New vocabulary: Biography, Chronologically, Remarkable, Anatomy, Various, Genocide, Contribution, Shed, Advice, Identity.

9.1 Let's know our friends!

In pairs/groups discuss what and how you will tell your life story in front of the class. Then, write a short text about it. Later, share it with the whole class.

দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় আলোচনা করো তোমার নিজের সম্পর্কে ক্লাসের সবার সামনে বলতে চাইলে তুমি কী কী বিষয় সেখানে রাখবে এবং কীভাবে বলবে। এবারে এ নিয়ে “আমার জীবনের গল্প” শিরোনামে একটি লেখা লেখো এবং ক্লাসের সবার সাথে তা শেয়ার করো।

You can follow this given guideline or you can develop your own

guideline to write “Your Life story"

Write about your-

• Birth 

• Childhood 

• The first day at school 

• Memorable days or events of your life 

• Future plan

9.2 Read the note on "The Narrative Text". Then in pairs/groups, do the "True or False" activity.

বর্ণনামূলক লেখা নিয়ে নিচের নোটটি পড়ো। এরপর দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় সত্য-মিথ্যাটি সমাধান করো।

9.3 True or false activity:

Read the following sentences and write 'T' for True and F for False sentences. If false write the correct information.

নিচের বাক্যগুলো পড়ো এবং খাতায় লেখো। বাক্য সত্য হলে তার পাশে সত্য ও মিথ্যা হলে মিথ্যা লেখে সঠিক উত্তরটিও সাথে লেখো।

a) We use narrative texts to tell only our own stories. 

b) In a narrative text, we express our feelings, emotions and experiences. 

c) Every day we use narrative texts. 

d) We use different tenses when we tell our past events. 

e) In a narrative text, we tell events chronologically.

9.4 Now, read your text on "My Life story" once again and ask and answer the following questions in pairs/groups. Then, check your answers with other pairs/groups:

“আমার জীবনের গল্প” লেখাটি আবার পড়ো এবং নিচের প্রশ্নের উত্তর দাও। এরপর নিজেদের মাঝে খাতা অদলবদল করো।

• What type of writing is it? 

• What are the elements of a narrative text you have found in "My Life story"? 

• Describe them with an example.

9.5 It's time to read the life story of the three remarkable women in the world. Another way we can say we will read the story of the three remarkable women's life written by somebody else.

এবারে বিখ্যাত তিনজন মহীয়সী নারীর জীবনের গল্প পড়ার পালা। আমরা অন্যভাবে বলতে পারি, আমরা এবারে তিনজন নারীর জীবনী অন্য একজনের লেখনিতে পড়বো।

Now, can you write what is a Biography? 

Your answer:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Read the three biographies given below. Then, in pairs/groups match the words and phrases in column A with their meanings in column B. Then, discuss their meanings in the text. One is done for you.

নিচের অনুচ্ছেদ থেকে তিনজনের জীবনী পড়ো। এরপর দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় কলামদুটো মিল করে বাক্য রচনা করো। এরপর শব্দের অর্থ আলোচনা করো। একটি করে দেওয়া হলো।

                                                                 Marie Curie

Family, research, and love were going hand in hand in Marie and Pierre's life. Known as the mother of modern physics, Mary Curie and her husband Pierre jointly began research on radioactive material. Marie and Pierre won the Nobel Prize in 1903 for this invention. Not only did the two do research together, but they also shared household chores.

They used to go out on their bicycles during work. This is how their happy life was passing. In the meantime, they had two children, Irene Currie and Eve Currie. During this happy time, the year 1906 came with bad news, Pierre Curie died in a road accident.

However, Mary Curie did not stop there. She took up incomplete research and in 1911, she became the first scientist to receive the second Nobel Prize, but this time in chemistry. Then, she tried to find out how radioactivity could be used in medicine. She was successful in this work and used it in the First World War.

After rapid studies in radiology, anatomy, and auto-mechanics, she developed X-ray machines and mobile radiography, later known as 'Petites curies' (little curies). She managed radiological units in 20 mobile hospitals with the help of her daughter Irene.

This noble woman died in 1934 due to the effects of radium radiation which she invented.

                                 Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib

Many women in the world work selflessly for society without expecting anything out of it. They always remain alive in people's memories. One such person was Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib. She was married to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at a young age. Whether Sheikh Mujib is at home, or in jail, she has masterfully handled her duties till her death.

Bangabandhu's political career was encouraged by his wife Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib. She helped him in various ways from the side. During Bangabandhu's political engagement and prison life, she took all the responsibilities of taking care of the family, attending to relatives and social circles, and taking care of children, and their education.

Bangabandhu spent the best years of his life in prison. Fazilatunnessa has been involved in every work including organizing the case management, helping to organize the Awami League party, and giving advice on the management of the movement in his absence.

During the movement, she used to inform Bangabandhu of every incident during the meetings in the jail and brought the necessary advice and instructions, and conveyed those instructions to the Awami League and the Chhatra League. From behind, she played a strong role in the mass uprising of 1969. She maintained contact with the leaders and workers of the organization and gave necessary instructions when required.

