works, the famous among them being ‘Jungle Child’ (1956), ‘Eleven Leopards’ (1965) and ‘Midnight Forests’ (1966).

The Blue Bead Summary

This story starts with a mugger crocodile lying motionless waiting for food. Beside him lay a small blue bead. In the village above the river lived a little girl, Sibia. Being poor she never owned anything but a rag. Her family could not even afford her a new needle or a handful of beads to make a necklace. She worked with her mother and other women collecting paper grass from above the river.

After a good collection was made, they would take it down to the bullock cart and sell it to the agent who would arrange for it to be sent to the paper mills. On the way lived some Gujar people, the nomadic graziers, who stayed there till their animals finished grazing at that spot. One day when the women returned back after toiling for the entire dav, Sibia decided to rest on the way. While she was resting, a Gujar woman came down to fill two pots and when she was filling them a huge crocodile attacked her, biting down on the woman’s leg, blood spreading everywhere. Quickly Sibia, who was watching .

This attack, ran over and stabbed the crocodile in the eves, the only vulnerable area, with her havfork. The crocodile swam away convulsively in pain. After having being rescued Sibia she brought her to the shore, applied sand on her wound, tied it with a rag and helped her home. When she came back to pick her things, she saw the blue bead laying in the river. She picked it up and brought it home happily and told her mom about the bead that she had found for her necklace.

The Blue Bead Summary Word Meanings :

1. Whirlpool : An area of water in a river, stream, etc. that moves very fast in a circle
2. Dislodge : To forcefully remove
3. Jostle : To push against while moving forward in a crowd
4. Rippled : Moved in small waves
5. Trilling : Twirl, revolve
6. Mugger : A freshwater crocodile found in India
7. Antediluvian : Very old or old-fashioned
8. Formidable : Very powerful or strong
9. Fend : Defend, guard
10. Putrid : Rotten, very ugly or unpleasant
11. Tepid : Not hot and not cold; lukewarm
12. Armoured hide : Thick skin which acts as a armour
13. Gharials : Crocodiles
14. Ford : A shallow part of a river etc. that may be crossed by walking
15. Perforated : Having holes
16. Starveling : Very thin due to lack of food; malnourished
17. Rancid : Having strong and unpleasant smell
18. Goosey-cold : Extreme cold that causes goosebumps
19. One anna : 1/16th of a rupee
20. Gaunt : Plain and unpleasant in appearance
21. Forebears : Forefathers
22. Swooping : To fly down through the air suddenly
23. Dawdle : To spend time idly
24. Hayfork : A long handed fork used for moving hay
25. Boulder : A very large and rounded rock
26. Lunge : A sudden forward movement
27. Darkling : In the dark
28. Heaved : Lifted or pulled with effort
29. Threshing : Striking repeatedly
30. Flail : To strike or hit in a wild and uncontrolled way
31. Prong : A long point of a fork
32. Convulsion : An uncontrolled fit
33. Wobbling : Moving unsteadily from side to side
34. Smudged : Made unclear
35. Morose : Very sad or unhappy
36. Makna elephant : Tuskless, dangerous elephant’

The Blue Bead Summary Question and Answer

Question 1.
Describe ‘Poverty’ as one of the themes of the story ‘The Blue Bead’.
Answer:
Sibia, the protagonist of the story, is a young girl of twelve years who lived in poverty. We see her as a child in rags, thin and starving. She didn’t possess even one anna, a piece or a pit to buy a handful of glass beads or one of the thin glass bangles from the bazaar. She lost her childhood in doing household work, she husked corn, gathered sticks, put dung to dry, cooked, fetched water, cut grass for fodder and accompanied her mother and other ladies to get paper grass from the cliffs above the river. Thus, we see that Sibia characterises the other poor girls and women of her group who worked hard to arrange the necessities’ of their life.

Sibia divided her chappati to make it seem more, she stood expectantly infront of sweet stalls, but couldn’t have them, her desire to wear silver threaded satin clothes was replaced with earth coloured rags and she has to wait to buy a small needle to make her necklace as hers is broken and they don’t have money to buy a mere small needle.

Question 2.
How does Sibia, a simple, young poor girl become the heroine of the story ‘The Blue Bead’? What reward does she get for her
brave act?
Answer:
In Narah Burke’s story ‘The Blue Bead’, Sibia is a poor child who has never owned much in her entire life. She was marked for work from life to death. She is very hard working. She helped her mother to make money by picking paper grass for hours, up the hill. She doesn’t have a single penny to buy a glass bead nor a needle to make her necklace.

One day, after finishing the day’s work of cutting paper grass, she stays back while all other women, along with Sibia’s mother, come back to their village. She walked down the ghats of the river, and walked across the stepping stones, but shortly after another woman came to fill her ‘gurrahs’. Suddenly, an armored mugger lunged at her leg dropping the brass ‘gurrahs’ in the river! Sibia knew she had to do something. She needed to help her! Immediately came into action. She flew towards the woman, jumping from boulder to boulder, which are normally difficult to cross, due to the big gap at some places.

She quickly jumped in the boiling bloody water, faced the strong Saurian right in the eye, and with her hayfork aimed at the crocodile’s eyes, which is the most vulnerable spot in its body.The crocodile crashed exploded the water. The convulsion made it swim away in pain. Sibia then dragged the Gujar woman out of the water, stops her wounds with sand and bound them with a rag and helped her to reach her encampment.When she came back to get her grass, sickle and fork, she saw a ‘Blue Bead’ laying in the stream and fetches it. She is overjoyed and carries it home ecstatically. Now she would be able to complete her necklace!

The Blue Bead Summary Extract Based Questions

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“Now, nothing could pierce the inch-thick armoured hide. Not even rifle bullets, which would bounce off.”
(i) Who is being spoken of in the above lines? Describe him.
(ii) From whom did the baby crocodile face danger to its life? How does the crocodile store its food?
(iii) In what words has the author highlighted the power and magnificence of the crocodile?
(iv) Which are the vulnerable parts in the body of a crocodile?
(v) What is the author’s intention of mentioning a blue bead while describing the crocodile?
Answer:
(i) The creature mentioned here is the mugger crocodile. It is twice the length of a tall man. It is blackish brown above and yellowish white below. His mouth is almost the whole length of his head and tinged green, and its tail is quite huge and strong.

(ii) The baby crocodile had danger from the birds of prey and the great carnivorous fish.
The crocodile caught the food it needed and stored it till it decayed, in holes in the bank.

(iii) The author has used the following words to highlight the strength and grandeur of the crocodile
“This ante diluvian saurian – this prehistoric juggernaut, ferocious and formidable, a vast force in the water, propelled by the unimaginable and irresistible power of the huge tail.”

(iv) Nothing can pierce the inch-thick armored hide of the crocodile, not even rifle bullets. The only places that are vulnerable are the eyes and the soft underarms.

(v) The story’s title is ‘The Blue Bead’. The protagonist of the story, about whom we get to know later, is earnestly in search of a bead to make a necklace for herself, and she finds this bead near the crocodile. But what all that she goes through to get it is adventurous. Thus, the Blue Bead carried great significance and is mentioned in the beginning itself.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“She was going with her mother and some other women now to get paper grass from the cliffs above the river.”
(i) Who is ‘She’? Describe the girl, her food and lifestyle.
(ii) Where and what kind of ‘finery’ had poor Sibia seen? What kind of work had Sibia done?
(iii) Where had the Gujar males gone? How does the author describe the buffaloes?
(iv) What similarity exists between the Gujars and Sibica?
(v) Who were the Gujars? Describe the Gujar women.
Answer:
(i) ‘She’ is referred to the protagonist of the story ‘Sibia’. She is a twelve year, earthy colour, thin girl with ebony hair. She had never owned anything except a rag which she had torn in two to make a skirt and a sari. She lived in such poverty that she divides her chapatti into several pieces to make it seem more and she has to wait to buy another needle when one breaks while piercing the beads. She remains bare foot and goosey-cold even in winters. She was born to labour

(ii) Sibia had seen the finery in the bazaar in the little town at the rail head which she had visited with her family after passing through the jungles. In the bazaar, she had gazed amazingly at the wonderful green and magenta coloured honey confections surrounded with dust and flies.Then she came across the cloth stall with big rolls of new cotton cloth smelling of the mills. She also saw satin sewn with real silver thread, tin trays from Birmingham, and a sari embroidered with chips looking like glass at the borders.

