Views about New Text Book - Std. XII English
1) Mr. Rajesh Patil, Saraswati Junior college Paras, (Amravati Division).
English – Yuvakbharati (Std . XII)
A Challenging & Attractive Mixbag
Hello !
Greetings of the day !
The most awaited Grade XII English Textbook is available in digital form and the 'Lock-down' period provided an opportunity to look over the contents. Here I would like to share personal inferences and views. Please go through and save some spare time to reply. Your views, comments and suggestions are valuable for me.
So without wasting space on technical details like sections, numbers and objectives, I would prefer to discuss the contents directly.
A Journey
The whole book looks like a journey, that too, in a chronological order, starting with a lesson belonging to pre-independence era and ending with a techno savvy writer's success story. The balance tilted a bit towards Indian authors ensuring a huge relief for students regarding comprehension. But Siddharth Iyer's, 'Why we Travel' is an exception. He focuses on the philosophical side of travel. This lesson may prove a hard nut to crack, even for teachers.
But Gardiner's deep insight in mannerism, O' Henry's heart touching familiar story of Soapy and Kiran Purandare's 'Into the Wild' will certainly take learners to different levels. 'Big Data - Big Insights appears to be view section while the excercises focus on counter-view.
But the lesson 'Voyaging Towards Excellence' by Achyut Godbole is no doubt the cherry on top. The author highlights a perennial problem of lacking the speaking skills in English and the subsequent inferiority complex borne out among Marathi students. Through personal example, he explained how the study of phonetics is important to develop fluency. The lesson may prove an eye opener to people who blindly join any 'Speaking Class' and for those who advocate rot memorization and arid learning of grammatical rules.
The Anthology
Poetry section presents a galaxy of poems representing different forms. Walt Whitman's 'Song of the Open Road' symbolises freedom while, 'Indian Weavers' cover the three stages of life allegorically. Edger Guest stresses on the need to do something good everyday to earn your tomorrow while Southey's 'Inchcape Rock' sings about the eternal principle of do the wrong and face the punishment.
But the gem among these pearls of wisdom is no doubt, 'Father Returning Home', a poem composed on the backdrop of sixties, but still apt in modern times. The hollowness in the lonely life of an old person becomes stark courtesy to family members.
The third section I keep for separate consideration.
The last section has been devoted to 'Novel'. Opening with the 'History of Novel' well complemented by three lessons representing selected pieces from three different novels. It's a perfect harmony. The Sign of Four, a detective story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle deals with the opening chapters arousing curiosity among readers. 'To Sir, with Love' takes readers midway by presenting Chapter Seventeen while an exciting, thrilling and nail biting climax has been described presented in the last four chapters of 'Around the World in Eighty Days' by Jules Verne.
Challenges
The layout, inclusion of pictures, multi colour printing, fonts, proper use of Italics, abundance of language activities all contributed in making the book a kaleidoscope.
But the real challenge of execution lies ahead.
It all depends on efforts on the part of teachers to impart and make students comprehend the book.
There is a wide scope for hands on activities and creative learning sources.
I call it 'Connectors'.
For example in 'Astrologer's Day', there is a reference of anna and pie, the currency used in pre-independence period.
The present generation is mostly blank about it. I have the complete range of annas and pies along with rupees. In a village like Paras, these authentic proofs could serve as an authentic resource and it's handling can create interest among learners. One could create one's own connectors almost for every lesson and poem depending on creativity.
The book clearly indicated changes in activity sheet pattern next year. At the end of lessons, activity A7 and A5 (poetic appreciation) in the excercises related with poems speak volumes.
But.........
Another side of the Coin
As usual this book too, is not devoid of typos and discripancies. Here are some examples which may disturb a watchful reader.
Characters in the Novels
Characters in novels play a vital role. The moment one utters the title, the very next thing comes to mind is the main character. Traditionally when a selected 'piece' from a novel appears in form of a lesson in a textbook, it usually begins with an introduction of characters. The present book is no exception. These pieces arouse curiosity and it is expected that students should read the complete novel. But reality tells a different story. So at least to comprehend the lesson, students need to be familiar with characters.
