KSEEB Class 9 · English (1st language) · KTBS Revised 2024-25
A Dream of Flight
Chapter summary, hard words and model exam answers for Karnataka Board Class 9 English.
Free online summary and notes (Karnataka Board Class 9 English). Read it here, no PDF download needed.
About the author
Lauren Klein's biographical essay tells the story of Bessie Coleman (1892–1926), the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot's licence. Born in Texas to sharecroppers, Coleman faced racism and poverty but pursued aviation when American schools refused her.
Summary
Bessie Coleman grows up picking cotton in Texas, one of thirteen children in a poor family.
Bessie Coleman grows up picking cotton in Texas, one of thirteen children in a poor family.
After hearing war pilots' stories, she decides to become a flier though no school accepts Black women.
After hearing war pilots' stories, she decides to become a flier though no school accepts Black women.
U.S. aviation schools reject her because of race and sex; she refuses to abandon the dream.
U.S. aviation schools reject her because of race and sex; she refuses to abandon the dream.
She saves money, learns French, travels to France, and earns her international pilot's licence in 1921.
She saves money, learns French, travels to France, and earns her international pilot's licence in 1921.
Back home she performs barnstorming shows, urging African Americans and women to believe in possibilities.
Back home she performs barnstorming shows, urging African Americans and women to believe in possibilities.
She dies young in a mechanical failure accident, but remains pioneer of courage and international determination.
She dies young in a mechanical failure accident, but remains pioneer of courage and international determination.
Hard words & meanings
| aviation | design, operation, and flying of aircraft |
| discrimination | prejudice against race, sex, or class |
| sharecropper | farmer who gives share of crop as rent |
| barnstorming | travelling aerial performances for public |
| pioneer | person who opens a new path for others |
| licence | legal certificate allowing piloting |
| perseverance | continuing despite obstacles |
| legacy | lasting influence on later generations |
| mechanical failure | technical fault causing accident |
Model exam answers, grammar & audio
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