Eidgah

Developed by Sarah A. Robinson        

منشی پریم چند: عیدگاہ

मुंशी प्रेमचंद: ईदगाह

** When possible and relevant to the students’ interests and goals  both Hindi and Urdu materials can be taught together. The linked materials can be used for separate Hindi or Urdu-only classrooms as well. 

Proficiency Level: Intermediate Range

Objectives: 

Students will be able to:

  • narrate the story 
  • define the main themes
  • describe the characters in the story
  • relate Premchand’s biography (Hindi) to the perspective Premchand gives of poverty and class difference in Eidgah (Urdu)

Language Goals:

  • Narrate a story using appropriate tense 

Performance Assessment: 

  1. Interpretive: Students generate questions based on the story (handouts: Hindi and Urdu)
  2. Interpersonal: Students discuss the alternative actions Hamid’s friends could have taken (ie. what would you do when one of your friends is struggling financially?).
  3. Presentational: Students retell the events of the story from the perspective of the characters of the story, focusing on what they learned as the moral. 

Session I: Placing Premchand

Session I Pre-work:

  • Students will read Premchand’s biography through the section titled “शिक्षा” (Hindi)

Step 1. 5 min. — Pair work: Students will share with each other the main points they took away from Premchand’s biography.

Step 2. 20 min. — Class discussion: Students “share out” what they know + instructor provides additional info on Premchand and situates him within the Progressive Writers Movement.

Step 3. 15 min. — Students change their partner and read the following section of the biography, “साहित्यिक रुचि,” while noting down any connections they make between Premchand’s life and his social outlook.

Step 4. 10 min. — Teacher distributes vocabulary list for Eidgah and reads through the list for pronunciation and elicits questions from the class. 

Session II

Session II Pre-work:

  • Students will read until the end of page 10 of Eidgah.

Step. 1. 10 min. — Group work — Students share with each other any insights they may have gathered from the remainder of Premchand’s biography (Hindi).

Step 2.  25 min. — Pair work — Take turns reading 3-4 more paragraphs each from the story  (teacher can assign more paragraphs to faster readers or just 1-2 slower readers). 

Step 3.  15 min. — Pair work — Students work with partners to make an overview chart of the characters (Requirements: names, relations to others, actions, and who symbolizes what ideas). 

Session III

Sessions III Pre-work:

  • Students will read until the end of page 21 of Eidgah and update their overview chart of characters. 

Step 1. 5 min. — Class discussion — Students share out updates to their character lists based on pre-work reading. 

Step 2. 25 min. — Pair work — Pairs take turns reading 3-4 more paragraphs each from the story. The teacher can assign more paragraphs to faster readers or just 1-2 for slower readers. 

Step 3.  20 min. — Class activity: Charades — Students are split into two teams, which should be balanced in terms of skill level. The teacher will take turns choosing one student from each team to come to act out a randomly drawn vocabulary word from Eidgah in front of the class. The student will have 30 seconds to act out the word; if they guess correctly, they will get a point. If not, the other team will get one guess after the timer ends, and have an opportunity to steal the point. The winning team members will get 3 points added to their Friday quiz score.

Session IV

Sessions IV Pre-work:

  • Students will read until the end of page 21 of Eidgah and complete final updates to their overview of characters chart, which will be turned in at the beginning of Session IV.

Step 1. 15 min. — Pair work — Students manipulate the story on the “Who What When Where Why” handout. Students generate and write questions; orally give answers and switch partners to ask and give answers to each other. 

Step 2. 5 min. — Class discussion — Teacher reviews grammar used when narrating the past.

Step 3. 30 min. — Group work — The class is split into groups of five. Each student will choose the role of Hamid or one of the friends in the story (Nooray, Sammi, Mahmood, Mohsin). The group will work together to write a short (~8 minutes) “Reunion Episode” that takes place ten years after the conclusion of Premchand’s short story during which the characters will reminisce/retell and reflect on their actions at the market in the Eidgah story. 

Session V

Sessions V Pre-work:

  • Students will finish their script and practice reading their lines for the Eidgah Reunion Episode. 

Step 1. 30 min. — Group presentations — Groups will take turns acting out their scripts (doesn’t have to be memorized)

Step 2. 20 min. — Quiz — Students will complete and turn in a quiz on the week’s vocabulary and plot of the story.

Note: Interested students continue at home with:

  • Eidgah discussion at BHU (2.56 – 13.42).