english viii hb_pdf

ENGLISH SOURCEBOOK

STANDARD VIII

GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION2009

English CoursebookStandard VIII

Prepared by:State Council of EducationalResearch & Training (SCERT)Poojappura,Thiruvananthapuram -12, Kerala.E-mail:[email protected] setting by:SCERT Computer Lab.

Printed at:

©Government of KeralaDepartment of Education2009

Members participated in theSourcebook workshop

Dr. K. N. AnandanSmt. Bindu S. VSri. Jalson JacobSri. Jayarajan KSri. Jose D’ SujeevSri. Jose K. PhilipSmt. Jyolsna P. KSmt. Preetha P. VSri. Raveendran K. VProf. Saraswathy V. K.Sri. Sajay K.V.Prof. S. Sasikumaran UnnithanSmt. Smitha John

Academic Co-ordinators

Sri. K.T. DineshSri. S. Raveendran Nair

FOREWORD

Dear teachers,

I am really happy to introduce a new package of transactional materialsfor the teaching and learning of English in Standard VIII in the schoolsof Kerala. The package consists of a Coursebook for learners and aSourcebook for teachers. You may be aware of the fact that thesematerials are developed on the basis of the guidelines of NCF 2005 andKCF 2007.The curriculum of English envisaged in the State has a continuum fromStandards I to XII. Social constructivism, critical pedagogy and issuebased learning are its theoretical foundations. The treatment of thelearning package for English reflected in the learning materials envisionslanguage as a set of discourses. The classroom processes for facilitatingthe construction of these discourses are explained in detail in thisSourcebook.Literature is the main tool for language learning at this level. Theextended reading section attached to each unit of the Coursebook is arich self-reading material for the learners. The scope of creative dramafor providing interesting experience of learning the language is alsoexplored.More inputs in areas of methodology, descriptive grammar, teachingof poetry and assessment are incorporated in the Sourcebook. Thestrategies suggested in the Sourcebook are not prescriptive in nature.The teachers are not expected to follow these suggestions step by step.You are free to adapt and alter the transactional strategies for makingyour learners better users of English provided the adaptation andalterations made are in tune with the emerging paradigm.Hope you will find this Sourcebook a useful companion.

Wish you all the best.

A.P.M. Mohammed Haneesh I.A.S.Director (in charge)

SCERT

CONTENTS

Part I

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COURSEBOOK AND SOURCEBOOK

Chapter I THE NEED FOR A NEW CURRICULUM

CHAPTER II OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION

CHAPTER III KCF- 2007 (ON LANGUAGE)

CHAPTER IV ISSUE BASED LEARNING

CHAPTER V ON APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER VI ON ASSESSMENT

CHAPTER VII ON EDITING: CORRECTION OF LEARNER ERRORS

CHAPTER VIII TEACHING GRAMMAR

CHAPTER IX TEACHING LITERATURE: WHY, WHAT AND HOW?

CHAPTER X TEACHING POETRY

UNIT 1 ON THE WINGS OF WISHES

UNIT 2 ON TELLING A TALE

UNIT 3 AS WE SOW SO SHALL WE REAP

UNIT 4 WITHIN AND WITHOUT

UNIT 5 BEING ONE WITH NATURE

APPENDIX

GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS

REFERENCE

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5SOURCEBOOK ENGLISH STD VIII

Highlights of the Coursebook and Sourcebook

• This course of instruction in English is based on the objectives and principles ofeducation envisioned in N.C.F 2005 and K.C.F 2007.

• Issue based curriculum is its core and the various problems faced by our societyare discussed and sensitised in the learning materials.

• It is developed on the basis of the principles of constructivism and criticalpedagogy.

• Critical pedagogy explores the social dimension of a constructivist, learnercentered and process oriented classroom.

• The approach to language learning followed here is the cognitive interactionistapproach.

• Representative samples of authentic literary texts from across the world areused for classroom transaction in all the units.

• Three abridged versions of world classics, five poems, a short story and a oneact play are included in the extended reading section.

• Each unit gives ample scope for creative expressions of language like songs/poems/ skits/ stories/ narratives etc. to initiate them to the world of literature.

• Performance based activities like choreography, enactment of skit and role-playing have to be given chance for presentation either in the class itself or onthe stage.

• Various skills of language are integrated and the scope for constructing differentdiscourses are inbuilt in the classroom process of the material.

• Editing and analytical grammar are there in all units for helping the learnersacquire a sense of accuracy in language use.

• A glossary is appended to each unit for familiarizing dictionary reference andto facilitate self-reading.


• Self-assessment checklists are provided in each unit to help the self evaluationof the learners and continuous evaluation by the teacher.

• Provision is there at the end of each unit in the Coursebook for the learners tomake a personal word list.

• A separate section is included towards the end for the reference of literary terms.A wide range of literary terms which are helpful for the teachers and learners areprovided.

• The transactional processes of this learning materials have scope for using IT asa tool for language learning.

• The Sourcebook which details the approach, methodology, techniques oftransaction, planning and assessment is developed along with the Coursebook asa comprehensive package of learning.

• The activities suggested in the Sourcebook are suggestive and not prescriptive.Teachers are free to adopt and modify the suggested activities to suit to the levelof the learners of their classroom within the constructivist paradigm.


Introduction

Education is a powerful tool forliberation. It equips a society toencounter all forms of suppression. Itenables liberation from one’s personallethargy and prohibitions imposed bytraditions and superstitions. We shouldensure an educational system whichenlightens our vision. With these broadobjectives in view, an action plan forstrengthening the school curriculum inKerala has been undertaken. Schoolcurriculum has to be designed anddeveloped in the light of pastexperiences, the general trends of thesociety, the needs of the contemporaryworld and the visions for the future.

School education is the spring boardthat decides the future of Kerala. Thechallenges of the contemporary worldcan be met only if we develop aprogressive and comprehensiveeducational system. We can achieveprogress only if we combat the issuesthat trouble our society. We need tosensitise our young generation aboutvarious issues that confront us. This ispossible only by discussing those issuesin the curriculum. The curriculum

Chapter ITHE NEED FOR A NEW CURRICULUM

should be flexible enough toaccommodate various issues faced byus. It would give an opportunity to thelearners to think about and have aninsight into these issues in their ownway. The learners form attitudes,opinions and make judgments aboutthese issues. By doing so they rendervaluable contribution to the progress ofthe society. Moreover their learningproves meaningful and they becomesocially responsible. The curriculum iscommitted to provide ample scope forall these.

Every society dreams of a prosperousfuture. Certain groups working in thesociety have the hidden motive ofwresting social and economicdominance. Meanwhile a large sectionof the society struggles for liberationfrom distress and for the basicamenities of life. A balanceddevelopment of the society becomespossible only when narrow and pettyinterests are set aside for generalwelfare.

VISION OF THE FUTURE SOCIETY

The future society should be foundedupon the creative participation of the


entire society on the basis ofprogressive visions, studies andexperiences.

Each society has a unique vision aboutits future. The educational activities areto be designed on the basis of thisvision. Values enshrined in ourconstitution like democracy,secularism, and social equality are theindicators to be considered whileframing the principles of education.We should dream of a society withhumanistic foundations and whichdispenses with all sorts of religious,caste and economic inequalities, genderbias and narrow regionalism.

We should think of a social systemwhich utilizes our manpower forsustainable development.

• The main considerations of thissociety should be nationalism, self-reliance, promotion of native cultureand democratic rights.

• The society to be constructed is theone which focuses on the welfare of itspoor sections and which makes use ofits resources for production anddevelopment.

• The society should progress throughco-operation and collaboration. Themodels of development it creates andpromotes should be founded onefficient and just generation andequitable distribution of wealth.

• Renewal of the society is realisedwhen it believes that knowledge is acommon property of the society andthat it is continuously refined throughinvestigations and critical thinking.

• The society would always struggleagainst the discriminations faced bycertain sections of the society due tohistoric or social causes. It would ensurethe equality of men and women insocial progress.

• The society would respect culturaldiversity, protect its own culturaltraditions and would launch a strongresistance against the onslaught ofconsumerist culture. In this regard, itwould also identify the undesirabletrends of culture propagated by themedia and take steps to react againstthem.

• The future society would rally againstsocial evils and divisive forces and takeup this goal of social progress.

THE VISION OF EDUCATION IN THE

NEW CURRICULUM

The new curriculum envisions the aimand methodology of learning asconstruction of knowledge. Learning isa process of constructing knowledgeaccording to the constructivistparadigm. Every experience of life isthe cause of developing a new idea. Theideas acquired in this manner areadded to previously acquired/ shaped


ideas. This means that the childconstructs knowledge by continuouslyinteracting with his environment. Thisis a natural and continuous process.Thus:•learning is construction of knowledge•learning involves problem solving•learning is the product of a naturalprocess

The construction of knowledge is notlimited to the classrooms alone. Thechild actively interacts, investigates,reacts, designs, interprets and findsmeaning from the world outside. Thusthe child slowly integrates himself withthe society of elders. Through this, thechild is able to identify his personalityand his place in the society as anindividual. Learning would be effectivein an environment which recognizeslearners as ‘individuals.’ Learningshould not be related to feelings likefear, discipline or conflict. It should berelated to feelings like pleasure andhappiness.

LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE

Man is different from other creaturesbecause he is able to manipulate hiscircumstances and construct what herequires from nature. Besides, man canreconstruct knowledge. But acquiringonly certain facts about something doesnot constitute knowledge.

True knowledge:•is the product of labour or activity•follows the principles ofconstruction

•is the cultural tool for liberation•is the product of an organic process•is a process that transformsinformation into wisdom

•skills, attitudes, values, concepts,proficiency etc. are all parts ofknowledge

SOCIAL DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE AND

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY

Social constructivism defines learningas a mental construct in a problematicsocial situation. It is significant toidentify the nature of knowledge thatis constructed around us. Autocratictendencies, business motives, partisanattitudes and other hidden interests areprominent in our society.Hence apart from mere construction ofknowledge, a vision about thefollowing are also necessary.

•For whom is the knowledgeconstructed?

•Does it function as a catalystic forcethat leads society to progress?

A vision about these have to beformulated and it should be reflectedin the curriculum.


PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION

This curriculum totally disregards theideas put forward by behaviourism andfollows the ideas put forward by socialconstructivists. A realization thateducation is a social process and thatthe conflicts that exist in the societywould affect education, is necessary.Idealistic classrooms alone areincapable of overcoming the conflictsthat exist and the contradictions thatare inherent in the knowledge thusacquired. Critical theorists ask us todevelop a critical ability to identify thesources of social conflict and overcomethem. This curriculum underlines thefact that by following critical learningthe child acquires the ability not onlyto construct knowledge but also torevise the existing knowledge. Alongwith these the ideas about learning andknowledge put forward by modernneuro-psychologists and the concept ofmultiple intelligence influence thiscurriculum significantly.

APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE

The multifarious activities and ways ofaction of man sustain the social life andthe culture of a race. This repository ofknowledge includes crafts like weaving,wood craft, pottery etc.; jobs likefarming, business etc.; and various arts,sports, entertainments. These forms ofknowledge are at the application level.

But the present educational systemcreates an aversion to these activitiesamong learners.

The knowledge of crafts, arts and jobsare developed and propagatedtraditionally through experiences andinternalization. They have to beattained through practical experiencestoo. The Indian model in this regard isextensive, varied and rich. Thisknowledge forms a valuable part of oureconomy as productive skills. Theyshould be made part of the curriculumafter removing the caste and genderbased divisions in them. We shouldapproach vocational training not byjust teaching certain traditional craftsbut by realizing their possibilities in themodern world. Vocational training forprocessing and marketing the naturalfarming products of Kerala is also to beconsidered.

KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION

Certain traditional models ofknowledge are prominent in oursociety. Education should sensitise thelearner about such traditional modelslike women doing only certain jobs ormen behaving in certain ways. It shouldquestion the existing and establishedmodels and search for new models,alternatives etc. and create newawareness. The traditional paradigmsshould provide knowledge and attitudeto students through experience, as thefoundation for further development.


It is dangerous to consider knowledgeas an absolute product. Along withconstructing knowledge, questions likewho acquire it? What do they use it for?etc. have to be examined.

Hence the process of learning is asimportant as the content of learning.The curriculum should also enablestudents to:•think logically•understand the world•promote an aesthetic sense•maintain communicative efficiency with others•develop the ability to work and take part in the economic process.

Learner

The children have the ability toformulate their own inferences andtheories about nature, society,themselves and their relationships withothers. These are natural abilities. Thiscurriculum underlines the importanceof respecting the nature of learners indealing with them. All children havethe natural desire and ability to learn.•They have different pace of learning.•Their style of learning is different.•They have the readiness to exchangeopinions, engage in healthy debatesand collaborate in various activities.•They have the ability to realize theirskills and limitations and actaccordingly.•They can observe formal laws andcodes.

The general characteristics of childrenat the secondary level are:•readiness to accept challenges•adventure spirit•freedom of imagination•ability to make new discoveries•leadership quality•critical and logical powers of thought•ability to formulate one’s own opinionEducation should give dueconsideration to these traits of thelearners.

NATURE OF THE LEARNING PROCESS

• The child has the inborn ability tolearn and knowledge is the product ofthe activities that she is engaged in.• The education that the childrenreceive should provide opportunitiesfor them to experiment withknowledge, do activities by themselvesand to correct their own mistakes.• Education should give opportunitiesto children to overcome the limitationsimposed by their house or communityand understand themselves, others andthe society around.• It should equip the learners to dealwith the society around.• We should put forward a curriculumthat would provide meaningfullearning experiences for all learners.• There should be a change from a textcentered approach to a child centeredapproach in the teaching learningprocess.• The learning experiences provided to


learners should promote their naturalinterest in doing activities, theircreativity, dealing with the externalworld and other people.• The learners should get opportunitiesto express their opinions, take upactivities, solve problems in acollaborative fashion, share theirexperiences and link them with theknowledge that they receive from/through the new revised curriculum.• Due consideration should be given tothe social, physical and psychologicaldifferences of children.

ROLE OF THE TEACHER

Every class based on criticalmethodology and construction ofknowledge is a research centre. Hereteachers are not distributors ofknowledge. But they inspire childrenand function as co-research guides andfellow learners in the process ofproblem solving.

IT ENABLING

The advancements in the field ofscience and technology should beeffectively tapped for the effectiveclassroom transaction of knowledge. Asthe new curriculum advocates ITenabled learning, it is high time theteachers of English used suchsophisticated equipments/ softwares tomake the process of transaction moreeffective. The immense potentialities ofInformation Technology can greatlyinfluence the transactional processes. Anumber of softwares are available asteaching aids.

They can facilitate language learning.The teachers should use theirdiscretionary power in selecting andadapting such softwares in tune withthe needs and requirements of theclassroom.


Chapter IIOBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION

When we decide on the objectives ofeducation in Kerala, we shouldenvision a society that would be strongenough to preserve the independence,sovereignty, secularism anddemocracy of India. Our educationshould promote aesthetic sense andhuman values. It should create a feelingof security and a sense of responsibilityin all walks of life. Every individual hasto realize that his personal growth is apart of the growth of his family andsociety.The broad aims of our education are asfollows:Social justiceEducation should enable the learners toshape a social order based on equalityand justice. It should be based ondemocracy, secularism and genderequality. Our constitution envisionssecularism. It has to be preserved so asto resist atrocities or hatred in the nameof religion, caste etc. Education shouldbecome the means of liberation andsocial change. It should lead toenlightenment.Sustainable developmentA comprehensive awareness ofenvironmental protection has to bepromoted. An attitude to synchronizeall developmental activities with theenvironment has to be promoted with

the broad aim of sustainabledevelopment. Students should acquirethe ability to protect and use resourceswith discretion.Moulding up good citizensEducation should enable a student tofunction as a responsible citizen in thesociety. His civic sense should includesecular thoughts, historic consciousness, political outlook and a sense ofjustice in all walks of life.Promotion of nationalismThe nationalism that we aim at shouldinclude an international outlook also.It should uphold human progress andlove for the entire world. Thisnationalism should grow to recognizeand integrate the diversity of India.Develop awareness about rightsEducation should ensure theimplementation of the rightsguaranteed by our constitution and theUN statutes. It should ensure theprotection of human rights and therights of women and children.Education should promote theconsciousness of rights.Promote an awareness of science andtechnologyThe developments in science andtechnology have to be imbibed andutilized in day-to-day life througheducation. Students should attain the


ability to transform their knowledgeand skills according to thedevelopments in science andtechnology.Acquire a scientific attitude

Students should becomeequipped to approach problems on thebasis of cause-effect relationships andsuggest solutions for them. Educationshould promote logical thinking.Students should be able to distinguishbetween science and pseudo-science.They should work for the liberation ofthe society from superstitions, rituals,sectarianism and prejudices. Theyshould build a scientific outlook in lifeand resist unscientific practices.Promote indigenous cultureThe traditional and localised body ofknowledge and the local understanding(about farming, water, land utilization,arts, crafts etc.) have to be collected,preserved and utilized. The ability fordoing this should be acquired througheducation.Promote vocational skillsEducation should be able to assess themutualism of knowledge and physicallabour. Education should aim at thedevelopment of various vocationalskills like farming, especially eco-friendly farming practices.Acquire social and democratic valuesEducation should help to acquirehumanistic values like sympathy, love,compassion and fraternity through thecollaboration of individuals, family and

society. Education should promote ahealthy awareness about sex.Promote self relianceEducation should promote self-reliancein the socio-political, economic andcultural fields.Strengthen resistanceEducation should prompt the learnersto resist the evils of globalization andall forms of hegemony. Students shouldbe equipped to distinguish betweenneeds and excesses and to controlconsumerism. They should be able torecognize the threats to freedom anddangers of cultural imperialism.Construct and use knowledgeEducation should enable the learners toconstruct knowledge and use it in thesociety. Education should also aim atthe acquisition of language skills for theexchange of knowledge, ideas andneeds at local, national andinternational levels.Promote critical approachLearners should develop the ability toassess the achievements of humanitycomprehensively. They should be ableto resist all types of exploitation. Theyshould be able to critically evaluate theexperiences and opportunities of lifeand take decisions with discretion. Theyshould practise self criticism anddevelop the ability to resist prejudices,adamant attitudes and temptations.They should also be able to accept andintegrate different ideas withequanimity.


The knowledge of language has animportant role in empowering a person.English language should be givenspecial importance in the curriculum asa language of global importance. InKerala, learning of English as a secondlanguage starts from class I onwards.In the higher secondary classes, Englishis taught as the first language (Part I).

The current learning materials andteaching learning strategies,unfortunately don’t take into accountthe biologically endowed linguisticcomponents and thoughts of the child.Contemporary academicians andeducationists have understood theinherent limitations of languagelearning packages based onbehaviourism. Yet this fact is seldomconsidered in the discussions at thelower levels of linguistic competenceacquired by our students. Suchdiscussions often go waywardconsidering only the external factorsresponsible for the under performanceof language learners.

We should examine the real problemsfaced by the English curriculum and theclassrooms instead of simplyadvocating a switch over to English

medium. We have to accept qualityEnglish learning as our basic principle.

The curriculum revision of 1997 wasbased on the principles of modernpsychology, linguistics and experientialpedagogy. However in the learning ofEnglish, certain principles ofbehaviourism like imitation andrepetition were still followed. As aresult, textbooks and teachingmethodology which presented isolatedletters, words and sentences, structuredin a linear fashion persisted. Our newapproach recognizes the innateness oflanguage.

The basic principles of learning a languageare the following:

1. A child has an innate languagesystem. Language learning is a naturalgrowth of this innate language system.

2. Language learning is a non-consciousprocess. This is radically different fromthe conscious learning of linguisticfacts.

3. Language learning doesn’t take placethrough imitation or mechanicalrepetition. Instead, there should be aninsightful formulation of hypothesis.

Chapter IIIKCF- 2007 (ON LANGUAGE)


4. Language is not a totality of linguisticskills. There should be an internallinguistic competence for theexpression of these skills.

5. Language learning is not a lineardevelopment. It is a cyclical process.

6. Language learning takes place fromwhole to parts and not from parts towhole.

7. Static texts, which are filled up withlinguistic facts and which do notcommunicate with children, do nothave a role in language learning.

8. The child should get meaningful andneed-based language experienceswhich influence their emotional orbit.

9. The quality of language experiencereceived is more important than itsquantity.

10. Language doesn’t exist as isolatedsentences or words. It exists asmeaningful discourses. Hence it shouldbe ensured that the linguisticexperiences and expression of childrenshould be at the discourse level.

11. The discourse models to be focusedupon in each class should beascertained. The variety as well as thelinguistic and stylistic spiriting ofdiscourses at the higher levels shouldbe ensured.

12. It is not desirable to correct learnererrors as and when they are made.Suitable editing processes have to beadopted to correct the stylistic,syntactic, morphological and thematicerrors made by the learners.

13. Opportunities should be providedfor expressing and sharing the freethough to of the learners.

Primary Level

1. An integrated approach should beadopted.

2. Learners should construct simplediscourses like dialogue, poems,rhymes, description and narrations.

3. Writing should start only in class IIIand IV.

4. English Language learning can bestarted from Class I onwards. Howeverthere should not be any consciousefforts to teach English letters, wordsor sentences.

5. The method of code switching can beused to provide the experiences ofvarious discourses to our learners

6. Exams at the lower primary levelshould be avoided.

7. At the upper primary level, oral andwritten forms of narratives poems,descriptions, conversations, riddles,short stories, notices, letters, reports,posters and diary may be attempted.


Secondary level

1. Along with the discourses attemptedat the upper primary level, playsautobiographies, travelogues,biographies, choreography etc. may beincluded at the secondary level. Thediscourses at this level should havelinguistic and stylistic spiralling anddevelopment from its lowers levels.

2. The discourse construction at thislevel should include learnerinterventions in social issues.

Higher secondary level

1. Besides the discourses included at thehigh school level novel, essay,screenplay, debate, scripts, symposiumand seminar should be included at thislevel.

2. The learners should criticallyexamine the effectiveness of the mediarepresentations (both in visual andprint media)

3. The possibility of semeiotics inmanufacturing consent has to beexplored and they should be effectivelyutilized.

4. Today communicative English andEnglish literature are taught asoptional subjects in certain highersecondary schools. Sincecommunication is an importantcomponent of any language learning,

communicative English need not standalone as an optional subject.

Recently there has been muchdiscussion on the deplorable state of theEnglish Language Teaching (ELT) andLearning scenario prevailing in ourcountry. A variety of learning materialsand teaching techniques have beensuggested and tried out in order toresolve the problems faced in thisdomain of the curriculum. A numberof research programmes and teacher-training programmes have been goingon at state, regional and national levelinstitutions with a view to improvingthe ELT situation. A large number ofinstitutions have come out with shortterm as well as long-term Englishcourses. Book publishers have beenvying with one another in theproduction of English guides for alllevels of learners. More over, a numberof English tuition centres havemushroomed across the country.Above all, commercial ELT packagessuch as ‘Communicative English,Functional English’ are developed andpromoted by the State as well as privateagencies. These labels are acceptedunquestioningly and nobody asks thequestion: ‘Is there any English that doesnot communicate?’ Similarly, nobodyworries whether there are two varietiesof mother tongue namely, the‘functional’ and the ‘nonfunctional.’


A host of problems have been identifiedin the context of second languageteaching. These include psychological,emotional, methodological andlinguistic problems along withproblems posed by the material andenvironment.

The lack of a speech community aroundhas often been pointed out as thebiggest hindrance for the child in theacquisition process. The lack ofexposure to English certainly is ahindrance. Nevertheless, it is to beborne in mind that it is not the quantityof exposure which matters but the kindof exposure that the child gets whichfacilitates language acquisition.

The existing English LanguageTeaching package has a probleminherent in it. It grossly ignores theinnate system of the child whichenables him to acquire a language.Materials and methods are based on thebehaviourist assumption namely thatthe mind of a child is an empty vesseland everything concerning languagecomes from outside. The ELT packagereflects the contention that language islearned through imitation andreinforcement through repetition.

Another conspicuous flaw in thepresent model of language teaching is

that it ignores discourse leveltransactions narrowing itself to thetransmission of isolated languageitems. It is to be borne in mind thosewords, or even sentences in isolation,do not have any independent existenceas these components function only indiscourses. Language acquisition isaccomplished through acquiring“structure- consciousness”. This can bebrought about only throughmeaningful and need-based linguisticdiscourses ensuring the recurrence oflanguage items at the phonological,morphological and syntactic level, thusproviding a continuum of languageexperience.

General Objectives of TeachingEnglishHere is an excerpt from NCF 2000, and2005:Language education must aim atencouraging independent thinking, freeand effective expression of opinionsand logical interpretation of the presentand the past events. It must motivatelearners to say things their way, nurturetheir natural creativity andimagination and thus make themrealize their identity. There are reasonswhy learning of language ought to finda central place in the total educationalprocess.


In this context the following pointsmerit serious consideration:

• Despite general acceptance of thecentral importance of languageeducation in principle, practical effortfor improving it has yet to be made atall levels in the country.

• The oral aspect of the language has tobe duly emphasized in languageeducation and oral examination inlanguage must be made an integral partof the evaluation process. Emphasiswill have to shift from the teaching oftextbooks to extensive general readingand creative writing. This would needcontinuous guidance and monitoring.

• Due stress is to be laid in all languageeducation programme on the ability touse the language in speech and inwriting for academic purpose at workplace and in community in general.

The term ‘Language’ referred to in theabove excerpt is to be interpreted asmother tongue. Nevertheless what hasbeen said above holds good equally forthe second language. The Nation hasaccepted the “three language formula”in order to meet the challenge posed bythe multilingual situation prevailing inthe country. We would like to add thefollowing points to what has beenquoted above:

Language is a powerful tool for theempowerment of the individual. Thistool becomes still more powerful andeffective in the hands of a person whohas mastery of an internationallanguage like English other than hismother tongue.

At the primary level, we expect ourchildren to produce various discourses(such as conversation, description,letter, diary, report, narrative, poemand so on), both orally and in thewritten form. They should also be ableto take part in discussions, debates andseminars on topics that are sociallyimportant and are within theirexperiential orbit. For this they must bewell-versed with the craft ofdeveloping these discourses.

At the secondary and higher secondarylevel the learners should be able to usediscourses as tools for creativelyintervening in various socialphenomena. This alone will help themrealize their identity as a secondlanguage user.

The Changed Perspective

This perspective is decided by thefollowing:

1. National Curriculum Frame work2005


2. The baseline study conducted by theFocus Group on English for the revisionof State curriculum find that:

i. The study on materials reveals thatmajority of the materials used in thefield belong to the behaviouristparadigm. The insights derived fromcurrent understandings on languageand language acquisitions are notreflected in them. They do not treatlanguage as discourses but focus onfragments of language. Though avariety of discourses are introduced,the treatment is seen invariably at thesentence level or word level.

ii. The study on prevailing classroomprocesses reveals that most teachersstill take recourse to mother tonguetranslation. The classrooms continue tobe teacher-dominated. The focus ismostly on giving fixed information asinput and taking out this as output. Theconcept of language teaching andlearning has more or less narroweddown to asking comprehensionquestions and eliciting fixed responses.Discourse input and discourse outputare by and large neglected.

iii. Learners at all levels seem to enjoylearning English. The constructivistturn in evaluation tools in classes 8, 9and 10 has made the learning of Englishmore enjoyable though the materialsused in these classes continue to be ofthe behaviourist paradigm.

iv. The majority of parents in Kerala(72%) are in favour of introducingEnglish in class I itself. Parentswelcome learner-friendly materialsand evaluation in English. There is ademand for supplementary readingmaterials too.

Assumptions about Methodology

Discourse oriented pedagogy isproposed at all levels of learningEnglish.

A discourse is a mode ofcommunicating certain ideasmeaningfully in a particular situation.

Since curricular objectives are definedin terms of discourses and not in termsof structures and their relevantcommunication functions, the level ofeach discourse is to be identified clearly.Take for instance, a discourse likeconversation. We expect learners at alllevels (lower primary, upper primaryand high school classes) to produceconversations. How will wedifferentiate the conversationsconstructed by a learner at the UpperPrimary level from that constructed bya High school student? We can do thisby identifying various linguistic levelsof the discourse.

A mere initiation and response will beenough for the beginner but as she goesup to higher levels, we expectconversations refined structurally and


stylistically. The conversationconstructed at the primary level maynot have discourse markers or tags init. But a conversation constructed by ahigh school student will necessarilycontain these linguistic elements. Sucha differentiation will be necessary forthe other discourses also. Apart fromdeciding the level of each discourse wewill have to decide on the variety ofdiscourses that are to be targeted ateach level. As we go to higher classes,we can select higher order of discoursessuch as debates, journalistic writing,essays, skits, screenplays, e-mailingand so on.

THE CHANGED ROLE OF COURSE BOOK

AND SOURCEBOOK

The Coursebook and Sourcebook havebeen prepared based on the followingguidelines:

Knowledge is a construct emergingfrom the learner’s mental process basedon the needs of the social, physical and

cultural environment in which he lives.This is a product of activity and counteractivity. It reflects the features of thelocality and gives scope for linkingthrough and action. Such constructedknowledge can transform the society.Learning, for us, means the process oftransformation.

Knowledge is a construct, whichinvolves information and at the sametime knowledge stands aboveinformation. In this context thetextbook should be a powerful toolwhich leads the learning activitiesforward. It has a prominent role amongthe different materials which help thelearner to construct knowledge. Itshould be arranged in such a way in theclassroom that it becomes a chiefresource for the construction ofknowledge within the classroom. Thetextbook should contain all the basicinformation needed for knowledgeconstruction as well as hints for variousactivities in the classroom.


