Odisha State Board CHSE Odisha Class 11 Invitation to English 3 Solutions Writing Narration Textbook Activity Questions and Answers.
CHSE Odisha 11th Class English Writing Narration
There are different ways of developing a paragraph depending on the topic and the purpose of writing. We shall study some of those ways now and in a subsequent chapter, we will develop our ideas into a longer piece of writing in the same light. We will also learn to mix different ways of developing our ideas into one or more paragraphs.
The common ways of developing paragraphs are :
(i) Narration – To tell an event, incident., or experience in chronological order.
(ii) Description -To describe a person, animal, object, place or process.
(iii)Exposition – To explain an idea, instrument, or problem.
(iv)Argumentation or persuasion -To argue for or against a view, in order to influence the reader’s opinion.
Narration
Read the following paragraph and see how the sentences have been arranged.
On Sunday morning, I get up at six in the morning. After a quick wash, I get into my jogging rig and go for a run. By 6.30 I am on the road. I run half an hour. I return home and have a leisurely bath, a luxury. I cannot afford it on weekdays. The bath is over, and I get ready quickly. What have you done? You have described your activities on a Sunday morning, in the order in which they take place.
You start with what you do first, then go on to what you do next, and so on and you come to your last activity. This brings you to the most important thing about a narrative paragraph. In a narrative paragraph, the events or happenings are arranged in chronological order, that is, in order of time.
A. Narrative Passage
A. Account of Events with Sequence of Action:
It was late in the evening. The bride’s place was richly illuminated and decorated. There was music and dancing all around. Around half past 10, the bridegroom’s procession arrived and there was a flurry of excitement. The bridegroom was sitting erect on a young horse. The bride’s parents came out to receive the bridegroom and the bride was brought out too, her face covered with a pink and gold veil. She was barely 18. But, suddenly, without any provocation, the horse broke away from his master’s grip and ran away taking the bridegroom with him.
The bridegroom shouted for help and clung on to the horse for dear life. Soon his turban fell off, revealing his sparse white hair flying in the breeze. “He was too old to marry”, everyone concluded. He couldn’t be less than 70. The young bride stood aghast. Turning to her parents she cried aloud, “He’s old ! He’s a doddering old man ! I won’t marry him”. Tearing off her finery she stormed back into the house. And the old man was taken to hospital with multiple fractures.
B. A Different point of view:
At last, we reached the bride’s place. It was well lighted and there was music and dancing all around. The atmosphere was exciting and I liked it. The bride’s parents came out to receive the bridegroom and then the bride was brought too, her face covered with a pink and gold veil. I stood on the tips of my hooves to get a better view of her. Suddenly the veil on her face blew up in the breeze and I had a glimpse of her face. I was shocked.
She was only a child! She couldn’t be more than 18. And she was about to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather! “Something is seriously wrong”, I thought. “This marriage must be stopped! I then looked sly at my master. He was looking the other way. Without losing any time I broke away from his hold and ran, taking the bridegroom with me. When I reached the street I threw him on the ground and bolted away.
Activity 1
Read the accounts in passages A and B again. Then narrate the incident from the point of view of :
(i) the bridegroom
(ii) the bride’s father
(iii) the bride
Answer:
(i) The bridegroom:
It was late in the evening when I reached the bride’s place which was richly decorated and illuminated. It was a treat to watch. The bride’s parents then came out to receive me and my friends. She was there too, with her face covered with a pink and gold veil. I wanted to take a good look at her as I sat on my horse. Fortunately, a breeze blew her veil away and I got a full glimpse of her face. she was young and beautiful! My heart beat fast in excitement. I couldn’t wait to get married.
Suddenly without warning my horse broke away from my grip and galloped away as if frightened. The sudden jerk loosened my turban and it fell off my head. Alas ! my white hairs were now visible! I could hear shouts of amazement from people gathered for the marriage. They were calling me an old man, fit to be a grandad. All my hopes of marriage were dashed. Suddenly, I was thrown off the horse and consciousness. When I regained it, I found myself in the hospital. I was told that the girl refused to marry me.
(ii) The bride’s father:
It was the happiest day of my life. My one and only daughter were getting married. I spent money lavishly on decorating my house. The bridegroom had not arrived till now. It was almost ten o’clock. Fortunately, however, they arrived half an hour later. I went out to receive him along with my wife and daughter. He sat astride on a horse. He had put on a coffee-colored sherwani suit. A gold brocaded yellow silk turban wrapped his head.
He looked handsome. I was proud of him – a man of many means. We now faced to face and I was asking him to get down from the horse so that the rituals to welcome him could be started, but he was inattentive. I followed his eyes. He was looking at my daughter. “Natural”, I thought. Suddenly, the horse raised its forelegs high up in the air, broke its master’s grip, and galloped away toward the street. I thought I could hold its reins but it was too fast for me.
My would-be son-in-law was now crying out loudly for help but in vain. Being afraid, I ran behind the horse. At that moment my would-be son-in-law’s turban fell off and I was aghast by what I saw. There was only a little white hair clinging to his bald head! O God, he could not.be less than seventy! “Marry my daughter”, would he ?” I said to myself. I then looked back to see my daughter rushing into the house with tears rolling down her cheeks.
(iii) The bride:
The moment of my marriage had arrived. My parents took me out with them to receive the bridegroom. As usual, this was an arranged marriage and I had not even had so much as a glimpse of my fiance before. So when we neared him sitting astride on a house, I tried to look at him through my veil but was not satisfied with the hazy figure that I perceived. Luckily, a breeze lifted off my veil and I had a fair look at him. He looked like a chivalrous knight sitting on a horse. He looked smart and handsome.
