Words: Poetic Devices and Water Bodies

Class 6 English · Chapter 11: The Winner · NCERT Poorvi section pp. 118–119

Learn

Repetition and pattern: poets repeat words or arrange them in special shapes to create a feeling. In this poem, the words of "I can't even catch my breath" are stacked one per line to show the children are out of breath. Another example: "The leaves are falling, / falling, / falling." The repetition makes us see the leaves drifting down.

Personification: "Night wins!" gives night a human quality: winning a game. "Trees creep close" gives trees a human action. Another example: "The sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds." Try your own: "The moon peeped through my window."

Water bodies: a creek is a small stream. Other water bodies: river, stream, pond, lake, pool, waterfall, sea, ocean, bay, canal, well. Fields, hills, valleys and deserts are landforms, not water bodies.

Listening: sports riddles. In the book, four riddles describe sports: kicking a black-and-white ball into a goal (football); holding your breath, chanting and tagging opponents (kabaddi); arms turning and legs kicking in a pool (swimming); breathing in and out and practising daily to be fit (yoga). Write a riddle about your favourite game!

Explore: personification or repetition?

1. Sort each line.

Remember

• Repetition and line patterns create feelings; personification gives human actions to things (Night wins!).
• Water bodies include creek, river, pond, lake, sea and ocean.

Quick check

Which of these is a water body?

1. creek
2. field
3. hill
4. valley

Think about it

Write a two-line riddle about your favourite sport.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.