Education that aims merely at thedevelopment of skills needed forproductive activities is possible only ina simple society. The society today hasbecome complex and sophisticatedthrough millenniums of socialevolution. Here, learning oftenpromotes the existing social hierarchyand structures. It assumes that the aimof education should be the welfare anddevelopment of all. At the same time,it neglects and ignores the needs andissues of the downtrodden in thesociety. The learning system often doesnot promote realizations of these issuesand prepares the learner mentally toaccept things as they are. We canunderstand this if we look at howlearners change after they come toschools with an inquisitive mind-set.When we boast of our literates and welleducated people, we do not realise therole of our learning system in enslavingus as members of a consumerist society.Our present approach to learningdoesn’t question the inequalities andinjustices prevalent in our society eventhough it professes and pretends touplift and develop all. Needn’t thisapproach be changed?

Learning and Social Reformation

Social reformation can also be achievedthrough education. The slogan of theRenaissance period, ‘Get enlightenedthrough knowledge’ points out the roleof education in social liberation. Basedon this aim, the educational system ofKerala could develop beyond thedivisions of the society based on classand caste.

We have the responsibility to developeducation to suit the times. Everyoneshould get opportunities to grow anddevelop. Hadn’t there been socialinequalities, we could have providedsuch opportunities to all. The socialinequalities still exist. The society livesin a social, economic and culturalenvironment developed throughmillenniums. Our greatest challenge isto implement a learning system thatcould ensure opportunities for all.

This should not be a dream that nevercomes true. The privileged classes caneasily achieve their ends whereas theunder privileged will continue toremain in their original state. As aresult the aim of social developmentwill remain as a mirage. Therefore

Chapter IVISSUE BASED LEARNING


certain planned prioritizations andchanges are necessary to ensure socialdevelopment of all classes.

What should the new system oflearning provide?

A learning system that aims at socialreformation should provideopportunities:

• to work for social justice• for balanced and judicious development• to generate better citizens• to promote a nationalistic spirit• to promote consciousness of rights• to promote an understanding of science and technology• to promote logical thinking• to realise and develop one’s own culture• to develop vocational skills• to assimilate social and democratic values• to promote self-reliance• to resist injustice• to take up leadership in the construction and exchange of knowledge • to promote critical thinking

The learning materials and principlesof education that could be used forsocial reformation have to be selectedcarefully. There are two schools ofthought in this regard. Some argue thatwe should develop the knowledge and

skills needed for social change throughthe present system of education. Thelearners would then naturally work forsocial change. The second school ofthought argues that we shouldsensetise the learners about thenumerous issues faced by our society asthe learning material itself. Then thelearners could intervene directly insocial changes along with theireducation.

The first school of thought has somereservations. It dissociates between theaims and processes of learning.Therefore a learner might fail to link themeans and ends of his/her educationtogether. For example a person who haslearned the principles of swimmingfrom books can’t swim. The book onswimming becomes useless not becauseit doesn’t deal with swimming, butbecause it doesn’t contain the real spiritof that human activity calledswimming. Hence the approach of thefirst school which dissociates meansfrom ends is not effective. We cannotachieve any serious aim by followingthis method.

The process of education that aims atsocial change should be through socialinterventions themselves. We do nothave any precedents or priorexperiences of this approach. We aretreading a new path that could


qualitatively improve the educationalscenario of Kerala.

We have included social issues as thecontent of the new curriculum. It is achallenging task to bring in varioussocial issues into the framework offormal education. In order to take upthis challenge in its true sense, we willhave to design a locally maneuverablecurriculum. Also we have to considerthe affinity of our contemporarysociety for informative learning whilewe try to implement an issue basedapproach.

Our social life consists of physical,social and cultural spheres. Each ofthese spheres has numerous problems.When we examine these problems, wecan identify certain common sourcesthat generate a set of problems. Thegenetic issues that could commonly beidentified throughout Kerala could besubjected to detailed analysis and studythrough the curriculum. These geneticissues dealt with should have a bearingon all the spheres of social life. Forexample, we experience floods and landbursts throughout Kerala during therainy season. But our experience of thesummer season is often water scarcityand drought. When we analyse thiscommon experience of Keralites we cansee that it is due to lack of scientificmanagement of land water . We can listdown such issue domains that affect allspheres of our lives.

Issue domains that are felt throughoutthe state• Lack of scientific land water management• Issues related to agriculture• Lack of cohesive universal vision• Lack of human resource development• Lack of cultural consciousness• Lack of eco-friendly industrialization and urbanization• The issues of the marginalized• Issues related to health and public healthWe can trace the roots of many socialproblems that we encounter in theseissue domains. Each of these generalissues has many locally specificvariants. We cannot address all of themthrough our curriculum. However wecan help the learners develop a methodfor approaching each of these issues.These issues are developed andsensitised using various discourseswhich provide a linguistically richenvironment in the classrooms. Thelearners are to develop a linguisticcompetence to intervene in the socialissues. They have to deal with theproblems and formulate their ideas,opinions and attitudes about them. Theissue based curriculum should ignitethoughts and activities among learners.Moreover they should be able tointervene in the thoughts, activitiesand perspectives of the people aroundhim. Learning of this kind becomes alinking of experiences with a socialaim. Thus education can become morefruitful than ever before.


The New Coursebook

•It is a learning material, whichpresents the learning issues beforethe learner. These issues areconceived in the light of the socialrealities of the learner and aresupported by various facts andfigures.

•It is divided into various units andmodules.

•One module leads to the other.•The text contains the informationneeded to analyse the learning issue.

•The presentation should createinterest in investigation and shouldlead to investigation.

•The contents are arranged withinterlinks and they have acontinuum.

•The text contains information anddirections to enable the learner takeup activities without feeling anykind of inhibitions particularly his/her socio-economic limitations.

•The text ensures the construction ofknowledge and gives scope forinvestigation.

• It helps the learners to developdesirable attitudes/ values.

Chapter V

ON APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

• It gives scope and opportunities forevaluation.

The need of Teacher’s Sourcebook

A variety of classroom processes arerequired to make the students comingfrom different backgrounds toparticipate in the process ofconstructing knowledge. TheSourcebook provides these variedclassroom processes. It helps theteachers to raise and lead the learningissues in the right manner. TheSourcebook also contains relevantsubsidiary information, essentialfactual charts and proofs. The teachershould acquire certain local/practicalideas or concepts to make the learningactivities meaningful. The Sourcebookcontains directions about the sources ofsuch knowledge as well as the requiredinformation/ practical knowledgeneeded. Only then the Teacher LocalText would become complete as aplanning guide.

The teacher’s Sourcebook enables thefullest realization of the possibilities ofthe text in the classroom process.

•It helps in the preparation ofsupplementary learning materialsbased on the limitations/possibilities of each classroom.


•It contains hints about secondarymaterials/ additional materials,sources of information forinterpreting/ linking the issuesgiven in the text.

•It contains the various alternativeclassroom possibilities to beexplored, which can lead the childto take-up the learning issue.

•It is designed and written alongwith the Coursebook. But it has tobe enriched through training.

•It contains directions forevaluation.

The learner’s Coursebooks are acompendium of the knowledgeconstructed as a result of his/ herobservation about life. The realCoursebook is one, which is built by thelearner. Evaluation plays an importantrole in this Coursebook. The process ofacquiring knowledge becomescomplete only when knowledge isexpressed in social situations. Thefollowing diagrams present thelearning processes graphically.

The desirable features of thecomponents of this processes are givenbelow:

Teacher Local Text

Teacher Local Text (TLT) is theplanning document of a teacher who ispreparing to conduct learning

activities in the class. This documenthelps the teacher to present thelearning issues and to lead the learningactivities in the classroom. It would bean expanded version of the teachingmanuals used now a days.

TLT contains-

• The locally available and secondarydata for conducting variousclassroom activities, CDs,newspapers, cuttings, otherdocuments, instruments, charts etc.

• The indicators for evaluation ateach stage of the classroom process.

•The teacher’s own responses/evaluation.

Local Text•It helps the learner to makeobservations about the life aroundhim and intervene meaningfully in


his environment. This local textenables the learner to link a learningissue with the social context.

•The learner collects information,experiences, descriptions from hisenvironment and locality and usesthem as primary information inconstructing knowledge in theclassroom.

•It links learning with theenvironment.

•It encourages observations/investigations and uses the findingsin learning.

•It is a book of collections, whichgives freedom, facility and createsinterest in learners (e.g. ‘My tree’Diary).

•The activities are designed givingprominence to the guesses andpredictions of the learners andgiving scope for them to prove theirpredictions/ formulate hypothesisand compelling them to put forwardpractical suggestions/ solutions.

•The methodology here shouldenable the learners to approachlearning issues from diverseperspectives, assimilate andexamine the inherent explanationoffered by the issue, and formulateindependent attitudes/ stand pointsof their own and explain them onthe basis of proofs and logic.

Presentation of the Textbook and theactivities

• The presentation of learningmaterials of each unit is veryimportant. The presentation shouldgenerate interest and a feeling thatit is essential. The level of the issueshould not be neglected. At the sametime it shouldn’t becomemechanical.

• Diverse methods of presentationlike quotable quotes, blurbs, fable,interaction questions, cartoon, etc.are used at this level.

• Maximum variety is maintained inthe presentation of all units.

Modules• One unit is divided into variousmodules. One module contains thevarious activities undertaken by alearner to solve a learning issue.• The classroom activity packageincludes

- investigations- predictions- data collection- sharing of findings- interpretation/ analysis- findings/ conclusion

•Each module includes necessaryinformation, supplementarymaterials, activity, and extension ofactivities and possibilities ofassessment.


•One module is linked to anothermodule logically. The final productemerges from its naturaldevelopment.•The products emerging from theclass need not always be a writtenmaterial. It can be oral products andother creative expressions. After this,the leading questions/ crucialquestions that take the learner to thenext module may be listed.•While arranging units and modulesin this manner, the spiralling of theissues, concepts are also considered.•The most suitable activities alone areincluded.• The module also enables thelearners to formulate principles basedon practical situations and to applythese principles in real social contexts.

Planning for Modular Transaction

The facilitator has to be pedagogicallyconscious to maintain the modularmode of transaction in the languageclass. She has to be pedagogicallysensitive to the implications of each ofthe sub-modules (transactionmodules) and the problems that mayarise while transacting each of them.She will be working out the classroomstrategies addressing herself to a set ofquestions:

1. What is the knowledge construct tobe facilitated?

2. What is the activity to be carried outand what are the processes to be takencare of?

3. What are the values and attitudesthat the learners are likely tointernalize?

4. What is to be assessed, who is toassess and how is it to be carried out?

The constructivist facilitator should bevery clear about the various processesthat should take place. At the sametime she should be sensitive to themodular mode of transaction which isconducive for a constructivistclassroom.• Interaction with children based onthe previous day’s experiences.• Questions eliciting free responsesfrom children.• Individual reading.• Reading in collaboration with thepeer group.• The facilitator helps the groups toovercome their hurdles in reading.• Assigning the discourse task tochildren.• Children construct discoursesindividually.• Presentation by a few individuals.• Sharing in groups.• Children write down the refinedversion in their notebooks.• Presentation by the groups.• Presentation by the facilitator.


•Editing one of the group products innegotiation with children.

- Theme- Punctuations- Syntax- Morphology and spelling

• Assigning the remaining groupproducts to groups for editing.• Introducing the self assessment toolsto children.

Critical consciousness

Certain hints or questions which helpthe learners to critically analyze thematerials on their own are included.These hints are in the form ofarguments, criticisms, cartoons andstatements that may come up againstan opinion of the learner.

The Role of the Teacher

In spite of the centrally preparedcurriculum, the teacher enjoys fullacademic freedom to design, conduct,evaluate and provide appropriatemeasures to achieve the COs.

The emerging paradigm demands twolevels of competence from the part ofteachers: on the one hand they musthave the skills for sensitizing learnerson the craft of constructing variousdiscourses. On the other, they musthave the pedagogy of helping learnersuse discourses as tools for creatively

intervening in social issues.

The following roles are to be performedby a teacher:

- A diagnostician- A researcher- A democratic leader- A co-learner- A facilitator- A social engineer

The English Classroom

We envisage the English class roomwhere the learners can interact withone another, with the materials, withthe facilitator and with the societyoutside the classroom, whenevernecessary. The profile of the classroommust be collaborative rather thancompetitive. Knowledge is conceivednot as the monopoly of an individualor an agency but as the collective assetof a society. Hence the classroom shouldencourage sharing of knowledgeamong the learners. A teacher is to riseto the level of a researcher whocontinuously works for tacklingacademic issues. Collaborative learningamong learners can bring aboutpositive changes in education. Theteacher should exploit all possibilitiesof generating language by shifting therole of the learner from a recipient tothat of a producer.


Chapter VION ASSESSMENT

Language learning is a continuousprocess and the assessment should bedone periodically. Learning takes placethrough group discussions, pairdiscussions and individual attempts.Therefore, assessment also should bemade individually, mutual and ingroups. This will help the learners tocompare their strengths andweaknesses and make modifications intheir learning.

We propose Continuous andComprehensive Evaluation (CCE) at alllevels of language learning. This shiftof focus from testing memory to reallanguage acquisition shall be the majorconcern of all tests at the secondarylevel. The ability of the student toconstruct discourses at various levelswill have to be assessed.

Student assessment

The shift from a skill-based approachto a knowledge-based approach callsfor a different perspective onevaluation. If we equate languagelearning with a ‘bricklaying’ process,we can easily test whether the learnerhas learnt the targeted linguisticcomponents such as vocabulary,structures, idioms and so on after

teaching each component. Naturally,after administering a learning activityin the whole class, one can assess whatthe learners have learnt. Multilevelteaching programmes can be designedto locate the needs of a heterogeneousgroup with regard to various concepts,skills and processes. In this case it isalways observable for an externalevaluator to understand where thelearner stands at any given point oftime.

Since language acquisition is anorganic process, just like the growingof a child, it will be impossible to assesswhat the child has acquired at a givenpoint of time. By virtue of the fact thatwe are facilitating a non-consciousprocess, it is not easily observable whatthe learner has acquired afterexperiencing a particular module ofclassroom transaction. What thelearner performs does not directlyreveal his inner competence. The errorswhich occur on the part of the learnersin a learning situation, whether they beat the phonological, morphological orsyntactic level, cannot be addressed bydesigning remedial learning activitieswhich target particular linguistic facts.


Moreover, we cannot design andexecute multilevel learning activitiescatering to the needs of the differentlevels of the learners because this kindof selective linguistic input will lead topractice but not to construction. It maybe noted that this kind of intentionalinput is not available for the learnersin a natural language learningsituation. All what we can do is to givethe learners further discourse inputs,which will retain the holistic nature oflanguage and involve thempsychologically. At the same time wehave to ensure that the learners getample opportunities to reflect on whatthey have performed in comparisonwith what others have done.

The thrust here is on a process of self-evaluation. In a sense an experimentalprogramme meant for facilitatinglanguage acquisition depends cruciallyon the autonomy of the learner, whereautonomy is interpreted as being self-regulatory. Every instance of thelearning process implicitly triggers theself-regulatory process. Hence alearning process inherently becomes aself evaluation process too.

At the same time it is to be born in mindthat the self evaluation process is asubconscious or non-conscious processwithin the individual which cannot beobserved and assessed by a facilitator

or a teacher with the help of a set oftools. As already mentioned, languageacquisition is a biological process, aprocess more or less similar to thegrowth of a child. Everyone knows thatthe child is growing. Nevertheless, wedo not have clear indicators which willreveal to us the quantum of growththat has taken place between any twoconsecutive days. Similarly in alanguage class there are no indicatorswhich will tell us about the amount ofknowledge the learner has acquiredafter a few minutes of teaching.

Since we are focusing on the productionof discourses such as news report, letter,write up, poems etc. we must have aclear idea as to how the variouslanguage products and linguistic skillsof the learners are to be assessed.

Self-Assessment

Self-assessment checklists are includedin all units of the Coursebook. Afterundertaking various linguistic tasks,the learners are given an opportunityto introspect on their achievement.Discourse specific indicators have beengiven each of which demands thelearner to assess his/her ownperformance. He/she can clearlycompare any two stages of his/her owngrowth with regard to languageperformance. A lot of learner autonomycan be promoted through self-


assessment. The filled in assessmentchecklists of the learner can also bemade use of by the teacher in his/heroverall assessment of the achievementof the learner.

ASSESSING LEARNER'S SPEAKING AND

LISTENING

In every module we transact in theclass, we have to plan for assessinglearner’s speaking and listening too. Itdoesn't mean that every speaking andlistening activity of every learner hasto be assessed then and there. We haveto ensure that speaking and listeningare integral parts of every module. It isonly necessary to asses how pupils talkat particular moments when you decideyou need to.

Creating an assessment moment meanstelling the class how they are going tobe assessed for that lesson, groupdiscussion, presentation, individualtalk or drama performance. You canrecord the names of a few betterperformers only in the areas mentionedabove. So in a class you will berecording 4-5 pupils' performance andin the coming classes you will be lookingfor the performance of the rest of yourlearners. Anyway within 10 periods (ina fortnight) you can record thelistening-speaking performance of allyour learners. The recording needs tobe as objective as possible.

Listen to Learner’s talk

Constructive talk is one of the mostessential ingredients of a good lesson;that talk is vital to engage any studentin their language acquisition, that talkcan transform relationships in theclassroom we talk a lot in closecircuits. When teacher sets anenvironment concducive for pupil-pupil interaction, teacher pupilinteraction, it enhances acquisition.

Talk can become a very successful partof the teacher’s armoury, even inchallenging circumstances. Teacher’ssmile, her gentle greetings, informalqueries, joyful remarks etc bringlearners closer to the language teacher.Infact, the pupil’s language is an easilyavailable resource that the teacher canuse in an English classroom. It isthrough thinking, talking andinteracting with others that ourcapacity to learn increases. Learnersfeel more secure when they have beenable to express themselves andactively interact and construct theirown meaning. This promotes new anddifferent relationships, a more equaldialogue between the teacher and thepupils. It encourages pupils to seecollaboration as the key to learningand to value ideas that come from eachother as well as from the teacher. Talkallows pupil to express their thoughts,


ideas, doubts and clarifyunderstanding. It legitimates thediscussion of feelings, emotions andpreferences. It makes learning moreeffective, more personal. Talk can helpthe teacher and the taught relax andbring the fun and pleasure every timeinto our English class room.

Pupils show more enthusiasm forlearning the language when teachersencourage them to talk. When ateacher allows the pupils to talk startsfrom what they already know about asubject, they feel more involved, morecomfortable and less anxious andalienated.

A variety of talk based activities canbe explored from all the units. Theseactivities should allow pupils to deepunderstanding and develop thinking.Talk allows pupils from differentemotional backgrounds greaterfreedom to express themselves andbring their knowledge and experienceinto the classroom.

There are many elements to bebalanced for a successful oral lesson.The teacher has to create the rightclimate for learning in this way.Debate discussion mock interview etc.can be conducted as a part of the

classroom transaction allowing thelearners to express their thoughtsfreely.

Establishing a climate for speakingand learning in challenging contextsmight include the following.

• Interacting with pupils freely in andoutside the classroom.

• Talking about direct experience andencouraging pupils to do the same.

• Encouraging students to work inpairs and small groups and trainingthem to share and value each other’sideas and opinions.

• Setting up informal debates anddiscussions to encourage students toexpress their opinions and giving thema chance to speak to differentaudience.

• Allowing students to becomeinvolved in peer monitoring orwatching interactive visuals to triggerthe inner language.

• Talking one to one with the pupilsabout the lessons, stories, charactersand about other issues that thelearners show much interest to talkabout.

• Recording, assessing and rewardinglearner’s oral constructs.


The discourses constructed by thelearners may have certain errors inthem. These errors are to be eliminatedthrough editing. Editing has to be doneas a systematic process in theclassroom. There should be no forcefulintervention from the part of theteacher. The process of editing has tobe designed in such a way that the feltneed of the learners for correction isaddressed. It has to be done at variouslevels and through various steps in asequential fashion as detailed below.There are various levels of editing suchas thematic, syntactic, morphologicaland the editing of spelling andpunctuation. The following process issuggested for editing:

1. Thematic editing:

This helps the learners to introspect onwhat they had worked out bycomparing their products with that oftheir peers/ teacher. The teacher mayprompt their introspection and elicitthe missing points. The learnersincorporate these ideas also in theirwrite-ups.

2. Syntactic editing: The teacher editsonly one of the group products. To beginwith the errors related to sentence

structure are considered. There arethree possible kinds of syntactic errors.These are:

•Excess words (e.g. This is a Nisha.)

•Missing words (e.g. The book is thetable)

•Wrong word order (e.g. The boyapples ate.)

•She identifies the sentence with awrong word order and poses thefollowing question: There is aproblem with the word order of thissentence. What changes would youlike to make?

•In the case of a missing word, theteacher underlines the part of thesentence where the word is missingand asks, ‘There is a word missinghere. Can you supply the missingword?’

•If it is a case of using excess word,the question will be: ‘There is anexcess word used here. Can youidentify it?’

After asking these questions the teachermay wait for some time. Most probablysome learners may come out with theirsuggestions. If there is no response

Chapter VII

ON EDITING: CORRECTION OF LEARNER ERRORS


from the learners it is better to keep theissue aside for the time being.Suggesting corrections and givingexplanations on grammaticality willnot be advisable because these willcontribute to learning language factsconsciously and will not facilitatelanguage acquisition, which is a non-conscious process.

While dealing with syntactic editingother categories of errors are not to beentertained.

3. Morphological editing: Afteraddressing the syntactic errors theteacher focuses on errors related tomorphology. There is a wide range oferrors under this category.

i. Wrong Tense form: There are twotenses in English: the present and thepast. The learner may confuse betweenthe two and use present tense in theplace of past tense and vice versa. Forexample, consider the sentence, “Theboy sleeps yesterday. The teacher hasto underline the verb which is not inthe proper form and ask, ‘This word isnot in the proper form in this sentence.Do you want to change it?’ If there isno response from the learners, theteacher can suggest the correct version,‘Do you want to say, the boy sleptyesterday or the boy sleeps yesterday?’

ii. Aspectual Errors: There are twoaspects in English:

The Perfective (e.g. The boy has eaten awhole chicken.)

The Progressive (e.g. The boy is eating.)

If there are aspectual errors, (e.g. theboy has eat, the boy is ate, etc.), theteacher may underline the wronglyrepresented words and invitesuggestions for refining the sentence. Inthis case also, the teacher can suggestthe correct expressions.

iii. The Passive: The learners maymake errors with regard to passiveconstructions (e.g. The chicken eaten bythe boy). The teacher has to invitesuggestions for refining the expression.If the children fail to come out withtheir suggestions the correct expressionis to be supplied.

iv. Agreement: There are three kinds ofagreement: Agreement in terms ofPerson, Number and Gender.

I has a pen (Person agreement violated)

The boys is playing (Number agreementis violated)

John loves herself (Gender agreementviolation)

In these cases also the teacher has tosensitize the learners on the correctexpression.


v. Affixes: There are prefixes andsuffixes. Together these are calledaffixes.

Wrong prefix: e.g.. Jisha was worriedabout her unability to swim. (inability)

Wrong suffix/ no suffix: e.g.. We wantto learn English quick. (quickly)

The teacher was shocked at his lazyity(laziness).

The TV is a good form of entertainness.(entertainment)

In all these cases the teacher has tosupply the correct versions. Care mustbe taken to avoid explicit teaching of

grammatical points. Also, grammaticalterminology (e.g.. noun, verb, pasttense, etc.) is to be avoided.

4. Spelling and Punctuation:Punctuation errors may be addressednegotiating with the learners. In thecase of spelling errors, it is better to tellthe learners to check the spelling athome itself. They may seek the help ofothers, or even consult a dictionary.

After editing one of the group products,the teacher can assign the remaininggroup products for editing by thelearners themselves. They can do thisin small groups.

Steps:

1. Thematic Editing:

The learners add missing ideas in theirwrite-ups and present their finalproducts for language editing.

2. Punctuation Editing:

Fixing the boundaries of a sentence:

Only the initial capitalization and thefinal full stop/ question mark/exclamation mark at the end of thesentence need be addressed here. Thuswe fix the boundaries of each sentencein the discourse. Other punctuationmarks may be edited along with or justbefore spelling editing.

3. Syntactic Editing:

· Identify and eliminate excesswords

· Identify and supply missingwords

· Change the wrong word order

4. Morphological Editing:

Edit

· Wrong tense form

· Aspectual errors

· The passive

· Agreement

· Affixes

5. Editing of Spelling andRemaining Punctuation Marks

CLASSROOM PROCESS OF EDITING


Introduction

A major concern for the Englishteacher has been how to help studentsmake all and only correct sentences.Perhaps our teachers have developeda notion that the minimal unit that canserve communication function is thesentence because every sentencecarries some information. Let’s seewhether this argument can stand.

Read the following expressions oflanguage.

1. There is an interesting story in thismagazine. I am good at cooking. Doyou know anything about ELT? Takethat boy to the hospital. This isNageswara Rao. Who will help mewith some money?2. I hope you understand my problem.What? Oh, no! It’s not just moneythat matters. I mean it. Listen! Yes, Imust. I must meet you. Yes, it’surgent. I told you, I am content withwhat I have. What about thisafternoon? Fine!• Which one makes a part of a unifiedwhole?• What sort of texts are these?• How do we distinguish between thetwo?

Chapter VIIITEACHING GRAMMAR

The first piece contains six sentencesand all of them are correct. Yet aswhole it makes no sense. It doesn’tgive us any feeling of unity. Thesentences in it are probably related todifferent contexts. On the other hand,the second piece contains severalincomplete sentences. But it certainlymakes sense. It has an organic unity.It is easily identified as a talk over thetelephone. The reader can guess alarge amount of information about itthough not explicitly expressed in thetext.

Coherence

So what is the distinctive quality ofthe second piece?

Surely, it is the quality of beingmeaningful and unified, which isknown as coherence.

Without coherence communicationdoes not take place. Most importantly,this cannot be achieved byconcentrating on the internalgrammar of sentences.

It is fairly easy to recognize thatlinguistic units such as sounds, words,and sentences are not entities inisolation. They become meaningfulonly when they appear as part of


discourses. There is languageeverywhere around us; it is there in theprint media (in newspapers,magazines, etc.), in visual media (TV,movies, etc.) and in day-to-day life.Language exists in all these in the formof discourses only.

If language exists only in the form ofdiscourses we have to face a couple ofproblems in the language class.

1. Why do teachers and studentsconcentrate exclusively upon theproduction of correct sentences if thesealone will not suffice to communicate?

2. If it is not the rule of the sentencethat enables us to communicate, whatis it?

Some general features of discoursesWhen we think about discourses twodifferent kinds of language serve aspotential objects of inquiry:

i. An abstracted one in order to teacha language or literacy, or to study howthe rules of language work.

ii. Another kind of language that isused to communicate something andhas coherence.

It is possible to take a sentence from adiscourse and subject it togrammatical analysis. It is alsopossible to take a sentence from alanguage textbook and say it tosomeone in a suitable occasion.

Therefore both these approaches arenot mutually exclusive. Nevertheless,in natural situations people acquirelanguage not by practicing discretesentences but through experiencingdiscourses.

It is not necessary that a discourseemerging in communicative situationsconsist of all and only grammaticallywell-formed sentences. There may beone or more of these but there can beungrammatical sentences as well. Thisdoes not mean that the discourse isinsensitive to rules of grammar. AsG.Cook has observed, discourse makesuse of grammar rules as a resource; itconforms to them when it needs to, butdeparts from them when it does not.The following piece of conversationwill help us see this point clearly.

Waiter: Can I help you?

Customer: Well, chapatti … Do youhave dry ones? …Threechapattis …chicken, er…chilly chicken, hot … cornsoup …

Waiter: Like to go for mushroomsoup, sir?

Customer: Oh, no! Doesn’t go with mytongue. Forget it.

Waiter: Anything else?

Customer: No, thanks. Make it fast.


This is an exchange that took place ata restaurant. We can see that there arepoints where the discourse departsfrom rules of grammar.

Sometimes discourse can be anything:it can be a grunt or a single expletive(i.e. swear-word or an expression usedin exclamations), short conversations,scribbled notes or even a novel. Theonly point that counts is that itcommunicates and is consideredcoherent by its receivers.

Subjectivity

Read the following exchange betweentwo men.Man 1: Yes?Man 2: Yes.Man 1: Why?Man 2: Just like that.Man 1: Just like that?Man 2: Hmm!The above exchange is meaningful tothe two men but not to anyone else. Asexemplified in this discourse, whatmatters is not its conformity to rules,but it communicates to the personsinvolved in it. This means that thereis a degree of subjectivity inidentifying a piece of language asdiscourse; a certain discourse may bemeaningful and communicates to oneperson in a way which another persondoes not have the knowledge to makesense of.

As can be seen from the aboveconversation, subjectivity matters inclassifying certain piece of language asdiscourse. Every utterance in theabove conversation makes sense to thetwo persons involved in it but not to athird person. Nevertheless, in practicediscourse is usually perceived as suchby groups, rather than individuals.

The paralinguistic features

When we receive a spoken messagewe are influenced by many otherfactors apart from the language itself.Shall we make a list of suchparalinguistic features?• Facial expressions of the speaker.• Movement of eyes and hands.• Body language.• Voice modulations.•

What are the other factors thatinfluence communication?• The situation in which we receive themessage.• Our cultural and social relationshipswith the sender of the message.• Things that we know.• Things we assume that the senderknows.• Our knowledge about the physicalworld.• Our knowledge about human beingsand the society.•


Are there more points to add here? Ofcourse there is. There cannot bediscourses without a context. Thequestion what gives discourse its unitycannot be answered detaching thediscourse from the world at large, thatis to say, the context?

Grammar beyond the sentence

We know that rules of grammaroperate within a sentence. Forexample, if someone begins a sentencewith ‘The…’ we know that any wordcannot follow it. The rules of grammarallow only certain words after ‘the’.Are there rules that operate beyond thesentence? In other words, are thererules within discourses which decidewhat kind of sentence can followanother? If we violate rules ofgrammar within the sentence, we willget incorrect sentences of three kindsin addition to those with writing errorsof spelling and punctuation.

There are rules of grammar beyond thesentence, within the discourse. Theserules will decide which sentence canfollow another one. If we violate thesewe will get sequences of sentences thatlack coherence. This will affectcommunication. For example,consider the two sequences ofsentences given below:

A. The boy ate all the mangoes. Hisstomach became upset.

B. The boy ate all the mangoes. Thefrog was in the pond.

The sequence of sentences in A will beaccepted as an appropriate one fordiscourse whereas that in B will berejected as it fails the test of coherence.

But we cannot come to a readyconclusion like this in the case of B.There is nothing “wrong” about itbecause we can cook up a story whichwill contain this sequence. All whatwe need is stretch out our imaginationby virtue of which we can create acontext for the appearance ofsequence B.

At this point we have two possibleanswers to the problem of how weidentify a piece of language as unifiedand meaningful.

i. Invoke rules of grammar thatoperate within the sentence as well aswithin the discourse.

ii. Make use of our knowledge - of theworld, of the speaker, of socialconvention, of what is going onaround us as we read or listen.

It follows that factors outsidelanguage also are important formaking a stretch of language coherent.In order to account for discourse wehave to look at the situation, thepeople involved what they know andwhat they are doing. These factors helpus construct a piece of language as


discourse, which has a meaning andunity for us. We account for corrector incorrect sentences in a differentway, by virtue of our knowledge aboutgrammar. For doing this, facts outsidelanguage are not required.

Already we have seen that allsentences in a discourse may not befull-fledged ones. Sometimes theremay be even linguistic fragmentswithin a discourse. These fragmentsare taken for granted as appropriateprovided their occurrence is justifiableby the context. For instance, considerthe piece of conversation given below:

Husband: I have to go to Madras.

Wife: Why do you have to go toMadras?

Husband: I have to attend a conferencethere.

Wife: What conference do youhave to attend there?

Husband: It is a conference on theteaching of Englishphonetics.

Wife: It is the most boring subjectI can think of.

Husband: It is the most boring subjectanyone can think of.

Wife: Then why do you have toattend the seminar?

Husband: I have to attend the seminarbecause I am teachingphonetics.

Wife: How long will you have tostay there?

Husband: I will have to stay there forthree days.

Wife: What will you buy for mefrom Madras?

Husband: I will buy a sari for youfrom Madras.

Wife: If you are buying a sari forme please buy a costly one.

Husband: If I am buying a sari for youI will certainly buy a costlyone.

Every sentence included in thedialogue is grammatical. Nevertheless,as a piece of conversation it fails thetest of authenticity. Anyone whoknows English will easily identify theabove piece as a hypothetical one. Inreal life situations it is quite unlikelythat any husband or wife will haveinvolved in a conversation like this. Ofcourse they may speak like this if theywant to be funny and for doing so theywill have to articulate each sentenceintentionally. Nevertheless, that is notthe way people talk in naturalsituations. People do not move aroundtalking to one another by sequencingwell-formed and full-fledged


sentences one after the other. Theabove stretch of language satisfies therequirements of sentence grammarbut it will be rejected by discoursegrammar.

The pedagogic considerations ofgrammar teaching

When it comes to teaching of grammarwe have to address ourselves to a fewquestions.

1. Why should we teach grammar?

2. What kind of grammar is to betaught?

3. At what point of formal educationshould we teach grammar?

4. What methodology would beappropriate for teaching grammar?

Why should we teach grammar?

Let us take the first question. There isa good old saying namely, ‘grammaris caught rather than taught’.Paradoxically, we keep on saying thisand continue teaching some aspects offormal grammar in one way or theother. Descriptive grammars mayhave displaced prescriptivegrammars. Nevertheless, for mostteachers the term grammar isassociated with a set of definitions andrules because grammar was taughttaking recourse to traditionalapproach for a long time. It was

guided by a set of rigid rules. Timecame when the experts working in thefield of education looked at theteaching of English grammar with achanged vision. Functional grammarcame into existence and it got its placein classroom teaching. The notion ofteaching grammar through examplesin different situations has gainedmuch currency with the expectationthat this would make grammarlearning more interesting than before.It is claimed that by virtue of thisstrategy the learners would get thebenefit of learning grammar withoutany emphasis on rote learning. Todayin ELT circles grammar teaching hasbecome participatory, interesting andlearner-friendly through varieties ofactivities like games, rhymes, riddlesand role play. The learners areinvolved in learning grammarspontaneously.

The shift towards activity-orientedteaching of grammar has obviousjustifications. Nevertheless, thequestion remains unanswered: ‘Whyshould we teach grammar?’ Morethan fifty percent of learners fail tooperate and write English withaccuracy and fluency eventhoughthey apparently can do the grammarexercises in their textbooks correctly.This is probably because they know“about” grammar and are able to


attempt the fill-in –the –blanks itemsquite successfully. So where lies theproblem? It is in the way we teachgrammar. Functional grammar is thecall of the hour. It is now necessary toorient ourselves, as teacher, to teachgrammar in an interesting and flexiblemanner using authentic discoursesand grammar games.

Teachers, whether they teach mothertongue or a second language, putforward several arguments in defenceof concentrating on sentences whileteaching a language:

• In the case of mother tongue,students already know how tocommunicate orally. What they needis to learn where to put full stops andhow to write grammatical sentences.

• In the case of second languages whatstudents need are formal skills andknowledge in terms of pronunciation,vocabulary and grammar which willprovide the basis for communicatingand interacting.

• These skills are demanded byexaminations and are signs ofacceptable language behaviour.

• Exercises can be neatly presented insentences, with a tick or a mark foreach one. This is important in formalteaching because exercises helpstudents know where they are goingand how far they have developedformal skills.

• Given practice in, and exposure to,correct sentences, the rest will followin a natural way.

• The treatment of language in termsof sentences helps us know howlanguage works; within the sentencewe can establish rules and constraintsthat distinguish between licit andillicit sentence constructions.

• Sentences analyzed in linguistics areabstractions. Though these mayappear very odd they are useful forlanguage study.

We have noticed that when a childacquires the first language, she doesnot “learn” grammar in a formal way.She internalizes the grammar of themother tongue through exposure tothe language. Similarly, in secondlanguage acquisition, we mustconcentrate on giving exposure to thelearners using interesting andauthentic text which will make themaware of the structures as well as thefunctions of the second language.Discourse–oriented pedagogy hasbeen conceived with a view tofacilitating language acquisition at theprimary level through experiencing avariety of linguistic discourses. In themodular approach the sub-modules oflanguage are transacted in such a waythat the learners will be able tointuitively distinguish the so-calledgrammatical utterances from the


ungrammatical ones. This obviatesexplicit teaching of grammar at theprimary level.

At the same time we will introducegrammar at the secondary level forwhich we can put forward a fewpedagogic justifications.

1. The acquisition paradigm isfollowed at the primary level whichhelps the learner to developknowledge of language non-consciously. Once this target isachieved, we have to take the learnersto a higher level of knowledge oflanguage where the learners apartfrom developing intuitions about well-formed constructions will also learnabout some aspects of formalgrammar. This knowledge hopefullywill serve him better as a consciousmonitor while undertaking the editingof discourses at a higher level.

1. In our own State where dropouts atthe secondary level is almost zero,general education is defined asincluding the higher secondary level.At this stage the learners have thefreedom to choose subject of their ownchoice from among a variety ofknowledge domains. So the learner hasto have basic concepts related to theseknowledge areas by the time shecompletes education at the secondarylevel. Language is a knowledge areathat deserves to be treated on a par

with other knowledge areas such asmathematics, physics, chemistry,biology, commerce, and so on. Thisjustifies learning about language at thesecondary and higher secondarylevels.

3. We know that every creative writerimprints his/ her marks of identity ontheir writings. That is why we are ableto distinguish the personal style of anauthor. We listen to the writer’s voicewhen we read a poem, a novel or anessay. We expect the learners at thehigher secondary level to identify thevoice of the author from his/herwritings which will eventually leadher to identify her own voice as asecond language user. We know thatwriters create their personal style ofwriting by taking recourse to certainstructural devices. The learners at thesecondary level should learn aboutthese devices. A prerequisite to this atthe secondary level is that they shouldbe able to identify linguistic elementsthat constitute various syntacticstructures and how these areconfigured using devices such ascomplementation, subordination,coordination, relativization, clefting,passivization and so on.

What kind of grammar

What kind of grammar should weteach at the secondary and highersecondary levels?


There are different types of grammarsuch as lexical grammar, categoricalgrammar, relational grammar,functional grammar, phrase structuregrammar, generative grammar,transformational generative grammarand the like to mention a few. Each oneof these approaches language as asystem from different points of view.ELT experts of our own times acrossthe world say that if at all we have toteach grammar it is functionalgrammar. They argue that learners ofEnglish as a second language shouldhave a clear idea about what kind ofexpressions are to be used for specificcommunicative functions. This is whybooks on functional grammar comesout with a list of severalcommunicative functions such asmaking an apology, agreeing ordisagreeing with others, invitingpeople and so on. Children arepersuaded to learn these. The implicitassumption is that if learners are well-familiarised with the structures thatwill serve these purposes they will beable to maintain both fluency andaccuracy while communicating withothers using English.

When we look at this assumptionthrough critical lens we will see thatit cannot be sustained. We haveacquired our mother tongue throughmeaningful discourses and we will be

able to use it doing full justice to itsfunctional aspects. We do not have tolearn separately how to invite peopleor how to apologise. Acquiring alanguage implies acquiring both itsstructures and functions. Nativespeakers of any language will be ableto use it by virtue of the intuitivestructure consciousness they haveacquired. Therefore there is no pointin teaching functional grammar. Wecannot go for the other kinds ofgrammars too.

At the secondary and highersecondary levels we will be focusingon lexical, phrasal and clausalcategories of language and how theseare interconnected in different waysto yield different structures. Also thelearners will learn what structuralchanges are in operation in a givenconfiguration and how licit and illicitstructures are generated by theseoperations. This implies that thelearners will have to get sensitised onsome aspects of transformationalgenerative grammar.

When to teach grammar

From what we have discussed aboveit is clear that we do not have to teachgrammar at the primary level, that isfrom classes I to VII. By learningEnglish grammar consciously whatthe learners get is ‘knowledge about’the language. This knowledge will not


help them speak spontaneously inEnglish in interpersonalcommunicative situations. For thisthey should possess ‘knowledge of’ thelanguage. This knowledge is acquirednon-consciously and precisely this isthe reason why we have replaced thefragmentary approach to teachinglanguage with discourse-orientedpedagogy. As has been alreadymentioned, this helps the learners withacquiring both the structural andfunctional aspects of language. Ofcourse, as part of discourseconstruction they will be generatingboth grammatical and ungrammaticalsentences, especially at the beginningstages. The syntactic andmorphological errors and the errors ofspelling and punctuation that theymay make are taken up and rectifiedthrough the process of editing. It is tobe remembered that editing at theprimary level implies editing withinthe domain of sentence grammar. Atthe secondary level we will have to gofor different levels of editing asmentioned below.

1. Editing related to sentence grammar• Syntactic editing• Morphological editing• Editing errors of spelling andpunctuation2. Errors related to discourse grammar3. Thematic editing4. Editing related to discourse features

The methodology

The last question is related to themethodology of teaching grammar.The curriculum, syllabi and textbookshave been developed and are meant tobe transacted in tune with socialconstructivism and critical pedagogy.Construction of knowledge has to takeplace at all levels of learning and in alldomains of knowledge. This impliesthat we cannot stuff the learners withlots and lots of information pertainingto grammar. Grammatical conceptsare to be constructed by the learners byanalysing a certain body of linguisticdata available from the discourses andcategorizing them in specific ways.The general processes of theconstructivist classroom will beretained in tact for facilitating conceptattainment in the realm of grammar.


Why is literature beneficial in thelanguage learning process?

Valuable authentic material

Literature offers an extremely variedbody of written material which sayssomething about fundamental humanissues. Its relevance moves with thepassage of time, but seldom disappearscompletely. (Shakespearian plays)Though its meaning does not remainstatic, a literary work can transcendboth time and culture to speak directlyto a reader in another country.

Literature is ‘authentic’ material.Learners are exposed to language thatis as genuine and undistorted as canbe managed in the classroom context.

Culture enrichment

Reading the literature of a historicperiod is, after all, one of the ways wehave to help us imagine what life waslike in that other foreign place, ourown country’s past. Through thereading of literature one can discoverone’s thoughts, feelings, customs,possessions etc. with the one they havein their near surroundings. This can

Chapter IXTEACHING LITERATURE: WHY, WHAT AND HOW?

enrich one’s culture and therebyenrich the culture of the society inwhich one lives.

Language enrichment

Reading literary works exposes thelearner to many functions of thewritten language. Thus languageenrichment is the one benefit oftensought through literature. Extensivereading increases the learner’sreceptive vocabulary and facilitatestransfer to a more active form ofknowledge. Literature provides a richcontext in which individual lexical orsyntactical items are made morememorable. The learners gainfamiliarity with many features of thewritten language – the formation andfunction of sentences, the variety ofpossible structures, the different waysof connecting ideas – which broadenand enrich the learner’s own writingskills. The learner of literature willthus become more creative andadventurous as they begin toappreciate the richness and variety oflanguage they are trying to master andbegin to use some of the potentialthemselves.


Personal involvement

Literature can be helpful in thelanguage learning process because ofthe personal involvement it fosters inreaders. Literature enables learners toshift the focus of their attention fromthe mechanical aspects to animaginative level. The reader is eagerto find out what happens as eventsunfold; he feels close to certaincharacters and shares their emotionalresponses.

What sort of literature is suitable for usewith language learners?

A literary text is an interpretation ofan experience – it is, in the last instancea community’s interpretation of itsexperience.

We learn a lot about a people: theirbeliefs, likes and dislikes, views aboutlife and death, man-women relationetc. Without adequate knowledgeabout the culture of a people onecannot hope to be a competent speakerof that people’s language.Our literature class:• Encourages the learners to discuss alesson with the teacher and theirfriends.• Helps them learn to interpret literarytexts.• Leads them to a response; guide theirresponses.• Creates in them the love for readingbooks.

Our learners need to study literaturefor certain obvious reasons.

1. The study of literature supports andcompliments the language andcommunication skills we teach ourlearners.

2. It makes them educated people.

3. A literature class trains the learnersin the skill of communication. This isa life skill useful for their life and notjust for their examinations.

4. A literary text gives one, knowledgeof a culture in memorable contexts.With this knowledge our learners willhave a higher level of competence inEnglish than those who have acquiredonly the skills.

5. Learning expressions to performcertain communicative is acceptable.But it is not language education.Memorizing a few expressions andparroting them in certain situationsworks all right. But it has itslimitations.

6. A learner of literature will havemore communication strategies. TheirEnglish will have more variety.

7. Literature, if handled right can chipaway at the learner’s prejudices, theirbiases. It can make them respectfellow human beings. It can support agood society’s efforts to teach itspeople treat one another and peoplefrom other societies decently.


8. Learners can learn to enjoy theprocess of reading literature. Not justlearn the mechanic of interpretationbut like an artisan, enjoy what they do.9. Appreciation of literary text meansunderstanding the meaning of aliterary text and responding to it.10. Through the teaching of literature,we could certainly promote shared-reading, get them involved with thetexts and engage them in a dialoguewith you.How?How best can a teacher of students workwith literature?Approaches in teaching literatureThe teacher should stimulate learners’desire to read literature and encouragetheir responses. Teacher should bearin mind that literature is the vehiclethat carries the language targeted. Ateacher is expected to:• Maintain interest and involvementof learners by using a variety ofstudent centered activities.• A variety of enjoyable learner-centered activities are significantwhile working with students.• Learning is to be promoted byinvolving as many of the learners’faculties as possible.• To supplement the printed pageteacher can create a whole new worldinside the reader’s imagination.

• Teachers are expected to help thelearners exploit the emotionaldimensions in the literature to its fullextent.• Teacher should allow the learners tobe in groups/pairs. This increases thelearner’s confidence within theforeign language. Working with agroup can lessen the difficultiespresented by the number of unknownson a page of literary text. With thegroup’s support and control, theindividual has greater freedom toexplore his own reactions andinterpretations.• Teachers should help the learnersexplore their own responses to varioussituations given in the text. This willsharpen their own response making itmore likely that they will extend theirunderstanding of the text by personalreading at home.• Learners can be helped to expresstheir response either non-verbally orby making a limited linguisticrepertoire. Concentration on this kindof language can enhance learners’confidence in their own response.• The teaching of literature is to let thelearner derive the benefits ofcommunicative and other activitiesfor language improvement within thecontext of suitable works of literature.


Lying in the field

by night making new

constellations from old stars.

A haiku by Michael.B. Stillman.

The same words which we use in ourday-to-day life become poetry whenthey are arranged in a differentmanner. Then they begin to glow andglimmer like the stars in aconstellation. Words become starswhen uttered by a poet. What is themagic that transforms words intostars and star like words into poetry?

Let’s take the example of a poem, tryto analyse it and thereby arrive at aconclusion.

Winter

The tree still

Bends over the lake

And I recall our love

Which had a thousand leaves.

The first line gives us a picture, apicture drawn by words. It shows alake with a tree bending over it andperhaps, with the tree’s reflection onits glassy surface. The rest of the poem

Chapter XTEACHING POETRY

The Tree with a Thousand Leaves

is somewhat abstract – the love with athousand leaves. When crowned witha thousand leaves love is analogouswith a tree; the tree of love. Love, anabstract quality, assumes a concreteshape - one that of a tree with athousand leaves. A thousand leaves isnot a matter of fact statement just likethe line, ‘one thousand saw I at aglance’ which appears in Daffodils byWilliam Wordsworth. It is somethinglesser than an exaggerated statementand something greater than a planefactual statement. Has love any leavesat all? Is it a tree? Definitely not. But itis true when uttered by a poet. Poetsturn falsehood into truths by creatingmetaphors. The tree is a metaphor, ametaphor of love. The poet/lover saysthat, once, the tree had a thousandleaves. The past tense form of the verbhere indicates that the tree doesn’thave thousand leaves at present. Thenhow can we interpret the poem as awhole?

For that we should go back to the titleof the poem-it is entitled as ‘winter’;winter being the season when treesshed their leaves. There are two layers


of meaning in this poem-winter andlove which consequently merge witheach other to make the single idea oflost love. Lost love and bygone springare alike. The despondency anddesolation of a lonely lover are likethose of a tree in winter with its barebranches.

Next, what does the lake stand for? Isit an ordinary lake? What prompts thepoet to place the tree, quitedeliberately, beside a lake? Whatwould be the effect, if it were a brook,stream, or a river? The lake representssilence and stillness or rather a frozenstillness, it by being a wintry lake andthere by drawing the inner landscapeof the lonely lover whose dreams havealready disappeared like the witheringleaves of the tree that bends over it.Then, why does, the poet say that thetree ‘still bends over the lake’? Itreminds the more careful reader ofNarcissus, the lonely lover lost in selflove, pining for the impossible.

Now let us read the following poemby P.B. Shelley:

A widow bird sate mourning for herlove

A widow bird sate mourning forher love

Upon a wintry bough.The frozen wind kept on aboveThe freezing stream below.

There was no leaf upon the forestbare

No flower upon the groundAnd little motion in the airExcept the mill-wheel’s sound.

Shelley’s wintry forest appears almostlike a seat of desolation anddesperation. But the two poems differfrom each other in certain respects.The frozen lake and the bare branchedtree are central to the poem, ‘Winter’where the external landscape triggersthe passion of the anonymous ‘I’ whois the speaker of the poem. In Shelley’spoem there is no human ‘I’, but an‘eye’ is present somewhere behind thescene. The widow birds’ image is thecentral point around which the frozenforest is pictured like an extension ofits own sad inner self. It expresses theloneliness and solitude of a femaleheart in contrast to the ambiguous ‘I’in the former poem.

In a poem written by Heine, theGerman romantic poet, a lonely pinetree on the snowy mountain ispictured as thinking of his belovedwho is none other than a palm treestanding alone in a distant desert.Human emotions change the colour ofthe landscape as in the first poemdiscussed here. In the second poem thebird is said to be a widow. In the third


instance, the pine and palm appear astwo wistful lovers. In short, poets quiteoften humanize the non-human thingsand point out similarities which wehave never noticed before. Thistendency of humanizing non-humanthings leads them towardspersonification. Similes andmetaphors are put to use for pointingout similarities. When we call a tree,the tree of love it is a metaphor. If thebare branches of a tree are likened witha lonely lover’s plight, then, it is asimile.

Poetic language is figurative and,therefore, the language of poetry is adeviation from ordinary speech. Thus,as Robert Frost puts it, ‘poetryprovides the one permissible way ofsaying one thing and meaninganother.’ Poetic language deviatesfrom ordinary speech in a quite goodnumber of ways such as rhyme,alliteration, meter, rhythm etc. AsPaul Valery observed, poetry to proseis as dancing to walking. At timessome ingenious poets coin words oftheir own, just like the expression, ‘mywintriest moods’ used by Sylvia Plath.Dividing the poem into differentstanzas and breaking it into lines ofvarious length and even punctuationcan be decisive in making a piece ofpoetry look different from a prosepassage. Moreover, it makes the poetic

language more effective and appealingto the readers. For example, thefamous line from ‘Woods are lovely darkand deep’ can be punctuated with acomma, with a marked difference inthe meaning and message it conveys.‘Woods are lovely, dark and deep.’- nowsee the difference it makes.

Poetry appeals to senses throughimagery, imagery being a verbalevocation of sense experiences. It isnot sight but insight that a poemrenders. Remember that it is intuitionthan pure logic that enables you toread and appreciate a poem. Whileappreciating a poem we read andinterpret a written word in manydifferent ways with differentmeanings. ‘See how many ends thisstick has!’ exclaimed WislowaSzymborska while trying to definepoetry. Poetry is a multifaceteddiamond, a multi-pointed stick and atree with a thousand leaves.

The famous American poet WallaceStevens has written a poem by the title,‘Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird’. The poem gives us thirteendifferent pictures of the very same birdwhen viewed from thirteen differentangles. Similarly a great poem can beread and reread from so manydifferent angles so that you could getas many meanings. A good poem is aselusive a figure as Wallace Stevens’


‘black bird’. While reading it you arewatching the phantom figure of theblack bird. Try to see it in thirteen orthirty different ways. Don’t besatisfied with what you see at a glance.Even if you are doing so, do it someticulously or make it sure that youhave a keen sight and insight to see‘one thousand at a glance’. Because,poetry is, as Elizabeth Bishop has oncesaid, ‘hundreds of things comingtogether at the right moment.’ LikeWilliam Blake’s remarkable lines:

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of yourhand

And eternity in an hour,

Poetry holds much meaning within alimited space, the unfamiliar withinthe familiar and timelessness withintime. “We study a poem one elementat a time because the intellect bestcomprehends what it can separate.But only our total attention involvingthe participation of our blood andmarrow can see all elements in a poemfused, all dancing together’’. [From‘An Introduction to Poetry’ by X JKennedy and Dana Gioia]

A famous Zen story from Japan statesthat, nobody, not even the mostcunning thief can steal the infinite

riches of the moonlight. But readingand interpreting great poetry is likethieving the moonlight.

What is poetry?

“Four men were talking about the pinetree. The first one defined its genus,species and such other things. Onequoted poems about the pine treefrom various languages. The thirdspoke about its usefulness in the timberindustry. The last one said nothing.Taking roots and shooting upbranches, he himself was the pine treewith his leaves rustling in the breeze.”

‘Conversation’ by Dan Pagis

Now let’s go through some of theinnumerable definitions given topoetry by poets both familiar andunfamiliar to us.

The best words in the best order –Coleridge

A revelation in words by means of thewords – Wallace Stevens

Poetry is prose bewitched – Mina Loy

A poem is something that penetratesfor an instant into the unconscious –Robert Bly

The clear expression of mixed feelings.– W.H.Auden

Not the assertion that something istrue, but the making of that truth morefully real to us – T.S.Eliot


The body of linguistic constructionsthat men usually refer to as poems –J.V.Cunningham

Each definition seems to be incompletein certain respects. Each tries to definepoetry by focusing on some of its majoraspects and, as a result, it lackscomprehensiveness. Paradoxicallyenough, it becomes the greatest praisefor the art of poesy as Bassanio inShakespeare’s Merchant of Venicepraised the beauty of Portia:

‘In Belmont is a lady richly left,

And she is fair, and fairer thanthat word

Of wondrous virtues. Sometimesfrom her eyes

I did receive fair speechlessmessages.

Her name is Portia.’

All the poets have given a purelysubjective definition of poetry bystressing those particular elements ofpoetry which they prefer. Thedefinition by J.V Cunningham is asomewhat sarcastic and mischievousconfession of the fact that nodefinition on poetry can sufficientlydescribe the complex linguisticconstruction that men usually refer toas poems. So it may be safer for us tosay with Bassanio that ‘she is fair andfairer than that word’.

We can analyse a poem in piece-mealby focusing on each of its elements oneafter another. But it will be like pealingthe onion or like the chestnut tree ofW.B Yeats’ poem ‘Among the SchoolChildren,’ which being a great rootedblossomer is neither the leaf nor theblossom but the whole. Poetry,according to Thomas Carlyle is“Musical thought”, which, and manyother similar definitions, has becomeinvalid with the advent of modernpoetry. Prose, even prosaic lines couldbecome fine poetry and thus hasemerged Verse Libre (free verse) aspart of modernism. This later pavedway for prose poetry as well. ‘To breakthe pentameter, that was the firstheave,’ said Ezra Pound. Thefollowing lines by Judith Wright mayvery well show the modernist attitudetowards prosody and versification:

‘Old Rhythm, old meter,

These days I don’t draw

Very deep breaths. There isn’t

Much left to say.

Rhyme, my old cymbal,

I don’t clash you as often,

Or trust your old promises

Of music and unison.’


Of Thieving/Teaching Poetry

Out in the night

A wheel-barrowful

Of moonlight.

- ‘The Lazyman’s Haiku’ by John Ridland.

If you can’t thieve the beauty ofpoetry, try to be like Kazant Zakis’s St.Francis while teaching poetry in aclass room. One night while the worldwas overflowing with moon light andthe people in the village were all fastasleep, Francis rushed towards thebelfry, began to peal the bell to wakethe villagers up and announced in afrenzy to look at the beauty andwonder of the moonlight.

Francis was not mad indeed, but hewas just trying, like a very good teacherof poetry to show them the vistas ofunforeseen beauty and splendorwhich, otherwise, they might havemissed. How can a teacher of poetrydo this? Of course, not by just ringingthe bells. For that he must enter intothe belfry of their hearts and thereafterring the bells there. In short, he/sheshould move their hearts by a carefulexplication of the deeper and yetdeeper layers of meaning containedwithin a poem. In this respect, AlanWatts has much more to tell us.“Americans are not the materialiststhey are sometimes accused of being.

How could anyone taking a look at anAmerican city think that itsinhabitants deeply cherish materialthings? Involved in our personalhopes and apprehensions,anticipating the future so hard thatmuch of the time we see the presentthrough a film of thought across oureyes, perhaps, we need a poetoccasionally to remind us that eventhe coffee we absentmindedly sipcomes in (as Yeats put it) a “heavyspillable cup.”

Let’s take, for example, the poem ‘TheRiver’ written by Caroline Ann Bowlesand try to ask five basic questions tothe poem itself and listen carefully tothe answers it give.

1. Who is the speaker or the centralfigure of the poem?

A man speaks to a river.

2. What is being seen or presented?

The life of a river, or rather human lifewhich is very much like a river.

3. Where is the poem set?

It covers all the different landscapesthrough which the river flows. Itstarts somewhere from a mountainrecess and continues its headlongjourney up to the ocean. In anotherplain it represents the journey of a manfrom birth to death.


4. When does the poem take place?

Its time span is as long as or as br iefas the life of a human being.

5. Why?

There is no ‘Why’ in the course takenby the life of a river except for thecertainty of reaching at the far ofdestination of the ocean or that ofdeath/eternity.

Now let’s turn to the imagery used inthe poem which may tell us more aboutthe poem. The river continues toappear and reappear in the poem inconstantly changing shapes as itmoves through the different phases ofits journey. At first it is a little riverrepresenting childhood and infancy.Then it is a swelling river, resemblinga youth with all his bubbling vigourand vitality. In the third phase itappears as a brimming river which istending onward to the ocean like amiddle aged man who must die. In thelast and final phase the head long riverdashes down into the unfathomableocean and disappears. Here, quitebrilliantly the poet describes theriver’s life and the river of life at oncewith choicest words.

River as the metaphor of lifepredominates the poem. River being awell known metaphor of Time - withits continuous swift onward

movement - is a very much suitableand easily understandablerepresentative of life. Like theHeraclitan river in which nobodycould take a dip twice, human life is asuccession of irretrievable events.‘Seeming still, still in motion’ is the linewhich brings out the apparentmotionlessness and the unmanifestedforward current of life as well as timewith the striking repetition of the sameword ‘still’ which acts both as ahomophone and a homograph, theformer being any two words havingthe same pronunciation but differentin meaning and the latter, any suchpair with the same spelling anddifferent meanings. It in turn remindsus of a remarkable couplet by RobertFrost, which goes thus;

“We dance round in a ring andsuppose,But the Secret sits in the middleand knows.”

