Should Wizard Hit Mommy?

(Q.) What is the moral issue that the story raises?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The story shows the conflict between two generations. It tells us about the belief, of the older generation, in customs and traditions and constantly questioning attitude of the younger generation, hence contributing to a generation gap. Not understanding her son’s pain of loneliness and dejection, mother Skunk gets his smell changed to his original foul smell and loves him the way he is, raising the moral issue of whether parents should always decide what the children should do or let the children do what they like to do. There is an evident contrast between an adult’s perspective on life and the world view of a little child. Jo wants the wizard to hit Mommy and not vice versa because she represents the new generation and does not agree with her father’s view. Jack sums up the issue in one sentence- ‘She knew what was right’. Jack also says that the little Skunk agreed to the mother’s proposal because he loved his mother more than the other animals. Little Jo feels that the Skunk’s mother should not have robbed her little son of the pleasure he derived when playing with the other animals when he smelt of roses. She insists that the wizard hit the Mommy on the head and calls little Skunk’s mother a ‘Stupid Mommy’. Keeping to her view point, she insisted that her father should tell her the story the next day in a different manner. So we see that the story deals with moral issues dependent on the different levels of maturity of Jack and Jo.

(Q.) How does Jo want the story to end? Why? What light does it throw on Jo’s character?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jo wanted the story to end with Roger being accepted by the other animals. In Jack’s version, the wizard was hit by mommy. Jo did not relish this. The wizard was the person who fulfilled everyone’s wishes. He had rid Roger Skunk of the bad odour. So she wanted her father to end the story with Roger skunk having a new and pleasant smell and wizard spanking the stupid ‘mommy’.Jo would get totally involved in the story. She even shed a tear or so, when woodland creatures spurned Roger. She could not bear injustice to the wizard by ‘mommy’ skunk. She wanted the end of the story to change in which the benevolent Wizard hits mommy for being inconsiderate to Roger’s need for acceptance by friends. She was independent in her thinking. Jo remains unconvinced by the father’s argument that mothers are always right.

(Q.) Character Sketch of Jack.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jack is the protagonist of the story ‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy?’ which examines the issue of parenting, the adult tendency to quell the questioning mind of a child and the belief that the view point of the adult represents the only valid one.Jack is conscious of his duties as a father and husband. He has been telling stories to his daughter Jo since she was two years old, before her Saturday and evening naps, but now two and a half years later he is fatigued and confused by her constant questioning, pointing errors (roger fish instead of skunk), asking for clarifications and suggesting alternatives. He has the typical parental attitude and opinion that parents know what is best for their children and stifles her objections and amendments shown by his defending the skunk’s mother (and indirectly his own).Jack feels caught in an ugly middle position physically, emotionally and mentally. He did not like women to take anything for granted, to the extent that he extends the story, changing the ending, giving it the face that he wants to. This despite the fact that he knows that he should be helping his pregnant wife paint the woodwork.Jack is someone who is not used to his authority being questioned and so is confused by Jo’s questioning. Though a loving parent he finds it hard to accept the fact that Jo now has a mind of her own. His insensitivity and impatience comes across in his dealings with his daughter, and the fact that an adult’s viewpoint is biased by personal experiences.

(Q.) Do you think Jack and Jo could identify with Roger skunk as a victim of the hatred of other creatures?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jack brought the story to life when he narrated the tale remembering certain humiliations of his own childhood. The corners of Jo’s mouth drooped down and her lower lip bent forward. A tear flowed along the side of the nose. This shows that even Jo could identify with Roger skunk.


(Q.) Which two opposite forces acted on Jack while he was telling Jo the story?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jack was telling Jo something she must know and had no wish to hurry on. On the other hand he heard a chair scrapping. He realized that he must help his pregnant wife Clare to paint the wood work down stairs. These were the opposite forces acting on Jack while he was telling Jo the story.
(Q.) Why did Jo not approve of skunk’s mother scolding him for his new smell?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jo was very happy that skunk smelt like roses. He was accepted by the woodland creatures and was happy. Jo did not approve of skunk’s mother scolding him for something that made him acceptable among his friends and brought him happiness.

