If I was a Tree question and answer for class 11. Notes of the poem If I was a Tree for first PUC students. Extra questions and answers from If I was a Tree.
In this post we are going to discuss important question and answers from the poem ‘If I was a Tree’ written by Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy. One marks questions and answers from If I was a Tree poem.
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Extra questions from If I was a Tree
Comprehension I
1) The speaker wants to be a tree because
a) trees are not treated as objects of defilement.
b) no other creature in nature has the concept of defilement.
c) trees are more humane than humans.
Ans: b
2) What wouldn’t the bird ask the tree?
Ans: The bird wouldn’t ask what caste the tree belongs to, before it builds its nest.
3) When does the sacred cow scrape her body onto the bark?
Ans: When the cow has itching sensation, it would scrape her body onto the bark.
4) How does the speaker want to be purified?
Ans: The speaker wants to be purified by burning in the holy fire. And he wants to become the wooden frame on which a sinless dead body is carried.
5) How does the speaker view his friendship with cool breeze and leaves?
Ans: The speaker felt happy with the company of cool breeze and leaves. He felt his friends would be sweet.
Comprehension II
1) Why would mother earth not flee according to the speaker?
Ans: The poet feels that if he was a tree he would not have to discrimination at the hands of people. In the world of nature, there is no discrimination. So when a tree tries to spread its roots, mother earth wouldn’t flee accusing the tree of defilement. Instead mother earth supports to grow even more stronger.
If I was a Tree question and answer for class 11
2) How do the life forces – sunlight and the cool breeze – enforce nature’s idea of equality?
Ans: Through this poem the poet is trying to tell us that nature does not differentiate between upper lower caste. The nature does not reserve its resources only for the particular caste. Forces like the wind, the rain, water serve all human beings in the same way. That is why the poet if he was a tree, and when sun light falls on him, his shadow would not feel defiled.
Comprehension III
1) Why does the speaker want to be a tree?
Ans: The speaker wants to be a tree because trees are not treated as objects of defilement, no other creature in nature has the concept of defilement. The poet feels that if he was a tree no bird would ask him what caste he is. When he states that the shadow of the tree which falls on the ground wouldn’t feel defiled.
When a tree tries to spread its roots, mother earth wouldn’t flee accusing the tree of defilement. The speaker wants to be purified by burning in the holy fire. And he wants to become the wooden frame on which a sinless dead body is carried.
2) The poem is a satire on social discrimination. Discuss.
Ans: The poem is a satire on social discrimination. This poem focuses on the caste discrimination in our society. The speaker wants to be a tree because trees are not treated as objects of defilement.
Caste is purely man made system and with this idea powerful sections of society have managed to put down other people. The poem voices the injustice and caste discrimination of people. The poet feels that if he was a tree he would not have to discrimination.
One marks questions and answers from If I was a Tree
3) The speaker brings out the concepts of defilement and purification. How is the meaninglessness of the practice brought out?
Ans: The poem makes it clear that the question of defilement and Purification are man-made concepts. The poem makes it clear that the concept of defilement is in the mind of man and hence purification should be the purification of such evil thoughts in the mind of man.
This poem focuses on the caste discrimination in our society. The speaker wants to be a tree because trees are not treated as objects of defilement, no other creature in nature has the concept of defilement. The nature does not reserve its resources only for the particular caste.
Extra questions from the poem ‘If I was a Tree’:
1. What does the speaker mean the sinless body?
Ans: The speaker means the hacked wood pieces would carry the holy persons.
2. Why did the speaker say this, ‘who knows’?
Ans: This shows that the man’s life is not sure on earth. Death comes without our expectation.
3. What sheltered inside the cows’ body?
Ans: The three hundred thousand Gods are sheltering inside the cow.
4. What does the speaker want to be in the poem, ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The speaker wants to be Tree in in the poem, ‘If I was a tree’.
5. Who would not ask the caste of the tree before building its nest in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The bird.
6. According to the speaker in ‘If I was a Tree’, what would not the bird ask before building its nest?
Ans: The bird would not ask the tree’s caste before building its nest.
Extra questions and answers from If I was a Tree
7. What wouldn’t feel defiled when sunlight embraces the tree in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: Tree’s shadow wouldn’t feel defiled when sunlight embraces the tree in ‘If I was a tree’.
8. Whose friendship with the cool breeze would be sweet, in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The speaker’s friendship with the cool breeze and the leaves would be sweet in ‘If I was a tree’.
9. Who would not flee shouting for a bath in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The Mother Earth.
10. According to the speaker, when would not The Mother Earth flee shouting for a bath in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: According to the speaker, when tree branches out further from its roots the Mother Earth flee shouting for a bath in ‘If I was a tree’.
11. Who are sheltered inside the body of the cow?
Ans: The three hundred thousand Gods.
12. Where are the three hundred thousand Gods sheltered in ‘If I was a Tree’?
Ans: In the sacred cow.
13. What would scrape her body on the bark of the tree in ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The sacred cow.
14. When would the three hundred thousand Gods touch the speaker if he was a tree?
Ans: When the sacred cow scrapes her body on the tree’s bark, the three hundred thousand gods touch the speaker if he was a tree.
Questions and answers from If I was a Tree
15. How does the speaker want to be purified in the poem, ‘If I was a tree’?
Ans: The speaker wants to be purified by burning in the holy fire.
16. Name any one of the uses of the tree according to the speaker in the poem, ‘If I was a Tree’.
Ans: The tree could be used for a holy fire / becomes a bier for a sinless soul.
17. When is the tree made pure according to the speaker in the poem, ‘If I was a Tree’?
Ans: According to the speaker the tree will be pure, when it is burnt in the holy fire.
18. What does the word ‘Bier’ mean?
Ans: A frame on which the dead body is placed.
Watch this video for the explanation of If I was a Tree question and answer for class 11.