UNIT – 10
PROSE
THE TOUCH
a.) How does the father address his daughter?
Answer: The father addressed his daughter as Amma.
b.) Say whether the narrator was a teenager or middle aged.
Answer: The narrator was a middle aged woman.
c.) What would be the age of the narrator’s father?
Answer: The age of the narrator’s father was over eighty years.
d.) How many years had the father spent in bed?
Answer: The father had spent 2 years in bed.
e.) Which paragraph tells you about two types of parents?
Answer: Paragraph no.4 tells us about two types of parents.
1.) Each of the following statements has four alternatives. Choose the right answer and write it. Work with your partner to do this.
a.) A good way for parents to receive their children returning from school is
i.) to ask about their score in Maths.
ii.) to ignore them simply.
iii.) to embrace them lovingly and speak to them lovingly.
iv.) to ask about their report card.
b.) What had happened when the narrator visited her father on an earlier occasion?
i.) she had seen him quarrelling with people.
ii.) he had been sleeping.
iii.) he had been too weak to talk.
iv.) she had noticed bugs on his cot.
c.) The narrator hesitated even to touch her father because
i.) that’s how she had been raised.
ii.) he was suffering from illness.
iii.) she hated her father.
iv.) her husband had told her to keep distance.
2.) Read the extract and answer the questions that follow.
a.) “Who is it?” he asked as he turned on his side.
i.) Who asked this question?
Answer: The narrator’s father asked this question.
ii.) When did this person ask this?
Answer: When the narrator her father and asked whether he was asleep, then her father asked her the question.
iii.) What was the reply?
Answer: “It is I” was the reply of the daughter.
b.) “Sit properly amma, you’ll fall off’”
i.) Who is ‘amma’ here?
Answer: The narrator is ‘Amma.’
ii.) Who said this?
Answer: The narrator’s father said this to her.
iii.) Where were they at that time?
Answer: They were in the rickshaw at that time.
c.) “It would be so nice if you moved into this town.”
i.) Why did father say this?
Answer: The narrator’s father was all alone and wanted his daughter to move into his town. He felt good in the presence of his daughter so he said this.
ii.) How did the narrator react to this?
Answer: The narrator looked at her father helplessly.
iii.) What did father do then?
Answer: The narrator’s father didn’t speak again and stroked her hands.
3.) Say whether the following statements are true or false. Rewrite the false statements correctly.
a.) The young woman in this story is the main character.
False
The young woman and her father are the main characters.
b.) This time the father shows his affection for his daughter.
True
c.) The daughter thinks it would be a good idea to ask her mother to clip father’s nails.
False
The daughter thought that asking mother to do it would be as useless as the mortar weeping on the shoulder of the drum.
d.) The young woman becomes emotional thinking of her widowed sister-in-law.
True
e.) The author decides to take her father to her house.
False
She leaves her father’s house with pain.
4.) Answer in one word or a sentence each.
a.) Why had the narrator come to that town?
Answer: The narrator got to know that her mother-in-law was not well so she decided to visit her to that town.
b.) What was the caution she had received from her husband before going to visit her father?
Answer: The narrator’s husband cautioned her not to sit on her father’s bed but to pull up a chair and sit a little away as she would have bugs with her back home.
c.) Was the narrator’s mother alive?
Answer: Yes, the narrator’s mother was alive.
d.) What did father say to her finally?
Answer: The father said to his daughter that it would be nice if she moved in his town.
e.) Why had the narrator hesitated to face her father?
Answer: She never had any friendly or affectionate bond with her father, so the sudden affection towards her made her hesitated to face him.
5.) Answer the following in two or three sentences each.
a) What was the narrator’s childhood like?
Answer: The narrator never shared an affectionate bond with her father. Her father kept her in distance in the name of discipline, because of madi and his orthodox way of life. She felt that he was in state of ritual purity. He never showed his love to his daughter in her tender age.
b.) Why did the narrator feel, in her growing up age, that her father kept her at a distance?