(Q.) What do you learn about Jo’s new reality phase?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Earlier Jo used to accept her father’s word about magic etc. now she had started asking if magic spells were real. She had become curious since a month. She was growing up and wished to check the reality of all that was told to her.

Q. what is the ugly middle position where jack finds himself trapped?
Ans The ugly middle position refers to jack’s helplessness and dilemma. Its ugly because jack is not used to the women questioning his authority and jo’ constant interruptions, clarifications, pointing out mistakes , disagreements, questioning the end of the story and suggesting an alternate end makes jack uncomfortable. It is a middle position because jack is as if coerced by the tradition (recalls his own mother) and society to inculcate certain moral lessons in jo but at the same time he is at loss. He is unable to satisfy jo’s lingering anxiety as he fails to understand her perspective (her fear of abandonment), as a result he finds himself trapped in a cage along with his wife which brings him no solace.

EVANS TRIES AN O LEVEL

(Q.) Attempt a brief character sketch of ‘Evans the Break’.
(10 Marks)
(Ans) ‘Evans the Break’ comes across to us as a highly clever, manipulative and shrewd individual. A non-violent kleptomaniac by birth, he was a jail-bird having being put in prison several times and escaping as many as three times. He was an amusing chap, good at imitations and a star at the Christmas concert. He had an unkempt physical appearance but a cheerful smile which he used for the prison officers.A cunning and resourceful person, Evans is able to use his presence of mind time and again, to his utmost advantage. He makes a request to Mr. Jackson to allow him to put on his bobble hat, but complains to the invigilator against Stephens whose presence disturbs his concentration. He is polite when he makes special requests to shut his convenience or rather when he plans to put his plan into action. He is quick to disguise himself as parson McLeery and spill blood on himself to appear injured. He is a clever manipulator and uses this quality to win the confidence of the police officers. Evans enjoys the faith, support and active cooperation of his team of dedicated comrades. They are meticulous in their planning and work out the minutest details in order to carry out their plans without any mishap. Even in the worst circumstances, Evans does not lose his cool. He has the last laugh when he is able to fool the police officers and the Governor and escapes for the fourth time.
(Q.) Who, do you think, has the last laugh- The Governor or Evans? How?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) It is Evans who has the last laugh in the story. The two persons, i.e. driver and the silent prison officer turn out to be the accomplices of Evans. The Governor became complacent as he thought he had nabbed the prisoner and will soon put him in prison. But Evans escapes once again.
(Q.) What did Stephens see, when he peeped through the hole of the cell of Evans after leaving McLeery at the main gate of the prison?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Stephens thought of looking at Evans once again after leaving McLeery at the main gate. He saw a terrible sight. He saw a man with short hair presumably McLeery in a pool of blood sprawling back in Evan’s chair.
(Q.) How did McLerry want to help the police?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The injured McLeery said that he knew where Evans was. He wanted to accompany the police in finding Evans. He insisted that he did not need to be hospitalized as he was all right. He showed the question paper to the Governor to impress upon him that Evans had befooled everybody.
Q.) What important clues were hidden in the German Question paper?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) There was a photocopied sheet hidden in the German question paper. It was very cleverly pasted on the last blank sheet of the question paper. It had instructions written in German. It read: follow the plan. The vital point in time was three minutes before the end of the examination. He was not to hit the person hard and overdo the scot accent. He was to move the Headington round about and then make way to Newbury.
(Q.) Where was the real McLeery?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The real Rev. McLeery was gagged and tied in his room since 8:15 am. The two men visited McLeery in the morning. They gagged him and tied him in his study. Since 8:15 in the morning, the real McLeery had been in his own house. It was Evans accomplice who had come as McLeery to the examination centre.
(Q.) What was the significance of the two phone calls the Governor received after a quarter of an hour of the start of the examination?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The first phone call was made by the Assistant Secretary of the Examination Board. It was regarding a correction slip for the German paper that Evans was writing. The word ‘Golden Lion’ was to be used in place of ‘Golden Lowe’. The second call came from the Magistrate’s Court. They needed a prison van and a couple of prison officers for a remand case
(Q.) How did the prison machinery swing into action? What did they overlook?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Prison officers started shouting orders as soon as they discovered that Evans had escaped. Sirens were blown. Puzzled prisoners pushed their way along and doors were banged and bolted. Phones were ringing everywhere. Jackson and Stephens supported McLeery on either side and brought him to the prison yard. The identity of the injured ‘McLeery’ remained unchecked.