In the bazaar was a Kashmiri travelling merchant showing dawn-coloured silks, he also had a little locked chest with turquoises and opals in it. Amongst all of these, she loved the box which when pressed, a bell tinkled and a yellow woollen chicken jumped out.Throughout her life, Sibia seemed to be born to do various kinds of work like, husking corn, gathering sticks, putting dung to dry, cooking and weeding, fetching water and cutting grass for fodder.

(iii) The Gujar men and boys were out of camp with the herd or had gone to the bazaar to sell produce. The author describes the buffaloes as creatures of great wet noses and moving jaws and gaunt black bones.

(iv) Both, Sibia and Gujars, were junglis, as they were born and bred in the forest. For many centuries, their forefathers had lived in a similar manner, living on animals, grass and trees. They searched their food together and stored their substance in large heads and silver jewellery. They were neither Stone Age Hunters nor Modern Cultivators, but were ‘Man in the Wandering Pastoral Age’.

(v) Gujars was a tribe of nomadic graziers who temporarily camped at a place till their animals finished all the easy grazing within their reach or till they were unable to sell enough of their white butter or milk in the district, or they couldn’t find a customer for the young male buffaloes for tiger bait.The Gujar women wore trousers, tight and wrinkled at the ankles. In their ears they wore large silver rings made out of melted rupees.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“Sibia sprang from boulder to boulder she came leaping like a rock goat.”
(i) Why were the women going to the cliff above the river ?
(ii) Why was Sibia left alone? Why was she there? What made her spring into action
(iii) Why didn’t the mugger move when the women crossed the river?
(iv) Describe the crocodile’s attack and how Sibia defeated him.
(v) What was it that made Sibia overjoyed? What does this reflect about her?
Answer:
(i) Sibia, along with her mother and other women of the village went to get paper grass from above the river,which they sold in bulk to the agent who would arrange it to be sent to the paper mills.

(ii) This day when their task was done, the women went back home while Sibia dawdled around to see if the little clay cups were still there in the cave and was last to go back. In the middle of the way, she decided to take a break as she was tired and loaded. At that same moment, a Gujar woman went down to the river to fetch water in her ‘gurrahs’. Suddenly the crocodile attacks her unaware. Sibia instead of getting terrified runs to save the woman. Thus, she springs into action.

(iii) The mugger didn’t move as the noise frightens crocodiles. While crossing the river the women laughed and bickered in plenty. They girded up their skirts and jumped from stone to stone. The sickles and forks which they held over their shoulders, clanked. They quarreled with each other noisy. This scared the crocodiles which lay docile while they moved across.

(iv) As the Gujar woman comes near the water to fill her vessels, the crocodile lunges at her. His jaws closed in on the woman’s leg, spreading blood everywhere. She grabs onto the rock but the strong crocodile pulls the woman and she loses the grip. She is able to grab a log caught between two rocks. Brave Sibia jumps into action on seeing this. The crocodile splashed the water forcefully with its tail but Sibia did not hesitate. She drove her hayfork into the crocodile’s eye as fiercefully as she could. He was retreated painfully. He let go his prey and disappeared.

(v) When Sibia returns to pick her sickle and bundle of paper grass after helping the Gujar woman, she notices a blue bead in water and picks it up. She is ecstatic to get it. Her aspiration of life to make a necklace for herself is fulfilled. She feels boundless joy when she tells her mother about the bead.

But she does not even mention the fatal combat she had experienced in which she had emerged victorious. This shows that she was extremely brave and adventurous. This also highlights the fact that for poor people like Sibia, the fulfilment of little dreams is much more important and significant than saving a life.

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary by Jesse Owens

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary About the Author

Jesse Owens also known by name of James Cleveland Owens, (12 September 1913 – 31 March 1980), was an American track and field athlete who set a world record in the running broad jump which stood for 25 years and who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. It is the four Olympic victories that were a blow to Adolf Hitler’s intention to use the games to demonstrate Aryan superiority. Hitler refused to shake hands with Owens because he was an African American.

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary

‘My Greatest Olympic Prize’ is a famous memoir by the well-known American Athlete, Jesse Owens. He was a member of the American team that went to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. In this story, he shares his unforgettable experience during the games. Adolf Hitler was then the ruler of Germany. He was an ardent racist. He believed in the supremacy of the ‘Aryan race’. He thought that his German athletes belonged to a master race and they would perform better than the others.

Jesse Owens was a Negro. He nurtured a belief to disapprove Hitler’s theory and with this determination he went to Berlin. He trained himself for six years for these Olympics. The previous year he had already made a record in long jump. So he was pretty confident to win the medal.

An angry athlete commits mistakes. So did Jesse. He put a very bad performance during the trials. But the German athlete Luz Long, performed well and qualified for the finals. This made Jesse all the more upset. Though Luz is his opponent player but surprisingly he helps Jesse to qualify for the finals. He suggests to draw a line behind the take off board and then to jump.

In the finals, though Luz managed to break his own record but it was Jesse who won the gold medal by jumping 26 feet 5-5/16 inches. Despite Hitler’s glaring at them, Luz shook hands with Jesse and congratulated him.

Jesse recollects what Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of Olympic Games, said that the true spirit of Olympic is not winning but taking part and fighting well. Luz did not win but set up a good Olympic spirit. Thus, for Jesse Owens, the greatest Olympic prize is not the gold medal but his true and noble friendship with Luz Long.

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary Word Meanings :

1. Sophomore : A student in the second year of high school or college
2. Startled : Surprised
3. Leaped : Jumped
4. Disgustedly : Distastefully
5. Slang : Language peculiar to a particular group of people
6. Chiseled : Having an attractive well formed shape
7. Ebb out : Decline
8. Glared : To look angrily at someone
9. Epitome : A perfect example

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
How does Luz Long’s behaviour prime the words of ‘Coubertin’?
Answer:
Pierre de Coubertin was the Frenchman whose efforts were responsible for the revival of the Modern Olympic Games in 1896. He believed that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. And Luz Long seems to be the epitome of the very principles of Olympics and true sportsmanship.

He saw a fellow sportsman, Owens in trouble and worried, he extendedhis hand to help him.Instead of considering him his staunch opponent and without paying heed to Hitler’s anger, he became friendly with Owens. He not only guided Owens to qualify for the trials, but also was the first to congratulate him heartily on his success.

Question 2.
Why does Jesse Owens call his Olympic Prize as the’greatest’?
Answer:
Jesse Owens was a famous American athlete. He was a member of the American team that went to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games. Adolf Hittler was then the ruler of Germany. He was a staunch racist. He claimed the supremacy of the ‘Aryan race’, which he considered as the ‘master race’. While all other belonged to the ‘slave race’. Jesse was a Negro.

He wanted to disprove the foolish theory of Aryan Superiority with this determination, he went to Berlin. His mind is filled with winning the Olympic Gold. Nothing could shake his spirits. He had successfully trained, sweated and disciplined himself for six years, focusing on the games. He had already set the world record of 26 feet 8-1/4 inches.

But when Jesse went to the trials of the Long Jump event of the Olympic Games, Luz Long, the tall German athlete, whom Hitler had secretly kept for the final event, unnerved Jesse. He became under confident and fouled in the first two attempts of the trial. Luz Long, noticing a world record holder pathetically fouling, understood the reason behind it. Without the hesitation, despite being an opponent, he extends an arm of friendship to Owens.

