CBSE Class 10 English Animals Assignment

Animals 

INTRODUCTION—
The poet Walt Whitman praises animals for being better than human beings and for possessing all such qualities that humans lack or have forgotten. Those qualities are calmness, the lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contented among others.

SUMMARY—
In this poem, Walt Whitman has beautifully brought out the contrast between animals and human beings. Animals are generally simple in nature whereas human beings are generally greedy, selfish and very complicated. He is very happy with the easy going nature of animals and he wants to follow them. The poet is desirous to live among the animals as he thinks that they are contented and serene. They are wise and this is the reason why they never bewail of their lot and condition. They do not weep for their sins and they have no care to worship even God. They are always satisfied and do not need to possess things. They respect none including their ancestors and they remain indifferent in their pleasure and pain. For this very reason, the poet wishes to learn from animals. They do not have any kind of falsehood. They are free from all types of trivial anxieties, so they are still living their natural life.

Explanation of the Poem
1. 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.

Explanation: The poet here desires to turn into an animal and live with them as he is impressed by their calmness and the purity of their mind. Animals appear to be contented with their lives. The poet stands and looks at them for a long time.

2. 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.

Explanation: The poet is quite impressed by the animals that they do not complaint and cry about their conditions like human. They eat and sleep they have nothing to worry about peacefully. The animals are pure and they do not pray to God for forgiveness or ask God to fulfil their desires like humAnswer.

3. 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.

Explanation: Animals do ot possess material things like humans and they are happy and satisfied without all the worldly items. Animals are free from the habit of praying to their ancestors. When the poet says ‘not one is respectable’ he means that since all of them are equal, there is no question of respect for some and insult to other. Thus animals are happy and uncomplaining.

4. 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 ?

Explanation: The poet feels that animals represent human beings in some way. This means that animals seem to have virtues, like kindness and innocence, which humans once had. They symbolise the lost values of human race. The poet believes that humans dropped these virtues a long time ago and have forgotten them.

Extract Based Questions 

Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow :

1. 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.

Question. Who weeps for their sins ?
(i) human beings
(ii) animals
(iii) birds
(iv) trees
Answer.(i) human beings

Question. Who does the pronoun 'they' stand for ?
(i) human beings
(ii) birds
(iii) animals
(iv) trees
Answer.(iii) animals

Question. Who do not discuss their duty to God ?
(i) trees
(ii) birds
(iii) human-beings
(iv) animals
Answer.(iv) animals

Question. They do not ...................... and whine about their condition.
(i) sweet
(ii) sweat
(iii) complain
(iv) discuss
Answer.(ii) sweat

2. They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wondered where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and
negligently drop them ?

Question. Who wonders how animals got those tokens ?
(i) the poet
(ii) an old man
(iii) poetess
(iv) trees
Answer.(i) the poet

Question. Which word in the passage refers to ‘carelessly’ ?
(i) evince
(ii) possession
(iii) tokens
(iv) negligently
Answer.(iv) negligently

Question. Who brings the poet tokens of himself ?
(i) birds
(ii) animals
(iii) trees
(iv) people
Answer.(ii) animals

Question. In the passage what is meant by the word ‘token’ ?
(i) morals
(ii) virtues
(iii) speciality
(iv) consideration
Answer.(ii) virtues

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question. In the first line of the poem, ‘I think I could turn and live with the animals’, What is the poet turning from ?
Answer. The poet Walt Whitman says that he can identify himself better with the animals, for their qualities of serenity and calm composure. So he intends turning towards them, away from his human companions.

Question. What do humans do to other human beings who lived thousands of years ago
Answer.Human beings hold their ancestors in great respect.

Question. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals have kept for
him ?
Answer. Humans and animals have similar basic instincts. While civilization has changed the man, these basic instincts are preserved in the animals and they help the humans to reconnect to their true self; so man seeks comfort in the company of animals.

Long Answer Type Question 

Question. Mention three things that humans do and animals do not do ?
Answer.The poet Walt Whitman in his poem ‘Animals’ compares animals to human beings and differentiates between them on the basis of their characteristics. According to the poet’s perception, animals are ranked much higher than humAnswer. Animals do not complain about their situation and are much happier than humAnswer. Animals live in natural surroundings, they accept nature. Human beings on the other hand, do not accept nature i.e., they complain about it and try to change it leading an unhappy life. According to the poet, animals possess many qualities which humans don’t. Some of these are calmness, lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contented among others. Animals never weep for their sins, they never sweat and whine about their condition. They do not make anybody sick discussing their duty to God. Above all, human beings suffer from the mania of possessing things which animals do not.

