CLASS 12 ENGLISH Activity Task Answer

- April 25, 2020

CLASS XII

ENGLISH

Activity Task

Part-1 Answer

1. What is the significance of the title of the short story “The eyes
have it”.?

Ans: The title of the short story, “The eyes have it” is significant as the theme symbolizes something more than its surface meaning . The narrator and the girl have their beautiful eyes which are useless. But both of them do possess their inward eyes which make them visualize things.
The loss of vision is compensated by the extraordinary strength of their other sense organs and the power to picture to their Mind's eye the beauty of nature .Both of them are joyful to think of the October beauty of Mussoorie. Seen from a different angle the 3rd traveller also notices the beauty of the girls eyes .So in a sense their eyes all have it. They all have the appreciation for beauty.

2. The poem On Killing a Tree describes man’s cruelty and violence to
nature. Discuss.

Ans: Gieve Patel's poem 'On Killing a Tree' reveals the cruelty and perversity of a man. The cruelty of a man chiefly lies in the tree feller's systematic killing of a tree and uprooting it completely to prevent its further growth. The poem also messages us that in the hands of some
cruel, self-centred, dishonest people trees are being destroyed and this is a menace to the existence of man on earth. The poet indirectly suggests the gruesome death of human beings because of deforestation and its consequent environment at collapse. The way a tree is scorched and choked in sun and air indirectly suggests to us the scorching of human species in the sweltering heat of the sun due to absence of trees that help in keeping the environment cool. The choking of the log also suggests the choking of human breath because of the dearth of oxygen in air which is given out massively by the trees.

3. Is the play, The Proposal, a farce? Justify your answer with close
reference to the text.

Ans: Chekov's one act play “The proposal” is no doubt funny and farcical.
The real fun of the play lies in the activities of all the three characters and their actions. The way the elderly landowner addresses Lomov is full of fun. His changing attitude towards Lomov is also laughter provoking. Now he considers him his son and now he considered same a devil. Much of the fun of the play arises out of his exaggerated
reaction to Lomov's marriage proposal. The way of Lomov behaves also produces fun. Lomov, a young man of 35, is full of ailments. His heart palpitates and even he falls in a fainting spell while arguing on silly matters . Lomov’s indirect approach to marriage is also funny. Natalya’s
argument like Chubukov's and Lomov’s about which dog is better creates funny situation. All the petty fighting from the beginning to the end makes the marriage proposal farcical and funny.

4. “I shall try to be brief.”
Who is the speaker? Is the speaker successful in his/her purpose? Bring
out the irony of the situation.
Ans:
• Here the speaker is Lomov.

• No, Lomov's purpose was to propose Natalya. But all went vain as the marriage proposal turned into fighting situation.

• Having come to propose to Natalya Lomov gets locked in a dispute
over the ownership of the Oxen Meadows. While Lomov claims that the meadows belong to their family, Stepanovna claims that they belong to themselves. Lomov argues that his aunt's grandfather gave the meadows to the peasants of Natalya's grandfather on lease for forty years. But Natalya does not want to understand all these. So the situation was ironical enough as he thought “ I shall try to be brief” but it turned a long petty quarrelsome situation.

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