JK Academy 1.1 A Time to Believe
– B J Morbitzer
A Time to believe – Question Bank
Warming up:
1. Think, choose and fill up the labels with what a ‘sunrise’ symbolizes.
(jewellery / art / hope / birth / anger / new opportunities / good manners / inspiration / new achievements / happiness / misery / bright moments / new aims / money / new surprises)
2. An acrostic is a poem or a write-up in which the first letter of each line forms a word, when it is read vertically.
For example,
Faithful
Reliable
Inspiring
Encouraging
Noble
Dedicated
With your benchmate / group, complete the acrostic of BELIEVE and FAITH.
(Please note that the words / phrases should be more or less related to the topic. You can use a thesaurus.)
Be certain of Friends
Every Are
Little Incredibly
Inspiration Trustworthy
Experience Honest and helpful.
Virtue
Envisage
Generally a thesaurus is a reference book that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning.
(Containing synonyms and sometimes antonyms)
1.1 A Time to Believe
– B J Morbitzer
‘‘To believe is to know that
everyday is a new beginning.
Is to trust that miracles happen,
and dreams really do come true.
To believe is to see angels
dancing among the clouds.
To know the wonder of a stardust
sky and the wisdom of the man in the moon.
To believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart,
The innocence of a child’s eyes
and the beauty of an aging hand,
for it is through their teachings, we learn to love.
To believe is to find the strength
and courage that lies within us,
When it is time to pick up
the pieces and begin again.
To believe is to know
we are never alone,
That life is a gift
and this is our time to cherish it.
To believe is to know
that wonderful surprises are just
waiting to happen,
And all our hopes and dreams are within reach.
If only we believe.’’
Paraphrasing:
The poet begins by saying that to believe is to know that every day is a new day with a new beginning. It means to trust that miracles do happen and dreams do come true.
To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds. It is to know the beauty and magical quality of a sky filled with stars, and to accept the wisdom of the man in the moon.
To believe is to know the value of someone who nurtures us and looks after us. It is to recognize the innocence in a child’s eyes, and to acknowledge the beauty of a person who is growing old. It is through the teachings of these old people that we learn to love.
To believe means to know and find the strength and courage that is within us all, especially when it is time to get over a shock or disaster and return to normal once again.
To believe means to know that we are never alone, and that life is a gift that we must value and protect.
Finally, the poet says that to believe means to know that wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen, and all our hopes and dreams are within reach. All we must do is have a positive approach to life and believe in ourselves.
Summary
1st stanza
The poet begins by explaining to us that we should believe that every day is a new beginning and we should forget whatever happened yesterday. The sun rise of a new day brings new hope.
He further states that we must trust and surrender to our fate and believe that miracles will surely happen and therefore, all our dreams, wishes, and aspirations will come true.
2nd stanza
Here the poet takes us into an imaginary world and says that to believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds. When we look at the sky we are always fascinated by the day sky and the night sky. During the day we see patterns among the clouds. And so the poet leads us to imagine that there are angels dancing among the clouds. In other words the poet wants us forget all our worries and be happy like the dancing angels. The proverb that comes to our mind is ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ i.e. behind every cloud (problem) there is, a silver lining (happy moment)
He also tells us that just like the night-sky that is full of stars that looks magical as if someone has sprinkled dust of shinning stars, so also we must believe that our life will have a magical turn and all our problems will change to happy moments. The poet also mentions about the wisdom of the man in the moon. When we look at the moon we sometimes see an image of a person. There are numerous traditional stories woven behind this and one of them is that, there is a wise old man sitting in the moon. So the poet wants us to imagine us to be wise like that old man believe that everything will be alright.
3rd stanza
Nurturing means caring. So the people who nurture us are our parents, teachers and guardians. The poet tells us that we should believe and value everything that they tell us because it is through their love and vast experience that they give us their advice. Just like the little child is so innocent that it believes everything that is told without raising any questions so also we just surrender ourselves to our elders.
The poet also mentions about the beauty in the aging hands. He wants to say that old people are so beautiful they are so caring and loving. They have abundant store of knowledge and wisdom which they have acquired through years of hard work and toil. And so we should listen to them, as through their teaching we can learn to love one another.
4th stanza
The poet tells us that to believe means to find strength, courage, motivation and inspiration that is present in each one of us. It means that we all are brave and courageous and we do not require any outside help. We can draw the strength from within us.
The poet also states that whenever we may fall that is whenever we may encounter failure, we must just dust ourselves and get up and continue our normal life. We should not loose hope but begin all over again. The proverb ‘Try and try till you succeed’ comes to one’s mind when we read this stanza.
5th stanza
The poet continues explaining that to believe is to know that we are never alone. Whenever we encounter failure we may want to know why did it happen to me. But the poet tells us to remember that we are not alone in facing failure. There are many people like us who have not been successful. Failure is the stepping stone to success.
He tells us that our life does not belong to us, but it is a gift from God, so we do not have any right over it. Since it is a gift given to us, we should cherish it, and take good care of it, for like a gift we receive, our life is also a gift given with love.
