Reading Competency Webinar Report

When the whole world is locked down and are under the grip of pandemic of Covid-19, work from home has become the routine of everyone. Schools and colleges also are closed so teachers’ known work of teaching is stopped. The most vigorous task of studying, updating and preparing for the next session (which is not considered as work by society) can never stop. ELLE Mumbai has taken initiative to organize a webinar for updating teacher fraternity of entire Maharashtra to meet the challenges of newly introduced course book of Std XII.

ELLE (English Language & Literature Explorers) Mumbai organised a webinar.

Dr.Deepak Damodare

The third session of the webinar was conducted on competencies of Reading Skill on 8th May 2020 at 4 p.m. The session was hosted by the tech-savvy pioneer of English language training Mr Nadeem Khan . Mr. Anil Bagade introduced the speaker Dr Deepak Damodare from Akola. The session was organised on Zoom Cloud Meeting. Almost 95 Jr. College teachers were the direct participants by joining Zoom. Many teachers have enjoyed the live session on FB.
Dr Deepak Damodare began his session stating about the necessity and scope of reading competencies.
What is reading?
Reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background of knowledge to build reading and the goal of reading is comprehension. – Nunan
Reading is built from two components word recognition and comprehension. – Anderson J.C.
He explained the purpose of reading. We read for pleasure, knowledge, information and motivation.
How to read (-----------------------------------------------)
He categorised ways of reading into general and specific. Silent reading is for self to understand the meaning, message, thoughts and ideas connected. Loud reading is for self and others for understanding and conveying information message etc. Skimming (running through lines) scanning (reading for specific information), intensive (very carefully, extensive. Classroom reading: model reading by teacher loud by teacher and silent and loud by students. Dr. Deepak Damodare shared tips for developing reading competency. Students should read in chunks, read the entire phrase, or a group of words. They should try to increase eye span. The teachers should facilitate it. While reading we need to flick backwards and forwards over the text.
In developing the reading competency reading plays a great role. Teachers should read variety of books related to his profession in the morning. At noon they should read fiction, stories and plays for pleasure. They should read motivational/ inspirational books, biographies and autobiographies in the evening or at night. He prescribed pills of reading three times a day for lifelong. He also suggested that reading can be done at any time of the day (five minutes or five hours) and any place. No excuses for the lack of time to read.
 He threw light on the area of development of reading competency. Most of the students are afraid of reading . Having less interest and remaining absent also leads to incompetency of reading. To develop the competency teachers should work on it. Pronunciation, intonation, stress and tone play a great role in reading factor. Comprehension, correctness and speed are the indicators of competency. He suggested to identify the weak and struggling readers in the class. The ways are day to day classroom reading, reading competition, reading test, reading games and calculating the reading place The process of developing the competency are alphabetic method, phonic method(pin, win, bin)word method single unit, phrase method (a group of words) , sentence method and story method.
He suggested simple Reading Techniques :

1. Read in chunks, group of words.
2. Keep appropriate distance, not too close, not too far
3. Focus/Concentration is must.
4. Read unimportant quickly and important part minutely /carefully.
5. Try to connect read part to visuals. 
6. Read the intro, preface, last page to get the overview.
7. For better comprehension ask questions what, why, when. how to yourself.
8. One should understand that different genres different speed (Novels can be read speedily while technical books slowly.)  

He elaborated classroom practices about reading competency.
Pre-reading : Give home work to read text in proper way, give samples, provide any other text related to the lesson.
While Reading : Read with proper pronunciation , stress, intonation and tone. Provide meaning of words.Bring contextual and hidden meaning to their notice . Train how to read between the lines.
Post-reading : Make students read after the teacher. Make them read properly.Let them read for comprehension creating interest.

ELLE's Webinar : Listening Competency

When the whole world is locked down and are under the grip of pandemic of Covid-19, work from home has become the routine of everyone. Schools and colleges also are closed so teachers’ known work of teaching is stopped. The most vigorous task of studying, updating and preparing for the next session (which is not considered as work by society) can never stop. ELLE Mumbai has taken initiative to organize a webinar for updating teacher fraternity of entire Maharashtra to meet the challenges of newly introduced course book of Std XII.