(Q.) What did the Governor think of Evans and his plan after ringing up Detective Chief Inspector Bell?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The Governor admired clever Evans and his beautifully laid plan. He also commented on Evans’ carelessness in leaving behind the question paper. He said that all criminals got caught because they left important clues behind. He was sure that they would soon be able to catch Evans and put him in prison once again.
Q.) What two purposes did the correction slip serve? Which of them did Evans consider more important?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The correction slip revealed the name of the hotel and its location. He had to go to ‘Golden Lion’. It also contained the exact time the exam started. For Evans, it was an important thing that the phone rang just before the exam finished. Thus he was able to get the prison officers out of the way for a couple of minutes.
(Q.) What did Evans’ own hair look like? How then did he impersonate McLeery?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Evans’ hair was long and wavy while McLeery had closely clipped hair, almost next to the scalp. Jackson had removed Evans’ scissors, so he had to remove his hair off with razor. After that he kept his head covered with a bobble hat to prevent being noticed.
(Q.) How did the Governor of Oxford Prison locate the hiding place of Evans?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The Governor told Evans that he had used the same method as Evans had done. The six figure reference 313/271 was formed by two hints- Index number 313 and centre number 271. If one takes an Ordinance Survey Map for Oxfords hire, this number lands are bang in the middle of Chipping Norton.
(Q.) What request did the Secretary of the Examination Board receive from the Governor of Oxford Prison?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The Governor of Oxford Prison’s request was to create an examination centre in the prison for one candidate named James Roderick Evans who wanted to appear in O Level German Examination to be held on June 8.
(Q.) What enquiry did the Secretary of the Examination Board make about Evans?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The Secretary of the Examination wanted cursory details about the examinee regarding his nature. He wanted to know if Evans was a violent sort of a person. He was told that there was no record of violence.
(Q.) Who met Evans on the eve of the examination? What does this brief interview reveal?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens visited Evans on the morning of the Examination. They visited him to ensure that he did not have any weapon with him. Evans was called Evans the Break as he had escaped from Prison three times.
(Q.) What puzzled Mr. Jackson about the contents in McLeery’s suitcase?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Jackson saw a smallish semi-inflated rubber ring. Even a young child might have to struggle into it. Jackson questioned McLeery about it. He replied that he suffered from piles.
(Q.) Why did the Governor doubt the phone call from the Examination board for the correction in the paper? What did he do?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The Governor doubted the phone call from the Examination board for the correction in the paper because he thought it might be a fake call. He tried to verify the call. He held the incoming call and from the other line called the Examination Board. Since the number was busy he assumed the call was a genuine one.
Q.) How did Stephens keep an eye on Evans? What did he notice on looking through the peep-hole in Evans’ cell?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Stephens peeped after every one minute. He found Evans sitting with his pen between his lips. He sat staring straight in front at the door. McLeery sat on his chair reading the ‘Church Times’. His right index finger was hooked beneath the narrow clerical collar. The fingers of the left hand were slowly stroking the short black board.
(Q.) What request did Evans make about half an hour before the end of the examination? What did Stephens think about it?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Evans requested to have a blanket put round his shoulders. A minute later, Stephens was surprised to see a grey blanket draped round Evans’ shoulders. Stephens was misled into believing that Evans was feeling cold.
(Q.) How did Evans manage his final escape?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Evans was handcuffed and made to sit in the prison van. But the Governor was complacent and it was Evans’ accomplices inside the van. As the van turned to the Oxford Road, the silent prison officer who was Evans’ friend unlocked the handcuffs. Evan suggested that they go towards Newbury. Evans had his final escape.
(Q.) Give an account of the blunders committed by the prison authorities which helped Evans in escaping from the prison.
(10 Marks)
(Ans) Prison authorities made many blunders. It was only because of these mistakes that Evans could escape from the prison. The hatching of the escape plan started with the German tutor’s entry. The German teacher who had been coming to take Evans’ classes was Evan’s accomplice. Everyone assumed that he was a teacher from the technical college. The invigilator’s identify was also not verified.On the Examination day, Jackson’s not getting Evans’ ‘bobble-hat’ removed was a blunder. If Stephens had not shifted from the cell, the escape would not have been possible. Jackson should have searched McLeery thoroughly and seen the rubber ring closely. The prison staff blindly believed that the injured was the invigilator, though it was Evans playing a trick on them. When Evans was arrested, the Governor was complacent and sent him in a prison van, leaving Evans in the hands of his own accomplices. He thus, lost Evans who made his final escape

