Odisha State Board CHSE Odisha Class 12 Approaches to English Book 2 Solutions Poem 1 Indian Children Speak Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.
CHSE Odisha 12th Class Alternative English Solutions Poem 1 Indian Children Speak
Pre-Reading Activity:
Very often we fall to understand each other. This happens especially when we are prejudiced against each other. To understand the other we need to develop a positive attitude. How would you react if you are described as just the opposite of what really you are? What can you do to clear the misunderstanding? Now read the poem below to see how the speaker tries to clear one such misunderstanding of some white people about the Red Indian children.
Questions For Discussion:
Question 1.
When you read the poem, you come across such names as Pansy, Delores, Ramon and Joe Henry. How can you describe them together.
Answer:
They are all Red Indian children.
Question 2.
Throughout the poem the phrase ‘people said’ has been repeated. Who are these people?
Answer:
These people are the white people.
Question 3.
What does moon-coloured dress refer to?
Answer:
It is bright, yellowish-white coloured dress.
Question 4.
Are the Indian children really dumb? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
The Indian children are really not dumb. It is because the narrator says, ‘clearly, I hear Delores answer/yes, the sunset is so good,I think God is throwing /Abright show I around the shoulders of the sky.’
Question 5.
Who do you think are rude – the white people or the Indians? Why do you think so?
Answer:
The white people were rude because they say Indian children are heard to reach, they are silent, they are dumb, they have no affection, they don’t seem very bright and they never take other in.
Question 6.
What is the speaker’s attitude towards the Indian children?
Answer:
The speaker is sympathetic and co-operative with the Indian children. His sense of sympathy stands as a sharp contrast with the uncompromising apathy of white men.
Question 7.
How many voices do you hear in this poem? Whose are they?
Answer:
There are three voices – the voice of the speaker the voice of white men and the voice of the Indian children in this poem.
Question 8.
The poem begins with ‘people said’. But towards the end of the poem the speaker says – ‘I have forgotten the idle words that people said’. Does this suggest a transition of mood and attitude in the speaker? Explain
Answer:
This certainly suggests a transition of mood and attitude in the speaker. It is because shedding the age old hackneyed bitter expression of the white man on the Indian children, the speaker switches over to another mood and mind.
Question 9.
What does the speaker convey in the last three lines of the poem?
Answer:
The last three lines are the concluding lines which convey that the speaker has personally parted with the indecent attitude towards the Indian children. He keeps in store in his heart to slip into the heart of Indian Lands and wants for that time to come.
Question 10.
Do you think the Indian children’s view of the world is different from that of the white people’s? How so?
Answer:
The Indian children’s view of the world is certainly different from that of the white people’s. The white people’s view is quite detrimental, command and selfish.
Question 11.
Is the speaker in the poem an American, Indian or a white American? How do you know?
Answer:
The speaker in the poem happens to be an American who makes it explicit in the line of the poem. ‘AndI steeped into the heart ofIndianLand’. This statement proves that the poet is an on-Indian.
Composition:
Question 1.
The speaker in the poem is not one of the ‘Indian children’. When then does the poem bear the title ‘Indian children speak’? Examine the appropriateness of the title of the poem.
Answer:
The title of the poem reads ‘Indian children speak’. The very title is suggestive of the voice of the Indian children although the poet himself is not one of the Indian children. The Indian children are the focus point of the poem. They are the pivotal characters around whom the whole edifice of the poem revolver. The speaker in the poem is not one of the ‘Indian children’. But the poem bears the title ‘Indian children speak’. The speaker is dissociated from the Indian children and makes an impersonal approachonbehalfoftheIndian children whom he likes and wishes to become apart of them He also desires to forget the idle words the people said and wants to treasure the day when the day when the iron doors swung wide so that he would slip into the heart of Indian land. All these speaks volumes of the question in contest.
Question 2.
There is an undercurrent of irony throughout the poem. Discuss how.
Iron refers to _______________________________________
Now discuss how there is an under current of irony in the poem?
