Maharashtra Board Class 10 English Kumarbharti Unit Two Chapter 2.1 Animals PDF Download

Unit Two: Human Animal

2.1 Animals

Warming Up!

1. Get into pairs and attempt the following:

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog." - Mark Twain.

Discuss with your partner what Mark Twain means from the above quote. Write in your own words.

Teacher's Note

Mark Twain is saying that people are more complicated and problematic than animals. For example, a pet dog is always happy to see you, but people can be mean and dishonest.

Exam Trick

Remember: This quote means animals are simpler and better than people. Animals do not lie or hurt others like humans do.

Points to Remember

Mark Twain liked animals more than people.
Animals are simple and honest.
People are complicated and fake.
We should learn goodness from animals.

2. Put the following attributes and abilities given below in the proper circles.

(a) self-control (b) communicates (c) love and care (d) cooks (e) good manners (f) has 360 degree vision (g) shows gratitude (h) lives for more than 150 years (i) swims (j) learns computing (k) worships god (l) sleeps in standing position (m) stands up immediately (n) brings up children (o) belongs to various species after birth

Teacher's Note

This activity helps children understand what makes humans special and what humans share with animals. For example, both humans and dogs show love and care for their families.

Exam Trick

Remember: Put qualities like cooking, computing, and worshiping in the human circle only. Put abilities like 360 vision and standing sleep in the animal circle only.

Points to Remember

Humans have special abilities like cooking and computing.
Animals have special abilities like 360 degree vision.
Both humans and animals can show love and care.
Both can communicate with each other.

3. At times, especially when you are frustrated, you wish you were an animal, a bird, a fish, or a butterfly and not a human being. Say which of the above you would choose to transform to and give 3 or 4 reasons for your choice.

I wish I could be a

Teacher's Note

This activity helps children think about the good and bad parts of being human. For example, a bird can fly freely in the sky without any worry or homework.

Exam Trick

Remember: Write the animal name first, then give clear reasons like "I would be a bird because I can fly high and see the world."

Points to Remember

Choose an animal you like.
Give 3 or 4 good reasons.
Reasons should explain why that animal's life is better.
Think about what that animal can do that humans cannot.

4. We come across many animals in our vicinity. We have also read about different animals in books. Make a list of all animals that fall under various categories. One is given for you.

Teacher's Note

Encourage students to read and use books to find more animal names. For example, a toad is also an amphibian like a frog, and a tiger is a wild animal like a lion.

Exam Trick

Remember: Think of animals you know from your area. A frog is amphibian, a cow is mammal, a fish is aquatic, a dog is pet, and a lion is wild.

Points to Remember

Amphibians live in water and land.
Mammals have hair on their body.
Wild animals live in forests.
Aquatic animals live in water.
Pet animals live with people in homes.

Animals

Walt Whitman (1819-1892): A major figure in early American poetry. In an age when all poetry was rhymed and metrical, Whitman made a break with tradition and wrote a revolutionary new kind of poetry in free verse. He was a nonconformist in all respects, including his social life.

The poet tells us that he feels more at home with animals than humans, what he finds complicated and false.

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd

I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things.

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

So they show their relations to me and I accept them,

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession

I wonder where they get those tokens,

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

- Walt Whitman

Teacher's Note

Walt Whitman is an American poet who lived in the 1800s. He wrote this poem to show that animals are better than people because they are simple and honest. In India, we also have poets who praise nature and animals.

Exam Trick

Remember: The poet says animals are "placid" which means calm and peaceful. He wishes he could be like them because they do not worry or complain like humans do.

Points to Remember

The poet wants to live with animals.
Animals are calm and do not complain.
Animals do not worry about owning things.
Animals do not worship or respect other animals.
The poet thinks he has lost good qualities that animals still have.

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