Chapter-9.1 Fog- Extra Questions and Notes

Extra Questions, Notes, Assignment and study material for Class 10th as Per Latest CBSE Syllabus

Chapter- 9 English Language and Literature- First Flight (Latest 2018-19)

­­­­ Fog

By Carl Sandburg  

About the Author- Carl Sandburg                    

Carl Sandburg – A Short Biography

                                About the Poet                                                                    

download edumantra.net 35Carl August Sandburg was an American poet, writer, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for writing a wonderful biography of Abraham Lincoln. Carl Sandburg was born on 6 Jan 1878 and died at the age of 89 on 22 July 1967. He was widely regarded as a major figure in contemporary literature. ‘Chicago Poems’, Cornhuskers”Smoke and Steel’ are some of his famous works.

Introduction of the lesson- Fog

INTRODUCTION

This poem the poet, Carl-Sandbargrhas-portrayed-the nature-and-its-images edumantra.net 25silica-working Riccio-poet tells that the fog comes silently and slowly like a ca2It is a fine example of the use of metaphor in the poetry.

Plot/ Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson/ Literary Analysis of Fog/ Main Idea

Central Idea of the Poem

Tog’ is probably Carl Sandburg’s best-known poem. It was first published in ‘Chicago Poems’ in 1916. ‘Fog’ is a poem that reflects Sandburg’s interest in the natural world. The poet beautifully captures those download edumantra.net 36moments when the fog came moving in over the harbour waters. The poet gives a powerful image of the fog through a metaphorical cat. The poet sees the fog as a cat that comes on its tiny, silent feet, as cats do while they are stalking. Like a cat, the fog slips and slides in silently. The poem contains the dual imagery of the fog and the cat, the fog turning into a cat and the cat morphing back into the fog. The poet is introducing the idea that the fog is alive and an entity.

Style

Tog’ is a short poem of six lines. It is split into two stanzas. It is a free verse poem. The poem doesn’t have any regular rhyme scheme. The poem is an extended metaphor. The poet uses the metaphor of a cat to describe the fog. The fog comes in, stays and engulfs everything in its fold silently, almost imperceptibly. Before moving on, it sits looking over the harbour and the city before disappearing in feline mystery.

Summary in English- Fog

DETAILED SUMMARY

 A poem Tog’ the poet Carl Sandburg has portrayed nature and its silent working. To prove his point the poet gives a comparison of the fog and a cat. The poet says that the fog comes silently and slowly like a cat. When it comes it does not disturb us. It sits silently as a cat does. It goes on falling and looking silently over harbour and city. (Then it moves on all at once with a gust of wind)

DETAILED SUMMARY (2)

1. Fog Comes As a Cat: The poet sees the fog as a cat. It comes on its tiny silent feet as a cat does when it is stalking. Like a cat, it moves in imperceptibly and in complete silence. So, the poem ‘Fog’ becomes an extended metaphor.

2. Sits on Silent Haunches: The fog comes silently and engulfs the whole landscape in its fold. The poem presents the dual imagery of fog and cat. The fog turns into a cat. And the cat turns back into the fog. The fog moves in at a slow pace and then stops and gradually covers the whole landscape or seascape and the harbour. The fog like a cat keeps on lying for hours, It keeps on overlooking the harbour and the city below. The atmosphere all around is filled with silence and mystery. And then, like a stalking cat, it moves on. It disappears silently unnoticed.

Main Points of the Poem

1. The poet gives a powerful image of fog through a metaphorical cat.

2. The fog turns into a cat and the cat morphs back into the fog.

3. The fog comes silently and spreads all around.

4. It comes silently as a cat comes stalking.

5. It engulfs everything and looks over the harbour and the city.

6. It continues sitting silently on its haunches and then moves on.

DETAILED SUMMARY in Hindi – Fog

SUMMARY IN HINDI

कबिता में कबि कार्ल सैंडबर्ग ने प्रकृति और उसके शोर -रहित कार्य का चितरड़ किया है अपनी बात को सिद्ध करने के लिए कबि कोहरे और एक बिल्ली की तुलना प्रश्तुत करता है कबि कहता है कि कोहरा एक बिल्ली की भांति चुपके से और धीरे से आता है जब ये आता है तो ये हमे तंग नहीं करता है ये एक बिल्ली की भांति चुपचाप बैठ जाता है यह बंदर गाहा और शहर के ऊपर चुपचाप गिरता रहता है तब यह हबा के साथ एकदम से आगे बढ़ जाता है

Following is the complete question bank for Fog

Fog Extra Questions and Answers

COMPREHENSION OF STANZA

Read the following stanza and answer the questions that follow :

STANZA 1

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

Questions :

(a) How does the fog come?