Answer:
There is an under current of irony throughout the poem Irony refers to the expression of one’s meaning by saying something which is the direct opposite of one’s thoughts in order to make one’s remarks forceful.
Activity On Poem Completion:
Fill in the gaps appropriately with the lines given below the text of the incomplete poem ‘Nurses Song’.
Nurses’ Song
When the voices of children are heard on the green
_______________________________________
My hear is at rest without my breast
And everything else is still
Then come home, my children the sun is gone down.
And the dews of the night arise
Come, come, leave off play and let us away
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
And we cannot go to sleep
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly.
_______________________________________
The little ones leaped and shouted and laughed
Missing Lines:
(i) And the hills are all covered up with sleep.
(ii) And laughing is heard on the hill.
(iii) And, then go home to bed.
(iv) No, no, let us play for it yet day.
(v) Till the morning appears in the skies.
Answer:
When the voices of children are heard on the green
And laughing is heard on the hill.
My hear is at rest without by breast
And everything else is still
Then come home, my children the sun is gone down.
And the dews of the night arise
Come, come, leave off play and let us away
And the hills are all coverup with sleep.
And, then go home to bed.
And we cannot go to sleep
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly.
Till the morning appears in the skies
Well, well go and play till the fight fades away.
‘No, no, letus play, for it is yet day’
The little ones leaped and shouted and laughed
And all the hills echoed.
Indian Children Speak Summary in English
It is said that Indian children are hard to teach. They should not be expected to talk. One day a short and fat little boy said that the moon had gone all the way with him the previous night. It is said that Indian children are very silent and their works are ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But the ragged pansy confused softly and said that his dress was old but at night the moon was kind when he wore a beautiful moon, colored dress. It is again said that Indian children are dumb. They hardly make any replay. He clearly hears Delores answer. The sunset is so good that he thinks God is throwing a bright shawl around the shoulders in the sky. However, it is also said that Indian children have no affection. They just don’t care for anyone. Then he feels that Ramon’s hand and hears him whisper. A wild animal races in me since his mother sleeps under the ground. Whether it will always run and run. It is also said that Indian children are rude. They don’t seem very bright. Then he remembers Joe Henery’sremark. The tree is hanging down her head because the sun is staring at her. White people always stare. They do not know it is not polite. It is said that Indian children never take people in. One usually always stands outside their thoughts. He has forgotten the idea words that people said but tree sure the day when iron doors swang wide and he supports into the heart of Indian Land.
Analytical Outlines:
- It is said that Indian children are hard to teach.
- They should not be expected to talk.
- One day a short and fat little boy said something.
- He said about the moon
- He said that it had gone all the way with him.
- It happened in the previous right.
- Again people say something about Indian children.
- It is said that Indian children are Very silent.
- Their works are ‘yes’ or ‘no’
- But the ragged pansy confided softly.
- He said that his dress was old.
- But at night the moon is kind.
- Because he wore a beautiful moon-colored dress at night.
- It isagain said something by thepeople.
- They say Indian children are dumb.
- They hardly make any reply.
- He clearly hears Delores answer.
- The sunset is extremely good.
- He thinks God is throwing a bright shawl around the shoulders in the sky.
- However, people say something negatively.
- They say that Indian children have no affection.
- They just don’t care for anyone.
- Then he feels the Ramon’s hand.
- He also hears him whisper.
- A wild animal raises in me.
- His mother sleeps under the ground.
- Whether it will run and run.
- It is also said that Indian children are rude.
- They don’t seem very bright.
- Then he remembers something:
- It is Joe Henry’s remark.
- The trees is hanging down her head.
- Because, the sun is staring at her.
- While people always stare.
- They do not know it is not polite.
- It is said that Indian children never take people in.
- One usually always stands outside their thoughts.
- He has forgotten the idle words people say.
- He treasures the day when iron doors swung wide.
- He supports into the heart of Indian Land.
Meaning Of Difficult Words:
stubby – short and thick
ragged – (with clothes) tom (here, refers to someone wearing rags)
dumb – speechless, mute, here stupid, unintelligent
shawl – loose square cloth worn over the shoulders or head by women.
confided – told a secret.