6th stanza
In the 6th and the final stanza the poet, Morbitzer, tells that we should believe that wonderful surprises are waiting round the corner. We know that life is full of surprises; nobody knows what awaits us next. So the poet tells us, all our hopes, our dreams, our wishes and our desires will surely come true.
He leaves us with a thoughtful note in the last line, saying, “If only we believe.” That is to say that we should have the strong will power to believe in our dreams and only then will our wishes manifest and come true.
Meanings:
stardust : having a magical quality
nurturing : providing nourishment, care and protection
aging : growing old
pick up the pieces : return to normal after a shock or disaster
cherish : hold something as very dear and of great value
within reach : possible to achieve
English Workshop:
1. (A) Rearrange the letters to make meaningful words, occurring in the poem.
(1) clearmis miracles
(2) sowmid wisdom
(3) gearuoc courage
(4) rissupser surprises
(5) tabyue beauty
(6) madres dreams
(7) laveu value
(8) downre wonder
(B) Write words from the poem that describe the following.
(1) sky stardust sky
(2) heart nurturing heart
(3) hand ageing hand
(4) beginning new beginning
(5) surprises wonderful surprises
2. Say WHY. . . . .
(a) the sky has a magical quality.
Ans. Because there are angel dancing among the clouds, there is stardust and a wise man sitting in the moon.
(b) even an aging hand has beauty.
Ans. Because they have abundant store of knowledge and wisdom which they have acquired through years of hard work and toil. They are also beautiful because they teach us to love.
(c) we should believe that we are strong and courageous.
Ans. Because all have the in-built qualities love, compassion, courage and strength and whenever things go wrong, these qualities will help us to pick up the pieces and begin again.
3. Make a list of any six things that the poet wants us to accept as true.
(a) that every day is a new beginning
(b) that miracles happen
(c) that dreams come true
(d) that there are angels dancing among the clouds
(e) that we have the strength and courage within us
(f) that wonderful surprises are waiting to happen
4. Find from the poem, positive qualities to fill up the web.
5. Read the lines below.
(A) ‘To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds’. The above line contain a human characteristic ‘dancing’ given to something non – human, ‘angels’. The Figure of Speech used in the line is called ‘Personification’.
(B) ‘To believe is to know that
Everyday is a new beginning’.
(C) To believe is to know ………. life is a gift
Lines in poetry, such as the above, state a general truth and can be used as sayings or quotes etc. They contain the Figure of Speech called Epigram. Epigram closely resembles a proverb.
Find from the poem three other examples of Epigram.
Is to trust that miracles happen, and dreams really do come true.
To believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart.
The innocence of a child’s eyes and the beauty of an aging hand.
To believe is to find the strength and courage that lies within us.
To believe is to know we are never alone.
That life is a gift and this is our time to cherish it.
To believe is to know that wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen.
And all our hopes and dreams are within reach.
Complete the following sentences from the poem.
(1) To believe is to know that everyday is a new beginning.
(2) To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds.
(3) To believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart.
(4) To believe is to find the strength and courage that lies within us.
(5) To believe is to know we are never alone.
(6) To believe is to know that wonderful surprises are just waiting to
happen.
Write the Appreciation of the poem ‘A Time to Believe’.
Ans.
[1] Poem and poet:
‘A Time to Believe’ by B.J. Morbitzer.
[2] Theme:
The main theme of the poem ‘A Time to Believe’ is to have faith and believe in ourselves. It is an inspirational and motivational poem which tells us to always be positive and that we can achieve all our hopes and dreams with faith and self belief.
[3] Tone:
Thought provoking, serious and motivational is the tone of the Poem.
[4] Structure and stanzas:
The poem has 4 lines in each stanza, except in the last stanza, which has 5 lines.
[5] Rhyme and Rhythm:
The poem is written in free verse so there is no rhyme scheme.
[6] Language and Imagery:
The language is straightforward, direct and very simple. The instances of imagery are of ‘angels dancing among the clouds’ and the ‘stardust sky’
[7] Figures of Speech:
Personification: To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds.
Epigram: To believe is to know that everyday is a new beginning.
Repetition: the wisdom of the man in the moon
Alliteration: Is to trust that miracles happen.
Metaphor: That life is a gift
Imagery: To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds.
Read the poem and answer the following:
Q1: What should one know and trust every day?
Ans: One should know and trust that every day is a new beginning, that miracles happen and dreams really do come true.
Q2: What are the two super natural references in the second stanza?
Ans: The two super natural references in the second stanza are the angels and the man in the moon.
Q3: What two qualities are needed to recover, after a shocking event?
Strength and courage are the two qualities that are needed after a shocking event.
Q4: What kind of attitude does the poet advise everybody to have?
In the poem ‘A time to believe’ poet B J Morbitzer advises us to have a optimistic attitude. And tells us that every day is a new beginning and miracles do happen.
Q5: Write in about 10 -15 lines on your future goal in life.
A Time to believe – Question Bank
When our hopes and dreams come true
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Thnx for giving this important syllabus question answers for helping students
This is very helpful💜