Stories and poems are among the most powerful tools for teaching morals and life lessons. They engage our emotions and imagination, making it easier to understand important values like honesty, courage, hard work, kindness, and wisdom.
In this course, you will read simple yet meaningful stories and poems commonly found in school and college textbooks. After each reading, you will find questions and answers designed to test your comprehension and deepen your understanding of the moral lessons.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
-
Understand and interpret simple stories and poems.
-
Identify the moral or lesson behind each story or poem.
-
Reflect on how these lessons apply to your own life.
-
Develop critical thinking through thoughtful questions.
🐦 1. The Thirsty Crow
📖 Story
One hot summer day, a crow was very thirsty. It searched everywhere but could not find water to drink. Finally, it saw a pitcher with some water at the bottom. The water level was too low for the crow to reach with its beak.
The clever crow picked up small stones and dropped them into the pitcher, one by one. As the stones filled the pitcher, the water level rose higher until the crow could drink the water and quench its thirst.
💡 Moral: Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Using intelligence and perseverance helps overcome difficulties.
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: Why was the crow thirsty?
A1: Because it was a hot day and there was no water available nearby.
Q2: How did the crow manage to drink the water?
A2: By dropping stones into the pitcher to raise the water level.
Q3: What lesson does this story teach us?
A3: That determination and cleverness can help solve problems.
Q4: Can you give an example when you used cleverness to solve a problem?
A4: (Open-ended for personal reflection)
🌲 2. The Honest Woodcutter
📖 Story
A poor woodcutter was chopping trees near a river. Suddenly, his axe slipped from his hand and fell into the river. He was very sad because he had no money to buy a new one.
Seeing this, the river god appeared and asked if the lost axe was made of gold or silver. The god first showed a golden axe, but the woodcutter said it wasn’t his. Then the god showed a silver axe, but again, the woodcutter refused. Finally, the god showed the old iron axe, which the woodcutter accepted as his.
Pleased by his honesty, the god gave the woodcutter all three axes as a reward.
💡 Moral: Honesty is the best policy. Truthfulness is always rewarded.
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: What did the woodcutter lose in the river?
A1: His axe.
Q2: What did the river god do to test the woodcutter?
A2: The god showed him a golden, a silver, and an iron axe to see which one he would claim.
Q3: Why did the god reward the woodcutter?
A3: Because he was honest and did not lie about the axes.
Q4: Why is honesty important in life?
A4: It builds trust and respect and leads to good relationships.
🐜 3. The Ant and the Grasshopper
📖 Story
During summer, the hardworking ant collected food and stored it for winter. The grasshopper spent his time singing and playing instead of preparing for the cold season.
When winter came, the grasshopper had no food and was hungry. He asked the ant for help. The ant reminded him that he should have worked hard during the summer.
💡 Moral: Prepare today for tomorrow. Hard work and planning are necessary for success.
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: How did the ant prepare for winter?
A1: By collecting and storing food during the summer.
Q2: What did the grasshopper do instead?
A2: He sang and played and did not work.
Q3: What happened when winter came?
A3: The grasshopper had no food and became hungry.
Q4: What lesson can you learn from this story?
A4: Always be prepared and work hard for the future.
💎 4. The Necklace (by Guy de Maupassant)
📖 Story
Madame Loisel dreamed of a rich life but was poor. She borrowed a beautiful diamond necklace from her friend Madame Forestier to wear to a ball. After the event, she lost the necklace and bought a similar one by borrowing money.
She and her husband worked hard for ten years to repay the debt. Later, Madame Loisel met Madame Forestier and learned the original necklace was a fake and not worth much.
💡 Moral: Be content with what you have and avoid pretending to be someone else.
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: Why was Madame Loisel unhappy?
A1: Because she wanted to be rich and live a luxurious life, but was poor.
Q2: What did she borrow for the ball?
A2: A diamond necklace from Madame Forestier.
Q3: What mistake did she make?
A3: She lost the necklace and replaced it without telling the truth.
Q4: What is the moral of the story?
A4: Pride and dishonesty cause unnecessary suffering; honesty and contentment are better.
✍️ 5. “If—” by Rudyard Kipling
📜 Poem
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: What qualities does the poem say are important to become a “Man”?
A1: Patience, trust in oneself, honesty, courage, and perseverance.
Q2: How should one deal with success and failure?
A2: Treat both triumph and disaster as impostors and keep a balanced mind.
Q3: What does “fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run” mean?
A3: Make the best use of every moment.
🌳 6. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
📜 Poem
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
❓ Question-Answer Worksheet
Q1: What do the two roads symbolize?
A1: Different choices or paths in life.
Q2: Why does the speaker choose the road “less traveled by”?
A2: To make a unique choice that defines his life.
Q3: What is the message of the poem?
A3: Our choices are important and shape who we become.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment