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         Introduction of the lesson- RAIN ON THE ROOF


INTRODUCTION


When the sky is covered with dark clouds and it starts raining, everybody feels thrilled. One wishes to lie in a cosy bed and thousands of fancies rush through his mind. It is most joyful to enjoy listening the music of the pattering sound of the rain-drops on the shingles of the roof. The poet expresses his
love for nature and its beauty.



This lyrical poem “Rain on the Roof” by Coates Kinney presents the memories aroused in the poet’s mind by the showers falling on the tin roof. Through a number of metaphors, the poet shows that the drops of rain falling on the shingles of the roof sends a train of thoughts running in his mind. He is reminded of the way his mother used to bid him and his siblings a good night and put them to sleep. The poet connects his present with his past through the memories revived by the rain.



                                                                      Theme 

The theme of the poem is the healing power of rain. The musical sound of raindrops falling on rooftop at night has the ability to revive sweet memories and rouse fancies in an otherwise busy mind. The rain thus soothes and comforts an overworked mind by taking it back to its lovely past. Some of our best memories in life are associated with rain.

                                                                      TITLE

The very title, with a repetition of the sounds ‘r’ and ‘n’ and the long vowels ‘ai’ and ‘oo’ imitates the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain on a tin roof. Article ‘the’ before the word ‘roof’ makes it a specific roof – the roof of the poet’s house. Thus, the title is very apt as it is suggestive of the childhood memories the poet has of rain. The rain has a magic like effect on him every time it falls on his room, and lying lazily in his room, he listens to the sheer music of the rain. It triggers ‘a thousand dreamy fancies’ in his mind and thousands of memories come alive. In particular, the memory of the poet’s mother putting her children to sleep at night is indelible in his mind. Every time it rains, the poet relives the golden moments of his childhood. Thus, the title of the poem can be termed
very appropriate.

SUMMARY

The poet observes that when the starry sky is overcast with rain bearing clouds, the sad darkness is filled with rain drops which are like gentle tears. It is a very pleasant, comforting, and thrilling experience to lie in one’s room with the head pressed on the pillow, and listen to the sound of the raindrops falling on the tin roof overhead.

Every drop of rain falling on the roof makes a tinkling sound that moves the poet’s heart. These sounds rouse a number of imaginary things in the thoughts of an otherwise busy poet. The soft pitter-patter of the falling rain-drops also revives many childhood memories.

Among these memories, there is one about his mother. He recollects how she used to look at her dear children as she put them to sleep and wished them to have sweet dreams till they met again early in the morning. As the poet listens to the music made by the rain falling on the roof, he visualizes in his mind the affectionate look of his mother. Thus, the rain makes a bridge between his present and his past.

MESSAGE
The poem conveys the message that rain has therapeutic and healing powers and forms lasting memories in human mind of the sights, sound, fragrances and our experience.

NCERT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

Thinking about the Poem
I. 1. What do the following phrases mean to you? Discuss in class.
(i) humid shadows
(ii) starry spheres
(iii) what a bliss
(iv) a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start
(v) a thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof

Answer: 

1. (i) “Humid shadows” refer to the dark clouds that produce rain.
(ii) “Starry spheres” refer to the night sky abounding in stars.
(iii) “What a bliss” refers to the happiness of the poet. When it rains poet gets into his
cottage and enjoy the patter of rain upon the roof.
(iv) This refers to the various imaginary thoughts and fantasies that are aroused in the
poet’s mind.
(v) This phrase means that numerous memories intermingle to form a beautiful picture that

the poet recollects.

2. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Answer: When it rains, the poet feels delighted to lie with his head pressed against the pillow of his cottage chamber bed and listen to the patter of the soft rain.

3. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet? Who are the “darling dreamers” he refers to?
Answer: The single major memory that comes to the poet is that of his mother and her fond look.

The “darling dreamers” are the poet and his siblings in their childhood when they were lovingly put to sleep by their mother.

4. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?

Answer: No, the poet is not a child now. He is a grown up man. He remembers her when he is inside his cosy cottage and enjoy the pattern of rain on the roof.