ELLE (English Language & Literature Explorers) Mumbai organised a webinar. The second session of the webinar was conducted on competencies of Listening Skill on 6th May 2020 at 4 p.m. The session was hosted by the tech-savy pioneer of English language training Mr Nadeem Khan . Mr. Pravin Muley a noted resource person introduced the speaker Mr. Avinash Rade from Palghar. The session was organised on Zoom Cloud Meeting. Almost 75 Jr. College teachers were the direct participants by joining Zoom. Many teachers have enjoyed the live session on FB.
Mr Avinash Rade who is one of the creators

of Std 12 Book of English initiated his

presentation explaining listening as an ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in communication process. It is a receptive basic skill of language. He threw  light on objectives for developing listening competencies. He stated the types of listening skills as informational, critical and therapeutic. Later he pointed out areas for developing listening skill and competency . Prose, poetry, novel extracts, icebreaking, brainstorming instructions, projects and exercises are the areas in the course book for developing listening skills. When teacher reads, explains, asks and instructs in English, students listen. Other areas which can be used for developing listening skills of students are oral test, audio clip, note taking exercise.
Mr Avinash Rade allowed his lecture to smoothly flow to the process of developing listening skill. He categorised the process in 4 levels as basic, intermediate, advanced and expert. Under basic he suggested to set activities, make students listen, allow speaker to speak and consider other’s points. At the intermediate level students are expected to (enable them) to listen carefully, pay attention to speaker, be patient to listen to people and consider opinion even when disagree. In an advanced level listeners are polite and patients during conversation. They are competent to digest before responding and keep eye contact with speaker. They refrain from interruption and allow speaker to make his point. Expert listeners practice attentive and active listening. They can paraphrase message for entire understanding and gets gist of the message. They can restate others opinion even when they disagree. The process of developing listening competency goes smoothly following the tricks of mouth closed , eye contact, no fidgeting, paraphrase, patient listening till the end, listening for content, non-verbal signals, unbiased listening.

He focussed on the teacher’s role in developing listening competency. According to him teacher should be a good speaker and innovative to avail the students opportunities of listening. He should be ideal for pronunciation and body language. He advised to be a friend and facilitator for the students to make them listen. Teachers need to tech-savvy as students are. Teachers can use technology for developing listening competency.

In the development of listening competency students play a vital role. Students should participate actively in the process of learning. They should be patient, self-learner and tech-savvy. They should try to remember, understand, clarify and respond to the content.

He pointed out classroom learning activities for developing listening competency. He suggested some of the activities such as use of audio-video device, assigning listening task, listen and follow, session for talk less ,listen more, finding key words , predicting speakers purpose. He clarifies testing and evaluating of listening skill.

The webinar was outstanding experience towards updating and upgrading teachers at far remote places. Avinash Rade enabled the participants to meet the challenges of newly introduced course book of Std XII. He
focused on different strategies applicable in classrooms. My dream of learning from the state level person came true with this webinar. The webinar has given the opportunity to teacher like me to upgrade well in advance. My effort of writing the detailed report on the session is to cement the information, knowledge and vision I got through the webinar. 

Post your views regarding the session in comment box.

The speakers  in a series of webinar :

Mrs. Manjushree Sardeshpande
Dr.Dipak Damodare .
Dr. Pravin mulay
Mr. Avinash Rade
Mr.Nadeem Khan

ELLE MUMBAI TEAM

Mr. Tushar J. Bagwe
Mrs.Sangeeta Bagade.
Mr.Anil Bagade

TECHNICAL SUPPORT.
Mr.Nadeem Khan
Mr. Avinash Rade.
Mr. Sahebao Mahajan

To watch video
Click here

Report on Webinar Conducted by ELLE

Role of Competencies in Language Teaching

ELLE (English Language & literature Explorers) organised a webinar on the topic Role of competencies in Language Teaching at 4 pm on 4 May 2020. The webinar was hosted tactfully by a well-known personality Mr. Nadeem Khan. Dr Manjushree Sardeshpande from Nagpur was the speaker of the webinar. The session was organised on Zoom Cloud Meeting. Almost 85 Jr. College teachers were the direct participants by joining zoom. Many teachers may have enjoyed the live session on FB and YouTube. 

The webinar started sharply at 4 p.m. Dr. Manjushree Sardeshpande started her

session skilfully using screen share feature of the Zoom. She presented slides on the topic one by one and explained them in detail. The contents of presentation were – Statement of Competencies forfstd XII, 21st century learning skills, literacy skills, life skills in std XII course book, Language

skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and study skills.

