His First Flight
“His First Flight,” “The Black Aeroplane,” “How to Tell Wild Animals,” and “The Ball Poem.”
I. His First Flight
Thinking about the Text (Page 5)
1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
Ans. The young seagull was afraid to fly because the sea below seemed like “a great expanse” and “a long way down”. He “felt certain that his wings would never support him”.
* The text suggests some birds might be more timid, as the seagull’s “two brothers and his sister had already flown away”, even though their wings were “far shorter than his own”. He “failed to muster up courage” while they did not.
* Yes, the question suggests that, like the seagull, a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps.
2. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
Ans. This suggests the seagull was extremely hungry. He “had not eaten since the previous nightfall”, so the sight of his mother tearing the fish “maddened” him with hunger.
* His extreme hunger compelled him to fly. When his mother flew towards him with a piece of fish and then “halted” just out of reach, he, “maddened by hunger… dived at the fish”. This dive forced him off the ledge and into the air, beginning his first flight.
3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
Ans. They threatened and cajoled him because flying was essential for his survival. They wanted him to become independent and learn to find his own food.
* First, they tried “upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve on his ledge unless he flew away”.
* When that didn’t work, his mother used food to “cajole” (or trick) him, luring him to dive for the fish.
* After he was floating, his family was “screaming, praising him” and offering him food, showing they were encouraging him all along.
4. Have you ever had a similar experience, where your parents encouraged you to do something that you were too scared to try? Discuss this in pairs or groups.
Ans. (This question asks for a personal answer based on your own experiences.)
5. In the case of a bird flying, it seems a natural act, and a foregone conclusion that it should succeed. In the examples you have given in answer to the previous question, was your success guaranteed, or was it important for you to try, regardless of a possibility of failure?
Ans. The text suggests that for a bird, success is a “foregone conclusion” (a guaranteed outcome).
* For the human examples (from Q4), the text implies that success was not guaranteed, but it was “important… to try, regardless of a possibility of failure”.
II. The Black Aeroplane
Thinking about the Text (Page 9)
1. “I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?
Ans. The risk was flying his “old Dakota straight into the storm” clouds. He knew he couldn’t fly over them and didn’t have enough fuel to fly around them.
* He took the risk because he “wanted to get home” and was “dreaming of my holiday” and his “good big English breakfast”.
2. Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.
Ans. Inside the storm, “everything was suddenly black” and it was “impossible to see anything”. The plane “jumped and twisted in the air”.
* His instruments stopped working: the compass “was turning round and round” and was “dead”. The other instruments and the radio were “dead too” [cite: 84-85].
* [cite_start]He “was lost in the storm”.
3. Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?
Ans. He says this because he was immensely relieved to be safe on the ground. The flight was a terrifying, near-death experience, and he was happy to walk away from the plane that had carried him through such danger.
4. What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely?
Ans. She looked at him strangely because he “asked… who the other pilot was” .
She was confused and laughed, telling him, “Another aeroplane? Up there in this storm? No other aeroplanes were flying tonight. Yours was the only one I could see on the radar”.
5. Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.
Ans. The story does not give a definite answer. The narrator is left wondering who the pilot of the “strange black aeroplane” was.
* Possible reasons: It could have been a hallucination brought on by fear and lack of oxygen in the storm; a supernatural guide or ghost; or perhaps the narrator was imagining his own skilled piloting as an external guide. The text leaves it a mystery.
Thinking about Language (Pages 9-10)
I. …try to guess the meanings of the word ‘black’ in the sentences given below.
* “your hands and face are absolutely black.”
* Meaning: Very dirty.
* “The taxi-driver gave Ratan a black look…”
* Meaning: An angry or disapproving look.
* “The bombardment of Hiroshima is one of the blackest crimes…”
* Meaning: The most evil, wicked, or morally dark.
* “Very few people enjoy Harold Pinter’s black comedy.”
* Meaning: A type of humor that deals with dark or morbid subjects like death.
* “…sell these in black.”
* Meaning: Illegally; on the black market.
