Poem Mirror class X

Mirror

The Mirror
A poem by Sylvya Plath. The poet brings out the fact that mirror is accepted as the most truthful after God but is the most hated by people who expect a more beautiful reflection of their figure than what is real. When they fail to see them look beautiful in the mirror, they grow sad and turn away from the mirror and feel happy seeing fake their images reflected in the dim light of the moon and candles.

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike
I am not cruel, only truthful –
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.

1.     What qualities of the mirror make it worthy of being called the eye of the little God?
Qualities such as truthfulness, unmistedness and exactness are some of the qualities that make the mirror worthy of being called the eye of the little God.

2.     What are preconceptions? How does the mirror remain without preconceptions?
Preconception is a judgement made without accurate knowledge of something. Usually most preconceptions go wrong. The mirror goes without any preconceptions because it never makes a false judgment, nor does it destort the truth, nor is it influenced by softness of relations and attatchments.

3.     Explain the use of personification in the second line.
In the second line, ‘whatever  I see, I swallow immediately,’ the non living object, mirror, is perceived with the quality of swallowing that is associated with living things.

4.     Explain, ‘just as it is.’
The mirror claims that it never makes any alteration or deformation, however better or worse, to any of the objects that comes in front of it.

5.     Why does the mirror claim that it is unmisted by love or dislike?
Ultimately the mirror is truthful. It is not affected by any soft feelings for anyone. It won’t reflect any one better or worse became it loves or hates that person. Even though the opposite wall is part of mirror’s heart, it is said to have speckles.

6.     Why do some people consider the mirror to be cruel?
Everyone wishes to see his reflections appealing, young and colorful. But the mirror, being strictly truthful, reflects everything as it is. Those who see their reflections contrary to their expectations feel that the mirror is cruel.

7.     Why is the mirror called the eye of a little God?
A little God possesses some of the qualities of the Almighty god. As the mirror possesses qualities like truthfulness, true-conception and straightforwardness together with its ability to see everything, it is called the eye of a little God.

Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

1.     How does the mirror meditate on the opposite wall?
The mirror meditates on the opposite wall by thinking about it, by loving it as an intimate friend and by thinking about its pleasant pink color and the speckles upon it.

2.     What bond do the mirror and the opposite wall share?
The mirror and the opposite walls are intimate friends. Even though it is not clear how the wall feels for the mirror, the mirror is terribly in love with the wall.

3.     What is the significance of the line, “It is pink, with speckles?”
The mirror cannot tell a lie even at the cost of losing its friendship. The opposite wall is beautiful pink in color but it is also speckled. While telling the pleasant truth that the wall is pink, the mirror doesn’t hold back the fact that it also has speckles that limit its beauty. 

4.     What do separate the mirror and the opposite wall?
The mirror and the opposite wall are separated by people who come to see their reflection in the mirror and stay there for long and the fall of night.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. 

1.     Why is the mirror called a lake?
A lake is deep, dark and has its bottom muddy. Due to this anything that is lost in it can never be taken back. Similarly the objects once reflected in the mirror cannot be seen again. Moreover, both the mirror and the lake have a flat surface that can reflect objects that come against them.

2.     Why do people turn to the candle lights and moon light?
Both the candles and moon shed a dim light. In this dim light one cannot see the wrinkles and lines on his or her skin, and therefore appear to be younger and prettier and therefore love to see themselves in such dim lights.

I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

1.     How was the mirror important for the woman? Why is it still important for her?
When the woman was a young girl she spent hours in front of the mirror admiring her beauty and making it up endlessly. She was like a fish that cannot live without water. But now she is no more beautiful and young yet she comes to the mirror expecting that the mirror would give her one of those young images that the mirror had captured in it years ago.

2.     What does the woman search in the mirror? Does she find it in the mirror? Why?
The woman is searching for her lost beauty in the mirror. No, she doesn’t find her lost beauty in the mirror because the mirror, being very truthful, doesn’t show any artificial reflection that is not true.

