Balbharati solutions for English - Kumarbharati 9 Standard Maharashtra State Board chapter 4.1 - Please Listen! [Latest edition]

Form groups of 6-8. One person (leader) chooses one item - a picture, a paragraph, or a lesson from any one of the 9th standard textbooks and writes the reference on a slip of paper, and folds it. Others ask him/her questions and try to guess what it is, from his/her answers. Follow the rules given below.

• The maximum number of questions the rest of the group can ask is 20.
• You cannot ask a direct question like ‘What do you have in mind?’
• You can ask ‘Wh-’ questions or ‘Yes/no’ questions.
• The leader has to give truthful answers.

Form pairs. List the things on which you have the same opinion and also the ones on which you have different opinions. Prepare a list of ten things in all and see how far you agree or disagree with your friend. Some useful phrases are given alongside. You could talk about:

• Clothes, latest fashion.
• Performance of sportsmen and women.
• Traffic/Transport in your area.
• Cleanliness and hygiene in your area.
• Future occupations/Careers.
• Latest news items.
• TV programs
• Mobile Apps
• Any subject of your choice.

The poet uses a free, conversational style in his poem. It is also called Colloquial style.

Pick out and write down such lines or expressions that support the above statement.

1. ______ you have not done what I asked.
2. _______________________.
3. _______________________.
4. _______________________.
5. _______________________.
6. _______________________.

Put the following expressions in a table of Do’s and Don'ts as expressed by the poet.

1. Please listen
2. give me advice
3. tell me why
4. solve my problem
5. just hear me
6. accept as a simple fact 
7. contribute to my fear
8. wait a minute

Write in your own words:

What does the listener do when the poet asks him to just listen? Give 3 points.

Write in your own words:-

Why does the poet remark that advice is cheap?

Write in your own words:-

Which two facts show that the poet is confident of overcoming his irrational feeling?

According to the poet, how does God help people, when they pray to him for help?

Why should one learn to tackle one's problems by one’s own self?

Why should seniors not overprotect or over - pamper juniors?

Find out and write down some proverbs/axioms/quotations that convey a message similar to ‘Self-help is the best help.’

Maintain a diary at least for a week. Write about your interactions with other people in your surroundings in 3-4 lines. Also write whether you find the interactions happy unhappy, satisfactory-unsatisfactory, enjoyable-stressful, etc.

Write an informal letter from a teenager to his/her parent, expressing a few thoughts from the poem.

(My dear ______/Dearest ______./Hi! ______ Are you surprised to see this letter? I wanted to talk to you about this, but then I thought I will be able to express myself better in a letter. Love,/Yours lovingly/Yours ______).

Read aloud a couple of stanzas of the poem ‘Invictus’ and ‘Please Listen’. In what ways do they differ? Think and fill up the table with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

‘Invictus’ is an example of Traditional Poetry. ‘Please Listen’ is an example of Free Verse.