The new textbook for grade nine accommodates 12 chapters such as Opinion Matters, Nature’s Tapestry, The Sense of Beauty, Tones in Statements, expressing a Solution to a Problem, The Art of Expressing Comparisons, The Power of Inclusive Language, Imaginations, A Journey Through Explanatory Texts, Understanding a Cause and Exploring its Effects, The Last Leaf and Macbeth excluding the 13th chapter that contains appendix.

A chapter like ‘Opinion Matters’ proves useful for developing students’ creative faculties as it gives them scope for exercising and utilising their brains and thoughts. Facts are statements that can be objectively proven, while opinions reflect personal and subjective feelings.

In ‘Crossing the Bar’- a poem by Tennyson talks about death and the journey into the afterlife using symbols from nature like sunset, evening star, sea, tide, foam, twilight, evening bell, and flood to explain his feelings and ideas.

John Keat’s poem ‘On the Grasshopper and Cricket’ full of auditory imagery makes the students familiar with the features of the poet’s poems dealing with sensual imagery and exploration of beauty and morality. The chapter titled ‘The Sense of Beauty’ explains the argumentative essay which is a genre of writing in which we argue for a reason or case. It requires us to investigate a topic or an issue from different angles to know about the strengths and weaknesses of that issue. This chapter also says, ‘Beauty is not only something we see, it is rather something with a pretty soul, beautiful thoughts and beautiful literature.’

In the chapter on ‘The Art of Expressing Comparisons’, the effort to make the students familiar with organic and non-organic foods deserves appreciation. A food product that is free from any artificial additives such as preservatives, flavouring, sweeteners, and colouring is known as organic food that contains high quantities of antioxidants compared to non-organic foods. Organic foods with high antioxidants are helpful for the body due to their role in reducing the risk of developing chronic illness. Non-organic foods contain some toxic pesticides, such as cadmium which is absent in the case of organic food.

The Power of Inclusive Language must be a very helpful and useful chapter that talks about language which is considered as a potential tool to express one’s thoughts and ideas.

In conversations, sometimes people use specific words, sentences or a way of expression to show his/her authority or superiority over others. Their tone of voice tells that they are in a higher position. Instrumental Power refers to a kind of position that people hold because of who they are. They do not always need to convince or satisfy anyone because of their position. Influential power is just the opposite of instrumental power.

Imagery is a language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in the minds of the readers through their senses. Both similes and metaphors are two forms of imagery that the authors use to allow the readers to clearly see, touch, taste, smell, and hear what is happening in a literary text. A simile is a figure of speech, and it is mainly used to compare two or more things that possess a similar quality.

We say as white as milk, black like hair, brave like a lion, busy like bees, as fast as a cheetah to make our language more interesting, descriptive, and creative. Metaphors are a powerful tool in language and can help learners better understand complex ideas and express themselves more creatively. 

Unlike similes, which use “like”, “as…as” or “as” to make a comparison, metaphors state that one thing is another. It is actually a direct ‘simile’. When we say “Life is a journey”, is a metaphor that compares life to a journey.

In the ‘The Last Leaf ‘ students have been asked a series of questions such as ‘Which story book have you read recently, what type/types of books do you like to read usually, which features of the text like plot, characters, theme attracts you the most, have you read any story, play or poem that inspires you, if yes, what is that and how did it inspire you, which story, play or poem you want to suggest to your friends for reading and why. These questions seem to be reasonable to make students engaged and thoughtful.

However, the fact is today’s students of grade nine with some possible exceptions do not read any book beyond their texts. Maybe, they can at least read a short story that is also on Facebook. So, a new type of question or mixed question should have been introduced without directly putting the students into shame that they have not read any book. They also do not know what mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, drama, folktale or short story is. Teachers can give some synopsis of some books and then can ask students whether they have read any book of such type.
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The writer is President, English Teachers’
Association of Bangladesh (ETAB).
Email:[email protected]