Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Short Answer Questions
Q1: In the poem “The Trees”, the poet compares the trees to “newly discharged patients”. Highlight any two reasons for the same. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: In the poem, the poet compares the ‘trees’ to ‘newly discharged patients’. Secondly, the trees were exerted like patients, due to their effort that they had to put in order to be freed from the house.

Q2: The process of “moving out” was tedious for the trees. Support the statement with reference to the poem. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: Every part of the confined trees rises in revolt and struggles hard to free itself. The roots and leaves struggle to come out of the glass. Small twigs become hard due to over work and the long-cramped boughs are trying to break open the roof. So ‘moving out’ is tedious for trees.

Q3: The trees have been shown to have human qualities in the poem. Justify the statement with any two instances from the text. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: The trees have shown some human qualities in the poem. The way they struggled to get themselves free from the boundary of the house is similar to the struggle of the oppressed people who are deprived of their freedom. Similarly, the trees did not give up when enslaved and were determined like humans to get freedom. Humans, too, fight till the end and finally win.

Q4: The poet symbolizes women as forests, not trees. What does this suggest? [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: It is shown in the poem that nature, represented by trees and forest, is struggling like women to escape itself from the onslaughts of man to destroy it. The victorious march of the trees is a message of hope that nature can’t be tamed or subdued by the arrogance of man. In the same way women have been struggling to liberate themselves from the bondage of men under patriarchal social norms and they are also succeeding bit by bit. One day the women would have their due natural realm of freedom as the trees succeeded in finding their due natural home.

Q5: Change never comes easy. Justify the quote in the context of the poem “The Trees”. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: It is true that change never comes easy. In the poem ‘The Trees’, the trees of the forest were cut down by man for selfish purposes. The forest was turned into a barren land as the trees were captivated inside the house. However, the trees struggled really hard to free themselves from the confines of the house and return to their natural habitat, i.e., forest.

Q6: The forest undergoes tremendous transformation overnight. Discuss with reference to the poem “The Trees” [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: The roots of these trees are engaged into the cracks of the veranda floor. At night, these roots try to free themselves from the cracks. The leaves try to move towards the glass. Twigs become hardened and the boughs try to expand under the roof.

Q7: The poet uses trees as a symbol for women breaking patriarchal notions. Do you agree? Why/Why not? [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: Indeed, the poet uses trees as a symbol for women breaking patriarchal notions. In a male dominated society, women are in bondage. They are struggling to free themselves. Similarly, nature representing trees and forests, is struggling to escape itself from the onslaughts of men to destroy it.

Q8: The poem ends on a note of victory. Justify with reference to the literal and symbolic meaning. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: The poem emphatically portrays the determined and concerted efforts to get liberated from unnatural bondage for a natural home. Each and every part of the tree rises against the slaughtering of men and wage a long and hard struggle to liberate themselves from the bondage of man. Ultimately, they are victorious. They return to their original home where they should be. In the literal sense, the poem ends with the trees successfully returning back to their natural habitat, i.e., the forest. However, symbolically, it ended with the victory of women to get themselves free from the confines of the patriarchal society and domination of man.

Q9: Why is the poet writing long letters? Why does she not mention the departure of the trees? (CBSE 2019)
Ans: The poet is writing long letters probably to keep herself busy in some activity. She does not mention the departure of the trees in her long letters because she doesn’t want anyone to know that the trees inside her house are rebelling and fighting their way out to reach the forest. The trees struggle silently at night to break free from their captivity when no one is watching them. She wants the trees to be liberated and be one with nature where they belong. Therefore, she feels that it is best not to say a word about it to anybody.

Q10: What happens to the house when trees move out of it? [CBSE 2017]
Ans: When the trees move out, the glass walls break due to the efforts of various parts of the tree (leaves, twigs) to escape. The smell of lichens and leaves still lingers in the house like the voice of the trees. The roots of the trees would have left cracks in the veranda floor. The poet said that she could still smell the lichens and leaves in the house.

Long Answer Questions
Q11: What message does Adrienne Rich want to convey through the Poem “The Trees”. [CBSE 2020]
Ans: In the poem ‘The Trees’, the poet Adrienne Rich subtly gives the message about the importance of trees for everyone. Without trees, the birds would not get a place to sit, insects would have no place to hide and the sun would not bury its feet in shadow. We enjoy looking at the saplings as they beautify our surroundings. But slowly as the saplings grow into the trees, they spread their roots, their branches and leaves and seem to yearn to go outside where they can live and grow without any restrictions. Then the trees no longer look attractive indoors. The trees are, however, welcomed into nature by strong winds and the moon. The author hereby emphasizes that the trees need to be kept alive, by not imprisoning them inside the house for the mere reason that they look beautiful indoors.

