Here are some entries from personal records. Use the definitions above to decide which of the entries might be from a diary, a journal, a log or a memoir.
(i) I woke up very late today and promptly got a scolding from Mum! I can’t help it — how can I miss the FIFA World Cup matches?
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(ii) 10:30 a.m. Went to the office of the Director 01:00 p.m. Had lunch with Chairman 05:45 p.m. Received Rahul at the airport 09:30 p.m. Dinner at home
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(iii) The ride to Ooty was uneventful. We rested for a while every 50 km or so, and used the time to capture the magnificent landscape with my HandyCam. From Ooty we went on to Bangalore. What a contrast! The noise and pollution of this once-beautiful city really broke my heart.
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(iv) This is how Raj Kapoor found me — all wet and ragged outside R.K.Studios. He was then looking for just someone like this for a small role in Mera Naam Joker, and he cast me on the spot. The rest, as they say, is history!
(1) Diary
(2) Log
(3) Journal
(4) Memoir
What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?
Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?
What does Anne write in her first essay?
How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other.
(ii) I don’t want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would, but I want the diary to be my friend.
(iii) Margot went to Holland in December, and I followed in February, when I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.
(iv) If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.
(v) Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.
Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?
What was Valli’s favourite pastime?
What ‘experiment’ did Maxwell think Camusfearna would be suitable for?
What did Lencho hope for?
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she ask for? Does she get it? Why not?
Where did the ceremonies take place ? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstones?
What does Chubukov at first suspect that Lomov has come for? Is he sincere when he later says “And I’ve always loved you, my angel, as if you were my own son”? Find reasons for your answer from the play.
Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?
What was a source of unending joy for Valli? What was her strongest desire?
Given below are some nouns, and a set of modifiers (in the box). Combine the nouns and modifiers to make as many appropriate phrases as you can. (Hint: The nouns and modifiers are all from the texts in this book.)
temple girls triangle dresses
person thoughts boys roar
gifts scream farewell expression
time subject landscape handkerchief
crossing flight chatterbox profession
physique coffee view celebration
college rough hundred stone ordinary
love uncomfortable white slang slack
bare railroad termendous family marriage
plump invigorating panoramic heartbreaking birthday
incorrigible ridiculous loud first three
Other such adverbs are apparently, evidently, surprisingly, possibly, hopefully, incredibly, luckily. Use these words appropriately in the blanks in the sentences below. (You may use a word more than once, and more than one word may be appropriate for a given blank.)
1. , he finished his work on time.
2. , it will not rain on the day of the match.
3. , he had been stealing money from his employer.
4. Television is to blame for the increase in violence in society.
5. The children will learn from their mistakes.
6. I can’t lend you that much money.
7. The thief had been watching the house for many days.
8. The thief escaped by bribing the jailor.
9. , no one had suggested this before.
10. The water was hot.
There are nouns in the text (formation, government) which are formed from the corresponding verbs (form, govern) by suffixing – (at)ion or ment. There may be change in the spelling of some verb – noun pairs ; such as rebel, rebellion; constitute, constitution.
Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text
Noun | Verb |
---|---|
rebellion | rebel |
constitution | constitute |
What does Mandela thank the international leaders for ?
How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?
Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? You may select appropriate words from the box to answer the question.
greedy naive stupid ungrateful
selfish comical unquestioning
Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups.
What did Lencho hope for?
How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country
(i) in the first decade, and
(ii) in the final decade of the twentieth century?
Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument ?