Ls.3.THE VILLAGE SCHOOL MASTER.

3. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL MASTER. Summary.

Oliver Goldsmith.

 

Outline

The village school master who ran his little school was a severe disciplinarian. The students were afraid of him and were sufficiently clever to assess from his face whether that day would bring any misfortune or not. In spite of his strictness, the school master was jolly. The children laughed at his jokes with pretended joy. If they noticed any sign of anger on his face they would spread the news throughout the classroom.

The school master was, in reality, a kind hearted person. His only fault was his excessive love for learning. He could write, work out sums, survey land, forecast the time and tide and measure the content of a vessel. He was a master at argument, too. He used verbose words when he talked and the simple village people would gawk at him. They were amazed that such a small head could hold such an enormous hoard of knowledge.

 

Summary of the Poem

The village school master ran his little school in a small village. It was situated next to the irregular fence that fringed the village path with full blossomed, beautiful but ornamental furze. He was not only a very strict disciplinarian but also a ferocious person to observe. He was familiar to the poet and all other truants because they had endured the master’s rage. His face was a thing of careful scrutiny. The trembling pupils would gaze at his face to sense his present frame of mind. The day misfortunes were written on his forehead or in between the eyebrows.

The school master was a contradiction. Although he was stern, he was kind and good-humored. He had a store of jokes. When he told them, the children burst out in fake laughter, under the pretext that the jokes were awfully hilarious. If the children observed a frown on his fore head, they circulated the gloomy news throughout the classroom in an undertone. But he was in essence a kind man. If at all he had any fault, it was his intense love for learning. He wanted his pupils to become genuine scholar and hence, he had to be demanding with them.

The villagers were unanimous in their opinion that he really was an erudite man. He without doubt could write and also work out sums in arithmetic. He could also survey land, forecast weather and tides. Besides, he was able to measure the content of a vessel .The parson approved of his skill in debate. Even if defeated, the school master would keep on arguing. He would become more fervent and would fling booming words at his adversary. The uncomprehending villagers would be convinced that the school master was establishing his standpoint very thoroughly. They stood round the two debaters and witnessed the verbal duel. They were awestruck when they heard the high-sounding and incomprehensible words used by the school master. They gawked at him and wondered how his small head could keep that enormous hoard of knowledge.

Appreciation

This poem is a simple vignette of a village school master. The school was in a small village at Lissoy, an Irish village where the poet himself had studied. Mr. Thomas Paddy Byrne was the village school master. This poem has become one of the classics of literature because of the ring of genuineness. As the poet himself was a pupil of this school master, he is able to create an authentic aura to the poem. With a fleeting allusion to the site, the poet starts to describe the man. The school master’s fluctuating moods, the situation in the class room and reactions of learner are described in this poem. It is amply obvious that Goldsmith looked upon the teacher with the mixed feelings of fear, respect and humour.

The poet gives an amusing sketch of the teacher’s character with a deep sympathy for him. He analyses of the nature and capability of the school master. The teacher was a taskmaster who took his students to task if they played truant. The poet, as a student, was very aware of this facet of the school master but he valued his stand and came to love and respect him. The harsh steps taken by the teacher had a soft and virtuous purpose behind them as he wished to see his pupils turn in to learned people.

The school master’s is recognized as a great scholarly person by the entire village and even the parson recognizes his skill in debate. The oratory of the teacher leaves the rustics gazing in admiration. The poem ends on a note of humour. The teacher is not to be taken as a sheer sardonic sketch. Besides, his academic affectations, he was remarkably kind and compassionate . The scowl on his face often masks a heart brimming with love and consideration. He has smattering of useful information which he puts to good use with the illiterate and ignorant villagers. Thus he creates a larger than life figure of himself before them. He has a view on every subject and loves to engage in debate above all with the village priest. He knows that in the eyes of the villagers the conclusion of the debate depends more on noise than on wisdom. Hence he keeps arguing even if he is defeated.

Goldsmith’s portrait of his former school master is a tour de force of depiction. He manages to make fun of the schoolmaster’s idiosyncrasies while maintaining reverence and admiration for him. The forte of the poem lies in the way in which Goldsmith has neither idealized nor trivialized the school master. On the other hand, the school master brush stroked to make him more humane.

 

QUESTION AND ANSWERS FROM THE POEM.

Q (a) Describe the place where the schoolmaster taught his little school.

