Fiction, Chapter-2 - A Dog Named Duke - Class IX English-A

Chapter-2

A Dog Named Duke

William D. Elis

Answer these questions –

QUESTION- In 1953 Hooper was a favored young man. Explain.

ANSWER-This means that in 1953, Hooper had everything a man could ask for. He was healthy and fit. He was extremely successful in his job, was married and had his own home. He was liked by everyone and everything was going for him.

QUESTION- They said that they would create a desk job for him.

  (a) Who are ‘they’?

ANSWER -‘They’ refers to some men from the company in which Hooper worked.

(b) Why did they decide to do this?

ANSWER -They decided to do this because they knew that due to his accident chuck will not be able to move around ad work as he did earlier. So, they told him to take a year off and decided to create a desk job for him which not requiring much movement would have suited his circumstances.

QUESTION- Duke was an extra ordinary dog. What qualities did he exhibit to justify this?

ANSWER- Duke was an extra ordinary dog.

·       After the accident, he realized that chuck can’t maintain his balance and so he never jumped on his master again.

·       He understood that he can help his master to walk again.so, he dragged Hooper patiently and persistently and helped him gain back his endurance and strength.

·       When walking in the dark, Hooper would stay still until Hooper would trip and fall down, Duke would stay still until stood on his feet again.

All these instances prove that Duke was an intelligent, careful, tactful and responsible dog who helped his master not only to get back on his feet but also flourish in his career. These instances prove that Duke was an extra ordinary dog.

QUESTION- What problems did Chuck present when he returned to the company’s headquarters?

ANSWER- When Chuck returned back to the company’s headquarters neither could he work continuously for a long time nor could he write. This move of Hooper presented a problem because due to his condition , he was useless of his old job  of a salesman but nobody could tell him so because no one wanted to hurt his feelings after all his struggle to get back to work again.

QUESTION- Why do you think that Charles Hooper’s appointment as national assistant sales manager is considered a tribute to duke?

ANSWER- Charles Hooper’s appointment as national assistant sales manager is considered a tribute to duke because it was duke who taught him to cope with the challenge and accept the changed mode of life after his accident. Without Duke, Chuck would never have been able to walk, get back to his job, work hard and get promoted.

Fiction Chapter -1 How I Taught My Grandmother to Read Class IX English-A

Chapter 1
How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

Question- What made Triveni a popular writer?

Answer- Her style of writing and her convincing stories which dealt with the day to day life of ordinary people made Triveni a popular writer. People liked her and her stories because they could easily relate to her stories as they usually depicted the psychological problems people face in their day to day life.

Question- Why did grandmother depend on the granddaughter to know the story?

Answer- Grandmother depended on her granddaughter to know the story because she was an uneducated lady who never went to school and so she didn’t know how to read or write.

Question- Pick out two sentences which state that the grandmother was desperate to know what happened in the story.

Answer- Two sentences which state that the grandmother was desperate to know the story are-

1.    “I waited eagerly for you to return.”   

2.    During that time she would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration.

Question-Could the grandmother succeed in accomplishing her desire to read? How?

Answer- Yes, the grandmother succeeded in accomplishing her desire to read by working very hard, doing lots of homework, reading, writing, reciting, repeating and being determined to continue and accomplish her goal of learning the Kannada alphabets.

Question- Which of the following traits would be relevant to the character of the narrator’s grandmother?

Answer- The following traits are relevant to the character of the narrator’s grandmother-

         (i) Determined- grandmother was a determined lady as she set the goal and decided to keep Saraswati pooja day as the deadline and was able to accomplish her goal in spite of many obstacles.

         (ii) Emotional- grandmother was an emotional lady as when her granddaughter was not with her she felt sad and helpless. When her granddaughter returned and she related her story and helplessness she got emotional and cried.

Question- Write the character sketch of grandmother.

Answer- The main character in the story ‘how I taught my grandmother to read’ written by Sudha Murty is Krishtakka, the grandmother of the writer. Of sixty-two years with grey hairs and wrinkled hands. She worked a lot in the kitchen as she enjoyed feeding her children and grandchildren a lot. The writer states that she had not seen her grandmother cry even in the most difficult situation which shows that she had a strong-willed character.

She was a very determined lady as she didn’t give up in spite of all obstacles when she decided to learn the Kannada language. She was also very diligent and hardworking as the amount of homework she did was amazing. She decided to learn the Kannada language so that she could read independently. This shows that she possessed an independent spirit. She was also very religious and pious as she obeyed her holy scriptures and respected her teacher (granddaughter) irrespective of her age.