Wednesday 17 January 2024

Communicative English II - Unit 2 Theory and Listening

 

Download Communicative English II Unit 1 Theory and Listening


‘The Bangle Sellers’ by Sarojini Naidu 


Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves

Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.

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Read the given poetry lines and answer the following questions:

(stanza 1)

1. Where are the bangle sellers going?

The bangle sellers are going to temple fair.

2. What do you mean by ‘shining loads’?

The phrase ‘shining loads’ refers to bright and colourful bangles 

carried by bangle sellers.

3. Who would like to buy the bangles?

Happy daughters and happy wives would like to buy the bangles.

4. Who wrote these lines?

Sarojini Naidu wrote these lines.

5. Describe the appearance of the bangles.

The bangles are delicate, bright and rainbow coloured.

(Stanza 2)

1. Which bangles are suitable for a maiden’s wrist?

Silver and blue bangles are suitable for a maiden’s wrist.

2. What are the comparisons made by the poet in the beginning?

The poet compares the bangles to mountain mist and buds.

3. What are compared to new born leaves?

Bangles shining with light and colour are compared to new born leaves.

4. Where are the poetry lines taken from?

The poetry lines are taken from “Bangle Sellers.”

5. Write down the rhyming words found in these lines.

Wrist-mist, dream-stream, cleaves-leaves are the rhyming words found 

in these lines.

(Stanza -3)

1. For whom are the bangles like sunlit corn fields suitable ?

The bangles like sunlit corn fields are suitable for a bride on the day of 

her marriage.

2. Why does the poet compare bangles to flame of marriage fire?

The bangles are not only as yellow, orange and red as but also as holy as 

the flame of marriage fire. So the poet compares so.

3. How does the poet compare the sound of bangles?

The poet compares that the bangles are tinkling like bridal laughter.

4. What is the implication of bridal tear?

The bridal tear implies the separation of a bride from her parents. 

5. Name the rhyming words in the given lines?

Corn-morn, fire-desire, clear-tear are the rhyming words in the given lines.

(Stanza – 4)

1. Which colour bangles are generally suitable for middle aged women?

Purple and golden grey colour bangles are suitable for middle aged women.

2. What do you mean by ‘fruitful pride’?

A middle aged woman has sacrificed a lot for the betterment of 

others in the family. Hence her love, care and sacrifice make her have 

‘fruitful pride’.

3. What are the three roles played by a middle aged woman?

A middle aged woman has played the role of a loving mother to her sons, 

a home maker taking care of household duties and a better half always at 

the side of her husband.

4. Write the rhyme scheme used in the given lines.

“Aa bb cc’’ is the rhyme scheme used in the given lines.

5. What are the rhyming words found in the given lines?

Grey-midway, blest-breast, pride-side are the rhyming words in given lines.

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A) Degrees of Comparison:

A degree of comparison refers to a form of adjective or adverb used 

to compare a person, place or thing with another or more similar ones. 

The three degrees of comparison are positive degree, comparative degree 

and superlative degree. Positive degree is told without any comparison 

(Uma is a beautiful girl.) Comparative degree makes comparison between 

any two. (Uma is a more beautiful than Priya). Superlative degree compares 

one thing with many highlighting the greatest or least quality. 

(Uma is the most beautiful girl in the class.)

How to Use Degrees of Comparison?

Sl.No

Superlative

Comparative

Positive

1

One of the greatest


Example:

Milton is one of the 

greatest poets 

in English Literature.

greater than most other


Example:

Milton is greater than 

most other poets in 

English Literature.

Very few…as 

great as


Example:

Very few poets in 

English Literature 

are as great as 

Milton.

2

the greatest


Milton is the greatest 

poet in 

English Literature.

greater than any other


Milton is greater than 

any other poet in 

English Literature.

No other… as 

great as


No other poet is  

as great as Milton.

3

No superlative

greater than


Milton is greater than 

Keats.


not as great as


Keats is not 

as great as Milton.

4

No superlative

not greater than


Keats is not greater 

than Milton.

as great as


Milton is as great 

as Keats.



