vocation
objectives.The students will be able to appreciate the ‘vocations’ of different kind of people notwithstanding their smallness or greatness.
They will be able to appreciate the value of freedom. They will be able to use new words and phrases and express themselves in grammatically correct language. new wordsVocation- a type of profession which demands special
commitment and gives a person happiness and fulfillment Gong - a circular heavy bell that makes loud sound when hit Hawker - a vendor who moves from street to street Crystal - glass Spade - a digging tool Soils - makes dirty Takes him to task - gets angry with him Baked - parched / roasted / very hot Giant - monster Swings - moves / waves Shadow - shade Chasing - following / going after summaryThe poem describes a child's longing for the freedom he sees in the lives of those around him. When the gong sounds ten in the morning, he walks to his school and sees the hawker crying "Bangles, crystal bangles!" and he wishes he could be a hawker. At four in the afternoon, while coming back from school, he sees the gardener digging the ground and he wishes he were a gardener. When dusk falls his mother sends him to bed and he sees the watchman through the window and he wishes he could be a watchman.
The poem gives us an insight into the working of a child’s mind. Children dislike parental control on their activities. They always hunger for freedom. The freedom of a hawker and a gardener and a watchman fascinates the child narrator in this poem because they are their own masters enjoying the utmost freedom without the slightest rebuke of anybody. However, the young boy values only freedom without authority. He doesn’t at this point realize what education and discipline would bring to him. Foolishly, the boy does not see the hardships that each worker faces. i) The hawker yells all day, standing in the same spot trying to sell cheap bangles. Undoubtedly his work is boring and unsatisfying. ii) The gardener, possibly working for someone else, spends hours doing back-breaking work. His job is dirty and his hands are rough from using gardening tools. iii) The watchman walks all night without sleep. The streets are shadowy, desolate, and lonely. He has got very tedious job too. Therefore, the outlook of the boy is obviously childish. Hopefully, time and maturity will enable the boy to find his vocation through his education and commitment to a profession. |
short answer type questions1. Name the poem and the poet.
Ans: The poem is “Vocation” and the poet is Rabindranath Tagore. 2. What does the boy compare the street lamp to? Ans: The boy compares the street lamp to a giant. 3. Choose the correct option: 1. The hawker leads a a. Carefree life b. peaceful life c. miserable life d. religious life Ans: a 2. When the boy sees all happy, he feels a. Happy b. To kill them c. Jealous d. To go to sleep Ans:c textbook and questions and answersWho is the speaker in the poem? Who are the people the speaker meets? What are they doing?
A school boy is the speaker in this poem. He meets a hawker, a gardener and a watchman. The hawker is selling bangles, the gardener is digging the ground and the watchman is walking up and down the street all night. What wishes does the child in the poem make? Why does the child want to be a hawker, a gardener, or a watchman? Pick out the lines in each stanza, which tell us this. The child wishes to become a hawker so that he can move about freely as per his own will and wish. He wants to be a gardener so that he can dig the ground with freedom. He too wants to be a watchman so as to walk freely in the street. It is their carefree life that he is attracted to. From the way the child envies the hawker, the gardener and the watchman, we can guess that there are many things the child has to do, or must not do. Make a list of the do’s and don’ts that the child doesn’t like. The child must the child must not come home at a fixed time. get his clothes dirty in the Go to school at 10am wander in the street Go to bed when it is dark play when the sun is hot or it is raining Stay at home at night stay out of the house at night Like the child in the poem, you perhaps have your own wishes for yourself. Talk to your friend, using “I wish I were…” “I wish I were a bird.” “I wish I were a king.” “I wish I were an English teacher.” |
