Exploring different literary analyses in DAV Class 7 English Literature Book Solutions Chapter 2 Birdie, will you pet? enhances critical thinking.
DAV Class 7 English Literature Chapter 2 Question Answer – Birdie, will you pet?
Pre-Reading Task
Question 1.
If asked to choose between money and freedom, what would you choose and why?
Answer:
I will choose freedom so that I can live my life the way I want. Money is of no use if one cannot use it according to his or her wishes.
Question 2.
Can you think of a few things that come with freedom and cannot be bought with money? Discuss with your partner and prepare a list.
Answer:
The things that come with freedom and cam not be bought with money are as follows:
(i) friendship
(ii) peace
(iii) happiness
I. Understanding the Poem
A. In the poem, the child offers various comforts to the bird in exchange for its freedom, but the bird declines them. Complete the chart given below by filling in the offers made by the child and the bird’s preference over them.
Answer:
B. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
(a) I’d rather sleep in the ivy wall;
No rain comes through, tho’ I hear it fall.
The sun peeps gay at dawn of day,
And I sing, and wing away, away!
(i) Who is ‘I’ in the above lines?
Answer:
I refer to the bird in the above lines.
(ii) Ivy is a plant. What does the bird want to convey by describing it as a wall?
Answer:
The bird wants to convey that the wall covered with ivy plant is better than silken quilts and satin pillow.
(iii) What does the speaker prefer ivy wadi to?
Answer:
The speaker prefers the ivy wall to the velvet bed, silken quilts and the satin pillow.
(b) A feather necklace round and round,
That I wouldn’t sell for a thousand pound!
(i) What is the necklace offered by the child made of?
Answer:
The necklace offered by the child is made of diamond, stones, amber and jet.
(ii) What is the necklace that the bird has made of?
Answer:
The bird has a necklace of feathers. A natural one provided by God.
(iii) Which necklace does the bird prefer? Why?
Answer:
The bird prefers its own necklace made of feathers to the one offered by the child because it is much daintier than the diamond necklace. Secondly, the bird does not want to loose her freedom.
C. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of the poem is aabb.
D. Pick out at least three examples of alliteration from the poem.
(a) ______________________________ Stanza 2
(b) ______________________________ Stanza 2
(c) ______________________________ Stanza 3
Answer:
(a) No rain comes through, tho’, I hear it fall.
(b) Well string on a necklace fair and fine.
(c) The sun peeps gay at dawn of day.
II. HOTS
Why does the bird refuse to accept the various comforts offered by the child?
Answer:
The bird values its freedom. She is not tempted by the various materialistic comforts offered by the child because she knows that all of them will make her a prisoner or enslave her forever. These long flights, green nature, blue sky will be taken away from her forever.
III. Life Skills
Is freedom just the right to live as we wish.
Answer:
No, freedom doesn’t only mean the right to live as we wish but also freedom to exercise our wish, freedom to speak and put forward our views, freedom to wear what we like. It also means exemption from external control, interference, regulations, etc. But every freedom comes with a duty.
IV. Values
Why does the child call the bird ‘birdie’? Why does the child use the word “birdie’ twice?
Answer:
The child calls the bird as “birdie’ so, as to appear more friendly. She is trying to lure the bird to accept her offer and settle down in the cage to a life full of comfort and luxuries which the bird very politely refuses. She uses the word twice so that she can appear more intimate.
V. Writing Skills
The child in the poem realises that the bird cannot be lured. She has her own priorities in life. Freedom is equally important to her. The child decides to share the conversation between her and the bird with her friend through a letter. Write the letter in not more than 120 words.
Answer:
New Delhi
2nd June, 2016
Dear friend,
I hope this letter of mine finds you in best of health and high spirits.
I want to share an interesting incident with you. Yesterday, I met a bird in my garden. It was so pretty that I wanted to keep her as a pet. I tried to lure her by giving many comforts of life. I offered her velvet bed, silken pillow, golden up, ivory set, dish of silver which she refused one by one. It was very frustrat¬es ing. I even gave her a pretty name, “Birdie’. She valued her freedom more. She liked her ivy bed, blue sky and green forest more than my precious things. She also taught me a valuable lesson. Freedom ’ is precious and we shouldn’t trade it with materialistic comforts. Do write what you think about it.
Yours
Sneha
DAV Class 7 English Literature Chapter 2 Solutions – Birdie, will you pet?
Question 1.
Do you think a caged bird feel happy outside the cage?
Answer:
Yes, the caged bird feels happy outside the cage. It loves to fly freely in the sky. It wants to enjoy nature. Inside the cage it is deprived of its freedom. It does not love safety at the cost of its freedom.
Question 2.
Why does the bird reject the attractive offers of the child?
Answer:
The bird loves its freedom and its habitat. It is not greedy of luxuries in life. Ic feels pleasure to live in its own limitations. It is not greedy or tempted to live a comfortable life at the cost of its freedom.
Question 3.
