what is the meaning of "anchoring earth" and "earth cave"
Answers
Answer:
On Killing a Tree
OBJECTIVES
To enable the students to comprehend meanings of the poem. To enable them to understand the poem by doing simple tasks and thus learning words with similar meanings.To enable them to reflect on the poem.To enable them to speak from the point of view of a tree
New words
Jab:
Sudden rough blow.
A simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree.
Leprous hide:
Discolored bark.
The bark of a jabbed tree looks like leprous hide.
Hack:
Cut roughly by striking heavy blows.
When a tree is hacked, the barks bleed but soon they heal
Snapped out:
chopped out.
Bleeding expresses the pain of a tree when the branches of a tree or snapped out.
Scorching and choking:
The drying up of the tree after being uprooted.
Pulling out the tree from the mother earth and scorching and Choking it in the sun and air kill the tree.
KEY POINTS
It is not easy to kill a tree. It takes much time.
A tree grows on earth, feeds on its crust, absorbs years of sun light, air and water.
‘Hack and chop’ does not kill tree. It wounds the barks and makes them bleed.
The real strength of the tree lies in its roots.
The roots are the most sensitive parts of the tree.
When the roots are pulled out they are white and wet.
The sun and the air harden and wither the exposed roots of the tree and kill it.
SUMMARY
It is not easy to kill a deep rooted tree. It takes much time to kill it. A tree is too strong to be killed by a simple attack of a knife. It has grown slowly consuming the earth, feeding upon its crust, absorbing years of sunlight. The strength it has stored through a long period of hard work and patience cannot be destroyed in one go.
When a tree is chopped, the barks bleed but soon they heal up and expand again to their former size. If one wants to kill a tree, It has to be pulled out of the anchoring earth. Its most sensitive part, i.e., the roots, has to be exposed to the sun and the air. Once it is done, the tree is killed.
SHORT QUESTIONS
Q: How does a tree become strong ?
A: A tree grows on earth, feeds on its crust, absorbs years of sunlight, air and water. It makes them strong.
Q: What does ‘hack and chop’ do to a tree? Does it kill it?
A: ‘Hack and chop’ does not kill a tree. It does not cause much pain to it. It wounds the barks and makes them bleed. No, it does not kill it.
Q: What happens if the miniature boughs are left unchecked ?
A: If the miniature boughs are left unchecked, they expand and become a huge tree. The chopped tree comes back to its former size.
Q: How does the sun and the air contribute in the killing of a tree?
A: the sun and the air harden and wither the exposed roots of the tree and kill it.
ANSWERS OF THE TEXT BOOK
Q: Can a ‘simple jab of the knife’ kill a tree? Why not?
A: No, a simple jab of the knife cannot kill a tree. It is firmly held by the earth and its roots are safe. The tree is too strong to be killed by a simple jab of the knife.
Q: How has the tree grown to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life and activity.
A: The tree has grown to its full size by consuming the earth, feeding upon its crust absorbing years of light, air and water. Consuming, rising, feeding and absorbing are the words suggestive of its life and activity.
Q: What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed?
A: Bleeding bark suggests the wound on the tree that is caused by a blow of knife. When the branches of a tree are chopped off, the tree bleeds. It expresses the pain of a tree.
Q: The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean by this?
A: poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza suggesting that a simple jab of knife will not kill a tree. It has to be uprooted. A tree is so strong that it cannot be killed unless it is uprooted.
Q: What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth cave”?
A: “Anchoring earth” implies that the trees are held secure with the help of the roots in the earth. So long as the roots are firmly held by the earth, the tree is safe and cannot be killed by a simple jab of a knife.
Earth cave suggests the space created in the earth by uprooting a tree. The roots of the tree were hidden for years inside the earth. When the roots are pulled out of the earth, the cave where the roots were hidden is visible.
Q: What does he mean by “the strength of the tree exposed”?
A: “Roots” are the strength of the tree. So long as the roots are safe, the tree is safe. It cannot be killed. Once the roots are pulled out and exposed to the sun and the air, they wither and the tree is finally killed.
Q: What finally kills the tree?
A: The poet suggests that a simple jab of a knife does kill a tree. Its bleeding barks heal up soon and expand again to their former size. The tree is killed by uprooting. Its roots have to be pulled out of the earth cave and exposed to the sun and the air. The roots get twisted and wither in the scorching heat. It finally kills the tree.
Answer:
anchoring earth means the tree holds the earth's soil firmly helping the earth and earth cave refers to the place where the roots of the tree are kept