Exercise (textual)

Identify the adjectives in the given lines and use any one of them 

 in degrees of comparison.

Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

Adjectives in the given lines: shining, delicate, bright, rainbow-tinted, 

lustrous and happy

Use of Degrees of Comparison:

1. happy -  I am happier than my friends. (comparative degree)

2. delicate -  China cups are the most delicate ones. (superlative degree)

3. bright -  Stars are bright in the night. (positive degree)

B) Fill in the blanks with suitable forms of adjectives: (General)

Exercise 1:

1. Mobile is ____________ to access the Internet resources. (useful, 

more useful, most useful)

2. Sherlock Holmes is ___________ than any other short story. 

(interesting, more interesting, the most interesting)

3. Chennai is the ___________ city in Tamil Nadu. (big, bigger, biggest)

4. Gowri is one of the _________ friends I have. (good, better, best)

5. This movie is not as__________ as his previous one. 

(successful, more successful, most successful) 

Answers: 1. useful, 2. more interesting, 3. biggest, 4. best, 5. successful

Exercise 2:

1. Smoking is __________ to health. ( injurious, more injurious, 

most injurious)

2. Your picture is ________ than mine.( small, smaller, smallest)

3. He is as__________ as his friend. (strong, stronger, strongest)

4. English is _________ than any other language to learn.(easy, easier, 

easiest)

5. This is the _________ idea you have ever told. (creative, more creative, 

most creative)

Answers: 1. injurious, 2. smaller, 3. strong, 4. easier, 5. most creative

----------------------

Listening Skill:

Listening to Lyrical Poems and noting down 

the Descriptive Adjectives.

 

Lyrical Poems:

Poems written in 1st person expressing the poet’s feelings and 

emotions and accompanied with music are generally known as lyrical 

poems. Sonnet, elegy, ode, ballad and dramatic monologue are some 

popular forms of lyrical poems. Theyare normally short and follow 

meter. Shakespearean sonnets and the odes written by Shelley and Keats 

are best examples for lyrical poems.

Descriptive Adjectives:

Adjectives which describe people, places and things are called 

descriptive adjectives. They create an image in your mind and tend 

to present how somebody or something look like. For example, when we 

say - she is tall and had big eyes and long hair, the adjectives tall, big and 

long create the picture of a lady in our mind and say, how she appears to 

others. Descriptive adjectives also tell us what type person or thing 

somebody or something is. In a sentence - she is talkative, short tempered 

but fair, we describe what type of person she is. Similarly, by a sentence, 

the book is old but useful for researchers, we understand, what type of book

 it is through the adjectives –old and useful.  In short, any adjective that 

modifies a noun describing its quality is called a descriptive adjective. 

Hence, most of the adjectives in English will fall into this category since 

the main task of adjectives is to describe the quality of a noun.  However, 

the following limiting adjectives, are not descriptive adjectives: 

Demonstrative adjectives (This, that, these, those), 

quantifying adjectives(many, some, few, couple, any, all several, one, two, 

first, second…) and possessive adjectives(my, your, his, her, our…)

Listening Video -1:  Ode On a Grecian Urn by John Keats 

Listen to the following lyrical poem and note down 

the descriptive adjectives:

Answers:

Descriptive Adjectives in the poem:

heard – sweet – unheard – sweeter –soft –sensual –endeared –

fair – bare – bold 

 
 Listening Video -2:  I wandered Lonely as a Cloud 

by Wordsworth

Listen to the following lyrical poem and note down 

the descriptive adjectives:


 
Answers:

Descriptive Adjectives in the poem:

Golden – milky – never-ending – sprightly – sparkling – gay – 

jocund – vacant – pensive – inward 

Listening Video -3:  

Listen to the following lyrical poem and note down 

the descriptive adjectives:  


Answers:

Descriptive Adjectives in the poem:

antique – vast – trunkless – halfsunk – shattered – wrinkled – cold – 

lifeless – mighty – colossal – boundless – bare – lone – level 

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