The fourth and the last stanzaintroduce another metaphor – The Seaas the grand metaphor of eternity.Lines such as:‘Sea that line hath never sounded’ and‘Sea that sail hath never rounded’,sublimely visualizes theincomprehensible depth and theinfinite expanse of the ocean ofeternity. Being so dark and deep, it


reminds us of the impenetrable depthsof death and the life after death. It hasbeen suggested that, often byunderstanding how a single key wordor expression operates in the contextof a poem we gain a special sense ofwhat the whole poem means. As faras the poem ‘The River’ is concernedthe expression, ‘Seeming still yet still inmotion’ is the key with which we canlook at the whole poem. Themetaphoric expression brings out thecomplexities of the abstractphenomenon which we call Time.Whether time is still or is it in motionis a question which has puzzled thegreat philosophers. According toHeraclitus, it was time that wasmoving like a river. To some others itwas man and the other things of

nature, not time, that was changingand moving. The poet, here, througha strange combination of twocontrasting ideas, creates a paradox.In a similar poem written by AlfredLord Tennyson the brook sings thus:

‘Men may come and men may goBut I go on for ever.’

Here, the permanence of the river iscontrasted with the life and death ofman. For C.A. Bowles, human life is ariver which, at the estuary of death,mingles with the ocean of eternity.Look how two different poetstransform the same external realitydifferently with their diverse visions.

In short, let us conclude by assertingthe fact that no two poets ever dippedinto the same river.


Unit 1ON THE WINGS OF WISHES

This unit deals with the issue of lack of human resourcedevelopment. The sub issue taken up in this unit is theimportance of hard work and determination in one’s life. Theunit also focuses on the need for inculcating proper aims in theminds of the learners for a positive attitude towards life.Dreams brighten our lives. A life devoid of dreams is like abarren field. The poem ‘Dreams’ in this unit by Langston Hughesincites the learners to dream. But one’s dreams must also berational. It may not be something to escape from the hardshipsof life. In the story titled ‘When Wishes Come True, Tagoredepicts the humorous state of a father and son who want toescape from the reality of life.In the extended reading section of this the story of the play‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare is included. The story showsus the destructive side of over ambitions in life. The article‘Shattered Dreams’ is a true story of a young air force officerwho faced the shocking reality of his life with surprising willpower and determination. The poem in the extended readingsection is ‘Coromondal Fishers’ by Sarojini Naidu whichhighlights the collaborative work culture of the fishermen whoface the risks of their job with a smile.The transaction of this unit aims at developing values andattitudes likepositive work culture, will power and dedication,resourcefulness and enterprising nature.


Issue : Human Resource Management

Sub Issue : The importance of hard work anddetermination.The need for having proper aims in life

Learning Objectives : •To read and analyse literary texts andidentify the themes.•To read and enjoy poems.•To construct discourses likedialogues, poems, narratives,reports, etc.•To understand and appreciate theconcept 'work is worship'.•To create an awareness tobecome a resourceful andenterprising person in the society.•To create an awareness about theimportance of will power anddedication to address real life issues.•To develop positive outlook on workand life.•To think critically and take one’s ownstand regarding issues realated tohuman resource development.

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Module 1• Display a few quotations on dreamsincluding the ones given in theCoursebook.

Eg:

I have a dream; I will work for it.

Arise, Awake stop not till the goal isreached.

As you think, so you are, As you dream,so you become, As you create yourwishes so they create you.

All men of action are dreamers.

Don’t be pushed by your problems,be led by your dreams.

• Ask learners to select any one quotationwhich is most appealing to them.

• Divide the class into groups on the basisof the quotations selected by each of them.

• Generate discussion in each group. Thefollowing questions may be asked toprompt the discussion.

∗ Why did you select this quotation?

∗ What does the quotation tell you?

∗ Does it have any connection with yourlife?

∗

• Make sure that each learner of the groupnotes down and shares his/her personalreason for his/her choice.

• Lead the learners to the poem ‘Dreams’.

Note: Dreams and dreaming facultyvary from person to person. Itsspectrum extends from simple and sillyday dream to a political dream for thefuture which the great social reformersand political leaders have. The word‘dream’ has multiple shades ofmeaning from which we have to makea careful choice. Langston Hughes,being a Black American poet had apolitical dream regarding the liberationof his own race. The broken wingedbird in the first and the frozen field inthe second stanza of the poem signifythe plight of the blacks in Americaagainst which they have to safeguardthemselves by holding fast the wingsof emancipation and imagination.

Every reader can give his own meaningor interpretation to the images used byHughes. Our young learners may getthe message that, one should try hardto transform the frozen field of ourbarren lives into sunny spring-field bykeeping our wings of optimistic dreamsintact.

Process

You may read the poem aloud two or threetimes.

Let the learners read the poemindividually and keep track of theirreading.


Ask the learners to be in groups and sharewhat they understood, what they didn’tunderstand and what they foundinteresting and surprising.

Let them refer to the glossary if needed.

Still one group has problems inunderstanding the poem megaphone theirdoubts to the other groups.

You may explain the problem areas whichno group can effectively tackle.

Ask the scaffolding questions to the wholeclass.

Let each learner think of the answer. Letthem scribble the answers in the spaceprovided in the text itself.

Allow two or three learners to presenttheir answers.

If there are questions for which no one canfind an answer let them sit in groups andthink.

You may interact with the groups askingsimple interaction questions to channelisetheir thoughts.

∗ What is the poem about?

∗ What does the poet tell us here?

∗ Is it related to the quotation you haveselected?

• Tell the learners to share with the class,the ideas/message they got from the poem.Tell them to attempt the questions givenon page 7. Share the answers in the class.

Hints for scaffolding questions

• ‘Hold fast to dreams’ implies:

pursue your dreams

• ‘Dream’ in sentence ‘a’ is ‘somethingwe think of or feel when we sleep’ andin sentence ‘b’ it means ‘something wehope for and want to happen verymuch’.

• Let the learners pick out the comparisonsin the first and second stanza (life is abroken winged bird that cannot fly & lifeis a barren field frozen with snow)

• How do dreams die? How can wekeep them alive?

Poet says, if we don’t hold dreams theymay die, so to keep them alive we haveto act to fulfill the dream./Have clearvision about life./Have great hopes. /Work hard to achieve them.

• Identify the words that rhyme in thepoem ‘Dreams’.

Die - flyGo - snow

• Pick out the word pictures used in thepoem.

- broken winged bird- barren field, frozen with snow

Note:

The poem ‘Dreams’ has certain distinctpoetic features such as refrain,parallelism etc.


Line one is repeated in the secondstanza. (Refrain)

Line two in the second stanza is amodified version of line two of the firststanza (Incremental repetition).

Line 3 in both stanzas have similar linestructure. (Parallelism)

• Say the rhyme ‘Row your Boat’ givingattention to its musical qualities.(Familiarise alliteration and rhymingwords)

You may ask the following questions whileprocessing the answer of this question

∗ What does ‘dream’ mean here?

Elicit one or two responses.

Life is very short/Life is unreal/It islight as a dream.

Now you may tell the learners to say therhyme in chorus.

Ask them to extend the rhyme orparodying it.

Eg :Drive, drive, drive your car

Gently down the street

Gaily, gaily, gaily, gaily

Life is but a treat.• Generate a discussion in groups ondreams and wishes of the learners.

Let the learners attempt writing it downindividually.

Refine it and edit it.

• Now let the learners attempt writing apoem/song on their dream.

Let them attempt the poem/songindividually first.

Let them present it at random.

Ask them to sit in groups and refine whatthey have written.

You may ask the following questions tochannelise their thoughts:

∗ Do you have a dream?

∗ What is your dream?

∗ How dear is it to you?

∗ How do you feel when you think of it?

∗ What do you like to compare it with?

Presentation

Editing

Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklist on poem on page 40.

Let the learners compile the poems/songsthey write as an anthology.

Module 2Now lead the learners to the poemCoromandal Fishers in the extendedreading section of the unit and provide asuitable entry talk to the poem.

Process

• Let them read it individually and try toanswer the scaffolding questions.


Ask them to sit in groups and share whatthey have understood.

Help them if they have problems inunderstanding the poem.

You may ask the following interactionquestions

∗ What is the poem about?

∗ Who is the speaker of the poem?

∗ Who are the brothers in the poem?

∗ Why does the poet ask to rise androw?

∗ Where do the coromandal fishermanplan to row to?

∗ What does the poet mean by theexpression ‘blue of the verge’?

Establish thematic link between the poem‘Dreams’ and ‘Coromandal Fishers’.

You may ask the following questions forthis.

∗ What do you find common in boththe poems? [Hints - dreams, Hope callfor ones duty]


∗ Who is the speaker of the poem? Whodoes he address?

A fisherman/the leader of the group offishermen. He addresses his friends/comrades/brothers.

∗ What does the speaker ask his friendsto do?

The speaker asks his friends to wakeup/rise.

∗ The speaker has other friends than hisfellow fishermen. Who are they?

The cloud and the waves are his otherfriends.

∗ What is the leaping wealth of the tide?

The fish is the leaping wealth of the tide.

∗ What is the wind compared to?

The wind is compared to a child thathas cried all night.

∗ Which is sweeter for the fishermenthe land or the sea? Why?

The sea. The kiss of the spraying watersof the sea and the dance of the wildfoam seem sweeter to the fishermenthan all the dear and near things of theland.

Module 3WHEN WISHES COME TRUE

Introduction

‘When wishes come true’ is a shortstory by Rabindranath Tagore. In thisstory Tagore describes the strangedreams of a father named Subal and hisson Sushil. They wished to exchangetheir roles and this was granted by the‘goddess of wishes’. The story dealswith the troubles they faced when theyreversed their roles. The story dealswith the differences in perceptions and


views of life between the old generationand the new generation. It alsohighlights the unexpected outcomes ofunreasonable wishes.

Process (Introduction)

You may ask the following interactionquestions to introduce the story.

* You have shared some of your dreamshere.

* Have you ever dreamt of growing upfast?

* Have you ever thought of becomingas old as your parents or teachers?

Elicit free responses and consolidate theirresponses to link them with the story.

Here is a story of a father and son. Theson wanted to be as old as his fatherand the father wanted to be as youngas his son. Do you think they will landin trouble?

Elicit free responses.

Let’s see what happens in the story.

Ask the learners to read the first partof the story silently.

Process (Reading)

Let pupils read the story When WishesCome True from Para 1-6.

Individual reading – (4-5 mnts)

Pupils mark , ? and ! with a pencil whilethey read to keep track of their reading.

Let them sit in group. ( 5- 8 members)

Let each member in a group share whathe/she understood, what he/she didn’tunderstand and what he/she foundinteresting/surprising.

If there are words/expressions they didn’tunderstand let them refer to the glossary.

If still a group couldn’t understand certainarea, let them tell about it to you.

Megaphone their doubt to other groups.

If no group can clarify it you can scaffoldthem by asking simple questions to clarifythat area.

For example, if a group wishes to clarifythe phrase “missing the target” you canhelp them without giving the meaningdirectly. You may ask questions like.

• Who is the target here?

• Who missed the target?

• Why did he miss it?

After reading let them fill in the selfassessment on reading. (Page –40)

Remind the learners to identify words tobe recorded at the personal wordlist onpage 42.

Now ask them to answer the scaffoldingquestions given along with paragraphs 1to 6, individually.


•Let the learners write their names anda few of their friends names and try


writing the meaning of them. Theremay be names for which they cannotfind any meaning. Ask them to thinkof names they can find some meaning.E.g. Ravi- Sun

•Sushil runs like a deer. Ask learnersto compare their friends’ actions/mannerisms like this. E.g. Swethadances like a butterfly.

•Your learners also may have stayedaway from classes at times (if theydon’t have any such experience letthem imagine one). Let them narrateon what occasions they did so andwhat excuses they invented on suchoccasions. Ask them to narrate howtheir parents reacted to it also.

Process

Individual writing

Fixing the event

Fixing the setting

Fixing characters

Blowing up the event

Let them narrate: What happened?Who were involved in it? What did theysay/think/feel/see/hear/smell/taste?

What happened next?

Refinement in groups

Let them fill in the self assessment checkliston story/narrative on page 40.

Random presentation

Let the learners select the best narrative.

Editing

• Let the learners frame sentences of theirown using ‘had better’ and ‘had better not’.

Ask the learners to identify from the storya few expression used by Subal to adviseSushil.

Module 4See, now the father is going to preparethe brew for Sushil. How will Sushilrespond to it? Will he take it? What willhe do?

Elicit random responses and predictions.

Let the learners read paragraphs 7 - 10.

Process

You may keep the process steps forreading as given suggested at the first partof the story.


•Sushil’s reluctant throat. Who isreluctant? Really Sushil is reluctant.But here the throat is described as beingreluctant. This is an example fortransferred epithet. In a transferredepithet the adjective suitable to onenoun is applied to another noun.E.g. weeping heart, sleepless night,weary way, dull day etc.

Let the learners make a list of suchexpressions.


•Ask the learners to discuss if they haveever wished to be as old as their father/mother/parent and if so on what occasion.They needn’t write it down. It can be atopic for oral discussion in the class. Youmay assign this activity as a groupactivity and let the groups present theirviews after a brain storming session for3-5 minutes.

•Now let the learners turn to page 19 andattempt activity 1 and 2 of vocabularysection. Let them do it individually firstand then they can share it in groups.

Activity 1.

Hints: He loved lozenges and loathedanything bitter...

He loved lozenges and hated anythingbitter...

He loved lozenges and dislikedanything bitter...

He loved lozenges and didn’t likeanything bitter...

Activity 2.

Let them do this activity with the help ofa dictionary.

•Ask the learners to read the wholepassage once again (1 - 10) and fill in thetable on the changes occurred to Subal andSushil.

Let the learners write a short paragraphbased on their findings individually.

Refining in groups

Presentation by the groups

Let them fill in the self assessment checkliston write up/paragraph on page 40.

Module 5You may ask one or two learners to saythe events of the story till now.

Initiate a discussion on how they starttheir day.

Lead the learners to paragraphs 11 - 15.

Let them read and find out how Sushil andSubal begin their day in their changedroles.

Process

You may keep the process steps forreading as given suggested at the first partof the story.

•Lead the learners to activity 3 & 4 in thevocabulary section on page 19.

Activity 3

Hints: dawn, morning, noon, evening,dusk, night, midnight

Activity 4

a strong wooden table, an interestingnew book, a weak old woman, thehighest polluted place... like these, letthe learners find out more examples.


•When do you wake up in themorning? How do you start your day?


Let the learners react freely to thisquestion. They need only present theirresponses orally.

•Whose changes appeared morecomical to you - Sushil’s or Subal’s?Why?

Let the learners justify their answerslogically.

•Let the learners complete the checklistindividually and then cross check them

in groups.

•Ask learners to list down the antics ofSushil as a child and narrate how he feltabout them when he became old. (You maykeep the process strategy of writing anarrative suggested in module 3 of thisunit)

Individual attempt


Presentation

Self assessment

Editing

•Let the learners fill in the table showingSushil’s new state and previous state.

•Then ask them to compare the new andold states of Sushil.

Refining in groups


Let them fill in the self assessment checkliston write up/paragraph on page 40.

•Ask the learners if Sushil is happy nowand let them also justify their opinion.

•Let them prepare a short paragraph onwhat they would do if they became as oldas their parents.

Individual attempt


Presentation

Self assessment

Editing

Module 6Let them read the last part of the storyfrom 16 to 25.

Process reading as suggested in theprevious sections.


Ask the learners to try to apply thephrases in similar contexts or as directed.

•Lead the learners to a debate on ‘whosecondition/situation is more pathetic-Sushil’s or Subal’s?

Group the class into two. Let each grouppresent their reasons for their stand. Askthem to note down their points of view.Let each group substantiate their view aswell as challenge the views of the othergroup. You may ask certain thoughtprovoking questions so as to motivatelearners to come out with their argument.See that every learner participate in theactivities.


•You may ask the learners to share theirpersonal experience of bathing in a pondor river if any.

•Ask the learners to identify the ways inwhich Subal irritated the elders andpresent them at random. Let them have ashort discussion on the reaction of theelders and the reasons for it.

•Ask the learners to prepare a brief writeup on good manners that they learn fromschools.

Individual writing

Sharing in groups

Refinement

Presentation

•Ask them to find out the reasons forSushil and Subal to go back to their oldselves. Tell them to note down the reasonsand present them in the class.

•Let the learners recollect any incidentsof being punished by their parents orteachers. For this you may present one ofyour childhood experiences in the form ofa narrative. While presenting thenarrative, care should be taken to maintainthe curiosity and interest of the learners.

Ask the learners to write their experiences.

Individual presentation

Sharing in groups

Scaffolding by teacher

Refinement

Presentation

Editing

Compile the best anecdotes to be publishedin the manuscript magazine ‘Dreams’.

•Ask the learners to do activities 5 and 6given in the vocabulary section on page20.

Provide the learners, dictionary or otherreference materials to do the task.

Activity 5

Hints:

Let the learners make a list of the phrasalverbs of the verbs ‘give’ and ‘put’ with thehelp of a dictionary. A phrasal verbconsists of two or more words. One of thesewords is always a verb, the other may bean adverb as in throw away, apreposition as in look into, or both anadverb and a preposition as in put upwith. The meaning of a phrasal verb isoften quite different from the meaning ofthe verb on its own.

Activity 6

Many nouns are now being used asverbs. It is a current trend in Englishlanguage.

You may encourage your learner to usesuch simple and attractive ways ofexpression in language.

E.g. I want some water. (noun)


Did you water the plant? (verb)

Give me that brush. (noun)

Brush your teeth. (verb)

What a nice chair!(noun)

The minister chaired the meeting.(verb)

This table fan is costly. (noun)

As it is very hot she started to fanwith a paper. (verb)

He used to have two pockets for hisshirt. (noun)

Please pocket your pen. (verb)

•Let the learners frame sentences using‘now that’ ‘used to’, ‘playing truant’ and‘eat one’s fill’.Let them identify the context in which theyare used in the text.

•Let the learners write down if they likedthe story or not. They have to also justifytheir answer. It can be a brief appreciationof the story.

•Ask learners to list out the major eventsin the story. Ask the learners to suggestsuitable subtitles to each section of thestory. Let them select the best titles fromthe groups.

•Ask them to pick out the humorousexpressions Tagore used in the story.

E.g. The intended slaps missed theirtarget.

Sushil burst into tears and weptbuckets.

•Ask the learners to write the messageconveyed by Tagore in the story ‘WhenWishes Come True’.

Individual writing

Random presentation

Sharing in groups and refinement

Editing

•Ask the learners to attempt the charactersketch of Sushil and Subal.

Elicit the character traits of Sushil andSubal.

Write them on the BB.

Let each learners write the charactersketch of Sushil and Subal.

Then they share it for group refinement.

Presentation

Editing

Module 7MACBETH

Note: The extended reading sectionalong with each unit is not meant for adetailed analysis. Every learner has tobe an independent reader at one stageor the other in his/her academicpursuit. But an eighth standard learnermay need a bit of help in reading aliterary text like Macbeth. The story ismade as simple as possible and if once


the curiosity to read is aroused learnersmight read the text on their own. Butdon’t deny help to them as and whenthey demand it. There are a few filmversions of Macbeth available to usnow. You may make use of such visualtexts to help the learners enjoy theworld classic Macbeth.

ProcessYou may make use of an entry talk like theone suggested below to arouse interest inyour learners to read the story.Once there lived a man who was led byhis ambitions and dreams in life to hisruin. He was a lord, a faithful servantof the king. He had a wife, a greedy andambitious lady. Though the man wasgood at heart he was carried away bythe influence of his wife to the path ofevil ...

* What happened to him?

Read and enjoy the story of Macbeth bythe great English dramatist and poetWilliam Shakespeare.

Ask learners to read section I of the storyindividually.

Let them track their reading as they haddone previously.


Let them answer the scaffolding questions.


• The predictions of the witches werethat Macbeth would be the Thane ofCawdor and he would be the king oneday.

• Let the learners predict the answers.You may help them to arrive at theright answer that the witches wereplotting against Macbeth to trap him.

• Banquo was a simple and uprightperson. He did not believe the prophecyof the witches.

• Macbeth put forward many reasonsfor not killing the king. He was notready to kill the king because he washis guest. Moreover King Duncan washis relative. He believed that it was hismoral duty to protect the king. Hethought it was bad to kill an old mansleeping peacefully in bed.

Module 8Ask the learners to read section II of thestory. Follow the process of reading givenabove.


• The expression ‘Macbeth doesmurder sleep’ means that the king wasmurdered by Macbeth during his sleep.It was considered unfair to kill aperson when he was sleeping. It alsosuggests that sleep won’t bless Macbethany more as he murdered it.


• Let the pupils respond freely. Youmay help them to find the answer thatLady Macbeth was the greater culpritin the murder of Duncan. Because shewas the master mind behind theconspiracy and murder of KingDuncan.

• Duncan’s sons fled from the castlebecause they felt that if Macbeth killedtheir father, their lives too would be indanger.

• Macbeth had no piece of mindbecause he felt that somebody mightkill him one day as he killed the king.

Module 9Learners may read section III of the storynow.

Let them track their reading as they haddone previously. Follow the process ofreading as in the previous module.


• Macbeth knew that Banquosuspected him as the real murderer andwould not forgive him.

Module 10Ask the learners to read section IV of thestory.

Follow the process of reading as in theprevious module.


• Macbeth’s mind was disturbed. Hewanted to know about his future.

• The predictions of the witches: 1.Beware of Macduff. 2. No man born ofwoman had the power to hurt him. 3.He would never be beaten in battleuntil Birnam Wood, a forest, moved upall its trees to Dunsinane castle.

Module 11Ask the learners to read section V of thestory.

Follow the process of reading as in theprevious module.


• Let the pupils respond freely andjustify their answer. You may call thelearners attention to the fact that LadyMacbeth feels guilty and now she isrepenting her deeds.

• Macbeth never thought it possibleBirnam Woods to move to Dunsinane.When he found out that it too washappening he lost all faith in hissupernatural powers and thought hisend was near.

• Allow the pupils to respond freelyand say whether Macbeth was a manor monster. Let them justify their standtoo.


• Let the learners decide on the mostexciting part of the story and preparea write up on it. They have to tell whythey felt that part of the story soexciting.

•Explore the possibilities of generatinglanguage, through activities likedebates, discussions dramatization etcbased on the story Macbeth.

Module 12A SHATTERED DREAM

Note: A shattered dream is an anecdotefrom the life of Mr.M.P.Anil Kumarwho had been a fighter pilot in theIndian Airforce. He faced thechallenges in his life with cheer evenafter a fatal accident.

Anil Kumar recalls his experience in theform of a narrative. This narrativehighlights the importance of will powerand determination. Anil Kumar is oneamong the millions across the worldwho fight against all the odds in lifewith high spirit of confidence andcommitment in achieving a set goal.

ProcessLet the learners read the narrativeindividually.Let them track their reading as they haddone previously.Let them sit in groups and share theirideas.


Let them answer the scaffolding questions.


• Let the learners identify the messageAnil Kumar wants to convey.

•Process of writing the profile.

Learners make notes of the necessarydetails or prepare the bio-data of Mr.AnilKumar from the passage, individually.

Ask the learners to sit in groups andsequence the data.

Let them also connect the sentencesproperly to make a meaningful profile.

Presentation of profiles by groups

Editing

Ask the learners to fill in self assessmentcheck list on profile on page 41.

• Process of writing a letter

Divide the class into four or five groups.

Supply a copy of a personal letter to eachgroup. (Or you may exhibit a personalletter written on a chart paper to the wholeclass.)

Ask groups to identify the features of apersonal letter.

You may ask questions like:

* Where are the place and date of thesender of the letter shown?


* How did the sender address theperson to whom the letter is sent?

* How did the sender begin his letter?

* What other details did the senderwrite in the first paragraph?

* What did the sender write in thesecond paragraph?

* What is the purpose of writing theletter?

* Which paragraph gives you the ideaabout it?

* How did the sender conclude theletter?

* What did the sender write in thecomplimentary closing part of theletter?

* Did the sender sign the letter?

* Did he write his name? Where?

Now let them attempt the letter to AnilKumar individually. (8-10mnts)

Let them sit in groups and share what theyhave written.Ask the groups whether the features of apersonal letter are kept in their writing.Let the groups select the best beginningin their groups.Ask them to refine the remaining parts ofthe letter thematically, syntactically andmorphologically.Let the groups proof-read the letter forpunctuation and spelling errors.

Ask any one from the groups to presentthe letter.

Let the other groups grade the letterpresented as A, B or C.

Select the best letter with the help of thelearners.

Edit it in whole class.

Ask the learners to fill in self assessmentcheck list on letter on page 41.

Module 13EDITING

Process

Activity 1

1.Punctuation Editing

Fixing the boundaries of a sentence.Only the initial capitalization and thefinal full stop/question mark/exclamation mark at the end of thesentences etc need be addressed here.Thus we fix the boundaries of eachsentence in the discourse. Otherpunctuation marks may be editedalong with or just before editingspelling.

2. Syntactic Editing

Identify and eliminate excess words.Identify and supply missing words.Correct the wrong word order.


3. Morphological Editing

Wrong tense formAspectual errorsAgreement

Affixes

4. Editing spelling and remainingpunctuation marks

Ask the learners to turn to the passage forediting given in page 33 and edit it.

The errors in the passage are identifiedand the categories they belong to arespecified below the passage. Edit theerrors appropriately.

Hints for editing

Errors in punctuation:

4 - ...blackboard. The young man...(Fullstop, Capital Letter) 12 - ... I have nochildren; ( Semi Colon)

Errors in syntax:

5 - Neither is the youngman (wordorder) 7- In an old shed (missing word)8 - widow of a police officer (missingword) 11- Who says that (word order)13 - has decided to award her (missingword)

Errors in morphology:

1. put on

2. were

3. sit

6. started

9. she has

10. denies

14. useful

Module 14Activity 2

Discourse Editing

Discourse editing refers to therefinement of the features of aparticular discourse. There are threestages for discourse editing.

1. Thematic editing

Editing (Addition, Deletion andModification) of ideas relevant to aparticular context.

2. Language

Each discourse has a language suitableto it. (Eg: Informal language for apersonal letter). Edit the style oflanguage based on the ideas expressedin the discourse. Since error editing isover, the unique style of a discoursehas to be familiarised and edited here.

3. Structural Editing

Structural editing is done focusing onhow well the learner organised hisideas appropriate to the context anddiscourse. Learners construct shouldhave a unity of thought. Each ideashould have a logical connectionthematically and linguistically with the


other. There should be parallel andvertical cohesion in discourses likereports and essays.

•After the error editing lead thelearners to the editing of discoursefeatures of the passage. Ask thequestions given in Activity 2. You maymake use of the hints provided in theCoursebook along with this activity.

Activity 3

• Lead the learners to the analysis ofsentences given in activity 3.

Ask them to split the sentences in the3rd paragraph into two.

Sample Answers

Eg :

Anand Thai is the widow of a police officer.

She has no children of herown.

Let the learners split the other sentencesof this paragraph like this.

Activity 4

• Prompt the learners to identify thefunctions of both parts in a sentenceand how they are connected. You maymake use of the points given in theCoursebook.

Activity 5

Lead the learners to a deeper analysisof the splits made. Let the learners splitthe sample sentence into units atvarious levels. Interact with them tosensitise them on the rationale offurther splits they make between thewords.

You may make use of the points givenin the Coursebook.

Ask learners to divide the sentences inthe last paragraph into further units.

Activity 6

• Ask learners to form categories ofvarious words. Words in all thesentences analysed, belonging to thesame group are to be put together.

• Ask the learners to classify thesegroup of words as those allowingadditions and those do not allow wordadditions.

Activity 7

Ask the learners to analyse the passagegiven in Activity 7 and identify suchclasses of words.


Word classes that allow Word classes that do not allowadditions additions

ClassI ClassII ClassIII ClassIV ClassI ClassII ClassIII ClassIVSubal did old away at that hegathering forgot a needless of and theirpeople was very soundly an for itdiscussion go much to as thencars would precocious theytutor join any hispuff connect longer himtobacco sayleg annoypunishment boxedimpertinence scolded

beingtoldcanedmad


This unit deals with the issue of lack of cohesive universalvision. The sub issue dealt with here is lack of socialmingling.Story telling enables us to convey feelings, emotions andaspects of ourselves, others and the world’s, real orimaginative, through the language of words. Stories arepowerful tools for interaction. They help us to imagine theexperiences of the story tellers as well as to consider howwe would think and act if faced with similar situations.They facilitate empathy and purgation of emotions.The unit On Telling a Tale consists of a fable, a short storyand a narrative poem. The fable, ‘The Mice that Set theElephants Free’ is taken from the Panchatantra talestranslated from Sanskrit by Arthur. W. Ryder. It focuseson the theme of mutual understanding and tells us the needfor considering others. It also reminds one about theimportance of friendship and mutual help. After all, a friendin need is a friend indeed.Saki’s ‘The Story Teller’ showcases the fact that story tellingis an art. Two different stories come within the main storyand all these together depict the beauty of the craft of storytelling.John Hay’s poem ‘The Enchanted Shirt’ tells us about thefate of a king who was irresponsible to his subjects. Thisnarrative poem also highlights the necessity of socialmingling The tale of a king who is sick and the strangecure prescribed for treating him are beautifully conveyedin verses.To familiarise students with similar pieces in literature,the short story, ‘I can’t Climb Trees Any More’ by RuskinBond and another narrative poem ‘Matilda’ by Hilaire Bellochave been included in the extended reading section of thisunit.

Unit 2On Telling a Tale


Issue : Lack of cohesive universal vision

Sub Issue : • Not realising the importance of social mingling.• Should I live for myself and my family alone?

Learning Objectives :•To read and analyse literary texts and toidentify the theme.

• To read and enjoy simple poems.• To construct various discourses like dialogues,

poems, narratives, slogans, letter, reports etc.• To realise the concept of universal brotherhood.• To create awareness on social responsibility

among citizens.• To think critically and take one’s own

stand regarding issues realated to social mingling.

