ANTONY PUBLIC SENIOR

SECONDARY SCHOOL – CBSE

DEDICATE DEVOTE DETEMINE

ENGLISH INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT SESSION-2023 -2024

DONE BY:
J.K.GURUSRINIVAAS
CLASS XI

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude
to respected teacher
as well as our respected principal
DR.LYDIA GEORGE who gave us the
golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project. Their wonderful guidance and
motivation helped me to understand
the intricate issues involved in making
this project and its effective
presentation .
While doing this project ,I learnt lots of
things and moreover I got lot of
inspirationand ideas for my future also.
Finally words are not sufficient to express
my gratitude to my parents and friends
who helped and supported me a lot in
completing this project within the given
limited time .

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 ANTONY PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL-CBSE
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT WORK
REGISTER NUMBER:
NAME: J.K.GURUSRINIVAAS
CLASS: 11
YEAR: 2023-2024
SCHOOL : ANTONY PUBLIC SCHOOL
This is to certified to the bonafied work done By the
above mentioned student.

PRINCIPLE STAFF IN CHARGE

Submitted for the practical examination held on

at Antony Public Senior Secondary School-

CBSE

Internal examiner external examiner

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 INDEX

 INTRODUCTION
 SUMMARY
 POETIC DEVIES
 About the author
 POEM EXPLANTION
 IMPORTANT QUESTION
 CONCLUSION

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 Introduction
Childhood is a beautiful creation by poet Marcus Natten
which revolves around lost childhood. The numerous changes
with the growing age, two-sided faces of people, and the lost
childhood are exquisitely narrated with a very simple and
engaging voice. The poet tries to find out exactly what was
the point where he lost his childhood. He discusses the
instances where he might have lost his childhood. He talks
about how his innocence vanished. Slowly, he was
unknowingly introduced to the term “Hypocrite.” The people
pretend to be nice, but in reality, they are not. Their
preached love doesn’t reflect in their actions. Childhood is
the time when we don’t know the inner bitterness of people,
and we simply think they love us unconditionally. With this
bad experience, he has lost all his confidence to trust
someone easily. He recalls when his thoughts changed, and
he entered the maturity stage. He started thinking logically
instead of merely believing in people. The poet also throws
some light on developing one’s own opinion. Now, let us
discuss the summary of childhood.

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 Summary
The poet laments the loss of his childhood in his poem
‘Childhood.’ He tries to recall the exact time when he lost the
pure joys of childhood. The poet lends voice to his
meandering thoughts on this sense of loss through the poem.
The way he repeats the question, ‘When did my childhood
go?’ accentuates his longing for something precious he lost in
his journey to adulthood. Throughout the poem, he shares
various thoughts and emotions connected with its main
theme – the loss of innocence.

The poet wonders why and when he lost his childhood. He

imagines he could have lost it when he turned twelve. He is
quoting this certain stage of life because the start of the
twelfth year usually marks the beginning of adolescence,
which further leads to youthhood and adulthood. He cites
this as one possible reason for his loss. But his musings do
not stop here. He says he probably lost the innocence of his
childhood when he learned that hell and heaven were not
real. He never learned about these concepts in the
Geography lessons at school and hence, stopped believing in
them.

People generally form stereotypes about certain things that

feed their thinking and imagination. He remembered how he
viewed an adult when he was a child. He viewed them as
caring, understanding and responsible individuals. His beliefs
were shattered when he discovered that adults were also
capable of being uncaring, inconsiderate and ignorant of
other people’s pain and suffering.
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 This is a turning point in his life, and he cites it as an event
that was responsible for his transition into an adult from a
child .The poet rues the loss of his childhood again. This time,
he mentions self-realisation as the reason behind it. He
blames the day when he knew that he had a mind of his own
– the day he realised that he was unique as an individual and
could think and create on his own terms and choices. He
learned that he was capable of producing thoughts and
decisions that were completely his own. No one could have
any control or authority over his thoughts, memories or
experiences.

Finally, the poet concludes that his childhood is irretrievably

lost. He comes to terms with the fact that the innocence he
seeks can be found only in the happy face of an infant. Once
we are exposed to the knowledge and reality of the world,
we lose the innocent way of viewing the world as a
wonderful place with endless possibilities.

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 Poetic Devices
1. Alliteration – The occurrence of the same letter or sound
at the beginning of closely connected words
The time
My mind
Whichever way
Thoughts that
2. ANTITHESIS – where two opposite words are used
together in a sentence in a poem
Hell and Heaven
3. Individuality – In stanza 3, the poet realized that he can
use his own mind and can produce his own thoughts. He
discovered a sense of individuality in himself.
4. Inversion – when the subject-verb order is reversed
To use whichever way I choose
5. Rationalism – the poet rationalizes the lost childhood
when he was eleven and when he found out that hell and
heaven don’t exist and are not found in geography.
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
6. Refrain – a group of phrase which is repeated in the
poem
When did my childhood go?
Was that the day!
7. Rhyme Scheme – the rhyme scheme used in the poem
‘Childhood’ is ABBCCD.

