A Day summary and exercise Class 12 English Notes

A Day summary and exercise Class 12 English Notes | NEB

Before reading

Answer the following questions.

a. What kind of day do you like: rainy, sunny, or foggy? Why?

Ans. I like all kinds of weather. Just a single type of weather condition is disgusting.

b. How does the sun tell us about different stages of a day?

Ans. As our childhood, adulthood, and elderly age, the sun tells us different stages.

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Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. How Does the poet describe the morning sun in the first stanza?

Ans. The poet describes the rising of the sun is a gradual process and it's ray appeared in what seemed to look like bands or ribbons, the steeples were covered or dunked in sunlight and the news that the sun had risen spread very fast.

b. What does the line 'The news like squirrels ran' mean?

Ans. The line "The news like squirrels ran" in the first stanza means that the news of the rising of the sun along with the casting of rays spreads as fast as squirrels run. The news of the arrival of the sun in the horizon is compared with the quick running of the squirrels using the word "like".

c. What do you understand by the line 'The hills untied their bonnets'?

Ans. Before the sun rises, the hills are sunk in the bonnet of darkness, cloud or snow. After the sun rises all the hills look beautiful. The hills remove their bonnets when the first beam of rays touch them.

d. Is the speaker watching the morning sun? Why? Why not?

Ans. Yes, the speaker is obviously watching the rising sun. The speaker is observing the change in color of the steeple into Amethyst, untied bonnets of the hills, is listening to the singing of the beautiful boblinks and all these events confirm that the speaker is watching the morning sun.

e. How does the sun set?

Ans. The speaker tells of the purpling of the sky as the sun sets until the sky tourns completely dark. But she doesn't know what happens after it because of the Icak of knowledge about the sun set.

Reference to the context

a. What, according to the speaker, is a day?

Ans. According to the speaker, a day is a duration between the sun rises to sunset when the sun rises, the hills seem to remove their boonets, and bobolink sings. The rays fall in beams and light up the place. Everyone talk about the sunrise. When the sun sets, the children who were out to play go over the hill and seem to disappear as they go home. The sky gets purple and turns completely dark.

The themes in the poem I like the binaries of sunshine and the sun sets. Both depict life and death. The day represent circle of Life.

b. What purpose does the hyphen in the first line serve in the poem?

Ans. A hyphen (is a punctuation mark used in writings to join works or parts of words. In poetry, a hyphen is used to show pauses, longer one than comas or semicolons. Emily Dickenson uses punctuation marks in her poem in a innovative way. She uses hyphens if she doesn't find the suitable words to express deep emotions, for granting reader to imagine and complete the missing words and to show the power of silence in front of certain situations. It is also used to give a sudden emphasis.

c. What makes this poem lyrical and sonorous? Discuss.

Ans. The poem "A Day" by Emily Dickenson is both lysical and sonorous poem. A lyrical poem is a poem in which the poet either expresses his feelings or emotions. The poet also presents a character in the first person to express his emotion. Here, the first person pronoun T' is used in lyrical poem. In this short poem, poetess is expressing her personal experience of observing sunrise. Sonorous means capable of giving out a deep, resonant sound, and rich in language. There are several things that make a poem musical and melodious. Sound devices like alliteration, assonance, rhyme and rhythm make a poem musical.

d. Who are the target audience of the speaker? Why?

Ans. In the poem "A Day' the world is seen through the eyes of an innocent child. It looks beautiful and miraculous but mysterious at the end. The speaker is narrating the sunrise as the first line says "I' tell you how the sun rose". From this perspective we can say that the target audiences are those fellow children who have missed to observe this beautiful sunrise as they a wake late in the morning. When we analyze the poem in a philosophical way, the entire humankinds are also the target audience. The beautiful sunrise indicates the beginning at life, the activities of the entire day is a journey of life and the setting of the sun is death.

e. The poem seems to describe a day for children. How would the adult people respond to this poem? Discuss this poem with your parents/guardians and write the answer based on their responses.

Ans. Literally the poem "A Day" describes the sunrise, phenomena after sunrise and sunset. But in philosophical sense, the poem talks about the transition from life to death. The poem tells us about the excitement from the beginning of life and squirrel running like life and mysterious ending of a life.

Reference beyond the text

a. Observe your surroundings of one fine morning and write a poem based on your own experience.

Ans. Write a poem yourself according to the question. Here is the poem by "Victoria Black" on surrounding for better understanding.

My Surroundings

I look at my surroundings,

The paintings and pictures,

Some are good some are bad,

Some are happy and some are sad,

They are doing sports or dancing,

Other are kissing or singing

I wish I could be one of those happy people again,

Singing and dancing everyday,

But I find myself depressed and deceived,

I long to have a perfect life.

But find myself empty handed,

The only happiness I receive is from my one and only love,

The rest are all just a grieve,

But I never get to see him,

So I will always be deceived and grieving for the rest of eternity

I will always have problems of my own that no one will ask about,

I will always be my best friends shadwow,

No one will notice my leave,

They'll all carry on without my heave.

- Bictoria Black

b. Write a personal essay on A Day in the School.

Ans. School life is the golden period of man's life. It is the period of learning manners and forming habits. It is the period of enjoying and merry making with friends and classmates: I am a student of twelve class in a reputed school in Kathmandu. The time flees very soon in studies and play at school. It makes such life as is never available afterwards. A day at my school is like a chain of works and enjoyment. My school starts at 9.30 am. I always teach the school on time. The first bell is the bell of prayer. All the students stand in the queue of their respective class. Everyone puts on the same uniform. At the world of command P.T ., very student acts as a machine. The defaulters and late comers have to stand in a separate line. The prayer starts with some activities and ends with the national anthem.

After the prayer time is over, the vice principal of our school reads out some very important current news for us. Some or the other necessary announcements are also made. After this, the students go to their classes in queues. The defaulters and late comes are held up. They are warned and some of them are even punished for disobeying the rules and regulations.

The duration of every period is 45 minutes. We enjoy the class. As soon as the beell for the recess goes, the students rush out quickly. Most of them run towards the canteen to have some refreshment, tea etc. They sit in the grassy lavons to eat. They talk and laugh at certain points and incidents of the classroom, films and matches. After the break, we have other classes. In this way, the time is not wasted, but utilized.

With the ringing of the bell, all of us leave the school with out satchels and bags.The school presents a noisy atmosphere for a short while. It almost becomes deserted and silent as soon as the students go out of the main entrance to their houses.

A Day summary and exercise Class 12 English Notes | NEB