Maharashtra State Board Class 9 English Kumarbharati Solutions Chapter 1.1 Life
English Kumarbharati 9th Solutions Chapter 1.1 Life Textbook Questions and Answers
Warming Up:
1. There are many popular lines like:
‘life Is a game – play ft well’.
‘life Is a Journey – keep going ahead’.
Discuss and write down a few such metaphorical lines about ‘life’. You can make them up yourselves.
1. ……………………………...
2. ……………………………...
3. ……………………………...
4. ……………………………...
5. ……………………………...
2. Prepare as many ‘acrostics’ using the word LIFE, as you can. Two examples are given below.
You can turn it into a game, using a time – limit. Make sure your acrostics are related to ‘life’.
2. Lively
Interesting
Fascinating
Enchanting
3. Listen carefully and write the word in the appropriate column.
Teacher: hopeful, lonely, happy, jealous, surprised, shy, loving, proud, cheerful, anxious, nervous, excited, embarrassed, scared, silly, comfortable, peaceful, depressed, enthusiastic, motivated, inspired, threatened, crushed, angry Note that it is possible to feel both kinds of emotions at the same time. Have you experienced it? Try to describe the situation in short.
Positive Feelings | Negative Feelings |
hopeful, excited, happy, surprised, loving, cheerful, comfortable, peaceful, enthusiastic, motivated, inspired. | lonely, jealous, shy, proud, anxious, nervous, embarrassed, scared, silly, depressed, angry, threatened, crushed. |
English Workshop :
1. Pick out from the extract two lines each that reflect an optimistic (positive) attitude and pessimistic (negative) attitude.
Optimism :
1. …………….
2. ……………..
Pessimism :
1. ……………...
2. ……………...
Pessimism :
(Note: These lines cannot actually be called pessimistic. The poetess looks on problems as temporary and feels that any difficulties we face always foretell a happy future. There are no lines that are absolutely pessimistic.)
2. Give other ‘-ly’ adverbs of similar meaning for the following.Use a thesaurus if needed.
(a) rapidly → ……………….
(b) merrily → ……………….
(c) gratefully → ………………
(d) cheerily → ……………….
(e) manfully → ……………….
(f) fearlessly → ……………….
(g) gloriously → ……………….
(h) victoriously → ……………….
3. Pick out three examples of interrogation (rhetorical questions) from the poem.
a. Explain in your own words the point that each one makes.
b. Explain the metaphor in the following lines :
1. Oft a little morning rain ………………………………….
Foretells a pleasant day ……………………………………
2. Sometimes there are clouds ………………………………….
3. … the shower will make the roses bloom ………………………………….
4. Life’s sunny hours flit by ………………………………….
c. Pick out four examples of personification. Write what is personified in each :
1. ………………………………….
2. ………………………………….
3. ………………………………….
4. ………………………………….
d. ‘And calls our Best away’ is a gentle way of expressing the unpleasant idea of a loved one dying. It is an example of euphemism. Think and write down 3 or 4 ways in which we can express the idea of ‘death’ in a tactful and gentle manner.
1. ………………………………….
2. ………………………………….
3. ………………………………….
4. ………………………………….
Question a.
Pick out two examples of interrogation (rhetorical questions) from the extract. Explain in your own words the point that each one makes.
Answer:
Interrogation | Explanation |
1. What though death at times steps in, And calls our Best away? | If death, at times takes away the people we love most, we must accept it and hope for better times. |
2. What though sorrow seems to win, O’er hope a heavy sway? | It does not matter if we are overcome by sorrow and hope seems to be far away. |
Question b.
Explain the metaphor in the following lines :
1. Oft a little morning rain ………………….
Foretells a pleasant day …………….
2. SometImes there are clouds……………..
3. … the shower wifi make the roses bloom …………..
4. life’s sunny hours flit by ……………
Question c.
Pick out four examples of personification from the extract. Write what is personified in each.
Answer:
Question d.
‘And calls our Best away’ is a gentle way of expressing the unpleasant idea of a loved one dying. It is an example of euphemism. Think and write down 3 or 4 ways in which we can express the idea of ‘death’ in a tactful and gentle manner.
Answer:
4. ‘…………. and that’s how I realised that courage and hope can help me overcome any major mishap/problem in life.’ Write an episode/experience from your own life that leads to the above conclusion.
Then one unfortunate day, when I was twelve, I fell down the stairs of my building and fractured my leg, badly. I was devastated. How could I play my favourite game? How could I make it to the team? Would my leg ever become completely alright again? Would I be I able to run around and kick the ball as before? I felt that my world had ended.
This was the time when my family gave me their full support. My grandparents helped me to while away the long hours; my parents made nutritious food for me and saw to the medical treatment. My sister, who is four years older than me, gave me sound advice and courage. She understood what I was going through.
She told me of various people who had suffered terrible disasters and had risen I above them. She brought me videos of umpteen cases where the mind had won over the body. She made me read biographies of achievers like Wilma Rudolph and Sudha Chandran. She made me do my exercises regularly and keep in touch with my sport. Slowly but surely, I regained courage and confidence.
Believe it or not, two years later I made it to my football team! My doctor and my family said that it was optimism and a positive attitude that had helped me recover completely. And that’s how I realized that courage and hope can help me (or anybody) overcome any major mishap/problem in life.
5. Read: ‘The Psalm of Life’ – a poem by H. W. Longfellow.
English Kumarbharati 9th Digest Chapter 1.1 Life Additional Important Questions and Answers
Warming Up:
Read the following extracts carefully and complete the activities :
Simple Factual Activity :
Complex Factual Activities :
Activities based on Poetic Devices :
Interrogation | Explanation |
If the shower will make the roses bloom, Oh, why lament its fall? | If a little rain helps the roses to flower, we should not feel unhappy about it. This means that we must not express regret for the difficulties we face in life. |
Simple Factual Activity :
Complete the following :
(The answers are given directly and underlined.)
1. One should bear the day of trialcourageouslyandfearlessly.
2. The wings of hope aregoldenandbuoyant, (strong, elastic)
Complex Factual Activity :
Activities based on Poetic Devices :
Paragraph Format:
The poem ‘Life’ is by Charlotte Bronte. It is a motivating and optimistic poem. The Rhyme Scheme is abeb for the first stanza and abab in all remaining stanzas. There are many figures of speech e.g. Personification ‘What though death at times steps in’. Here, death is given the human quality of ‘stepping in’. The other important figures of speech are Metaphor and Interrogation (Rhetorical Questions).
The poetess says that the bad things of life are temporary. Good things invariably follow it. Even during times of great adversity, hope will rescue us and help us to bear our trials. We must look at the positive side of life, and have the courage to overcome any mishaps or problems. The poem makes one feel good and is easy to understand.
Maharashtra State Board Class 9 English Solutions