Question. “I think I could turn and live with animals...” Whom is the poet turning from?
(a) Himself
(b) Society
(c) Humans
(d) God
Answer. C

Question. Who, according to the poet, is better?
(a) Human beings
(b) Animals
(c) Both are equal
(d) None of these
Answer. B

Question. The poet is ____________when he says, “I think I could turn and live with animals.”
(a) doubtful
(b) worried
(c) considering
(d) liable
Answer. C

Question. Which option correctly replaces the following phrase in the given line from Animals?
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins’.
(a) Animals are seldom remorse like humAnswer.
(b) Animals do not stay awake and repent like humAnswer.
(c) Animals and humans have the same pattern.
(d) Humans can sleep without worrying.
Answer. B

Question. To whom do the animals not talk about their duty according to the poem?
(a) Poet
(b) Humans
(c) Society
(d) God
Answer. D

Question. In the poem Animals, what makes the poet sick?
(a) humans whining about their condition.
(b) humans discussing their duty to God.
(c) humans weeping for their sins.
(d) human's mania of possessing things.
Answer. B

Question. The purpose of the poet expressing his opinion ‘They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God’ in Animals is to highlight that_______.
(a) humans sing their praises for the work they do.
(b) animals follow the religion of nature.
(c) animals do not account for their sins.
(d) animals and humans are self-contained.
Answer. A

Question. What mania does human beings possess according to the poem?
(a) Weeping over their sins
(b) Praying to God
(c) Owning things
(d) Killing animals
Answer. C

Question. Find the word from poem Animals which means the same as insane.
(a) Sick
(b) Dissatisfied
(c) Mania
(d) Demented
Answer. D

Question. Who is not dissatisfied always?
(a) Humans
(b) Animals
(c) Poet
(d) All of these
Answer. B

Question. Which option correctly replaces the following phrase in the given line from ‘Animals’ ? ‘they are so placid and selfcontain’d’.
(a) Calm, thoughtless and dependent.
(b) Calm, serene and independent.
(c) Calm, selfish and dependent.
(d) Calm, selfless and dependent.
Answer. B

Question. The purpose of the poet thinking of turning and living with animals is that he is________
(a) fed up of himself.
(b) he is filled with anger.
(c) he is lonely.
(d) impressed by their calmness.
Answer. D

Question. Name the literary device used in the line “I think I could turn and live with animals".
(a) Simile
(b) Metaphor
(c) Assonance
(d) Personification
Answer. C

Question. What is the meaning of the word ‘placid’ in the poem Animals?
(a) Confused
(b) Greedy
(c) Clumsy
(d) Peaceful
Answer. D

Question. What do the animals show and the poet accepts as told in the poem Animals?
(a) Understanding
(b) Relationship
(c) Friendship
(d) Respect
Answer. B

Question. The poet keeps repeating the words ‘Not one’ several times in the poem Animals. It signifies the poet’s________.
(a) anger and vengeance
(b) try to enhance a sense of continuity
(c) disappointment and frustration
(d) attempt to write it with a rhythm
Answer. C

Question. The qualities attributed to animals in the given poem Animals are ________________.
(a) happy, egocentric, possessive
(b) bold, materialistic, reputable
(c) discontented, furious, respectful
(d) contented, identical, possessive
Answer. D

Question. Choose the option which ‘Cannot’ be finally concluded from the poem Animals.
(a) Man is curious
(b) Man complaints about his misery
(c) Man is materialistic
(d) Man loves to exaggerate
Answer. A

Question. In the poem Animals, the poet addresses to stand and look at them long and long ? It indicates that the poet is:
(a) envied
(b) impressed
(c) grieved
(d) opposed
Answer. B

Question. What shows that the poet loves animals?
(a) He looks at the animals for short time.
(b) He stands and looks at the animals long and long.
(c) He feed the animals.
(d) None of the Above
Answer. B

