WILD DUCK

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
●● note the contrast and similarity between the two characters.
●● identify that the title introduces the story.
●● note the bird as a representative of a species.
●● infer that the bird is a teacher.
●● interpret the relevance of the theme.

Pre-reading
1. What does the title tell you about the story?
2. What do you know about wild creatures being endangered?
3. Do you think we should be concerned? Explain your viewpoint.

Understanding the Text Discuss:

Read the text / Play the audio from the Smart Book.
“They will come from over there,”…flying much too
high.”
Ask students:
What is the setting in the story? (A man and his son
are in a boat, not sailing, but waiting expectantly
with guns as if they are on a hunting trip.) How is
suspense introduced? (We are not told who or what
would be coming over the hill. But the man and child
are waiting with guns in a still boat.) What is the
man teaching his son? (He is teaching him to shoot
whatever will appear in the horizon.) What kind of
mood is building up? (There is a mood of sadness
through the contrast between the calm beauty in
Nature and Man’s preparation to desecrate it. The
beauty of the vibrant orange and red with a touch
of purple in the calm afternoon sky is set against the
sinister blue barrel of the boy’s gun and his father’s
advice to shoot fast.) How did the father fare when
he shot at the birds? (He fired all his pellets at the
birds but missed them. He said they were flying too
high for him to get any.)
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How does the boy respond to the teals in flight?
Why? (He watches them fascinated at they appear
on the horizon because bird-watching is his passion.)
How are the father and son contrasted? (The
father is focussed on teaching the son to hunt the
birds, while the son is mesmerised by the beauty of
countless teals flying in perfect formation.) Why is
the flight of the teals described in such detail? (It is
described to enable us to enjoy their instinct to fly in
formation and to appreciate the world of Nature so
that we may realise how mindlessly we desecrate that
beauty for our sport.)
His son slowly raised his rifle…The duck looked blank.
Ask students:
Why was the son successful? (His aim was steadier
and also, he aimed at only one, the leader, and
brought it down.) What are the two things that
make us appreciate the birds? (1. All of them know
their destination and fly towards it in formation.
2. Any one of them takes over as leader should
anything happen to the one who is leading; all of
them know instinctively how to lead.)