Suddenly, however, his horse neighed loudly, raised its forelegs high up into the air, and bolted away. This movement disrobed his head and his turban fell off. What I saw turned me speechless for a moment. He was completely bald, except for a few strands of impeccably white hair. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had been deceived! Screaming, I ran into the house. “I couldn’t marry this old man, no not at all”. I thought to myself. Tears filled my eyes and I was disconsolate. It was indeed providential that the horse had bolted and the turban had fallen off.
Activity 2
One day you saw a woman faint at a bus stop. Narrate what happened; describe the sequence of events and the reaction of the people at the bus stop.
Answer:
It was a blazing summer afternoon. I could feel the heat almost scalding my cheeks. I was perspiring like a faucet as I reached the bus stop from the college. It was mid-noon then. The streets were deserted and desolate. The tar on the road was melting. There was no one at the bus stop except for a lady in a synthetic saree. “How the hell can she put on a synthetic saree on this hot noon ?” I thought she was holding a bag of vegetables – “A housewife, returning home after marketing44, I surmised.
My lips were dry and so I crossed the road to have sugarcane juice. There were four to five people at the crushing trolley. As I ordered a glass of juice and started sipping it all the while facing the bus stop to see if the bus is arriving. Suddenly I saw the woman standing across the road, at the stop, fell down unconscious. For seconds I did not realize that she had fainted.
We all did but none moved to help – they were men and she was a woman. She was old enough to be my mother. I ran to her; saw that she was faint and her lips were trembling, her mouth was completely dry. I ran back, took an ice block from the juice seller and a glass of water, and rushed back. Meanwhile, all my fellow drinkers had gathered around her. They asked me to sprinkle water on her face which I did. But then I also poured water into her mouth and massaged her head with the ice block.
Within a few minutes, she regained consciousness and blushed with confusion as she saw the crowd around her. Holding her hand I lifted her up and handed her another glass of water. She drank that and her cheeks regained color. I helped her pick up the vegetables that had fallen all around her, hailed an auto at her request, and saw her off.
Activity 3
Write short accounts of the following imaginary incidents :
(i) You saw a man trying to steal someone’s wallet (purse) and caught hold of him.
(ii) A road accident you witnessed.
Answer:
(i) It was at the Bhubaneswar railway station that this happened. I was standing in the queue, nonchalantly like the rest of the others, waiting for my turn at the booking counter. It was around 10 o’clock in the morning. The heat and sweat were making everyone restless. To add to this, persons in the queue were having unnecessary arguments with those trying to bypass the queue and go to the counter.
I was fidgeting with my watch, noting how much time each person’s booking was taking and calculating roughly how much time it would take for my turn to come. Just then a man, handsomely dressed arrived and went straight to the counter. He then asked something to the clerk and stood there. Watching his demeanor, I did not like to ask him to move from the I place and take his place in the queue. Instead, I was admiring his mustache jeans. It looked smart on him.
Suddenly I saw him reach for the wallet in the back pocket of the person, first in the queue. He picked it up and turned back. Spontaneously I shouted out, [ “you thief’ and embraced him in a hug. He threw it on the floor and feigned ignorance about it. However, everyone had seen him throw it and so he was caught red-handed. Meanwhile, hearing the commotion the railway police arrived and arrested him.
(ii) It was a Sunday morning, 7.00 a.m. I was off on my bicycle to IRC village to buy vegetables from the Gandhi Market. I was on the road that runs parallel to the National Highway in Jaydev Vihar. All of a sudden a mini truck sped past me, raising a lot of dust. It immediately turned left to go onto the highway taking the mud track road. Just before it reached the highway, there was a loud thud. The four wheels of the truck had fallen into the ditch that had been recently dug to make a drain along the highway.
The driver did not know this and had taken that track to reach the highway. He was unfortunate. The four wheels were deep in the ditch and the truck’s back had been thrown up into the air with the rear tires hanging and wheeling. I rushed to the spot. The driver had escaped unhurt but the cleaner was lying unconscious in the driver’s cabin. We quickly brought him out through the open door of the truck. Pieces of glass had pierced his cheeks and forehead. He was bleeding profusely. The driver hailed a taxi and took him immediately to the hospital.
Activity 4
The Prime Minister is to visit Bhubaneswar next week and the following is the tour program. Write a short account of the planned tour, using the points below.
10.0 am : arrival by a special Air Force plane.
10.10 a.m.: reception by the Chief Minister at the airport.
10.30 a.m.: meeting at the State Secretariat; discussion with the Chief Minister
11.30 a.m.: meeting with party workers.
12.30 p.m.: lays the foundation of the Software Technology Park.
1.0 p.m. : meeting the press.
2.0 p.m. : lunch at Raj Bhavan.
3.0 p.m. : return to Delhi.
Answer:
The Prime Minister arrives at the Biju Pattanaik Airport at 10.00 a.m. sharp by the special Air Force plane. He is to be received there by the Chief Minister and other Cabinet Colleagues. After this, he heads straight for the Secretariat where he discusses relief measures granted by the World Bank and other funding agencies for the cyclone-affected area. After this, at 11.30 p.m.
he reaches the B.J.B. party office to meet party workers. There he discusses organizational elections. At 12.30 p.m. he reaches the site for the Software Technology Park and lays its foundation stone. Following this, he attends a press conference organized by the BBSR Press Club. At 2.00 p.m. he has lunch with the Governor at the Raj Bhavan. At 3.00 he once again boards the plane to leave for Delhi.