LOST SPRING

Q. Explain ‘the steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag’
ans The steel canister was heavier than the plastic bag not even literally but even metaphorically because sahib was now burdened with the responsibility of a job. He had lost the child like innocence and carefree look. The plastic bag was lighter as it was his bag while the canister belonged to the owner of the tea shop. Sahib feels burdened as he is no longer the master of his own free will and there is no wonder or joy of discovering something new as there was in rag picking. His freedom is hired for a paltry sum and despite a regular and stable income,the steel canister has weighed him down devoid of all hope and dreams.
Q. 'years of mindnumbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.' Explain
Ans The above line is used by the writer Jung to highlight the pathetic condition of people living in Ferozabad. Ferozabad known for bangle making employs children at the furnaces, welding glass and making bangles. They work in the glass furnace with the high temperatures, in dirty dingy place devoid of air and light and often lose the brightness of their eyes as a result. Their living condition is comparable to the rag pickers of the Seemapuri . Their homes are like shack with crumbling walls, shaky doors no windows crowded with families of humans and animals living together in a primitive state. Their condition is accepted as a fate or destiny.
The sahukars,middlemen , the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians form the vicious cycle of exploitation perpetuating poverty and suffering of generation after generation which eventually kills all their desires and enterprise.
Q. explain ‘few airplanes fly over ferozabad’
ans The writer was happy to learn that Mukesh despite his grinding poverty dreamt of becoming a motor mechanic and was even prepared to walk a long distance to the garage to achieve his dream. The writer encouraged by his motivation asked if he ever want to fly the airplanes. Mukesh was embarrassed as he could not think or imagine driving a plane but was content with the dream of cars. This shows the dearth of opportunities and the limited world of the slums of the Firozabad. The airplanes seems a farfetched reality is not only unachievable but also incomprehensible to the little Mukesh .
Q 'for children it is wrapped in wonder.' Explain
Ans The author describes the rag picking by poor children as seeking pleasure amidst the garbage. The wonder here refers to searching something new or valuable among the mounds of heap. The tedious and filthy act of scavenging the city holds excitement, wonder and curiosity of discovering something unknown and precious. The expression also indicates the innocence and simplicity of these unfortunate children as they pick the rag with the sense of enjoyment and not resentment. Their joy and amazement of stumbling into something treasurable makes the burdensome rag picking seem beautiful.
Q 'For them garbage is gold.' Explain
Ans The above metaphor is an evocative description of the abject poverty of the slum dwellers. Forced to live under inhuman living condition of the seemapuri slums, these people cherish the garbage as it is the only source of their livelihood. The expression also brings out the irony of how the waste of the city nurtures these impoverished beings, as they thrive on the left over. The author also attempts a contrast between the rich, poor and their ever widening gap, if the rich runs after gold similarly the poor are satisfied with the garbage, indicating their discarded existence.
Q 'Through the years it has acquired the proportions of fine art.' Explain
Ans It refers to the rag picking and the author uses hyperbole to narrate their daily toil and struggle to survive. The fine art signifies the special skill and art that goes into the process of rag picking which includes a thorough examination, dedication, determination as well as some amount of expertise and dexterity to collect the various types of rag. The author further recognizes the rag picking as an occupation involving skill by calling it as fine art(despite exaggeration)