In her presentation Dr. Manjushree Sardeshpande pointed out the competency level of students entering in Std 12. The syllabus is prepared taking into consideration the previous competencies of the students. We should understand the linguistic level of the students, the teaching goals and objectives of Std XII course book. As a teacher we should start reading the book from the preface. The students do not have surrounding of spoken English. Teacher should create such a surrounding. The students need to understand the 21st century challenges and learn strategies to accept them. Holistic developments of the students also are aimed at in the course book.She pointed out how the course book will help the students to inculcate 21st century skills like 4 c’s critical thinking, creativity,collaborationc and communication. In the course book there

are various places where students can acquire these skills with active involvement. She threw light on different literacy skills like information literacy, media literacy and technology literacy

(IMT) to be acquired by the students. Then she dealt with life skills like flexibility, leadership and initiative, productive and social skills (FLIPS). These skills should be inculcated. The teachers should help students by organising different activities regarding the course book.

Many activities are given in the course book. Our focus should be on learning rather than  teaching. We should create the opportunities to make students learn. In real life we need to be flexible and productive. These qualities are developed in the early stage of life better. Through

the classics and masterpieces chosen for the study, along with these skills wit and humour,astuteness and ingenuity, etiquettes and manners, self-realization, love for nature and wild life, self-esteem etc. should be the aim of teaching learning process. The book connects students with local as well as global.Further she stated that since we are the language teacher our focus should be on basics skills of language. We should make skilful use of audio video aids available on media. As far as listening is concerned, we should remember that the more we listen, the more we learn to speak.

We should ensure that students learn to read and write also. Provide them different

opportunities to read and write. Students should be allowed to struggle with the text and arrive at the answers. Learning to learn is important. Learning for exams only is not enough.

Complexity of writing skills is increased in std XII. To keep pace with the time new skills like SoP, Mind Mapping, Virtual messages are added. She did not forget to tell to develop study habits among the students.

She sorted out the queries raised in the webinar. The queries were regarding urban and rural students, arts and science students. One of the query was about absenteeism of the science students in language classes.

The webinar turned to be a magic wand for me. It was a great experience to learn from the chairperson of English Language Committee Dr. Manjushree Sardeshpande. The webinar led me to the new realm of learning. It gives the clear idea about how to deal with the new course.

Click here to watch video

1.2 On Saying "Please"

Glossary

ICE BREAKERS

A. List the words of courtesy that we use in our daily life. Discuss them with
your partner and explain the purpose of using each 

B.  Listed below are a few character traits of people. Some are positive traits,while others are not. Tick ✓ the ones you feel are desirable. ( Meanings of the words are provided. Students can tick now desirable traits.) 

 
Conniving - conspiring
Insensitive - pretending ignorance
Sly- wise in practical affairs
Humorous - 
Naive - deficient in worldly wisdom
Benevolent - disposed to doing good
Aggressive - 
Scheming
Wise 
Egoistic
Manipulative - influence others in an artful way/ unfair way
Rude- 
Boastful 
Humble - not proud
Servile - slave like
Territorial- organised for home defence
Patronising - treating good
Generous - liberal 

Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits
Conniving	Insensitive	Sly	Humorous
Naive	Benevolent	Aggressive	Scheming
Wise	Egoistic	Manipulative	Rude
Boastful	Humble	Servile	Territorial
Patronising	Generous

C.  Etiquette and manners are very important for a person to live in the society.
Read the following and put them in proper columns.
1. To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class.
2. To knock before you enter your Principal’s office.
3. To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee.
4. To be polite and courteous to others.
5. To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission.
6. To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically challenged or elderly
people on a bus or a train.

Appropriate.	Inappropriate.
1. To knock before you enter your Principal’s office.                           2.  To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee. 3. To be polite and courteous to others.	1. To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class. 2. To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission. 3. To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically challenged or elderly people on a bus or a train.

Question Bank Solution

BRAIN STORMING

(A1) (i) Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.

• Humility - freedom from pride

• Self-esteem - a confidence in oneself 

• Gratitude - thankfulness

• Courtesy - respect

• Generosity - big heartedness

 • Sympathy - compassion, pity

• Empathy - experiencing the feelings of others

(ii) Have a Group Discussion on the topic ‘The need of soft skills at work

place’. Use the following points.