Her daughter, our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said about her, "Whatever is achieved in the world, there is someone behind it to inspire. Otherwise, no leader can ever be successful. Similarly, my mother has a huge contribution to my father's politics. Politically My mother was strong- willed." She also stated, "My mother was a guerrilla. While my father was in prison, she used to pass the news to the leaders and activists, avoiding the detectives' eyes. This activity proves that my mother was a real guerrilla." After Bangabandhu was arrested on March 25, 1971, Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib hid in the besieged Dhaka city with family members like Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Sheikh Jamal, and Sheikh Russell avoiding the eyes of the Pakistani Military intelligence. Although they escaped by sheltering in different places for a few days, the Pakistani army finally arrested them from a house in Moghbazar. After that, Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib was kept under house arrest along with the family members in a home on Road No. 18 in Dhanmondi until the victory. They were all released on December 17. This noble woman served the country and the nation staying by Bangabandhu's side till the last day of her life.

                                                           Jahanara Imam

On the day when Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib was released from house arrest, another woman was sitting in another part of Dhaka city writing a diary. The lady's name is Jahanara Imam, a teacher by profession. Another identity of her is that she is the mother of Shafi Imam Rumi. She lost her husband four days ago, and her eldest son Rumi has been missing since August of 1971. 

No one can tell where he is. If wanted, her son could have become a big engineer, he could have been sent to the Illinois Institute of Technology. But Rumi gave up the chance of admission to one of the best universities in the world; instead, he joined the liberation war for our country. That mother is sitting with her little son, Jami. The country has become independent.

Mother keeps writing in the diary-

"In the afternoon, the news of Rayerbazar's slaughterhouse also reached my ears. I feel very restless. What should I do? Where should I go, I can't understand anything. Rumi! Is Rumi alive? How can I get news? From whom can I get news? Sharif left at that time. Both of us were suffering for Rumi, waiting for Rumi. Now I have to do everything alone, bear all the pain alone.

Phone and electric lines are still not fixed. Who will decide? All over Dhaka people laugh and cry at the same time. Smile for freedom. But so much blood had to be shed that laughter of joy drowned in tears.

Later, in the 1990s, Jahanara Imama formed Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee along with 101 Bangladeshi activists to seek justice for the genocide carried out during the Bangladesh liberation war. Until her death, she was vocal about the punishment of the war humanitarian criminal of 1971, Pakistani allied Razakar, Al-Badr.

9.6 Read the biographies again in pairs/groups. And complete the following chart with the necessary information from the text. Then compare your answers in pairs/groups. One is done for you.

দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় পুনরায় জীবনীগুলো পড়ো। এবারে নিচের চার্টটি সঠিক তথ্য দিয়ে পূরণ করো। এরপর নিজেরা নিজেদের মাঝে খাতা বিনিময় করে উত্তর মূল্যায়ন করো। তোমাদের জন্য একটি করে দেওয়া হলো।

9.7 Read the three biographies again and in pairs/groups, identify which elements of a narrative text you have found in the texts. Then write them in the given table with an example. One is done for you.

জীবনীগুলো পুনরায় পড়ো এবং দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় বর্ণনামূলক লেখার কোন কোন উপাদান এখানে উপস্থিত রয়েছে তা শনাক্ত করো। এরপর উদাহরণসহ টেবিলটি সম্পূর্ণ করো। একটি তোমাদের জন্য করে দেওয়া হলো।

9.8 Marie Curie, Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnessa Mujib, and Jahanara Imam are the three great women who worked selflessly for their country and the world. But, in our lives, we have also great people like them who are working endlessly for us.

মেরি কুরী, বঙ্গমাতা শেখ ফজিলাতুন্নেসা মুজিব এবং জাহানারা ইমাম এমন তিনজন মহীয়সী নারী যারা দেশ ও পৃথিবীর জন্য নিঃস্বার্থভাবে কাজ করে গেছেন। আমাদের জীবনেও এমন কিছু মানুষ রয়েছেন যারা নিঃস্বার্থভাবে আমাদের জন্য অবিরাম কাজ করে যাচ্ছেন।

Can you guess who they are?

Your answer:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

9.9 Work in pairs/groups. Discuss your parents' contribution to your family. Then write a short biography of your father or mother.

দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় তোমার পরিবারে পিতামাতার ভূমিকা নিয়ে আলোচনা করো। এরপর, তোমার মা অথবা বাবার ওপর একটি সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবন বৃত্তান্ত লেখো।

To write a good narrative text (biography) you have to keep in mind the following things:

• Talk to them first to know all the information about them and write your texts in a way that everybody can understand clearly 

• Do not describe every incident of their lives. 

• Tell the events as they happened (chronologically) 

• To make your biography interesting connect the dates and events in their lives. You can use words like after that, before, since then, the next year, then, at the time, suddenly, and afterwards etc. 

• Use the third person narrative (for example, my mother, my father, he, she, they) when you describe the story 

• Use simple past tense to describe the events 

• Your story must have a beginning, middle and end. In the beginning, you can introduce him/her, in the middle write more about them and finally conclude with their contribution to your life. 

• You can draw them or add their pictures 

• Finally, revise and check grammar and sentence structure

When you are finished hang your text in a suitable place for your teachers and friends. Don't forget to share it with the great persons for whom we are in this world and who are always working and praying for all our success.