( To be Continued) 

INTRODUCTION
‘The Lost Child’ is one of the famous stories of Mulk Raj Anand. This story shows the working of child’s mind. It shows that a child hasreat love for his parents. In this story, a child goes to see the village fair in the company of his father and mother. He is attracted by dierent things in the fair. He asks his parents s again and again to buy him something or the other. But they don’t buy anything for him. By chance, the child gets separated from his parents. He starts He runs here and there shouting for his parents. A kind man sees him. He tries to console the child. He takes him to dierent shops. But the child goes on weeping. Now he has lost interest in everything. He only cries, “I want my mother, I want my father!”

                               THE LITTLE GIRL          BY   KATHERINE MANSFIELD                                             
                                               SUMMARY OF THE LESSON


TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
II. Answer the following questions 
1. Why was Kezia afraid of her father? 

Answer: Kezia was afraid of her father because he was very strict who always used to give commands to everybody else in the house. He never played with her. He had big hands and heavy face especially his mouth when he yawned were big and she was especially terrified with the manner in which he looked at her over his spectacles.

2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family? 
Answer: Kezia’s family consisted of her mother, father, grandmother and herself.


3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine
 (i) before going to his office? 
(ii) after coming back from his office?
 (iii) on Sundays? 

Answer: 

(i) Before going to his office, Kezia’s father usually went into her room to give her a casual kiss.

 (ii) After coming back from his office, he ordered for tea to brought into the drawing room. He also asked his mother to bring him the newspaper and his slippers, and Kezia to pull off his boots.

(iii) On Sunday, Kezia’s father would stretch out on the sofa. He would cover his face with his handkerchief, put his feet on one of the cushions and sleep soundly.

4. In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Answer: Kezia’s grandmother encouraged her to get to know her father better by sending her to the drawing room to talk to her parents on Sundays. She also suggested Kezia to make a pin cushion out of a beautiful piece of yellow silk as a gift for her father’s birthday.

III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each.

 1. Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?


2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?

                                                                     Summary of wind


This poem consists of a total of 23 lines. These lines are not separated into stanzas. Here they are divided into meaningful segments for ease of comprehension.

Lines 1-4:
Wind, come softly.
Don’t break the shutters of the windows.
Don’t scatter the papers.
Don’t throw down the books on the shelf.
In these lines, the poet directly talks to the wind. In fact, he makes an entreaty to the wind. He asks the wind not to break down the shutters of the windows. The shutters are the only thing that separate man from the stormy environment outside, so in a way the poet is asking the wind for protection. He also asks the wind not to scatter the papers in his room, or to throw down the books from his bookshelves. It is pertinent for him to care about papers and books, and for them to be the first things in his room that he doesn’t want disorganized, because he is a writer. Perhaps some of these papers also contain drafts of poems like this one, hence they are very important to him, and he cannot afford to lose them.

Lines 5-7:
There, look what you did – you threw them all down.
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.

In these lines, the poet continues speaking to the wind. However, the tone he now uses to address the wind has changed from the tone he had been using in the first four lines of the poem. Here he takes on an accusatory tone. He gestures towards the mess in his room, and tells the wind that it is he who is responsible for it. He shows the wind how he has thrown all the books down from the bookshelves with his force, and torn pages out of those books as well. However, the pet does not restrict his vision only to the inside of his house. Casting his gaze outside, he also accuses the wing of having brought a bout of rainfall with himself while approaching the poet’s house.

Lines 8-12:
You’re very clever at poking fun at weaklings.
Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters,
crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives,
crumbling hearts –
the wind god winnows and crushes them all.
In these lines, the poet keeps speaking to the wind. Now his tone has once again undergone a change. While it is still accusatory, it has also become sombre to some extent. The poet tells the wind that he makes mischief whenever he comes face to face with anyone who is too meek and mild to protest against his actions. The wind can tear down the doors, the rafters, or entire wooden houses altogether. This is the wind’s overt action – leaving people without a roof over their heads, or walls to keep them sheltered from the harsh world outside. However, the wind also has a covert action. To understand what the poet is talking about at this point you can think back to how many Indian vernacular languages have a phrase about the wind blowing over someone’s life and leaving a trail of disasters behind. What such an idiom implies is that the troubles we face in life come as suddenly as the wind, and also leave in the same sudden way. Hinting at this, the poet says that the wind can tear down weak bodies, and fragile hearts. That is, difficulties in life can lead to a loss of hope, as well as a loss of life. Whether such things will happen or not is all up to the wind god, says the poet.

