CLass-9! ENGLISH,CBSE

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Lesson Plan: "On Killing a Tree" — Gieve Patel

Complete CBSE-friendly lesson pack: summary, stanza-wise explanations, comprehension questions (10 per stanza + overall), creative corner, difficult words (meanings & usage) and an answers reveal toggle. Printable and mobile-friendly.

Lesson Overview

Class: 9–10 • Subject: English • Duration: 45–60 mins

Learning outcomes: Students will be able to summarise the poem, identify key themes and literary devices, answer comprehension questions, explain difficult vocabulary and express personal responses in the Creative Corner.

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Tip: use the Print button to create a classroom handout (PDF)

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Plan Structure

1. Summary & Central Idea
2. Stanza-wise Explanations + 10 Questions each
3. Overall Theme & 10 Questions
4. Difficult Words (meaning & usage)
5. Creative Corner & Reflective Prompts
6. Answers (hidden; reveal when required)

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Duration guide: 10–12 mins — reading & summary, 20–25 mins — stanza discussion and Q&A, 10 mins — Creative Corner / activity, 5–10 mins — revision & answers reveal.

Quick Facts

Poem: On Killing a Tree
Poet: Gieve Patel
Published: 1966
Tone: Ironic, clinical, serious

Key Literary Devices

• Personification — "bleeding bark"
• Imagery — "browning, hardening, twisting, withering"
• Irony — title functions as a critique
• Metaphor & Symbolism — tree = life

Teaching tips

1. Begin with a brief discussion on trees and students' experiences with nature.
2. Read the poem aloud — invite students to note words that create strong images.
3. Use the comprehension questions for pair or group work.
4. End with Creative Corner — short writing or poster design activity.

1. Full Summary & Central Idea

Summary: The poem explains that killing a tree is not instant — it has grown slowly, nourished by the earth, air and sunlight. Simple cutting only wounds it; the tree heals and sprouts. To destroy it completely, one must pull out the roots. Once exposed they dry and die. The poem symbolically condemns human cruelty and deforestation.

Central Idea & Themes

• Nature’s resilience and capacity for healing
• Human cruelty and its consequences
• Symbolic reading: tree as life / roots as origin
• Environmental awareness and moral warning

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2. Stanza-wise Explanation + 10 Comprehension Questions each

Stanza 1 — Explanation

The poet opens by saying that killing a tree takes time: it has grown slowly, consuming the earth and drawing nutrients, sunlight and air. Therefore, a single violent act (a hack or a cut) is insufficient to kill it.

Comprehension Questions (Stanza 1)

1. According to the poet, why does it take much time to kill a tree?

2. What does the tree "consume" as it grows?

3. Explain the phrase "grown slowly" in your own words.

4. How does the poet make the reader understand the tree's strength?

5. Pick a word from the stanza that suggests nourishment.

6. What human actions are implied by the stanza?

7. Why is time important in this stanza?

8. How can this stanza be linked to the theme of patience?

9. Identify one poetic device used in this stanza.

10. Write one line that summarises stanza 1.

Stanza 2 — Explanation

Even when hacked and chopped, the tree bleeds (sap) yet heals. New leaves and shoots spring forth: nature’s resilience is emphasised. The poet uses pictures of injury to create sympathy and to show recovery.

Comprehension Questions (Stanza 2)

1. What happens when a tree is hacked and chopped?

2. What does "bleeding bark" symbolise?

3. How does the tree 'expand again'?

4. Which word indicates recovery?

5. Why is personification used here?

6. What does this stanza say about nature's strength?

7. Find an image in the stanza that creates sympathy.

8. How can a student relate this to human resilience?

9. Which line would you use in an answer to show irony?

10. Explain the poet's attitude in this stanza.

Stanza 3 — Explanation

The poet clarifies that to kill the tree completely one must pull out the root — the source of life. The root is described as "white and wet" emphasising its living, nourishing nature. The violent act must be deeper: the origin must be destroyed.

