Q & A When Great Trees Fall, Study Guides, Projects, Research of English Literature

Download Q & A When Great Trees Fall and more Study Guides, Projects, Research English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!

Questions & Answers

When Great Trees Fall

_ Maya Angelou

When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses,

and even elephants lumber after safety. When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear. When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly,

dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened. Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance, fall away. We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark, cold caves. And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always

irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.

Summary of the poem

‘When Great Trees Fall’ by Maya Angelou is a moving poem that discusses the impact lost loved ones have on the living. In the first lines, the speaker begins by using an extended metaphor to describe a natural scene. She speaks about the reaction of animals when ‘great trees fall’. They hide, hunker down and ‘lumber after safety’. The metaphor compares the death of loved ones to the monumental shifts that occur when large and powerful trees fall in the forest. As the poem progresses, she moves on to directly speak about ‘great souls’ and how human beings react to loss.

Ans: Small things symbolize the physically small, children, etc. who also feel the effects of the loss as much as their older counterparts. It could also mean that those who are unknown, without fame or political significance, too, feel the effects of the loss just as the great minds of their day feel it. (d) find a word from the paragraph which means the same as ‘flinch’. Ans: Recoil Q. 2: Read the extract and answer the questions:

And when great souls die,After a period, peace blooms, Slowly and always irregularlySpaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, neverTo be same, whisper to us.

(a) What theme does the poet highlight in the above lines? Ans: The poet discusses or highlights the theme of hope. (b) How do the empty spaces get filled?

Ans: The empty spaces get filled with a kind of soothing electric vibration. (c) How does the loss of a great soul affect people? Ans: The loss of a great soul alters people’s senses such that they cannot be restored again. (d) Find a word from the paragraph which is the opposite of ‘Upheaval’ Ans: Peace Q. 3: What does the poet mean by ‘their senses eroded beyond fear’? Ans: In the phrase ‘their senses erode beyond fear’ the poet emphasizes that the ones at loss are not even sure what they feel for their senses (are) eroded beyond fear. This refers to the numbness of heart and soul that often immediately follows the loss of someone great. Q. 4: What feeling does the poet explore in the line ‘Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines, gnaws on kind words unsaid? Why? Ans: In this line the poet explores the feeling of anger and regret as she highlights the baggage of having unexpressed feeling in the heart, that a person experience. This loss has left her desperately longing for more time to express the love she felt in her heart for the person who was taken too soon. Q. 5: What insight does the poet give to the mental and emotional effect of losing someone?

She claims that because this great one existed, she can be better. It even offers great hope to all who have experienced loss. The speaker continues to identify with others who have lost loved ones which create a sense in the readers that they are not alone. Readers can know that others have felt such grievous pain, and yet have not only healed but been made better by the loss. Even if they will never be the same again, and even if there will always be pain and sadness, there is hope for healing and joy in the midst of great loss.