Unit 1 Chapter 1 His First Flight (Story)

Textbook Activities

Read And Reflect (Textbook Page No. 10 -13)

Question 1.
Why was the young sea-gull afraid to fly?
Answer:
The young seagull was afraid to fly because he thought that his wings would not support him and he
would fall into the sea and die.

Question 2.
What did the parents do to motivate the young bird when it failed to muster up enough courage to fly?
Answer:
The parents flew around the young sea-gull calling him loudly. They scolded him and even threatened
to starve him.

Question 3.
How did the parents support and encourage the young seagull’s brothers and sister?
Answer:
The parents flew with them trying to perfect them in the art of flying. They taught them how to dive for
fish.

Question 4.
Cite an instance which shows the pathetic condition of the young bird.
Answer:
The young sea-gull had nothing to eat. He had to bear the heat of the sun. He even gnawed at the
dried pieces of the eggshell from which he and his two brothers and sister had hatched. It was like
eating a part of himself.

Question 5.
How did the bird try to reach its parents without having to fly?
Answer:
The young seagull tried to reach his parents by trotting back and forth from one end of the ledge to
the other. But he saw only the steep precipices on either side. He could not reach his parents
because there was a deep, wide crack between him and his parents.

Question 6.
Why could the seagull not succeed in its attempt?
Answer:
The seagull could not succeed in its attempt because there was nothing to walk on. A deep, wide
crack separated him from his parents and there was no way for him to reach them except by flying to
them.

Question 7.
Do you think that the young sea-gull’s parents were cruel?
Answer:
The young sea-gull’s parents were not cruel to him. They had great love for it. They wanted to
motivate the bird to fly.

Question 8.
Can you justify the attitude of the parents?
Answer: .
The parents wanted to teach him how to fly. For this he must have confidence and a feeling of self-
reliance. The parents would not live for ever. They wanted to make him self-reliant and earn food for
himself.

Question 9.
Your parents sometimes behave in the same manner. They may seem cruel and unrelenting. Does it
mean that they do not love you?
Answer:
Our parents sometimes behave in this cruel and unrelenting manner. This is only to make us self-
reliant. It is not because they do not love us. They want to train us to become independent and self-
reliant. If they fail to act this way, We are likely to become helpless in life. Their actions may seem to
be cruel, but they are never cruel.

Question 10.
What prompted the young seagull to fly finally?
Answer:
It was extreme hunger that made the young seagull fly at last. The mother bird had a piece of fish
between her beaks, but she wanted him to come flying to it.

Question 11.
Why was the young bird terrified? How did it overcome its fear?
Answer:
The young sea-gull dived at the fish that was in his mother’s beak. When he dived he fell outwards
and downwards into the space. The wind was brushing against his breast and he was terrified. His
wings opened suddenly and began to cut through the air. He was not falling now. Thus he overcame
his fear.

Question 12.
How did the family support the young seagull?
Answer:
The mother flew past him. The father flew over him. His two brothers and sister flew around him. All
members of the family supported him in their own way.

Question 13.
Why couldn’t the young seagull stand on the green sea?
Answer:
The young seagull could not stand on the green sea because his legs would go down the water. But
when his belly touched the water, it would not sink.

Question 14.
Do you think that the bird’s parents loved him? Why?
Answer:
The bird’s parents loved him. They wanted to teach him how to be courageous and self confident.
They wanted him to fly. The mother came with a piece of fish to tempt him into flight. When he flew at
last the whole family expressed their joy by flying with him.

Activity I: Read And Respond (Textbook Page No. 13-14)

Question 1.
What is the theme of the story?
Answer:
The theme of the story is the need for building self reliance in young people.

Question 2.
What do you think is the real crisis faced by the young bird?
Answer:
The real crisis faced by the young bird was lack of confidence and his fear to go out of its nest.

Question 3.
What is your impression of the reaction of the parents in the story?
Answer:
The parents love their young child and want him to be self-reliant. They use clever tricks to make the
bird fly. The mother tempts him by bringing a piece of fish very near him and forces him to fly and get
it. He dives for the fish. His wings open suddenly and he begins to fly. They succeed in their attempt
and are extremely happy at it.

Question 4.
Identify the words or expressions used in the story to express thoughts, attitudes, movements,
sounds, emotions, appearance, descriptions of the birds/ places, etc.
Answer:
Places:
The great expanse of the sea stretched down beneath. The rough dirt-caked straw nest The ledge
ended in a sheer fall of precipice. A deep wide crack, A vast green sea beneath, etc.

Birds:
He (the young sea-gull) had taken a little run of the ledge and attempted to flap the wings. He failed to
muster up courage.His father and mother had come around calling to him shrilly scolding and
threatening him. He then trotted back, etc.

Question 5.
Do you think that such expressions make the narrative more effective and engage your interest and
attention?
Answer:
These expressions do make the piece interesting and engage my attention.

Question 6.
What is the message of the story?
Answer:
The message of the story is that if we should succeed in life, we have to become courageous and
self-reliant from a young age
Activity II: Review (Textbook Page No. 14)

Question 1.
Based on the discussion, prepare a review of the story
Answer:
Liam O ‘Flaherty’s “His First Flight” is a little story with a great message. It emphasizes the
importance of building up confidence and self -reliance at an early age. The seagull family consisted
of five members, father, mother, three sons and a daughter. All except the young sea-gull could fly.
Their parents trained them and they developed confidence and self reliance. But the young seagull
was afraid to fly. His parents shouted at him, scolded him and even threatened him with starvation.
But he preferred to stay at his dirty nest. Heat and hunger troubled him. His mother came close to him
carrying a piece of fish in her beak. The young bird at last leaps forward to get the fish. He fell
outwards and downwards in the space.