Question. What is the meaning of the word ‘whine' in the poem Animals?
(a) Relaxed
(b) Sulk
(c) Cry
(d) Beverage
Answer. C

Question. The animals do not whine about:
(a) their place
(b) their feeding
(c) their appetite
(d) their condition
Answer. D

Question. The poet refers to a figure of speech in ‘they do not sweat and whine about their condition’ identify the ‘figure of speech’.
(a) Alliteration
(b) Hyperbole
(c) Tautology
(d) Metaphor
Answer. C

Question. The poet finds the humans ___. Which option best fits the blank?
(a) complicated and false
(b) negligent
(c) unhappy and materialistic
(d) fraud
Answer. C

Question. Whatsoever happen on the earth, none of the animals is:
(a) unhappy
(b) delighted
(c) crazy
(d) crack
Answer. A

Question. The poet in the poem Animals admires the fact that whatever be the condition the animals are _______.
(a) never unhappy
(b) never delighted
(c) always greedy
(d) never happy
Answer. A

Question. “So they show their relations to me and I accept them”.
Who is the speaker of this line?
(a) Robert Frost
(b) W.B Yeats
(c) Robert Browning
(d) Walt Whitman
Answer. D

Question. The poet feels that animals show:
(a) waving tail
(b) teeth to him
(c) pictures to him
(d) relation to him
Answer. D

Question. In the poem Animals, which positive attitude does the poet admire in animals and are missing in humans?
(a) Greed
(b) Vibrant nature
(c) Selfishness
(d) Discontentment
Answer. B

Question. Choose the appropriate word for the meaning of ‘They do not sweat and whine about their condition’.
(a) Excited
(b) Happy
(c) Mourn
(d) Rejoice
Answer. C

Question. The poet is ____________when he says, ‘They do not sweat and whine about their condition’.
(a) perplexed
(b) sorry
(c) relentless
(d) remorseless
Answer. A

Question. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago?
Answer. Yes, humans do kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. They treat them as their gods.

Question. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class.
Answer. The tokens are the qualities of innocence, simplicity and contentment which man has dropped and forgotten but the animals have kept them intact. 

Question. Why don’t the animals lie awake at night?
Answer. Animals don’t commit any sins and are not involved in wrong doings. Hence, they don’t lose sleep over any of their actions and so do not lie awake at night.

Question. What makes the poet sick?
Answer. The poet is sick of people who keep discussing their duty towards God. He does not like people who talk of their duties towards God but do nothing for God’s men.

Question. What are the tokens that the animals give him?
Answer. The tokens that the animals give him are the qualities of innocence, simplicity and contentment. These are the qualities that man had but now has left them on his journey towards a materialistic world.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

1. 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,

Question. Which qualities of animals attract the poet?
Answer. The poet is attracted to the calmness and poise of the animals, they don’t make him sick, they don’t lie, and they also don’t whine about their condition.

Question. What do humans do according to the poet?
Answer. Humans lie awake in the dark weeping for their sins. They also sweat and whine about their condition.

2. 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.

Question. How are the animals not dissatisfied?
Answer. Since animals do not have the desire to own anything, therefore they are never dissatisfied.

Question. Who is the poet referring to that lived thousands of years ago?
Answer. Here, the poet is referring to the ancestors of human beings who used to live thousands of years ago.

3. 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

Question. The poet of the poem from which the above lines are taken is:
(i) Carolyn Well
(ii) Robin Klein
(iii) Walt Whitman
(iv) Robert Frost
Answer. C

Question. Through this poem, the poet proves that:
(i) he wants to live with the animals.
 (ii) animals are better than man.
(iii) animals have left their traits in human beings.
(iv) he loves animals more than human beings.
Answer. B

Question. By 'tokens of myself, the poet means ________ that animals possess but humans don't.
(i) tokens of sincerity
(ii) symbols of love
(iii) tokens of familiarity
(iv) tokens of love and affection
Answer. D

Question. The animals niether respect nor ______ another.
(i) attack
(ii) love
(iii) demean
(iv) affect
Answer. C

Question. What is the theme of the poem?
(i) Animals are violent.
(ii) Animals are loving.
(iii) Animals attack humAnswer.
(iv) Animals live with humAnswer.
Answer. B