Q12: Sometimes moving out of a comfort space is extremely important for maturation and growth. Point out how Wanda Petronski moving into a big city was similar to the movement of the trees. [CBSE Q B, 2020- 21]
Ans: In the poem ‘The Trees’, the trees were deprived of their comfort zone of being into the forest. After their freedom was snatched away by man, they were helpless in the confines of a house. However, this movement of the trees out of their comfort zone, made them truly determined and strong. In captivity, they struggled too hard to get out of the house and return to their natural habitat. They finally became free as a result of their efforts. Similarly, Wanda became extremely strong and outspoken as soon as she moved out to a big city. Earlier in the school, Wanda was made fun of because of her dull dress and different name. She kept quiet as she was an introvert. She was also embarrassed by the bullying that she had to go through in the school. However, when she moved to the big city, no one made fun of her different name. This enhanced her self-confidence and she became outspoken, a face clear from the letters she wrote to her previous class teacher, Miss Mason.

Q13: The poem ‘Trees’ appears to be about trees, environment, deforestation and afforestation. On a deeper level we discover that Adrienne Rich is expressing her concern about women and their emancipation. Elaborate with reference to the poem. [CBSE Q B, 2020-21]
Ans: In her poem ‘The Tree’ poetess Adrienne Rich subtly drives home the message about the importance of trees. Without trees, the birds would have no place to sit, insects would have no place to hide and the sun would not bury its feet in shadow. The trees do not look attractive indoors. The poetess hereby emphasizes that trees need to be kept alive, but should not be ‘imprisoned’ inside the house as they look more beautiful and tend to thrive outdoors that is where trees belong. On the deeper level, we discover that Adrienne Rich her concern about women and their emancipation. The liberation of the crushed women is based on the same theme. In a male-dominated society, women are struggling to come out of the clutches of men to gain freedom. The victorious march of the trees gives a message of hope that mature can’t be tamed or subdued by the onslaughts and arrogance of man.

Q14: The trees in the poem stretch out their branches, break barriers and struggle hard to move out in the open in their natural environment. Analyse the efforts that one puts in to break away captivity and strive for freedom.
Ans: For anyone, freedom is much more important than any kind of comfort, growth or development. Even when we have all the riches in the world but no freedom, we do not really have anything. Freedom is the most wanted thing in this world. A bird in a golden cage also does not feel happy. When it is freed, it flies chirpy and happy. And those who live with bare minimum necessities but are able to live freely are always the happiest. Just like the trees in the poem, freedom is gained after a lot of effort. For example, the freedom movements of countries all around the world, where people give up their lives to get freedom.

Q15: A conflict between man and nature is going on. In this civilization pursuit men are disregarding the natural growth of plants and trees. In total confinement, nature also rebels against civilization and becomes destructive. Elaborate.
Ans: In the conflict between man and nature, man has caused much harm to nature. With civilization, man has learnt to acquire a lot of material goods but forgotten the importance of nature and cut down large forests, killed animals, destroyed water bodies and done several other such acts. But man wrongly judges nature to be weak, , while nature is the most powerful.
No matter how technologically advanced we become, we can never prevent any natural disaster from taking place. Such destructive forms of nature like flood, earthquake, volcanoes, tornadoes, etc, teach man that the real power lies with nature and it can do anything. Moreover, natural calamities are a reminder to man that by spoiling nature, man is inviting threat to his peaceful existence as nature will lash back at man only in the form of more rains, global warming etc.

Q16: ‘Departure is painful’. So is the departure of the trees for the poet. What will happen after their departure?
Ans: Just like the departure of someone close to us is painful, so also is the departure of a tree. When they are planted as a sapling, they look nice and enhance the beauty of our surroundings. But as they grow and spread out their branches, they look wild and require more space for their growth. The roots create cracks in the floor and the leaves stretch out as if to move towards the glass, perhaps in need of sunlight. The soft twigs become strong and stiff. So the trees need to be removed from the house. No more do the leaves cover the sky, but the trees breathe and they are welcomed by the wind. The moon resembles a broken mirror, reflecting off the leaves. The poet reveals that she will feel lonely after the trees’ departure.