(a) Written and verbal communication

(b) Ways of interacting with others

(c) Creative abilities

(d) Emotional intelligence

(A2) (i) Read the text and state whether the following statements are True or False. 

Correct the False statements.

(a) Bitter problems in day-to-day life can be solved by sweet words. True

(b) Great wars could have been avoided by a little courtesy. True

(c) Observance of etiquette in a normal situation is important but more

important is their observance when the situation is adverse. True

(d) Words like 'please' and 'thank you' help us in making our passage through

life uneasy. False

(e) The law permits anybody to use violence, if another person is discourteous.   False

(ii) Select the most appropriate sentences which suggest the theme of the essay.

(a) The essay tells us about courtesy, civility, morality, responsibility and

control.

(b) The essay explores the difficulties that can be incurred by an individual

when dealing with the public.

(c) One can keep one’s peace of mind without having to lower themselves to

the level of the perceived offender.

(d) People with low self-esteem are generally difficult to work with and they

look down upon others to get a feeling of superiority.

(iii) (a) Find the reasons for the lift-man's uncivilized behaviour.
Ans : A passenger refused to say 'Top-please' to the liftman. The refusal hurt him acutely and damage his social standing. 

(b) List the people and their behaviour that made the passenger rude and ill-mannered.

(iv) Good manners are required in our daily life for making our social contacts

more cooperative and friendly. Illustrate the behaviour of the polite

conductor with different people in various situations.

Situation	Behaviour
1. The writer’s sensitive toe was trampled on	The conductor said sorry with an apology and courtesy.
2. In the rainy season dealing with people	He would give the tips that there is room in the bus.
4. Dealing with children	as solicitous as father
5. Dealing with young people	as considerate as son
6. Dealing with a blind man	He took him across the road and see safe landing.

(v) Discuss and write the impact of good temper and kindliness on the society

in the light of the good-mannered conductor. 
Ans : The narrator pointed out that there was always fine weather on the polite conductor's bus , and his civility, friendly feelings and humorous nature spreaded among the passengers. Kindliness is rewarded with kindness. 

(vi) 'A modest calling can be made dignified by good temper and kindly feeling'.
Ans : 

Explain the statement with examples.

(vii) The service of the police is necessary for the implementation of law in our

society. Do you think you require this service for good social environment?

Discuss.

(A3) (i) • He committed the crime in broad daylight (not bright daylight or narrow 

darkness

• I had a cup of strong tea (not rich tea).

• The fast train is coming (not quick train).

Such words or group of words which habitually occur together and thereby 

convey meaning by association are called collocations. A collocation is a 

combination of words in a language that often go together. 

(a) Find out the words in column 'B' which collocate with the words in column 'A'.

Column A.	Column B.
regular	meal
mid day	concept
key	food
fast	exercise
try	decorated
richly	hard
free	jam
traffic	time
social	animal
wild	justice

Ans: regular exercise,mid day meal, key concept, fast food, try hard, richly decorated, free time, traffic jam, social justice,wild animal 

(b) Learning collocations is essential for making your English sound fluent and

natural. Make collocations and use in your own sentences.

↑   COLLOCATIONS ↑

(ii) Sometimes while using a word in a sentence, we have to change its word

class. We can make several more words from the root word.

We can make several new words from the root word.

I asked Sumit to my pencil for me. (sharp)

I asked Sumit to sharpen my pencil for me.

Now read the following sentences and use the words given in the brackets. 
Change the word class and rewrite the sentences.
(a) Leena was eating a very crunchy 🍎apple and  enjoying it. (crunch)
(b) This picture looks colourful . (colour)
(c) I’m afraid that your behaviour is just not acceptable. (accept)
(d) I like my elder brother. He is very helpful . (help)

Complete the following table. Put a cross if a word class does not exist.

Sr.No.	Noun	Verb.	Adjective.	Adverb
1	absence		absent
2	alarm	alarm	alarming	alarmingly
3	attraction	attract	attractive	attractively.
4	ability	enable	able
5	admiration	admire	admiring	admiringly
6	agreement	agree	agreeable	agreeably
7	application	apply	applicable
8	avoidance	avoid	avoidable.	avoidably.
9	difference	differ	different	differently

(iii) Register often refers to the degree of formality of language, but in a more
general sense it means the language used by a group of people who share
similar work or interest, such as doctors or lawyers.
Imagine that your Principal or teacher is coming. When you meet him, you
would never say,
'Hey, dude ! What's up?'
This is a formal situation, so you would say 'Good morning, Sir'.
In every situation, you use an appropriate expression according to the person.
The language you use, when you meet someone depends on their age, position
etc. There are formal and informal registers in spoken and written language.
Write appropriate expressions and words which you have to use while facing an interview

You are writing a letter of complaint. List the proper expressions that you 
would like to write. 
(a) I disagree.
(b) 
(c) 
(d) 
(e) 
(iv) Distinguish between a legal offence and a moral offence on the basis of
the given text.
Legal offence Moral offence
Burglary Rude behaviour

Legal offence.	Moral offence.
Burglary	Rude behaviour
Assault and battery	Wound to self respect
To box people's ears	Hurt feelings and emotions
Kick on the shins	Moral and intellectual damage

(v) Find out the meanings of the following phrases. Use them in your own
sentences.
(a) give and take (b) a black eye
(c) lower than the angels (d) knock someone down

(vi) Find out the words with prefixes and suffixes from the text and write them down.
  

Prefix.	Suffix
uncivil, uncouth, unfriendly, unpleasant.	requirement.         investment
discourtesy , disagreeable	compensation
incivility, inexhaustible	comfortable
Inconvenience	Infectious

(vii) Complete the table with polite expressions that we must use in our day to-day life.

Don'ts.	Dos.
I want a cup of tea	I would like to have a cup of tea.
Your work isn't good	I am afraid your work isn't good.  🙂
Send me the mail.	Send me the mail please.
Go away or leave me alone.	Please go away. Could you leave me alone?
You are wrong.	I am afraid you are wrong.
That's a bad idea.	Thanks for the idea but it's bad.

(A4) (i) Edit the given paragraph using a/an/the wherever necessary.

Rakesh is a/an ideal son who remains devoted to his father as he grows 
professionally to become a/the famous doctor. As his father grows old, he 
takes care to spend time with his father, bringing him tea in a/the morning 
and taking him out for a/the walk in an/the evening.

(ii) Spot the errors in each of the following sentences and correct the incorrect ones.
(a) Radha brought pens and distributed them between her five children. (among)
(b) Jayshree and Sujata sat besides each other in complete silence.(beside)
(c) His best friend Vijay was blind within one eye. (with)
(d) One could dare to encroach on his rights.
(e) She was taken with surprise when she saw the famous Taj Mahal.(by)
(f) It is not possible to exchange the goods once the sale has been completed. (return)
(g) Dr. Sengupta has been trying to master the craft for the last five years. (has tried)
(h) The top-ranking candidates will be appointed in senior jobs in banks. (to)
(i) She knows very well what is expected from her but she is unable to perform. (yet)
(j) They will put on a note in this regard for your consideration.(down)

(iii) Read the following sentence.
Santosh purchased a computer. He read the operating manual and followed the
instructions.

(a) He linked the monitor, keyboard and printer.
(b) He plugged in the main cable .
(c) He switched on the monitor at the back.
(d) When the light appeared on the screen, he placed the Day Disk in Drive A.
(e) He pushed in the disk until the button clicked out.
(It took about 30 seconds for the computer to load the programme.)
(f) He pressed the Drive button and the disk shot out .
(g) He replaced the Day Disk with the Document Disk.

(h) He pressed function key 7

Convert these sentences into passive voice by filling in the blanks.

The first sentence has been done as an example. (Answers are given in the brackets.)

Firstly the monitor, keyboard and printer were linked up. Then the ---- (main cable)
---- was ---- -----(plugged in). The monitor ---- (was switched) at the back. When the light appeared on the screen, ---- ---- ---- ----- Day Disk was placed in Drive A. The disk ---- --- --- (was pressed )until ----- 
--- ---- ---(the button clicked out). It took the computer 30 seconds to load the programme. The drive button ---- ---- ---- was pressed and the disk shot out. The --- ---- --- --- (Day Disk was replaced) with Document Disk. Finally, the function key 7......................( was pressed)
The word processor was then ready to use.

(A5) (i) Write a speech on 'Courtesy is the light of life' with the help of the following points.
(a) People have a good impression of you.
(b) You will be acknowledged and appreciated by all.
(c) You will be happier and contented with life.

