CBSE Class 10 English The Trees Assignment Set 03

Short Answer Type Questions
 

Question. What is going on in the poet’s house at night ?
Answer: The trees inside the poet’s house are moving out into the forest. All night, the roots try hard and free themselves from the cracks on the veranda floor. The leaves, small twigs and the branches also strain themselves to move out. Meanwhile, the poet can hear the glass breaking and can see the trees stumbling forward into the night. As she writes long letters.

Question. What was the poet doing in the poem ‘The Trees’ ?
Answer: In the poem ‘The Trees’ the poet was sitting inside the house, with the doors open to the veranda, and was writing long letters. In those letters, she hardly mentioned the departure of the trees from the house. While writing, she could hear the feeble sounds the trees made as they moved and so, her head was full of whispers. But at the same time, she was aware that once the trees reach the forest, there will be no more sounds in the house.

Question. Do you think the trees are justified in the revolt? State two values which man should possess to stop the revolt.
Answer: The trees inside the house get suffocated as they grow. They try to free themselves from the cracks of the veranda floor and the leaves stretch out as if to move towards the glass. They are justified in their revolt. Men should learn the importance of trees.

Question. Long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof like newly discharged patients. Why does the poet compare branches with patients?
Answer: The poet compares the ‘long-cramped’ branches that have been shuffling under the roof to newly discharged patients who look half-dazed as they move towards the hospital doors after long illnesses and wait to get out of the hospital. The branches also have cramped under the roof and want to get out into the open to spread themselves in fresh air.

Question. Why does the poet compare the branches with patients?
Answer: The poet compares the branches to newly discharged patients who move to the Clinic doors in a half-dazed state of mind because like the patients these branches are not sure where exactly to go and what the future holds in store for them.

Question. What does the poet mean by the sun’s feet? What picture do these words create in mind?
Answer: The sun’s feet refer to the sunrays which are not able to penetrate through the thick cluster of trees. These words create a dark and gloomy image in the mind.

Question. What changes can be seen in the moon during the course of the poem ‘The Trees’?
Answer: Initially the moon is whole and shines in an open and clear sky. Later the full moon is broken like a mirror and its pieces are flashing on the top of the tallest oak tree.

Question. Where are the trees at present? What do their roots, and leaves do?
Answer: At present, the trees are in the house. The roots try to free themselves from the cracks of the veranda floor, and the leaves make efforts to move towards the glass, perhaps in search of light. The small branches become stiff as they try to pull themselves towards the light.

Question. Describe the atmosphere outside while the poet sits to write long letters?
Answer: At that time the night is fresh and the full moon is shining in an open and clear night sky. The smell of leaves and lichens of the departed trees still reaches into the rooms of the house.

Question. Where do the trees go? How?
Answer: The trees inside the house are moving out into the forest. All night, the roots have worked to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor so that the trees can be free to go to the forest.

Question. What all can the poet listen to at the conclusion of the poem ‘The Trees’?
Answer: The poet can listen to the breaking of glass, the stumbling forward of the trees into the night and the gushing sound of the wind which seems to move out to meet the trees.
 

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. The trees in the poem stretch out their branches, break barriers and struggle hard to move out in open in their natural environments. Analyse the efforts that one puts into break away captivity and strive for freedom.
Answer: For anyone, freedom is much more important than any kind of comfort, growth or development. Even, when we have all the riches in the world but no freedom, we do not really have anything. And those, who live with bare minimum necessities but are able to live freely are always the happiest. Just like the trees in the poem, freedom is gained after a lot of effort. For example, the freedom movements of countries all around the world, where people give up their lives to get freedom.

Question. How does the poem ‘The Trees’ make a strong plea against deforestation?
Answer: The poem, ‘The Trees’ sends home a strong message against deforestation. At the beginning of the poem, the poetess indirectly highlights importance of trees when she says that if there is no forest, there is no place for birds to sit, insects to hide and the sun to bury its feet in shadow. As a sapling, the plant adds to the beauty of the surroundings when placed inside the house. But as it grows, it spreads its branches, leaves and roots around. It gets suffocated unless it is brought into the open. Thus, in the poem, the trees are said to ‘depart’ from the house to be welcomed by the strong winds and the moon. But there is no forest inside the house any more, as there are no trees. The poetess does not want to mention the departure of the forests as she feels guilty for merely looking silently at them as they depart. This way she subtly points out the thanklessness of man towards forest.

Question. Explain the phrase “the forest that was empty all these days”. After reading the poem, for whom do you think are the forests needed ? Imagine you are a tree in a forest, what values would you like the humans to learn from the tree ?
                                                                                          ​​​​​​​Or
What message does Adrienne Rich want to convey through her poem, ‘The Trees’ ?
Answer: In her poem ‘The Trees’ poetess Adrienne Rich subtly drives home the message about the importance of trees. Without trees, the birds would not have a place to sit, insects will have no place to hide and the sun would not bury its feet in shadow. As saplings we enjoy the beauty of plants as they adorn the surroundings. But slowly the tree spreads its roots, its branches and leaves and seems to yearn to go outside where it can live and grow without any restrictions. No more does the tree look attractive indoors. The trees are, however, welcomed into nature by strong winds and the moon. The author hereby emphasizes that trees need to be kept alive, but should not be ‘imprisoned’ inside the house as they look more beautiful, and tend to thrive outdoors - that is where trees belong.
 

Extract Based Questions

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows :
.... Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.

Question. Fill in the blank with suitable words on the basis of your understanding of the given lines.
The figure of speech used by Adrienne Rich in ‘.... Winds rush to meet them’ is _____.
Answer: personification.

Question. Why does the moon look like a broken mirror?
Answer: The way a mirror with cracks reflects a fractured image similarly, the moon looks broken like a mirror because the poet sees it through the branches of a tall, oak tree.

Question. Who is the wind rushing to meet?
(a) the birds and the insects
(b) the trees
(c) the poet
(d) the sun and the moon.
Answer: (b) the trees

Question. Comment on the poet’s use of language in these lines in 40 words.
Answer: The wind symbolises the welcoming spirit of the outside world which also favours the freedom of women. The simile of the moon broken like a mirror is a symbol of the broken dominance of a patriarchal hierarchy and the tall oak stands for the victory of the strugglers i.e. the women.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follows :
“Where no bird could sit
no insect hide
no sun bury its feet in shadow
the forest that was empty all these nights
will be full of trees by morning.”

Question. Fill the blank with one word.
When the speaker rattles off her thoughts in a run-on manner, she is using this figure of speech _____.
Answer: Enjambment.

Question. What is the symbolism in the ‘forest’ and why is the forest empty?
Answer: Adrienne Rich describes the confinement and the escape of the trees to their new environment. They have been forced to abandon the forest. She uses extended metaphors in the poem. Trees are women who are in need of healing or having been healed, are now ready for their true purpose, and will renew the empty forest soon.

Question. Complete the statement with reference to the extract.
The poet uses the trees as a symbol of _____.
(a) the emancipation of women from their confinement.
(b) the fight of people for their civil rights.
(c) the emancipation of trees from the room.
(d) the fight of people for their political rights.
Answer: (a) the emancipation of women from their confinement.

Question. Comment on the poet’s use of poetic devices in these lines.
Answer: The poet has personified the sun by using ‘bury its feet’ for it. She makes good use of kinaesthetic imagery by giving us a visual description throughout the stanza.