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Unit 01: Trustworthiness And Tolerance
English II (C)
For Class XII (All Groups)
Text Book Exercise
The Devoted Friend
By Oscar Wilde
Pre-Reading
EXERCISE 01:Tell And Write:
1: What is your idea of a true friend?
Ans: A true friend is someone who is loyal, supportive, trustworthy, and stands by you in good and bad times.
2. Write qualities of a true friend Ench quality starts with the following letters.
| Letters | Quality |
|---|---|
| F | Faithful |
| R | Reliable |
| I | Inspiring |
| E | Empathetic |
| N | Nice |
| D | Dependable |
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While-Reading
EXERCISE 02:Work in pairs or groups. Match phrase with their contextual meaning.
| Letters | Quality |
|---|---|
| By himself | All alone |
| Getting on | Managing |
| By-the-bye | Incidentally |
| At once | Immediately |
| Keep up | Continue |
| As good as | Very nearly |
| At great length | With mucti details |
| Took down | Write |
EXERCISE 03:
Read the following statements and write the names of the characters to whom these statements belong:
| S.No | Statements | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | You are certainly very thoughtful about | The Miller's wife |
| 2. | But could we not ask litte Hans up here? | The Miller's Son |
| 3. | Friendship never forgets | The Miller |
| 4. | I wouldn't be unfriendly for thw whole world. | Hans |
| 5. | What do you want, little Hans? | The Doctor |
| 6. | Little Hans is certainly a great lats to everyone. | Blacksmith |
EXERCISE 04:
Read the statements and choose the correct option.
1. Little Hans faced difficulties in the season of ___:
(a )spring
(b) summer
(c) autumn
(d) winter ✔
2. Miller didn't want to invite Hans at his home during winter because he thought that Hans might _____ :
(a) steal their things
(b) over stay
(c) ask for flour on credit ✔
(d) become burden
3. Miller's wife was _____ :
(a) a very kind lady
(b) critical of her husband
(c) selfish like husband ✔
(d) always busy in household chores
4. Hans wanted to sell his primroses to _____ :
(a) florist
(b) Burgomaster's daughter ✔
(c) Miller's wife
(d) doctor
5. Miller's wheelbarrow was in _____ condition:
(a) broken ✔
(b) perfect
(c) slightly damaged
(d) unused
6. Miller asked Hans to do all the chores except _____ :
(a) carry sack of flour
(b) gather wood for kitchen fire ✔
(c) graze sheep in the mountain
(d) mend the roof of barn
7. In a stormy night Miller came to Hans to _____ for his injured son.
(a) fetch medicine
(b) bring doctor ✔
(c) arrrange ambulance
(d) cook food
8. Hans died because of _____ :
(a) his own carelessness
(b) negligence of doctor
(c) trap of goatherd
(d) selfishness of Miller ✔
9. Which of these statements is true:
(a) Mti!er was really a sincere friend.
(b) Hans was tempted by Miller's wheelbarrow.
(c) Miller exploited Hans for his own selfish motive. ✔
(d) Hans knew the true nature of the Miller.
10. The moral of the story is:
(a) One should sacrifice one's life for friends.
(b) One sided friendship is damaging. ✔
(c) One should not trust friends.
(d) One should not promise anything to friends
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Post-Reading
EXERCISE 05:Answer the following questions after reading the text:
Q.1: How does the friendships between Hans and Miller seem odd from the beginning?
Ans: In the beginning of the story, the friendship between Hans and Miller seems odd because it is senseless that the Miller is the most devoted friend of Hans. It is very strange in the friendship that the Miller plucked a large nosegay or handful of sweet herbs or filled his pockets with plums and cherries from Hans' garden in the fruit season. The neighbours noticed that it was thoroughly weird that the Miller never gave little Hans in return though he had so many things, Hans was glad to hear the thought provoking statements from the Miller.
Q.2: Why did Hans sell his wheelbarrow?
Ans: Hans sold his wheelbarrow because the winter was a bad time for him and he had no money at all to buy bread with. Hans decided to sell the silver buttons off his Sunday coat then his silver chain and he his big piper and at last he sold out his wheelbarrow.
Q.3: In what way does the Miller exploit Hans with the promise of giving him his wheelbarrow?
Ans: The Miller exploits Hans with false promise of giving him his wheelbarrow in the way of blackmailing him to do favors such as a plank of wood be given, fining a very big basket full of flowers, carrying a sack of flour or sell it the market and at last driving the sheep to the mountain.
Q.4: What final act of the Miller's selfishness leads to Hans' death? OR What was the supreme manifestation of the miller's selfishness, which caused Hans to lose his life?
Ans: One day, the Miller came and said to Hans that he was in trouble because his little boy fell off a ladder and hurt himself. He requested Hans to fetch the doctor mentionaing the false promise of wheelbarrow but he did not give Hans the lantern. At last, Hans lost his way and his body was found by csome goatherds floating on a great pool of water.
OR
One dark night the miller prevailed upon Hans to go to town and call in the doctor for his wounded son. Hans asked the Miller to lend him his lantern to find his way through, but he refused to do so, saying that if any thing happened to his new lantern, it would be a great loss to him, still Hans went on this errand and loss his life."It is my new lantern and it would be great loss to me if any thing happened to it."
It is appropriate to state that the Miller preferred losing devoted friend to losing a new lantern. This is a supreme manifestation of his selfishness and lust of money.Q.5: Hans' own simplicity and trustworthiness also contribute to his death. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your response.
Ans: Hans is totally responsible for his death because of his trustworthiness and simplicity. The Miller behaved very brutally with him by expressing lofty ideas but remained selfish and unrepentant. Hans was fooled by the Miller in the name of aphorism and sophisticated ideas. Hnas should have recognized the true identity of the Miller in the exploitation of giving him the wheelbarrow and never allowed him to take advantage of himself. One sided friendship appeared to be the insane decision from Hans who should take care not to hurt his feelings by the others.
Q.6: "False friends are worse than open enemies." Discuss this aphorism in the context of the story The Devoted Friend.
Ans: The Miller said, "Real friends should have everything in common. The rich miller took everything from Hans without giving him anything in return. The miller proved himself a false friend because he did not go to see Hans in winter when Hans was suffering from cold and hunger. The miller would visit him in spring and asked for a large basket of primsroses. The miller was a true of enemy of Hans in the disguise of devoted friend. The miller would not allow Hans' good nature to be spoiled. The miller was responsible for Hans' terrified death.
Q.7: How would you deal if you have a friend like the Miller?
Ans: If someone behaved in this manner with me, I would first disgrace him that I am not a fool and no one is able to take advantage of me. I would rather contront him and criticize to amend his ways and rules of friendship. I would take care of me not allowing anyone to hurt me. If the friend remained unrepentant, I would break all ties with him.
EXERCISE 06:
Write any five contrasting characteristics of Hans and Miller.
| Hans' Characteristics | Miller's Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Kind-hearted and helpful | Selfish and Demanding |
| Hardworking | Lazy and avoid hard work |
| Trusting and Innocent | Manipulative and Clever |
| Generous and Always thnks of others | Greedy and only thinks about himself |
| Honest and Keep his promises | Hypocritical and Breaks promises |
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