B. Wordsworth - New Oxford Modern English - Class 8 - English

Why does the narrator say, ‘His English was so good, it didn’t sound natural…’?

According to B. Wordsworth, what could a poet do quite easily?

Do you think the narrator’s mother liked poetry? Give reason for your answer.

What did B. Wordsworth give as a reason for travelling about?

Why is B. Wordsworth’s answer to the policeman’s question funny?

How did the world become an exciting place for the narrator?

When the narrator saw Wordsworth looking so ill, how was he affected?  

My mother said, ‘Tell that blasted man to haul his tail away from my haul, you hear.’
I said to B. Wordsworth, ‘My mother says she ain’t have four cents.’  
What does this exchange tell us about  
i. the mother
ii. the boy?  

Do you think B. Wordsworth was a good poet? Give reasons for your answer.  

Who do you think were the real characters in the story that B. Wordsworth told the narrator? Later on, B. Wordsworth says that the story is not true. Why does he say this? 

You will have noticed that many of the sentences spoken by the narrator (when he is using direct speech), his mother and the policeman are grammatically wrong. Given below are twelve sentences, all of which are incorrect. Correct them and rewrite them in your book. Can you explain what is wrong with each one?  
a. ‘What you wan’t?’ 
b. ‘Stay her end watch him while he watch the bees.’  
c. ‘I ain’t have the time.’  
d. ‘What you does do, mister?’  
e. ‘Why you does cry?’  
f. ‘When she not beating me.’  
g. ‘Ma, you want to buy a poetry for four cents?’  
h. ‘My mother say she ain’t have four cents.’  
i.  ‘You really think I is a poet?’  
j. ‘You does write a lot, then?’  
k. ‘You sell any poetry yet?’  
l. ‘Where you was?’  

Complete the following by using suitable adverbial clauses of time. You may put the adverbial clause first, if you think the sentence sounds better that way. Use each conjunction once only.
a.    The beggar sat on the doorstep…..
b.    She asked me to visit her…
c.     The fielders paced up and down….
d.    A great cheer went up from the pavilion….
e.    The lights went off….
f.     We never go out of the house….
g.    The mother burst into tears ….
h.    I have not seen Sandhya …..
i.      There was silence in the classroom….
j.     Man will live on earth…

Identify the adverbial clause of time in the following sentences.
a.    Pratap went straight to the cinema after his friends had left.
b.    I promise to come and say goodnight to you as soon as you have got into bed.
c.     While the clock ticked, the girl’s parents sat waiting and watching.
d.    We visit them whenever they come to stay in the city.
e.    Before the day broke they had woken and bathed.

Whenever you live in India, you must have visitors – salesmen, beggars, people asking for assistance, inquisitive neighbours, uninvited guests – calling at your door. Do you remember any of these people in particular? Has one of them made an impression on you?
Write a short story entitled ‘The Visitor’. Make your story as intriguing as possible.

‘It’s the poet’s tragedy.’

a. Who said to whom?
b. What is the poet’s tragedy?
c. When did he say so?

How did B. Wordsworth explain his livelihood?