Click here to read speech

(ii) ‘Manners maketh man’ – Expand the idea in your own words with proper
examples.

(A7) (i) Soft skills are required in all walks of life including careers and industries. 
They are increasingly becoming the essential skills of today's work force. 
Soft skills are an integral part of finding, attracting and retaining clients 
also. Highly developed presentation skills, networking abilities, and etiquette 
awareness can help you win new clients and gain more work.

Vocabulary Test   Click on test to take the test. You will learn the meaning of the words while taking the test. Quick result for individual word. Choose the next option if you get wrong . Do it until you get the right option 

Spelling Test  After taking the above test , check your spelling and memory with the similar words. For the same test meaning are given you have to write the words .

💧💧

Mind Mapping :An Astrologer's Day

Activities On A Midsummer Night's Dream

   

(1) Choose the odd one out :

(i) Bottom, Moth, Mustardseed, Cobweb
Ans: Bottom is a weaver. Others are fairies.
(ii) Flute, Snug, Quince, Cobweb
Ans: Cobweb is a fairy. Others are different characters.
(2) Characters

3) Draw a character sketch of Oberon as an enemy of his wife but a friend of the lovers.
Oberon is the king of fairies He fights his wife Titania for the custody of an Indian boy. He hatches a plan to teach a lesson. He orders Puck to bring the magic potion to madden his wife.
In the meantime Oberon notices cold behaviour of Demetrius with Helena. He decides to develop feelings for her in the heart of Demetrius by using potion.
(4) Comment on the loving pair of Lysander and Helena from the point of view of developing their character sketch.
Lysander is in love with Hermia. Hermia’s father opposed to it. So they decide to elope to the woods and get married. Helena is Hermia’s friend and is in love with Demetrius. But Demetrius rejects her love and falls in love with Hermia. Lastly Demetrius accepts Hermia’s love. Seeing their love Duke allows Hermia to marry Lysander.


Character Sketch of Different Characters


Puck - Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Puck is the closest to the protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere. He mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass.


Oberon
- The king of the fairies, Oberon is initially at odds with his wife, Titania. Because she refuses to hand over a young Indian prince whom he wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Puck to get the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.


Titania
- Titania is the beautiful queen of the fairies. She opposes the attempts of her husband, Oberon, of making the Indian boy a knight. Titania’s love for Nick Bottom under influence of love potion seems the play’s foremost example of the contrast motif.

Lysander - A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot marry her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to wed Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena.

Demetrius - A young man of Athens, initially is in love with Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena. Demetrius’s obstinate pursuit of Hermia throws love out of balance among the quartet of Athenian youths.

Hermia -Hermia is a young woman of Athens. She is a daughter of Egeus. She is in love with Lysander and is a childhood friend of Helena. As a result of the fairies’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has wooed the men with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored.


Helena - Helena is in love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once betrothed, but when Demetrius met Helena’s friend Hermia, he fell in love with her and abandoned Helena. Lacking confidence in her looks, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her.


Egeus - Hermia’s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus: Egeus has given Demetrius permission to marry Hermia, but Hermia, in love with Lysander, refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia either respect his wishes or be held accountable to Athenian law places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest.

Theseus - The heroic duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta. Theseus represents power and order throughout the play. He appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest.

Setting
(1) Correct the given sentences with justification.
(i) The play is restricted to only a part of the woods.
The play is not restricted to only a part of the woods. It occurs in the palace. The scene of performers from Athens acts in the cottage of queen. Some different scene occur in two different part of the woods.
But the Act III Scene II of the play is restricted to only a part of the woods.

(ii) Since there is a reference to the Indian boy, there are some scenes from India too.
NO, there are no scenes from India.
(2) The characters are a part of the stage setting. How does this reflect when the characters of the play range from the Duke and the Indian boy to the fairies?
Characters play a major role in the stage settings. In a play A Midsummer night’s dream characters are from different background. It is reflected in the stage setting. The scene is set in the palace for the entry of king and Duke. Quince’s cottage is set for the Quince and his workmen. The king of fairies is shown in the woods.


3) Comment on the versatility and the aptness of the stage settings, as per the requirement of the play “A Midsummer-Night’s Dream!”
Ans: The stage setting is versatile and apt. It takes place in the forest and the city of Athens. Civilians act in the city and fairies in forest . In the city there is a law and  order and in forest chaos .