Lines 13-15:
He won’t do what you tell him.
So, come, let’s build strong homes,
Let’s join the doors firmly.

In these lines, the poet stops speaking to the wind, and starts speaking to his readers. He tells his readers that the wind does not listen to anybody, and that his actions are governed by him alone. Therefore, we cannot escape the ill effects of the wind by appealing to the wind like he has been doing. Instead, we should build our homes on a strong foundation, and ensure that our doors cannot be easily penetrated in order to save ourselves from the wind.

Lines 16-18:
Practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.
Do this, and the wind will be friends with us.

In these lines, the poet outlines some other ways in which his readers can save themselves from the wind. He says that we must make ourselves strong, both physically and mentally. We must train our bodies and our hearts to combat against and resist the ill effects of the wind. If we are able to do this, then the poet thinks that we will no longer consider the wind an enemy. Instead the wind will invite us to become his friend, and we will be able to fearlessly accept his invitation.

Lines 19-20:
The wind blows out weak fires.
He makes strong fires roar and flourish.

In these lines, the poet describes how the wind has both bad effects and good effects. In order to elucidate on the bad effects of the wind, he shows how the wind can blow out a fire if it is glowing with a weak force. However, if the fire is burning strongly, then the wind will not blow it out, but make it fiercer. Thus the wind can nurture that which is already strong.

Lines 21-23:
His friendship is good.
We praise him every day.
Wind, come softly.

In these lines, the poet comes to a conclusion after weighing both the bad effects and the good effects of the wind. He says that if we are strong, then the wind is a good friend for us to have, for he will increase our strength. He also says that we should sing our devotion to the wind god on a daily basis. Finally, he asks for the wind to come to him softly. This may seem a bit cautious of him, but shows that he has thought out his address to the wind very well. He knows how the wind can strengthen him, but also knows that he must not overestimate his own strength or disrespect the wind god. To prevent himself from doing either, he asks the wind to come to him in a gentle manner.




                                     Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 30
Q1 : The wind blows strongly and causes a lot of destruction. How can we make friends with it?
Answer :
Strong winds cause a lot of destruction and damage but its energy can be of great use once we make friends with it. This we can do by taking proper precautions and measures. For instance, we can build stronger homes, keeping in mind the fatalities of the wind. We can also build windmills to harness its energy that can be used to generate electricity.

        Thinking about the poem : Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 31

1 : What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?
2. Have you seen anybody winnow grain at home or in a paddy field? What is the word in your language for winnowing? What do people use for winnowing? (Give words in your language if you know them.)
3. What does the poet say the w
ind god winnows?
4. What should we do to make friends with the wind?
5. What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?
6. How does the poet speak to the wind - in anger or with humour? You must also have seen or heard of the wind “crumbling lives”. What is your response to this? Is it like the poet's?

Answer :
1. The wind breaks the shutters of the windows; scatters the papers; throws down the books from the shelf; tears the pages of the books; and brings showers of rain.
2. Yes, I have seen women winnowing grain at home in the villages. Winnowing is generally known as phatkna, pichorna or anaj parchana in Hindi.
The village people use the winnowing fork and more commonly, the winnowing fan, known as chhaaj in Hindi, for winnowing.
3. The poet says that the wind god winnows the weak crumbling houses, doors, rafters, wood, bodies, lives and hearts, and then crushes them all.
4. To make friends with the wind, the poet asks us to build strong homes, join the doors firmly and practice to make our bodies and hearts stronger.
5. In the last four lines, the poet inspires us to face the wind, which symbolises the hardships of our lives, courageously. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the weak fires; it intensifies the stronger ones. Similarly, adversities deter the weak-hearted but make stronger those who have unfaltering will. In such a case, befriending the wind or the hardships of life makes it easier for us to face them.
6. The poet speaks to the wind in anger.
Yes, I have witnessed stormy weather and I have seen the wind uprooting trees. I have watched on the television many instances where wind has caused destruction, crushing houses with people stuck inside.
No, my response would not be similar to the poet. Violent wind causes destruction but its energy, if harnessed, can be utilised in generating electricity and for other productive purposes.



