Class 9 English Poem 5 A Legend of the Northland Solutions | ASSEB Assam | English Medium

Class 9 English Poem 5 – A Legend of the Northland – All Textual Solutions | ASSEB Assam (English Medium)

Class 9 English Poem 5 – A Legend of the Northland Complete Textual Question Answers and Solutions (ASSEB / SEBA Assam – English Medium)

The fifth poem of the Class 9 English (Beehive) syllabus, ‘A Legend of the Northland’, written by Phoebe Cary, is a fascinating and moralistic ballad. Based on the latest guidelines of the new ASSEB (Assam State School Education Board) syllabus and the New Education Policy (NEP), comprehensive textual question answers for this poem have been carefully prepared. This special compilation includes very short answer type questions (VSA), short questions, Reference to Context (RTC) explanations, and thorough vocabulary solutions. At Ospin Academy, these solutions are made available in a simple, accurate, and completely exam-oriented format.

‘A Legend of the Northland’ narrates a traditional folktale about Saint Peter and a greedy little woman. When the hungry Saint asked the woman for a single cake, her extreme greed prevented her from parting with even the smallest piece of dough. As a punishment for her selfishness, she was cursed and turned into a woodpecker, doomed to bore into hard wood for her scanty food. For students preparing for their exams, understanding the ballad form, the central moral lesson, and the character traits is highly essential. In our textual solutions, we have covered not only the textbook exercise questions but also additional important question-answers that may appear in the board exams, ensuring students can prepare thoroughly.

What you will learn and get from this textual solution:

• Detailed summary, central idea, and stanza-wise explanation of ‘A Legend of the Northland’.
• Perfect answers for word meanings, 1-mark very short questions (VSA objective type), and 2-3 mark short questions.
• Standard solutions for Reference to Context (RTC) and critical appreciation questions.
• Proper knowledge of poetic devices, the ballad structure, and the moral lesson conveyed by the poet.
• Solutions for extra important questions as well as the latest pattern MCQ questions according to the new syllabus.

Special benefits of these Ospin Academy Question-Answers:

• Complete textual solutions prepared strictly on the basis of the latest ASSEB new syllabus.
• 100% accurate and high-quality notes written in simple English so that students can easily understand and memorize (Class 9 English Notes).
• Specially curated simple answers for quick revision before the final exams.
• A special collection of additional important questions from ‘A Legend of the Northland’ that frequently appear in exams.

Keeping the educational upliftment of students in mind, Ospin Academy presents this special textual solution. Start your exam preparation now and step forward towards securing the highest marks in English.

Chapter 5

A Legend of the Northland

Thinking about the Poem

I.

Question 1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?

Answer: The “Northland” may refer to any of the countries among Greenland, Norway, Russia, Canada, etc.

Question 2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?

Answer: Saint Peter asked the old lady for a piece of cake. She was very selfish and kept reducing the size of the cake as to her it seemed too big to give away.

Question 3. How did he punish her?

Answer: He cursed her and changed her into a woodpecker as a punishment for being so selfish.

Question 4. How does the woodpecker get her food?

Answer: The woodpecker needs to bore all day in the hard, dry wood to get itself some food.

Question 5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?

Answer: I don’t think the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was. She would have given him as large a piece of cake so that she could please him in order to get rewarded.

Question 6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?

Answer: No, this is not a true story. It is a legend.

The part of the poem that, according to me, is the most important is: And he said, “You are far too selfish

To dwell in a human form,

To have both food and shelter,

And fire to keep you warm.

This shows that we must do go things for humanity as we are capable of doing so in our human form. We should have gratitude for having food, shelter and fire. We should be generous to people.

Question 7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?

Answer: A legend is a folklore that is believed to be true by tellers and listeners but it has not been proven to have happened. It usually imparts some morals or a message.

This poem is called a legend because it also imparts the message of generosity.

Question 8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.

Answer: A Legend of the Northland

Once, Saint Peter was feeling very hungry and he asked for alms from an old lady. He asked if she could give him a piece of cake to eat. The lady was very selfish. She kept reducing the size of the cake as she felt that the size of the cake was too big to be given away as alms. At last she did not give him any cake.

Saint Peter grew angry and cursed her to become a woodpecker. He said that from now on, she will have to bore dry, hard wood in order to get food. All her clothes got burnt in the chimney and till this day, woodpeckers bore all day long for food and water.

II.

Question 1. Let’s look at the words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’, ‘true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know.’ We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.

Find more such rhyming words.

Answer: Here are more such rhyming words from the poem:

earth-hearth, done-one, lay-away, flat-that, myself-shelf, faint-saint, form-warm, food-wood, word-bird and same-flame.

Question 2. Go to the local library or talk to older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the class these legends.

Answer: Do it yourself.