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Module 1The Mice that Set the Elephants Free

You may ask the following question tointroduce the unit:

• Have you ever been tempted to reada book by its front cover?

• What will it convey to you?

Elicit random responses.

Ask the learners to take a look at the frontcover of the books given in the Coursebook.

You may ask a few questions more alongwith those given in the course book.

• How many of you like to read books?

• What made you pick up a book andread on?

Ask children to sit in groups.

Introduce a few books to the groups suchas:

An Anthology of poems

An Anthology of Short Stories

A collection of Essays

An Autobiography

A Novel

Distribute a book each to the groups andask each group to say a few sentencesabout the genre and content of the bookthey have at hand. (Allow two to threeminutes)

To help them answer you may ask thefollowing questions.

• What type of book is this? (novel,poetry etc.)

• What type of books do you like toread?


Now, ask the learners to read the fable‘The Mice that Set the Elephants Free’

Individual reading – (4-5 minutes)

Pupils mark , ? and ! in pencil whilethey read to keep track of their reading.

After reading let them fill in the selfassessment sheet on reading. (Page -78)

Let them sit in group (5- 8 members)

Let each member in a group share whatthey understood, what they didn’tunderstand and what they foundinteresting/surprising.

If there are words/expressions they didn’tunderstand let them refer the glossary.

If still a group couldn’t understandcertain area let them tell about it to you.

Megaphone their doubts to other groups.

If no group can clarify it you can scaffoldthem by asking simple questions to clarifythat area.

Remind the learners to choose words fortheir personal word list to be recorded onpage 80.


Module 2Now ask the questions given in the marginone by one.

Let every learner think about the answerof each question.

Ask a few learners to share their ideas.

If the question is just to record a simpleresponse let the learners scribble it in themargin itself with a pencils (like the firstfour questions here)

Let them present it at random.


• What remedy would the mice thinkof?

Let the learners predict the answer andask them to check whether theypredicted right after reading the nextparagraph of the story.

The second question to rearrange theword order of a sentence for bringingin variety may need more clarification.

Adverbs and Adverbials are wordsthat tell us more about a verb. It tellsabout the manner of action (e.g.neatly), the place of action (e.g. at thetown hall) and the time of action (e.g.yesterday). They can be classified asfront position, mid position and endposition adverbs and adverbials.

e.g. 1) Unfortunately it happened so.(Front position)

2) She always comes late. (Midposition)

3) He spoke loudly. (End position)

But to bring variety in writing, writersoften bring end position adverbs andadverbials to the front of sentences. Letus look at the following sentences:

a) The girl entered the roomunexpectedly.

b) A sage sat at the top of the hill.

c) She kept a broad smile in order tolook cheerful.

Now identify the differences brought inthe sentences when the adverbs/adverbialsare brought to the front of the sentence.

a) Unexpectedly, the girl entered theroom.

b) At the top of the hill, sat a sage.

c) In order to look cheerful, she kept abroad smile.

You may also ask:

* What is the effect of using differenttypes of sentences in a story?

Elicit responses.

* ‘We have no means of deliveranceexcept those mice.’ Why did theelephant king think so?

• The elephant king remembered howhad once saved the mice.


* What message do the concludinglines convey?

The lines remind us of the value offriendship and mutual dependence.

* What are the major events in thefable?

You can ask the students to recall theevents in the fable they have read andfill up the table to have a flowchart ofevents ready at hand.

2. The elephant king and retinuemarched through the mousecommunity.

3. The mice held a meeting to solve theissue.

4. The mice went to the elephant kingto request to take another path.

5 The elephant king and retinue werecaught in a trap.

Module 3Process of Writing a Modern Fable

Present the main events of a fable in theclass to give an idea to the learners on howto fix events of a story.

Here’s an example:• A rich man applies pesticides in hisfield.• A poor man’s hens are killed.• Poor man approaches the rich manfor help.

• Rich man feels sorry and helps thepoor man.• Poor man leaves the village.• Rich man looses all his property in aflood.• The once poor man is leading aprosperous life in the neighbouringvillage.• He comes to know of the rich man’sfate and helps him.There are eight events in this story. Likethis, fix the events of a story and asklearners to blow up at least the first eventindividually. When blowing up the eventslet them:

• Fix the other characters individually

• Attribute certain qualities to thesecharacters (like rich/poor, strong/weak, literate/illiterate, child/adultetc.)• Fix a location.• Where is the place?(a village, town,forest, hill station, school, house etc)• Who else are there in that place?• What are they saying?• What are they doing?• How are the surroundings like?(windy, snowy, rainy, sunny etc)• What is happening there?• How does it happen?• Who are involved in the event?• Are they facing any problem?• Are they able to solve the problem?


Now, let the learners sit in groups andeach group can blow up other events. Askgroups to present the story and edit itthematically to avoid overlaps anddeviations.

Let the story be edited syntactically andmorphologically.

Assess the story using the followingcheck list:

Good opening

Fascinating details

Building up suspense

Strong endings

Language & style

Module 4THE STORY TELLER

To understand more about the craft ofstory writing and telling let’s read thestory’ The Story Teller’ by Saki .

Ask the learners to read the first part ofthe story, The Story Teller (Para 1 – 5)individually. (5-6 minutes)

Process reading as suggested with thereading of the fable.

Hints for the scaffolding questions

• Who are the characters and what aretheir attributes?

Bachelor: Sits with a frown on his face

The boy: innocent/curious/ irritating

• The thoughts of the bachelor

You may ask the following questionswhen processing the thoughts:

• What is his role in the story?

• What are his thoughts about theaunt?

• What are his thoughts about thechildren?

• What would be his answers to thequestions of the boy?

Let the learners write the thoughts of thebachelor individually.

Ask them to fill in self assessment checkliston diary on page 79.

Here are a few samples emerged in the tryout done on writing the thoughts of thebachelor.

A. What a lady! Even now she doesn’tknow how to manage the little children.Can’t she give some more reasonableanswers to the boy’s questions? It’sfunny watching how miserably she failsin answering those silly questions. Hmm….But these children are quite interesting;especially the little boy. I really enjoyhis attitude.

B. I am fed up with this lady. Why isshe shouting like this at the children?There is nothing other than ‘Don’t’ in herremarks. Oh, this boy smacking thecushions of the seat will make me sneezenow. But it is nice to see this horriblelady in trouble. She is going to have atough time with these naughty kids.


You may present anyone of the samplesas ‘Teacher’s Version’ on the bachelor’sthought.

Module 5Ask the learners to attempt thevocabulary activities 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7given on pages 61 and 62. (You may givenecessary scaffolding like providingdictionaries and other referencematerials)

Individual attempt

Sharing in group

Refinement

Random presentation

Module 6Reading Para 6 – 9 (5-6 minutes)

You may ask the following interactionquestions:

* Can you suggest a way to manage therestless children in the train?

* If you were in the aunt’s position,what would you do?

Process reading as suggested with thereading of earlier paragraphs.


• Why did the aunt adopt a lowconfidential voice for narrating thestory?

She was not that confident aboutherself.

• How did the writer hint at thepresence of the bachelor when the storytelling was on?

Notice the sentence ‘It was exactly thequestion that the bachelor wanted toask.’

• The likely conversation between theaunt and the bachelor.

Process

Ask learners to pair with the one sittingnext to them. Let them assume the rolesof the aunt and the bachelor.


• What would be the aunt’s reply to thebachelor’s statement?

• How would the bachelor react to herreply?

• Will she have a proper justification forher comment? If so, what would it be?

Remind the learners to use appropriatetags, contracted forms and discoursemarkers in their conversation.

Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklist on conversation on page 78.

Here are two samples emerged intryouts.


Sample 1

Bachelor - I do not agree with you.

Aunt - Why?

B - Because I think it is easyto tell stories.

A - Have you ever told storiesto children?

B - No. But I am sure. I can doit.

A - Then you tell one story tothese children.

B - I do not agree with you.

Sample 2

Aunt - May I know why? But youknow these children arevery difficult to deal with.

Bachelor - Well, I think it’s easy. Youhave not yet learned tomanage young ones, haveyou?

A - See, It’s very easy topreach, but very difficultto put into practice.

B - You can very well arousecuriosity in them, can’t you?

A - You think this will workwith these naughtychildren, don’t you?

Compare the above conversations tounderstand how tags, contracted formsand discourse markers are used effectively.

You can refer to Activity 5 on page 62 toprovide more such samples of contractedforms.

Module 7Let the learners read the remaining partof the story (para10-18)

Process reading as mentioned in otherreading tasks.

You may have to allow more time forreading here. (8-10 minutes)

Tips for scaffolding questions

• ‘…all stories seemed dreadfully alike.’Why?

Ask learners about the stories they haveheard in their childhood.

What is common in all those stories?

Elicit various beginnings and endings ofthe stories they have heard.

(Once upon a time, Long, long ago…)

(They lived happily ever after etc.)

Expressions similar to ‘horribly good’(Oxymoron). See glossary for more detailson oxymoron.• Awfully beautiful• Terribly handsome• Loud silence• Warm winter• Bright darkness• Cruel innocence• Kind brutality


Module 8

Revisiting paragraphs 12-15

• Let the learners respond at random

to the question on Bertha’s act of

pinning all her medals on her dress.

She may be proud/ haughty/or she

just wanted to show off.

• Why the question about the sheep in

the park sounds funny?

The boy asks this question almost like

a refrain.

• Why did the aunt begin to admire the

bachelor?

The bachelor could silence the children

to a great extent with his clever

answers.

• What effect does the clinking of the

medals have on Bertha?

It reminded her of her abilities and it

was reassuring for her.

Ask the learners to attempt Activity-3

and 8 given on page-61 and 62. You may

provide them with dictionaries and other

reference materials to help them.

Module 9

Revisiting paragraphs 16-18

• Let the learners pick out the words/expressions that describe thecharacteristics of the wolf.

enormous/furious/prowling etc.

• What effect does the clinking of themedals bring in here?

The clinking here brought in a sharpcontrast to the reassuring clinking ofthe medals mentioned earlier. Thisclinking itself resulted in her beingexposed to the wolf and herconsequent death.

• ‘Were any of the kids killed?’ Whowould have raised this question?

It would have been raised by none otherthan Cyril.• The impact of nature in adding to thebeauty of the story.The scenic beauty of the setting isportrayed in vivid description inparagraph 15 and 16. Ask the learnersto revisit the paragraphs and locatesuch expressions.• An analysis of the aunt’s story andthe bachelor’s story.Let the learners fix the events of thebachelor’s story on their own.


Module 10Let’s write a story

Let the learners go through the responsesof two readers.

Ask the learners to decide whether torefine Aunt’s story or change the endingof the bachelor’s story.

Recall the endings of the two stories andshare the impact of these different endingson them.

• Whether it pleases them

• Whether it upsets them

• Whether it angers them

• Whether it saddens them

• Which in their opinion is the mosteffective ending?

• The reason for their choice

Ask learners to fix the other events ofaunt’s story in case they opt to refine it.

You may adopt the method used whilemaking them write the fable.

The following questions can be asked tohelp them.

Aunt’s story Bachelor’s story

good girl good girl (Bertha)

Characters bull wolf

the prince

Characterisation not much….. vivid and lively descriptions

Setting no specific…… the setting of the story is ina park.

Dialogue no dialogue at all dialogue and thoughts ofcharacters usedmeaningfully.

Events not properly sequenced it has a proper beginningmiddle and end


* Where does the event take place?

* Who are the characters involved?

* What are they talking and thinkingabout?

* What kind of sensory experience dothey have? (What they see, hear,smell……)

The first event can be blown up through awhole class discussion and the remainingevents can be assigned to themindividually.

Let the learners fill in self assessmentchecklist on narrative/story on page 78.

Let them be in groups and refine what theyhave written.

Random presentation

Editing

Module 11I CAN’T CLIMB TREES ANYMORE

Now you may direct the learners to readRuskin Bond’s story, ‘I can’t Climb TreesAnymore’ given in the extended readingsection (Page 63)

Process reading the initial part of thestory (He stood on the …… A sweet,rather heavy fragrance drenched thegarden.)

Let the learners read the remaining partof the story at home.

Let them write the answers of scaffoldingquestions individually.

Let the learners share in groups what theyhave written.

Refinement in groups.

Tips for scaffolding questions:

• Are you blessed with trees at home?

Yes/No

• Why is it a blessing?

Refreshing shade/provides comfort/provides fruits etc.

• Compare the description of the girlin this story with that of the wolf inSaki’s story.

Girl – of twelve or thirteen years/slimand dark/lively eyes/ long black hair.

Wolf – mud colour/pale grey eyes/black tongue/enormous, furious.

• What stopped the narrator frommaking a witty comment? Why?

He didn’t want to spoil the friendlyrelationship with the girl.

He was afraid that the comment wouldhurt the girl.

• ‘…feeling young today.’ Why does hefeel so?

the company of the young girl/nostalgic mood created by the visit tohis old house.

• ‘My parents won’t mind.’ Why doesthe girl say so?


This direct statement by the girl isactually an attempt to pull the oldman’s legs.

She is confident that her actions willnot be questioned by her parents.

• If you were in his place, what all‘valuable’ things would you leave inthat hollow for safe keeping?


Broken bangles/ marbles/ brokentoys/ used up pens/ coins/ buttons etc.

• ‘I can’t climb trees anymore.’ Why didhe say so?

He is sad so as he cannot be the sameyoung man any longer. / His wistfulthoughts about his younger days madehim say so.

• Why did he gift the Iron Cross to thegirl?

As a souvenir of their love. /The ironcross is not valuable for him now. / Itmay be valuable for a girl of that age./He hadn’t come for the cross. Hisintention was to relive some momentsat his old home. /If she hadn’t beenthere, he wouldn’t have got that ironcross.

• ‘It was my youth.’ What does he meanby this?

He longed to live in youthfulness. Hisfriendship with the girl, her attempt atgetting the cross etc. had rekindledyouthful zest in him.

• ‘Dark dancing eyes, melon sweet lips,lissome limbs ….’ Who do these wordsdescribe?

The old man during his youthful days.

• What in your opinion is the theme ofthe story?

The story highlights the importance ofchildhood days in shaping thecharacter of a person

• Characteristics of the youth:

Dark dancing eyes /swift and sweet oflimbs /melon sweet lips /lively eyes

Module 12The Enchanted Shirt

Display charts containing the followingnarrative poems.

Ask learners to read the extracts and elicitthe features of a story from them.

A. I went into the wood one day

And there I walked and lost my way

When it was so dark I could not see.

A little creature came to me

He said if I would sing a song

The time would not be long

But first I must let him hold my handtight

Or else the wood would give me afright


I sang a song, he let me go.

But not I am home again there isnobody I know-

B. ‘Is there anybody there’, said thetraveller knocking on the moonlit door,

And the horse in the silence champedthe grasses of the forest’s ferny floor.

C. It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom youmay know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

Now ask the learners

* What are these poems about? (theme)

* Who are the characters?

* When and where did the action takeplace? (location)

* Who is the speaker?

* Which one appeals you the most?(interesting)


Lead the learners to the poem ‘TheEnchanted Shirt’ by John Hay.

Note:

Narrative poems tell a story. They werepopular during the 1800s. Most of themare about extra ordinary events in thelives of ordinary people. Death, love,

crime, loss and ruin are very commonthemes of these types of poems. Whentales are told as poems, rhythm and therhyme make it easier to remember.Such poems are called Ballads. Theytell stories in song.

Process

You may read the poem aloud two or threetimes. (Line 1-28).

Let the learners read the poemindividually and keep track of theirreading.

Ask the learners to be in groups and sharewhat they understood, what they didn’tunderstand and what they foundinteresting and surprising.

Let them refer the glossary if needed

If still one group has problems inunderstanding the poem megaphone theirdoubts to the other groups.

You may explain the problem areas whichno group can effectively tackle.

Ask the scaffolding questions to the wholeclass.

Let each learner think of the answer.

Let them scribble the answers in the spaceprovided in the text itself.

Allow two or three learners to presenttheir answers.

If there are questions for which no one canfind an answer let them sit in groups andthink.


You may interact with the groups askingsimple interaction questions to channelisetheir thoughts.


• Was the king really sick? Why?

No. His red cheeks and clear eyes referto his healthy state.

• Pick out the elements of humour inlines 13 to 16.

The lines portray a typical doctor whocraves for money alone.

The poet also ridicules the inhumansociety around us. In comparison withthe other doctor, he mints money outof every misdeed.

• List down some words associatedwith king and his rule

august chest/ royal tongue/ royal rageetc.

Module 13Read the remaining part of the ballad (line29-60).

Process reading as suggested earlier.


• List down the different reasons for theunhappiness of the people.

The rich were unhappy thinking thatthey were poor.

The poor were unhappy because of theywanted to be rich.

Men wanted to be like women and viceversa.

• Who of these two captures more ofyour sympathy?

• Let the learners freely react to thisquestion.

• Which words describe the happinessof the beggar?

blithe, gay, laughed, roared with funetc.

• Why is the beggar a happy person?

He doesn’t have any desire/ no bondsto be bothered about etc.

Module 14Read the remaining part of the ballad. (line61-72)

Process reading.

Hints for processing scaffoldingquestions:

• Why was the king ashamed ofhimself?

None of his subjects were happy.

As a king, he was a failure.

• What does the poem convey to us?

Those who lead self centred lives neverbother to think of others and have afeeling that their silly problems are thegreatest problems of the world. Butonce they come out of their shells they


realise that there are many who suffergreater problems than them.

• The King was not really sick. But therewas a sickness within him. What wasit?

His self-centredness was his sickness.

• Was the remedy prescribed by thedoctor effective in curing the king’ssickness? Explain.

A new insight came to him. Thedoctor’s intention was to make himrealise the truth that there was no onein this world who was fully happy.

• The poem is divided into threesections. Why?

Each section stands as a completewhole and can be seen as threedifferent scenes of the story.

• Rhyming words

bright-night, score-more, rat-fat,trouble-double, gale-pale etc.

• Rhyme scheme

abcb abcb

Module 15Now lead the learners to anothernarrative poem Matilda, by Hilarie Bellocin the extended reading part (page 69).

Let them follow the process of reading asmentioned earlier.

Ask them to attempt the questions givenbeside the text.

Hints for scaffolding the questions

• Matilda’s weakness

telling lies.

• The lie she told to the fire brigade

Her house was in fire.

• What made people think that herhouse was on fire?

The arrival of the gallant band of thefire brigade

• The effect of her lie

Matilda’s aunt had to pay the firebrigade unnecessarily

• Did she deserve such a punishment?


• Why were the people not ready tohelp her this time?

Effect of her earlier lie.

• The message of the poem

Don’t lie to others unnecessarily.

• Similarity of the poem with a fable

The poem reminds us of the fable of theshepherd boy calling out “Wolf, wolf!”


Module 16Now that you are familiar with thetechniques of writing stories, why don’tyou change any of these two narrativepoems into a story for your Anthologyof stories?

• Help them go through the process ofstory writing.

• Let them fix events and blow them up.

• Let them write the stories individuallyand then refine it in groups.

• Select the best from the groups andpresent it in the class.

• The learners may be asked to design afront cover for their Anthology

• All the fables and stories they havewritten should be word processed orneatly written after proper proofreadingand let them be compiled as an Anthologyof Stories.

• Let each learner name his/her ownanthology.

• Let them also prepare a preface for theirAnthology.

• A blurb for the book can also beattempted.

• Let them also prepare a notice and posterannouncing the release of their book.

• A function can be held in the class forthe release of the books.

• Let the different groups prepare awelcome speech, presidential address andvote of thanks for the function.

Module 17Activity 1 – EditingProcess

• Ask the learners to read the wholepassage once.

Process

Let the learners identify errors inpunctuation first. (E.g. kings council-king’s council)

You may ask the following questions:

• Is there a punctuation mark missing?

• Are any of the punctuation markswrongly placed?

Next, ask them to identify errors in syntax– additional words/missing words/ wrongword order. (E.g. others show off - othersto show off)


• Do you find any additional words inany of the sentences?

• Are there any words missing here?Which is it?

• Are all the words of the sentences inthe proper order?

Then call their attention to errors inmorphology – tense / inflection/agreement/ (E.g. keep- kept ).


• Do you think the word used here isappropriate?


• Do you want to change it?

• Which word will you use here?

Hints for editing

Keeps - Morphological error – kept

others show off - Missing word(syntactical error) – others to show off

goes – Morphological error - went

kings council – error in punctuation -king’s council

him the river - Missing word(syntactical error) - him across the river

in Pandit - Missing word (syntacticalerror) - in the Pandit

boatmans – error in punctuation - boatman’s

knows – Morphological error – knew

didn’t knew- Morphological error -didn’t know

is – Morphological error - was

slow – Morphological error - slowly

to spoiled - Missing word (syntacticalerror) - to be spoiled

is goes to – Morphological error - isgoing to

swam – Morphological error -swimming

Module 18Activity 2

Here the discourse level editing isaddressed.

You may make use of the questions givenalong with activity 2

Let the learners attempt the discourse levelediting individually first.

Make them sit in groups and you mayinteract with the groups by asking thefollowing questions.

• How does the story begin? Is that aproper beginning?

(Once there lived a learned man in avillage. / In a small village by the riverthere lived a learned man once. /……………………)

• What are the major events of thestory?

(The Pundit’s journey by a boat.

He shows off his knowledge before theboatman

The boatman notices a hole in the boat.

He asks whether the Pundit knowsswimming.

The Pundit’s final realisation)

• Are all the events properly blown up?

(Take the first event, the Pundit’sjourney by boat. Here sentences jumpfrom one to the other.


Some actions must have happenedbetween the two sentences …he had tocross a deep river and an illiterateboatman ferried him…

What may have happened? The Punditmust have looked around. The flowingof the river may have evoked certainthoughts in the mind of the Pundit.Then he may have called out, ‘Hoi… isthere any one to help me cross theriver?’ Ask learners to add such detailsalso in the story.)

• Like this let the learners analyse thestory sentence by sentence.

• Ask them to identify areas where theycan use dialogue in the story. (E.g. ThePundit asked the boatman whether heknew anthropology or ornithology. Itwould be better if the sentence iswritten in direct speech, ‘Do you knowanthropology or ornithology?’ thePundit asked proudly.

• Let the groups refine the story like thisand justify the changes they have made.

Activity 3

Let the learners react to the questionsgiven in the text.

You may also ask questions like:

• What do the words like man, village,beard, mark etc. refer to?

• Are they names of anything?

• Can you count them as one, two,three…?

• Are all the bold italicised words in thestory countable? (E.g. knowledge)

• How do you express the word villagewhen you want to show more thanone?

• How do you express the word manwhen you want to show more thanone?

• What does the …’s in boatman’s darkthin face show? More than one? Orsomething else?

• What are the positions where thesewords appear in the sentence?

(It appears both in the first part of thesentence that talks about someone orsomething and in the second part of thesentence that deals with an action, astate or a condition of or about the firstpart.

E.g. A learned man lived in a village.In this sentence, the word man is in thefirst part that talks about someone andthe word village is in the second partof the sentence.)

Activity 4

Let the learners list the words just beforethe bold italicised words in the story.

Let them classify these words asmentioned in the text.


Ask them, who is the he in the sentence;He kept a long black beard.

Show them more examples in which thenouns are substituted by pronouns.

Activity 5

I. Ask the learners to identify the nounsin the passage.

Ask the learners to identify the nounspreceded by words like a, an and the. (E.g.the park)

Let them identify nouns in the passagepreceded by qualifying words/number/quantity/(E.g. delightful things, threemedals )

Let them identify the pronouns I and it inthe passage and understand that Berthais substituted by I and wolf by it.

II. Let the learners revisit the story inactivity 1 and identify the errors relatedto nouns. (E.g. Kings council, him theriver, in Pundit etc.)

Module 19Activity 6

Ask the learners to read the passage withspecial focus on the italicised words.


• What do these words indicate?

• Are they the names of a person/place/thing?

• Where do they appear in a sentence?

• Which words come immediately afterthese words?

• Which words precedes them?

• What are the other forms of thesewords?

• What do these forms indicate?

After consolidating the points you maylead the learners to Activity 7.

For this let them revisit the story inactivity 1 and identify adjectives.(learned, long, great etc.)


Unit 3

AS WE SOW SO SHALL WE REAP

This unit is conceived on the basis of the issue domainslack of eco-friendly industrialization and urbanization andlack of scientific land-water management. The sub issuetaken up here is the total imbalance in nature and pollutionof land, water and air and the issue of inability to realisethe need for leading a life in harmony with nature.The learners are expected to acquire concepts related tothe need to protect environment and to prevent its overexploitation. They also learn that man should live inharmony with his surroundings. The unit comprises of apoem ‘The River’ by C.A.Bowles and a memoir ‘In SearchOur Mothers’ Gardens’ by Alice Walker. In the extendedreading section of this unit the poem ‘River’ by ShuntaroTanikawa and the abridged version of the novel ‘Gulliver’sTravels’ by Jonathan Swift are included.

Attitudes and values like man as a part of nature, and ecofriendly and sustainable development should be promotedand inculcated through the transaction of discourses likepoem, letter, speech, story, paragraph writing, captionwriting, wall magazine, poster and notice.


Issue Domain : •Lack of eco-friendly urbanization andindustrialisation•Lack of scientific land-water management

Sub Issue : •Total imbalance in nature and pollution of land,water and air.•Inability to realise the need for leading a life inharmony with nature.

Learning Objectives •To enable the pupils to develop eco-friendlyattitude for sustainable development.•To enable the pupils to develop variousdiscourses in language.•To enjoy pieces of literature like poems, memoirs,articles etc.•To think critically and take one’s own standregarding issues realated to development andland-water management.

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Module1The River

Note:

The poems of Caroline Ann Bowles arefull of gentle meditation over transientthings of nature. There is a genuinewomanly quality in her poems, full oftenderness and subtle observation. Herpoems have the charm of delicateinsights, natural simplicity, tellingphrases and sweet cadence.

The river, in all its glory, is a dynamicand vital symbol of nature. The poemhas philosophical undertones also. Theflow of the river shows the journey oflife to eternity. The different stages oflife are brought in through the imageryused in the poem.

Process

You may write down these lines on theblackboard or on a strip of chart paper.

For men may come and men maygo also

But I go on forever.

Let the learners share their impression ofthese lines individually.

You may ask the following questions.

* Who is the speaker of the above lines?A man? Or something else?

* What does the expression ‘go onforever’ suggest?

Elicit random responses from the learners.

Now, present the following lines.

I Spring from the mountains

I rush through the woods

I play with the pebbles

I move without troubles

Till...............................................

I reach the deep blue lap.

WHO AM I?

* Ask the learners to find out the speakerof these lines.

Elicit free responses from the learners.

You may interact freely with them on thebasis of the following questions.

* Who is the ‘I’ in these lines?

* What is the deep blue lap mentionedin the poem?

Now, generate a discussion in the classbased on the picture in the Coursebook.


* Have you ever been to a river bank?

* What do you find on either side of theriver?

*

*

Put the learners in pairs and let them workon the questions given below the picture.

Elicit random responses from pairs.


Now you may read the poem ‘The River’aloud two or three times.

Ask the learners to read the poemindividually.

Let them fill in the self assessment checklist on reading on page 105.

Then you may ask them the followingquestions:

* What is the poem about?

* Is it about the river or the flow of theriver?

* What are the changes you find in theflow of the river from the beginning tothe end?

Ask the learners to note down pointsindividually.

Random presentation of the ideasgenerated.

Ask the learners to read the poem againand share the ideas in groups.


Make sure that you are not supplyingthese ideas, but eliciting these ideas byasking probing questions if necessary.

• Is the river like a child? Why?

The river like a child is bright andsparkling on its way. It dances like achild.

• Why does the poet call it a ‘swellingriver’?

The river is said to be swelling becauseit grows up in its course.

• ‘Seeming still, yet still in motion’ Whatdoes the word ‘still’ mean in eithercase?

The word ‘still’ in the 3rd stanza has twomeanings. It refers to both theapparent stillness (motionless state) ofthe river and its continuing motion.

• How does the sea remind you ofeternity?

Sea is endless; we do not know whereit begins from, and where it would end.

• What do the river and the sea remindthe poet of?

The river reminds the poet of thetransient human life and the seareminds him of the infinite time.

Module 2Provide the learners with the followingformat.

The striking words in the poem...............

..................................................................

The thing I like about those words

..................................................................

They make me think of............................

I think the poet uses them to referto..................................................................................


Make the learners complete the statementsindividually.



• Ask the learners to identify those wordswhich show the movement of the river.These words are to be classified then intofast (F) and slow (S).

• Ask the learners to fill in the box on page83 individually.

• Ask the learners to share their findingsin groups.

• Let the groups present their findings.

• Which of these words rhyme?

dancing-glancing, swelling-brawling,leaping-sweeping

• What effect do they create in thepoem?

These words suggest the sounds of theflowing river and add to the musicalquality of the poem.

• What are the word pictures used inthe poem? How do they add to thebeauty of the poem?

Bright you sparkle on your way/ overthe yellow pebbles dancing/ throughthe flowers and foliage glancing/swelling river etc. These word picturescreate a beautiful picture of a river andthe reader has the feeling that he issitting by the bank of a river.

• Read the following comparisons.

‘She skims like a bird.’ ‘Her face shinesas the moon in the sky.’

Pick out similar expressions from thepoem ‘The River.’ Say why the poet hasmade these comparisons. What wouldyou compare them with?

Like a child at play. / Like impetuousyouth. / Just like mortal prime. / Likeeternity.

These are the four stages of human life.The poet equates the flow of the riverwith human life by these comparisons.

• Let the learners come out with theirown comparisons of the river. (Like abusy bee.)

• Lead the learners to the table on page84

• Let them fill in the table individuallyfirst and discuss their answers ingroups.

* What does the last line of each stanzasay about the river? Do the river andits movement suggest something else toyou?

Like a child at play. / Like impetuousyouth. / Just like mortal prime. / Likeeternity.

These are the four stages of human life.The poet equates the flow of the riverwith human life by these comparisons.


• Attempt an appreciation of the poemcomparing and contrasting yourexperience of a river with that of the poet.

You may ask the following questions whileprocessing the appreciation.

* Have you ever watched a riverflowing?

* Where does the river originate?

* What is its course?

* What sounds you noticed while itflows?

* How fast does the river flow?

* Where does it meet the sea?

* How fast is it then?

* What feeling does the river evoke inyou?

• Let the learners attempt the appreciationindividually.

• Let them fill in the self assessmentchecklist on write up/paragraph on page105.

• Let them sit in groups and refine whatthey have written.

Random presentation

Editing

Module 3Deriving multiple interpretation of thepoem helps for better appreciation of apoem. The learners need only be

sensitised about the images, figures ofspeech and rhyme scheme at this level.An appreciation note involving allthese aspects of the poetic craft needbe attempted only at the higher levels.

You may ask the following questions toyour learners.

* What is the most striking feature of ariver?

(It flows or moves)

* Can we compare things that flow ormove with a river?

If so, what are the other things thatmove or flow?

(Wind/waves)

* Are there things that move not in aphysical sense but in a metaphoricalsense?

(life/dream/thoughts/emotions/feelings)

You may write these possible ideas on theblackboard.

• Group the class on the basis of theseadditional themes (life/thoughts/dream/wind….)

• Ask the learners to revisit the poem ‘TheRiver’ keeping in mind these possibilities.

• Is the little dream like a child?

• Let the learners share their ideas ingroups and reinterpret the poem on thebasis of different themes.


• Let the groups prepare a write up basedon the theme they have got.

Presentation by groups

Editing

Module 4• Now lead the class to a discussion on theinfluence of nature on man.


* What do you feel like in a moonlitnight?

* Do you have the same feeling on adark night too?

* How many of you have ever spentyour time on a sea shore/ on a riverbank?

* Does it influence your mood?

……………………………..?

……………………………..?

* Do you think writers are moresensitive towards these things?

* Can you cite examples from yourmother tongue?

Lead the learners to the poem ‘River’ byShuntaro Tanikawa given in the extendedreading section of the unit on page 91.

Note:

Shuntaro Tanikawa is one of the mostwidely read and highly regarded ofliving Japanese poets, both in Japan

and abroad. Several of his collectionshave been translated into English.“Floating the River in Melancholy’ wonthe American Book Award in 1989.Fruitful and diverse, he has writtenmore than sixty books of poetry.Moving away from the traditionalhaiku, he has experimented with freeverse looking for new metres andrhythms. He has also been nominatedfor the 2008 Hans Christian AndersonAward for his contributions tochildren’s literature. His works areoften described as the interfacebetween East and West.

Process

• Let the learners read the poemindividually and try to answer thescaffolding questions.

• Ask them to sit in groups and share whatthey have understood.

• Help them if they have problems inunderstanding the poem.

• Ask the learners to read the poem ‘River‘in the extended reading and fill in theboxes given below individually.

* The poem is written by ………………

* It is about……………………

* The central idea/s conveyed by thepoet………………..

* The poem appeals to the sense/s of……………………..


* The rhyming words are…………………………

* I feel the poem ‘River’ makes me thinkof ……………………..

• Now ask them to attempt the twoscaffolding questions given along with thepoem.

• Let them attempt to answer themindividually

Their ideas could be noted down in thespace provided in the Coursebook.

• Now lead them to compare this poem withthe poem ‘The River’ by C.A. Bowles.

The River River

• theme• otherinterpretations• word pictures• rhyme

• message

• After the individual attempt the learnerssit in groups and share their ideas.

• Let them develop the ideas into a writeup as a home assignment.

• Ask one or two learners to present whatthey have written.

• Ask the class whether there are somepoints to be added to the write-up.

• Ask the learners to sit in groups andrefine their products.

Presentation of group products

Editing

• You may ask the learners to collect poemson nature in English and other languages.

The collection of poems should not be anisolated exercise. It is for creating a poolof extended reading texts which is to beshared in the whole class. You mayintervene and help the learners with theircollection and sharing of poems.

Let the learners prepare a page like the oneshown below along with every poem theycollect.

* Name of the poem…………

* Name of the poet…………

* Theme of the poem…………

* I love this poem because…………

*

Module 5In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens

Note

Alice Malsenior Walker (bornFebruary 9, 1944) is an Americanauthor, a self-declared feminist andwomanist—the latter a term she herselfcoined to make special distinction forthe experiences of women of color. Arenowned author, poet and activist,Alice Walker is perhaps best known forher book ‘The Color Purple’ for which


she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Shewas the first African-American womanto win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Shehas written at length on issues of raceand gender. Her works are known fortheir portrayals of the AfricanAmerican woman’s life. She depictsvividly the racism and poverty thatmake their life often a struggle. But shealso portrays as part of that life, thestrengths of family, community, self-worth, and spirituality.

Alice Walker continues not only towrite, but to be active in environmental,feminist/womanist causes, and issuesof economic justice.

‘In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens’ isa memoir by Alice Walker. There is astory of hard work and sacrifice behindthe success of every family. In thememoir we find how Walker’s mothera black lady without much education,lived in communion with nature. Hercreative spirit was vibrant even in themidst of the hard challenges of racialdiscrimination and poverty. Shealways toiled very hard in the soil tobring up beautiful gardens. ‘OverWorked’ is a striking phrase used in thememoir. ‘She laboured beside- notbehind my father in the fields’- givesus the true picture of a woman who putin herself to nourish her family.

It is the picture of a very lively,creative, industrious, hardworking,courageous, self potent mother that thepassage brings out. Guided by herheritage of love and beauty and arespect for strength she was able to besuccessful in life. The lines quoted in theform of a poem pay a glowing tributeto the mother. Alice is indebted to hermother for all that she has achieved inlife. She is sure that the poem is notenough for the woman who literallycovered the holes in their walls withsunflowers.

The memoir is not just a fondremembrance of Alice’s mother. Itcreates sense beyond that. It tells usabout the magic bond betweengenerations of black mothers andnature. Thus the memoir highlights thesocio-cultural background of the blackpeople with a historical accuracy.Besides it gives a clear message ofman’s dependence on nature.

Process

• Let the learners recall the discussionthey have conducted on nature’sinfluence on man.

• Let the learners to read the first partof the memoir, ‘In search of OurMother’s Gardens’ (Para 1-4).

Individual reading

Keep track of their reading


• Let them sit in groups

• Let the learners share what he/sheunderstood, what he/she didn’tunderstand and what he/she foundinteresting/surprising.

• They can refer glossary to comprehendunfamiliar words and expressions.

• If a group still fails to understand certainareas ask them to share it with you.

• Megaphone their doubt to other groups.

• If no group can clarify it you can scaffoldthem by asking simple questions tochannelise their thoughts.

• After reading let them fill in the selfassessment sheet on reading. (Page –105)

• Remind the learners to identify words tobe recorded at the personal wordlist onpage 106.


• List out what Alice Walker’s motherdid during various times. Comparethem with what your parents do.

Let the learners fill in the table on theirown. Ask them what their parents doduring these times. Elicit free responsesfrom the learners.

• ‘She laboured beside- not behind myfather in the fields.’ What does thissuggest?

Walker’s mother was not in anywaybehind her father in working hard for

the survival of the family. The sentencequoted above gives us the true pictureof a woman who put in herself tonourish her family.

Let the learner’s list out some otherthings their parents do for them andtheir family.

• Let the learner’s attempt the tasks onpage 86 on their own.

• Now you may lead the learners toVocabulary Activities1, 2 & 4 on page 90.

You may help them by supplyingdictionaries.

Module 6• Ask the learners to comment on AliceWalker’s mother in the light of the readingand discussions in the previous class.

• Now, the learners read the next part ofthe memoir given in the Coursebook.(Paragraph 5 – 8)

The Poem

Note:-

It is a panegyric (a speech or piece ofwriting that praises someone orsomething) in praise of those womenwho were illiterate but wise, poor butpowerful. They were the femalecounterparts, with flesh and blood, ofthose mythical heroes who couldshoulder any Herculean task, all on


their own. They learned their lessonsdirectly from nature and life, and gavethem as a peerless legacy to theirblessed daughters. Alice Walker’smother is an iconic representative ofwhat we call today as Eco-feminismand Black feminism.

Process

Follow the steps for processing readingsuggested earlier.


• Name the gifts for which Alice Walkerfelt thankful towards her mother.

Let the learners classify the giftsenlisted on page 86 as material giftsand gifts one inherit from one’s parents.Then lead them to the above question.

• Why does the writer say that hermemories of poverty are seen througha screen of blooms?

Walker’s mother was famous as agrower of flowers. Her creativity withflowers and her hard working naturefilled Walker’s homestead with allvariety of flowers even during theperiod of poverty and suffering.

• Now you may lead the learners toVocabulary Activity 3 on page 90.

Module 7Hints for scaffolding questions

• What does the garden stand for? Doesit represent an actual garden orsomething else? (Along with thisquestion you may ask your learners thefirst question on page 89. Why does theauthor select the title ‘In search of ourmothers’ gardens’ what do the words‘search’ and ‘our garden’ imply?)

People like Walker’s mother turn thedry hard soil of this earth into a garden-a garden where the blooms of hard workand toil dance and flutter in the breeze.Without them the earth won’t be aplace fit for living. So the garden is notmerely a garden it represents all thefarmlands of this world where peopletoil and the mother is not merely AliceWalker’s mother but all the motherswho toiled for rearing the family. AliceWalker reminds us that the lives ofsuch mothers are not recordedanywhere in history and she searchesout herself to pay them a fitting tribute.

• Let the learners attempt individuallya brief memoir on any of the qualitiesthey inherit from their mother/ father/grandfather/grandmother etc. Let thelearners write the memoir/narrative in thespace provided in the text on page 89.


Process

Generate a discussion in the class. You mayuse the following questions for thepurpose.

* Who influenced you the most?

* What are the qualities you like inhim/her?

* Are you thankful to him/her for thesequalities?

* Why do you prefer these qualities?

* Have you ever tried to develop thesequalities in you? How?

• Ask them to use paragraph form inwriting. The opening of the paragraphshould present the central idea in anutshell.There should be proper sequencing ofthoughts.The sentences should be linkedproperly.Ideas should be expressed using aptwords and expressions.• Let them fill in self assessment checkliston write up/ paragraph on page 105.Random presentationsRefinement in groupsEditing• Let the learners mark the sentencesquoted on page 88 with (T) and (F). Youmay ask them to quote sentences from thetext to justify their answers.

• Let the learners make out a list some ofcreative/artistic work they can do athome.

• Let the learners write any of the storiestold by their parents/grandparents.

Process the writing of the story assuggested in detail in unit 2.

Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklist on story/ narrative on page 105.

• Now let the learners prepare a speechfor the school assembly on Mother’sDay.

Process

• Let the learners prepare the speechindividually.

• Let them present what they havewritten at random.

• Let them refine the speech in groups.

You may ask the following questions forinteraction with the groups before theyrefine their speeches:

* How will you address the persons onand off the dais?

* How do you feel in addressing thegathering? (happy/proud)

* What is the context of the speech?(Mother’s Day and its significance)

* Why do you think the day must becelebrated?

* Do you know any quotable quotes/great people’s words on Motherhood?


* How will you end your speech?(making an appeal/stating a wish/taking an oath etc.)

• Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklists on speech on page 105.

• Ask the groups to present their speech.

Editing

• Ask the learners to collect poems articlesspeeches and memoirs which celebratemotherhood and compile them as a bookof their own.

Module 8Gulliver’s Travels

Note:

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 –19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irishsatirist, essayist, political pamphleteer(first for Whigs then for the Tories),poet and cleric who became Dean of St.Patrick’s, Dublin.

He is remembered for works such as, AModest Proposal, A Journal to Stella,Drapier’s Letters, The Battle of The Books,An Argument Against AbolishingChristianity, and A Tale of A Tub. Swiftis probably the foremost prose satiristin the English language, and is less wellknown for his poetry. Swift originallypublished all of his works underpseudonyms such as Lemuel Gulliver,Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B Drapier—or

anonymously. He is also known forbeing a master of two styles of satire:the Horatian and Juvenalian style.

Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels in 1726.Gulliver’s Travels was originallyintended as an attack on the hypocrisyof the Govt. Courts and the Clergy, butit was so well written that itimmediately became children’sfavourite.

One of the reasons that the stories aredeeply amusing is that, by combiningreal issues with entirely fantasticsituations and characters, they suggestthat the realities of 18th century Englandwere as fantastic as the situations inwhich Gulliver finds himself.

Process (Reading)

• Let the learners read and enjoy Gulliver’sTravels given in the extended readingsection on page. 92

• Let them read the story individuallykeeping track of their reading.

They needn’t read the entire story in onesitting.

• Let the learners to take natural breakswhile reading the text.


You may ask the following questions toscaffold the learners:


* Who was Gulliver?

* When did he start his first journey?

* What happened on 5th November?

* Where did Gulliver reach?

* What do you know of theLilliputians?

* What did the Emperor do forGulliver?

• Now let the learners note down theimportant events in the story in sequentialorder.


• Let the learners name some of the seavoyagers who reached India in the past.

• The tiny human creatures and theirstrange language made him say so.

• Gulliver’s kindness towards thosewho attacked him impressed theemperor.

Gulliver should neither leave thecountry nor enter the city without priorpermission. He should carrymessengers, warriors and weapons inhis pocket to fight against theirenemies.

The political parties differ on thepractice of breaking the boiled egg.When one party stood for breaking theegg at the smaller end the other partyfavoured on breaking it at the big end.

Let the learners come out with theirown views when answering thequestion whether Swift is mocking allpolitical parties of all times.

Nations wage war against each otheron these types of silly matters.

England always tried to havedomination over Ireland. More overduring the period of colonisation manycountries were brought under Britishrule.

Module 9• You may ask your learners to preparea summary of the story.

Writing a story on a trip to a strangeplace

Process

* Have you ever made a trip to a strangeplace?

* What would happen if you were insuch a totally strange place?

Elicit random responses from the learners.

• Let the learners sit in groups andprepare a narrative on their trip (realor imaginary).

• You may ask the following questionsto help the learners frame their story.

* How did the trip start?

* When and where did it happen?


* Who was at the centre of action?* Who else were involved?* What happened?* How did it happen?* How did the journey end?• The steps to be followed in story writinghave been dealt with in details in Unit II.• The learners have already attempted onein this unit also.

Module 10Apart from the products like stories,speeches etc. prepared and refined bylearners they can also be asked to collectriddles, poems, stories / narratives,pictures with captions, articles, speechesand memoirs which celebrate the themesof Motherhood, Nature , Man –Naturerelationships etc .

• Make them compile these collections intoa Manuscript Magazine.

Publishing a Manuscript Magazine

This unit ensures the publication of abig book containing various productsand collections by the learners.Organize an editorial board for theselection and editing of entries. Letthem also a write a preface for themagazine.

Organizing a releasing ceremony

As a first step you may instruct thelearners to do the following things by

dividing them into groups. Group themin such a way that two groups workson one item (two groups- poster; twogroups-notice; two groups-invitationletter)

Preparing Notice

Initiate a discussion and fix the time,date and venue for the releasingceremony.

* Who will be the chief guest?

* Who are others attending thefuncton?

Process of Notice/Poster writing

Individual writing—sharing in groups-refinement in groups-presentation ingroups

Preparing the Invitation Letter

* How to address the person to whomthe letter is sent?

* How to begin the letter?

* What are the details to be included inthe letter?

* What is the aim of writing the letter?

* How to conclude the letter?

* What are the expressions apt for thepurpose of invitation?

Process of Letter writing

Individual Attempt—presenting ingroups—group refinement—presentation by the groups.


• Now select the best of the two notices,posters and letters prepared in the class.

• Let the learners prepare various kinds ofspeeches for the function

• Let the learners list out different typesof speeches.

• Group the class on the basis of the typesof speeches.

• Let each group find out the salientfeatures of the speeches assigned to them.

(The process of writing the script of speechhas already been dealt with in detailearlier in the unit)

Welcome speech

Address the dais and the audience

Introduce the event/function in one ortwo sentences.

Welcome the president who chairs thefunction.

Welcome the chief guest whoinaugurates/delivers the key noteaddress.

Welcome the dignitaries and otherspeakers.

Welcome the audience

Felicitation

Felicitation is a short speech on theimportance or merits of theprogramme. The speaker offerssupport and expresses wish for thesuccess of the programme.

Vote of thanks

Greet the audience

Address the chair, other dignitaries onthe dais and the audience.

Extend thanks to each and everyonewho is associated with the programme,highlighting their contributions.

Thanks giving to the person whopresides over the function, the chiefguest, other important speakers andthe audience.

The chair person announces that thefunction in over.

Module 11EditingActivity1

• Ask the learners to read the extract fromthe memoir.

Each underlined word or expressionhas an error in it.

Categorize the errors and askimportant questions to address them.

Keep the process of editing suggestedin earlier units.

Hints:

1. goes - went – Morphological error

2. was this school -was in this school– Syntactic error (missing word)

3. year - years – Morphological error


4. sitting - sit – Morphological error

5. boy was - boy who was – Syntactic error (missing word )

6. loudly - loud – Morphological error

7. shook whole building -shook thewhole building – Syntactic error

8. their - its – Morphological error.

9. don’t afraid - don’t be afraid –Syntactic error (missing word)

10. we can - can we – Syntactic error(wrong word order)

Module 12Activity 2

• Let the learners blow up the lastparagraph of the passage.

You may ask the following questions inprocessing the passage:

* Which are the two events describedhere? (Boy falling into a deep ditch andgrandfather rescuing the boy)

* Where did the first event take place?

* When did it happen?

* How did it happen?

* What did he think then?

* Did he say anything then?

* What did he feel/hear/see/smell/taste?

* What happened then?

• Let the learners blow up the eventindividually.

Then let them refine it in groups.

Editing

Activity 3

• Let the learners revisit the passagefocusing on the bold italicised words. (a,this, my, any, the, first, every, all, their,many, those, that, one, some, two)

• Where do these words come in asentence? (in the first part? secondpart? or both?)

• Ask them to identify the words thatimmediately follow these words. (polite,old, elderly, priority, child, the, beliefs,wise, people, river, memorable, ants, hard)

• How many of the words listed aboveare nouns?( priority, child, beliefs,people, river, ants)

• What is the other category of thewords in the list? (words that qualifynouns e.g. polite, old, elderly, the, wise,memorable, hard)

• Now ask the learners to classify the bolditalicised words as the ones indicatingquantity. ( many, all, some, any)

• Let them classify these words again asthe ones appear before countable nounsand the ones appear before both countableand uncountable nouns.

• Ask them to identify words showingorder from the bold italicised words.


• Let them also identify words showingnumber from those words.

• Then let them identify pointers.

• Ask them to identify words indicatingpossession.

(The words with these features arecalled determiners)

Module 13Activity 4

• Let the learners read the first paragraphof the memoir ‘In Search of Our Mothers’Gardens’ given along with this activity.

Ask the learners to pick out wordsindicating quantity, number,possession, order, and the words thatare called pointers. (all, the, my, our,her, many, that)

• Let them classify the words accordingly.

Activity 5

• Let the learners read the passage givingspecial focus to the italicised expressions.

Let them identify the nouns in all theseexpressions.(god, day, greeting, child,grandfather, person, greeting, value,priority, child, traditions, people,childhood, beliefs, paths, grandfather,man, farmer, valley, descendant, people,mountains, river, valley, family)

Now let them list the qualifying wordsbefore these nouns.

Let them pick out and classify the nounsin these qualifying words. ( Halong,river)

Ask them to classify them as adjectives.(good, polite, old, elderly, grown,cultural, old, wise, plain, snowy, large)

Let them classify the pointers (this,these, those, that)

Articles (a, the)

Quantity (any, every, all, many)

Number (-)

Order (first)

Possession (my, their)

• Let them analyse the expressions withmore than one qualifying words suchas:

a good day, this polite greetings, my oldgrandfather, a cultural value, the firstpriority, all these traditions, many wisepaths, a plain man, the Halong river, thatriver valley, a large family

• Ask the learners to list down the firstword in all these expressions. ( a, this,my, a ,the, all, many, a , the, that, a)

• What category do they belong to?(article, pointers, possessives)

The quantifier ‘all’ is used in all thesetraditions as a pre-determiner.


You may consolidate the points:

Articles, pointers and possessivesappear first in the sequence. Only oneword from these three sets can appearat a time. These are followed by wordsdenoting order (if any), words denotingquantity, number (if any), adjectivesand nouns.

Activity 6

• Let the learners replace theexpressions listed along with thisactivity with pronouns (god-he, a goodday-it, this polite greeting-it, a child-it,my old grandfather-he, any elderlygrown person-he/she etc.)

• Let them also find out the pronounsin the passage given along with activity5 and find out the words they stand for.

(I- the writer, their- all the old people’s,he- grandfather)

You may consolidate the points:

The expressions given along with thisactivity are noun phrases.

These groups of words can stand for anoun.

The essential element of a noun phraseis noun.

You can substitute the whole nounphrase with a pronoun.

Activity 7

Let the learners expand the expressionsin activity 6 by inserting more words.

(powerful god, this very polite greeting,a cute little child etc.)


UNIT IV

WITHIN AND WITHOUTThis unit is conceived on the basis of the issue domains lack ofcultural consciousness. The sub issue taken up in this unit isthe need for upholding one’s individuality and culture in anera of hegemony.

The learners are expected to acquire concepts related to one’sindividuality and the individuality of others. They also learnthat there is diversity and variety to human life on earth. Theunit comprises of a cartoon by R. K. Laxman, a story titled‘Harrison Burgeron’ by Kurt Vonnegut and a poem ‘The Bat’by Theodore Roethke. In the extended reading section of thisunit a one act play titled ‘First Manned Flight to Venus’ by JanMinter and a poem by Barbara Mahone titled ‘Sugarfields’are included.

This unit operates making use of creative drama techniques. Itis an attempt to bring the elements of creative drama to ourclasses for making the learners confident users of English.Creative drama provides opportunities to learners to experimentand play with communication. It caters to the multipleintelligence of learners and helps the learners focus their energyand improve their physical co-ordination. Creative drama helpsto develop the artistic and aesthetic impulses in all. It demandspersonal responses, allows for different interpretations anddevelops a critical approach to literature.

Attitudes and values like the need for respecting one’sindividuality and other’s individuality and the notion that thereis diversity and variety to life should be promoted andinculcated through the transaction of discourses like poem, letter,report, debate, paragraph writing, script etc.


Issue Domain : Lack of cultural consciousness

Sub Issue ` : The need to realise the importance ofupholding one’s individuality.

Learning Objectives : • To read and analyse literary texts andidentify the theme.

• To visualise a story and to describethe characters in it.

• To read and enjoy simple poems.• To construct various discourses like

dialogues, poems, letters, reports,script and description.

• To think critically and be aware of theneed for upholding one'sindividuality.

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Module 1Let's begin the unit with a creativedrama game.

Divide the class into two groups.

Ask the groups to stand face to face (GroupA & B).

Ask group A to turn back.

Now group B can form a new line and eachone in the line should hold a thing in his/her hands (a watch, a pen, a box, a booketc.)

Then ask group A to observe the line formedby Group B for 2 minutes and watch theorder of the arrangement of the line andthe things each one in Group B now holding.Ask Group A to turn back again whileGroup B forms a new line changing theirpositions and things. Then ask Group A towatch the line and rearrange Group B inthe original line with the right things intheir hands. Each one in Group A cansuggest one change without anygesticulations.

Example: Rahul: Anil, you have to comeand stand here. The thing in your handwas a box. Get it form Boby and standhere, first form left.

When the line is reformed ask the membersin Group B if they are in right positionsand with the right things in their hands. Ifthe answer is 'yes', 10 marks to Group A.If partially right 5 marks to Group A andif the answer is fully wrong,10 marks toGroup B.

Then the same process can be repeated withGroup B turning back and Group Arearranging them.

Module 2Ask the children to have a close look at thecartoon. Apart form the questions given inthe text you can ask questions like:

* Who are the persons you see in thecartoon?

* What do their expressions tell us abouttheir mood?

* Other than the two persons and thesnake what else do you notice?

* The basket, the pipe and the stick, whatare they for?

* Do you think the snake is happy?Why?

* What music do the snake charmersnormally play - Folk or rock?

• Let there be a discussion on folk musicand rock music in the class

• Divide the class into two groups - one whosupports folk songs and the other whosupports rock or western music

• Then let there be more 5-6 member groupswithin these two groups.

• Each group should sing a song (in anylanguage) of their choice and one of the


group members can present why they lovefolk/rock music and why they don't like theother.

• Now, consolidate the points presentedby the groups on the blackboard in atable form such as:

Folk music Rock music

Merits Merits

Demerits Demerits

Then generate a discussion on how ourculture is giving way to alien culture in allwalks of life-in fashion, food, music,construction of houses, etc.

• Ask children to bring at least one cartoonthey like most and prepare a brief write-upon the cartoon and present it in the class.(It will be better if the cartoon is aboutcultural invasions of any type.)

• Paste all these write-ups and cartoons oncharts and exhibit them in the class.

When assessing your learner's listeningand speaking tasks, keep in mind thefollowing points.

* Is he/she listening attentively?

* How positive is his/her bodylanguage?

* How well he/she reacts?

* How well he/she argues?

* Is he/she audible to others?

* Is he/she encouraging other membersof the group?

* Is he/she initiating ideas?

* How well he/she justifies one's/group's stand?

* Is he/she using apt vocabulary andstructure?

Module - 3There may be many cartoons displayedon charts in the class now.

Ask any learner to come forward andarrange his/her friends as shown in thecartoon and make a still. For example if he/she is recreating the scene from Laxman'scartoon.

He/She will say:

I need three persons.

They have to act as the house owner, thesnake charmer and the snake.

Ok, you three, please come here.

You are the house owner.

Please stand here.

Place both your palms on your hips.

You are angry too, OK.

Now, you come and sit here with yourlegs crossed.


Act as if you are blowing a pipe.

You are the snake.

You have to twist your body as the snakein the cartoon. Show expression ofconfusion on your face, yes, OK.

Let there be five or six stills like this withone learner giving instructions to his/herfriends to recreate the scene depicted in thecartoons they have brought. They needn'tuse any props at this stage.

Module - 4Let's begin this session with a creativedrama game.Game - 2

Let the pupils stand up.

You may tell your pupils, 'We areconducting a party now. Every one of youhas to bring something for the party. Butthe thing you bring and your name mustbegin with the same letter.'

Now you step forward and say:

'I am Babitha. I am bringing a balloon.’

Then pupils in turn step forward andsay like:

'My name is Aravind and I bring anapple to the party. Babitha teacherbrought a balloon.'

The third will have to say 'I am Soumyaand I am bringing soup to the party.Babitha teacher brought a balloon andAravind an apple.'

Each learner in turn introduces herself,announces her item and mentions the nameand item of every one who preceded him/her. The last one has to remember every oneand everything they have brought to theparty. When one gets stuck on one'sfriends, items, others can give clues bymiming shape and taste (if possible) of thethings.

Note:

Harrison Bergeron

This story is written by Kurt Vonnegut,the famous American novelist andessayist. He was known as KurtVonnegut, Jr., until his father's death.His famous novels includeSlaughterhouse-Five, which isconsidered as one of the best Americannovels of 20th century and Cat's Cradle.His experience as a soldier and prisonerof war had a profound influence on hisworks. He died at the age of 84.Coincidentally, he wrote, in theprologue of Timequake that his alter-ego, Kilgore Trout would die at the ageof 84.

Harrison Bergeron was first publishedin 1961 in a science fiction magazine. Itis a powerful satire on enforcedequality. It also ridicules the enervatingeffect television can have on viewers.Vonnegut has said that he learned mostof what he believes about social andpolitical idealism from junior civics


classes as well as from the democraticinstitution of the public school itself. Afuturistic story dealing with universalthemes of equality, freedom,individuality, power and its abuses, andmedia influence, Harrison Bergeroncontinues to evoke thoughtful responsesabout equality and individual freedomof our times.

Let pupils read the story Harrison Bergeronfrom Para 1-6.

Process

Individual reading - (4-5 mnts)

• Pupils mark ? and ! with a pencil whilethey read to keep track of their reading.

• After reading let them fill in the selfassessment sheet on reading. (Page -140)

• Let them sit in group ( 5- 8 members)

• Let each member in a group share whathe/she understood, what he/she didn'tunderstand and what he/she foundinteresting/surprising.

• If there are words/expressions they didn'tunderstand let them refer to the glossary.

• If still a group couldn't understandcertain area, let them tell about it to you.

• Megaphone their doubt to other groups.

• If no group can clarify it you can scaffoldthem by asking simple questions to clarifythat area.


Module 5

• Now ask the questions given in themargin one by one.

• Let every learner think about the answerof each question.

• Ask a few learners to share their ideas.

• If it is a major written discourse, processit (like the first one here - a description)

• Let them write it individually first in theirnotebook.

Group refinement

Presentation

Editing

Your version (if needed)

• If the question is just to record a simpleresponse, let the learners scribble it in themargin itself in pencil (like the secondquestion here)

• Let them present it random also.


• Visualise and describe how society willhave changed by 2081.

Let the learners freely express their ideasof the year 2081.


Ask probing questions like:

* What will be the changes in scienceand technology?

* What do you think will be the energysources available then?

* How will our culture be affected?Fashion trends/ Food habits/Construction of houses/ Social minglingetc.

• Let them write it individually first in theirnotebook.

