Q1 of 14 Page 99

In groups of four, discuss how we can overcome the grief of separation from a loved one. What are the qualities needed to bear an irreparable loss?

Overcoming loss requires one to fall back on their existing structures of social and moral support. Hence, maintaining a close-knit group of familiars allows one to talk about their emotions and therefore achieve closure in some sense. There is the need to forgive and not be very hard on oneself, as this allows a person the space to move on. Moreover, one needs to accept the reality of what occurred on one’s own time. Pressuring yourself to move on, or unhealthily lingering on someone’s memory can only do more harm than good. One needs to keep oneself healthy, and not allow the sadness of losing someone to fester. Continuing to go through one’s daily routine after mourning is one way of achieving normalization after such an event. Hence all these tactics can help lessen the pain of losing a dear one.


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1

Read the extracts and answer the questions:

'Already division piles emphasis like bullets, Already the one dark air is separate and strange'.


i) Which words describe the 'dark air'?


ii) Explain 'Already division piles'.


iii) What effect does the repetition of the word 'Already' have on the poem?

 1

Read the extracts and answer the questions:

'Goodbye'


There is no touch now. The wave has broken.'


i) Quote the line which states that the two people who are separating are not within touching distance anymore.


ii) What does the word 'wave' symbolise?


iii) Which one word in the above extract describes the theme of the poem?

 1

Read the extracts and answer the questions:

'That in the small white murder of one kiss


Are born two ghosts, two Hamlets, two soliloquies.


Two worlds apart, tomorrow?'


i) Explain the comparison in the poet’s reference to the ‘two Hamlets’ in your own words.


ii) Murder normally leads to death, but here, murder leads to the birth of two worlds. This is ironical. Explain the irony.


iii) 'Two worlds apart'. How does this expression focus on the title of the poem, 'Curtain'.

 1

'Separation' is always painful. Separation from a loved one when death snatches him/her away, from someone very dear (a parent, brother or sister), from the country/region you grew up in - every separation makes you a stronger person from within.

Write a story of a separation which led to an individual emerging as a character of strength. Add suitable quotes from the poem to highlight your message. [150 words]