GRADE 8 ENGLISH

REINFORCEMENT WORKSHEET
LITERATURE

GOING FOR WATER

1. What was the problem posed in the beginning of the poem?

This narrative poem begins with a simple problem, the well beside the
door was dry. To remedy this, the characters in the poem must go out of
their way and a long distance.

2. How is the brook described at the end of the poem?

The final stanza describes the brook as a “silver blade” lit by the moon and
runs through the woods. The water glows as it moves along its path,

3. What is the tone of ‘Going for Water?’

The tone is light-hearted and excited. The speaker is thrilled to be outside
the house, running across the field and into the woods and hiding from the
light of the moon. The characters, whether they are adults or children,
enjoy their task despite how inconvenient it is. 

4. What is the message of the poem Going for Water?

The meaning of this poem is that anyone, no matter their situation in life or
the work they are engaged in, can enjoy nature. Such is shown by the
young characters in this six-stanza poem as they joyfully run across a field
on an autumn evening to retrieve water.
5. How does the poet describe the woods in autumn?

The trees in the autumn are bare and devoid of the songs of the birds, and
there is no breeze to sway the leafless branches.

6. Why did the children pause and hold each other’s hands?

When the people/children hear the river, they pause and hold each other’s
hands as if to warn the other not to make a sound. They could hear the
river, the tinkling sound of running water, in the silence and quietness of
the evening.

7. How does the brook look like in the moonlight?

The poet paints a beautiful picture of the pearl-like drops of water that
glow in the bright moonlight of the pool which in turn makes the slender
brook look like a silver blade.

8. “Now drops that floated on the pool/ Like pearls, and now a silver
blade.” Explain the literary device used.

This phrase is a simile because there are two distinct comparisons. The
author compares water drops to pearls, which emphasises to me how the
water drops disappeared in the pool because pearls would sink and pearls
are shiny, as is water.

THE SILVER LINING   

1. What first impression did the Bhandaris have about Mr David? How
did they regard him at first and in what manner did their opinion
change?
The Bhandaris’ first impression of the young man was that he was proud
and arrogant since he did not reply to their polite enquiries. They found
him strange and rude when even after the written request to not to try to be
friendly with their daughter he ran out into the courtyard where Promodni
was playing by herself. They were however struck with ‘wonder and
amazement 'when they found their little daughter Promodni sitting on his
lap and laughing the way she had not laughed in years.

2. At this time he discovered the sealed envelope having the typed chit
lying on the table, addressed to him by name.

i. Who discovered the envelope?

Ans: Mr David discovered the envelope.

ii. What happened immediately prior to this?

Ans: Mr David paid the porter and made entries about himself in the
Guesthouse register, he was greeted by Mr Bhandari, prior to this.

iii. What was in the envelope, what did it say?

Ans: In the envelope was the information that Promodni, she was hearing
and speech impaired and that she should not be hurt by strangers trying to
befriend her too soon.

iv. What did the person do immediately after this?

Ans: Immediately after this, Mr David looked around astonished, saw

Promodni sitting outside in the garden, looked at the Bhandaris and Mr
Dhanda with a smile and darted out towards Promodni.
3. Why was Mrs Bhandari happy at the end of the story?
Ans: Mrs Bhandari was happy because Mr David had outlined to her and
her husband some plans for education and betterment of Promodni. He had
told her that there were schools for such people and that he himself
intended starting one and that Promodni could be his first pupil.

4. What is Dhanda’s suggestion to Pramodini’s parents?

Dhanda suggests the parents to inform every new guest in a typed letter
sealed in an envelope. The letter was a brief note on the child’s
handicapped situation and had a request that the visitor should refrain from
approaching Pramodni and asking her any questions.

5. What is the does the title ‘The Silver Lining’ imply?

The title, 'The Silver Lining' has a strong in-depth meaning attached to it.
The title justifies the phrase, "Every Cloud has a Silver Lining'. It means
that whatever a person appears from outside might not necessarily be the
same from within. The story describes how a handicapped child's views
towards life change as she meets and interacts with another handicapped
person. This person is thought to have brought a ray of hope into the
child's otherwise dark and shabby lifestyle. The man who used to be jolly
from the outside was crushed on the inside. But his positive outlook on life
made the little girl change his outlook.
LAST LESSON OF THE AFTERNOON   

1. Write an account of your opinion /idea about this poem.

The poem “Last Lesson of Afternoon” by David Herbert Richards

Lawrence reflects the viewpoint of a teacher who feels that his hard
attempt at teaching a class of sixty students is an exercise in futility. The
poem expresses a mood of anger and bitter desperation at the
thanklessness of a teacher’s work. The teacher is tired of his students and
are not interested in the quest or ‘hunt’ for knowledge and are unruly in
their behaviour. The teacher is waiting for the last bell to ring to get rid of
these stubborn things.