3.     How do you understand the woman being compared to a fish?
The woman, when she was quite a young and pretty girl, used to stay in front of the mirror for hours on end just like a fish stays in the water. The girl, like a fish does in the water, existed inside the mirror as a reflection.

4.     Why is the woman compared to a terrible Fish?
A terrible fish is one out of water and dying. The woman here is old and dying. She cannot accept the change in her. She still wishes to remain young and pretty while death is drawing nearer.

A Letter to God (Language and Literature class IX)

A Letter to God Ch. 1 (IX B)

Summary: 

This story is written by G L Fuentes. This is a story about the great faith of a simpleton in the God. The story begins with Lencho hoping for rains so that his crops would give a better yield. The rain does come but is followed by a devastating hailstorm. Hailstorm destroys all the standing crops and leaves Lencho staring into the bleak future ahead. But Lencho is a strong believer in the God and decides to write a letter to the God; asking for some monetary help. Lencho also wishes to repay the debt when the next crop would give him enough money. After seeing Lencho’s letter, the postmaster is deeply touched by the strong faith of Lencho in the God. The postmaster collects money from his colleagues and sends some money to Lencho. But the money sent by the postmaster is less than what the Lencho had demanded through his letter. Lencho once again writes a letter to the God in which he expresses his doubts about the honesty of post office employees. He called them “Bunch of Crooks”

Expected Questions:      

Question 1: What did Lencho hope for?

Answer: Lencho hoped for rains; because the crop in his field needed rains.

Question 2: Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like ‘new coins’?

Answer: As raindrops would have helped in getting a better harvest, resulting in more prosperity, so Lencho compared them with new coins.

Question 3: How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho’s fields?

Answer: The rain changed to hailstorm. All the crop in the field was destroyed.

Question 4: What were Lencho’s feelings when the hail stopped?

Answer: After the destruction caused by hail, Lencho was shattered. He could see a bleak future for him and his family. He was worried about lack of food for the coming year.

Question 5: Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he do?

Answer: Lencho had faith in God. He believed that God could see everything and would help him out. Lencho wrote a letter to the God, explained his situation and asked for some money from God.

Question 6: Who read the letter?

Answer: The postmaster read the letter.

Question 7: What did the postmaster do then?

Answer: Postmaster was deeply touched by Lencho’s faith in the God. The postmaster asked his colleagues to contribute some money so that they could send that to Lencho.

Question 8: Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?

Answer: The following sentences explain Lencho’s faith in the God, “But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope: help from God. “Don’t be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger.”

Question 9: Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

Answer: Postmaster was moved by Lencho’s complete faith in the God. So, he decided to send money to Lencho. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. So, he signed the letter ‘God’. It was a good ploy to convey a message that God had himself written the letter.

Question 10: Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not?

Answer: As Lencho had complete faith in God, so he did not try to find out the actual sender of money.

Question 11: Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the situation?

Answer: Lencho had all his doubts on people working in the post office. The irony of the situation is the finger pointing on those who had tried to help out Lencho. In real life also we come across such situations. Many a time you would have tried helping someone and he may get a wrong message.

Question 12: Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with money in it?

Answer: Lencho was not surprised to get the money.

Question 13: What made him angry?

Answer: The fact that he received half the amount he had requested for, made him angry.

Question 14: There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated?

Answer: In the initial part of the story the episode of rainfall turning into a hailstorm shows the conflict between man and nature. When it is a rainfall the man is very happy dreaming about happy days ahead. But once the rain turns into hail the man is ruing the happening of hailstorm. The way Lencho is feeling sad and gloomy after the storm appropriately projects the conflict of the nature and the man. In the later part of the story when Lencho blames post office people for stealing part of the money then it is showing the conflict between humans. Although nothing is written what happened after that, but anybody can imagine the mental situation when postmaster read the letter.

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NAZISM AND THE RISE OF HITLER (CLASS IX)

Chapter 3

Nazism and The Rise of Hitler

Q.1: Describe the problems faced by the Weimer Republic.

