CBSE Class 11 English Childhood Markus Natten Worksheet

CBSE Class 11 English Worksheet - Childhood Markus Natten. Students can download these worksheets and practice them. This will help them to get better marks in examinations. Also refer to other worksheets for the same chapter and other subjects too. Use them for better understanding of the subjects

Summary:

The speaker pondered deeply upon the spiritual questions of life and ultimately realized the fact that his childhood days were finally gone down into the past of eternity for good and would never return. Childhood would now only remain in his memories. He wandered if the end of childhood was the day he ceased to be eleven years old. The time when he realized that Heaven and earth could not be found in Geography and never could be. Where did his childhood go? Was it the time he realized that adults were not all they seemed to be? They talked of love and they preached of love, but did not act so lovingly nor practiced what they preached. Was that the day. Where did his childhood go? Was it when he found out that his mind was really his? To use it whichever way he chose? To produce thoughts that was not those of other people but his and his alone. Was that the day? Where did his childhood go? It went to some forgotten place that is hidden in a baby’s face. That was all that he knew and that was all that he remembered.
The poet feels that heaven and hell are not real places because they could not be located in geography. In the poem 'Childhood', the poet is trying to realise the age when he lost his childhood, when he became mature enough to understand the worldly things. So he keeps saying, "when did my childhood go?" He finally realises that his his childhood is gone to "some forgotten place", "that is hidden in an infant's face." Wordsworth in his poem, My Heart Leaps Up, said, "Child is the father of the man". Markus Natten in his poem 'Childhood' has tried to explain this thought. It is child who is noble and pure in her/his thoughts and heart. A child appreciates the nature's beauty and the innocence in the world. A child is the one who teaches a mature human to selflessly appreciate simple love and natural wonders.
Source: http://www.shvoong.com/books/poetry/2023586-summary-childhood-markusnatten/# ixzz251690Ikt

A. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :

- “ When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!”

Question. How did the poet realise his being grown up?
Answer: The poet realised his being grown up, when he was able to differentiate between truth and fiction. / when he was analysing the statement of adults.

Question. What does the Hell and heaven stand for?
Answer: It stands for the world of imagination that fascinates only small children./ These are nothing but the product of our imaginative mind that helps the person to escape from reality.

Question. What kind of phase of his life does the stanza reveal?
Answer: The stanza reveals the phase of rationalism where he is using his seat of reasoning .

Question. What is the poet asking for?
Answer: He is asking for the time when his childhood went.

B. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :

“ When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realised that adults were not
All they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!”

Question. What does the stanza expose?
Answer: The stanza exposes the hypocrisy of the adult.

Question. According to the poem when did his childhood go?
Answer: It might go when he was able to analyse the contrast of adult’s way of thinking and way of life.

Question. What contrast did he find in adult’s behaviour?
Answer: They talked of human values but did not practise in their day to day life.

Question. How did he find the hypocrisy in adult’s behaviour?
Answer: He found that they pretend to have certain belief that they do not really have.

C. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :

“ When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not those of other people
But my own, and mine alone
Was that the day!”

Question. What do the words ‘My own’ and ‘mine’ stand for?
Answer: Its shows the independent way of thinking of a grown up./ It reveals the development of his own seat of reasoning.

Question. When did his childhood go?
Answer: It might go when I realised his ‘self thinking.’/When he was able to take his own decision.

Question. Which phase of life does this stanza show?
Answer: Individuality, transitional period – between childhood and grown up.

Question. Why did he choose his way?
Answer: He chose his way to express his own views. / To show his self – confidence.

D. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :

“Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.”

Question. What does the first line suggest?
Answer: It suggests place where his childhood went.

Question. What would the ‘forgotten place’ stand for ?
Answer: ‘Forgotten place’ stand for the childhood that cannot be regained or restored.

Question. What does he know about his childhood?
Answer: He knows that childhood is the state of mind of a person it will reside in an infant’s face only.