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 What does this tell us about the birds in relation to
human beings? (We may conquer or overpower some
birds by shooting them. But we can observe the innate
ability of the species to handle the loss and move on.)
What did the boy do after he shot the bird? (He
retrieved it from among the bulrushes.) Why is the
wounded bird described in such great detail? (To
show how helpless the wounded bird was and how
the boy would have felt when he picked it up) Why
was the boy silent when his father praised him to
shooting the bird? (He thought the big bird was dead
as it lay helpless and he was shocked at the enormity
of his crime in killing the bird, all for his sporting
pleasure.) How did he feel when the bird raised its
head? (He was relieved that the bird was not dead. It
made him feel better that he had not killed it.)
The boy stroked its head… he was relieved the gun
had gone.
Ask students:
What did he plan to do with the bird? (He wanted
to take care of it, nursing it back to health.) Why did
the boy throw away his gun? (It was a weapon
of destruction and a reminder that he had used
Post-reading
Discussion:
1. Hold an exhibition on Bird Conservation.
2. Make posters and collages on the theme.
3. Hold discussions with visitors.
Appreciating the Text
The theme is conservation of the environment. It
deals with the conflict between the two concepts
of Man as the conqueror and the preserver.
The conflict is between the two characters as well
as within each character.
1. Between the father and son:
The father represents a previous generation
when hunting was considered a masculine
sport. He gifts his son with a gun, a symbol of
his manly prowess, and also instructs him so
well that the boy brings down the bird with
one shot. His performance is contrasted with
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it against a helpless bird. It made him see himself
as a cruel person killing a beautiful creature for
his pleasure. He was ashamed of himself and so
he decided he would never use it again.) Why was
his father angry with him initially? (He could not
understand how his son could have thrown away
a good gun, perhaps a new one. Also, the gun had
enabled him to know he could be a good hunter
someday.)
Discuss:
Why did the father feel a sense of peace? (When he
thought about his son’s action, he realised that his son
was against hunting for sport and killing for pleasure.
And he felt relieved that the boy had the courage to
throw away a prized possession for a good purpose.)
Who was the better teacher of the two? (The son
was the better teacher. While the father taught the
son the skill of hunting, the son showed the father
the grace to respect life and to feel shame instead of
pride in being able to hunt for sport.) How is the teal’s
situation described? (It flaps its wings trying to fly
but can never do so because of the damaged wing.)
that of the father who fails despite emptying
all his bullets. However, instead of feeling a
sense of pride in his accomplishment, the boy
feels shame at what he has done to the bird.
He throws away his gun, almost as an act of
defiance against his father.
2. Within the son:
He has come on this hunting trip to learn a
sport that was considered a rite of passage
into adulthood. However, he is also sensitive
enough to be aware of a daily natural pattern
in the beauty of the evening sky and the
seasonal pattern of migrating birds. He has
an inner conflict between his social prestige
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 as a potential huntsman and his moral
responsibility to preserve the natural balance.
Additionally, his deeper instincts prevail.
3. Within the father:
Initially, the father cannot understand his son
throwing away his gift of a gun, a symbol of
manhood. But then, he understands his son’s
point of view and respects it. He finds his peace
in accepting a new way of looking at manhood,
thanks to his son.
4. Though the father and son are initially
contrasted, there is a similarity between them.
Both of them are happy with the son’s decision
never to use his gun again.
The role of the teal is essential as a teaching
point, at the cost of losing its natural skill and
its identity as a flying bird,
●● It represents the harmony between the
individual and the community among birds.
●● It shows that there is no one-upmanship
between birds. They are community-oriented.
Each of them is equipped to guide the rest and
take over in case of a crisis.
●● It teaches the boy the extent of human
despicability in hunting for pleasure.
The use of metaphor and simile provides graphic
visual images for the whole species flying in
unison, which is contrasted with the lone bird shot
down. The species is initially a ribbon of black dots
that becomes huge clouds. But the bird the boy
shoots down loses its very identity as a bird with its
broken wing, pointing at the sky like the ragged sail
of a toy boat.

Grammar in Usage more uses of the, zero article

Recap definite and indefinite articles with students.
The use of the
●● The is a definite article. It is used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the person
speaking and the listener know. Example: The boy over there runs fast.
●● The is used when we speak of something or someone for the second time. Example: I saw a film.
The film was interesting
●● Sometimes we use the to mean different things.
Example: He drank the water. (specific water / some particular water)
He drank water. (any water)
●● The is also used in a noun phrase with the structure the of . Example: the paw of the dog

Activity
Give students a passage from the textbook and ask them to underline the articles.

Zero Article
Tell students:
●● We do not use an article
a. with names of books, sports, games, countries, states, provinces, lakes and mountains except
when the country is a collection of states. Example: The United States
He lives in Nepal near Mount Everest.
b. with plurals and uncountable nouns to talk about things in general. Example: He likes
chocolates.

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 Activity
Pair students.
Tell students
●● to work together with their partner to write 10 things they plan to do for the weekend.
●● to use a / an / the / zero article / quantifiers.
Example: Go to the beach, Have a haircut
Guide students to do the exercise given in the Reader.

Words in Use synonyms

Write on the board:

1. swelled horizon
2. held by magic passion
3. a deep and strong interest backyard
4. made a sound by forcing air through the lips maimed
5. the edge of the sky spellbound
6. seriously injured stretch
7. unbalanced billowed
8. behind a house whistled
9. use the full length lopsided

●● Tell students to match the two columns which are closest in meaning.
●● Now take it a step further and ask them to make sentences with the words in the second column.

