Class 10
Assignment
First Flight- The Tree(Poetry)
1.Read the extract carefully and answer the following-
the smell of leaves and lichen
still reaches like a voice into the rooms.
My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
(a) Where is the poetess sitting at present?
(b) Which smell is reaching her?
(c) What is her head full of?
(d) What will be silent tomorrow?
(e) Name the poem and the poetess.
Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
into the night Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.
(a) What is happening to the glass?
(b) What does the poetess say about the trees?
(c) What rushes out to meet the trees?
(d) How does the poetess describe the moon?
(e) Why does the wind rush?
2. Answer the following-(30-40 words)
1. What is the central idea of the poem ‘The Trees’?
2. Why is the description of the moon different in the beginning and at the end of the third stanza?
3. Justify the revolt of the trees and state two values which the man should possess to stop the revolt.
4. Why is the poetess hopeful that the empty forest will be full of trees by the morning?
3. Answer the following in 100-120 word-
1. ’Departure is painful’. So is the departure of the trees painful for the poetess. What will happen after
their departure?
2. How does the poem ‘The Trees’ make a strong plea against deforestation?
First Flight- Fog(Poetry)
1. Read the extract carefully and answer the following-
1.It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?
(b) The expression ‘silent haunches’ means—————
(c) The metaphor used in the above-mentioned poem is—————
(d) What does it do as long as it stays?
2. The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
(a) What is the fog compared to?
(b) What does the fog do?
(c) Who sits looking over harbour and city?
(d) Who composed these lines?
2. Answer the following-(30-40 words)
I. The poet actually says that the fog is like a cat”, With reference to the poem, ‘Fog’ explain this
statement.
II. Describe the similarities that have been mentioned in the poem between the fog and a cat.
III. Which aspect of nature Carl Sand-burg presents in the poem ‘Fog’?
3. Answer the following in 100-120 word-
I. How does Carl Sandburg describe the arrival, stay and departure of the fog through the image of a
metaphorical cat?
First Flight -Mijbil the Otter (Prose0
1. Read the extract carefully and answer the following-
2. The creature that emerged from this sack on the spacious tiled floor of the bedroom resembled most of
all a very small, medieval conceived, dragon. From the tip of the tail, he was coated with fur like pointed
scales of mud armour’ whose tips were visible a soft velvet e that of a chocolate-brown mole.
(a) Which creature is being talked about here?
(b) What did it resemble?
(c) Why was he covered with mud?
(d) What does ‘mud armour’ imply here?
3. . Early in the New Year of 1956, I travelled to Southern Iraq. By then it had crossed my mind that I
should like to keep an otter instead of a dog and that Camusfearna, ringed by water a stone’s throw from
its door, would be an eminently suitable spot for this experiment. When I casually mentioned this to a
friend, he as casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as
common as mosquitoes and were often by the Arabs.
(a) Where did the writer go?
(b) That did he want as a pet?
(c) What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
(d) Why did the author think of keeping an otter in place of a dog as a pet?
2. Answer the following (30-40words)-
I. Describe the havoc created by Mijbil on the aeroplane when it came out of the box.
II. ‘ She was the very queen of her kind’. Explain the reason behind admiration for the air hostess.
III. How did Maxwell learn of Mijbil’s love for water?
IV. What routine did Mijbil follow everyday while on the walk in London?
3.Answer the following in 100-120 words-
I. Mijbil did things which demonstrated its personality. Which qualities of the narrator are shown in his
care for Mijbil?
II. How did it come to the mind of the writer that an otter can be substituted for dogs or cats?
Footprint without Feet-The Necklace
1. Answer the following –(30-40 words)
I. Madam Lisle was intoxicated with pleasure at the ball. Give three reasons to support your Answer.
II. Mme. Lisle lost the necklace that Mme. Forest ire had Lent her. If it would have been you at mine.
Losels’ place, what would have been your first and foremost step?
III. How did M. Lisle and Madame Lisle manage to buy a diamond necklace to return it to Madam Forester?
What were the consequences?
IV. How did Matilda’s husband obtain an invitation to attend the party?
2. Answer the following in 100-120 words-
I. Matilda proved a roaring success due to Mme Forester lending her the necklace. How would you attain
the stature of being generous?
II. The story The Necklace’ teaches us many lessons which form the crux of human values. Discuss.
III. Matilda’s craving for a bubble reputation was the cause of her ruin.’ Draw a conclusion as to how she
could have avoided the misfortune that dawned upon her.
Order letter for practice-
1. You are Satish/Sonali, the student prefect in charge of the school library. You have been asked by your
Principal to write a letter to place an order for children’s story books (10 – 13 years). Write a letter to
M.S.Book Depot Ramnagar, Bikaner placing an order for the books. Invent the necessary details.