The Mess
All the lessons in novel section introduced characters after the introduction of the novelist. They are divided in two groups of Major and Minor characters. Each novel has a number of characters but the selected chapters may have only some of them. So it's necessary at least to introduce those characters clearly. Presenting names of all characters may add to the confusion on the part of students. For they don't find these figures at all in the text. Let's consider each lesson separately.
4.2 ) To Sir , with Love
The lesson introduces six (06) major and twenty (20) minor characters out of which fourteen (14) has an appearance while twelve (12) remain complete strangers. Interestingly, there is no mention of Miss Dodd in the list, who presents report on History in the lesson. Another character Mr. Weston is also missing from the list. Adding to the woes, a character named Theo Watson is in the list but missing from the novel.
A well prepared student can easily trap an ill prepared teacher about such alien entries.
Ricky Braithwaite made it compulsory for the class to use 'Miss' for the girls. Readers come across Miss Joseph and Miss Phillips but in the introduction, the names appear as Moira Joseph and Euphema Phillips.
Again in the text the name appears as Miss Euphemia Phillips on page 184. On the same page names of judges and escorts got mixed.
One can also imagine how the name 'Joseph' will be pronounced in classes all over Maharashtra.
4.3 ) Around the World in Eighty Days
The lesson introduction consists of four (04) major and ten (10) minor characters out of which only the four major characters appear on the scene. Some minor characters like Thomas Flanagan, Samuel Fallentin and John Sullivan are termed as The Reform Club members in the list.while there is no mention of James Strand, Andrew Stuart, Gauthier Ralph, Lord Albemarle and Reverand Samuel Wilson.
Interestingly names mentioned in the list like Sir Francis Cromarty, John Bunsby, The Parsee Guide, Colonel Stamp Proctor, Mr. Camerfield, Mr. Mandiboy, Elder William Hitch, Mudge and Captain Speedy are completely alien to the text. Not even mentioned in the synopsis.
4.4 ) The Sign of Four
It's a detective story with less number of characters. There appears names of four (04) characters in the major and three (03) in the minor section of the list. The name of Miss Cecil Forrester appears in the text which is missing from the list.
The title is an indication of four people Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan and Dost Akbar with Jonathan being the Kingpin. They are mentioned only in the synopsis. At least name of the main villain could have been added in the character list along with Tonga.
The text carries many typos.
The word 'attack' written instead of 'attic' in the outline of the novel. Letters 'e' and 's' has been combined with previous words resulting in 'Greeke' and 'finals', bearing no meaning at all. 'Weaker bank account' has been written as 'Weaker banking account', Upper Norwood became 'Upper Norword', name of the newspaper 'The Times' has been mentioned as the Times, that too, twice ! 'Khidmutgar' became 'khitmutgar' and words
' reached a questionable' are written without spacing making it obscure to read.
Something to check
Considering the painstaking efforts, attractive design, variety of materials and abundance of exercises, the book raised expectations. But a cross check of the matter results in disappointment. There are certain words pointing towards negligence in proof reading. Look at some of the examples; the word 'rythmic' instead of 'rhythmic', name of the poet written as Robert South, all the letters of Edger Guest in bold type except the last one, 'Childe Herald's pilgrimage', 'celebratin' without 'g' or the apostrophe, 'a acarpenter's rule opens' etc.
Dictionary meanings given in brackets of certain words are confusing. Here are some examples;
1. cowrie - the given meaning is 'a sea animal'.
But one can't find the meaning either in Oxford or Webster's lexicon.
2. halcyon - Kingfisher, a bird which has bright colourful plumes.
The word 'plumes' is used for big feathers like that of peacock.
3. limbo - a border place between heaven and hell.
The dictionary meaning is a place of confinement (Webster's) and 'a situation in which you are not certain what to do (Oxford).
Some of the exercises do not have proper instructions and thus a challenge to your comprehension. Look at the following examples.
1. Page 75
A4 (i) The word in bold type show to+verb form
No such words follow .
2. Page 113
A3 (i) Pick out the describing words from the poem and add a noun of your own.
A table with two columns given, each one having the same title ( Toiling ) time.
The expected answers are not clear.
3. Page 217
A3 (vi) Complete
Which places/cities in India & England are mentioned/have appeared in the extract?
Also write about their importance.
There are four columns and the words are India, Importance, London, Importance.
There should have been England instead of London.
Thanks for the patient reading.
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