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 About the author
Marcus Natten is a Norwegian writer who holds a position
with New Zealand and is the head of Hatchery Innovations
LMD. He is best known for The Book Thief and The
Messenger. Adolescence was composed by Marcus Natten. In
this sonnet, the artist has a better understanding of his lost
youth.

He also wrote a poem named as Childhood. In this poem, the

poet, Markus Natten wonders when and where he lost his
childhood. In this quest to find the moment he grew up.
Markus highlights the innocence and faith he lost even as he
gained rational individuality. Childhood is a stage of
innocence in which the child the believes others and loves
unconditionally.

It is a nicely written poem where the poet talks about the

transition period from childhood to adolescence, in other
words the loss of childhood. He describes the stages of
transition in three steps that is first thinking rationally, second
hypocrisy among the adults i.e. the tells to talk lovingly but
don’t act so lovingly and at last the individuality. Being a
teenager, I found it very much fascinating as it makes me
realize to find the answer of when did I lose my childhood? I
will surely recommend to give it a try if you are interested in
poem.

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 Poem Explanation
 Poem Stanza 1
When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!
 Word Meaning
Ceased – come to an end
 Explanation of the Poem: In the above lines, the poet
wonders about when his childhood came to an end. He
asked himself was it the day he was no longer eleven years
old? Was it the day when he realized that Hell and Heaven
existed and yet could not be found in geography or on the
map. He realized they are imaginary places that actually do
not exist in this world.

Poem Stanza 2
When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realized that adults were not
all they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!
Word Meaning
Preached – talked or spoken
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Explanation of the Poem: In the above stanza, the poet again
repeats the same question about when did his childhood go?
He wonders about the day when he started seeing the world
with a new perception that adults are hypocrites and are not
how they seemed to be. The adults who talked of love and
preached of love and yet never behaved so lovingly. They are
double-faced in reality. Was that the day when his childhood
go?

Poem Stanza 3
When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not those of other people
But my own, and mine alone
Was that the day!
Explanation of the Poem: In the third stanza, the poet
deliberates on the same question about when he lost his
childhood. He asked himself about possibilities. He wonders
about the day he realized that his mind was his own and
could use it the way he wants. When he realized that he
could produce his own thoughts which were not bound by
anyone. When he sensed his own individuality and a separate
personality. Was that the day he lost his childhood?

Poem Stanza 4
Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.

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Word Meaning
Infant – newborn baby
Explanation of the Poem: In the last stanza, the poet
remorse’s about his lost childhood. He concludes that his
childhood had gone to some forgotten place which will never
come back. He cherished his innocence which vanished now
and could be only seen in a baby’s face. He only has sweet
memories of his childhood which would soon fade away. He
also conveyed a message that the innocence of childhood
stays till the time one is an infant and that is all he knows.
T

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Question 1:
‘Childhood is an essential state in the process of growing up,
but it can’t go on forever.” Discuss.
Answer:
Childhood is an important stage in the process of growing up
of every person. The human infant is totally dependent on
others, but during childhood he gains physical, emotional and
mental strength. As the tiny baby grows bigger in size, other
faculties also develop. This stage is an important landmark in
man’s growth, but it can’t go on forever.
Childhood being a stage, must give way to another stage. It is
followed by adolescence or early youth. Now all the faculties
are fully developed. The person acquires reasoning power.
His rationalism helps him to decide truth or falsehood, fact
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and fiction. He acquires a fine capability of analysis and
discrimination. Now he can see through persons and things.
He begins to understand the hypocrisy of adults. He gains
confidence and becomes an independent thinker.

Question 2:
Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following:
Individuality, rationalism, hypocrisy
Answer:
The stanzas that talk of each of the quality in questions are
given below:

 individuality: Third stanza

 rationalism: First stanza
 hypocrisy: Second stanza

Question 3:
What according to the poem, is involved in the process of
growing up?
Answer:
According to the poem, the loss of childhood is involved in
the process of growing up.
This loss is compensated by some gains which come with
adolescence. These are: increase in understanding, power of
rationalizing and discrimination as well as a sense of
individuality and self-confidence.

Question 4:
What are the poet’s feelings towards childhood?
Answer:
The poet regards childhood as an important stage in the
process of growing up. Childhood is a period of make-believe.
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Children readily accept whatever the elders say. The poet
does not feel any regret or sense of loss on losing his
childhood.

Question 5:
Which, do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?
Answer:
The following lines in the poem are most poetic:
It went to some forgotten place That’s hidden in an infant’s
face,
That’s all I know.
These lines beautifully sum up the process of growth and the
disappearance of a particular stage of life. These lines have a
figurative or metaphorical meaning also. The infant’s
innocent face hides many things behind its smiles. Perhaps
the childhood lies hidden in some forgotten place lying
buried deep inside a child’s consciousness.

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 Conclusion of Childhood
Markus Natten is nostalgic about his childhood days
when things were simpler and possibilities were endless.
Childhood summary gives us a brief idea of how the
poet develops a longing for those days of the past when
everything seemed simple and alluring. His constant
inquiry into reasons for his lost childhood shows a
feeling of longing towards the younger years of his life.
He is troubled by the burden of responsibilities of
adulthood and the many uneasy things he has to deal
with in order to live his life. He craves the old days of
childhood when there was harmony, happiness and
excitement all the time.

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