 NEWTON'S LAW (POEM) BY NANDITA DAS

 

UNIT 5:ENLIGHTENING MINDS

v  NEWTON'S LAW   (POEM)  BY  NANDITA DAS

 

v  GIST OF THE POEM

v  PART I

 

v  Teacher was teaching Newton’s Law in the Science class. I was in attentive in the class. Teacher asked me to explain Newton’s law. Poor me! I fell down. My classmates laughed at me.

 

v  PART II

 

v  Teacher said me “You have demonstrated Newton’s law”. My friends congratulated me. That incident changed my life.

 

NEW WORDS  

PART I

•      Inattentive          - not paying attention

•      Random              - with out any definite plan or order

•      look up                - look for

•      dare                     - brave

•      intense                -great, strong

•      glare                    - look angrily

•      blank                  - empty

•      flounder             -make mistakes, struggle to get out of

•       trembling         - shivering

•      fell off                 -fell down

•      laughter               -sound of laughing

•      roar                      -deep loud rough sound

PART II

•      tittered               -

•      amusement       - entertainment

•      predicament      -difficult situation

•      levity                    - silly

•      At length              -in detail

•      Applause              - clap

•      Greet                       -wish

•      look back               -

•      ponder             - think

•      wander               -

QUESTION ANSWERS

PART I

 

1.       Who is the author of the poem?  Nandita Das is the author of the poem

2.      What was poet doing in the science class?  Poet was inattentive  in the science class.

3. What was topic discussed in  the class?  Teacher was teaching Newton’s Law of Gravity and Mass in  the class
4. Why didn’t the poetess look up at the teacher?  Teacher glared at her as she was inattentive in the class.

5.      Who is the author of the poem ‘Newton’s Law’? Nandita Das is the author of the poem

6.       Who is the 'I' referred to in the poem?  Nandita Das,  the  author,   is referred here in this poem.

7.      Who might have glared intensely?  Teacher glared intensely.

8.     What did the teacher ask her to explain?  Teacher asked her to explain  Newton’s Law of Gravity and Mass in  the class

9.      Why was her mind blank? She was in attentive   in the class. When teacher asked her the question,  she was not dare enough to answer it.

10. Why couldn’t she answer the questions?  She was inattentive in the class.
11. Why did the class roar with laughter?  Poet  fell down in the class
12. What is the rhyme scheme of this  poem?  The rhyme scheme of the poem is ‘aabb’

PART II

 

 

13. How did the poet demonstrate Newton’s law? Instead of falling up she fell down due to gravitational force of earth.
14.  “I look back up on this and ponder”. Explain?  Poet remembers  her school days and  decides not be inattentive in classes.

15.   What change has come over her after  the incident?  Poet decides not be inattentive in classes.

16.  Pick out instances of alliteration from the poem 'Newton's Law.' 

17.   What are the characteristics of  a  narrative?

POETIC DEVICES:

PART I

RHYME SCHEME:

Pattern of rhymes in a  poem. Example:

Roses are red,              a

Violets are blue,            b

Honey is sweet,             c

And so are you!              b

So the rhyme scheme of these  stanza is     ‘abcb’.

 

PART II

ALLITERATION :

The use of the same beginning consonant sound in a line or verse. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.

DISCOURSES:

PART I

PROFILE:

Activity I:Write a profile of Nadita Das.

Born in Calcutta, Nandita as grew up in Bangalore as the second of the three

sisters in her family. A good athlete in her school days with a liking for sports and

books, she made reading her greatest passion. While at college, her poem

"Stale-mate" was published in an anthology by The Poets International

Organisation in 1991. She is a graduate in physics, chemistry and mathematics.

She is an avid reader and collects books. "Books have enriched my mind and have

given wings to my imagination. Books have increased my knowledge, helped me

delve into the depths of other minds and widened my horizons', says Das.

                              The poem, ‘ Newton’s Law’ was selected as Poem of the Week. She has humorously portrayed her awful experiences. She has converted  them into something humorous and even helpful to others. She now agrees that science is really fascinating, but as a school girl she too, like many of us, found  it uninteresting detested it.

 

PART II

NARRATIVE : Narrative writing tells a story.  It can be real or make believe.(imaginary). It has a beginning middle and an end. Narrative writing has characters. Narrative writing has  a setting.  Narrative writing has sequential order. Make use of a word web to fix the events, setting, characters, etc., for preparing the narrative:

Activity II: Write a narrative about  an unforgettable incident  in your life.

I was thrilled  to visit the Amusement Park.  I enjoyed  all rides. That full day we spent there in Wonderla.  Merry go round and giant wheel were  my favorite rides. In the evening I was dead tired.  And that night itself  I was hospitalized for few days. I had to take rest while all my friends were  enjoying the trip. That was an unforgettable event in my life.