English Class 10 - X CBSE Chapter 3 Two Stories about Flying - His First Flight Material

 INTRODUCTION

The Story “His First Flight” is written by Liam O'Flaherty. It is about a young seagull bird who is afraid of flying. It feels that its wings are not strong enough to make it fly. How he overcomes this fear which all of us face while trying a new venture and the story of his successful maiden flight has been beautifully narrated in the chapter. The story highlights the importance of family and friends in one’s life.

CHARACTERS

1. Young Seagull - A timid sea-bird who was hesitant and afraid of flying. But he did not stop trying. 
Gradually he gathered strength and made regular efforts for flying. Finally, he forgot his fear of flying 
and made his first flight.
2. Mother Seagull - The mother of a young seagull who motivated the young one enough to get him to learn to fly. She even took the bold step of pushing her offspring from the cliff to eschew his fear.
3. Father Seagull - The Father of Young Seagull who was the sole breadwinner of the family.
4. Siblings - Siblings of the young seagull who cheered for their brother for his first flight along with their father offering moral and mental support to him.

SUMMARY

The Seagull Family
The seagull family consists of six seagulls – mother, father, three sons, and one daughter. All of them except the youngest son are experts in flying high. His parents have tried several times to teach him how to fly but he is scared to do that and does not want to try anymore. He relies on the food that his parents bring back from their flights.

Young Seagull’s Fear of Flying
The youngest son is afraid of flying as he thinks that if he flies, his wings would not support him and he would fall down into the sea below and drown. Even his parents have rebuked him. They even threatened him that if he doesn’t fly, he would die of hunger, but he does not try.

Parents Leave Young Seagull Alone
After so many failed attempts, his parents leave him alone on the rock without food. They even taunt him for his cowardice. The young seagull looks at his brothers and sisters enjoying swimming, and diving in the seawater for fish to feed themselves, but no one comes near him to offer food.

Hunger and Heat Increase
As time passes, the young seagull could not tolerate the hunger and the heat. He moves closer to the ledge and pretends to fall asleep but nobody takes notice of him. His brothers and sisters have already had hearty breakfast and his father seems busy admiring and cleaning the feathers on his back. The mother looks at him and tries to tempt him with pieces of fish. His begging and crying do not affect her.

Young Seagull Dives for Food
The young seagull was very hungry. He was surprised enough at his mother’s ignorance of his pitiful condition. Thus, he dives for food. He begins to fall down with a scream as soon as he dives.

Flight Begins
The young seagull begins to fall into the sea. He is afraid of drowning, so he tries to spread his wings outwards and beings flying. He feels a little dizzy but all his fear vanished (disappeared). He soars slowly downwards and upwards. He could finally fly on his own.

Joy of Flight and Reunion of Family
The seagull becomes so happy and soars higher calling ‘ga, ga, ga’. It was really a joyous moment for the whole family; his brothers and sisters along with his parents come near to encourage and cheer him. The young seagull successfully made his first flight.

MESSAGE
The story reflects how one hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all in the mind. The story gives the message that one needs to believe in self to overcome all the hurdles of own life. One should trust one’s abilities because “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself”.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

English Class 10 - Class X CBSE Chapter 1 A Letter to God Material

 INTRODUCTION A Letter to God by G. Fuentes is a short story written in third-person, about a farmer named Lencho. When a hailstorm destroys his year’s harvest, he writes a letter to God asking for money and sends it to him through the post. A Letter to God is a humorous story about a man’s faith, the dependence it brings along, and the fine line between faith and ignorance that exists in the world. CHARACTERS 1. Lencho - He had a firm belief in God and was very innocent. He was very caring for his family and that is why he decides not to give up and find some way to help his family. 2. Postmaster - He was a nice, very helpful, and genuine man whose natural instinct was to help Lencho and therefore he collects money for him and even deducts some money from his own salary. WORD MEANINGS 1. Crest - top of a hill, top 2. Amiable - friendly and pleasant 3. Contentment - satisfaction 4. Exclaimed - cry out suddenly in surprise, strong emotion, or pain.  5. Regarded - consider or th...
Read more

English Class 10 - X CBSE Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank Material

INTRODUCTION This chapter is an excerpt from the ‘Diary of a Young Girl’ written by Anne Frank. It is an autobiography that was first published in 1947. In this chapter, the writer Anne Frank tells about her true companion - a diary. She writes everything about her life in her diary and considers it her true friend. At the time of the invasion of German over Holland, her family went into hiding. At that time she started to write in her diary. She spent her adolescent years hidden from the outside world, and her diary kept all her secrets. CHARACTERS 1. Anne Frank - The 13 years old Jewish girl who writes a diary while she is hiding in Amsterdam from the Nazis during World War II. 2. Margot Frank - Anne’s sister who is three years older than Anne. 3. Otto Frank - Anne’s father who is a Jewish businessman who left Germany after Hitler’s rise to power, hoping to find refuge in Holland. 4. Mrs. Frank - Anne’s mother who is the source of many conflicts with Anne during the two years that th...
Read more