Listening post-listening: audio guide

Tell students to listen to a talk on bear hunting. Allow them time to read the questions before listening
to the audio. Tell them that they can briefly take notes while listening. Tell them that the recording will
be played only twice.
Play the audio track. Give them time to answer the questions.
Play the recording a second time and ask them to note down any details they may have missed out the
first time.
Check the answers.

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 Writing using linkers
Note: Guide students through every step but encourage them to write their own story.
Why do I describe an incident using simple linkers?
●● to show the order of events of an incident
●● to tell readers about the relationship between ideas / things
●● to combine shorter simpler sentences into longer complex ones
How do I use linkers?

Step 1: Make a list of linkers and sequencing expressions:

and, but, although, yet, even though then, after that, …

Step 2: Write an outline of an incident you would like to describe:

Example: Teacher came to the class – announced a surprise singing competition that afternoon –
students very happy – Raju very sad – very shy to sing in front of others – bell rang – teacher entered –
singing started – one by one students came to front of class to sing – some sang very well – most
went off-tune – others laughed and had fun – class very noisy – Raju’s turn – stood in front and looked
nervous – class waited – pin drop silence – teacher encouraged Raju – began to sing – students
surprised – the best voice in class.

Step 3: Flesh out the outline with relevant details, adding linkers wherever required:
Sample: Our class teacher came to the class during the lunch break (introduce the situation) and
(adding more information about what the teacher did) announced a surprise singing competition that
afternoon…
(End on a note connected with the opening sentence).

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 WORKSHEET
WILD DUCK GRAMMAR

Name of Student: Class:

A. Complete the following with a, an or the.

1. Who is boy over there holding many books?
2. I have old pen which writes very well.
3. We ate cheese sandwiches you brought for us.
4. earth moves around sun.
5. Would you like glass of milk?
6. My father bought me basketball and a pair of shoes. ball is very expensive.

B. Complete these sentences with a, an, the or x for zero article..

Have you played 1. charades before? It is 2. interesting game that can be played in two
different ways. In 3. first way, 4. audience guesses 5. word you have in 6. mind,
from 7. series of 8. clues that you give. 9. word must have two syllables or more.
In 10. second method, you act out 11. word to 12. audience.

WILD DUCK VOCABULARY

Replace the words in italics with an appropriate word of phrase from the box.

spellbound  in the backyard  horizon  passion

1. The young boy has a deep and strong interest for music.

2. The audience were held by magic when they watched the acrobats at the stadium.

3. My garden behind the house has suddenly dried up.

4. I could see the setting sun in the edge of the sky.

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 WILD DUCK WRITING

Name of Student: Class:

Pretend you are the boy’s father and write a paragraph about your hunting expedition with your
son using the linkers in the box.

In fact  when  after a while  first  later  next  and  then

I was quite excited one afternoon I set out with my son on a hunting expedition.

, I checked to see if his gun was loaded. It was my gift to him

I knew he would be proud to use it carefully. , we rowed down to the marshes

and settled down to wait with our guns. we saw the birds like a thin streak at

first and then becoming a cloud of grey blocking the sun. I asked him to take aim and shoot. He shot

down the leader. I was proud of him! However, he did not seem happy. he just

stared at it looking quite sad. , he rowed towards the fallen bird, picked it up gently

and brought it home. , he told me he would never use his gun ever again. I could

understand. I was so very proud of him!

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 ANSWER KEY TO THE WORKSHEETS

WILD DUCK
Answer key to the grammar worksheet
A. 1. the  2. an  3. the  4. The, the  5. a  6. a, The
B. 1. zero article  2. an  3. the  4. the  5. the  6. zero article  7. a
8. zero article  9. The  10. the  11. the  12. the

Answer key to the vocabulary worksheet

1. passion  2. spellbound  3. backyard  4. horizon

QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER KEY

WILD DUCK
1. Read the lines and answer the questions.
“Remember, aim well ahead. You have to imagine the flight path.”
a. Who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to ?
b. Whose flight path is he asking the person to imagine?
c. What does the speaker ask the person to do?
Answers:
a. The speaker is the father speaking to his son.
b. He is asking his son to imagine the flight path of teals.
c. He wants his son to aim and shoot the teal with one shot.

