Maharashtra Board Class 10 English Kumarbharti Unit Four Chapter 4.4 The Height of the Ridiculous PDF Download

4.4 The Height of the Ridiculous

Warming Up!

Individual Activity

1. The teacher writes incomplete sentences on the board. He/She asks the students to complete them in their notebooks.

(a) Today, I am happy because .

(b) Today after the class, I wish .

(c) Tomorrow, I feel that .

(d) I want to laugh because .

(e) Today, the class seems to be cheerful about .

(The teacher asks every student to answer.)

2. The teacher writes an incomplete sentence and asks the students to complete in a funny way.

For example, (1) Mother gave me cheese but the cat ate it.

(2) I went to the market and bought an elephant.

(The teacher can add her own sentence.)

3. Give the words related to:

Syllable

A syllable is a unit of spoken language made up of a single uninterrupted sound formed by a vowel and consonants. For example, single syllable: ant, two syllables - water, three syllables: Inferno.

Teacher's Note

A syllable is like counting the beats in a word when you say it. For example, the word "elephant" has three beats: el-e-phant. This is like counting the claps in a song.

Exam Trick

Remember: Count the vowel sounds in a word. Each vowel sound is usually one syllable. So "cat" has 1 syllable, "water" has 2 syllables.

Points to Remember

A syllable is one sound unit in a word.
Count the vowels to find syllables.
Listen to the word carefully when you say it.
One syllable words: cat, dog, tree.
Two syllable words: wa-ter, hap-py, tea-cher.

4. Pick out the word from the given box and write it in the correct columns below.

jump, narrow, cable, live, queen, butter, tree, kitten, van, yellow dale, happy, night, printer, star, sober, paper cloud, pearl, within, bike, began, slender.

Here the focus is not on the spellings but the pronunciation of the words.

Teacher's Note

When you say words out loud, listen carefully to the number of sounds. For example, "jump" is one sound, but "hap-py" is two sounds. Try saying your own name - how many sounds does it have?

Exam Trick

Clap your hands for each sound you hear. If you clap once, it is one syllable. If you clap twice, it is two syllables. This will help you count syllables easily.

Points to Remember

Listen to the word when you say it aloud.
Count each sound you hear.
Each vowel sound is usually one syllable.
Words like "jump" and "tree" have one syllable.
Words like "wa-ter" and "hap-py" have two syllables.

5. Count the syllables and circle the appropriate number in the box.

Teacher's Note

Say each word slowly and clap for each sound. For example, "el-e-phant" has three claps, so it has three syllables. Try this with your students' names.

Exam Trick

Remember: "e-le-phant" = 3 syllables, "mon-key" = 2 syllables, "bus" = 1 syllable. If you hear three sounds, circle 3.

Points to Remember

Say the word slowly and listen carefully.
Count every sound you hear.
Clap for each sound to help you count.
Circle the correct number.
Practice with your own name and your friends' names.

6. Write the names of any five of your friends and mention the number of syllables in each name.

...

The Height of the Ridiculous

Ridiculous: Too funny to believe

Wondrous: Delightful

Cary Ableit: Though

Sober: Clear headed, serious

Trifling: Just a small simple joke, of no importance

In what frame of mind the poet write some lines?

What was the contrast in the narrator and his servant?

When did the servant expnes on servant's grin?

When was the chuckling noise heard?

Which line suggests that servant was totally out of control?

What was the outcome of this experience, on the poet?

I wrote some lines once on a time
In wondrous merry mood,
And thought, as usual, men would say
They were exceeding good.
They were so queer, so very queer,
I laughed as I would die;
Albeit, in the general way,
A sober man am I.
I called my servant, and he came;
How kind it was of him
To mind a slender man like me,
He of the might limb.
"These to the printer," I exclaimed,
And, in my humorous way,
I added (as a trifling jest,)
"There'll be the devil to pay.
He took the paper, and I watched,
And saw him peep within
At the first line he read, his face
Was all upon the grin
He read the next; the grin grew broad
And shot from ear to ear;
He read the third; a chuckling noise
I now began to hear.
The fourth; he broke into a roar;
The fifth; his waistband split;
The sixth; he burst five buttons off,
And tumbled in a fit.

Teacher's Note

This poem is funny because it shows what happens when the servant reads the poet's funny lines. The servant laughs so much that his clothes start to break! This teaches us that laughter can be very strong.

Exam Trick

Remember: The servant starts with a small grin and ends by falling down in a fit. Watch the order - grin, broad grin, chuckling, roar, split waistband, burst buttons, tumbled down. This is the sequence of laughter getting bigger and bigger.

Points to Remember

The poet wrote funny lines in a happy mood.
The servant was strong but the poet was weak.
The servant laughed more and more with each line.
His clothes started breaking because he laughed so hard.
Laughter can be so strong that it can make you fall down.

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