2. What is the irony in the poem?

It is ironic that, in Last Lesson of the Afternoon by D H Lawrence, it is the

teacher who is waiting for the school bell to ring to "end this weariness"
and not the students. The children he is trying to teach are "My pack of
unruly hounds" which shows how difficult it has become to impart any
useful knowledge and he can "urge them no more. Another irony is that
here the students punish the teacher with their slovenly work. ." They
show little respect for their subject and their books have "several insults of
blotted pages."

3.What do you think ‘take the toll of their punishment ‘means?

This means that he has sunk to the very lowest point of his life and cannot
sink any further or take this kind of life anymore. He has tried his level
best to mould the students but in turn, he does not gain any positive
/results. Hence, he feels insulted. He feels that he has been rewarded with
punishment (their slovenly work). He decides here that he will not take
this any longer.

4.Why does the teacher feel that his teaching and the pupils’ learning are
both purposeless? Pick out words and phrases which show that he shares
his pupils’ indifference to their work.
The teacher feels that his teaching and the pupils’ learning are
both purposeless because despite relentless efforts to teach knowledge to
the students he has failed to obtain any positive outcomes from them. Here
are some words and phrase showing that he shares his pupils’ indifference
to their work:
i) ‘I will not!’ ‘I will not waste my soul…’ ‘I do not and will not…
ii) ‘It all goes down the same abyss.’

WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR    

1. “Into that heaven of freedom, my Father let my country awake.”

(a) Who makes this prayer? Whom does he address as ‘my father’?

(b) In what context does the speaker makes this prayer?

(c) How does he conceive that ‘heaven of freedom”?

Ans.(a) Rabindranath Tagore makes this prayer in his poem “Where the
Mind is Without Fear.”

(b) The poet authored this poem in 1901 when India was under British
rule. The poet prayed for the people of India who were fighting at the time
for freedom from British rule. The poet wanted his motherland to be free
in the truest sense.

(c) In Tagore’s heaven of freedom, the mind is without fear and man does
not forsake his dignity for anything. It encourages free pursuit of
knowledge, unbiased exercise of reason and frank and truthful utterance.
In true freedom, there must not be any narrow division of race or
community and the mind should untiringly strive to achieve perfection in
different fields of thought and action in life.

2. “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls.”

(a) What is meant by ‘narrow domestic walls?

(b) What can prevent the world from being broken up into fragments?

Ans. (a) Each race or community has some customs and conventions of its
own. These customs and conventions prevent free communication between
one community and another. These are like the domestic walls which
cause narrow divisions among the people of a society.

(b) The poet’s ideal is true freedom. He wants these barriers to be pulled
down. The poet wants the fullest exchange between man and man. He
wants that all men should regard themselves as members of one human
family. Thus, only true freedom can prevent the world from being broken
up into fragments
3. “Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary
desert sand of dead habit”. Bring out the significance of the quoted lines?

In a free country man’s mind is free from all prejudices and superstitions.
There the flow of reason is not obstructed by any blind reverence for old
customs and conventions. In other words, in true freedom, men are guided
by obvious reason and not by dead conventions

4.What does the poet say about the mind of men of a free country?

Ans. In a free country, the mind of men must be fearless and must be free
from all prejudices and superstitions. In such a country, the mind seeks
knowledge freely. In an ideal state of freedom, the mind strictly adheres to
reason without paying any heed to old customs and conventions. There the
human mind is sincere, outspoken, and it untiringly tries to reach
perfection in every field of life. The poet also wants great adventures of
the mind into boundless realms of thought and action under the divine
guidance of the Supreme Father.

5.Explain the phrase ‘Where knowledge is free’.

