Hi Everyone!! This article will share My Native Land Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Sir Walter Scott. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Unfolding Bud, In the Bazaars of Hyderabad and All The World’s Stage so, you can check these posts as well.
My Native Land Questions & Answers
Question 1: Read and answer the questions:
Breathes there the man, with soul so dead.
(a) Who possesses such a soul? What quality is missing in this person?
Answer: A person who does not selflessly sacrifice for his own country possesses a soul which is almost dead. The sense of belonging to a nation or patriotism is missing in this person.
(b) What do you think it means to have a ‘soul so dead’?
Answer: A person must feel a sense of pride and excitement in his heart when he returns to his own country. If he does not feel a sense of loyalty or belongingness to the country, he is as good as dead.
Question 2: According to the speaker, what is of more value – the man’s wealth and power or his devotion to his nation? Which lines tell us this?
Answer: According to the speaker, the man’s devotion to his nation is of more value than his wealth and power.
The lines that tell us this:
(b) Do you agree with the speaker? Why? or why not?
Answer: Yes, I completely agree with the poet because if one does not have any feeling of patriotism or loyalty for his motherland, he is as good as dead. Such a person is never ready to fight for his country if the need arises and does not think what is good for his country. He should not be respected even if he has a lot of money and power with him as true renown is achieved only when one has lived all his life for his native land.
Question 3: Read and answer the questions:
And, doubly dying, shall go down
(a) According to the speaker, the man does not die only physical death. What is the other kind of death he experiences?
Answer: The poet talks about a dual death – physical death and the death of a soul. A man who is unpatriotic towards his native land has a dead soul. He might accumulate wealth from his trips but it is of no worth.
(b) In your opinion, is one death worse than the other?
Answer: Physical death is inevitable. It is the death of one’s soul which is more pathetic than physical death. It means that the person is alive, but in vain.
My Native Land Questions & Answers
Question 4: What does the man feel as he comes home from his travels in foreign countries?
Answer: The poet imagines a man who does not feel a sense of belonging to his own country. When the man returns home from his travels in foreign countries, he feels no pride or excitement. His money and power lures him and he strives to return to the foreign land for his power and riches.
Question 5: Which line from the poem tells us that the man is selfish? Why is he considered so?
Answer: The line, “The wretch, concentred all in self” tells us that the poet considers the man to be selfish. He is considered so because he is unable to love his own country. He is so invested in himself that he does not feel a sense of belonging to his own country when he returns from a foreign land.
Question 6: What is the man’s fate after death? How do we know?
Answer: When he dies, he will go to the useless dust from where he was born. After his death, no one will sing for him, or honour him.
The lines, “And, doubly dying, shall go down/To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,” tell us this.
Question 7: Do you think this is a just punishment? Why or why not?
Answer: Yes, the punishment is justified because when a person does not love his own homeland, the land of his forefathers he is definitely a hard-hearted and selfish man and is already dead of soul he does not deserve to be respected even after his death.
So, these were My Native Land Questions & Answers.