References :-

https://prezi.com/jpxmh8tlbujr/albert-einstein-a-truly-beautiful-mind/ (Links to an external site.)
https://www.learner.in
http://www.excellup.com/classnine/englishnine/trulybeautifulmind.aspx (Links to an external site.)
http://www.schoollamp.com/
http://english-cbse.blogspot.in/2011/12/9th-classbeehiveshort-answers-chapter.html (Links to an external site.)
http://www.learncbse.in/ncert-solutions-for-class-9-english-beehive-a-truly-beautiful-mind/ (Links to an external site.)

                            
                                  The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost     

      NCERT Questions and Answers are given after text explanation

Our speaker is describing a fork in the road. This poem was first published in 1916, when cars were only just beginning to become prominent, so these roads in the wood are probably more like paths, not roads like we'd think of them today.

The woods are yellow, which means that it's probably fall and the leaves are turning colors.

"Diverged" is just another word for split. There's a fork in the road.

Lines 2-3

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

The speaker wants to go down both roads at once, but since it's impossible to walk down two roads at once, he has to choose one road.

The speaker is "sorry" he can't travel both roads, suggesting regret.

Because of the impossibility of traveling both roads, the speaker stands there trying to choose which path he's going to take. Because he's standing, we know that he's on foot, and not in a carriage or a car.

Lines 4-5

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

The speaker really wants to go down both paths – he's thinking hard about his choice. He's staring down one road, trying to see where it goes. But he can only see up to the first bend, where the undergrowth, the small plants and greenery of the woods, blocks his view.

This is where we start to think about the metaphorical meanings of this poem. If our speaker is, as we suspect, at a fork in the road of his life, and not at an actual road, he could be trying to peer into his future as far as he can. But, since he can't really predict the future, he can only see part of the path. Who knows what surprises it could hold?

Line 6

Then took the other, as just as fair,

So after all this buildup about one road, which he's looked down for a long time, our speaker takes the other path.

Then we get a tricky little phrase to describe this road. It's "as just as fair." Read without the first "as," this phrase is clear, if you think of fair as meaning attractive, or pretty. But the first "as" makes the phrase a little more difficult. Combining the words "just" and "fair" in the same phrase is a play on words – both of these words have multiple meanings. The phrase could mean something like "as just as it is fair," as in proper, righteous, and equal. But this doesn't quite apply to a road.

Yet we trust that our speaker wouldn't let things get awkward without meaning it. We're guessing that he means the road is just as pretty, but that in the metaphorical world of this poem, he thinks he made the fair, or right, choice.

But it's not fairer – it's just as fair. So he was choosing between two roads, or futures, that were different but potentially equally good.

Lines 7-8

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

The speaker still seems pretty uncertain when he explains that this second path is better. It is only "perhaps" better.

Then the speaker tells us why the path is better – it seems like it hasn't been walked on very much, because it's grassy and doesn't look worn.

Be careful not to think that the phrase "wanted wear" is personification (it is alliteration, though). "Wanted," in this instance, means something more like "lacked."

Lines 9-10

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

The speaker of this poem really can't seem to make up his mind! Just when we think we've got a declaration about which path is better, he changes his mind and admits that maybe they were equal after all.

The "as for that" refers to the path being less worn.

"The passing there" refers to traffic, probably on foot just like our speaker, that may have worn the paths down.

Lines 11-12

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

 Here, again, we hear that the paths are equal, but we find out something new, that it's morning. It's possible that our speaker is the first to travel to this place on that day.

The paths are covered with leaves, which haven't been turned black by steps crushing them.

Wait, we thought one path was grassy…and now it's covered with leaves. Possibly, the leaves aren't very thick, or the grass sticks up in between them. Or maybe the speaker isn't being quite honest.

Line 13

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

The speaker seems like he's already regretting his decision. He is rationalizing his choice of path by saying he'll come back to the one he missed later.

This is a familiar way to deal with difficult choices; "you can always come back and try it again later," we think.

With an "Oh" at the beginning and an exclamation point at the end, this line is emphatic. The speaker feels strongly about what he's saying here.