An elementary school classroom in a slum

Question bank with answers


(Q.) Far far from gusty waves these children’s faceslike rootless weeds, the hair torn around their pallor:The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-
Seeming boy, with rat’s eyes.
a) Which children are referred to here?
b) Explain ‘like rootless weeds’. Identify the literary device.
c) What is the comparison drawn with rat’s eyes?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The slum children who are sitting in an elementary school are being referred to.(b) Rootless weeds suggest growth device without any nurturing. The slum children’s scattered hair look like the haphazard growth of weeds. The literary device is simile.
(c) Rat’s eyes suggest eyes searching for food. The poet compares the boys eyes with that of a rat because the undernourished boy is looking out for food and security.




(Q.) . …..The stunted, unlucky heirof twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,His lessons from his desk. At back of the dim classOne unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,Of Squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this.
a) Who is the unlucky heir? Why is he called unlucky?
b) Who sits back unnoted? Why?
c) Pick two images each of despair and disease from these lines.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The thin slum boy is the unlucky heir. He is so called because he has inherited poverty, despair and disease from his parents.(b) A young boy sits at the back. He is different from others. His eyes not full of despair but are lost in a world of his dreams.
(c) The images of despair are, ‘unlucky heir’, ‘dim class’, and that of diseases are, ‘twisted bones, gnarled disease’.

(Q.) On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head, Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.Belled, flowery, Tyrolese Valley. Open-handed mapAwarding the world its world.
a) What is the colour of the walls? What is it symbolic of?
b) Which two worlds does the poet hint at?
c) What does ‘donations’, ‘Shakespeare’s head’ and ‘Tyrolese Valley’ suggest?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The colour of the walls is pale yellow or sour cream. Sour suggest dull, decay and decadence.(b) The poet hints at two worlds. The world of poverty and disease contrasted with the progressive world represented in the pictures on the walls.
(c) The pictures are all donations which represent a world that is deprived to the slum children. Shakespeare’s head or good literature may raise desire which can never be fulfilled. Tyrolese Valley suggests natural beauty which is deprived to these children.




(Q.) …And yet, for thesechildren, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

a) What is ‘their world’ for these children?
b) What future is in store for these children?
c) What does ‘lead sky’ symbolize?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) Their world is the slums which are characterized by poverty and disease.(b) The future for these children is bleak and foggy.
(c) Lead sky symbolizes pollution, burden of the industrial world. It also represents a grey and dull existence which comprises their life.




(Q.) Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad examplewith ships and sun and love tempting them to steal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?
a) Why is Shakespeare wicked?
b) What tempts these children?
c) Explain ‘From fog to endless night’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) Shakespeare represents good literature which uplifts a person’s soul. He is wicked to let slum children aspire for a life beyond their world.(b) The beautiful world of ships, the sun and love tempts these children as they are deprived of these things.
(c) The children in the slums struggle from morning to night merely to exist. It also means that they struggle from the beginning of their life to their death.




(Q.) . ….On their slag heap, these childrenwear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steelWith mended glass, like bottle bits on stone.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.
a) Explain ‘skin peeped through by bones’.
b) Identify two literary devices in the above lines.
c) What comprises the world for these children?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The slum children look like skeletons with a thin layer of skin covering them. This image brings out the pathetic condition of these children.(b) The two literary devices are:Simile: Like bottle bits on stones
Metaphor: Spectacles of steel
(c) The world for these children comprises the slums. Their life is shrouded in fog and their life is clouded, diseased and bleak.