Ans:The school is situated in a village where there is a abundance of green bush .Bordered with an irregular fence stands a big building where his village master taught the little school.

Q (b) Explain straggling fence and unprofitably gay.

Ans:Straggling fence means irregular fence bordering the village school.It means uselessly bright this beauty served no purpose because there was body to admire it.

Q (c) Reference to the extract describe the schoolmaster .

Ans:The poet portraits disciplanarian. He was a man of stern appearance and every indisciplined student knew that they could not take liberties with him. Inspite of his strict exterior the school master was a hind man and had a love for knowledge and his pupils.

Q (d) Who laughed? Why did they laugh with counterfeited glee?

Ans:The indisciplined and idle student laughed with counterfeited glee . The master could tell many joked and even if the students did not feel like laughing at those jokes yet they pretended to be happy or merry to impress their teacher.

Q (e) Explain the line “The days disaster in his morning face.”

Ans:Day’s disaster means the misfortunes that were going to occur that day for the indisciplined students in the school .Morning face means expression seen on schoolmaster’s face in the morning.

Q (f) How did the people who laugh reacted when he frowned?

Ans: When truants and his other student found that the schoolmaster was not in the good mood,they would know before hand that day would bring disaster for them. The schoolmaster would punish them strictly for their little faults.

 

Q (a)The poet has earlier referred to the schoolmaster as stern and strict.What reason doer he attribute later for this?

Ans: Schoolmaster was a kind-hearted teacher. He used to act though so that his students could develop a love for learning and become responsible citizens.

Q (b) What opinion the villagers have of him?

Ans: The whole of the village was in awe of his knowledge and his ability to solve problems effortlessly.

Q (c) What different qualities did the schoolmaster has?

Ans: The village schoolmaster could easily measure distance ,area and volume. He could deliver the accurate meanings of various expressions and could also predict the seasons and the events of the future .Everyone acknowledge that he was good at debating because he had the shill to continue with his arguments when he had lost the debate.

Q (d) Elaborate on his argumentative shills.

Ans:The schoolmaster had a good argumentative skill and could continue with his arguments even when has lost the debate.The village loved to gather around him to listen his learned words that were uttered in a high pitched voice.

Ls.2. THE ROAD NOT TAKEN : SUMMARY

2. THE ROAD NOT TAKEN : SUMMARY

Robert Frost.

The poet while travelling on foot in the woods reaches a junction where two roads diverge and he has to choose one among them He stands there for long. Then he decides to choose the road, which was grassy and needed ‘to wear’. He feels this choice will make all the difference to his future life. He decides to try the other road, some other time, knowing fully well that he will not get a chance to go back to it. Later he wishes that he had taken the other road. This is the irony of life, we cannot travel on all the available roads, no matter howsoever we may wish to.
The poet feels that after ages from now he would be looking at this decision with a ‘sigh’. He would tell that since he had taken the road less travelled, it made all the difference.
Thus the poet speaks of the basic problems of making the right choice. Many alternatives are available at the time of choice but man has to select one. It is only the future that will reveal, whether the decision is wrong or not. After taking decisions we cannot undo them, we can only regret them. Even if we wish, we cannot start all over again.

Stanzas Explanation

• Stanza 1: On the road of life, the speaker arrives at a point where he must decide which of two equally appealing choices is the better one. He examines one choice as best he can, but the future prevents him from seeing where it leads.

• Stanza 2: The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn.

• Stanza 3: Leaves cover both roads equally. No one on this morning has yet taken either road, for the leaves lie undisturbed. The speaker remains committed to his decision to take the road he had previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes, however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an opportunity to take the other road.

• Stanza 4: In years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant impact on his life.

 

The Road Not Taken Questions And Answers

The Road Not Taken : Short  Questions and Answers

 

1.Describe the two roads that the author comes across.
Ans. The author comes across a fork in his travel. He stands and looks at the both roads which are equally lay with grass. One was much traveled and the other was less traveled.

2. Which road does the speaker choose? Why?
Ans. The speaker has chosen the road less traveled. Because there may be two reasons. One is that he has left the other road for another day anticipating that he may come back in future and the other is that he wants to prove his adventurous nature and to show the world that his brave decision has led to the success attained by him.

3.Which road would you choose? why?
Ans. I would choose the road less travelled. Because, the entire wold is running on a theme ‘me’. If I follow somebody’s footsteps,I cannot be identified  as an individual.The life is too short ,whether you  choose or do not choose,you must die.I don’t want to die as unrecognized  fearing the short ditches on my way.
‘Face the problem, become tough, reach destination’ is my philosophy.

