Class 11 Corona Says Exercise

Summary

Since the title of the poem is clear, here we find Corona saying something to humans. The name Corona needs no introduction. Even a child has heard of it. This pandemic has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

In the end, the speaker warned humans. Without a doubt, Corona will come back one day if we don’t change our irresponsible attitudes and behaviour towards nature, more pandemics of this type will visit Earth. Not only that, but such behaviour will eventually take us back to prehistoric times when people used to live in caves and had to hunt for food.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions:

a.) Who is the speaker in the poem?

➜ In this poem, the speaker is Corona who has created severe impacts in the lives of human beings.

b.) Who claims that they are superior to all?

➜ The humans claim that they are superior to all.

c.) Why has the speaker come to the Earth?

➜ Actually, the speaker hasn’t come to the earth on his own free will. Instead, he was invited. Speaker “Corona” has been here to take revenge of what human beings have done to the mother nature, to give her a little rest and to make human realize that they are not the almighty and the earth is the common habitat for all living organisms.

d.) What positive changes have occurred on Earth after the speaker’s visit?

➜ After the speaker’s visit, various positive changes occurred on the earth. The positive changes are as follows:

Environment pollution minimized

Nature became dust-free and the air became fresh

Human learnt to use natural resources properly.

Their egos have been transformed into fear.

Reference to the context

a.) What does the speaker mean when he says:

But have you ever counted

How many have died so far

Because of you and your wars?

➜ These beautiful lines have been taken from Vishnu S. Rai’s wonderful poem “Corona Says”. Here, we find corona as the main speaker who is talking to a man of the present world. The speaker is saying to the men about the bad aspects of war. He wants to make the men realize about the impacts of inhumane wars. Here, the speaker is blaming the human for killing many people through their wars. He is asking about the calculation of dead people that have been invited by humans’ war.

b.) Explain the following:

I will depart one day.

But remember There’re many others like me.

They’ll come too.

If you don’t get rid of your inflated ego,

You’ll be back to your cave time

That you endured

Long, l o n g, l o n g ago …

➜ These beautiful lines have been taken from Vishnu S. Rai’s wonderful poem “Corona Says”. Here, we find corona as the main speaker who is talking to a man of the present world. Here, the speaker is warning the human about future circumstances. He is informing him about his fellows who are similar to him. He says that one day he will depart from the planet but if humans don’t get rid of their inflated egos, they (fellows) will come too. In that critical situation, humans will be back to the caves as before (the stone age). That will be the worst situation for humans.

c.) What does the speaker mean in the following lines? Explain.

The earth is not your property alone –

It’s as much ours as yours.

➜ Here, Corona as a speaker is making the human realize that the mother (Earth) belongs to all the creatures not only the humans. He reminds the human saying that the mother (Earth) isn’t their property alone. He claims that the earth belongs to other creatures also apart from humans.

Reference beyond the text

a.) What human behaviors are responsible for suffering in people’s lives?

➜ The human behaviours are the sole cause behind all these sufferings of the people. Due to human egos and bad deeds, the present world is facing a crisis. Many people have lost their lives during this critical period. Due to their selfish nature, the earth and its people have faced numerous problems of diseases. Their so-called egos and wars have snatched the lives of many peoples.

b.) How does an epidemic differ from a pandemic? Briefly explain the impact of Corona Virus on human life and environment.

➜ An epidemic is a widespread disease that affects many people in a population whereas pandemic is a disease that affects a wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population.

Corona virus is considered as one of the unforgettable threats of the twenty-first century. This disease has snatched the lives of people at a very high level. People in the world are panic-stricken and living their life in mental fear. Covid 19 has created devastating results in humans’ history. Due to this pandemic. People are seen sanitizing the environment every time.