He gave him a genuinely friendly advice to draw a line a few inches from the take off board to avoid over¬stepping and fouling. Owens took his advice and was able to qualify with a clear mind. In the finals, Luz long broke his past record in long jump. However, it is Jesse Owens who won the gold medal by jumping 26-feet 5, 5/16 inches.

Luz Long was the first person to congratulate Jesse, though Hitler glared at both of them. At the moment, Jesse Owens felt that the friend that he has found in Luz Long is more significant than the gold medal he won. The new and noble friendship with Luz seemed more precious to him than the ‘Greatest’ medal he received in the Olympics.

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary Extract Based Questions

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“Everyone kind of expected me to win that Olympic event hands down.”
(i) Who is ‘me’ in the above extract? Why does everyone expect him to win?
(ii) Why were nationalistic feelings running high during the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games?
(iii) What surprise confronts Jesse when he reaches there? Who had maintained this surprise and why?
(iv) What is the reason behind such bitter thoughts that arise in Jesse’s mind? Who offers Jesse a firm hand shake? What friendly advice does this person offer?
(v) What character traits of Luz Long are described here which truly need admiration?
Answer:
(i) ‘Me’ refers to the athlete ‘Jesse Owens’, who was participating in the Broad Jump competition in the Olympic Games of 1936.
Everyone expected him to win because an year ago, as a sophomore at Ohio State University, he had set the world record of 26 feet 8-1/4 inches. He had also trained and disciplined himself for 6 years.

(ii) At that time Adolf Hitler stuck to Aryan Superiority theory. He believed that his German athletes belonged to a ‘master race’ and they would perform better than other participants in the 1936 Olympics, Berlin. So, the nationalistic feeling ran high then.

(iii) As Jessie walks to the broad jump pit, he is surprised to see a tall German practising in the 26 foot range. He was not expecting such a strong competitor.It was Hitler who had secretly nurtured a very strong German athlete and kept him hidden until the final days to petrify other athletes. Hitler would have been fully aware that an angry athlete makes mistakes so that the other athletes would get nervous and make mistakes, providing more chance to his German athlete to win and prove the ‘Aryan Superiority Theory’ true.

(iv) The presence of Luz Long, the tall German athlete unnerved Jesse’s confidence. He was filled with anger and frustration and fouled badly in the first two attempts of the trial. This makes him bitter. The tall blue-eyed German broad jumper Luz Long approached Jesse and offered a firm hand shake. Luz gave him a genuinely friendly advice to draw a line a few inches from the take off board to avoid over stepping and consequently fouling.

(v) As described by Jesse, Luz Long had a lean, muscular built, clear blue eyes, blond hair and extremely handsome and crafted face. His offering good counsel to Jesse, proved that he was a true sportsman and an amazing human being. He was a strong and competent athlete too.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“I realized then, too, that Luz was the epitome of what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, must have in mind”
(i) Does Owen feel obliged with Luz’s help and behaviour?
(ii) What is the value of Luz’s friendship in his eyes?
(iii) What does Hitler glare at and Why?
(iv) What had Pierre de Coubertin said? Quote the lines.
(v) How does Luz prove himself to be an epitome of Pierre’s words?
Answer:
(i) Yes, Owen felt obliged to Luz as he went to thank Luz for the crucial tips he had given to Owen which helped him to qualify for the finals. They spent some time together, paving a way for a new and sincere friendship.

(ii) Owen’s dearly values his friendship with Luz as he says that one could melt down all the gold medals and cups he had but it could not equal the plating on the 24-carat friendship he felt for Luz Long.

(iii) Hitler glared at Luz Long shaking hands with Jesse to congratulate him on his victory. He was angry, firstly, due to the defeat of his athlete and secondly, his defeated athlete was congratulating his opponent and thus, breaking Hitler’s over-confidence.

(iv) Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games said, “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”

(v) When Luz Long noticed a world record holder pathetically fouling, he understood the reason behind it. In spite of Owens being his opponent, Luz approached him and advised him genuinely. Though this could have angered his leader, yet he showed true sportsmanship. Luz even congratulated Owens openly on his victory, unbothered by Hitler’s glares, and without a tinge of jealousy.Thus, Long was the epitome of the message of Coubertin that, not winning but taking part in Olympics is more important.

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

Television Summary by Roald Dahl

Television Summary About the Poet

Born in Wales, to Norwegian immigrant parents, Roald Dahl (13 September, 1916 – 23 Nov., 1990) was a novelist, short story writer, poet and screen writer. He also served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, as a fighter pilot. His works for both, children and adults, rose to prominence and became popular as one of the greatest story tellers. His first children’s book, ‘The Gremlins’, was published in 1943. The other famous stories being, ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The Witches’ etc.

Television Summary

Television is one of the best known poems of Roald Dahl. It highlights the adverse effects of television on the children’s mind, and instead inspires them to develop passion for reading. In a very humorous manner, the poet brings to light the vitality of books and makes an appeal to the parents to replace the idiot box with good books to enhance the growth of their children’s brain, so that they can come up with creative and imaginative skills.

Television Explanation of the Poem

“The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, Never, Never let
Them near your television set-
Or better still, just don’t install The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in women one’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.).”

Explanation: The poet begins the poem by requesting the parents to keep their children away from the monster called ‘Television’, and he also suggests that it will be far better an option to be completely away from this idiotic thing in the first place.

Sharing his personal experience, the poet says that, almost every house that he has visited, he has found children sitting hypnotized in front of the television sets. They incessantly stare at it and lie lazily without indulging into any productive task. He adds a funny exaggeration saying that, sometimes they stare so hard that their eyeballs pop out of their eyes, and once he saw a dozen eyeballs rolling on the floor in a house he visited.

Word Meanings :

1. Gaping – (Here) watching with wide open eyes
2. Loll – To lie or sit in a relaxed or lazy manner
3. Slop – To eat or drink greedily or noisily
4. Lounge – To spend time resting or relaxing

“They sit and stare and stare and side
Until they’re hypnotized by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window still,
They never figh tor kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink.”

Explanation: The poet further says that, it is observed that the children get deeply enthralled by the horrible and senseless programmes that are displayed on the television. They seem to forget about everything in the world. They forget to play or have fun. This hampers their physical ability and growth.

For the parents it may be a bliss, as the television keeps the naughty children im. They neither climb the windows nor fight with each other. The mother too can cook or wash peaceh ilv Television can be the most convenient way of keeping the children occupied.

Word Meanings :

1. Hypnotized — Enthralled, bedazzled
2. Ghastly — Very shocking or horrible
3. Junk — Trash

“But did you ever stop to think,
‘ To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
It rots the sense in the head!
It kills imagination dead!
It clogs and clutters up the mind!
It makes a child so dull and blind
He can no longer understand
A fantasy, A fairyland!
His Brain becomes as soft as cheese!
His powers of thinking rust and freeze!
He cannot think-he only sees!.”

Explanation: But then the poet raises an important question for the parents, whether they have ever tried to consider what effect is this idiot box is casting on the soft minds of their beloved ones. Then he moves on to answer it in a clear cut manner, which he writes in capital letters, so as to lay stress on it. The poet says that watching too much television destroys the senses of the children. They are not able to imagine or visualize things because their minds get choked with unnecessary facts. They lose their power of judgement and imagination. They stop thinking innovatively. They only depend on the television for learning things. ‘ The childhood fantasies and fairyland stories lose their beauty. The thought process seems to get jammed or rusted.

Word Meanings :

1. Clogs – Block, hinder .
2. Clutters – To fill or cover with many things

“All right!” you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain?
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘ ‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?”