Answer: After the defeat of the imperial Germany at the end of the First World War, King Kaiser William II fled to Holland to save his life. Taking this opportunity, the Parliamentary Parties met at Weimer and established a Republic on November 1918 popularly known as Weimer Republic. This Republic was not received well by the Germans mainly because of the terms which the Republic was forced to accept by the Allied Forces after German’s defeat in the First World War. The Republic had to face many problems, some of which are given below:-

=> The Republic was forced to sign a peace treaty at Versailles in June 1919. The terms and conditions of this peace treaty were too harsh and humiliating. According to this treaty Germany lost its overseas colonies, 13 percent of its territories, 75 percent of its iron and 26 percent of its coal reserves. Also the Allied Powers demilitarized Germany to weaken its powers. So, this Republic was defamed and became unpopular among its own people from the very beginning.

=> Germany had to agree to pay huge war compensation to 6 billion pounds to the Allied Countries. With all its resources, the Republic could never pay such a huge amount and so, many Germans held the new Weimer Republic responsible for agreeing to these conditions.

=> Because of its weak position, those who supported the republic like - Socialists, Catholics, Democrats became easy targets of attack in the Conservative Nationalist Circles.

=> Because of the opposition of the Allied Powers, Germans could not become a member of the League of Nations till 1925. Such a thing created most resentment in Germany and particularly for the Weimer Republic.

=> Germany had fought the war largely on loans and had to pay war reparations in gold. With the depleted gold reserves, scarce resources and crippled economic conditions the Republic was no more able to pay war compensations. Under this situation the new Republic had to face a tough opposition from the neighbouring countries as they occupied its leading industrial area, Ruhr to claim the coal reserves.

=> All in all there was devastation, starvation, unemployment, total despair among the youth and humiliation everywhere. The country was passing through a situation of hyperinflation and the Republic failed to solve the economic problems of the people. Last but not the least; the German economy was the worst hit by the world-wide economic crisis of 1929 - 1933.

    So, the Weimer Republic had to face too many difficulties since its inception. Indeed the Republic was too young and vulnerable to survive so many problems within and outside the country and ultimately, it failed when Hitler sealed its fate in 1933.          

Q.2: Discuss why Nazism became popular in Germany in 1930.

Answer: The story of the Rise of Nazism in Germany is not limited to a few specific events or causes. It is the result of the working of an elaborate and frightening system which operated at different levels. Nevertheless, some of the main causes of the Rise and Popularity of Nazism in Germany can be mentioned as follows:

=> Treaty of Versailles: Germany was forced to sign a peace treaty at Versailles after her defeat in the First World War. This treaty was so harsh and humiliating for the Germans which they could not accept by heart and ultimately led to the rise of Hitler’s Nazism in Germany. Because of the various terms of this treaty Germany had to sacrifice much of its territories, colonies, natural resources, military power and also had to pay huge war compensation. This created a feeling of sheer dissatisfaction among the people of Germany who visualized Hitler of the Nazi Party as the symbol of revival of the lost glories of Germany.

=> Economic Crises: The Nazis did not have much popularity until the early 1930s. The German economy was the worst hit by the by the world-wide economic crisis of 1929 - 1933. The country was passing through a situation of hyperinflation. It was during this period of Great Depression when Nazism became a mass movement.

=> Political Turmoil: There were many political parties in Germany such as Nationalists, Royalists, Communists, Social Democrats etc. although none of them was enjoying majority in the democratic government. The Party strife was at its peak. This along with various other crises within the country continuously weakened the Republic government and ultimately giving an opportunity to the Nazis to capture the power.

=> Germany had no faith in Democracy: After the defeat of Germany at the end of the First World War, ‘Democracy’ was totally new for the Germans. They had no faith in Parliamentary institutions. Democracy was indeed a young and fragile idea, which could not survive the various problems which were prevailing in Germany at that time. People preferred prestige and glory to liberty and freedom. They supported Hitler whole-heartedly as he got the ability to fulfill their dreams.