 (b) Where does the fog look and how?

(c) What does the fog do in the end?

(d) For what does ‘it’ stand in the third line?

 (e) Name the poem and the poet.

Answers :

 (a) The fog comes on little cat feet.

 (b) It looks over the port and the city. It is like a cat sitting on its haunches.

 (c) In the end, the fog marches on.

(d) ‘It’, here, is the little cat as well as the fog.

 (e) The name of the poem is ‘Fog’ and the poet’s name is Carl Sandburg.

Stanza-2: (Page 115)

The fog comes on little cat feet.

It sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

Word-Meaning: Harbour—the place where ships load and unload, Haunches—hips,

Paraphrase

The fog enters silently like a small cat. The fog seems to change into a cat and the cat again morphs into the fog. Then, it sits there for a while overlooking and engulfing the harbour and the city lying below. It continues sitting silently there for a while as a cat on its haunches and then moves ahead.

Questions:

(a) Why does the poet use the metaphor of a cat?

(b) How does the fog enter?

(c) How does it sit and what does it look?

(d) How does it depart?

Answers:

(a) The poet uses the metaphor of the cat because the fog changes into a cat and the cat morphs back into the fog.

(b) The fog enters silently like a little cat.

(c) The fog sits silently on its haunches overlooking the harbour and the city.

(d) The fog stays for a while and departs silently.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS/ Quiz- Fog

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1.What is the fog compared to?

(A) cat                                   (B) dog

(C) monkey                        (D) lion

 Ans. (A) cat

2. How does the fog come?

 (A) slowly                           (B) silently

(C) both (A) and (B)        (D) none of the above

Ans. (C) both (A) and (B)

3. What is the fog looking over?

 (A) cat                                  (B) harbour

(C) city                                  (D) both (B) and (C)

 Ans. (D) both (B) and (C)

4. The cat sits on its

 (A) feet                               (B) back

 (C) haunches                    (D) all of the above

Ans. (C) haunches

5. The fog’s movement is :

 (A) slow                              (B) fast

(C) normal                           (D) none of the above

Ans. (A) slow

6. How are the feet of the cat described?

(A) huge                              (B) little

(C) clever                             (D) all of the above

 Ans. (B) little

7. Who is the poet of the poem Tog’?

 (A) Carl Sandburg            (B) Ogden Nash

 (C) W.B. Yeats                  (D) Adrienne Rich

 Ans. (A) Carl Sandburg

Extract Based / comprehension test  Questions and Answers of Fog

Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.

1.It sits looking

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

(a) What does ‘it’ refer to?

(b) The expression ‘silent haunches’ means—————

(c) The metaphor used in the above-mentioned poem is—————

(d) What does it do as long as it stays?

 Ans. (a) Fog

(b) sitting with knees bent

(c) ‘cat’ for fog.

 (d) It looks over the city and the harbour as long as it stays.

2. The fog comes

on little cat feet.

 It sits looking

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

 (a) What is the fog compared to?

 (b) What does the fog do?

 (c) Who sits looking over harbour and city?

 (d) Who composed these lines?

Or

(a) What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?

 (b) Sandburg thinks that the fog is like—————-

(c) Where does one see the fog 7

 (d) The rhyme scheme is —————

Or

(a) What is used as a metaphor for fog?

(b) Which places does the fog visit?

 (c) Which figure of speech has been used in the stanza?

 (d) The fog comes like a cat and————

Ans. (a) A cat.

 (b) It sits like a cat sitting on its haunches.

(c) Fog

 (d) Carl Sandburg

Or

 (a) Fog

 (b) a cat.

 (c) Over the harbour and city.

 (d) free verse.

Or

(a) The metaphor of cat,

(b) Harbor and city.

 (c) Metaphor

(d) moves away silently.

Extra Very Short Answer Type Important Questions

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

[Answer in one sentence each]

 Q.1. According to the poet, what is the fog like?

 Ans. According to the poet, the fog is like a cat.

 Q.2. How does the fog come?

 Ans. The fog comes slowly and silently.

 Q.3. What is the fog compared to?                                                            [H.B.S.E. March 2017 (Set-D)]

Ans. The fog is compared to a cat.

 Q.4. What does the fog look over ?                                                            [H.B.S.E. March 2017 (Set-D)]

 Ans. The fog looks over the harbour and the city.

 Q.5. How does the poet make the fog like a living creature?

 Ans. The poet makes the fog like a living creature by comparing it to a cat.

 Q.6. How does the fog move on?

Ans. The fog moves on slowly.