Explanation: Now the poet discusses the dilemma the parents would face. They will question the kind of substitute of entertainment they should provide to their dear children if they take the TV sets away from them. The poet answers the parents with a reverse question, about what they used to do before the invention of the television, and how did they keep themselves occupied and entertained.

Word Meaning :

1. Contended – Satisfied, occupied

“We’ll say it very loud and slow:
They… USED… TO… READ! They’d READ and READ.
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Cadzooks!
One half their lives were reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More boos were waiting to be read!”

Explanation: Very calmly the poet recommends the parents to install a lovely bookshelf in place of the modem monster i.e., the television, ignoring all objections. He recollects the times when the children were fond of reading. They indulged in incessant reading. Their life was surrounded with books. The nursery shelves and floors were full of books scattered here and there. There were books waiting to be read in the bedroom. The children too, took keen interest in reading them.

Word Meaning :

1. Galore – In large numbers or amounts

“Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasures isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(it smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How the Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost his Rump,
And Mr. Toad and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!”

Explanation: Here, the poet talks about the popular adventurous books and their interesting characters that the children admired in those days. They enjoyed the story of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, treasure islands, smugglers, elephants, cannibals etc. The poet gets nostalgic speaking about the fantasy characters like, Beatrix Potter, Mr. Tod, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, Mr. Camel, Mr. Rat, etc.

Word Meanings:

1. Tales – Stories
2. Gypsies – Wanderers
3. Isles – Islands
4. Muffled – Quietened sound
5. Crouchin – Bending or bowing with servility

“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear hot, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.”

Explanation: The poet ardently pleads to the parents to discard their television sets; replacing them with book shelves. Initially, the children will protest. They will frown, shout and kick in frustration – but the parents need to be patient and soon they will observe that, when the children will have nothing else to busy themselves with they will gradually get closer to books.

Word Meaning :

1. Yells – Screams

“And once they start-oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
” Will love you more for what you did. ”

Explanation: The poet gets fills with ecstasy to think about the result. He says that once the children begin to read, they will get so accustomed to the habit that they will take pleasure in reading. They would feel aroused when they will realise that there was nothing fun coming out of the filthy and disgusting television. And when they will grow up, they will appreciate and will be grateful for saving them from the clutches of the idiotic box and introducing them to the world of books. They will discover the real joy of reading books.

Word Meaning :

1. Ridiculous – Absurd

Television Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say
‘But if we take the set away
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
(Television, Roald Dahl)

(i) What important lesson does the poet say he has learnt at the start of the poem ?
(ii) Describe some of the scenes that the poet says he has seen in houses which have televisions.
(iii) List the ways in which television viewing affects the mind of a ‘beloved tot’.
(iv) What other activity does the poet recommend to entertain? Mention two ways in which this activity would benefit them.
(v) What does the poet advise readers to do at the end of the poem? What does he assure them will happen if they followed his suggestion? What would you say is the central idea in this poem ?
Answer:
(i) The most important lesson the poet says he has learnt is that, while raising children, we should strictly keep ‘ them away from television sets, or better still, the idiotic thing; i.e. the television should not be installed in the house at all.

(ii) The poet, Roald Dahl, seems to have undertaken a long research on the bad effects of television by visiting a large number of households. He says that in most of the houses that he visited, he found the children lazying about all day and staring at the television screen without doing any productive work. He exaggerates amusingly when he says that he has seen the children stare so hard that their eyeballs fall off and a dozen such eyeballs seem to be rolling about on the floor in one house that he visited recently.

(iii) The poet conveys strongly the ill-effects of watching television on the minds of our beloved tots. He says that watching too much television fills up the mind of the children with useless facts, while at the same time, destroying their ability to create or understand the world of fantasy and imagination. It takes away their ability to think. Their brain becomes as soft as cheese. Television logs and clutters up the organised thought process of a growing child. Gradually their thinking and analyzing power freezes and gets rusty.

(iv) The poet recommends ‘Reading as the other activity to entertain children.
Firstly, reading will keep the children busy and they will also stop watching ‘the idiotic box’ and the junk it offers.
Secondly, reading would open a world of knowledge and fantasies for the children which would provide them ultimate joy and entertainment.

(v) The poet advises the readers to remove their television set and replace it with a book shelf and fill it with lots of books. The poet, Roald Dahl, now assures the readers that once the children will start reading books, they will grow so keen for reading that they will discover the real joy, and will wonder what they had found in that silly machine. They will love and thank their parents for ushering them into the wonderful world of books.

The central idea conveyed by the poet is his concern over how excessive watching of television can harm the children, their thinking power, their imaginative faculty and their realization of real joy. They get deprived of outdoor sports and also of reading.

He suggests replacing television with books which would initially arise hostility in children for this act.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, Never, Never let
Them near your television set-
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in women one’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and side
Until they’re hypnotized by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window still,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink-
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?

(i) What is the most important things that the poet has learnt? What is the common view in almost every household?
(ii) What amusing exaggeration does the poet make here?
(iii) The poet has used two words to indicate the children’s addiction to T.V. What are they? What is referred to as ‘ghastly junk’?
(iv) How does television keep the children calm?
(v) How do the parents benefit when the children are occupied with the television set? What important question does the poet pose for the parents?
Answer:
(i) The most important thing that the poet has learnt in that the children should be kept away from the television set or not to install the television set at all. The poet says that in most houses he has visited, he has found the children lazing about all day starting at the television with undisturbed concentration.
(ii) The poet humorously remarks that sometimes the children store at the television so hard that their eyeballs fall off and he saw at someone’s place, dozen such eyeballs lying on the floor.
(iii) The two words the poet has used to indicate their addiction to the TV are ‘hypnotized’ and ‘drunk’. The “ghastly junk’ refers to the irrelevant stuff that the children watch, which are mostly unreal and inappropriate for their age.
(iv) The poet understands that the television keeps the naughty children calm. They do not do nasty things like climbing a window or jumping over it, which could accidentally hurt them. Television diverts them from getting into a fight and thus, hitting or kicking each other.
(v) Children’s occupancy with the television set allows the parents to do household chores like, cooking and washing dishes without any disturbance. The poet now questions the parents whether they ever realise exactly what harm this idiotic box does to their dear child.

Q. 3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

“IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THING- HE ONLY SEES!

All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do ?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten ? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow :
They… USED… TO… READ! They’d READ and READ.
AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Cadzooks!
One half their lives were reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More boos were waiting to be read!’

(i) What effect does the television cast on a child’s innocent mind?
(ii) Explain the line- HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES!”
(iii) As per the poet’s anticipation, what could be the parents response if they are threatened against the dangers of television?
(iv) What question does the poet raise to the parents?
(v) Does he provide any solution to the problem? If yes, what is it? Which all places were filled with bool ?
Answer:
(i) According to the poet, watching television all the time is harmful in numerous ways. It rots the senses of the child and kills his imaginative power. It causes a confusion in his mind. He becomes dull and inactive. He no longer understands a fairy tale or able to think innovatively. It also effects his eyesight and numbs the brain.

(ii) Excessive watching of television makes the child’s brain as soft as cheese. He believes blind-v whatever he watches or hears in it. He does not use his own logic to analyse and interpret things. Television destroys a child’s ability to think, he keeps staring at the television screen.

(iii) The poet, Roald Dahl, expects that the parents might agree to take away the television from their children but will surely ask, how are they supposed to keep their children occupied and entertained in the absence of television.

(iv) In response to the parent’s question as to how they should entertain their dear children if remove the T.V. sets, the poet raises a counter question asking them what they used to do to keep themselves entertained when television sets was not invented.

(v) Yes, the poet himself provides the answer. He reminds us that children, in earlier times, used to ‘Read’ a lot of books. Amazingly, the people then spent half of their lives in reading books.

The books then filled the Nursery shelves. They were scattered on the Nursery floor. In the bedroom too, the books waited bedside, to be read.

Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasures isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(it smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and –
Just How the Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost his Rump,
And Mr. Toad and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.

(i) What books did the children read in earlier times?
(ii) Who were cannibals? What were they seen doing?
(iii) Who was the famous author of children’s books? Who were the well known characters and the animals?
(iv) What was the content of the stories of the camel and the monkey ?
(v) What earnest appeal does the poet make and to whom? What should they do instead?
Answer:
(i) In earlier times, the children read wonderful stories of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, smugglers, etc. They also reaid about treasure islands and far off lands where the sea-pirates hid their loot/treasure and themselves.
(ii) Cannibals were man-eating humans. They danced around a pot stirring and cooking their prey.
(iii) Roald Dahl, here, makes a reference to another author of children’s books- Beatrix Potter. Her books are famous for featuring animals and colourful illustrations. Mr. Tod— the rotter, Nutkin, the squirrel Bland the piglet, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, the monkey, the camel, Mr. Toad, Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole, decorated the stories of Beatrix.
(iv) The stories tell about how the camel got his hump and how the monkey lost his lump.
(v) The poet begs and prays to the parents to remove their television sets and replace them with a nice bookshelf on the wall.

Question 5.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

And once they start-oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

(i) What according to the poet, will be the reaction of the children?
(ii) How does the poet suggest the parents to face the repulsive behaviour of their children? What promise does he make?
(iii) What thought makes the poet excited? Name the poet
(iv) How will the thoughts of the children change about the television?
(v) What reward will the parents get finally?
Answer:
(i) When the parents will remove their dear television sets, the children will get repulsive, they will object giving harsh looks to their parents, and will shout and scream, bite and kick and hit with sticks.
(ii) The poet tells the parents to be patient and not to fear. He assures them that within a week or two when the children will not find anything else to do, they will finally turn to the books for reading.
(iii) The poet is elated to imagine the pleasure the children will find once they begin reading books. The poet is Roald Dahl.
(iv) Once the children start seeking joy in the books, they will reach a stage when they will wonder what they had found in that silly machine called television. It will seem to them disgusting, dirty and irritating.
(v) Finally, when the children will discover the real joy of reading books, they will love and respect their parents for providing them an opportunity to discover the world of wonderful books and saving them from the hypnotism of the ridiculous television. They will realize that books give them knowledge, wisdom, imagination and more pleasure rather than what television could offer.

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

Daffodils Summary by William Wordsworth

Daffodils Summary About the Poet

William Wordsworth (7 April, 1770 – 23 April, 1850) was a British poet who was associated with the Romantic movement of the 19th Century along with Robert Southey and Samuel Coleridge, the group referred as the ‘Lakeland Poets’. Wordsworth was a keen observer of nature and had an excellent skill to pen down the beauty of nature artistically, yet in a simple and straight forward manner. He began publishing at the age of 23 with a collection of poetries like ‘Descriptive Sketches’. In 1798, he published ‘Lyrical Ballads’ along with Coleridge, followed by ‘Elegiac Stanzas’ and ‘Poems, in Two Volumes’ in 1803 and 1805 respectively. He was considered as ‘Britain’s Poet Laureate’. For Wordsworth, poetry was “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

Daffodils Summary

Wordsworth considered nature, a place representing the ultimate source of joy and knowledge. The poem ‘Daffodils’ appreciates the beauty of nature. The poet states that the recollection of the wonderful sight of thousands of daffodils, dancing joyfully, cleans the soul and uplifts the spirit of the speaker when he later finds himself feeling empty and gloomy.

Daffodils Explanation of the Poem

Stanza 1. “I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

Explanation: In the first stanza we find the poet roaming aimlessly like a cloud over valleys and hills. Here, we find a touch of melancholy in his tone. Suddenly, he happens to come across a large number of daffodils growing under the trees near the lake. By comparing himself to a cloud, the poet signifies his closeness with nature that surrounds him. The daffodils were dancing and inviting the poet to join and enjoy the breeze flowing in the fields.

Word Meanings :

1. Vales — Valleys
2. Host — Group, a large number
3. Fluttering — Moving in quick succession, flapping rapidly

Stanza 2. “Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw lata glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.”

Explanation: Here, the poet compares the daffodils along the bay with the stars stretched in a continuous line in the galaxy, like the Milky Way. Their shine is contrasted to the twinkling of the stars. The poet seems to be profoundly charmed by the swaying movement of the flowers due to the breeze and he remarks that the flowers seem to dance in exuberance.

Word Meanings:

1. Never-ending — Unlimited, continuous
2. Glance — Look
3. Tossing — Moving back and forth or sideways
4. Sprightly — Lively, cheerful

Stanza 3. “The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.”

Explanation: The poet personifies the waves in the bay and says that they too were happily dancing along with the daffodils, but the daffodils outshone the waves by showing joy and cheerfulness. The poet cannot prevent himself from being elated in such a happy company. The sight of the dazzling daffodils seems to enrich the life of the poet with joy and tranquility, so he could not take his eyes off them.

Word Meanings :

1. Out-did — Defeated
2. Sparkling — Glittering
3. Jocund — Merry
4. Gazed — Stared

Stanza 4. “For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”

Explanation: The last stanza clarifies why the poet was so enthralled by the daffodils. The sight of the dancing daffodils remains dormant in the poet’s sub-conscious mind and, whenever he was in a vacant or lonely mood, lying on his couch, the memory of the daffodils raised his low spirits, filling his mind with immense pleasure and thus, he feels elated. Daffodils have left an everlasting precious memory in the poet’s mind. They become a ‘bliss of solitude’ i.e., ‘the blessing of being alone’, for him.

Word Meanings :

1. Vacant – Unoccupied
2. Pensive – Quietly sad or thoughtful
3. Bliss – Complete happiness
4. Solitude – Loneliness; seclusion

Daffodils Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

” I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

(i) Whom has the poet compared himself with? Name the figure of speech used here.
(ii) What does the poet come across on his way? Which movements are associated with what he finds?
(iii) What transition of mood does the speaker undergo?
(iv) Give the meaning of-
(a) wondered (b) fluttering
(v) Describe the beauty of the daffodils as illustrated by the poet in the first stanza. Name the figure of speech is used here.
Answer:
(i) The poet compares himself with the cloud that floats all alone, atop many hills and valleys.
The figure of speech used here is ‘Simile’.

(ii) The poet suddenly comes across a crowd of golden daffodils growing under the trees beside the lake.
The daffodils were ‘fluttering’ and ‘dancing’ in the breeze.

(iii) The first two lines of the poem describe that the poet was ‘lonely’, but the sight of the beautiful daffodils drew the speaker towards a positive progression of mood. He no longer feels lonely.

(iv) (a) walk leisurely (b) flapping rapidly

(v) The poet sees a huge number of daffodils which looked like golden in colour, due to the sunlight falling on them. They were in a joyous mood as they seemed to be waving and dancing.

The figure of speech used here is ‘Personification’.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw lata glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.”

(i) What are the daffodils compared to in the second stanza? Which quality do both share?
(ii) How are they stretched?
(iii) Describe in your words the poet’s feeling when he sees a host of golden daffodils.
(iv) Give the meaning of-
(a) Milky Way (b) bay
(v) How many of them does the poet see and what are they busy doing?
Answer:
(i) The daffodils resemble the stars that shine in the Galaxy like the Milky Way. The daffodils seem to be as unlimited as the stars in the Galaxy.
(ii) They are stretched in an infinite line along the edge of the bay.
(iii) The poet felt ecstatic to see a host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake under the trees, shaking their head in a joyful dance. On seeing them, the poet’s imagination travelled to another world to find a comparison. He was reminded of the stars twinkling in the Milky Way at night.
(iv) (a) the Galaxy which the sun and the solar system are a part of, and which contain the myriads of stars that create the light of the Milky Way.
(b) a small body of water set off from the main body.
(v) The poet sees a large flower bed of daffodils; around ten thousand of them rejoicing and dancing out of alacrity, in the breeze.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.”