(Q.) Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs
a) Why does the poet invoke ‘governor, inspector, visitor’?
b) How does this map become their window?
c) Explain ‘shut upon them like catacombs’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The poet says thata lot of the children cannot be improved unless important people of the society like governor, inspector or a visitor takes interest.(b) The map represents the beautiful world deprived to them. The beautiful world becomes a window to a better life but it is shut upon them.
(c) The world of nature and literature are denied to these children. The window that can show them the world is shut tightly upon like a catacomb or a grave.

(Q.) Break O break open till they break the townand show the children to green fields, and
Run azure on gold sands make their world
History theirs whose language is the sun.
a) What should they break?
b) What kind of a world does the poet imagine for these children?
c) What does the word ‘sun’ symbolize?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) (a) They should break all barriers and obstructions that hinder the school children’s growth.(b) The poet imagines a world where these children run around in the fields oron sea beaches in a carefree manner. They should also enjoy freedom of knowledge and expression.(c) ‘Sun’ symbolizes light and brightness which, comes from education. Proper education alone can improve the lives of these slum children.




(Q.) What is the theme of the poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a slum’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) In the poem, Spender depicts the pathetic life of slum children who are victims of government apathy. He presents social injustice and class inequalities that prevails in society. The poem is a bitter criticism on the state of education in elementary schools in slum areas.

(Q.) What picture of the slum children is depicted in the poem?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The slum children in an elementary school look pathetic. Their hair are like wild weeds. They are undernourished and diseased. They are used to dark, dirty, narrow cramped areas closed in by a grey sky.




(Q.) What do slum children receive as inheritance?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The children inherit their parents’ poverty and disease. A boy has twisted bones like his father. The slum children inherit the diseases as they are subjected to inhuman dirty cramped conditions.




(Q.) Explain ‘far from gusty waves’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) ‘Gusty waves’ represents energetic children who are like strong waves. The slum children are unlike the usual children. They are undernourished and miserable.

(Q.) What is the comparison drawn with squirrel’s game?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) This is suggestive of the world of dreams, the sweet and young boy lives in. He dreams of squirrel’s game in trees away from his gloomy classroom.

(Q.) Explain ‘like bottle bits on stones’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) This simile describes the shattered glasses of the spectacles some slum children have to wear. It looks like the bits of glass on stone walls. It highlights the poverty and hardships of people in slums.

(Q.) Explain ‘like bottle bits on stones’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) This simile describes the shattered glasses of the spectacles some slum children have to wear. It looks like the bits of glass on stone walls. It highlights the poverty and hardships of people in slums.

(Q.) In spite of despair and disease, the slum children are not devoid of hope. Give an example of their hope or dream.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Even though the world of the slum children is dark and their future bleak, their eyes dream of a better future which is distant and beyond their reach. They dream of open seas, green fields and squirrel’s game.

(Q.) Explain ‘future’s painted with a fog’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The future of slum children is uncertain and bleak. Just as fog blurs one’s view in winter, poverty and apathy of the officials have dimmed the future of the slum children.



(Q.) How is ‘map’ a bad example?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Map opens before the slum children a beautiful world. The map is a bad example because it tempts them to aspire for a world which is beyond their reach. Their world is confined to the dark narrow lanes in the slums.



(Q.) Bring out the optimism in the last stanza.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Spender feels education is the instrument of change. It can release the slum children from the miserable life they lead. He appeals to the officials to become sensitive to their needs. This will break down the barriers that hinder their growth.




(Q.) How can powerful people improve the lot of slum children?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Powerful people can liberate the slum children. They can do so by removing social injustice and class inequalities. They must provide opportunities to these children so that their childhood does not get lost in dreary ‘foggy’ slums.