4. Does the poet seem happy about his decision?
Ans. No, He is not happy about his decision. Because the title is “The Road not taken” not “The Road Less Traveled”. Though the last word of the poem ‘difference’ suggests a positive note/ expression, the word is said with deep grief, according to the word ‘sigh’ used in the first line of the stanza.

 

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
Ans. The regret in life when we do not make the right decision. Life is full of challenges and difficult decisions have to be made on which depends our future life and success. When even this happens and we make a choice out of many or two then the choices or choice not made keeps haunting us making us ponder what could have happened if we had made that choice which we did not, if we had taken that road, which we did not take.

 

2. Which road does the poet choose? Why? Is he happy about his decision?
   Ans.He chose the road not frequented, which had not been trodden so far; reflecting and arguing with himself that maybe some day he would come back, find that road and walk on it. But somewhere in his mind he is troubled with the thought that maybe he would not be able to do so. Life does not deal in rewinding and coming back to end one’s decisions or undo mistakes. We have to continue with the decision we once make whatever the outcome.
3. Why was it so difficult for the poet to make a decision? Give reasons.
   Ans.It was difficult for the poet to make a decision as he had no idea what any of them had in store for him. He was at a difficult time in his life, to remain in USA where he was not given recognition or to migrate to England. Only the future could tell. It was like taking a leap in the dark. Who could tell its result? It was difficult to say how he would be received in England as his experience of his birthplace USA was bitter.
4. What is the moral presented by the poet in the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
   Ans.This is an inspirational poem and quite tricky, according to Robert Frost himself. The poem presents an antithesis. The traveller comes to a fork and wishes to take both, which is impossible. One of the roads is described as /;[[   grassy and ‘wanting wear’, then he says that both the roads look the same. This represents the eternal dilemma of man : he finds the grass greener always on the other side. This poem is a call for the reader to forge his or her way in life and not follow the path that others have taken. This poem encourages self-reliance, reinforces the power of independent thinking and sticking to one’s decisions. The poet does not moralise about choice, he simply says that choice is inevitable and you will never know till you have lived the ‘difference’. So there is nothing right or wrong about a choice, it is all relative. Whatever direction one takes one must pack it with determination and zest for one can never turn the clock back, or relive that moment.
5. As the poet who took the road not taken by many people, write a letter to your friend stating how “it has made all the difference”. [CBSE 2010 (Term I)]
   Ans:Dear Smith,
   As you know that I have established myself as a poet but this journey of life had not been very simple. I must tell you about the day when I was facing a dilemma to choose between the two roads to walk upon and I chose the one which was less frequented, leaving the first one for some other day. I knew fully well that I will not get a chance to go back to it. Now I wish I had taken the first road. But friend, this is the irony of life, we cannot travel on all the available roads, no matter howsoever we wish to. The basic thing is to make right choice because after that we can’t undo them. It is only the future that will reveal whether our decision was right or wrong. Since I took the road less travelled by, it has made all the difference—The outcome is known to you. Rest in next letter.
   Yours
   Robert Frost
6. Describe the two roads the author finds.
   Ans.One day during his walk, the poet reached a point of bifurcation. There were two roads and he had to take only one. He stood there surveying the pros and cons and looks at both the roads with great care. The poet looked at the road, as far his eyes could see till it bent in the undergrowth. He saw that the other road was more grassy and needed to be travelled upon. But when he had gone a little ahead, he saw that the other road was also grassy.

Ls. 1WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR.

1. WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR.

Rabindranath tagore.

Where the Mind is Without Fear: About the poem

“Where the mind is Without Fear” by Rabindranath Tagore is one of his vastly read and discussed poems.  It was originally composed in Bengali possibly in 1900 under the title “Prarthana”, meaning prayer. It appeared in the volume called ‘Naibedya’ in 1901. Later in 1911 Tagore himself translated the Bengali poem into English and that translation appeared as poem 35 in his Nobel winning anthology “Gitanjali” (Song Offerings) published by the Indian Society, London in 1912.

So when the poem was written, India was under the British Rule and people were eagerly waiting to get their freedom from the British Rule. The poem is written in the form of a prayer to the God, the Almighty for a true freedom for his country. And thus Tagore reveals his own concept of freedom throughout the poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear.

