Q1 of 28 Page 11

Have you ever been in great difficulty, and felt that only a miracle could help you? How was your problem solved? Speak about this in class with your teacher.

Earlier this  year, I was travelling from my aunt's place to my city by train. As I did not know the roads and the traffic schemes of the new city, I got stuck in the jams and could not reach the station before five minutes have passed from the train's scheduled time of departure. The station was a lot weird as well, with platforms arranged in a non conventional manner. Knowing that the train must have left, I cursed my luck and subconsciously reached the designation platform. I was surprised to see that the train was still there, it left as soon as I got in my compartment. The miracle here is that the train was originating from that station and had a reputation of never starting late.

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4

Using negatives for Emphasis:

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show that absence of something or contradict something.


For example.


(a) This year we will have no Corn. (Corn will be absent.)


(b) The hail has left nothing (Absence of a crop).


(c) These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. (Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are).


But sometimes negative words are used just to emphasize an idea.


Look at these sentences from the story:


(d) Lencho had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east (He had done only this).


(e) The man went but for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason.)
(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money. (He showed no surprise at all.)


Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasize the value or usefulness of the rain to the farmer.


Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically.


1. The trees lost all there leaves.


………………………………………………..


2. The letter was addressed to God himself.


……………………………………………………


3. The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.


………………………………………………………

 5

Metaphors

The word ‘Metaphor’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer’.


Metaphors compare two different things or ideas.


• the leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So, the object that supports a table is described as a leg.


• the heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the center of our body. So, this word is used to describe the central area of a city.


Some more examples of metaphors:


1. Life is a dream.


2. Rana Pratap was the lion of India.


3. I am the star of my family.


In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared.


One has been done for you.







































Object



Metaphor



Quality of featured compared



Cloud



Huge mountains of clouds



The mass or ‘hugeness’ of mountains.



Raindrops





Hailstones





Locusts







An epidemic (a disease) that spreads very rapidly and leaves many people dead.




An ox of a man.



 1

Listen to the letter (given under in this lesson) read out by your teacher/on the audio tape. As you listen fill in the table given below:

The writer apologizes (says sorry) because

The writer has sent this to the reader

The writer sent it in the month of

The reason for not writing earlier

Sarah goes to

Who is writing to whom

Where and when were they last together?

 1

What is a ‘dust of snow’? What does the poet say has changed his mood? How has the poet’s mood changed?