(i) Who was competing with, the daffodils in dancing? What was the competition and who won?
(ii) Give the meaning of ‘Jocund’. How will any poet be effected in such a company?
(iii) Why does the poet say ‘I gazed had brought’?
(iv) Give the meaning of
(a) glee (b) sparkling
(v) Which ‘show’ does the poet refqf to? What question arises in his mind?
Answer:
(i) The waves of the river flowing beside the daffodils were accompanied with dancing and competing with them. But the daffodils defeated the waves in the show of happiness through dancing.

(ii) Jocund means ‘lively and happy’. In such a cheerful and joyous company, i.e., in the presence of such beautiful and gay flowers, the poet cannot prevent himself from being ecstatic.

(iii) The poet was moving about aimlessly over the high valleys and hills watching the beautiful nature when he comes across a great number of golden daffodils expressing their joy by flattering. The poet feels delighted at this sight and stops to gaze at them. He is surprised as he is unable to decide what treasure the present moment has brought him.

(iv) (a) a strong feeling of happiness (b) shining bright and lively

(v) The ‘show’ of ‘beautiful dancing golden daffodils’ keeps the poet mesmerized.
The poet fails to understand what happiness did this continuous gazing bring to him and what enormous treasure he was accumulating in his mind.

Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

“For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”

(i) How does the memory of the daffodils make the poet happy when his mind is devoid of happiness?
(ii) What does the poet mean by ‘bliss of solitude’?
(iii) What impact do the daffodils leave on the poet?
(iv) Give the meaning of
(a) couch (b) pensive
(v) What happens to the poet’s mind when he recalls the memory of the daffodils?
Answer:
(i) The vista of the daffodils has soaked the mind of the poet. Later, when the poet laid on his couch either in a lonely or sad mood, the entire panorama that he saw in the woods appeared before his eyes and he experienced an ecstatic pleasure, which he had actually enjoyed in the past.

(ii) ‘Bliss of solitude’ means the blessing of loneliness. The poet explains that, whenever he is away from the hustle-bustle of the real world and in a lonely mood, the spiritual vision of daffodils flashes in his mind and fills his heart with extreme happiness.

(iii) William Wordsworth, who is popularly known as a nature poet, is left overjoyed by the daffodils. He is so moved that he personifies them, by exaggerating their presence. Throughout the poem, we find him talking about his happiness in the company of the flowers. He is extremely charmed by their beauty and the memory remained with him always as, ‘The bliss of Solitude’.

(iv) (a) A long piece of furniture to sit or lie down (b) Quielty sad or thoughtful

(v) When the poet’s mind is unrestrained by the disturbing elements of the real world, he revives the pleasant and soothing memory of the daffodils which become of a source of joy and inspiration for him, and he feels his heart elated and dancing with the daffodils. Thus, the daffodils become an eternal memory of extraordinary delight for Wordsworth.

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

All Summer in a Day Summary by Ray Bradbury

All Summer in a Day Summary About the Author

Ray Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012), was an American science fiction writer who works were translated in more than 4L languages. His works created a world of new technical and intellectual ideas. He is best known for his dystopian novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ (1953) and short story collections ‘The Martian Chronicles’, and ‘The Illustrated Man’. ‘All Summer in a Da/ a short story, was first published in 1954 in the magazine of fantasy and science fiction.

All Summer in a Day Summary

The concept of the story ‘All Summer in a Day’, is built on Venus – a planet where it rains continuously, all the time. The people live in underground tunnels to escape the cold hard rain. The story begins with school children crowding around a window in their classroom, waiting for the heavy rain to stop and for a rare occurrence i.e., the sun, to come out for an hour after seven years of non-stop rain, as per prediction. They had seen the sun only when they were two years old.

Margot is a nine year old girl whose family moved from Earth to Venus when she was four. Only she remembers the warmth of the sun and how beautiful the sunshine can be. She explains to other children that sun is round like a penny and hot like fire but they consider her a liar, despise her and mock at her. She has been in a state of depression ever since she arrived on Venus and her parents were planning to take her back on Earth.

As Margot stands alone waiting for the rain to subside and the long awaited sun to appear, the other children plan a terrible trick on her. They forcefully carry her to the closet and lock her inside. Wickedly pleased with themselves, they return and move along with the teacher to experience the event they were waiting for.

When the Venus rain finally stops and sun comes out, a bronze flame spreads throughout the forests of Venus. The children exit the tunnels and run around excitedly. But soon the rain clouds move in. The sun hides and heavy showers replace it. All the children reflect on the wonderful experience they had with the sun and then re-enter the tunnels. Suddenly, one of the children remembers that they had locked Margot inside the closet. Slowly she is taken out, but its too late for her, she will have to wait yet another seven years to see the sun which she had been so earnestly waiting for.

All Summer in a Day Summary Word Meanings :

1. Intermixed : Mixed together
2. Peering : Looking narrowly or curiously
3. Compounded : Combined
4. Concussions : Impact, agitation
5. Stunned : Shocked, surprised
6. Slackening : Becoming slower or lesser
7. Feverish : Agitated, heated
8. Frail : Weak
9. Shove : A strong, forceful push
10. Drenched : Completely wet
11. Clutched : Held onto tightly
12. Savagely : Fiercely, rudely
13. Muffled : Suppressed
14. Repercussions : Reverberations
15. Tumultuously : Loudly & excitedly
16. Squeak : Short, high-pitched cry
17. Resilient : Flexible, bouncy
18. Squinted : Looked with eyes partly closed
19. Savoured : Tasted and smelled
20. Avalanche : A great amount
21. Stakes : Pointed sticks or posts
22. Solemn : Sad and serious

All Summer in a Day Summary Questions and Answer

Question 1.
Who seems to be the antagonist in the story ‘All Summer In a Day’, and Why?
Answer:
William, one of Margot’s classmates, is the antagonist in the story, because he often bullies her. Perhaps, due to a sense of jealously and the inability to understand Margot, he speaks harshly to her and shoves her. This encourages other children too to trap Margot in a hostile manner. As Margot was in a depressed state for being away from the feel of sun, she does not mix up with other children.

She does not play with them and it was heard that she would leave for earth soon. So the other children disliked her and treated her differently. They are unable to comprehend her feeling. William leads the others. On the day when the sun was predicted to rise on Venus, William, with the support of other children, grabs Margot and locks her in a closet and deprives her from the greatest joy she had been waiting for so anxiously, so William is the main bully.

Question 2.
What effect does the absence and presence of sun have on the children on planet Venus?
Answer:
In Ray Bradbury’s story ‘All summer in summer’, Children living on planet Venus, eagerly await the cessation of rain and appearance of the sun, an event that only occurs once every seven years. The overwhelming rain on Venus has created a harsh, inhospitable environment, suggesting a sense of displacement from the natural world on Earth. They are all the victims of depression created on Venus due to lack of sunlight for continuous seven years. They have been traumatized by the constant rain. When there is no sun, they seem dull and lethargic. Their anxiety to see the sun leads to a chaos. The children’s teasing of Margot quickly escalates to violent bullying. They grab Margot and push her into the closet.

Finally, the sun comes out in the sudden roaring silence and stillness, flooding the sky and jungle with radiant light. The children rush outside and throw off their jackets, reveling in the warmth of the sun. It is far better than they even imagined it would be. They run, laugh and yell, staring at the sun, and try to capture every joyful moment. The idyllic hour passes all too quickly, the clouds sweep in, and the rain starts pelting.