 

Where the Mind is Without Fear: Line by line Explanation

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

In the very first line, the poet prays to the Almighty that his countrymen should be free from any fear of oppression or forced compulsion. He wishes that everyone in his country has his head held high in dignity. In other words, according to him, in a truly free country every person should be fearless and should have a sense of self dignity.

Where knowledge is free;

In the second line of Where the Mind is Without Fear the poet dreams of a nation where knowledge would be free. Education should not be restricted to the upper class only but everybody should be allowed to acquire knowledge. Not only that, the children should learn freely from the nature and the world around them. They should not be forced memorize some predetermined lessons. And this is Tagore’s typical concept of education.

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls;

In the next two lines, the poet emphasizes the unity of not only of his countrymen but also of the entire world. He thinks there should be no division among people based on their caste, creed, color, religion or other baseless superstitions. In other words, prejudices and superstitions should not divide the people in groups and break their unity.

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

In line 5 of Where the Mind is Without Fear, Tagore wants a nation where people are truthful. They should not be superficial and words should come out from the depth of their hearts.

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

In the sixth line of the poem, the poet wants everyone to work hard to reach their goal, and in the long run to reach perfection. . He thinks they should not be tired by working. People should not be lazy and ignoring their work.

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habits;

In line 7, the poet compares ‘reason’ or logical thinking to a “clear stream’ and in the next line compares ‘dead habits’ or superstitious beliefs to a ‘dreary desert’. He wants the stream of reason not to lose its way into the desert of prejudices. In short, people’s thought should be monitored by rational thinking, not by superstition; logic should rule over old baseless beliefs.

Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action;

In line 9 and 10 the poet wishes his countrymen to be progressive and broad-minded. He wants that their minds are “led forward” to ” ever-widening thought and action” by the Almighty.

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

In the final line of the poem, the poet addresses the God as ‘Father’. He asks him to awaken his country into such a ‘heaven of freedom’ where the above conditions meet.

To make it clear, the poet prays to the Almighty (my Father) to raise or lift (awake) his country to such heights where freedom would be realised at its best (a heaven of freedom). In turn, he is actually praying that God awakens his countrymen so that they come out from the darkness of ignorance, prejudices, disunity and all other evils.

In the poem the poet’s message is very clear. If all the people of a nation are not wise enough to lead a happy and peaceful life free from all evils, they cannot enjoy their freedom well. So to the poet, only political freedom is not so important unless you are fearless, self dignified, knowledgeable, truthful, hard-working and broad-minded enough to enjoy it fully.

Answer the following questions. (Where the Mind is Without Fear)

1. Where is the poem taken from?

The poem Where the Mind is Without Fear is taken from Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel-winning anthology ‘Gitanjali’ (Song Offerings) published in 1912 from London.

2. Explain referring to context: “Where knowledge is free”.

Firstly, in ‘Where Knowledge is Free’ the poet means to say that in a truly independent and free country knowledge should be open to all. Everyone should have free access to knowledge. It should not be restricted to some portion of the society based on their class, caste, gender or any other barrier.

Secondly, children should not be forced to learn something. They should be given the freedom to choose what they learn, when they learn and how they learn. Real knowledge comes freely from Nature itself. We get that from the world around us, from our experiences. This is Tagore’s view of knowledge.

3. What does the poet compare “reason” and “dead habits” to?

In the poem Where the Mind is Without Fear, the poet compares ‘reason’ to a clear stream and ‘dead habits’ to a dry desert.

4. What is meant by “dead habits”?

In the poem ‘dead habits’ mean the old superstitious beliefs and deeds that are no longer reasonable. The habits are ‘dead’ because we don’t need them anymore.

5. Explain: “Where the clear…habits”.

See the explanation under the two lines in the line-by-line explanation here.

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habits;

6. What does the poet mean by “head is held high” and “ever-widening thought and action”?

‘Head is held high’ indicates that we should not be ashamed of ourselves. Rather we should be proud of our country, for what we have. A sense of self-dignity is what we need to enjoy our freedom fully.

‘Ever widening thought and action’ means that we should not be narrow or shallow in our mentality. People should have a broad mind and a broad heart. They should enrich their thinking day by day. We should also better our works gradually. In short, we should develop ourselves to become a better thinker and a more efficient performer.

7. What is “narrow domestic walls”?

‘Narrow domestic walls’ are the barriers of class, caste, creed, colour, religion and other elements that divide people from one another. In most cases they are baseless superstitious beliefs that are good for nothing.