(Q.) Explain ‘history is theirs whose language is the sun’.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Those people create history who outshine others. Through this metaphor, Spender feels that only those people who have courage can leave their mark. To create history, their language must have the power, brightness and warmth of the sun.



(Q.) Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The children in an elementary school of a slum have faces which are very different from those of other children. They are not exuberant and full of energy (far far from gusty waves).Their faces are like weeds in a garden (like rootless weeds-simile) – They are rootless, unsure and lack stability. Their hair is unkempt around their pale faces. The gusty waves symbolize the energy that ought to be in children.



(Q.) The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-seeming boy, with rats’s eyes.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet expands on the theme of the miserable existence of the slum dweller’s children. The tall girl is physically and emotionally exhausted. Her head hangs down in exhaustion. All life has been dredged from her body and sapped from her mind. The children are underdeveloped and live like rodents. A very sick and lean boy has “rat’s eye” symbolizing that he is defensive and scared like a rodent. His prospect for survival, let alone success seems bleak.


(Q.) At back of the dim classOne unnoted, sweet and young his eyes live in a dream, Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.
(5 Marks)
(Ans) The classrooms are equally dim and pathetic. There is a child who is sweet and young but his “eyes live in a dream” .This phrase has various interpretations: 1) He wants to get out as he is bored and distracted.
2) He is mentally challenged and he lives in a dream and not in reality.The child’s desire is to be a squirrel playing in a hollow tree. This ironically reflects his current life and is also suggestive of the world of dream he lives in; being mentally challenged, he does not live in a world of reality like the others but lives in a world that he himself has created.
à The “tree room” is symbolic of the cramped holes in which the children live. The squirrel in contrast is free.
à The first stanza evokes pity and empathy reflecting the pathetic and miserable existence of the slum children. There is despondency and pessimism in the first and second stanza but hope and optimism in the last two stanzas.




(Q.) On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map Awarding the world its world.
(5 Marks)
(Ans) The walls of the classroom are off white or yellowish (sour cream). This dull colour echoes the situation of the children and underlines the neglect in their lives. The walls are decorated with pinups of Shakespeare’s head, domes of the institution of the civilized world, photographs of the alpine valleys; etc. The life of the slum children is far removed from all that is represented in maps, books and pictures. These are contrasted with the reality of the situation. ‘Open handed maps’ suggest the map drawn by powerful people – ‘Awarding the world its world’ suggests how the world is determined by the powerful leaders. The poet thus hints at two worlds: the world of poverty, misery, depravity represented in the slums which is contrasted with the world of progress and prosperity peopled by the rich which is shown in the pictures on the wall. This world is far removed from the lives of these slum children.




(Q.) And yet, for theseChildren, these windows, not this map, their world, Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.
(5 Marks)
(Ans) The world of stinking slums is the world that belongs to these poverty stricken, ill fed and under-nourished children. ‘These windows’ reflect the world exposed on the maps. Education opens doors and windows to the ‘other worlds’ but it has failed in this instance to liberate these children both physically and intellectually from their restricted and impoverished existence. Their world has unpleasant surroundings. The dirty windows figuratively and literally are their world. The fog of uncertainty dominates their future. They are doomed to live in narrow streets (symbolic of restricted life desolation) which do not lead them to a better future. Their landscapes have no rivers or lakes.à In the second stanza – all the positive symbols are far removed from the lives of the children – cloudless dawn, Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. The children’s future is bleak – painted with a fog and covered with a lead sky (of industrialization).



(Q.) Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?
(5 Marks)
(Ans) These lines are in form of a poignant question. The poet questions the study of Shakespeare to these slum children. It is “wicked” because it can liberate them from their mundane life. The map shows a world which is not theirs. Therefore it is a ‘bad example’. It tempts the children with ideas of escape in the ships from their miserable world with ‘lead skies’ to a sun filled world, and a love for life rather than an existence full of dread and disillusionment. It raises false hopes in the children.






