I was my own route summary and exercise | Class 12 English Notes

I was my own route summary and exercise | Class 12 English Notes | NEB

Before reading

Discuss the following questions.

a.Do you try to be like what others want you to be? Why? Why not?

Ans. No, not at all because I've dignity, self-respect and confidence to find out what is right and what not.

b.How can we achieve our identity?

Ans. We can achieve our identity by being on the right path whatever others say or do.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a.Why did the speaker try to be the way men wanted her to be?

Ans. The speaker tired to be the way men wanted because she wanted to be independent and free from all the rules and regulations which were only making the women be backward and act as a submissive to their men's.

b.What do you understand by her feet 'would not accept walking backwards'?

Ans. As going through the poem, the term would not accept walking backwards simply means she wanted to spread her wings and fly, she wanted to make an impact for women's rights, freedom and independence which was her path and all her attempts were her feet.

c.Who are the old guards? Why did they grow desperate?

Ans. The old guards are all those people's stereotypical mindset. (Who think that women should not allowed to be educated well and empowered). They grew desperate because people simply didn't want to let women be educated and empowered enough. Women should always stay at home and take care of their family.

d.How did the speaker have 'a feeling of intimate liberation'?

Ans. The speaker had a feeling of intimate liberation because each new chapter tends to create more and more obstacles. She was in a misery from balancing between the life and her path. And world is experiencing and profound and rapid in sociocultural transformation. But the changes do not occur at a uniform pace and the various countries and regions of the world felt differences due to diverse achievements and effects.

e.Why did the speaker's desire to follow men warp in her?

Ans. The speaker's desire to follow men warp in her because if something warps or is warped, it becomes damaged by bending or curving. Often because of the effect of heat or water. and the character of men it tends to make damages on them or it influenced them in a bad way.

Reference to the context

a.What does the speaker mean when she says she was playing a game of hide and seek with her being'?

Ans. According to the poem, the speaker means when she says she was playing a game of hide and seek with her being because she wanted shine and show people how much she was passionale to her efforts. But was unable to due the people and community where she was born and raised. There seem to be stereotypical mindset where women should not work and was being unfaithful towards her soul. She wanted to be independent and free from all the rules and regulations which were only making the women backward and she wants to get rid of such old guards. So, she was playing a game of hide and seek with her being.

b.Why, in your view, was her back ripped by the old guards as she was advancing forward?

Ans. From my point of view, her back was ripped by the old guards as she was advancing forward because she is warned time and again for being too much forward. All those stereotypical mindset didn't let women to be educated well and empowered. People tend to have lots of negative misconceptions about forward women. Societies would always make women down no matter how much women are capable to shine.

c.What, according to the speaker, did it feel like to be free?

Ans. According to the speaker, what did it felt to be free was like wonderful and more powerful. She was the boss of doing things from herself. She would not need any ones' permission and orders to be followed up. It was a condition in which she had the opportunity to speak, act and pursue happiness without unnecessary external restrictions. Se would free to fly and do whatever she wanted. She would make an impact for women's rights on freedom and indolence.

d.Why does the speaker prefer the present to the past?

Ans. The speaker prefers the present to the past because she simply do not want to recall all those injustices she had survived being a woman. In the past stereotypical mindsets were much more than in the present. Women were not able to get enough education and were not allowed to do their choice and empowered themselves. Such condition is reduced somehow in the present. She wants to erase all the bad stuff and horrible experiences she had gained. Therefore, she wants to create new good memories which she is feeling at present.

e.John Donne, in his poem "No Man is an Island", says, "No man is an island entire of itself." Would Burgos agree with Donne? Do you agree with Donne or Burgos?

Ans. Of course, Donne is right. But the interconnection among people should be on the basis of equality.

Reference beyond the text

a.Write an essay on My Idea of Freedom.

Ans. Freedom is an fundamental right which humans have since their birth. Freedom is not something that can be touched, seen, felt or reached. All this gives a vague idea about freedom. Different people have different opinion, definition and thoughts about the idea of freedom. Some talk about freedom in political sense, some talk about social freedom, some about personal freedom and some define it as religious freedom. But the fact that everyone wants to be free, holds true in all cases. Freedom is the choice to live one's life doing what one wants, live where one wants, live where one wants, eat by own choice and learn what one's heart desires. This means that freedom can apply to different aspects of life and freedom is not an absolute term.

b.Not all people, however, seem to agree with the kind of freedom upheld by Burgos in this poem. For example, William Faulkner, in his novel Requiem for a Nun, says, ""The past is never dead. It's not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity." Do you agree with Faulkner? Why? Why not?

Ans. The complete quote 'The past is never dead. It's not even past. all of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment of desire and consequences of history and eternity" is taken from the famous novel "requiem for a nun" written by William Faulkner. he says, even if an event is in the past, it still can affect and influence the present and the future you cannot ignore your past, your memories. Also, time isn't necessarily linear. You can perceive it in many different ways, linear is simply that the one were used to. Accept the irrational and dive deep into the lake. Life's challenges in most cases, are our won creations because of choices we made in our pasts. These repercussions, by some people can be felt shortly after their choices because of the "resonance of images and events" hunting them; whether or not their actions might have been necessary, their conscience hamts them of the outcomes. I hope this clarities the depth of the quote.

I agree with Faulkner says, because he's talking about humanity's actions being followed by reactions. Our past actions will catch up with us, sometime in our future-be they positive or negative- they will cross our paths.

I was my own route summary and exercise | Class 12 English Notes | NEB