=> Failure of Weimar Republic: After the defeat in the First World War and Versailles Treaty there was devastation, starvation, unemployment, total despair among the youth and complete confusion everywhere in Germany. Weimar Republic failed to solve the economic crises of the country. This provided a golden opportunity for the Nazis to launch a campaign in its favour.

=> Hitler’s Personality: Hitler was a powerful speaker, an able organizer, resourceful person and a man of actions.  He could mobilize the mass in his favour by his passionate words. He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of the German people. In fact, his personality and actions contributed maximum to the popularity of Nazism in Germany.      

Q.3: What are the peculiarities of Nazi thinking?

Answer: After the defeat in the First World War Germany had to sign a harsh and humiliating treaty with the Allies. The treaty multiplied the problems an already defeated Germany many times and also a political uncertainty in the country. As a result, Hitler rose to the power. He set up the Nazi party and succeeded in capturing the power and establishing the dictatorship of the Nazi party in Germany. The dictatorial rule of the Nazi party under the leadership of Hitler is termed as Nazism. Nazi ideology was synonymous with Hitler’s worldview. The chief features of Nazi thinking were as under:

=> The state is above all. All powers should be vested in the State. People exist for the State, not the State for the people.

=> It was in favour of ending all types of parliamentary institutions and glorified the rule of a great leader.

=> It was in favour of crushing all types of party formations and opposition.

=> It was in favour of rooting out liberalism, socialism and communism.

=> It preached hatred for the Jews whom they thought, were responsible for the economic misery of the Germans.

=> The Nazi party considered Germany superior to all other nations and wanted to have her influence all over the world.

=> It wanted to mobilize the private and State efforts for her development of agriculture and industries etc.

=> It wanted to denounce the disgracing Treaty of Versailles.

=> It extolled war and glorified the use of force.

=> It aimed at increasing the German Empire and acquiring all the colonies snatched away from her.

=> It dreamt of creating a Racial State of ‘Pure Germans’ or ‘Nordic Aryans’ by eliminating all others who were undesirable to them.     

Q.4: Explain why Nazi propaganda was effective in creating a hatred for the Jews.  

Answer: Soon after assuming power in Germany in 1933 Hitler launched a vicious propaganda against the Jews which proved quite successful in creating hatred for the Jews. Some of the reasons for the success of the propaganda against the Jews were the following:

1)    Hitler had already created a niche for himself in the minds of German people who began to consider him as their Messiah. They used to believe Hitler just by his words. Thus, the personality cult created by Hitler did all the wonder and the Nazi propaganda against the Jews proved successful.

2)    The traditional Christian hatred for the Jews, because they were accused to have killed Christ, was fully exploited by the Nazis in order to make the Germans pre-judicial against Jews.

3)    The Nazis used the language and media effectively with great care. The racial theory put forward by the Nazis that the Jews belonged to a lower race and as such were undesirable.

4)    The Nazis injected hatred against the Jews even in the minds of the children from the very beginning during the days of their schooling. The teachers who were Jews were dismissed and Jews children were thrown out of the schools. Such methods and new ideological training to the new generation of children went a long way in making the Nazi’s propaganda quite effective in creating hatred for the Jews.

5)    Propaganda films were made to create hatred for the Jews. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped and marked. For example, one such film was ‘The Eternal Jew’.       

Q5. Who were called the November criminals? Why?

Ans. They were the politicians and people who supported the Weimar Republic. Mainly they were Socialists, catholics and Democrats. They became easy targets of attack in the conservative nationalist circles because they were responsible for unjustice done Germany by signing Versailles treaty. They were mockingly called the ‘November criminals’          

Q6. What were the promises made by Hitler to people of Germany?

Ans. To gain power, Hitler made following promises to people of Germany;

1.     He promised to build a strong nation, undo the injustice of the Versailles Treaty and restore the dignity of the German people.

2.     He promised employment for those looking for work, and a secure future for the youth.

3.     He promised to weed out all foreign influences and resist all foreign ‘conspiracies; against Germany.

Q7 Explain any three effects of Nazism of the school system?