8. Who is referred to as “thee”(you) and “my Father”?

In the poem The God is referred to as ‘thee’ and ‘my Father’ by the poet. The poem is actually a prayer to the Almighty to give his country real freedom.

9. Name the qualities the poet wishes to see in his countrymen in the poem “Where the Mind is Without Fear”.

The qualities that the poet wants to see in his countrymen are fearlessness, self dignity, knowledge, truthfulness, diligence, rationality and a broad-mind. These qualities are required if they are to enjoy their country’s freedom to the fullest.

10. Comment on the form and style of the poem. Is the poem Where the Mind is Without Fear a sonnet?

The poem is written in free verse. No rhyme scheme or no particularmetre is followed. Some students ask whether the poem is a sonnet. The clear answer is ‘No’. But you should also know that the original Bengali version of the poem was in the form of a sonnet.

But the English poem has a special form. The whole poem is only a single complex sentence. Only one main clause at the end and several subordinate clauses beginning with ‘where’.

11. What is the poet’s concept of true freedom? or, What is the ‘heaven of freedom’ according to the poet?

According to the poet, to make our country a heaven f freedom, the people should be fearless, knowledgeable, truthful, rational, hard-working and broad-minded. [Elaborate it yourself after reading the line-by line explanation.]

12.What was the poet’s purpose of writing the poem?

Tagore felt sorry that his fellow countrymen were not good enough to enjoy the freedom, even if they would get that. They were afraid of the British suppression. They did not have the sense of self-dignity. Most were ignorant, lazy and superstitious. The class and caste system kept the people away from one another. So, the poet wanted to express his feelings and thoughts by praying to the Almighty (God) for the good of his countrymen.

Questions asked by our readers [Solved]

13. In what ways does the poet wish his country to awake?

The poet wishes that his countrymen become fearless, gain knowledge and self-dignity, become truthful, hardworking, broad-minded and logical in order to raise or awaken the whole country. After all, to make a country awake, we need to make its people awake.

14. Why does the poet feel that the words should come out from the depth of truth?

The poet feels that his countrymen should speak the utmost truth because that is one of the essential qualities of a progressive nation. If they are not good at heart, how can they lead a happy and peaceful life? So, even if the political freedom is allowed to them, they cannot enjoy it fully.

15. In What Ways are the ‘narrow domestic walls’ harmful to a nation? Need more explanation.

‘Narrow domestic walls’ are the barriers that people have deliberately created to divide men according to their religion, color, caste, class and so on. These divisions breaks people’s unity. These often lead to chaotic situations and riots. Law and order is disturbed. Peace of mind is lost. And most importantly, the productivity and progress of a nation can be slowed down or halted. Moreover, external forces may take these as their opportunity and attack that nation. So, these are always harmful for a nation.

16. why is ‘reason’ compared to a clear stream?

Reason or logical thinking is the thing that makes a nation progressive. On the other hand, ‘dead habits’ (superstitions) make a nation stagnant. Logical thinking helps us take new decisions and accept changes instead of sticking to some age-old ideas. That is why reason is compared to a clear stream that can wash out any stagnant object on its way.

17. Does ‘head held high’ mean that the heads of the countrymen are held low? If so why should the head be held high?

Yes, that can be said. In the British India the poet was sad to see that most people had no sense of self-dignity. They were rather happy to serve the British and take the due advantages. So the poet wanted every Indian to be proud of his country.

If people have no sense of self-dignity, they would easily yield to others. And the British force took that opportunity to rule over them. So, the poet realized that every head should be held high in order to be free from external forces.

18. According to Tagore, What all is lacking in his countrymen?

According to Tagore, his countrymen lack some important qualities of character, namely fearlessness, self dignity, knowledge, truthfulness, diligence, rationality and a broad-mind.

19. Do you think the poet’s wish has been fulfilled? Give two reasons for your answer.

The poet’s wish has been fulfilled partially. They are now fearless and not under any external rule. They also have gained knowledge and the sense of dignity.

But everything Tagore wished is not fulfilled yet. The barriers of religion and caste are not yet gone. Superstitions are still present in some places, though these are much lower in number today.

20. Mention few domestic artificial walls and divisions present in our country.

The divisions created based on religions, caste systems, social and economic positions and even different languages are all domestic walls still present in our country.

E.V.S UNIT-1 LAND RESOURSES

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E.V.S UNIT – 1 LANDSLIDES

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