Hornbill English Class XI Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, literary concepts, and specialized terminology from the Class XI Hornbill English textbook.

National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005

A guideline recommending that children's life at school must be linked to their life outside the school, discouraging rote learning.

Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic

The solemn resolution of the people of India to constitute the nation into this specific form of government, as stated in the Preamble.

A veritable bedlam of chirrupings

A phrase used in 'The Portrait of a Lady' to describe the intense noise and confusion created by hundreds of sparrows feeding in the verandah.

Fables of the Prophets

Stories about religious teachers or messengers that the grandmother told children, often regarded by them as myths or legends.

Expanse of pure white serenity

A description of the author's grandmother, likening her to a winter landscape in the mountains, breathing peace and contentment.

Turning-point

A moment in a relationship or story where a significant change occurs; in the text, it refers to when the author and his grandmother moved to the city.

Accepted her seclusion with resignation

The grandmother's quiet and calm acceptance of being lonely or separated from others as the author grew older.

Transient feet

A poetic expression from 'A Photograph' referring to the short-lived or temporary nature of human life compared to the relatively unchanging sea.

Honing our seafaring skills

Spending time practicing and perfecting the abilities required for traveling across the sea.

Storm jib

A small, strong triangular sail used on a ship during heavy winds or storms to maintain control.

Mayday calls

International radio distress signals used by ships and aircraft to request immediate assistance in life-threatening situations.

Forensic reconstruction

The process of using scientific data, such as a CT scan, to build an accurate representation of a person's face and body after death.

Pharaoh

A ruler in ancient Egypt; the text focuses on the teenage ruler, King Tutankhamun.

Computed Tomography (CT)

A medical imaging technique that uses hundreds of X-rays in cross-section to create a three-dimensional virtual body.

Laburnum

A short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers, and poisonous seeds, appearing silent and still until a bird arrives.

Goldfinch

A small singing bird with yellow feathers on its wings that brings life and noise to the laburnum tree.

Illusionistic likeness

A style of European painting that aims to create a perfect, realistic representation of the physical world.

Shanshui

Literally 'mountain-water', a Chinese term for landscape representing two complementary poles (Yang and Yin) reflecting a Daoist view of the universe.

Art brut

Also known as 'raw art', referring to works created by self-taught or 'untrained' artists, such as Nek Chand’s Rock Garden.

Impalpable

Something that cannot be touched or felt by physical touch, used to describe the rising of the rain in Walt Whitman's poem.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The world's most dangerous animal

A notice at a cage in the Lusaka zoo that reveals a mirror, signifying that humans are the greatest threat to the planet.

Inter alia

A Latin phrase meaning 'among other things'.

Sadist

A person who derives pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others.

Catastrophe theory

A mathematical and scientific theory that studies sudden shifts in behavior arising from small changes in circumstances.

Bakhars

Historical narratives or accounts, specifically referenced in 'The Adventure' regarding Maratha history.

Kora

A Tibetan word for a religious pilgrimage or circuit made by a believer, such as the one around Mount Kailash.

Drokba

A Tibetan term referring to a nomad or a person who tends flocks in the mountain plains.

Prodigal

Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastrel. Used in the poem 'Father to Son' to describe a returning child.

Note-making

A study skill used to record the main points of a text for future personal reference, usually written in phrases rather than full sentences.