* “Villagers had beaten the criminal black and blue.”
* Meaning: To be badly and heavily bruised.
II. Match the phrases given under Column A with their meanings given under Column B:
a flag – Display a flag on a long pole.
Fly into a rage – Become suddenly very angry.
Fly along – Move quickly or suddenly.
Fly high – Be successful.
Fly the coop – Escape from a place
III. Tick the words which have the same or nearly the same meaning [as “to move through air using wings”].
* [✔] swoop
* [✔] flit
* [ ] paddle
* [✔] flutter
* [ ] ascend
* [ ] float
* [ ] ride
* [✔] skim
* [ ] sink
* [ ] dart
* [✔] hover
* [✔] glide
* [ ] descend
* [✔] soar
* [ ] shoot
* [ ] spring
* [ ] stay
* [ ] fall
* [✔] sail
* [✔] flap
How to Tell Wild Animals
Thinking about the Poem (Page 14)
1. Does ‘dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’? Can you say it in such a way that it does?
Ans. No, they do not rhyme perfectly.
* To make them rhyme, you would have to pronounce “lion” as if it were “lyin'”.
2. How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?
Ans. The Asian Lion: You can identify it if “A large and tawny beast” “roars at you as you’re dyin'”.
* The Bengal Tiger: You can identify it if a “noble wild beast” with “black stripes on a yellow ground” “eats you”.
* According to the poet, you can identify them at the moment they are attacking or killing you .
3. Do you think the words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?
Ans. No, the correct spellings are “leapt” and “leap”.
* The poet spells them this way to create poetic license. It maintains the rhyme scheme and rhythm, and adds to the humorous, informal tone of the poem.
4. Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is?… Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?
Ans. Yes, the text explains a ‘bearhug’ is “a friendly and strong hug”.
The poem itself gives other examples, like hyenas having “merry smiles” and crocodiles weeping “crocodile tears”.
(The second part of the question asks for examples from your own language.)
5. Look at the line “A novice might nonplus”. How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the poet’s ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?
Ans. A ‘correct’ way to write this might be “This might nonplus a novice” or “A novice might be nonplussed”.
The poet’s line is better for the poem because it perfectly fits the a-b-a-b rhyme scheme (rhyming “nonplus” with “thus”) and maintains the poem’s rhythm.
6. Can you find other examples of poets taking liberties with language…? Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?
Ans. (This question asks for your own examples from other poems.)
7. Much of the humour in the poem arises from the way language is used… If there are particular lines… you especially like, share these…
Ans. (This question asks for your personal opinion and favorite lines.)
The Ball Poem
Thinking about the Poem (Page 16)
1. [cite_start]Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy another ball?
Ans. The poet says he “would not intrude” because he wants the boy to be alone to process this experience. The boy is learning a difficult but important lesson, and interrupting him would be unwelcome.
* He doesn’t offer money because another ball is “worthless”. The boy’s grief isn’t just for a ball; it’s for the loss itself and the memories (“all his young days”) associated with that specific ball. “Money is external” and cannot buy back what was lost.
2. “… staring down/All his young days into the harbour where/His ball went …” Do you think the boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?
Ans. Yes, the line “All his young days into the harbour” strongly suggests the boy has had the ball for a long time and that it is “linked to the memories of days when he played with it”.
3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Ans. It means living in a material world where people own things (“possessions”), and where, as a result, losing those things is an unavoidable part of life (“balls will be lost always”).
4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Ans. No, this is likely his first significant loss.
* The words that suggest this are: “He senses first responsibility”.
5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your own words.
* The poet says the boy is learning “The epistemology of loss”—the true nature and meaning of what it is to lose something.
* In other words, he is learning how to accept and cope with loss (“how to stand up”). He’s learning the hard truth that “People will take / Balls, balls will be lost always”, and that “Money is external” and cannot always fix the loss. This is a fundamental lesson about responsibility and resilience that “every man must one day know”.
6. Have you ever lost something you liked very much? Write a paragraph…
* (This question asks for a personal answer about your own experience with loss.)