Short Answer Type Important Questions

Answer the following question in 30-40 words:

1. The poet actually says that the fog is like a cat”, With reference to the poem, ‘Fog’ explain this statement.

Or

Think of any other animal that can best replace the cat in the poem, ‘Fog’. Write a few lines that would tell us about the resemblance of Fog with that animal.

Ans. The fog is compared to a cat. He says a cat does not make a sound when it walks so also is the fog. But its presence is apparent. Its ‘Silence’ is very much like that of a cat moving on its little feet. The way the fog sits is very much like a cat sitting on its haunches, looking here and there.

Q.2. How does the poet make the fog like a living creature?

Ans. The poet describes the fog as a cat. He does so through a metaphor. The fog is the cat itself. As a cat jumps and lights on its soft silently, the fog also comes down noiselessly. Then it moves on like a cat.

Q.3. How is the fog like a cat? What three things suggest it?

Ans. Three things suggest that the fog is like a cat. Like a cat, the fog comes silently. The fog is looking over the harbour and the city like a cat does so sitting on its haunches. Thirdly, it moves as the cat moves.

Q.4. How does the poet describe the fog’s movements?

Ans. The poet describes the fog as a cat. Like a cat, the fog comes silently and slowly. It is sitting on its haunches. And then it moves on.

Q5. How does the poet employ the double imagery of the fog and the cat?

Ans. The poetic device of metaphor is very effectively used in the poem. The fog is converted into a cat and the cat is morphed back into the fog. The silent arrival of the fog is like a little cat. The fog stays there sitting like the cat on its haunches.

Q6. Describe the similarities that have been mentioned in the poem between the fog and a cat.

Ans. It is a dual image that changes and merges again in the original. The fog changes into a cat and the cat changes into the fog. Both of them come silently unseen and suddenly. Both engulf everything underneath them. The fog engulfs everything, the harbour and the city in its fold. The fog sits silently as a cat sits on its haunches. Then it disappears and moves ahead.

Q7. Which aspect of nature Carl Sand-burg presents in the poem ‘Fog’?

 Ans. The poet presents nature in its raw and natural state. The fog comes as if from nowhere. It comes suddenly and silently like a little cat. The fog’s power is overwhelming. It engulfs everything, the city and the harbour in its all-embracing fold. Then following the law of change, it disappears, no one knows where.

Q8. Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Then how do we know that the fog is like a cat?

Ans. The poet compares fog to a cat. A cat comes without making any noise and goes away. In the same way, the fog comes and spreads slowly and silently over harbour and city.

Q9. What three things tell us that the fog is like a cat?

 Ans. (i) The fog comes slowly and silently like a cat.

(ii) The cat sits on its haunches for some time looking around and then moves away as it came.

(iii) Similarly, the fog spreads over the harbour and city for some time. Finally, it moves away like a cat.

Q10. The fog comes on like cat feet. How does the poet compare the fog with a cat? What poetic device is used here?

Ans. The cat comes silently and slowly. In the same way, the fog also comes slowly and silently. The poetic device used here is personification. The fog has been personified.

Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in about 100 -150 words each

Answer the following question in 100-120 words:

1. What metaphor has the poet used in the poem ‘Fog’? Do you think it is appropriate?

Ans. In the poem Tog’, Carl Sandburg has metaphorically compared the fog to a cat. The first strange thing about the metaphor is the comparison of a phenomenon with a living animal. Perhaps the poet wants to emphasize the silent nature and mysterious ways of the fog, so he has compared the fog to a cat. A cat does not make a sound when it walks. So also is the fog, but its presence is apparent. Its “silence” is very much like that of a cat moving on its little feet. Then the fog stays in its place looking over the harbour and city which creates a hazy atmosphere all around. The way it sits is very much like a cat sitting on its haunches, looking here and there before it makes a move. This is as if the fog remains a silent spectator of the happenings in the city. Whatever the purpose may be, both the fog as well as a cat make their impression and make their presence felt. The comparison of the fog to a cat seems very appropriate because, reading the poem, one feels that truly, the fog approaches stealthily, just like a cat.

Q2. How does Carl Sandburg describe the arrival, stay and departure of the fog through the image of a metaphorical cat?

Ans. The poet employs a double image. The fog is converted into a cat and the cat morphs back into the fog. The arrival of the fog is silent and sudden. It comes as if from nowhere. Its arrival is like a small cat. It sits and stays for a while. It engulfs everything in its all-embracing fold. It spreads its fold everywhere from the harbour to the city. It sits silently as a cat sits on its haunches. The fog stays but not for long. A cat never stays at one place for a long time. So, the fog moves ahead no one knows where. Carl Sandburg describes the raw aspect of nature, the all-embracing and prevailing fog. Its silent power is felt everywhere from the harbour to the city.

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