Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem

Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem – For Elkana

Poems in English literature often portray the humblest environmental events in a beautiful and impactful way. Through the composition of poetic phrases, rhymes and lyrical elements, poets render their observations and learnings from their surroundings to the readers of their poetry. The poem “For Elkana” by Nissim Ezekiel describes one of the many days in a modest and content Indian household. It is a simple poem describing the daily affair of a family enjoying a warm day in the summer evening of April.

The themes of the poem are simplistic. Students can learn more about the topics and various themes of the poem by solving Chapter 8 Poem Class 11 English Woven Words important questions, available on the leading learning website for academic assistance – Extramarks.

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Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem – With Solutions

The poetry experts at Extramarks have accomplished proficiency in their field of study. That is why the solutions to important questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem are easy for students to learn and comprehend for their examinations.

Here are Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem important questions with solutions:-

Question 1. Comment on the subtlety with which the poet captures the general pattern of communication within a family.

Answer    1. The poem “For Elkana”, written by the contemporary poet Nissim Ezekiel is a humble depiction of daily life in a household with a wife, a husband and a son. The family in the poem takes a stroll on the lawn. While walking around, the wife points out the broken window–pane causing inconvenience. The wife wants her husband to be thoughtful of the issue. However, the husband is unheeding and continues to spend his time in leisure as he does not want to talk about trivial things, such as the broken window pane. The husband is, nevertheless, sure about his wife being correct, and he avoids any more squabbles. Throughout the poem,  readers are introduced to the regular and simple pattern of communication that occurs in  Indian households about any topic of conversation.

Question  2. According to the wife, what task can the husband not do? Why does the husband agree with the affirmation?

Answer     2. The husband does not want to engage in any arguments with his wife. He has a composed personality and loves his wife, so he tries to maintain peaceful communication with his wife. The husband is fully aware that his wife is sure she is always correct. During that moment, the husband wanted to enjoy the evening walk on the lawn. Therefore, he continued to agree with everything the wife said, including his incapability of repairing minor household damages such as a broken window pane.

Question  3. Poetic effect is achieved in the poem through understatement and asides. Discuss this with examples.

Answer     3. Understatement enables the reader of the poem to visualise the events happening in the poem. Poetry is a form of literature through which a poet tries to reach the depths of readers’ minds. Several phrases in the poem have been used as asides, but they balance the poem’s overall message. The phrases that explain the environment and people in the poem help the reader relate to the poet’s thought process.

The poet has beautifully described the surroundings of his household. The phrase “The broken window–pane” creates an image of a typical house requiring repair. The poet also states that arguments cannot diminish the emotional connection between a wife and the husband. The poet shares this thought with the reader using the line “the man she loves happened to be me.” The poet makes sure that the reader knows about their son and describes him as a kid with small legs, a crescent-shaped moon and cold eyes. The kid is hungry and determined to have food quickly. All the words and phrases act as agents of imagery in the poem enabling the reader to form vivid pictures of events happening during the evening in the humble household of the poet.

Question 4. How does the family enjoy evenings in the summer season?

Answer    4. The family finds comfort while walking on the lawn in the April summers. Sometimes, their house gets too warm in summer. When it happens, the family often enjoy their evenings by resting on the lawn. They bring out their chairs to sit on the lawn.

Question 5. How is the idyllic juxtaposed with the pedestrian in the poem?

Answer    5. Nissim Ezekiel took inspiration from random things around him for his poetry composition. His poems talked about people’s usual perspectives, habits and opinions. He did not write much about themes such as romance but described the beauty of the habitual lives of people. The word idyllic describes cheerfulness, perfection and anything picturesque. In contrast, the word pedestrian describes something dull or unhappening.

The poem is a typical Nissim Ezekiel literary piece that describes the usual happenings in an Indian household and a normal conversation between the wife and the husband. It might seem that nothing exciting or adventurous is happening in the poem. However, the way the poem presents the simplicity of the household with poetic elements such as imagery and understatements makes the poem an idyllic experience. Therefore, the poem proves readers can have an idyllic experience even through a pedestrian piece of literature. Therefore, the poem consists of both idyllic and pedestrian themes.

