Saturday, 27 February 2016

Womb to Tomb! :-)))

The Seven Ages

What according to you are the stages of a person's life? What characteristics would you associate with each stage?

A:  Infancy                                                      crying, gurgling, sleeping, attachment to one's mother.
      Toddler                                                     exploring the world around oneself.
      Schooling period                                      Curiosity, learning new things, carefree life.
      Youth                                                        Ambition, Searching for love, friendships.
      Middle Age                                              Family, professional responsibilities, maturity.
      Old age                                                    Treasury of experience, tiredness, lack of enthusiasm,
                                                                       failing health, contentment on fulfilling life's
                                                                        responsibilities.
      Last Stage                                                Childhood revisited, failing memory, peace / fear of
                                                                       death.

Q.  On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice.

A:  a.  All the world's a stage is an extended metaphor for: the life of man.
      b.  All 'have their exits and their entrances'. Exits and entrances refer to :  birth and death.
      c.  The seven roles that a man plays correspond to his: chronological age in life.

Q.  Having read this extract, identify the stages of a person's life as Shakespeare has done. Write down the different stages and the characteristics special to that.

A:    Stage                                                                Characteristics
   
        Infancy                                                             Crying.
        Schoolboy                                                        Hating school.
        Lover                                                                Longing for love
        Soldier                                                              Ready for action.
        Justice                                                              Full of experiences.
        Old Pantaloon                                                  Body doesn't cooperate.
       Last Stage                                                         Child like characteristics.

Q.  I think you can do the arranging the stages of life according to their attractiveness, yourself. :-)

Q.  Explain the meaning of the following:

(a)  ..... all the men and women merely players;
      They have their entrances and exits.

Ans:  The poet being a playwright wonderfully imagines the whole world to be a stage and thinks of us as players. Everyone has a part to play. We all have our entrances that is our birth and our exits which is death. We all have a particular part to play. Not everyone is permanent in our lives, not even ourselves, so it can be said that once the part is over we exit.

(b)   And then the lover,
       Sighing like a furnace.

Ans:  The third stage, which is that of a lover, sees the lover always thinking of his beloved, who can't go through even a moment of separation. He is always sighing to meet his beloved again, the sighing sound akin to the sound of a furnace.

(c)  a soldier,
      ......  seeking the bubble reputation,
     Even in the cannon's mouth.

Ans:  A soldier is ever ready to lay down his life for a good cause. He is not afraid of death. Always ready to fight the enemy forces. The idea of war and eventual death doesn't scare him. He thinks his life can be compared to that of a bubble, which, though short-lived lives a life of glory.

Q.  Metaphor and Simile.

A:  Metaphor: Simply put - something / someone compared to something - comparison
      e.g. He was our light in darkness. Him being compared to a light.
     Simile: x like / as y. Eyes as deep as the blue ocean.

Metaphors and Similes from the poem:

World                           A stage- Metaphor             
Men , Women              Mere players - Metaphor
Schoolboy                    Whining Schoolboy - Simile
Lover                            Sighing like a furnace - Simile
Soldier                          Bearded like the leopard
Reputation                   Bubble reputation - Metaphor
Voice                           Childish - Metaphor

Q. In this poem, life is compared to a play, people to stage actors. etc. Can you think of some other comparison?

A: Yes, I'd like to compare human life to that of weekdays. Very much like a relaxed Sunday, our infancy and toddler days are relaxed and carefree, taken care of by our elders. Monday blues hit as we are required to spend longer periods at school. But, as the week progresses into Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we get the hang of school, learning through play, forging new friendships, we get into the act. And like Thrusdays, we are busy with getting married, starting a family, taking care of responsibilities etc. By the time it is Friday or middle age, we are relaxed as most of our responsibilities are taken care of and look forward to the weekend I;e old age.

THE END .....

Seetha Lakshmi! :-)

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