Solution of Chapter 2. Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom (First Flight - English Book)

Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?

Can you say how May 10 is ‘an autumn day’ in South Africa?

At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions “an extraordinary human disaster.” What is the “glorious………human achievement” he speaks of at the end?

What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?

What ideals does he sent out for the future of South Africa?

What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?

Why were two national anthems sung?

How does Mandela describe the system of government in his country (i) in the first decade; and (ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?

What does courage mean to Mandela?

What does he think is natural, to love or to hate?

What ‘twin obligations’ does Mandela mention?

What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How does he contrast these ‘transitory freedoms’ with ‘the basic and honorable freedoms’?

Does Mandela thinks the oppressor is free? Why/why not?

Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?

What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who gone before him?

Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument?

How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?

How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?

Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text.

Read the paragraph below. Fill in the blanks with the noun forms of the verbs in brackets.

Martin Luther King’s…………….(contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the …………..(assist) of Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give her up seat on a bus to a white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second-class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean…………..(subjugate) and…………(humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, ……………..(imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the system. Martin Luther King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent ……………..(resist) to racial injustice.

Using the Definite Article with Names

You know that the definite article ‘the’ is not normally used before proper nouns. Nor do proper nouns usually occur in the plural. (We do not say: *The Nelson Mandela, or *Nelson Mandelas). But now look at this sentence from the text:

…..the decades of oppression and brutality…… produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus,……….of our our time.

Used in this way with the and/ or in the plural, a proper noun carries a special meaning. For example, what do you think the names above mean?

Choose the right answer.

(a) for example Oliver Tambos, Walter Sisulus,……..

(b) Many other men like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu……/many men of their type or kind, whose names may not be as well known.

Did you choose option (b)? Then you have the right answer.

Here are some more examples of ‘the’ used with proper names. Try to say what these sentences mean. (You may consult a dictionary if you wish. Look at the entry for ‘the’).

1. Mr. Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh Khans to his parties.

2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.

3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleans and the Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.

Idiomatic Expressions

Match the italicized phrases in column A with the phrase nearest in meaning in column B. (Hint: First look for the sentence in the text in which the phrases in column A occurs).

In groups, discuss the issues suggested in the box below.

Then prepare a speech of about two minutes on the following table.

(First make notes for your speech in writing).

True liberty is freedom from poverty, deprivation and all forms of discrimination.

•Causes of poverty and means of overcoming it.

•Discrimination based on gender, religion, class, etc.

•Constitutionally guaranteed human rights.

Looking at contrasts

Nelson Mandela’s writing is marked by balance: Many sentences have two parts in balance.

Use the following phrases to complete the sentences given below:

(i) They can be (ii) I was born free

thought to love

(iii) but the triumph (iv) but he who

Over it. Conquers that

Fear

(v) to create such

Heights of character

1. It requires such depths of oppression

…………………….

2. Courage was not the absence of fear

……………………..

3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid ……………………

4. If people can learn to hate…………………

5. I was not born with hunger to be free.

This text repeatedly contrast the past with the present or the future. We can use coordinated clauses to contrast two views, for emphasis or effect.

Given below are sentences carrying one part of the contrast. Find in the text the second part of the contrast, and complete each item.

Identify the words which signal the contrast. This has been done for you in the first item.

1. For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now…..

2. Only moments before, the higher generals of the South African defense force and police……saluted me and pledged their loyalty….not so many years before they would not have saluted…..

3. Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem….they would soon……………..

4. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil,…………….

5. The Air show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but…………………..

6. It was this desire for the freedom of my people………that transformed………….into a bold one, that drove………………to become a criminal, that turned……………..into a man without a home.

Expressing your Opinion

Do you think there is a color prejudice in our own country? Discuss this with your friend and write a paragraph of about 100 to 150 words about this. You have the option of making your paragraph a humorous one.

(Read the short verse given below)

When you were born you were pink

When you grew up you became white

When you are in the sun you are red

When you are sick you are yellow

When you are angry you are purple

When you are shocked you are grey

And you have the cheek to call me ‘coloured’.

Read the poem again, and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.

(i) Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.

(ii) Find the words that describes the two places, and arrange them in two columns.

Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast the two situations.

Notice the use of the word repeated in lines such as these:

(i) On pads of velvet quite,

In his quite rage.

(ii) And stares with his brilliant eyes

At the brilliant stars.

What do you think is the effect of this repetition?

Read the following two poems – one about a tiger and other about a panther. Then discuss:

Are zoos necessary for the protection or conversation of some species of animals? Are they useful for educating the public? Are there alternatives to zoos?

The Tiger

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage roars,

Then he thinks.

It would be nice not to behind all the bars all The Time

Because they spoil my view

I wish I were wild, not on show.

But if I were wild, hunters might shoot me,

But if I were wild, food might poison me,

But if I were wild, water might drown me.

Then he stops thinking

And…..

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage growls,

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage snarls,

The Tiger behind the bars of his cage roars,

-Peter Niblett

The Panther

His vision, from the constantly passing bars, has grown so weary that it cannot hold anything else. It seems to him there are a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,

The movement of his powerful soft strides is like a ritual dance around a center in which a mighty will stands paralysed. Only at times, the curtain of the pupils lifts, quietly. An image enters in, rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles, plunges into the heart and is gone.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Take a point of view for or against zoos, or even consider both points of view and write a couple of paragraphs or speak about the topic for a couple of minutes in a class.