On Killing A Tree Qna

ON KILLING A TREE
Chapter Activity: HOMEWORK

“Unfortunately deforestation affects the sustainability of the environment on a global scale with
more detrimental effects on developing countries. Consequences of deforestation include global
warming, flooding, climate change, and water and air pollution.”
Prepare a poster on the given statement to raise awareness against deforestation.
Question – Answers:
Q1. Reference to context:
“So hack and chop…… former size.”
(a) Why does the poet say that hacking and chopping alone won’t do it?
Ans. The poet says that the tree does not succumb to death when simply hacked and chopped.
Just as it takes time to grow fully, it also takes a long time and effort to be destroyed completely.
(b) Explain: ‘The bleeding bark will heal.’
Ans. The above line means that hacking and chopping will wound and scar the bark of the tree.
Sap will ooze out like an injured organ bleeding but gradually the wounded bark will heal and
regain strength, just as a human wound heals after a point of time.
© How will green twigs rise from close to the ground?
Ans. The tree may be cut up to the base of its trunk with only a stump left behind. However, on
getting nourishment through the roots, the stump will sprout again and curly little twigs will
shoot out of it making it green once again.
(d) Explain: ‘miniature boughs’. What will happen to the ‘miniature boughs’ if they are left to
themselves?
Ans. ‘Miniature boughs’ refer to small, newly sprout and tender branches that shoot out of the
stump of the tree. If they are left to themselves, they will soon grow freely and will keep on
expanding till they regain the original size of the tree.
Q2. How is the exposed root affected by the sun and air?
Ans. Sun and air start drawing life out of the exposed root. It becomes discoloured, dry and hard.
It starts withering and becomes crooked and twisted. Devoid of all its moisture, it gradually
becomes lifeless and the process of killing the tree is completed.
Q3. What relationship does the tree have with the earth?
Ans. A tree has a deep relationship with the earth. It owes its very existence to the earth. The
seed germinates into a sapling in the womb of the earth. Moreover, the tree draws nutrients from
the earth’s soil. It is the earth that gives it support and protection to grow and assume a massive
size. Thus, the earth helps a tree right from its birth to its survival.
Q4. The poet uses sarcasm to convey a deeper meaning. What is the message he conveys through
the poem?
Ans. The poet conveys the message that human beings have destructive temperament towards
nature, but Mother Nature has regenerative powers and cannot be destroyed easily. It has the
ability to resurrect itself. More importantly, the tree teaches us that mere physical assaults cannot
ruin us as long as our root, i.e. our soul is intact, which helps us rise again.
Q5. What are the poetic devices used in the poem? Justify.
Ans. The poet displays a clever use of the sarcastic technique throughout the poem by
encouraging us with a manual on how to properly kill a tree when in fact his intention is to raise
awareness against it. In the process, he has used multiple literary devices.
 Metaphor – “leprous hide”- The discoloured bark of the tree is being compared to human
skin when suffering from leprosy, “bleeding bark” – The wound on the tree after being
chopped is being compared to the human wound when it bleeds (the blood here refers to
the plant sap), “anchoring earth” – the anchor holding a ship is being compared to the
earth holding the root of the tree.
 Enjambment – “…jab of the knife Will do it.”, “…grown Slowly consuming….” – The
lines are being continued to the next sentence without ending its meaning.
 Alliteration – “bleeding bark”, “white and wet” – The consonant sounds of /b/ and /w/ are
being repeated in closely connected words.
 Repetition – “pulled out” – The phrase has been repeated thrice to emphasise on the
importance of the action of snapping the root out from the earth’s surface in order to
entirely ‘kill’ the tree.
 Anaphora – “The source…The most sensitive…” – The word “The” is being repeated at
the beginning of two successive clauses.

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ON KILLING A TREE

Chapter Activity: HOMEWORK

Q1. Reference to context:

“So hack and chop…… former size.”

(b) Explain: ‘The bleeding bark will heal.’

© How will green twigs rise from close to the ground?

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