What similarity do you notice between a caged bird and human being who is victim of slavery?
Answer:
The lives of a caged bird and a human being who is victim of slavery are miserable.
They have to live on other’s pity. They are not free to move or act on their own will. Both face miserable plight and long for freedom.
Question 4.
Do you love to keep a bird behind cage for your pleasure?
Answer:
No, I would never prefer to keep a bird behind a cage for my own pleasure. Such type of treatment should not be meted out to a bird. They must enjoy flying and enjoy in their habitats.
Question 5.
You are a bird who has been tempted by a child to be her pet. But you refused her , proposal. Write a page of your diaiy showing your cleverness in making a right
decision.
Answer:
10:00 pm.
15th November, 2OXX
Monday
Today, I think I am wise enough to take my own decision. While enjoying in the beautiful orchard, I met a girl who was very gentle. There was love in her eyes for me. She wanted to keep me as her pet. She offered me all the luxuries of life. I became tempted but very soon I realised that these glittering things would take away my most precious freedom. Now I am free to fly wherever I like. I strictly refused the offer of the girl and promised to visit her everyday at the same place. Being a free creature, I don’t want to be the property of any one for these glittering things. Flying, singing and facing dangers are part and I parcel of my life. I love them and I can’t survive without them.
Question 6.
Give examples of repetition from the poem?
Answer:
(a) And I sing, and wing away, away!
(b) Birdie, Birdie, will you pet?
(c) A feather necklace round and round.
Question 7.
Read the following extract and the questions that follow:
‘O birdie, birdie won’t you pet?
Well buy you a dish of silver fret,
A golden cup and an ivory seat,
And carpets soft beneath your feet!
(a) Who is the speaker here?
(b) What is she offering to the bird?
(c) Did the bird fell into the trap?
Answer:
(a) A little girl who is trying to entice a bird to be her pet.
(b) She is offering a silver fret, a golden cup and an ivory seat to the bird. .
(c) No, because she valued her freedom more.
Birdie, will you pet? Summary in English
In the poem ‘Birdie, will you pet?, a child is tempting a bird to be her pet. The child offers various comforts to the bird in exchange of it’s freedom but the bird rejects them.
The child tells the bird that summer time is far away and offers her a bed of silken quilts, a velvet bed and a satin pillow. But, the bird prefers to sleep in the ivy wall. After rain when the sun peeps the bird sings and flies away.
Then the child offers the bird a necklace made of diamond and amber. But the bird rejects the necklace too and prefers her feather necklace, which it wouldn’t sell even for a thousand pound. The child makes another attempt and offers it a sliver dish, golden cup, an ivory seat and soft carpets. The bird refuses all these comforts saying that it cannot drink running water from the gold cup, the silver dish cannot hold forest. It says the rocking twig is the best chair and softest paths lie through the air and says good bye to the child.
Birdie, will you pet? Summary in Hindi
‘वर्डी, विल यू पैट?’ कविता में एक बच्ची चिड़िया को कई प्रकार के प्रलोभन देकर पालतू बनाना चाहती है। बच्ची चिड़िया को उसकी आजादी के बदले कई प्रकार के आराम देने की बात करती है परन्तु चिड़िया मना कर देती है ।
बच्ची कहती है कि गर्मी अभी दूर है और चिड़िया को रेशमी रजाइयों वाला आरामदेह बिस्तर, मखमल का पलंग, साटन का तकिया आदि देने का प्रस्ताव रखती है । परन्तु चिड़िया दीवार पर सोना पसन्द करती है। वर्षा के बाद सूर्योदय होते ही चिड़िया गाना गाते हुए उड़ना पसंद करती है। अगली बार बच्ची उसे हीरे व अंबर से बना हार देने का प्रस्ताव रखती है ।
परन्तु चिड़िया को अपने पंखों का हार अधिक पसंद है। और वह उसे एक हजार पाउंड में भी देने को तैयार नहीं है। बच्ची एक बार फिर कोशिश करती है । और चिड़िया को चाँदी का बर्तन, सोने की कटोरी व मखमली गलीचे देने का प्रस्ताव रखती है। परन्तु चिड़िया कहती है कि वह सोने की कटोरी से बहता पानी नहीं पी सकती है। चाँदी के बर्तन में जंगल नहीं आ सकता। वह कहती है कि पेड़ की लताएँ सबसे अच्छी, आरामदेह तथा गद्देदार होती हैं। सबसे कोमल रास्ता हवा का है। चिड़िया बच्ची को अलविदा कहते हुए उड़ जाती है।
- Quilts – a cover for a bed that has a thick warm material – रजाई;
- Ivy – a climbing plant that has dark leaves with three or four points – सिरपेंच की लता;
- Amber – a brown substance for making jewellery – भूरे रंग की वस्तु जिससे गहन बनते हैं;
- Daintier – sweeter – सुरूचिपूर्ण;
- Silver Fret – decorated with silver thread – चाँदी के धागे से सजा हुआ।