UNIT 2C
A
WAKE-UP CALL
OUR
EARTH WILL NOT DIE, Niyi Osundare
WORD MEANING:
1. Arsenic – naturally occurring toxic
chemical element
2. Staggers – deeply shocking
3. Wailing – crying with pain, grief, or
anger
4. Crests – the top of a mountain or hill
5. Parting – leaving, exit, farewell
6. Balding – hairless
7. Amputated – removed, separated
8. Septic – poisoned, infected
9. Mercury – metal which is liquid at
ordinary temperatures
10. Sobbing – crying, weeping
11. Meadow – field, pasture
12. Dirt – waste, mud
13. Burrows – holes, dens
14. Weltering – large and confusing
15. Harvests – crops, yields
C.3 READ THE
STORY
a. What is rhetorical questions?
A rhetorical question is asked in order to make a
statement, and it does not expect an answer.
b. Who lynched the lakes. Who?
Who slaughtered the seas. Who?
Whoever mauled the mountains. Whoever?
What statement is the poet making here?
The poet is making rhetorical questions to show how we
read the poem and carry out the suffering on and maltreatment of earth is none
other than us.
Lynched the lakes: The word "lynched" is usually associated
with violence and unjust treatment. Here, the poet uses it to describe the way
humans have mistreated lakes, possibly through pollution or other harmful
activities.
Slaughtered the seas: "Slaughtered" also connotes violence and
brutality, emphasizing the destructive impact of human actions on the world's
oceans.
Mauled the mountains: "Mauled" suggests a physical attack or
brutal treatment, implying that humans have harmed the earth's mountains through
mining, deforestation, or other activities.
c. Comments on the two different moods in
the poem.
The two different moods that runs in the poem are (1)
helplessness and (2) hopefulness.
Helplessness:
The beginning of the poem and almost throughout the
poem the poet explains how the earth is treated horribly and without any form
of respect. The first six lines of the poem compare the earth’s treatment by
those who live on it to the way slaves were treated. The earth is helpless to
do anything. This is where helplessness of the planet begins to show itself.
Hopefulness
Despite all the mistreatment by humans the poet
strongly believes that the earth will still not die despite the circumstances.
In all the stanzas the poet is simply saying how the earth will not die in
spite of suffering while the last stanza shows how the poet is so hopeful that
he believes that the earth has a future of more than mistreatment.
Ex. C.4 Fill in the gaps. (Page: 57)
The opening lines of the poem reveal how the Earth is
being (a) ill-treated by humans, followed by a sense of (b) concern about
the earth’s survival. The following lines explain how the (c) devastation of
Earth’s resources has negatively impacted the earth. While on one hand the poet
successfully brings out the Earth’s (d) helplessness as a recipient of this mistreatment, he also stays
firm about the belief that the Earth will endure and (e) survive. The poet continues to paint the sorry picture
of the (f) abuse on Earth by humankind, but remains (g) unshaken in
the belief that the Earth will nurture itself back.
Ex. C.5 Choose the correct option based on
reading the passage. (Page: 58)
Here
There
Everywhere
A lake is killed by the arsenic urine
From the bladder of profit factories
A poisoned stream staggers down the hills
Coughing chaos in the sickly sea
The wailing whale, belly up like a
frying fish,
Crests the chilling swansong of parting waters
But our earth will not die.
a. Select the option that
lists the environmental impact of the factories, in the lines above.
I. water
pollution
II. destruction of aquatic
life
III. monetary gain for
factory owners
IV. soil pollution
V. evolution of sea
animals
ii. options I, II and IV
b. What is the poet conveying
to the reader with the use of the phrase Here There everywhere?
iv. The poet is talking about places
all over the Earth.
c. The poet awards human
characteristics to the
iii. factories.
d. The metaphor, in the
given lines, that refers to a final effort is
iv. swansong.
e. The theme of the given
lines is
i. environmental crisis.
Ex. C.6 Choose the correct options. (Page:
59)
a. Select the option that
fills in the blanks correctly. The tone of the poet is ……………… but takes a turn with the offered ……………… .
i. depressing; reassurance
b. What does the poem
primarily convey?
iv. the cry of Nature
C.7 ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
a. Explain how the poem ends with a sense of
hope.
The poem ends with a sense of hope by emphasizing the recovering
ability of the Earth in the last stanza. It assures that despite the
destruction of lakes, seas, and mountains by human beings, the Earth will not
die. The rain, earlier seen as acid falling on balding forests and causing
harm, ends tumbling down drums of joy, a source of renewal.
b. Comment on the poet's description of the
effect of acid rain?
The poet's description of the effect of acid rain is alarming
and disturbing. Acid rain is depicted as falling on balding forests and
amputating the branches with its septic daggers. Weeping willows are shown
shedding mercury tears, and terrains are sobbing due to the pollution.
c. Do you think that the title of the poem
is in complete contrast to its content? Why/Why not? What features of the poem
make it hard-hitting and impactful?
The title of the poem, "Our Earth Will Never
Die," portrays the destruction and harm done to the Earth by human actions.
It also carries a strong message of hope and renewal. The repetition of the
phrase "But our earth will not die" reinforces the theme of Earth's
ability to endure and recover.
The poem is hard-hitting and impactful due to its
powerful imagery, emotive language, and the clear contrast between the beauty
of nature and the destructive consequences of human activities.
C.8 ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
a. If you were the whale in Osundare's poem,
what would you convey to humankind? Write a paragraph in 80-100 words.
You may begin like this...
DO BY SELF
b. Leo Tolstoy said, "One of the first
conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be
broken." How does this quote relate to Osundare's Our Earth Will Never
Die?
Leo Tolstoy's quote, "One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken," represents a profound connection between humanity and nature. There are consequences, if we break that link through pollution, deforestation and industrialization. The Earth still has the capacity to recover itself.
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