16 + Interview Questions in ANIMALS IN GENERAL AWARENESS

1.	What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him ? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny ?
Answer» The tokens that the poet says he might have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him, is his true nature as a human. While humans came close to civilisation, they gradually moved away from their true nature. The natural instincts that humans had and the innocence with which they lived and helped each other have been left behind somewhere. As they got near civilisation, they chose to leave behind the virtues of kindness, sincerity, unselfishness, joy, satisfaction, respectability, and sharing. They took to vices such as greed, selfishness, desire to capture everything, and other such inhuman characteristics. Animals have carried forward the real instincts and characteristics, which the poet looks at and tries to remember where he had negligently lost his true nature.

1.

What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him ? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny ?

Answer»

The tokens that the poet says he might have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him, is his true nature as a human. While humans came close to civilisation, they gradually moved away from their true nature. The natural instincts that humans had and the innocence with which they lived and helped each other have been left behind somewhere.

As they got near civilisation, they chose to leave behind the virtues of kindness, sincerity, unselfishness, joy, satisfaction, respectability, and sharing. They took to vices such as greed, selfishness, desire to capture everything, and other such inhuman characteristics. Animals have carried forward the real instincts and characteristics, which the poet looks at and tries to remember where he had negligently lost his true nature.

2.	Explain the satisfaction that animals have and humans don’t.
Answer» Animals do not have the desire to possess worldly things. Whereas, the more humans own, the more their desire to own grows, leaving them dissatisfied forever. The absence of this greed in animals keeps them satisfied and its presence keeps humans dissatisfied.

3.	What makes the poet sick ?
Answer» The fact, that humans commit all kinds of sins and still discuss their duty to God, makes the poet sick. This shows the hypocrisy of humans, who on one hand do wrong and on the other pray to God.

4.	Why do animals not weep for their sins ?
Answer» Animals do not weep for their sins because they do not need to do so. They are innocent creatures that commit no sins. It is humans, who weep yet commit sins.

5.	‘Not one is dissatisfied. Not one is demented with……………’A. RepetitionB. LitotesC. MetaphorD. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer» D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

6.	Why does the poet like animals?
Answer» The poet likes animcils for their self-contained and quiet nature. The fact that animeds are not like human beings and satisfied with their lives appeals to the poet a lot.

7.	‘They bring me tokens of myself………….’A. MetaphorB. SimileC. EuphemismD. Personification
Answer» Correct option is A. Metaphor

8.	Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago ? Discuss this in groups.
Answer» Yes, humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. They worship their ancestors and pray by kneeling in front of their portraits. They hold religious sermons and ceremonies in their memory.

9.	‘I stand and look at them long and long’.A. AlliterationB. RepetitionC. MetaphorD. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
Answer» D. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

10.	Why does Walt Whitman, feel more at home with animals ?ORWhy does Walt Whitman want to live with animals ?
Answer» Animals are placid and self-contained. They worry neither about their condition nor s about their sins. They are not dissatisfied, respectable, unhappy or demented with the mania of owning things. They show their relations with the poet. So the poet Walt Whitman feels more at home with them.

11.	What does the poet mean by “Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth” ?
Answer» The poet means that animals do not pray to God or to ancestors and all of them are equal, hence no one is more respectable than the other. The good values of animals and the lack of social conventions make them happy.

12.	How are animals superior to human ? beings ?
Answer» The animals are placid, self-sufficient, complacent and simple. Unlike humans, they do not worry about their condition and sins, nor do they make others sick discussing their duty to God. They are not demented with the mania of owning things. So they are superior to human beings.

13.	Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals. What is the poet turning from ?
Answer» The poet is turning away from living with other humans as he finds them complicated and false. He would rather live with animals that are self-contained and non-complaining.

14.	Why, do you think, the poet has called the desire to own things ‘a mania’? Is the poet right in doing so ? Write your own views.
Answer» The poet uses words such as ‘demented’ and ‘mania’ for never ending desire of human beings to own things. These words show that poet is comparing this desire to madness. The poet stands right in doing so as this desire makes us so greedy and traps us in a vicious s circle of aspiring more and more. Animals that are free from any possession are also free from sins, worries and complaints. In order to gain s more wealth, all the important values such as morality and kindness are left behind.

15.	Differentiate between humans and animals in terms of desire.
Answer» Animals are very different from humans as they have no desire to own things. They are happy, without an unending greed while humans become maniacs in their greed for possessing valuables.

Explore topic-wise InterviewSolutions in Current Affairs.

Explain the satisfaction that animals have and humans don’t.

What makes the poet sick ?

Why do animals not weep for their sins ?

‘Not one is dissatisfied. Not one is demented with……………’A. RepetitionB. LitotesC. MetaphorD. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

Why does the poet like animals?

‘They bring me tokens of myself………….’A. MetaphorB. SimileC. EuphemismD. Personification

Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago ? Discuss this in groups.

‘I stand and look at them long and long’.A. AlliterationB. RepetitionC. MetaphorD. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’

Why does Walt Whitman, feel more at home with animals ?ORWhy does Walt Whitman want to live with animals ?

What does the poet mean by “Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth” ?

How are animals superior to human ? beings ?

Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals. What is the poet turning from ?

Why, do you think, the poet has called the desire to own things ‘a mania’? Is the poet right in doing so ? Write your own views.

Differentiate between humans and animals in terms of desire.

Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.