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Class - VII [Raintree Coursebook Theme - 4: Who Dares Wins!] Life is a Game

Central Idea: The poem talks about how we should approach life with honesty, determination, and a strong will. It encourages us to keep trying even when things are hard and to face challenges with a positive attitude.

Themes:

  1. Never Give Up: The poem encourages us to keep trying even if we fail, and to stay strong in the face of difficulties.
  2. Play Fair: It reminds us to be honest and fair in life, rather than being jealous or bitter towards others.
  3. Stay Positive in Tough Times: The poem asks if we can stay hopeful and true to ourselves when life gets tough.
  4. Think About How You Live: It makes us reflect on how we approach life and whether we are doing our best.

Message: The poem tells us to face life’s challenges with courage and honesty. It says that true success comes from being fair, persistent, and positive, not from giving up or resenting others.

Title Justification: The title asks readers to think about how they approach life. "The game" represents life, and the poem challenges us to consider how we handle its challenges. It encourages us to play life with honesty, effort, and fairness. The title invites self-reflection on whether we face difficulties with a positive attitude or give up. Overall, it makes us question how we are living our lives and facing struggles.

Comprehension

A. Choose the correct answer

1. c 2. b 3. b 4. b

B. Read these lines from the poem and answer the questions

1. a. ‘Make a noise’ in the poem means either to cry or complain about something that went wrong or boast about what you are going to do about a situation.

b. Instead of crying about something or boasting about doing something, you should quietly work hard and overcome your obstacles and achieve your goals.

2. a. ‘Your purpose’ in the poem is the reader’s goals for life or purpose for living.
b. No, the poet does not mean you should set your purpose on fire.
c. When your purpose leaps into flame, it means that you are taking action and proceeding with the plan with red-hot determination.

C. Think and Answer

1. According to the speaker, the worst way of dealing with one’s failure is to become weak and whine about it. It is also bad to make fun or speak disrespectfully about the person who can and does better than you. This is not how we should behave when we lose. We must smile at our losses. We must understand that though we have failed this time round, we will not the next time. We must always have hope in ourselves. That is the only way we will try again and do better the next time.

2. ‘I shall do or die’ is a strong statement that says a lot about the person who says it and how they are feeling when they say it. It is a statement that is filled with determination, courage and will power. It is said by a person who will not accept defeat; nothing but victory is good enough for him. The person who says this wants something very much and will put in all the effort they can to make it happen. They are passionate and take pride in what they do.

D. Answer these questions
1. How are you playing the game? The poem talks about the right attitude
2. The refrain changes to ‘Then you will be playing the game’ in the last stanza.

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