The wind rushed against his breast feathers and the stomach and the wings. Soon the wings opened.
They began to cut the air. He then landed on the sea. His feet began to sink. But when his belly
touched the water, he would not sink further. This made him confident. His parents and his brothers
and sister joined him. They were extremely happy. The story is told in simple language. The dramatic
situations in the story attract the readers. The writer has made the story so homely that we feel that it
is the story of a human family. The message it conveys is splendid. The loving and caring parents,
the affectionate brothers and sister and the innocent young sea-gull seem to be our dear ones.

Activity III: Tree Diagram (Textbook Page No. 14)

• Read the story once again. Identify the factors that prevented the seagull from flying and those that
favoured his flight. Now, complete the tree diagram.
Answer:

Activity IV: Think And Respond (Textbook Page No. 14)

Question 1.
Do you believe that you also can fly high in your life?
Answer:
I do believe that I also can fly high in life if I work hard with determination and get proper
encouragement from my people.

Question 2.
What sort of support do you except from your family?
Answer:
I expect moral, financial and psychological support from my parents.

Question 3.
Can their support alone help you in fullfiling your ambition?
Answer:
No. First of all I must have an ambition. I must work hard to achieve it. I must develop confidence and
self reliance. Then with the support of my family and the support of my teachers and my friends I will
fulfill my ambition.

Question 4.
What do you think are the requirements to attain success in life? Write them below:
Answer:

• Determination
• Hard work
• Perseverance
• Support from family and friends
• Confidence
• Intellect
• Material resources
• Faith in God

His First Flight Exam Oriented Questions & Answers

Questions Based On Passages

Question 1.
But when she was just opposite to him, abreast of the ledge, she halted, her legs hanging limp, her
wings motionless, the piece of fish in her beak almost within reach of his break.

Question a.
Who is ‘she’ referred to in the sentence?
Answer:
The she referred to here is the mother of the young seagull.

Question b.
Why did she remain in the air without giving the piece of fish to the young sea-gull?
Answer:
She wanted the young seagull to fly and get the fish.

Question c.
Don’t you think that the mother was cruel to the young sea-gull? Write a paragraph on why parents
sometimes behave so. Are they really cruel to their children?
Answer:
The parents sometimes behave in a cruel manner because they want to make their children self-
reliant. It does not mean that they do not love you. It is because they love you that they want you to
become independent and self-reliant. At times they have to pretend to be cruel. Some time they scold
you. They do such things to make you active and successful in life.

Question 2.
“He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer, and then maddened by
hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream, he fell outwards and downwards into space. His
mother had swooped upwards. As he passed beneath her, he heard the swish of her wings”.

Question a.
Who is ‘she’ referred to here?
Answer:
The ‘she’ referred to here is the mother of the seagull

Question b.
What prompted the young seagull to fly finally?
Answer:
It was hunger that prompted the young sea-gull to fly finally

Question c.
Write a paragraph about the role of parents in helping children attain their goal.
Answer:
It is the responsibility of parents to help their children attain their goal. As Children you may not
always take things seriously. Some times the parents will scold their children; sometime they may
deny their demands, etc. though it may be thought as cruelty from their part, they do such things out
of love for their children. They are always concerned about their children’s future.

Question 3.
“He answered her with another scream. Then, his father flew over him screaming. Then, he saw his
two brothers and sister around him, soaring and diving”

Question a.
Who is the ‘he’ in the passage?
Answer:
‘He’ in the passage is the young seagull

Question b.
What is the mood of the seagull’s family expressed in the passage?
Answer:
The whole seagull family is extremely happy. The father, mother, brothers and sister jointly partake
the joy.

Question c.
How does your family support you?
Answer:
All my family members support me in the best manner. It is my father who earns the money needed
for my education. My mother prepares food for me. She also washes my clothes and looks after me.
My elder brother helps and encourages me in my studies. My little sister is also very cooperative.
Thus my father, mother, brother and sister help me in their own way.

His First Flight About the author

Liam O ‘Flaherty (1896-1984) was an Irish novelist and short-story writer. His stories are interesting
because they contain a psychological insight into life’s problems and the way to solve them.

His First Flight Summary in English

There was a family of sea-gulls. It consisted of six members-father, mother, three brothers and one
sister. All the children had started flying except one. He was afraid to fly because he thought that his
wings would never support him. All effort made by his parents to make him fly failed. At first he fed
himself on the dried pieces of fish. Then there was nothing to eat. He felt terribly hungry. The whole
family flew away. He was left alone on the rock. He saw his mother tearing and eating a fish. Taking
pity on her child, she flew towards him carrying a piece of fish in her beak. As she came near the rock
she became motionless in the air. The young seagull was mad with hunger. He dived at the piece of
fish. He made his way in space without opening his wings. He heard the swish of his mother’s wings.
This situation lasted for a moment. Soon his wings opened and he started to fly easily. He flapped his
wings and started curvetting, soaring, banking and diving without any fear. The entire family became
very happy.
His First Flight Summary in Malayalam
His First Flight Glossary