Unit 4 - 4.4 The Height of the Ridiculous — English STD 10 — Question

Complete the following table based on the extract :

Stages of Man	Role	qualities/Actions
First	infant
Second	schoolboy
Third	lover
Fourth	soldier

May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours
more insects, and the endless rain.
Complete the following table :

Background/setting of the poem
Type	Evidence (Quote lines from the extract)
Rural

I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room-
he risked the rain again
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing glant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
They searched for him : he was not found.
they clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother's blood, they said.

After reading the extract, complete the following table. What happens?

Lines	What is happening
1-17

Explain: what a thing of beauty keeps in store for us.

From the extract provide evidence for the following:

Stages	Evidence (lines from the extract)
(a) the reaction of the rational father
(b) the various superstitions versus the scientific
(c) evil versus good

Which line suggests that the servant was totally out of control?

Complete the following table based on the extract :

Stages of man	Role	Qualities/Actions
Fifth	adult man
Sixth	old man
Seventh	Very old man

what 'tireless striving' should be for?

What attributes of Rabindranath Tagore does the poem (prayer) reflect?

Complete the following sentences using your own interpretation.
1. When the mind is without fear and head unbowed, we enjoy _____________. freedom.
2. When knowledge is free, every citizen enjoys the right to _____________. and _____________ .
3. We can prevent _____________. injustice when we pull down discriminatory walls of caste, class, religion etc.
4. Constant effort and strife leads to _____________ .
5. Logical thinking and reasoning can put a stop to _____________. .
6. Tagore appeals to God to make his country a _____________ .