Group refinement

Presentation

Editing

• Why don't George and Hazel thinkmuch about their son, Harrison, eventhough he has been taken away?

Nobody was allowed to take unfairadvantage of their brains. They were notin a position to think about it very hard.

• Lead the learners to vocabulary activities1& 2 on page 123

Hints:

The learners can on their own do the 1sttask easily.

Activity 2

a) There sat at the table a fewgentlemen.

b) Into the night the search went on.

c) Among the bamboo thickets was theelephant standing.

d) With heavy bags were the dancersburdened.

Module 6Revisiting Para 1-6

• Ask learners to identify the characters,their age and appearances.

• Ask them to write down all the dialoguesof the story in their notebooks.

• Now let them attempt the dialoguesbetween George and Hazel given at 'Pauseand Reflect'.

Individual writingFilling the self assessmentsheet on conversationSharing in groups and selectthe best initiationEach learner responds to theselected initiationSelects the best responseRepeat the process and let thegroups construct a newdialogue.Presentation - (Role - play bygroups)Selecting the best presentationby the groupsEditing the best group productYour version (if needed)


Module 7

• Individual writing of the news paperreport on the arrest of Harrison Bergeron.

Ask questions like: Who was arrested? /When was he arrested? / Where was hethen? / Why was he arrested? / How washe taken away?

* What headline would you suggest foryour news report?

• Remind them to mention the place anddate of occurrence of the incident.

• The headline should be catchy and thefirst paragraph should give informationon what / when / why / where / howit all happened.

Random presentation

Filling in self assessment onNews report on page 140

Group refinement


Editing

Presenting the teacher's version

Module 8Let's begin this session with a creativedrama game.

Game - 3

• Divide the class into groups (6-8 membergroups)

• Ask the groups to present a tableaushowing any event/ incident of their choice.

• Allow 5 minutes to prepare for thetableau. They can use improvised propsavailable in the class. Ask each group topresent the tableau. There will be 5 or 6presentations.

• Now evaluate the first group'spresentation by asking others questionslike:

* What did you see? / What was it?

* Where did it take place? (at home/ onthe road / at a TV studio etc.)

* Who were involved in it? (grand father/ passenger/ driver / dancer etc)

* How well the team could show thescene?

• Grade the presentation A/B/C accordingto the responses.

• Evaluate all the presentations like this.

Now ask the learners to read Para 7-13 ofthe story.



• Why did the dancer apologise?

She spoke in a sweet voice and suchsweetness was not permitted to a fewas all are equal by government order.


• What would happen if somebody triedto reason with Harrison?

Harrison would certainly influenceanyone who would reason with him. Hewas considered as a plotter and antinational. So one who associated withhim would also be considered like him.

• ' for many was the time………' Whatdoes the writer imply here?

The writer subtly suggests how thedance of Harrison brought in memoriesin the mind of George about hisenergetic and intelligent son who wastaken prisoner.

• Harrison has now entered thetelevision studio. What do you predictwill happen now?

Let the learners freely predict and findout whether they predicted right whenthey read the next section of the story.

• Lead the learners to vocabulary activities3&4 on page 123They can do these activities with thehelp of a dictionary.

Module 9Processing description (appearance ofHarrison)

Let the learners revisit paragraphs 7-10.

• Ask them to identify sentences describingthe appearance of Harrison.

Ask questions like:

* What strikes you the most aboutHarrison?

* How old is he?

* How did he look like?

• Ask them to decide on their first sentenceon Harrison's appearance.

• Let them be reminded of using descriptivelanguage.

• Ask them to use paragraph form inwriting.

• Let the sentences be connected properly.

• Let them write it individually first.

• Ask the learners to fill in self assessmentcheck list on description on page 140.

Refining in groupsPresentationEditing

Module 10We begin this session with anothercreative drama game.Game - 4 (Sculpture gallery)

• Divide the class into pairs.

• Let one in each pair a 'sculptor' andthe other the 'clay.'

• The sculptor has to shape his/herpartner into a statue of his/her choice.


• The sculptor can show his/her 'clay'how to stand.

• He/ She can give instructions to adjustthe pose of the sculpture.

• The sculptor has to pay close attentionto even minute details like facialexpression and posture.

• When the sculptor finishes he/she hasto say 'freeze.'

• All the sculptors have to be one groupand when the teacher goes near eachwork, the sculptor who made the workhas to step forward and explain his/herwork.

• The sculptors work like museum guideswhen the teacher conducts a tour of the'gallery.'

• Once the work of a sculptor is viewedhe/she can join the teacher as a viewerof the gallery and can even askquestions to other sculptors about theirwork.

• Once the tour is finished children canswitch roles and the process will berepeated.

Module 11

• Ask the learners to read Para 14-18 ofthe story.

• Process reading as suggested earlier.

• Let the learners attempt the scaffoldingquestions.


• What does Harrison plan to do?

Let the learners predict freely. Find outhow many of them predicted right.

• What do you think of the popular TVshows that you watch? Are they worthwatching?

This question can be developed in theform of a debate in the class.


* Which is your favourite TV show?

* How often do you watch it?

* At what time is it aired?

* Does it in any way affect your studies?

* Does it influence your style ofdressing/ speaking?

Find out which is the most popular showamong learners. Divide the class intotwo groups- those who support the showand those who oppose it.

• Conduct a debate in the class on the onthis topic.

• Consolidate major points raised in thedebate.

• Why did the government agents dothis?


It is the duty of the government agentsto maintain law and order in the state.Harrison is a traitor according to themand so they shot him down forchallenging the laws of the land.

• How does Harrison's death affect hisparents?

It didn't affect them as it ought to haveaffected them. Even Harrison's mothercouldn't recall why she was crying. Thethought about the tragic end of his sonwas shattered by the sound of a gun inGeorge's head.

• What is your response to the ending ofthe story?

This question demands the free responseof the learners. They might say they

were shocked/ it was quite unexpectedetc. Let them also justify their responses.

Module 12Harrison's letter to his parents

Process

• Divide the class into four or five groups.

• Supply a copy of a personal letter to eachgroup. (Or you may exhibit a personalletter written on a chart paper to the wholeclass.)

• Ask groups to identify the features of apersonal letter.


* Where are the place and date of thesender of the letter shown?

E.g. Rose VillaGandhi Nagar

Thiruvalla10 October 2009

Dear AnilIt is long since I have heard anything from you. Hope you are fine and doing well in your studies. Howis life there, dear? Anil, I need your help. You know, my mother has been unwell for quite some time.She has been advised to undergo a bypass surgery as soon as possible. I know there are good hospitals inChennai. Can you collect details of one or two hospitals where the surgery can be done? Do write to mesoon.Convey my regards to Mom, Dad and Meera.

With loveSd/-Fazil


* How did the sender address the personto whom the letter is sent?

* How did the sender begin his letter?

* What other details did the sender writein the first paragraph?

* What did the sender write in thesecond paragraph?

* What is the purpose of writing theletter?

* Which paragraph gives you the ideaabout it?

* How did the sender conclude theletter?

* What did the sender write in thecomplimentary closing part of theletter?

* Did the sender sign the letter?

* Did he write his name? Where?

• Now let them attempt Harrison's letterindividually. (8-10mnts)

• Let them sit in groups and share whatthey have written.

• Ask the groups whether the features of apersonal letter are kept in their writing.

• Let the groups select the best beginningin their groups.

• Ask them to refine the remaining parts ofthe letter thematically, syntactically andmorphologically.

• Let the groups proofread the letter forpunctuation and spelling errors.

• Ask any one from the groups to presentthe letter. Let the other groups grade theletter presented as A, B or C.

Select the best letter with the help of thelearners.

Edit it in whole class.

• Ask the learners to fill in self assessmentcheck list on letter on page 141.

Module 13

The learners are now expected to fill inthe story map given in a tabular formin the text.

Hints:

Time: 2081

Place: A country ruled by an autocraticgovernment

Characters: Harrison, George, Hazel, Agroup of dancers, A TV announcer,Government agents

Problem: How an autocraticgovernment will curb individual rights

Events:

1) The government decides to make allpeople equal

2) George and Hazel watching a danceprogramme on TV


3) Harrison arrives at the TV studio

4) The government agents arrive at thestudio

Theme: Individuality/ identity/equality/ freedom/ power and itsabuses/ media influence,

• Let the learners be grouped and ask themto think of more dramatic events of thestory.

• Let there be 8-10 events and ask them tovisualize the scene as stills.

• Allow them to use minimum readilyavailable props for improvisation.

• Ask the groups to present the still scenesone by one.

• Allow the groups 10-15 minutes to planthe events,

• Invite one group for presentation.

• Clap your hands once for the group toswitch to the next still.

• In 2-3 minutes time a group'spresentation should be over.

• Now ask the next group to present thestills.

• After the entire presentations let thegroups evaluate the presentations.

For this you may ask:

* What was the first scene?* How effective was the presentation?

* Did they use any props?* Was it meaningfully done?* Did they smoothly switch over to thesuccessive stills?

Module 14

•Let the learners be in groups again.

•Ask them to add minimum movements andunavoidable dialogues to the stills theyhave presented and connect the differentstills logically. (10-15mnts)

•Let the groups present their version. (5-6mnts)

•After the presentation let the groupsevaluate the presentations.

Module 15•Ask the learners to look at the cartoons onthe year 3000.•Ask them to share their view of the year3000.•Let them prepare a write-up or draw acartoon on the year 3000 individually.•Divide them into groups.•Let them prepare a skit/mime on the year3000 after discussing what they havewritten/ drawn individually.•Present the skits/mimes. (They needn'twrite the script of their presentation at thisstage. Let them improvise thepresentation.)•You may evaluate the presentations.


Module 16

•Lead the learners to the poem ‘The Bat’ byTheodore Roethke.

Note:

Theodore Roethke, the famousAmerican poet, right from his childhoodused to spend much of his timeobserving nature. The death of hisfather during his childhood, because ofcancer was an event that shaped hiscreative and artistic outlooks. Roethketried hands at teaching before optingout for writing. After the GreatDepression, he found out that writingwas more useful than other vocationsfor it allowed him to explore a differentmindset. Open House, The Lost Son andOther Poems, Open Letter etc. are someof his anthology of poems. Roethke haswon many coveted awards to his credittoo. Some of them include the NationalBook Award, the Pulitzer Prize etc.

The Bat gives a true expression to theobserving skill and artistic outlook of thepoet. For some who are familiar with thetraits of bats, the poem may seem to betrue to their characteristics. The poemthrows light on how humans arethreatened by their own basic instinctswhen they turn out to be more inhumanthan humans can ever be. Some criticseven opine that maybe the author istelling us of a childhood experience ofhis. He may have had a phobia of bats

or something like that. Whatever be thethoughts that arise, any animal loverwould only say that bats are kindcreatures…except the vampires.

Process

•You may read the poem aloud two or threetimes.

•Let the learners read the poemindividually and keep track of theirreading.

•Ask the learners to be in groups and sharewhat they understood, what they didn'tunderstand and what they foundinteresting and surprising.

•Let them refer the glossary if needed

•If still one group has problems inunderstanding the poem megaphone theirdoubts to the other groups.

•You may explain the problem areas whichno group can effectively tackle.

•Ask the scaffolding questions to the wholeclass.

•Let each learner think of the answer.

•Let them scribble the answers in the spaceprovided in the text itself.

•Allow two or three learners to presenttheir answers.

•If there are questions for which no one canfind an answer let them sit in groups andthink.


•You may interact with the groups askingsimple interaction questions to channelisetheir thoughts.

Hints for scaffolding questions:

• What does the bat do at night?

The bat flies/loops in the air in crazyfigures.

• Contrast the description of the bat inline 3 and 4 with that in line 5 and 6

The description in line 3 and 4 suggeststhe immobility of the bat but in lines 5and 6 the bat is seen in motion.

• Do you find line 10 strange? Why?

Yes. The bat suddenly wears a humanface and makes an incredible flightbefore us.

• What makes people afraid of bats andsnakes?

Let the learners come out with their ownanswers. (mysterious /ghostly/eeriecreatures)

• Describe the picture that Roethkepaints in lines 5 and 6.

It is a lively visual image in which wesee the bat's flight through air againstthe backdrop of the trees that face thecorner light.

• Other visual images in the poem.

The bat clinging to the attic of an oldhouse, the posture of the bat with his

fingers making a hat about his head, theclose-up of the bat's face when it comesnear and touches the window screen,and the transformation of the bat'smouse like face to that of a human face.

• How is the image in line 10 appropriateto the end of the poem?

The suspense of the poem is maintainedtill the last line. The similarity betweencertain humans and bats may be the realinspiration for the poet to write thispoem. It is a fitting and powerful endingto this small poem.

• What effect does the poem have onyour feelings about bats?

Let the learners react freely. Ask themto go through the three responses quotedin the text and record their responses.Let it be an individual task and ask afew of them to present their responses.

Writing a poem about animals/ birds

Process

• Let them attempt the poem individuallyfirst.

• Ask them to close their eyes and visualisethe animal/bird.


* What is the most striking quality ofit? Its size/ Colour/ Its stride?

* How does it look like?

* Where is it seen usually?


* At what time do you see it usually?Winter/summer/ day/night/ /morning/evening…

* How does its cry sound like?

* What image doest the bird/animalcreate in your mind?

• Let them write an impressionistic poemby organising their thoughts logically andreplacing commonplace words and phraseswith lively and specific words andexpressions.

• Ask the learners to fill in the selfassessment checklist on poem given on page141.

• Let them present their poems.

Module 17

• Now lead the learners to the poemSugarfields in the extended reading sectionon page124.

Note:

Sugarfields is a poem written by themodern American poetess BarbaraMahone. The poem strongly expressesthe feeling that one's identity andpersonality are shaped by one's parentsand the cultural background of one'sfamily. The mother in this poem is likeAlice Walker's mother in the lesson Insearch of our mother's garden. Thecoinages like tree talk and wind song are

typical expressions of post modernpoems. Sensitize your learners on suchpossibilities when writing andappreciating a poem.

• Let them read it individually and try toanswer the scaffolding questions.

• Ask them to sit in groups and share whatthey have understood.

• Help them if they have problems inunderstanding the poem.


The first two questions demand learner'sown free responses.

o Sugarcane is described as the syrup ofthe earth.

The poem suggests that the poet hailsfrom an agrarian background.

His mother's voice is in the sugarfields.

Wherever he goes and whatever hebecomes in life the music of sugarfields,which is the music of nature and themusic of his mother's voice, will neverleave him.

Module 18ChoreographyChoreography is visualisation of apoem. Unlike a skit the use of rhythmicmovements, dance and music gives itvariety and beauty. The choreographyof a poem need not be an exact


reproduction of the poem as such.Learners can interpret the poem on theirown style and even think of presentingthe impressions the poem evoked intheir mind.

It would be better if you could assigndifferent poems (of course the poemsthey have learned) to different groupsfor presenting a choreography. You maymake use of both the poems in this unitand the ones they have learned in otherunits.

• Divide the learners into groups.

• Assign different poems to the groups bylot. They shouldn't tell which poem theyhave got.

• Ask groups to roughly plan thechoreography without writing downanything (6-8 mts).

• Let each group present their poem withoutany dialogue or recitation of the poem.

• Let the other groups guess which poemthe presenters have choreographed.

• Initiate a discussion in the class on howto improve the presentation.

• After the presentations are over let thegroups write down the script of theirchoreography.

You may interact with the groups askingquestions such as:

* What is the poem about?

* Where did it happen?

* Who are characters in the poem?

* How will you suggest the location andcharacters? (Let them use minimumavailable props)

* What will be the first scene of yourchoreography?

* Who will come to the stage first?

* Where does he come to the scene from?Left/right/back?

* How will characters exit?

* Where will the reciting team stand?

* What will be the second scene?

* Who are involved in it?

* ……………………………….?

* ………………………………..?

• Let the groups present the choreographywith proper planning.

• After each presentation let the presentersspeak about how far they have improvedand what changes they have made thesecond time they presented it.

• Let other groups speak evaluating thepresentation.

• Let the class select the best performers.


• Edit the script of the best performersthrough a whole class discussion. (Keep theprocess of editing)

Module 19

• Now lead the learners to the one act playgiven in the extended reading section onpage 125.

• Let the learners read the first scene of theone act play.

Individual reading - (8-10 mts)

• Pupils mark ,? and ! with a pencil whilethey read to keep track of their reading.

• After reading let them fill in the selfassessment sheet on reading. (Page -140)• Let them sit in group ( 5- 8 members)• Let each member in a group share whathe/she understood, what he/she didn'tunderstand and what he/she foundinteresting/surprising.• If there are words/expressions they didn'tunderstand let them refer to the glossary.• If still a group couldn't understandcertain area, let them tell about it to you.• Megaphone their doubt to other groups.• If no group can clarify it you can scaffoldthem by asking simple questions to clarifythat area.• Remind the learners to identify words tobe recorded at the personal wordlist onpage 142.

• Ask the questions given in the margin oneby one.• Let every learner think about the answerof each question.• Ask a few learners to share their ideas.• Let them write it individually first intheir notebook.

Group refinementPresentation


• Let the learners predict how thecassette player might affect the actionof the play. (The tape recorder will be ofgreat help to them in their flight. / Itwill become a problem for them in thecourse of the play. / The music they playwill help them.)After finishing thereading of the one act play find out howmany of them predicted right.

• INDIAN TRICOLOUR FLUTTERS INVENUS/ VENUS IS OURS NOWThe astronauts are in the spaceship anddarting to the outer space.

Module 20• Ask the learners read the second scene ofthe one act play at home.

• Let them discuss the answers of thescaffolding questions in groups.

• Help them if they have difficulties infinding out answers to these questions byasking simple interaction questions tochannelise their thoughts.



The spaceship suddenly faces powerfailure and it floats in space helpless.

Venu is a creature from the planetVenus. It is small like a puppet andwearing a bright coloured outfit.

Venu said that the astronauts wouldcrush thousands of the little creatureson the Venus with their spaceship anduse up all their resources. So it didn’tallow the astronauts to land on Venus.

Let the learners freely react to thisquestion on the ending of the play. Letthem also check whether the predictionsthey have made proved right at the end.

The astronauts may be more cautiousabout using up the energy sources afterthe journey.

They learned valuable lessons on theneed for protecting the flora and faunaof one’s planet and the need forpreserving energy sources of one’splanet.

• Now let a group of four pupils read theplay to the class, noting the stage directionsand giving expression to the dialogue. Afifth student can read the stage directions.

Module 21• Now let the learners as a group activitywrite down the script of the performanceof the skit/play based on the story HarrisonBurgeron.

• Ask them to note down the stagedirections when they write the script.

• Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklist on skit/play on page 141.

• Edit the script prepared by the groups.

• Let there be a final presentation of the playon the school stage by the groups usingminimum props, costume and stagesetting.

Module 22• Let the learners go through the scriptgiven for editing on page 134.

• The script is familiar to them as they havegone through it in their 7th standardEnglish Coursebook(unit3).

• Ask the learners the questions given alongwith the script for editing.

Hints for editing

• The minister and courtiers: This stagedirection is not properly written. It isnot clear whether the ministers andcourtiers are sitting/standing/watching something. It can besomething like, the ministers andcourtiers are seated in two rows at eitherside of the throne.

• Came, arrived, sat: Usually, stagedirections are written in simple presenttense. Hence, comes, arrives, sits.

• Sir: This is not the way a king will beaddressed. It can be Your Majesty.


• Your Majesty: Again, a king will neveraddress his ministers so. Change this toMinister.

• It is: Here a linker is missing. We haveto use But it is.

• Smiled: to be changed as smiles.

• A loving father……….: The answermust be brief, A treasure of gold.

• A loving father……….: The answermust be brief, Diamonds! Ornaments!Precious stones!

• Raised, became: must be raises,becomes

• I will: Contracted form must be usedhere I’ll

• Brought, gifted: to be written as brings,gifts

• There are also other possibilities ofimproving the script like:

Referring to time of the action in stagedirection (e.g. A morning at KingDharmaraja’s court), making dialoguesmore crisp and referring to mood andmovement of the characters etc.

Module 23• Invite the learners’ attention to the bolditalicised words in the script given forediting.

The bold italicised words are: on thethrone, to my sons, of them, of gold, tome, to my wealth and to his sons.

The noun phrases here are: the throne,my sons, them, gold, me, my wealth andhis sons.

The words before these are: on, to, of.These are called prepositions.

The preposition together with the NounPhrase that follows it is called aPrepositional Phrase.

Now let the learners do activity 3.

Prepositional phrases: to me, to mywealth and to his sons

In all the three cases shown above, thepreposition is to.

The attached noun phrases to thepreposition are me, my wealth and hissons.

Lead the learners to activity 4 and letthem identify the class of words calledverb.

1. These words are not nouns or theother words that we see in a nounphrase.

2. They describe an action, an event or astate.

Let the learners do activities 5 & 6 as ahome assignment.


Unit - 5

BEING ONE WITH NATURE

This unit is conceived on the basis of the issue domains-agriculture. The sub issue taken up in this unit is thelack of awareness that agriculture is the backbone ofcivilization.

The learners are expected to acquire concepts related tothe vital role of agriculture in society and they developa positive attitude towards nature and agriculture.The unit comprises of a poem titled ‘Lines Written inMarch’ by Wordsworth which portrays the agrarian lifeof a village folk and the changes that occur in nature inspring season and a short story by Tolstoy titled ‘ThreeQuestions’ which tells us the story of a king who put therequestions before his subjects. The story teaches us the needfor being good and how one can live a life of happinessand pleasure. In the extended reading section of this unitan abridged version of the novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’ byDaniel Defoe and a poem by John Keats titled ‘Daisy’sSong’ are included.Attitudes and values like the need for developing apositive attitude towards nature and agriculture andtowards natural farming methods are expected to beinculcated through the transaction of this unit.


Issue Domain :Issues related to agriculture

Sub Issue :Lack of awareness that agriculture is the backboneof civilization

Learning Objectives :•To read and analyse the literary texts related to the theme - agrarian culture •To read and enjoy poems •To construct discourses like conversations, write - ups, skits, speeches etc.,•To realise the vital role of agriculture in sustaining human life •To develop positive attitude to natural farming methods.

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Module 1

Lines Written in March

Note:

Wordsworth’s ‘Lines Written inMarch’ shows us a different face ofthe nature poet who exploits thesymbolic possibilities of the end ofwinter in a subtle as well as simplemanner. The poem does not pose anydifficulty in understanding it while wego through it for the first time. It seemsto be as simple as a nursery rhymedescribing nature and human beingsduring the month of March. Crowingcocks, flowing streams, twitteringbirds, glittering lakes, green fields,bright sun, toiling farmers, grazingcattle, sailing clouds in the blue sky,lively fountains and the defeated snowgive us a some what banal descriptionof the advent of summer, just after thedisappearance of Winter. Winter is the‘cruelest month’ for a westerner, whennature and man alike turn to belethargic, dull and inert. A frozenstillness/chillness will reign overnature and human minds. Devoid ofany warmth and mirth all living thingswill begin to hibernate. Wordsworth’spoem here presents a striking contrastto winter by describing March/Summer as the month of rebirth andrejuvenation. Cock, the herald ofdawn, is crowing. The birds are, no

longer, sleepy but twittering. Thefrozen springs and streams are now,once again flowing glittering. The sunshines soothingly above the greenfields and the men, both the young andold alike, are working together- theyplough the fields and sow the seeds sothat new seedlings may sprout up andwill cover the earth with greenerysoon. The snow is defeated like anarmy for once and all which can betaken as a key expression. The defeatedarmy retreating is an apparentlypolitical image and the subsequentmirth of the peasants and farmersremind us of a political change thatliberates the working class whoseslogans are nothing but ‘Liberty,Equality and Fraternity’.

Process

• Ask the learners which season of theyear do they like most- Spring, Summer,Autumn or Winter and what time of theyday in the season is most attractive andlively.

Students who like a particular seasonare grouped together, say for exampleall the springs form group I, allsummers group II etc.

• In groups, learners attempt to find outthe most striking features of the seasonsof their choice and how would nature beduring the season.


Let the groups present their findings.

Now lead the learners to the poem.

Process the poem as suggested in otherunits.


• Let the learners justify their answersin the light of the hints from the poem.

The plough boy is whooping anon –anon. This shows the happiness andexcitement of the boy in the arrival ofspring.

This poem is full of word pictures(visual images). E.g. the cock iscrowing

Winter is the defeated army here. InMarch the rays of the sun like arrowsfall on the earth covered under theblanket of snow. Then the snow startsmelting. This melting of the ice/snowis compared to the retreating of anarmy.

(Though January, February & March arethe three months of spring, in coldcountries winter will extend up toFebruary and only in March they feel thearrival of spring)

The oldest, youngest and the strongeststand for the entire population of anarea. All join their hands in workingin the fields and are celebrating thearrival of spring.

Similies used in the poem: like an armydefeated the snow hath retreated.

Let the learners pick out theirfavourite lines from the poem andexplain why they like those lines.

The crowing of the cock alwayssuggests the heralding of a beginningof something. It can be a day, a season,a century, a new social order… Thepoem ends in the line ‘The winter isover and gone’. Winter is the worstseason of the year with its chillnessand stillness. It suggests days ofunhappiness, poverty, desolation,melancholy etc. The poem cleverlyplaces all warmth and activitiesbetween the first and last line of thepoem and tells us that the worstperiod is gone because of all theseactivities.

• Let the learners prepare an appreciationof the poem.

• Generate a discussion on the theme ofthe poem by asking the followingquestions:

* What do you think the poem isabout? (beauty of nature/ glorification ofspring/ the arrival of a new social order)

• Write these possible themes on theblackboard or on a chart paper.

• Carry on the discussion with the helpof the following questions:

• If these are the themes the learnerssuggest how they will answer thefollowing questions:


* Why is the cock crowing?

* What all changes begin to take place?

* Who are the people referred to?

* How are they working?

* What does the snow suggest?

* Why does the boy call out anon-anon?

* What do clouds represent?

* What is the significance of the bluesky?

* Is it sad that the winter is over andgone?

* What does the word ‘Winter’ suggesthere?

• Let them also think about:

The different shades of meaning theyidentified.

The word pictures used in the poem.

The comparisons used in the poem.

• Let the learners think and prepare anappreciation individually.

Random presentation

Refining in groups

Editing

Module 2• Now lead the learners to the poemDaisy’s song by John Keats in theextended reading section of the unit.

Note:

Daisy’s Song, as its very nameindicates, is a simple song sung by asmall and beautiful flower. The songis an expression of its joy and pride inbeing Nature’s foster child. Because heis couched in the throne of grass like aking and could ogle at each pretty lasspassing by. His eyes are small, smallerthan the Sky’s great eye, the Sun. Yethis is the poet’s eye which beholdsbeauty. The Moon is silver-proud, butthe Daisy is prouder because no cloudsare there to cover his pride.

‘I look where no one dares

And I stare where no one stares’

Thus sings the innocent little flowerthat is in the company of the lamb whoalso is equally innocent. He, like theBiblical ‘Lilies of the Field’, is blessedand crowned with glory and thereforethe pretty little one takes pride in hishumility as ‘not even Solomon in hisglory was arrayed’ like him.

Process

• Let the learners read the poemindividually and find out who the speakerof the poem is.

You may ask some questions to scaffoldtheir reading.

* Who is the ‘I’ in the second line ofthe poem?


* Why does the poet say the moon issilver proud?

* Is it a full-moon day?

* Why does the daisy say it leads thelife of a king in spring?

* What is its throne?

* Who sings its lullaby?

* Does the poet present the daisy as aboy or a girl? Justify your answer.

• After the first reading ask the learnersto sit in groups and share what they haveunderstood about the poem.


The sun and the moon are far abovein the sky and at times they arecovered by clouds but the daisy lies inthe lap of the earth where there are noclouds and can look at and stare whereno one dares and no one stares.

Daisy in full bloom is one of the mostattractive sights on earth and everypasserby will bow their heads to havea close look at it. Hence it can claimthat it is the real king.

Let the learners recollect from theirexperience the sounds of nature thatlulled them to sleep.

• Now generate a discussion on the themeof the poem by asking the questions:

* ‘What do you think the poem isabout?’ (Daisy plant/ Beauty ofnature)

* What idea of ‘greatness’ does thispoem put forward?

* Can this be considered as a poem on‘What greatness mean’?

Expected responses:

• Even small things have their role inthe world.

• Small things can do better thanbigger things.

• Greatness is not based on size orlocation.

Module 3

Note:

This is an entry text to the short story‘Three questions’ by Leo Tolstoy. Thehermit of the story ‘Three questions’is very much like the Zen guru of thisstory.

• Ask the learners to read the Zen storygiven in the text.

Process reading the story as suggestedin other units.


The gate of hell opens when one getsangry.

Let the learners talk about their ideaof paradise and hell. They may presentit orally.


Module 4Note:

Three Questions is a story by LeoTolstoy which tells us the story of aking who put there questions before hissubjects. He wanted to know the righttime to begin a new venture, the rightpeople to advise him and the mostimportant thing that one should do.Failing to get satisfactory answers hemet a hermit, who to his surprise neversaid anything but was digging theland. Determined to get answer for hisquestions he never left the place buthelped the frail hermit in his workwhile at work. The king came across ableeding man and saved him. Laterthe man confessed that he was thereto kill him. Now that he was saved bythe king he wanted to be his slave hereafter. Quoting the incident the hermitconcluded that the ripe time to doanything is the present moment, theman with whom he was is the rightman to advise the King and the mostimportant thing that one should do isto do well. The story teaches us theneed for being good and how one canlive a life of happiness and pleasure.

Process

• We have read the story (Zen story) of asoldier and a priest.