Answer: According to the narrator, her father kept a distance with her in the name of discipline. He had orthodox way of life. He never caressed or touched lovingly her daughter which made the narrator long for his touch.
c.) The “mortar” and the “drum” in the proverb refer to two people. Who are they?
Answer: The two people are the narrator’s father and her mother.
d.) Why did her father ask her to clip his nails?
Answer: He wanted his daughter to clip his nails, as he wouldn’t ask her mother to do it.
e.) How did the narrator feel while returning from her father’s house?
Answer: When the narrator was returning from her father’s house, his tender touch haunted her. Tears welled in her eyes and blurred her view of the road.
Words in use :
6.) Fill in the blanks with suitable words given in the box.
noticed; longed; hesitated; groped; moved; enjoyed.
a.) The soldier at the border longed to meet his family.
b.) The old woman groped in the air to find the door.
c.) The climax of the play moved our heart.
d.) A watchman noticed the thieves and blew his whistle.
e.) Venkatarama hesitated to ask my permission to go home.
7.) Make the opposites for the following, by adding suitable prefixes given in brackets.
(ir , in , un , mis , dis , im )
a.) known x unknown d. continue x discontinue
b.) discipline x indiscipline e. proper x improper
c.) responsible x irresponsible f. understand x misunderstand
8.) Complete the following sentences on your own, using the words given in brackets.
a.) My grand mother has an orthodox viewpoint. (orthodox)
b.) The firefighters extinguished the fire of the hotel.(extinguished)
c.) A bulldozer crushed the big building.(crush)
d.) The doctor treated the girl who was helpless.(helpless)
e.) Suguna,‘‘Can you continue chatting with her?’’(chatting)
Change the voice in the following sentences :
a.) People don’t respect corrupt politicians.
Answer: Corrupt politicians are not respected by people.
b.) The students are planting the trees.
Answer: The trees are being planted by the students.
c.) They help the orphans.
Answer: The orphans are helped by them.
d.) Anitha presented a golden watch to me.
Answer: A golden watch was presented to me by Anitha.
e.) He had broken the chair.
Answer: The chair had been broken by him.
f.) A man called Lippershey had invented the telescope in 1608.
Answer: In 1608 the telescope had been invented by a man called Lippershey.
g.) A telescope makes distant objects appear to be nearer.
Answer: Distant objects are made to appear near by a telescope.
Writing :
Answer the following in 5 – 6 sentences each:
1.) a. Do you sympathise with the father in this story?
Answer: Looking at the helpless plight of the father, I do sympathise with him. His longing to touch his daughter affectionately and requesting her to come to his town make us feel sorry for him. The father lost his sons which make his plight more pathetic.
b.) Do you sympathise with the daughter in this story?
Answer: I feel sorry for the daughter in this story. She had a sad childhood. She never got love from her father. All she got was insult from her father which made her long for his love. She longed for the tender and gentle touch of her father. She is a woman who is stuck in her life and cannot really go back to the town where her parents lived.
2.) Supply the missing words in this story :
Long long ago a young man called Shravana kumara lived with his old parents. One morning his father said to him, “Kumara, your mother and I have grown old and blind. We are sorry to tell you, that we want to worship God in places of pilgrimage.” Kumara said, “ No trouble at all, father.”
He set to work immediately. He cut a length of bamboo. Ah! This will serve as my shoulder pole,” he said. He hung two baskets at either end of the pole. He seated his parents in it. He carried them on his shoulders to many holy places. Work with your partner and insert suitable words in the blanks in the passage below. In this story a young woman tells us about a visit that she made to her father one day. He receives her affectionately. But his affection only brings back to her past unpleasant memories. She remembers the strict upbringing he had given her. As a child she had longed for his loving words and loving touch. She had never received them. Now, grown old and blind, he longs for her loving words and loving touch. She treats him kindly. She feels sorry for him.
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