Family Values Class 8 English Solutions

Chapter Name: Family Values
Subject: Modern English
Lesson: 2
Class: 8
Board: Board Of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM/BSEM)
Contents: Chapter summary, Questions and Answers.

Family Values: Chapter Summary

The lesson centres around the profound impact of family, narrated by a girl who belongs to a family consisting of a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, sister, brother, and herself. She highlights the vital role family plays in shaping the values and behaviour of its members. Every family has its unique standards of behaviour, instilled from childhood, which mould each individual’s personality. These values encompass cooperation, tolerance, self-sacrifice, honesty, love, and affection. Discipline stands out as an essential value, taught through showing respect and regard for elders and by trying not to offend them.

Understanding discipline is crucial as it empowers us to stand for truth. The narrator shares a poignant example from her own life when she accidentally broke her mother’s flower pot. Though initially fearful of her parents’ reaction, she chose to speak the truth. Instead of reprimanding her, her mother praised her for her courage in owning up to her mistake. This story illustrates the significance of truthfulness, a value ardently imparted by all the elder family members.

For instance, the grandfather elucidates the importance of honesty and what it means to be truthful. He also teaches about the dangers of pride and disobedience, drawing from the stories of the Fall of Man and Satan. The father stresses the importance of modesty and humility, underscoring why these traits should be exhibited irrespective of one’s occupation. The grandmother, through the tales of Khamba and Khamnu in Manipuri legend, instils values of poverty, humility, modesty, and strength.

The theme of the Lesson:

There are certain standards of behaviour that we learn by being a member of a family, and these standards of behaviour, known as family values, are pivotal in shaping who we become.

BOSEM solutions for class 8 English Chapter 2

Answer the following question in a sentence each

Q1. What is a family?

Ans: A family is a group of persons related to each other by blood, marriage or adoption.

Q2. What builds up a society?

Ans: Several families build up the society.

Q3. What moulds the character of individuals since birth?

Ans: Family moulds the characters of individuals from birth.

Q4. What do we learn in the family?

Ans: We learn many things about cooperation, tolerance, self-sacrifice, honesty, love and affection.

Q5. How can we show that we are disciplined?

Ans: We can show that we are disciplined by being polite to our elders.

Q6. What is necessary to tell the truth?

Ans: Courage is necessary to tell the truth.

Q7. How can greatness be known?

Ans: Greatness is known by modesty and humility.

Q8. What does the grandmother tell the children?

Ans: Grandmother tells the children many stories of poverty, humility, modesty and strength of Khamba and Khamnu in the Manipuri legend.

Answer the following questions in about 20-25 words each

Q1. How does the family exercise the greatest influence over its members?

Ans: Family moulds the characters of individuals from birth. The parents or the family are the first to socialize with a child, teach them speech and language and transmit their cherished values to the members. Thus the family exercise the greatest influence over its members.

Q2. Why should we respect our elders?

Ans: We should respect our elders because they have more experience and wisdom than us and we can learn many things from them.

Q3. How can we show courage?

Ans: We can show courage by always telling the truth. Honesty which is, standing for truth, requires the courage to speak the truth.

Q4. Write about modesty and humility.

Ans: Humility is concerned with self while modesty is concerned with others. Being modest means pretending to be less than what you actually are. Being humble means being aware of your strengths and weaknesses while it does not at all mean criticizing oneself.

Answer the following question in about 50-60 words each

Q1. Narrate the incident of the broken flowerpot.

Ans: One day when the narrator was playing in the courtyard she broke a flowerpot. Her mother took care of the flowers and since she was scared of her parents she decided to remain silent. In the afternoon when her mother discovered the broken flowerpot she enquired who had broken it and when nobody answered she became very angry. Seeing it the narrator could no longer hide the truth and decided to tell the truth that she broke the flowerpot. Her mother instead of scolding her smiled and told her that she was very happy and proud that her daughter dared to speak the truth instead of remaining silent or lying about the matter.

Q2. Explain “Honesty is the best policy”.

Ans: Honesty is the best policy means being honest and true all through life even in bad situations. Being honest, loyal and true in life provides mental peace to the person. An honest person becomes always happy and peaceful because he/she does not -live with guilt. Being honest sometimes puts you through hardships but ultimately it always leads you to good. Honesty helps to develop good relations and friendships based on trust.