Plot
(1) State whether the following statements are True of False:
(i) Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with Helena as a result of the love potion. True
(ii) Oberon transforms Bottom's head into that of an ass. False
Puck transforms Bottom's head into that of an ass
(iii) Titania falls in love with an ass. True
(iv) Both Demetrius and Lysander fight for Hermia. False
Both Demetrius and Lysander fight for Helena.
(2) Give reasons : Oberon and Titania fight for the custody of the Indian boy because –
(i) Oberon wants the IndInd boy to be his attendanat.(ii) Titania wants to take care of him as she adopts him.
(3) The consequences of Oberon’s jealousy for Titania are comic rather than tragic. Comment.
Ans: Oberon is jealous of Titania for two reasons. She adopts an Indian boy whom she loves most . She wants to rear him as her will and Oberon wants to make him his attendant. Oberon is suspicious that Titania is in love with Theseus . He plays magic. He orders Puck to use potion of love and make Titania to fall in love with monster.

(4) There were some reasons why Theseus was initially against but later gave consent for the marriage of Helena with Lysander. Explain.
Ans: Hermia's father Egeus wants her to mary Lysander . When she refuses, he turns to the king Theseus . He orders Hermia either to marry Lysander or face the punishment. Later on he notices that Hermia and Demetrius are in love with each other and Helena and Lysander are in love . On seeing it he gives consent
Form
(1) Select the correct options : A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is a (a) poetic drama (b) comedy of errors (c) comedy based on fantasy (d) a character play (e) a revenge tragedy (f) belongs to realm of dreams
(b) comedy of errors
(2) Find 2/4 expressions of humour from the extract.

.

(3) “A Midsummer-Night’s Dream” is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Comment.

Ans: A Midsummer-Night’s Dream” is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. It is obviously seen in scene of woods. Puck mistakenly uses potion of love. Due to this Demetrius fell in love with Helena. Lysander also woes Helena. Hermia who is in love with Demetrius thinks it true. Under the influence of the same potion Titania fell in love with Bottom with ass head. These errors create comedy.

🌅Answers for the following questions will be added soon
Theme
(1) Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer because he understood human nature better than anyone else. Explain the statement in context of the play.
Ans:A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s understanding of human nature. Human tendencies like love, jealousy, revenge and fun making are quite evident in the play.
(2) Prove with the theme of the play / extract that the deeper human emotion which profoundly interested Shakespeare was jealousy.
Ans:The theme of jealousy operates in both the human and fairy world in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jealousy plays out most obviously among the quartet of Athenian lovers, who find themselves in chaos. Helena feels jealous of Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius, who in turn feels jealous of his rival for Hermia’s affections, Lysander. When misplaced fairy mischief leads Lysander into an amorous pursuit of Helena, Hermia feels highly jealous. Jealousy also extends into the fairy realm, where it has caused a rift between the fairy king and queen.
Language
(1) Interpret the following lines in simple English. Puck : I’ll follow you. Bottom : The Finch, the sparrow.
(2) Comment on the literary device, used in the following lines: Titania : Be kind and courteous to this gentleman…. Titania : Come wait upon him : lead him to my bower.
(3) Shakespeare’s poetry has come to be valued for its own sake on the stage. Comment with reference to the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
Ans:A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy of error. It is a Shakespeare’s dream in the form of drama. Pure imagination is seen in the play. The play is about love, courting and marriage. These things are skillfully woven with poetic devices and structures.

Dialogue between two friends.

Imagine that a person who has returned to his
native place after a long time is talking to his old friend about the changes that have taken place in the village. Write a dialogue between two friends who have become nostalgic about their old village.


Tukaram : Hi, Adnan
Adnan : Hi, how are you? Seeing you after a year. Where have you been?
T: I am fine. Thank you. I have been to Pune for the short term course.
A: Have you noticed that our village has been changed?
T: Ya, the change is noticeable. Here was a small tea corner. We used to sip hot tea and talk for hours.
A: Hum, it has been replaced with big building. Tea owner moved somewhere.
T: We used to play cricket on the ground behind Post office. The ground is nowhere to be seen now.
A: We have at least memories. What about the children? They have no ground to play.
T: Right. Planners changed the place skillfully. No one can imagine there was a nullha under the New Hill Apartment.
A: Truly. Ok. Bye
T: Bye. See you soon.