Question. Find out the rhyme scheme in the present stanza.
Answer: abba.

Answer the following question up to 40 words.

Question. How does the poet describe the process of being grown up ?
Answer: The process of being grown up develops the critical thinking and analytical point of view in the person. It makes the person rationalized and abled to take his decision by virtue of his seat of reasoning.

Question. How does the poet repent on his loss of childhood?
Answer: He expresses concern over his childhood’s disappearance. Childhood cannot be regained. It keeps our life aloof from the world of hypocrisy, bitter reality and materialism.

Question. The poet has asked two questions one is about the time and other is about the place. Why has he used these questions?
Answer: He has used these two questions to interpret the time and place of way of going his childhood away. ‘When’ points out the process of being rational at a particular time and ‘where’ states the place where the innocent world of childhood resides.

CHILDHOOD

Markus Natten

Introduction

In the poem, Childhood, the poet ponders deeply over the question of his lost childhood. He recalls a number of stages when his thoughts and perceptions about the world and people changed. He tries to identify that one particular stage or time when he lost his childhood and stepped into adulthood. He feels a sense of nostalgia for the lost childhood and finally settles down with an idea that his childhood has gone to some forgotten place and that place could only be found in an infant’s innocent face.

The poet is curious to know when he lost his childhood. He tries to find out the answer of his own question. He feels it was perhaps that day when he discovered the theories of Heaven and Hell and that Geography did not provide him any information about the existence of such place. Education has made the poet look at the world different with more of reason and logic. The poet feels that he had probably lost his childhood when he had acquired a rational thinking towards his surroundings.

In this stanza, the poet figures out that the adults around him did not practice what they usually preached. They taught others to be loving and caring when they themselves were violent and mean. This is when the child lost his trust and faith in the adults. The poet realizes that probably the loss of faith and trust might have been the major steps towards losing his childhood.

The poet while growing up realizes that his mind is powerful and it takes its own decisions. His own opinions and thoughts have earned him individuality free from the biased notions of others. This is when he thinks that his individuality and experiences have taken away the childhood from him.

Finally, in the ending stanza of the poem, “Childhood”, the poet changes his question from ‘when’ to ‘where’ he has lost his childhood. The answer is an easy one. Markus Natten says that his childhood has gone hiding into some forgotten place. It can be found in an infant’s face. The last lines can be interpreted as that the childhood is a lost memory. We recall the fantasies and the moments associated with it but at the same time, the innocence and the childhood are irrevocably lost.

Analysis:

Theme: The poem, “Childhood” focuses on the theme of the loss of innocence. Markus Natten, the poet wonders when and where he lost his childhood. He ponders over this question and highlights the loss of innocence and faith in the quest of growing up. Adolescence or childhood is a puzzling time when a child is unable to settle with the physical, psychological and other changes in his personality. He becomes a ‘young adult’; he neither wants to call himself a child nor is he completely an adult. He finally finds his answers that he lost his childhood to some forgotten place and that his childhood has become a memory

Refrain: The repetition of the lines; usually at the end or the beginning of the poem is called the ‘refrain.’ Refrains carries the central message of the poem. Here, the lines “When did my childhood go?” and “was that day” are examples of refrain. The first refrain is the central theme of the poem as to when have the poet lost his childhood while the second refrain ends with an exclamation which brings out the poet’s realization.

Q.3.Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

They talked of love and preached of love,

But did not act so lovingly,

Was that the day?

(a) Name the poem and the poet?

(b) Who are they?

(c) How is the poet’s observation about ‘their’ behaviour significant?

(d) what is the significance of the last line in the extract?

Q.4.Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

When did my childhood go?

Was it when I found my mind was really mine,

To use whichever may I choose,

Producing thoughts that were not those of other people

But my own, and mine alone

Was that the day!

(a) What do words ‘my mind was really mine’ mean?

(b) What kind of feeling is generated in the mind of the poet in lines 3,4,5?

(c) Which day is the poet referring to? Do you think the poet’s feeling is right?