Comprehension Questions (Stanza 3)

1. What must be pulled out to destroy a tree entirely?

2. Why does the poet describe the root as "white and wet"?

3. Explain the metaphor of the root as "the source".

4. What does "snapped out" mean in context?

5. How does this stanza increase the sense of cruelty?

6. What human emotion does the root image evoke?

7. Which poetic device appears here (give an example)?

8. How can the stanza be linked to the idea of origins?

9. Give a one-sentence summary of stanza 3.

10. Why is this stanza important to the poem's message?

Stanza 4 — Explanation

When the roots are exposed, they face sunlight and air and start to dry. The poet lists actions: browning, hardening, twisting, withering — showing slow death. The finality of death is underlined: "And then it is done."

Comprehension Questions (Stanza 4)

1. What happens after the roots are exposed?

2. Explain the sequence: browning, hardening, twisting, withering.

3. What feeling does this sequence create?

4. What does the final line "And then it is done" imply?

5. How does the poet show cruelty in this stanza?

6. What image would you use to answer a question on the process of death?

7. How does this stanza connect to the title?

8. What is the tone here — clinical or emotional?

9. What moral feeling does this stanza arouse?

10. Suggest a one-line personal response to this stanza.

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3. Overall Theme & 10 Comprehension Questions

The poem symbolises the resistance of life: it highlights nature's resilience and condemns the deliberate, slow violence of humans on the environment. The tree becomes an emblem of life, roots symbolise origin and nourishment.

Comprehension Questions (Overall)

1. What is the primary theme of the poem?

2. How does the poem use the image of the tree to talk about human actions?

3. Why is the poem considered ironic?

4. What is the poet's attitude towards nature?

5. How does the poem create empathy for trees?

6. Which lines would you quote to show the idea of resilience?

7. In what ways can this poem be used to teach environmental awareness?

8. How does the poem link the physical act of cutting to moral consequences?

9. Write a short paragraph (50–60 words) on the moral of the poem.

10. Suggest two classroom activities to reinforce the poem's message.

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4. Difficult Words: Meanings & Usage

Use the table below in class — ask students to write their own sentence for each word.

Word / Phrase	Meaning (simple)	Example sentence (usage)
Hack	To cut roughly or violently	The gardener hacked the thick vines to clear the path.
Chop	To cut into pieces	He chopped the fallen branch into smaller logs for the stove.
Bleeding bark	Sap oozing from a wounded tree; suggests injury	The bleeding bark showed the tree had been struck by an axe.
Sprouting	Growing new shoots or leaves	After the storm, new leaves were sprouting on the old branch.
Anchoring	Holding something firmly in place	The roots are anchoring the tall tree in the soft soil.
Snapped out	Pulled out suddenly and forcefully	The apprentice snapped out the weed from the flowerbed.
Exposed	Left open; uncovered	The roots were exposed after the heavy rains washed the soil away.
Withering	Drying up and dying	The heat left the plants withering on the windowsill.
Hardening	Becoming firm or rigid	The sap began hardening into a dark crust on the wound.
Twisting	Bending or contorting in shape	The old roots were twisting like ropes after being pulled up.

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5. Creative Corner — Activities & Reflective Prompts

These activities are ideal for group work or homework.

1. Write as the Tree: Compose two lines from the point of view of the tree describing the pain of being cut and the will to survive.
2. Poster Task: Design a simple A4 poster encouraging tree protection — include one line from the poem and an original slogan.
3. Role-play: One student plays the tree, others are villagers discussing whether to cut it down. Focus on argument and emotions.
4. Short Paragraph: Relate the poem to a current environmental issue (deforestation, urbanisation) in 80–100 words.
5. Class Pledge: Draft a short class pledge to protect local trees — print and display in the classroom.