Question 6. Explain the undertones in the statement: ‘Wife and husband in unusual rapport State one unspoken thought’:

Answer    6. The statement explains a bonding relationship between the wife and husband. Initially, during arguments, both of them can understand each other’s thoughts easily. Moreover, the wife and husband are parents as well. When their seven-year-old son persistently asks for food, he interferes in his parents’ conversation. The situation enables a single thought about their child being disciplined in the parents’ minds. Once again, near the end of the poem, the husband and wife’s thoughts synchronise when they agree their son should be given food based on his humorous reply. Therefore, the poet has stated that even between conflicts, the wife and husband can often contemporise their thoughts.

Question 7. What time of the year is mentioned in the poem?

• Winters in December
• April summers
• August rain
• None of the above

Answer   7. Option (2) April summers

Explanation:-

• Option (2) is correct. The family is seeking comfort by sitting on their chairs on the lawn on a summer evening in April. The scene is usually happening in an Indian household. The wife and husband are having conversations, and the son insists on having something to eat.

Question 8. Comment on the capitalisation of all the words in the line: ‘Children Must be Disciplined’.

Answer    8. The capitalisation of words significantly gives prominence to the very thought of the parents about the need to discipline their child. The seven-year-old son interrupts his parents’ conversation, which they find to be against basic etiquette. The parents cannot fulfil the son’s desire for food during that particular time, hence ending up sharing a single thought of disciplining their child.

Question 9. How is the son successful in getting food?

• The son throws tantrums
• The son refuses to eat anything anymore
• The son tells his mother he won’t be hungry in five minutes
• None of the above

Answer   9. Option (3) The son tells his mother he won’t be hungry in five minutes

Explanation:-

• Option (3) is correct. The son is hungry and wants to satiate his hunger. Therefore he is adamant that he needs to eat something during that time. However, his mother tells him that he must wait for at least five minutes for food. The son replies that he may not be hungry in the next five minutes. His reply lightens the mood, and his mother agrees right away to cook him something to eat.

Question 10. What are the similarities between the father and the son mentioned in the poem? 

Answer    10. There is a similarity in the poem’s personalities of the father and son. Both of them seem to be tenacious and full of wit. When the son is determined to have food during that time itself without delay and tells his mother he won’t be hungry in the next five minutes, the father is impressed and perceives his son as being clever, persistent and quick-witted just like him.

Question 11. What makes the urgency of the child’s demand seem logical?

Answer    11. The seven-year child is skittish and stubborn. He wants something to eat and does not care if his parents are in the middle of an important conversation. Although the mother is clear that he will be getting food only after five minutes, the son does not give up and expresses his fear of losing his appetite in the next five minutes. It creates a humorous situation, and the father is convinced that such a logician deserves to have food right away. Consequently, the mother agrees, and the three of them, the father, the mother and the son, leave the lawn and go into the house.

Question 12. How does the wife start a conversation during the summer evening?

Answer    12. The wife points out the broken window pane and the inconvenience it could cause. She also tells the husband that all men in the neighbourhood know the art of repairing broken window panes but not the man she loves, her husband.

Question 13. Do you think the husband is in favour of arguing with his wife?

Answer    13. No. The husband does not want to offend his wife and continues to agree to all of her claims. The husband knows that she is always correct. He is reluctant to conflict with his wife and wants to enjoy the summer evening with her. Therefore, he agrees that he is not talented enough to repair broken windows.

Benefits of Solving Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem

Poetries are difficult to understand because huge ideas and vast imaginative perspectives of the poets become limited to the loss of use of words. However, students can smoothly ace the tests for this chapter by solving Extramarks’ set of important questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem.

The benefits of solving Extramarks important questions have been listed below:-

• Solving important questions helps students to correct their mistakes while writing answers.
• The Extramarks important questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 8 Poem follow the latest CBSE pattern of exam writing answers.
• All solutions to important questions include the themes and ideas of the poem mentioned in the NCERT textbook.
• The solutions to important questions have been given by learned and experienced English literature experts having immense knowledge of poetry.

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