2. Answer in brief.
a. What amazed the boy when he sighted the teals in the sky?
Answer: The empty sky was suddenly filled with a number of teals that billowed out of the
horizon. The boy had a great passion for watching birds and he was spellbound as half the sky was
covered by the birds. They almost blocked the light as they were so many in number. Small groups
broke away and flew in perfect formation. The sight was breathtaking for the boy.
b. How did the boy prove to be better than his father?
Answer: They had to aim and shoot a bird down in a single shot. Father was the first one to try.
His shot only shook the boat and caused some ripples in the lake. On the contrary, his son’s steady
and patient aim could pick a single speck in the sky and the leader of one of the bird formations
was shot with precision.

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 3. Answer in detail.
What condition was the bird in when the boy located the bird? How did he feel about what he did?
Answer: The bird that the boy shot had fallen in the bulrushes. The father and the son paddled their
boat towards the place where they spotted the injured bird. The bird had a broken wing which was
pointing at the sky like a ragged sail of a toy boat. The big duck was helpless. The moment the boy
took the bird in his hands he felt frightened at his own act for he thought the bird was dead. He
breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that the bird was still alive.

4. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

What do you understand about the relationship between the father and the son from this extract?
Free response Suggested answer: The boy in the beginning seemed very submissive and acted
according to the instructions given by his father. But after he picked up the wounded, helpless big
bird in his hands, a change took place in him. He must have felt extremely guilty and decided never
to attempt bird shooting again, probably defying his father by making this decision. His father was
shocked at his son’s boldness in throwing away the gun. However, he seemed relieved at his son’s
decision, maybe because, at heart, he too did not like harming living things.

STUDENTS’ BOOK ANSWER KEY

WILD DUCK
Style Focus
(Suggested answers. Accept any logical answers.)
1. The two colours have been contrasted against each other to give us some idea of the events that are
to come. They also indicate to us that there is some conflict somewhere that will be revealed as we
read the story. The writer’s description of the gun as ‘cold blue’ makes us feel a sense of dread at the
thought of the function of the gun. His description of the sky as orange, red and mauve gives us an
image of a lake during sunset and invokes in us a feeling of awe at nature’s beauty. When we consider
these feelings together, we realise that there will probably be a clash between these two ideas.
2. The writer provides us with such striking and beautiful images of nature because he wants us to feel
as if we ourselves are on the boat, witnessing nature’s beauty for ourselves. He also wants to awaken
in us a sense of love and respect for nature.
3. “You got the leader!” the man cheered. This sentence tells us that the man believes that nature can
be conquered or overpowered. The man is proven wrong when another bird takes the place of the
fallen leader. When one defeats the leader of a group, then it is assumed that the group as a whole is
defeated because there is no leader to guide and help the group. But, in the case of the flock, nature
had equipped each bird with the ability to guide themselves and the others. Therefore, another bird
quickly came forward to lead the flock to safety, showing us that nature could not be conquered or
overpowered.
4. The writer uses the word ‘sick’ to describe how the boy feels to make us understand that the boy felt
guilty and ashamed of himself for what he had done to the duck. Here, the words ‘angry’ and ‘sad’
would not have had the same effect because they would not have captured the boy’s feelings of guilt
and shame.