Reflective Questions (for discussion)

1. What emotions does the poem evoke in you?

2. Is the poet more angry or sad? Explain.

3. How would you persuade your local community to plant more trees?

4. Can the tree be a metaphor for people? Give an example.

5. How might the poem change if the tree could speak?

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6. Answers & Teacher Notes (Hidden — Reveal when needed)

Note to teachers: Answers are hidden by default so you can use the lesson diagnostically. Click the buttons below to reveal answers for any section you wish to discuss with the class.

Stanza 1 — Model Answers

1. Because it has grown slowly by consuming the earth; it cannot be killed instantly.
2. Sunlight, air, water and nutrients from the earth ("consuming the earth").
3. It means the tree took years to grow and develop; growth was gradual.
4. He emphasises its deep connection with the earth and uses the phrase "grown slowly" to show time and strength.
5. "Consuming" or "grown slowly" — both suggest nourishment.
6. Cutting, hacking and chopping are implied human actions.
7. Time shows that the tree's life has been developed over many seasons — killing takes effort and time.
8. It suggests patience and slow natural development; life cannot be hurried.
9. Personification and imagery — e.g., "consuming the earth".
10. Example: "A tree cannot be killed instantly; it grows and nourishes itself over years."

Stanza 2 — Model Answers

1. When hacked or chopped, it bleeds (sap) but recovers — new shoots grow.
2. It symbolises the tree's pain and injury — personified as bleeding like a living being.
3. By forming new shoots and leaves; the tree regenerates.
4. Words like "sprouting" or "expanding" suggest recovery.
5. Personification helps readers feel sympathy and shows the tree as a living being.
6. It shows that nature can resist and heal from injury.
7. "Bleeding bark" creates a vivid, sympathetic image.
8. Students can compare it to human healing — being hurt but recovering.
9. "So hack and chop" contrasted with "expand again" shows irony.
10. The tone is sympathetic and mildly indignant; the poet is critical of the violence described.

Stanza 3 — Model Answers

1. The root(s) must be pulled out to kill the tree completely.
2. "White and wet" emphasises the living, nourishing quality of roots — they carry life.
3. The root as "the source" means it is the origin of the tree's life and strength.
4. "Snapped out" means pulled out quickly and forcefully, emphasizing violence.
5. Because the act moves from wounding to destroying the life source — it is more brutal.
6. It evokes pity, horror and a sense of violation of a living being's core.
7. Examples: metaphor (root = source), imagery (white and wet).
8. It emphasises how destroying origins or foundations causes true death.
9. "To kill the tree you must pull out the root" (one-sentence summary).
10. It gives the poem moral weight: total destruction requires deeper cruelty.

Stanza 4 — Model Answers

1. The exposed roots dry, harden and wither when exposed to sun and air.
2. They describe the slow physical decline and death of the root after exposure.
3. The sequence creates a sense of slow suffering and finality.
4. It implies the death of the tree is complete and irreversible.
5. By describing the slow physical changes and listing them, the poet shows deliberate cruelty.
6. The sequence itself is a useful image to quote.
7. It is the final stage of killing; it explains the title's seriousness.
8. The tone is clinical; the poet records the process without sentimental language.
9. It arouses sadness, guilt and moral questioning in the reader.
10. Personal response example: "I felt guilty reading how patiently the tree suffers before death."

Overall — Model Answers

1. Primary theme: the cruelty of killing life and nature's resilience.
2. It uses the tree as an emblem of life and shows human acts as violent invasions.
3. It is ironic because the title sounds instructive, but the poem criticises violence.
4. The poet respects nature and is critical of human violence against it.
5. Through vivid images (bleeding bark, exposed roots) the poem creates empathy.
6. Quotable line for resilience: "So hack and chop... it will expand again."
7. Use it to discuss deforestation, habitat loss and responsible behaviour.
8. It draws a moral line: physical destruction equals moral loss.
9. Two- to three-line moral: "We must protect trees. Their slow destruction reflects human cruelty and a loss of our own moral roots."
10. Activities: poster making; tree-planting pledge; role-play or debate on urban development vs conservation.

Prepared using CBSE-friendly language • British English spelling • Editable single-file lesson plan