Ans: Knowledge enables us to understand different things, and everyone
has the right to get knowledge regardless of caste, creed, and status. The
poet wanted an atmosphere in which knowledge would be freely available
to everyone and not limited to a specific segment of society. It should be
accessible to everyone, whether the rich or the poor, without any social
obstacles of any kind.

A BOY’S BEST FRIEND   

1. Write the character sketch of Jimmy.

Jimmy is a moon born boy. He is tall and thin but tall for a ten-year-old.
His arms and legs were long and agile. He looked thicker and stubbier in
his spacesuit on, but he could handle the lunar gravity as no born can. He
was obstinate to let Robutt go and exchange it with a real Scottish terrier
dog.

2. Why does Jimmy's father seem 'to be waiting for jimmy to say
something' when he has told him about the dog?
Answer: Jimmy's father was waiting for Jimmy's reaction when he told
him about the Scotch terrier puppy – a real dog from Earth.
 3. What was the immediate reaction of Jimmy and Robutt when they
got to know about its arrival from the earth?
Answer: The listener i.e., Jimmy frowns and holds Robutt tightly as
because he did not want to exchange him for the Scotch terrier, and the
little Robutt which had never been held so tightly in all its
existence, squeaked high and rapid squeaks of happiness.

4. How do we know that Jimmy had been in the crater many times
before?
We know that Jimmy had been on the crater before because he knew the
exact location of the few rocks that existed there. He had also played with
his dog, Robutt there before

5. What did Robutt do when Jimmy pretended to be hurt?

Once Jimmy had lain still and pretended, he was hurt and Robutt
had sounded the radio alarm and people from Lunar City got there in a
hurry. Jimmy's father had let him hear about that little trick, and Jimmy
never tried it again.

6. Why does Jimmy hold Robutt so tightly?

Answer: Jimmy held Robutt tightly because he loved him very much and
did not want to part from it. Explanation: Jimmy's parents wanted to have
a real dog for Jimmy from Earth. They wanted Jimmy to feel the love of a
real animal, unlike Robutt who was a robot dog.
The World-Renowned Nose   

1. How did the government try to capture the long-nosed one?

The government tried a confidence trick to capture the long-nosed one. By
awarding him the title 'Chief among the long-nosed ones' and by giving
him a medal, the government made its monopoly over the long-nosed one
2. What does long nose stand for?
The 'long nose' referred in the story may be taken as a symbol of those
gang of society who worships just the status and the glory of a person, not
the hard ways through which he walked in the past to earn a living as well
as the ways through which he achieved those heights.
 3. Why were rumours spread about the long-nosed one?

Ans- Considering his popularity the political parties wanted the long-nosed
one to join their parties. Despite the unwillingness of the long-nosed one,
one of the political parties has produced the slogan, ' Our party is the long-
nosed one's party, the long-nosed one's party is the people's party!'. This
was done without his consent. Members of other political parties were
incensed by this and so they planned to spread rumours about the long-
nosed one with the help of one of his secretaries. They made her issue a
scathing statement against at the long-nosed one.

4. What is satirical about the story world renowned nose?

In this story, satire plays a key role as the people who are supposed to be
enlightened, educated, and thinking logical was running to see just a
glimpse of the long nosed one’s nose. Everyone forgot their identity while
going in search of him and bribing to see him. Another major satire that
could be seen is the illiterate cook who became famous and successful in a
short span of time. Thus, the story itself is a brilliant satire on the
psychology of masses and crowd who forgot their reasoning skills and
believes what others say.
5. How are political parties criticized in the story?
As the long nosed one became famous, politicians hatched conspiracies
to 'capture' him. The ruling party made him his loyal by giving him a title
and a gold medal. The president too honoured his position in the society.
Then the opposition party started agitation, violence & riots, on the pretext
that the nose was a pseudo made of rubber! The man was arrested by the
police under the influence to examine the nose by the gang of expert
doctors. Anyway, the nose was proved to be real, and this led to his
nomination as the Member of Parliament by the president. But the
opposition parties did not agree to that. They formed a United Front and
continued their struggle.
6. How was the nose of the long-nosed man proved to be genuine?
Answer: The doctors first blocked the nose of the man and suddenly the
man opened his mouth to breath and in the second experiment the doctor
used a pin to pinch the tip of the nose and after some time the blood started
coming out of the nose. By these experiments the doctor proved that the
nose was genuine.