Ans. Effects of Nazism of the school system were’

1.     All schools were cleansed and purified i.e. teachers who were Jews or seen as ‘politically unreliable’ were dismissed.

2.     Children were first segregated. German and Jews could not sit together or play together.

3.     Subsequently’ undesirable children’ – Jews the physically handicapped. Gypsies- were thrown out of schools.

4.     Good German children were subjected to prolonged period of Nazi schooling.

5.     School textbook were rewritten. Racial science was introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race,

6.     Ten-year had to enter Jungvolk. At 14, all boys had to join the Nazi youth organisation.

-Hitler Youth.

Q8. What did the German children learn after Nazi schooling?

Ans. They learnt to worship war’ glorify aggression and violence. Condemn democracy, and hate Jews’ communists, Gypsies and all those categorised as ‘undesirable’. Children were taught to be loyal and submissive’ hate Jews and worship Hitler.

Q9. Explain any five features of political policy adopted by Hitler after coming to power in 1933.

Ans. Policies adopted by Hitler once he came to power in 1933.

1.     Suspended civil Rights.

2.     Introduced Enabling Act which gave him all powers to sideline Parliament and rule by decree.

3.     All political parties and trade unions were banned except for the Nazi Party and its affiliates.

4.     Established complete control over the economy, media, army and judiciary.

5.     Special surveillance and security forces(Gestapo, SA and SS) were created to control and order society in ways that the Nazis wanted.

6.     Sent communists and other opponents to concentration camps.

7.      

Q10. What was the role of the international Military Tribune set up after the World War II?

Ans. An International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals.

A.    For crimes against peace.

B.    For war crimes and

C.    Crimes against humanity.

 Q11. Enumerate the events led to the Great Economic Depression.

Ans. Following events led to Great Economic Depression which made huge economic

Crisis in USA, Europe [including Germany]

1.     Wall Street Exchange crashed in 1929. Fearing a fall in prices, people made frantic efforts to sell their shares. On one single day, 24 October , 13 million shares were sold. This was the start of Great Economic Depression.

2.     Over the next three years, between 1929 and 1932, the national income of the USA fell by half. Factories shut down, exports fell, farmers were badly hit and speculators withdrew their money from the market.

3.     The German economy was the worst hit by the economic crisis. By 1932, industrial production was reduced to 40 per cent of the 1929 level. Workers lost their jobs or were reduced wages. The number of unemployed touched an unprecedented 6 million.

Q 12. Who were the Free Corps?

Ans. Free corps were the war veteran’s organization in Germany that helped Socialists and Weimar Republic to suppress the revolutionary uprising of the Spartacist League.

Q13. What was the outcome of Nuremberg Tribunal? In what way its outcome as different?

Ans. After the defeat of Germany and end of world war II, an International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals for crimes against peace, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Nuremberg Tribunal only eleven leading Nazis sentenced to death. Others were imprisoned for life. The retribution did come, yet the punishment of the Nazis was far short of the brutality and the extent of their crimes.

The allies did not want to be as harsh on defeated Germany as they had been after the First World War.

Q14. How did the common people of Germany react to Nazism?

Ans  Common people of Germany can be put into three categories based on their views about Nazism.

a.     Those who believed in Nazism idea and supported it. They marked the houses of Jews and spread anger and hatred against other communities including Jews.

b.    Those who opposed it actively. They had to face the wrath of Nazi government and even death sentences.

c.     Those who were passive onlookers and apathetic witnesses. They were to scared to act or to protest. Pastor Niemoeller, a resistance fighter, wrote about this attitude of apathy among Germans to let atrocities to occur in their neighbourhood.

Q15. What was Spartacist League?

Ans. The Spartacist League was another political party in Germany that opposed the Weimer Republic. They supported Soviet-style governance. They were opposed by the Socialists, Democrats’, Catholics and were crushed by the Free Corps.

Later the anguished Spartacists founded the Communist Party of Germany. It led to political radicalization between Communists and Socialists. Henceforth they became irreconcilable enemies and could not make common cause against Hitler.