In a dull and sad mood, the children return back to the underground classroom as the sky darkness and the torrential rain recommences. It seems somehow louder and more painful to the children. Somber feelings take over them. They glance at each other, with guilt and shame as they suddenly remember Margot. Slowly and shamefully they move to the closet to free her. The experience of nature brings a sudden sense of peace. The sun has an extremely pleasurable effect, and it seems to physically and mentally revive the children. Absence of sunlight had turned Venus into a tangled and inhospitable wasteland. Similarly, the children too had become cruel and unruly, when outside in the sun, they felt joyful and energied, highlighting the power of sun.

All Summer in a Day Summary Extract Based Questions

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“He gave her a shove. But she did not move, rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else. They edged away from her; they would not look at her. She felt them go away.”

(i) Who is ‘she’? Describe her.
(ii) Where is this story set? Mention any two ways in which the way of life on their planet differs from life on earth.
(iii) To what does Margot compare the sun? What does this tell us about her?
(iv) Why did the other children not come to Margot’s aid when William shoved her?
(v) How does Margot’s behaviour set her apart from the others? Why do you suppose the other children treat her the way they do?
Answer:
(i) ‘She’ is Margot. She is a weak lifeless girl who had lost the lustre from her eyes, the blush from her face, and the yellow from her hair. She looked like an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away. Margot is nine years old and resides on planet Venus. She lived on Earth, in ‘Ohio’ until she was four. Now she studies together with the children of those who have come to civilize the planet, Venus.

(ii) The story is set on planet Venus, where the sun shines for only two hours once every seven years. The two ways in which the life on their planet differs from life on earth are :

• Firstly, unlike Earth, the rain fell incessantly with storms on planet Venus. Thousands of forests had been crushed under if and regrounded to be crushed again.
• Secondly, the lack of sunlight had washed away the colour of the skin of the people living on Venus. The people there lived in underground colonies.

(iii) Margot tells the others that sun is round like a ‘penny’ and not like a ‘fire in the store’. Her description of the sun tells that she is able to accurately recall the sun and the way it looked and felt as it shone on her when she was back in Ohio, on the planet earth, five years ago.

(iv) Margot struggles to fit into her life on Venus, but in vain. She does not get along with the other children there. They resent her for her past experiences on Earth with the sun, and they are also angry and jealous that she has the opportunity to travel back to Earth, regardless of the financial costs. They do not help her when William, one of her classmates, shoves her, as they supported him in his dislike for Margot.

(v) Margot has many memories of the sun and she misses it a lot. She refuses to participate in any classroom activity that doesn’t include the sun. She hated the Venusian rain so much that she detests the running showers in the schools shower rooms. The children treat her this way as they despise her and are painfully jealous because Margot has seen the sun and they have not.

They never remember a time when there wasn’t a rain. They especially hate her when they learn that her parents, fearful of the strong distress that Venusians life is causing their daughter, are planning to take her back to Earth.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could ever remember a time when there wasn ‘t rain and rain and rain.”
(i) Who is Margot? Where is she? Who are ‘these children’?
(ii) What are the children getting ‘ready’ for? What is unique about the life on Venus?
(iii) What did the children dream of?
(iv) Why is Margot different from other children?
(v) Why do they dislike her?
Answer:
(i) Margot is a thin pale, nine years old girl. She is on the planet Venus. She lived on Earth earlier. These children are the children of the rocket men and women who had come to planet Venus to set up their civilization. They had established underground settlements full of long tunnels.

(ii) The children are getting ‘ready’ to witness the momentous occasion when the sun will come out for an hour after seven years.
Unfortunately, it rains constantly on Venus. It falls without a break, day in and day out, in massive showers. However, for one day, once every seven years, the rain does cease and the sun is briefly visible.

(iii) Sometimes during the night, Margot heard the children stir, as if recollecting a memory and she understood that they were dreaming of gold or a yellow crayon or a coin large enough to buy the world with. They remembered a warmth, like a blushing in the face, in the body, arms legs and trembling hands.

(iv) Margot lived on Earth, in Ohio, until she was four years old. She has many memories of the sun unlike others, because they were far too young when the sun shone last. When Margot tells them that the sun is round like a penny and hot like fire, they accuse her of lying. She distances herself from others.

(v) She does not participate in their games and activities except those that included the sun and the summer. She misses the sun immensely. She remembers the beauty and warmth of the sun. Ever since she came on Venus she had been in depression. She had become pale. She refused to shower in the school shower room as the water reminded her of the Venusians rain. There is a talk circulating that her parents are considering to take her back to Earth, though it would mean a loss of thousands of dollars. Thus, the other school children despise her and are jealous of her. They bully her constantly.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
“They all blinked at him and then, understanding laughed and shook their heads.”
(i) Whom do ‘they’ blink at? Why? What preparation had the children done before witnessing the special occurrence of the sun?
(ii) How do the children take revenge on Margot?
(iii) What is the significance of two hours? What do the children do during these two hours?
(iv) How did they react when the rain drops came back again?
(v) Why do the children unlock the closet door silently? What was their silence behind the closet?
Answer:
(i) Margot looks out of the window, waiting silently for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. One of the boys, jokes with her and tells that nothing such was going to happen and to confirm it, he asks from others to join him in teasing and fooling Margot. They blink at him signifying their support to the boy’s lie. They tell her . that the scientists were wrong in their predictions about the sun. The children had constantly read and discussed about the sun. They had completed their classroom activities and written poems about the sun.

(ii) When Margot begins to panic on hearing that the sun is not going to appear, the boy who seemed to be particularly hostile towards her, conceives of the idea to lock Margot in the cupboard while the teacher is gone. Margot tries to resist but they overpower her and lock her in the faraway closet. The children are darkly pleased with themselves after punishing Margot, who is left crying and beating against the closet.

(iii) As per the prediction of the scientists, the sun would appear only for two hours, so the children had the opportunity to enjoy the sunlight for only this time. And when the sun appears, the rain stops, the children rush out into the sunshine. They run through the rapidly growing foliage and enjoy the warmth of the sun on their skin.

They play hide and seek, and they push and slip. They looked squintingly at the sun till tears ran down their eyes, they breathed fresh air and listened to the silence. They ran around like wild animals. They completely drenched themselves in the beauty and warmth of the sun.

(iv) The children lose track of time in their enjoyment when the sporadic rain drops begin to fall again. As the first drop fell on the hands of a girl she trembled with fear and disappointment and began to cry. The others also stopped playing immediately and they sadly begin returning to their school. The last rays of sunlight are replaced by thunder and rain.

(v) The children realize that they had played a very mean prank on Margot. They had deprived her of the glimpse of the sun for another seven years. She had been so keenly waiting for this experience. They were enjoying the bright sunlight while Margot was locked inside. The realization of the gravity of their guilt made them slow and silent.

Margot had given up the efforts to free herself from the closet. She had lost the opportunity to witness the sun, after such a long wait. This made her completely distressed and gloomy and she stops banging against the closet realizing it is of no use now.

Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Summary by Maya Angelou

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Summary About the Poet

Maya Angelou (4 April, 1928 – 28 May, 2014) was an American poet, story teller, actress and an important figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her memoir, ‘I know Why the Caged Bird Sings’, made a literary history as the first non-fiction best-seller by an African-American woman. Her volume of poetry, ‘Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water’ fore I Die’ (1971), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She had gone through a lot of roughness and disparity in her life, which is reflected in her writings.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Summary

Angelou, with the metaphor of a caged bird, represents the social differences of her time, between the African- American community and the White-Americans. She illustrates truthfully, both, the feeling of freedom and of captivity through a bird that is free and a bird struggling to fight against adverse surroundings. The free bird is referred to the free White people and the caged bird whose wings are cut off and feet entangled, refers to the Black community.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Explanation of the Poem

Stanza 1. A free bird leaps
On the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

Explanation: The opening lines of the poem describe the actions of a free bird. He takes a jump and hovers himself over the wind and travels along with the current, relishing in the sea of orange sunlight and proclaiming its freedom. Here, the ‘free bird’ refers t < the people who enjoy the right to take their decision in life independently and enjoy the bliss of freedom.