Lines 14-15

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

The speaker realizes that his hopes to come back and try the other path may be foolish.

He knows how "way leads on to way" – how one road can lead to another, and then another, until you end up very far from where you started. Because of this, he doesn't think he'll ever be able to come back and take that other path, as much as he wishes he could.

Here we return to the metaphorical meaning of this poem. In any life decision, we can hedge our bets by thinking we can always come back, try a different option later. But sometimes our decisions take us to other decisions, and yet still others, and it's impossible for us to retrace our steps and arrive back at that original decision.

It's like deciding which college to go to – "I can always transfer" a high school senior might think. But then, once the decision is made and freshman year has passed, the reality hits that switching schools is a lot more complicated than it seems, and it's hard to start completely over somewhere else.

Lines 16-17

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Now we jump forward in time. We don't know exactly when, but we know that it's ages and ages "hence," or, from now. So we're probably talking years, not months.

We know that this story is important, because the speaker will still be telling it many years later.

He'll be telling it with a sigh, though, which is interesting because sighs can be happy, sad, or merely reflective – and we don't know what kind of sigh this is.

So, we know that this choice is probably going to be important for the speaker's future, but we don't know if he's going to be happy about it or not.

Line 18

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

This line is a repetition of the first line of the poem, with the subtraction of the word "yellow" and the addition of the words "and I."

This repetition helps to bring the poem to a conclusion. It reminds us what's important in the poem – the concept of choosing between two different paths.

Then, we get the hesitation of "and I" and the dash. This lets us know that whatever the speaker is about to say next is important.

Line 19

I took the one less traveled by,

In this line, the speaker sums up his story and tells us that he took the road less traveled by. With the hesitation in the line before, this declaration could be triumphant – or regretful.

Also, remember it wasn't exactly clear that the road our speaker took was the one that was less traveled. He said at first that it looked less worn, but then that the two roads were actually about equal.

Before you start getting mad at our speaker for stretching the truth, remember that he's telling his story far in the future, a long time from when it actually happened. He's predicting that his memory will tell him that he took the road less traveled by, or that he'll lie in the future, no matter what the reality of the situation was.

Line 20

And that has made all the difference.

At first glance it seems that this line is triumphant – the narrator took the path that no one else did, and that is what has made the difference in his life that made him successful.

But he doesn't say that it made him successful – an optimistic reader wants the line to read positively, but it could be read either way. A "difference" could mean success, or utter failure.

Remember, the speaker is telling us about what he's going to say in the future. From where he is now, just looking down the path as far as he can see, he can't tell if the future that it leads him to is going to be good or bad. He just knows that his choice is important – that it will make all the difference in his life.

The speaker of this poem could be saying that his choice made all the difference while he's surrounded by his grandchildren, by a fire in a cozy little house. Or he could be saying it to the wind, while walking alone on the streets. At this point, he doesn't know – and neither do we.

Rhyming Quintains of Iambic Tetrameter

This poem has a pretty complicated form. We'll start with the (relatively) simple stuff. The poem consists of four stanzas with five lines each. These are called quintains. And in each quintain, the rhyme scheme is ABAAB. For example, take the first stanza:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (A)

And sorry I could not travel both (B)

And be one traveler, long I stood (A)

And looked down one as far as I could (A)

To where it bent in the undergrowth; (B)

The rhythm of the poem is a bit trickier. It is basically iambic, which means that there is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da DUM). There are many variations in this poem, most of which are anapestic, which means that there are two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable (da da DUM).

The most common use of iambs in poetry is in pentameter, which means that there are five "feet," or units of stressed and unstressed syllables, in the poem. But this poem is in iambic tetrameter, which means that there are only four feet (tetra = four). If you read the poem aloud, you should be able to hear four distinct beats per line. It will sound roughly like this: da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM.

Let's look at the first line as an example. Stressed syllables are in bold and italic.

Two roads | diverged | in a yell|ow wood

Each of the four feet in this line is iambic except for the third, because both "in" and "a" are unstressed syllables, making it an anapest.

So this poem has a rhythm and rhyme scheme, but they depart a little from the norm, just like the speaker of this poem, who chooses his own path.