Students can Download English Poem 5 The Pencil’s Story Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes Pdf, Activity, KSEEB Solutions for Class 9 English helps you to revise the complete Karnataka State Board Syllabus and to clear all their doubts, score well in final exams.
Karnataka State Syllabus Class 9 English Poem Chapter 5 The Pencil’s Story
The Pencil’s Story Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Comprehension:
C1. Answer the following questions:
Question 1.
Where does the poet see the pencil lying?
a. in the beginning
b. at the end of the poem?
Answer:
The poet sees the pencil lying
a. on the mantlepiece in the beginning.
b. in a holder at the end of the poem.
Question 2.
Why is the pencil’s life described as weary?
Answer:
The pencil’s life is described as weary because it is handled almost forty times a day.
Question 3.
When according to the poet is the pencil
a. sad
b. glad?
Answer:
According to the poet, the pencil is
a. sad – when someone in deep thought chews its end.
b. glad – when it is useful to people.
Question 4.
What does the poet mean by wits are rather dull’?
Answer:
By the phrase ‘wits are rather dull’ the poet means that when its lead point gets blunt and small and it requires sharpening.
Question 5.
What makes the poet say that ‘the pencil’s speech is always dark’ and that ‘it always makes its mark’? Explain.
Answer:
‘The pencil’s speech is always dark’ – It means that the lead color of a HB pencil is black and when one writes with it, the writing is always in dark colour. ‘It always makes its mark’ – This means that when someone holds the pencil very close to its lead point, the colour of the lead gets stuck in the fingers.
Question 6.
Make a list of rhyming words found in the poem.
Answer:
- B – see
- things – kings
- missed – list
- ought – short
- dark – mark
- older – holder
- life – knife
- about – out
- play – day
- joint – point
- friend – end
Question 7.
Read the lines from 5 to 8. Who might be ‘Tommy’ according to the poet? How old would he be?
Answer:
Tommy is the young child of the family. We see that he uses the pencil to draw untidy pictures like submarines, aeroplanes, and cabbages. Hence he wouldn’t be a grown-up.
C2. Fill the columns after carefully reading, the poem; The persons in the poem and the various purposes the pencil is used by them:
- Tommy – To scrawl and draw all sorts of things from submarines and aeroplanes to cabbages and kings.
- Miss Phyllis – When she is writing a lovely letter.
- Mother – When she makes the washing list.
- Father – To keep score when playing.
Appreciation:
Question 1.
Can the pencil’s journey from the mantlepiece to the holder be compared to the journey of life of all ‘human beings?
Answer:
The pencil’s journey is very much similar to the journey of life of human beings. People are born, they grow, undergo both joy and sorrow in their journey, work hard for a living, grow weary from overwork, grow old and feeble, and finally pass away. In the same manner, the pencil is used by people for various work, it is happy when it is useful and feels sorrowful when bitten, feels the pain when it is sharpened but bears the pain.
It is afraid that if it falls down, people will search for it as it is useful. The only difference between both is man grows up In height when he grows old whereas the pencil gets shorter as it grows old i.e. sharpened frequently.
Question 2.
Pick out the lines from the poem in which you find example for personification.
Answer:
I scrawl when Tommy has me, and I
draw all sorts of things,
I write a lovely letter when Miss. Phyllis
is about
If I make mistakes
If I slip and tumble down
I really never am allowed to grow up as I
ought
I’m getting shorter every day
I ache in evenly joint
my speech is always dark I always make my mark For when I’am meditating
when my last few hours have come [Basically all the lines are examples of personification as the pencil is personified in the poem.]
Writing activity: [Individual activity]
Further Reading: The pencil
Does this too convey the same message or does it differ?
Answer:
The basic theme of both the poems is same but the way it is said differs. The pencil in ‘Pencil’s story’ states its life, work, joys and sorrow in a matter of fact tone and seems resigned to its fate. But the pencil in ‘The Pencil’ is very bitter about the way it is treated and the tone is one of complaint and bitterness.
The Pencil’s Story Additional Questions and Answers
Question 1.
How does Tommy use a pencil?
Answer:
Tommy uses the pencil to scrawl and draw all sorts of things from submarines and aeroplanes to cabbages and kings.
Question 2.
When does Miss Phyllis use a pencil?
Answer:
Miss. Phyllis uses the pencil when she wants to write a lovely letter and if there is some mistake, she erases and writes again.
Question 3.
Why does the pencil ache?
Answer:
The pencil aches each time the knife sharpens it to form a point.
Question 4.
When is the pencil put in the holder?
Answer:
The pencil as it grows older gets shorter and in the end, when it cannot be used anymore it is put in the holders.
Question 5.
Why does the pencil gets bitten?
Answer:
The tendency of people is to bite the pencil when they are deep In thought. It is an unconscious action.
Extracts:
1. “I lie upon the mantelpiece for everyone to see.”
Question a.
Who is ‘I’?
Answer:
T is a pencil.
Question b.
What is its name”?
Answer:
Its name is H and B.
Question c.
When does it lie on the mantle piece?
Answer:
It lies on the mantle piece when it is big People can see it and use it.
2. “I‘m getting shorter every day.”
Question a.
Why does it get shorter every day?
Answer:
It has to be sharpened every now and then, to have its tip pointed and sharp.
Question b.
How does it get shorter?
Answer:
The knife sharpens it and it gets shorter.
Question c.
How is the process of getting shorter?
Answer:
The process of getting shorter is painful as the knife sharpens it and chops it.
Annotations:
Question 1.
“ I’m just a little pencil, but I have a busy day.”
Answer:
This line is taken from the poem ‘The Pencil’s story’ written by ‘Florence Hoatson’. In this poem the pencil dislikes its busy life. It is used by different people for different purposes. It bears pain and sorrow for its usefulness. When it is no longer useful, it is put away in the holder.
Question 2.
“And if I slip and tumble down I’m certain to be missed.”
Answer:
This line is taken from the poem ‘The Pencil’s story’ written by Florence Hoatson. The pencil speaks about its importance and usage in a household in this poem. The pencil is needed by everyone in the family right from the father to little Tommy. In case the pencil slips and falls down, it will be missed by everyone.
The Pencils Story Summary in English
The pencil, named H & B describes its life in a household. It is kept on the mantle piece so that it is easily available and it is used almost forty times a day and it feels very tired. When Tommy uses it, it scrawls and draws all sorts of things from submarines, aeroplanes to cabbages, and kings. When Miss Phyllis uses it to write a letter, it writes neatly and if it makes a mistake, the mistakes are erased.
The pencil is afraid that if it falls down, everybody will miss it but knows that the mother requires it badly when she has to make a washing list or that father needs it to note the score during games.
The pencil feels very bad that it is never allowed to grow, but is shortened every day when the knife begins to sharpen it which is very painful but keeps quiet because the point has to be sharp. Through its work is very dark, it is very useful and each time someone uses it, it leaves a mark on them.
Sometimes when someone is thinking very deeply, the pencil’s end gets chewed upon. The pencil which was once on the mantle piece, after getting very short is finally put in a holder. That is the end of a pencil.