Practice Questions (POETRY)
The questions are deliberately not given poem-wise. You should be
able to identify the poem through the question.
The answers are also posted to check on value points.
1. How do the mighty dead inspire us?
2. What are we single-minded about and what
are its consequences?
3. Describe the living conditions of the
children of the elementary school.
4. How will educational reforms change the
lives of the slum children?
5. What thoughts did the poet want to dispel?
What did she do?
6. What has the mother been compared to?
Mention the literary devices used to describe her.
7. Do you think that the tigers Aunt Jennifer
is making are in complete contrast to her personality?
8. What is the exotic moment that the poet
talks about? Why will it appear strange?
9. What are the various donations that adorn
the walls of the elementary school?
10. What should not be confused with total
inactivity? Why?
11. What change will keeping quiet bring in
the people who wage wars?
12. How are the children of elementary school
different from other children?
13. Does the poet express her childhood fear
to her mother? How do we know?
14. Give 2 instances to show that the children
of elementary school are diseased and malnourished.
15. Why is Shakespeare wicked and the map a
bad example?
16. Explain 2 symbols from the poem to show
that aunt is timid in nature and oppressed in marriage.
17. How do the lives of slum children change?
18. How does the poet describe the classroom
of the slum children?
19. What lesson will the Earth teach us? How
will it teach that lesson?
20. Why does the poet not want us to speak in
any language and move our arms too much?
21. What will the huge silence interrupt? How
will it come about?
VALUE POINTS (for answers)
1. With their deeds of nobility, heroism and
grand sacrifices, they have become immortal and continue to inspire us long
after they die.
2. In pursuit of money, ambition and success
our lives have become hectic, mechanized and monotonous. We fail to introspect
and connect with our inner self as well as threaten ourselves with our
destructive activities.
3. Narrow fog-covered streets with a lead
sky; cramped holes; slag heaps
4. They will be exposed to a world of
beauty-lush green fields, golden sands, sunshine and intellectual wisdom. They
will break out of the narrow confines of their restricted lives and rewrite
history by carving a place for themselves.
5. The thoughts are of her mother’s
approaching death due to old age. To divert her mind she looks at the young,
vibrant and energetic children and the rich foliage of green trees which appear
to race backwards as the car races forward.
6. Ashen like a corpse-simile; pale as
winter’s moon-simile.
7. Aunt Jennifer is meek and submissive; her
oppressive marriage has made her frail, diffident and fearful of her
husband. The tigers she makes on the panel are confident, majestic, bold
and free creatures, not afraid of men beneath the tree.
8. A moment of quietude and stillness,
without rush, without rush, without machines, when people have the time to
introspect. It is strange as man has never known such a tranquil moment before
– an exotic moment when man will understand himself and universal brotherhood.
9. Shakespeare’s head, a beautiful sunlit,
progressive, civilized world; Tyrolese valley, rich with bell-shaped flowers
and nature’s bounties, open handed map.
10. The moment of complete stillness and
quietude after counting to twelve should not be confused with total inactivity
or death because there is suspension only of physical activity. Introspection
involves moral and mental awakening.
11. People who wage wars will make a fresh
start. They will metaphorically change their blood stained clothes, that is,
cleanse their mind of all hatred and anger, live as brothers and not as
enemies, protecting and walking with them in shade - in peace and
harmony.
12. They are poor, unkempt, with their hair
scattered untidily around their face, undernourished, paper-thin, diseased with
gnarled bones and or suffering fatigue, even mental retardation… They are very
unlike normal children who are vibrant and energetic like gusty waves.
13. No, despite her anxiety about her mother’s
old age and fear of her approaching end, she smiles at her and reassures her
that they will meet again soon.
14. Diseased-a boy with twisted bones and
stunted growth who recites his father’s disease more prominently than his
lessons. Malnourished-paper thin boy with furtive, restless eyes.
15. Shakespeare is wicked and the map a bad
example because they show the slum children dreams of the outside world full of
beauty, sunshine, love and romance. As they have no means to gaining access to
that world, they are tempted to steal and in the process, get caught in a
vicious cycle of crime and unfulfilled aspirations.
16. Terrified hands-terrified to give
expression to her dreams and aspirations. The wedding ring has ringed her with
ordeals she faces in an oppressive marriage and the expectations therein in a
patriarchal society. She has lost all freedom and become mentally and
emotionally frail.
17. The lives of poor slum children change
only for the worse-from fog to endless night. Their future is bleak and
uncertain most times but it can sometimes degenerate into a dark life of
endless gloom, with no relief.
18. Sour cream walls; donations; the windows
that open out to fog covered narrow lanes of the slum - like catacombs that bury
and suffocate all the dreams of the slum children and keep their lives in
darkness.
19. The lesson- productivity is best nurtured
in silence. The biggest creator, the earth, is silent and productive, unlike
man who is destructive and restless. How- by keeping quiet and still for some
time, and introspect. Just as earth though apparently still, nurtures life
within the dormant seed, we can awaken the productive forces within our beings.
20. Speaking in many languages creates
differences, unnecessary barriers; moving our arms leads to conflict and
implies restlessness. Thus the poet wants us to be still and not waste our
energy in futile movements. The pause will enable us to introspect, usher in
peace and universal brotherhood and transform our lives.
21. A huge silence will interrupt the cycle of
mindless destruction and mechanical pursuit of power and material wealth. This
change will come about when we keep silent and still for a brief spell of time
and introspect, to understand ourselves and our relationship with nature and
mankind.
