Students can Download English Poem 7 Geography Lesson Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes Pdf, KSEEB Solutions for Class 9 English Karnataka State Board Solutions help you to revise complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.
Karnataka State Board Class 9 English Poem Chapter 7 Geography Lesson
Geography Lesson Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Comprehension:
C1. Read the poem silently and answer the following questions:
Question 1.
What did the poet see from the jet?
Answer:
The poet saw from the jet the miniature version of the earth as reduced to the scale of six inches to a mile.
Question 2.
The words ‘haphazard’ and ‘unplanned’ are used to describe …………….
(a) the scale
(b) the sky
(c) the jet
(d) the cities.
Answer:
the cities.
Question 3.
From high above the Earth, how did the cities appear to the poet?
Answer:
From high above the earth, what had from the ground looked haphazard, unplanned and without style, was understood to be unavoidably so. The cities had come into existence where rivers ran and human population was thicker in the valleys.
Question 4.
From a higher altitude, what lesson could the poet learn about the cities?
Answer:
From a higher altitude, the poet could learn that man had started to settle near river banks and valleys as he was attracted to both land and water. From this it was clear that nature had its own scheme of things and man had to go by the natural order instead of constructing additional boundaries.
Question 5.
According to the poet, what was in greater proportion on earth?
Answer:
From the jet, at a height of more than six miles, the poet observed that the greater portion of the earth was covered by the sea.
Question 6.
According to the poet, what do men on earth do?
Answer:
According to the poet, men on the earth build walls unnecessarily. Inevitably, they hate one another. They build walls across cities, leading to clashes between groups of people.
C2. Discuss the following questions in groups and answer:
Question 1.
From above, the city looked haphazard and unplanned. Why do you think the city looked so?
Answer:
The city looked haphazard and unplanned without style. People constructed buildings, houses, shops and offices as they liked without any planning.
Question 2.
Geographically, what is the importance of rivers and valleys? Explain their importance with reference to the second stanza of the poem.
Answer:
If rivers stand for life, valleys stand for conveniences needed in life. Man started living near the river banks to cultivate crops. Valleys are used for grazing animals. The civilization began from the river valleys because water and vegetation nourished the civilization.
Question 3.
The last stanza shows the degradation of human nature. Do you agree with this view? Justify.
Answer:
The Geography lesson that the poet wants to teach his readers is of human degradation. The poet wants to highlight the fact that man, in spite of being the child of nature, has gone against the spirit of nature. The human population is divided on the basis of caste, language, race, sex, education, money, religion, etc. Men have found causes to hate one another and to kill one another. This nature builds walls across cities. This has led to degradation.
C3. Ponder over the following questions and express your views in the answers.
Question 1.
The picture of the Earth zooms out in the poet’s mind, and against that background, we see human nature. Bring out the contrast between Earth and human nature.
Answer:
The Earth which zooms out in the poet’s mind is of one huge landmass, round in shape, having more water than land. The thought which comes to his mind is of unity.
In contrast, though the men are living in this single entity, they are divided in the name of race, religion, ethnicity. They have created boundaries and barriers amongst themselves and hate and kill each other. This is tragic because all belong to one Earth.
Question 2.
Imagine planet Earth having only water and no land. Do you think a man would still draw boundaries and wage wars?
Answer:
Definitely. It is not that we do not have boundaries in water. We already have maritime boundaries with a conceptual division of the earth’s water. However, the fact remains that it is difficult to create boundaries on water. It will not be physically possible for him to claim a certain part of water as his own. But due to man’s thinking process, he might still wage wars and treat others with hatred and spite.
Additional Questions:
Question 1.
What happened when the jet sprang to the sky?
Answer:
It became clear why the city had developed the way it had.
Question 2.
How had the city developed?
Answer:
In a haphazard, unplanned way without style.
Question 3.
What did the poet observe when the jet reached ten thousand feet?
Answer:
He observed that the country had cities where rivers ran and the valleys were populated.
Question 4.
What is the logic of geography?
Answer:
The logic of geography is that land and water attract men.
Question 5.
When did the poet (speaker) realize that the earth was round?
Answer:
When the jet rose six miles high.
Question 6.
What was difficult to understand?
Answer:
It was difficult to understand why men on earth found causes to hate each other and build walls across cities.
Question 7.
Which were the three times when the speaker observed the earth from his jet?
Answer:
First when the jet sprang to the sky. Next when it reached ten thousand feet and the last time when the jet rose six miles high.
Multiple Choice Questions:
Question 1.
When the jet sprang into the sky the poet understood why the city
A) had developed in a haphazard manner
B) was full of people
C) looked so small
D) had not at all developed.
Answer:
A) had developed in a haphazard manner
Question 2.
Man built cities where rivers ran because
A) land and water attracted man
B) he wanted to draw boundaries
C) he wanted everything for himself
D) he considered himself God.
Answer:
A) land and water attracted man
Question 3.
When the jet rose six miles high, the earth looked round and had
A) a number of people
B) more land than water
C) more sea than land
D) more animals than people.
Answer:
C) more sea than land
Question 4.
According to the poet, man on earth has divided the earth
A) by drawing political boundaries
B) by drawing religious boundaries
C) on the basis of race
D) all of the above.
Answer:
D) all of the above.
Question 5.
The message of the poem is
A) To create hatred and hostility among people.
B) To divide mankind on the basis of racial, cultural and ethnic differences.
C) To draw artificial boundaries.
D) To live in harmony with all the people of the world
Answer:
D) To live in harmony with all the people of the world
Geography Lesson by Zulfikar Ghose About The Poet:
Zulfikar Ghose (1935-) is a novelist, a poet, and an essayist. He was born in Sialkot, then belonging to India but became a part of Pakistan, after partition. However, soon after partition, Zulfikar’s family shifted to England, where he was educated and took up the teaching profession later.
Geography Lesson Summary in English
The poem ‘Geography Lesson’ is a profound poem which exhibits the spirit of oneness and questions the divisive elements that exist in our world. The title makes us wonder whether the poet is talking about Geography as a subject. But as we delve deep into the theme of the poem, we realize that he uses the geographical features to question the man-made boundaries.
It is from a height that it becomes clear to the speaker all over again that the earth that is spherical has no boundaries at all. All the boundaries that exist are man-made boundaries which are built on the basis of religion, race, politics, nationality, language, etc. Hatred and hostility ensuing from our racial, cultural, and ethnic differences alienate people from one another.
When God has created this earth as one undivided whole, man has unnecessarily cut it into pieces. This madness of humanity is beyond the comprehension of the speaker. He says that when one takes a look at the world from a height, the pattern of its infrastructure becomes evident.
When the altitude increases to ten thousand feet, the geographical features of the earth appear clearly and the places which are habitable become clear. Nature has ensured that there are physical features which are conducive to man’s living on the earth. When the height gets increased further, the oneness of the globe is enhanced in the spherical shape it has.
But what is not clear is why men fight with one another and construct boundaries when there is no need for them. Thus, we see that the poet ridicules the absurdity of men fighting against one another instead of joining hands with one another.
Glossary:
inevitable: unavoidable
haphazard: not having an obvious order or plan
delineated: described.