• Now let’s read the story of a King. Whowanted to get answers for his three

questions? This King approached ahermit.• Don’t you want to know what questionshis questions were and how well did thehermit answer them.Ask them to read paragraphs 1 to 8Process reading as suggested in otherunits.Hints for scaffolding questions

Let the learners identify the threethings the king wanted to know.

Ask them to think about a fourthquestion for which they needed ananswer.( E.g. Who are the people weshould never keep company with?)

Let the learners make a list of theanswers given by various groups oflearned men and let them add theirown answers to these questions. (E.g.The right time to begin a new venturecan only be suggested by an astrologer.The right people to advise him areteachers. The most important thing todo is studying mathematics.)

• Now lead the learners to the firstactivity in vocabulary activities. This isa simple activity wherein the learner isexpected to split the words into twomeaningful words. After the learnersplits the word ask them to find themeaning of the first and the second wordand see how the meaning differs from thefirst word.Eg: beforehand: before - hand.


Module 5• Le the learners read Paragraph 9 to 15.

Process reading


Let the learners attempt theconversation between the king and thehermit.

• Process the conversation as suggestedin unit 4. ( self assessment on page 168)

The hermit believes in the equality andbrotherhood of all and to him all placesare just an extension of his dwellingplace- nothing more and nothing less.

All questions can’t be answered inwords. Some times we have to useother means to convince the personwho raised the question. That may bethe reason why the hermit kept silent.

Let the learners write down one oftheir experiences of helping others ina brief paragraph and present it in theclass. It can be an individual task andafter presentation edit one of the betterpresentations. (self assessment onpage 168)

• Lead the learners to vocabularyActivity 2.• Let them read the activity all bythemselves and match column A withcolumn B.quit - a jobleave - a place

abdicate - a throne

dismount - a horse

alight - a train

Module 6• Let the learners read paragraphs 16 to 18.

Process reading


• Let the learners do the activity to findout who did the actions mentioned andsequence them properly.

The King gives fresh water

The wounded man reaches the KingThe king bandages the wound

The king washes the wound

The wounded/ bleeding man faints

The king lays him on a bed

A bleeding man comes running

The bleeding man moans

The King carries him to the hut

The King rebandages

Let the learners freely respond to thequestion what they would have doneif they had been the king.The stranger felt repentance for hisevil motives and sought forgivenessfrom the king.Let the learners attempt preparing thespeech on the importance of socialservice.


Process (Speech)

• Let the learners prepare the speechindividually.

• Let them present what they have writtenat random.

• Let them refine the speech in groups.

• You may ask the following questions forinteraction with the groups before theyrefine their speeches:

* How will you address the persons onand off the dais?

* How do you feel in addressing thegathering? (happy/proud)

* What is the context of the speech?(the school assembly- may be a topic aday)

* Why do you think social service soimportant?

* Should we think of others?

* Is it not enough we think ofourselves?

* Do you know any quotable quotes/great people’s words on social service?

* How will you end your speech?(making an appeal/stating a wish/taking an oath etc.)

• Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklists on speech on page 169.

• Ask the groups to present their speech.

Editing

• Lead the learners to VocabularyActivity 3.

1) Read the 3 sentences given in the textbook which the learners are alreadyfamiliar, given stress to the underlinedword.

2) Let the learners guess the opposite ofthese words.

3) Tell them that the prefixes ‘in’, ‘dis’ &‘un’ are added before words to makeopposites.

4) Ask them to fill up the column usingthese prefixes.

Regard - disregard

Lodge - dislodge

Partial - impartial

Mobile - immobile

Faithful - unfaithful

Important - unimportant

Moral - immoral

Trust - distrust

Proper - improper

Respect - disrespect

Own - disown

Module 7• Lead the learners to paragraphs 19 to 22.



Hints for scaffolding questionsThe benevolent nature of the king isevident from his readiness to forgetand forgive.It highlights the importance of work.Work is more important than words.There is also a well known saying thatwe reap what we sow. If you sow theseeds of love you can reap love.The king learnt the most importantlessons of his life and realised theimportance of the present time and theaim of life is to do good to the ones whoare with you at the present moment.Many have a tendency to settle theaccounts of the past though it mars allthe well being of the present and manyignore present worrying about future.So the word ‘Now’ upholds therelevance of the present.Let the learners revisit the lastquestion on page 147 and checkwhether their answers to the threequestions of the king are similar to theanswers given by the hermit.• Lead the learner’s to VocabularyActivity 4. Supply a dictionary and letthe learners find out the past form of theirregular verbs given.• Ask the learners to find out the settingand characters of the story. Then let themsay the first and last events of the story.Then ask them to fix the events in between.Let there be a discussion on the theme ofthe story.

Module 8Process (Script)

• Let the learners be grouped and askthem to think of the dramatic events ofthe story.

• Let there be 8-10 events and ask themto visualise the scenes as stills.

• Allow them to use minimum readilyavailable props for improvisation.

• Ask the groups to present the stillscenes one by one.

• Allow the groups 10-15 minutes to planthe events,

• Invite one group for presentation.

Clap your hands once for the group toswitch over to the next still.

In 2-3 minutes time a group’spresentation should be over.

• Now ask the next group to present thestills.

• After the entire presentations let thegroups evaluate the presentations.

For this you may ask:

* What was the first scene?

* How effective was the presentation?

* Did they use any props?

* Was it meaningfully done?

* Did they smoothly switch over to thesuccessive stills?


• Ask them to add minimum movementsand unavoidable dialogues to the stillsthey have presented and connect thedifferent stills logically. (10-15mnts)

• Let the groups present their version. (5-6mnts)

• After the presentation let the groupsevaluate the presentations.

• Now let the learners as a group activitywrite down the script of the performanceof the skit/play based on the story.

• Ask them to note down the stagedirections when they write the script.

• Let the learners fill in the self assessmentchecklist on skit/play on page 169.

• Edit the script prepared by the groups.

• Let there be a final presentation of theplay on the school stage by the groupsusing minimum props, costume and stagesetting.

Module 9The Adventures ofRobinson Crusoe

Process

• You may ask your learners to read thestory on their own. For this you may breakthe story into small sections for them toread in single sitting with properconcentration.

• Let them read the first three paragraphsand share what they have understood.Ask them ‘What does the phrase call ofthe sea imply?’ (The urge to voyage/travel which was characteristic of thatperiod in history)

• Ask them to read paragraphs 4 and 5and let one or two students narrate theevents of the story.

• Lead them to paragraphs 6 to 10 andwrite down the major events of this partof the story.

They can easily list down the variousactivities done by Crusoe.

• Let them also write about what helpedhim to reap a rich harvest.

• Now let them read paragraphs 11 to 13and present a summary of the story.

• Ask them to read the paragraphs 14 to16 and answer the questions:

• What did Crusoe do to overcome hisfeelings of loneliness? (He saved one ofthe prisoners and made him his servantand companion)

• Was Crusoe successful in educatingFriday? How? ( Yes, Friday was aquick learner)

• Ask them to read the paragraphs 17 to22 and answer the questions:

‘The prisoners were very weak.’ Whywere they so? (They were in the custodyof the savages for many days)


• What was the deal between thecaptain of the ship and Crusoe?(Crusoe would help the captain to getback to his ship and in return the captainhad to take him and his men back toEngland.)

• Let the learners write a paragraph ontheir activities of a day when theywere left alone at home.

• Let them write it individually andpresent it in the class. Edit one of thebetter presentations.

Module 10EditingActivity 1As the last unit of the Coursebook, onlydiscourse level editing is attemptedhere.

• You may ask the following questions forthis:

* How does the passage open?

* Can you think of another openingsentence? (An expression of thenarrator’s thought/ a piece ofdialogue of his friends/relatives)

* What does the first paragraph tell us?

* What do the second and thirdparagraphs tell?

* Is the paragraph division logical?

* Is the feeling of loss effectivelyconveyed?

* What more details would you add tomake the narration more effective?

* Try adding one more paragraph tothe passage using those details.

Activity 2

• Make use of the points given in theCoursebook.

Activity 3

• Let the learners list out the words towhich they can add –ly. (sure, right, hot,melodious)

Activity 4

Adverbs of time: when, meanwhile

Adverbs of place: nil

Adverbs of manner: feebly, soundly,intently, again

SOURCEBOOK ENGLISH STD VIII152

AppendixGLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS

Act: A major division of the action of aplay. The Elizabethan plays weredivided into 5 acts after the Romanmodel were as in the modern plays aredivided into 3 acts.

Alliteration: is the repetition of the initialconsonant sound in a line of verse.

Anecdote: is and unelaborated or shortnarration of a single incident of privatelife.

Aphrodite: In Greek mythology, was thegoddess of beauty fertility and love,identified with by the Romans withVenus.

Apollo: In Greek mythology Apollo isthe sun god who represents beautypoetry and music. Apollo stands fororder, reason and self discipline ascontrasted with Dionysus.

Archetype: C.G. Jung describedarchetype as primordial images formedby repeated experiences in the lives ofour ancestors inherited in the collectiveunconscious of the human race and oftenexpressed in myths, religion, dreamsfantasies and literature.

Article: A short literary composition ina newspaper, periodical, encyclopediaetc. A composition for publication,treating of a subject distinctly andindependently. A write-up, full ofdescription of something in writing.

Aside: is similar to soliloquy butdifferent. It is the words spoken by acharacter to oneself. E.g. ‘How like a

fawning publican he looks……’ spokenby Shylock in The Merchant of Venice(Act 1, Sc. 3)

Assonance: is the repetition of vowelsounds so as to create a soft musicaleffect in a line of verse. Tennyson was amaster of assonance in English poetry.

Atlas: was one of the Titans in Greekmythology who supports the heavens onhis shoulders.

Augustan: An adjective derived fromAugustus, emperor of Rome from 27BC– AD14. The term connotes literature ora literary period notable for its learningand consciously polished style. TheAugustan age of English literature is theearly 18th century.

Autobiography: One writing his own orher own her own biography, is calledautobiography.“My Experiments with Truth” isMahatma Gandhi’s Autobiography. St.Augustine’s “Confessions” is a spiritualautobiography.

AvantGarde: applies to those whosupport or create the newest ideas,fashions, techniques, styles etc. in art andliterature.

Ballad: A narrative song poem relatinga single, dramatic incident. Those whoseauthors are unknown are termed astraditional ballads whereas those writtenby modern authors are called literaryballads.


Bathos: is yet another term for anticlimaxwhich is affected by a sudden fall fromthe sublime to the ridiculous.

Biography: is a written record of the lifeof a person, presented as a work of art.It provides a more or less full account ofa person’s life, his character,temperament, the social circumstancesin which he lived and his activities andexperiences. John Dryden has defined itas ‘the history of particular men’s lives’.It was the ancient Greeks and Romanswho started writing biography. Plutarchwrote the “Parallel Lives” of great Greekand Roman personalities. In 18thcentaury England, Samuel Johnsonwrote “Lives of the English Poets” (1779– 81). The best known of all biographieswritten in English is James Boswell’s“Life of Samuel Johnson”. (1791)

Black Humour: is a theatrical deviceused in Absurd drama and other satiricworks which aim at correcting the ills ofthe society. It is a sort of humour in horroras we often see in present day literaturewhich wants to uncover human vicesand follicles. Black humour is used asan ironic commentary on the absurd,illogical and ridiculous aspects of thehuman condition in a contemporarysociety. Samuel Beckette’s drama‘Waiting for Godot’ presents two trampsin a Wasteland, hopelessly waiting forsomebody who may or may not evenexist. This absurd situation is painfullycomic. The irrational, pointless andfunny dialogue and actions of these twoare examples of black humour. Theyrepresent the modern world where inman’s actions become useless, senselessand absurd.

Blank verse: Unrhymed iambicpentameter.

Blurb: a brief description of a book givenby a publisher on the cover page of thebook so as to attract the reader’s eye.

Bohemia: was formerly a centralEuropean Kingdom, now forming thewestern part of the Czech Republic. Thename is often applied to any districtfrequented by artist and other sociallyunconventional people.

Burlesque: is an ironic, humorous andsatiric writing like Cervantes’ DonQuixote.

Caricature: is created when a character’sfeatures are so exaggerated that he/shelooks humorous or funny. Suchcharacters are there in plenty in thenovels of Charles Dickens.

Catastrophe: the sudden and completedevastation of the fortunes of the heroor heroine in a play or novel.

Catch-22: derived from Joseph Heller’snovel (1961). Any situation or dilemmasfrom which there is no escape becauseof two mutually incompatibleconditions.

Catharsis: is the purgation of emotionssuch as pity and fear while witnessing atragedy or while enjoying a work of art.

Chorus: In early Greek times the choruswas a band of men who performed songsand dances at religious festivals fromwhich developed Greek drama. In thenearly Greek tragedies thee songs of thechorus made up the greater part of theplay, but later the chorus became agroup of onlookers who commendedintermittently on the action.


Chronicle plays: are based on history.E.g.: Shakespeare’s Antony andCleopatra. Henry IV, Julius Caesar. Etc.

Cinderella: character in a world famousfairy tale whose name can be used todescribe a transformation from povertyor plainness to prosperity or glamour.

Classicism: is usually opposed toromanticism. It is both a specific literarymovement and a general manner ofthinking and writing. Classicism, unlikeromanticism, is social, formal,intellectual and static. The termoriginated with the application of theword “classical” to the literature ofancient Greece and Rom but soonextended its meaning to include anysimilar literary style or point of view.

Cliché: a word, phrase or expressionwhich has lost its effect by repeatedusage.

Climax: is the main point of interest in anovel or play which reached towards theend of it.

Colonialism: Political and economicalcontrol of a political unit without thereal annexation of the land.

Comedy: a drama in which thecharacters are placed in more or lesshumorous situations and the play endsin general goodwill and happiness. E.g.Shakespeare’s As You Like it.

Conceit: is a simile forcefully created outof/ between two apparently dissimilarthings. In short, it is a far-fetchedcomparison, made possible by complexreasoning and intellectualism. E.g. Themetaphysical conceits of Donne.

Connotation: is the suggested orimplied meaning of words as against theliterary meaning

Couplets: are lines of poetry rhyming inpairs.

Criticism: is concerned with theexposition, analysis, comparison andevaluation of works of literature.

Cupid: In Roman mythology Cupid wasthe god of love, corresponding to theGreek God, Eros.

Dark Ages: The period in West betweenthe fall of the Roman Empire and thehigh middle ages - a time of relative lackof enlightenment and obscurity.

Denotation: Terms of science aredefined in advance and therefore theyare pure denotations, said CleanthBrooks. So denotation is the opposite ofwhat connotative or poetic language is.

Denouement: is the final resolution ofthe problem in a play.

Dickensian: Derived from thecharacteristics of the novels written byCharles Dickens (1812-1870). It is usedto suggest a person’s caricature likeoddness in behavior and also a conditionof poverty and hardship.

Diction: is the selection, arrangementand order of words in a piece of writing.

Didactic: A work is didactic when itteaches a moral. E.g. much ofWordsworth’s poetry is didactic.

Don Quixote: is the ageing hero of aRomance, Don Quixote of de la Mancha(1605-15) by Miguel de Cervantes. A DonQuixote is a foolish, mistaken idealist or


someone who naively believes that theycan set the world to rights singlehandedly. The character can alsorepresent some one who fights againstillusions, evils or who fails to see thingsas they really are.

Drama: A stage play, a story of life andaction for representation by actors on thestage. A theoretical entertainmentwherein actors perform the roles of thecharacters, act out and utter thedialogues written by the dramatist. Adrama is written in such a way that it isdivided normally into three Acts withsub-divisions called scenes.

Plot, setting, characterization, dialogue,unity of action, time and place, spectacleetc. are some of the features of a drama.Comedy, tragedy, the absurd drama,epic theatre, heroic drama, melodrama,satire, tragic-comedy, sentimentalcomedy etc. are varieties of drama.William Shakespeare, G.B.Shaw,Henrick Ibsen etc. are famous Englishdramatists.

Eden: was the home of Adam and Evein the biblical account of the creationfrom which they were banished by Godfor eating the forbidden fruit of the Treeof Knowledge. The name can be used torefer to place or state of supremehappiness, innocence and concord.

El Dorado: (Literally ‘the Gilded one’)was the fabled city or country of goldand hence any place of fabulous wealthcan be described as an El Dorado.

Elegy: An elegy is a personal, reflectivepoem mourning the death of a dear one.Milton wrote an elegy called ‘Lycidas’lamenting the death of his friend Edward

King Shelley’s ‘Adonais’ commemoratesthe great poet ‘John Keats’.

Elizabethan Age: is the period of QueenElizabeth’s reign (1558 to 1603) It was agreat age of English literature and thatof Shakespeare.

Elysium: In Greek mythology, Elysiumwas the field at the end of the earth towhich certain favored heroes wereconveyed by the gods to enjoy a life afterdeath. The name can be used to refer toa place of perfect happiness or bliss.

End of the rainbow: According to thelegend, there is a pot of gold buried atthe spot where a rainbow comes downand touches the earth. The end of therainbow is therefore a distant placewhere dreams come true.

Epic: It is a long narrative on a serioussubject. It is centered on a heroic figurewhose actions shape the fate of a tribe, anation or human race. ‘Iliad’ and‘Odyssey’ are epics written by the GreekPoet Homer. Other examples areValmiki’s Ramayana and Milton’s‘Paradise Lost’.

Epigram: is a brief, witty saying.

Epithet: Word or words which describethe chief characteristics of something orsome one.

Eros: In Greek mythology Eros was thegod of love who now used to representthe libido.

Essay: is a brief composition in prosewhich undertakes to discuss a point orto persuade us a thesis on any subjectwhatsoever. There are formal andinformal essays. The formal is otherwise


known as an article or an impersonalessay and the latter as personal essay.

Exodus: Exodus is the second book ofthe bible. The word ‘exodus’ can now beapplied to any mass departure ofpeople, especially emigrants.

Expressionism: originated as an artistemovement during the first decades of the20th century through the works of certainGerman dramatists. As opposed torealism and naturalism it gaveimportance to the subjective mode ofexpression and the emotional effect of awork of art by exaggerating, dislocatingand breaking the normal time sequenceand by distorting the objects and eventsof the external world.

Fable: It is a short narrative, in prose orverse, illustrating some moral truth.Usually at its conclusion, either thenarrator or one of the characters statesthe moral in the form of and epigram. Inmost of the fables animals and birds playthe parts of men and women. E.g.Aesop’s Fables (The fox and the grapes)

Father Time: is the personification oftime, usually depicted as an old beardedman with a scythe and hour glass.

Faust: is the subject of a medieval legendand subsequently of dramas by Marloweand Goethe. Thus the character of Faustcan be alluded to someone ambitious forearthly power and riches.

Figure of speech: A figure of speech is aliterary device. The writers use wordsand phrases in such a manner as to makemeaning clear, pointed and graphic.Many of the devices of figurativelanguage range from expression of the

imagination to deviation from ordinaryusage for the sake of ornament. Simile,Metaphor, Personification, ironyhyperbole etc are some of the figures ofspeech.

Flashback: Interpolated scenes andevents that happened before the pointat which the story opens.

For e.g. The Rhyme of Ancient Marinerby S.T. Coleridge is a literary balladwhereas Chevy Chase is a traditionalballad.

Forbidden fruit: According to the bookof Genesis, the phrase,‘forbidden fruit’ can be used to describesomething that is desired on enjoyed allthe more because it is not allowed.

Free-verse – A type of poetry in whichthe line is based on natural cadence ofthe voice, following the phrasing of thelanguage rather than a repeatingmetrical pattern.

Freudian: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) isthe father of modern psycho analysis. Heemphasized the importance of theunconscious mind and that of sex as aprime motive force in human behavior.

Genre: is a French word which signifiesa literary species or a literary form

Gothic Novel: is a novel of horror basedon the super natural.

Haiku: It is a Japanese poetic form. It isin three lines, of five, seven and fivesyllables respectively, which presents amomentary spiritual insight. E.g. Thefalling flower I saw drift back to thebranch was a butterfly - Moritake


Helen: In Greek mythology Helen wasthe daughter of Zeus and Leda who grewinto the most beautiful women in theworld.

Humanism: is the intellectual movementwhich characterized the Renaissance. Itemphasized the dignity of man and hisperfectibility.

Hyperbole: is an extravagantexaggeration of fact.

Icarus: was the son of Daedalus. Icaruscan be alluded to as some one who failsbecause of excessive ambition.

Idyll: A descriptive pastoral poempresenting a rural setting.

Image: is a word derived from the word‘imago’ which means ‘similarity’. It canbe any sense perception rendered inlanguage. Therefore there exist differentkinds of images such as visual (eye),auditory (ear), olfactory (nose), tactile(skin) and gustatory (tongue).

Visual images: are most common inpoetry, as it is the keenest sense amongthe five. Examples are many like:‘Beaded bubbles winking at the brim’(Keats)‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’(Wordsworth)‘Like violet half hidden bya mossy stone’ (Wordsworth)

Auditory image: e.g. - ‘Profuse strainsof unpremeditated art’ (Shelley) and ‘thesound of cuckoo breaking the silence ofHebrides (Wordsworth)

Olfactory image: ‘Love has the smell ofapples’ (Anna Akhmatova)

Tactile image: e.g. ‘I fall upon the thornsof love, I bleed’.

Gustatory image: ‘Sour grapes’

Imagism: A movement headed by EzraPound, Amy Lowel and others. To themthe poetic language is nothing but asaturation of precise and crystal clearimages. Wallace Stevence and WilliamCarlos Williams are the Americanimagist poets. It was inspired by theJapanese Haiku. Archibald Macheushdefined the imagist creed of poetry as,‘A poem should not mean, but be.’ (ArsPoetica – Archibald Macheush)

Impressionism: A movement inpainting, music and literature whosemethod was to suggest the ‘impression’or effect on the artist rather than to makeprecise and explicit the objectivecharacteristics of things or events.

Iris: was the goddess of the rainbow andthe messenger of gods.

Irony: is a literary device used to conveya meaning which is the opposite of theliteral or the apparent meaning. Wordsused are humorous or satirical.E.g. Swift’s ‘Battle of the Books’.

Kafkaesque: Derived from the novels ofFranz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech novelistwho wrote in Germen. His major themeswere the individual’s isolation,bewilderment and anxiety in anightmarish and oppressive world andhence the adjective.

Labyrinth: was a huge maze constructedby Daedalus. The term suggests anyintricate or complicated arrangement.

Lilliputian: From the book I of JonathanSwift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726). Menwho are small minded and small bodiedby being petty, pretentious and factious.


Limerick: is a kind of humorous versewritten in five jingling lines.

Lyric: Originally a song intended to besung and accompanied by the lyre. In thewidest sense of the term, it is a short,musical poem expressing the singlethought and emotion of the poet. E.g.Walt Whitman’s ‘O Captain My Captain’Shelley’s Shorter Poems etc.

Melodrama: is a crude form of tragedyin which the credibility of both characterand action is sacrificed for violent effect.Melodrama has almost the same relationto tragedy that farce does to comedy.

Memoir: is a brief biography, an accountof one’s life or experiences. It is a writtenrecord set down as material for historyor biography, a brief account of thepeople and events that the author hasknown or witnessed. A scientific paperor a record of a study of some objectinvestigated by the writer is also knownby the term ‘memoir’.

Metaphor: It is an implied comparison,or simile. It is the application of a nameor a descriptive term to an object towhich it is not literally applicable.E.g. My love is a red red rose. The camelis the ship of the desert. My father is atower of courage. Even a large text, as awhole can be taken as an ‘extendedmetaphor’. Kafka’s Trail and Castle aremetaphors of man’s predicament.

Meter: signifies the recurrence in a poeticline of a regular rhythmic unit.

Midas touch: is a gift for making money,seemingly, without effort.

Middle Ages: A period of Europeanhistory extending from the end ofclassical antiquity to the Renaissance.

Narcissus: A youth of extra ordinarybeauty who is the epitome of excessivevanity and his name has given us theword, narcissism.

Naturalism: Literary methods of the later19th century developed by writers likeZola and Balzac. Its method was to applyscientific objectivity to literary subjectsand thereby creating an extreme form ofrealism.

Neoclassicism: A period of Europeanliterature during the 17th and 18thcenturies. It is characterized by aconscious effort to attain the qualitiesand values of classicism.

Niobe: (Greek myth) Woman who is asymbol of inconsolable grief.

Novel: A fictitious prose narrativedealing with human beings and theiractions over a period of time, anddisplaying varieties of human characterin relation to life. In England, the novelestablished itself in the 18th cent withSamuel Richardson’s ‘Pamela’.

Novelette: A form of fiction intermediatebetween the short story and the novel.

Ode: A long lyric poem often addressedto a person or and abstraction, usuallyof elevated style and feeling withelaborate stanzaic structure. It is seriousin subject and treatment. E.g. Shelley’s‘Ode to the West Wind’Keats’ ‘Ode toAutumn’

Odyssey: (Greek Myth) Any long seriesof wanderings or long adventurousjourney.


One act play: This is a drama in one-act.It originated as a short farcicalentertainment before or after the actualdrama during the 18th and 19thcenturies. It requires no elaborate settingor costumes. Its plot and language issimple, action is concentrated andtreatment realistic. The modern form ofthe One-Act play begins with Monkey’sPaw by the great Norwegian dramatistHenrik Ibsen.Oxymoron: Oxymoron is the combiningof one expression of two words orphrases of opposite meaning for effect.E.g. A terrible beauty is born (Keat’s ‘TheSecond Coming’)Pandora’s Box: (Greek myth) Pandora’sBox is a source of many unforeseen andunmanageable problems.Parable: A parable is a very shortnarrative about human beings presentedso as to bring forth a moral lesson. Theprodigal son and the Good Samaritan arethe most famous examples said by JesusChrist.Parody: A composition whichintentionally mimics or ridicules thework of an author.Phoenix: A mythical bird whichsymbolizes resurrection.

Picaresque novel: The life story of arogue (picaro) a clever and amusingadventurer of low social class. E.g.Huckleberry Finn.

Prosody: This is the science ofversification. A systematic study of theprinciples and practice of metre, vowelquantity, rhyme, stanza forms etc. inpoetry.

Rhyme: consists in the identity in therhyming words, of the last accentedvowel and of all the speech soundsfollowing that vowel. There are endrhymes and internal rhymes.

Romanticism: A revolt againstNeoclassicism during the first half of the19th century. The romantics overthrough the ideals of conformity anddecorum and gave free expression fortheir subjectivity. It is at its greatest inlyric poetry.

Short story: A brief narrative in prose,which organises the action, thought anddialogue of its characters into the artfulpattern of a plot. Originally short storiesreferred to legends and fairly tales. Theplot form may be comic, tragic romanticor satiric.

Stanza: is a division in the formal patternof a poem. The stanzas of a poem areuniform in the number and length of thecomponent lines and in the rhymeschemes.


For furthur reference:Alexander,R. Culture and Pedagogy

Anandan,K.N. Tuition to Intuition

Andrew Radford English Syntax: An Introduction

Andrew Radford Syntactic Theory and the Structure of English

Andrew Radford Transformational Grammar

Brumfit,C.J. Language and Literature Teaching: FromPractice to Principle

Christison,M.A. English Through Poetry

Cleanth Brooks The Formalist Critic

David Crystal How Language Works

Dixon,N. Learning with Reader’s Theatre

Doughty,P.S. Linguistics and the Teaching of Literature

Elaine Showalter Towards a Feminist PoeticsFerdinand de Saussure Course in General Linguistics

Fowler,R. Linguistic Criticism

Georg Lukacs Realism in our Time

George Yule The Study of Language

Giroux,H.A. Critical Pedagogy, The State and Cultural Struggle

Giroux,H.A. Curriculum and InstructionGiroux,H.A. Ideology, Culture and the Process of

SchoolingHabermas,J. Knowledge and Human InterestsHarold Bloom Poetic InfluenceHenderson Transformative Curriculum LeadershipHugh Kenner ImagismJacques Derrida Languages of Criticism and the Science

of Man: The Structuralist ControversyJohn Dewey Democracy and EducationJohn Dewey The School and SocietyKennedy, X.J. An Introduction to poetryLeech, G.N. A linguistic Guide to English PoetryLesli Fiedler The Relationship of Poet and PoemMichael Apple Education and PowerMichael Apple Ideology and CurriculumMichel Foucault Power/ KnowledgeMichel Foucault The Archeaology of Knowledge and the

Discourse on LanguageMoody, H.L.B. The Teaching of LiteratureNoam Chomsky Aspects of the theory of SyntaxNoam Chomsky Knowledge of Language: Its Nature,

Origin and Use

Noam Chomsky Language and Mind

Noam Chomsky On Nature and Language

Noam Chomsky The Theory of Principles and Parameters

Northrop Frye Anatomy of Criticism

Paulo Freir Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracyand Civic Courage

Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Paulo Freire The Politics of Education: Culture, Power and Liberation

Peter McLarem Life in Schools: An Introduction toCritical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education

Peter McLarem Paulo Freire: A Critical Encounter

Pinker, S. The Language Instinct

Robert Langbaun The Poetry of Experience

Robert Scholes Semiotics and Interpretation

Roland Barthes The Death of the Author

Sigmund Freud The Interpretation of Dreams

Simon Shepherd, Mick Wallis Drama theatre performance

Susan Sontag Against Interpretations

Terry Eagleton Literary Theory: An Introduction

Viola Spolin Theatre Games for the Classroom: ATeacher’s Handbook

Viola Spolin Theatre Games for Rehearsal: A Director’sHandbook

Vygotsky,L. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes

Vygotsky,L. Thought and Language

Widdowson, H.G. Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature

Websites:www.amazon.comwww.aqua.org.ukwww.askoxford.comwww.childdrama.comwww.collaborativelearning.comwww.creativedrama.comwww.fictionteachers.comwww.gutenberg.orgwww.lazybeescripts.co.ukwww.nayt.org.ukwww.poemhunter.comwww.questia.comwww.wikipedia.org

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