Word Meanings:

1. Leap – Jump
2 Downstream – In the direction on the flow
3. Dares – Show sufficient courage
4. Claim – Require

Stanza 2. “But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing. ”

Explanation: The second stanza highlights the plight of the caged bird for whom freedom is a mere dream. He the lost hope of flying freely in the sky with his wings wide open because his wings are clipped and feet are tied. He is forced to live in a confined space and peep between the bars to have a glimpse of the Outside world. He is deprived of the joy of freedom. The only thing he can do is open his mouth and sing. Here, Maya Angelou shares her frustration of being restricted to enjoy the freedom which should have been her right as a human being.

Word Meanings:

1. Stalks – Keep a continuous watch by moving slowly and quietly
2. Seldom – Rarely
3. Rage – Anger

Stanza 3. “The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.”
Explanation

The caged bird lacks confidence and enthusiasm. Although he sings, his voice is full of pain, anger and fear. He sings about the unknown surroundings; about his liberty. He dreams of a better life; dreams which cannot be fulfilled. His voice is heard far and wide, but none comes to his rescue. This stanza reflects Maya’s frustration and helplessness.

Word Meanings:

1. Trill – A quick high sound that is repeated
2. Longed for – Desired

Stanza 4. “The free bird think’s of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.”

Explanation: The focus of the poem again shifts to the free bird which is cherishing his ride in the sky. The lovely breeze caress his body and he longs for yet another breeze, which make the trees sigh while passing through them. The free bird has ample food to feed on, the big fat worms in the lawn which they can prey on any time.

Here, the poet again emphasis that the free people have the entire world to claim as their own and wander about.

Word Meaning :

1. Sighing – To utter a mourning sound

Stanza 5. “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.”

Explanation: On the inverse side, the caged bird, who is a captive, knows that his desire of flying free is futile. His dreams culminate into a nightmare. He feels that the agony he’s going through will make his shadow also scream. This reveals that the poet had her own dreams which got crushed due to lack of freedom to achieve them. The poet restates the idea that the bird opens its mouth to sing, to voice his desire for freedom and expression.

Word Meanings :

1. Nightmare – A frightening dream
2. Scream – A sudden laud cry

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
A free bird leaps
On the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

(i) Describe the actions of the bird that is free.
(ii) How does the poet contrast the life of a captured bird to that of a free bird?
(iii) Explain the line- ‘can seldom ………… bars of rage’.
(iv) What do the ‘bars of rage’ signify?
(v) What does the word ‘clipped’ mean with a special reference to the poem?
Answer:
(i) A free bird enjoys its freedom completely. He glides freely through the air, climbing on the stream of wind and floating downwards upto the end of the current through the sky that illuminates with bright sunlight.

(ii) The free bird has the liberty to capture the sky with its flight, while on the other hand, a captured or caged bird moves around uncomfortably in his narrow cage. His wings are clipped, making him unable to fly and feet are tied, making his movement restricted. It is deprived of the free open sky, rather made a slave. He can only use its mouth to sing. Thus, he is held in a very sad position.

(iii) The caged bird is filled with anger and frustration due to his situation. He desires whole heartedly to escape from his miserable condition. But he can do nothing beyond looking through the bars of the cage.

(iv) The ‘bars of rage’ are symbolic of the bird’s confinement. The line, ‘his bars of rage’, suggests that the cage is the bird’s own creation. Bars are a metaphor for anger that trap the bird and keep it away from being free. Whatever outside force may be acting upon the bird to curb its freedom, the bars around it are of the birds own making.

(v) In a general sense, ‘clipping’ involves trimming a bird wing’s feathers so that they cannot fly. They can just glide for a short distance. In Angelou’s poem, the word ‘clipped, refers to being ‘clipped’ in society on the basis of race or some other discrimination. The black Americans were prevented from exploiting their capability for progress. They were prevented from schooling. They were differentiated in jobs. Thus, ‘clipped’ from attempting to achieve success in life.

Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting cm a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

(i) What does the caged bird sing about?
(ii) On the contrary, what does the free bird think about?
(iii) Where is the song of the caged bird being heard? What does it signify?
(iv) What is meant by ‘fearful trill’?
(v) Describe the world of the free bird.
Answer:
(i) To sing, is the only freedom available to the caged bird. Though his heart is fearful unmet, the bird continues to sing of liberty, something he does not have. The caged bird’s song is not of sadness but of inspiration and hope.

(ii) The free bird revels in his freedom. He has dreams and can imagine freely of other things. He can feel the soothing breeze through his body and also the trade winds that pass through the trees producing sound. He not only enjoys the ride in the sky but has ample food like, the fat worms, waiting in the lawn. Thus, the free bird has different things to think and imagine about.

(iii) The caged bird’s cries are heard far and wide. His songs were more of a scream in a dreaded tune. This was a way to rebel and protest against its enslavement. This is paralleled to the struggle of the African Americans in Maya Angelou’s time. She states that the black Americans wrote and sang, danced and cried out for the liberty they deserved, but they were only heard as a distant voice.

(iv) ‘Trill’ refers to a quavering or vibratory sound which means that note on which the bird sings is not definite or certain. This uncertainly could be a result of his thoughts that it can never achieve the freedom which it yearns for; the freedom of flight. Maya Angelou refers to the freedom on all levels, physical, mental and spiritual, for the Black Americans.

This fear becomes a part of his song.

(v) At an instance, the free bird is up in the sky and at the next he’s floating effortlessly along with the current of the wind. With another breeze he is ready to take off and bathe himself with the warmth of the sun. The whole world seems to belong to him. He flies unrestrictedly. He hears the ‘singing trees’ and whenever he is hungry, he can feed on the fat worms waiting in the lawn.

Thus, the world of the tree birds consists of boundless sky, rivers and streams and the whole earth.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

(i) How does a caged bird stand on a ‘grave of dreams’?
(ii) Why does ‘his shadow shout on a nightmare scream’?
(iii) What does the refrain in the last stanza highlight? What does the poet wish to convey?
(iv) What is imagery? Give example of imagery used in the poem.
(v) Who and what does the five bird symbolise?
Answer:
(i) ‘Grave’ symbolizes death. The bird is in a way losing its hopes and feels as if his dream of freedom is going to be buried in the grave since it seems it will never be accomplished. He knows that he can never fly freely in the sky. His wings are clipped and feet are tied. Thus, his dream to fly is futile. Though he has never experienced freedom, but somewhere deep down he knows that it was his right to fly, he was created to fly.

(ii) The caged bird’s condition is quite pitiable. Instead of happy and optimistic dreams, the bird undergoes nightmares making it to scream. The bird is so shaken with his crumbling hopes that he feels as if his shadow will also scream out of agony and the suffering he is going through.

(iii) The refrain in the last stanza highlights that in the midst of hopelessness and gloominess, the bird is still determined to keep pursuing his dream of freedom. He chooses to continue singing and exert the only right it has.

This states the poet’s message to raise our voice against injustice; to express ourselves even if our opponent keeps subduing us. Never should one give up under any circumstance rather, make use of whatever right one has.

(iv) Imagery is used for the sensory words by the poet, to create a mental picture in the readers’ mind. It consists words or phrases that evoke the five senses namely, touch, sight, taste, sound and smell. Imagery helps in a better understanding of the concept portrayed by the poet.

In the poem, the poet uses the following imagery ‘free bird … leaping on the back of the wind’, ‘bird floating downstream’ and ‘dipping its wings in the orange sun rays.’ As for the caged bird, ‘his wings are clipped and his feet are tied’.

(v) In Maya Angelous’s poem, the free bird stands for the people in this world who are free from any type of racial, socioeconomic or psychological. They are free to make their own decisions and choices. They relish life as an enjoyable adventure and they are away from the struggles of survival.