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 Understanding the Text
A. (Suggested answers. Accept any logical answers.)
1. …he loved birds and enjoyed watching them.
2. …he had hunted before and knew very well how the birds would behave.
3. …he felt guilty for having shot and wounded it and felt responsible for its sorry state.
4. …the boy taught the man how to show compassion to all living beings.
B. 1. The boy showed interest in what they were doing only when the birds arrived because he was
fascinated by birds and enjoyed observing them. Bird-watching was his passion.
2. Here, the birds are beginning to fly across the lake and are arriving in flocks. They have arrived in
such large numbers that it is as if they have blotted out the light from the sun. The reflections of
these numerous birds have been cast upon the water giving it a dark colour as well.
(Suggested answer. Accept any logical answer.)
3. The boy had fired at the duck, which fell into the water. When the boy picked it up, the duck’s limp
body made him believe that it was dead—the thought that he had taken another creature’s life
frightened him.
4. No, the man did not want the boy to look after the duck. We know this because the manner in which
he said this indicated that he wanted to stop the boy from looking after the duck by implying that
it was a big responsibility. To this, the boy responded that he wanted to go home, indicating that he
was sure that he wanted to take on this responsibility. It was also a message to his father that he did
not agree with the idea of hunting. When his father persisted with his question hoping to change
his mind, the boy replied firmly, showing us that he was not willing to do so. The boy’s reaction
surprised his father who, until now, did not realise that his son felt differently about hunting.
5. a. The boy was bold enough to make a decision that went against his father and then, tell his
father the truth about what he had done. This tells us that at that point, the boy was sure about
his principles and felt brave enough to go against his father.   b. Free response
6. The father’s reaction changed from anger to relief because he now understood that the gun
represented violence against a living creature. With the gun gone, he would no longer be able to
hurt or harm another animal. He also realised that this incident made him look at animals with
compassion and thus was relieved that the gun was gone.

Appreciating the Text

1. a. i. The boy experiences a sense of conflict in his mind when he shoots the duck. We know that
he loves birds but he takes part in hunting one. This conflict becomes more obvious just
after he shoots it and then decides to look for it.
ii. The man feels a sense of conflict when the boy tells him that he has thrown the gun away.
At first, the man is angry but this anger changes to remorse at the thought of what the
gun has done. This remorse then turns into relief. Thus, the man finds himself torn between
these feelings.
b. This conflict occurs when the boy reveals that he has thrown away the gun, thus angering the
man. He is unable to understand why the boy dislikes the gun so much because to him, the
gun is something that helped the boy get close to the bird he greatly admired; he is unable to
see it as something that wounded and maimed the duck.
2. Free response

Grammar and Usage

A. 1. We are referring to the bus mentioned in the first sentence.
2. We are referring to the lesson that is going on.
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 3. We are referring to a bill for a particular round of shopping.
4. We are referring to a specific bus-station.
5. We are referring to the national anthem, of which there is only one.
B. 1.   2. the  3. a  4. a  5. the  6.   7. the  8.   9.   10. 

Words in Use
A. 1. billowed  2. spellbound  3. passion  4. whistled  5. horizon  6. maimed
7. lopsided  8. backyard  9. stretch  10. flap
B. 1. When you sit in a bullock cart, you find that you are always rocking from side to side.
2. There were no people, no houses, no roads. It was a wilderness.
3. He scores goals because his footwork is dead-on.
4. We were looking down at the city, but the aeroplane banked one way and we could only see the
sky.
5. They put the screen right in front of us, blotting the entire ground.
6. The big drops of rain made little ripples in the water.

Listening
Listening Text
Listen to this talk on hunting of bears and answer these questions.
One might expect that bears could live in peace, but hunting of bears is still permitted, even in
protected areas. Polar bears may be protected, but black bears in their natural territory are still being
killed. Bears are often gunned down by hunters near shorelines as they search for food in spring and
autumn. This also affects environment-friendly tourism because live bears generate more income for
coastal communities. Each bear killed is one less bear that tourists pay to photograph. People come
back year after year to watch the same bears and their young grow. Only a total ban on hunting will
ensure that bear populations survive. And it is time we gave these magnificent animals the true and
complete protection they need to survive.
1. because they are threatened by hunting
2. black bears
3. near shorelines during spring and autumn
4. Live bears generate more income as tourists want to photograph them and watch their young
ones grow. People come back every year to watch bears grow. Killing bears will end this.

Speaking
Free Response

Writing
Free Response

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