(Q.) On their slag heap, these childrenWear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy sulm.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.
(5 Marks)
(Ans) ‘On their slag heap’ represents the physically diseased children who wander with bones peeping out of their skins. “Wearing spectacles of steel” is a symbol of industrialization in which they are all doomed. They wear spectacles with mended glass which look like pieces of broken bottles on stone. Stones also reflect the expression on their faces. This image highlights their impoverished existence. Their existence is restricted to the “foggy” slums. Foggy is symbolic of ignorance. Fate has charted out a bleak path as the future holds no promise for them. Their life is an endless fog till they die. The maps of their future are already blotted.



(Q.) Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,This map becomes their window and these windowsThat shut upon their lives like catacombs,
(5 Marks)
(Ans) This stanza is full of optimism. There is a touch of magic in its wider connotations. It is an appeal to the governor, teacher, inspector and visitors to transport them beyond the dark boundaries of today into the possibilities of tomorrow, otherwise these classrooms will become like tombs. The lives of the children are magically released from bondage. It is an appeal to these eminent people to rescue the poor and oppressed from the tomb of class discrimination and to show the children the beauty of the world. This map refers to the world of prosperity. Their windows refer to their slums. The children will be able to peep through windows only when the difference between the two worlds is abridged.The simile: - These windows (slums that shut up their lives and stun their growth) like cat combs (tombs).





(Q.) Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.
(5 Marks)
(Ans) Spender desperately wants that the children should break out of these catacombs (or near death existence). They should come out to the green fields and breathe in the open air so that they can grow unrestricted and liberated and be creative. The poet ‘imagines’ the liberated children running on the gold sand, delving into books and exploring the realism of knowledge. The white represents the printed word and the zeal or natural world, which forms the pages of the book of education.It is then that they will be truly liberated and the inextinguishable spirit of human creativity will abide in them. Only those people create histories whose language has the warmth of the sun i.e. – who have clarity of vision and power of life; these children will have the power of expression “Whose language is the sun" (metaphor). The children’s language world is like the sun – indicative of brightness and hope.Thus the end is optimistic, symbolizing the freedom of the children from their deathlike existence through education and social transformation.

my mother at sixty six..take a look

THE THIRD LEVEL

Summary
Charley's convinced there are three, not just two, levels at Grand Central Station. Charley's psychiatrist, and his friends, thinks his delusion is a “waking-dream wish fulfillment,” and like his stamp collection, a temporary refuge from a world full of insecurity, fear, war, and worry.
Charley explains that one evening while hurrying home, he decided to take the subway from Grand Central Station, and became lost. He eventually found himself on a strange third level with spittoons on the floor, oddly dressed people, and a locomotive from 1894.
Understanding he'd somehow gone back in time, Charley tries to buy tickets to Galesburg, IL, “a wonderful town … with big old frame houses, huge lawns and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets.” Because the clerk won't accept his 1950-style money, Charley leaves the station.
During his lunch break the next day, Charley withdraws nearly all their savings and buys old-style currency. But he can never again find the entrance to the third level at Grand Central Station.
Charley finds evidence the third level actually exists when he discovers a letter to him, dated July 18, 1894, from Galesburg, IL. It seems Charley's psychiatrist was not as incredulous of the third level as he appeared.


Theme
The story third level clearly explores the science fiction genre of ‘time travel’; Jack Finney, the recipient of the world fantasy award interweaves fantasy with the reality in the most futuristic projection of time travel. Charley wishes to be transported to the third level, the world of 1894 which is supposedly much happier and quieter place to be. It is one of the most concise and entertaining story about time travel. The question whether the third level exist in real or only in charley’s mind can be inferred from Sam’s letter.
The story also dwells on the theme of escapism, not only as a psychological refuge from the grim realities of the present day world but also as a desire to stay with the past or to keep the past alive in the complexities of the present. In the story charley not only expresses desire to escape but also prepares and tries very hard, a desire which is not contested by the wife either. Sam is also happily escaped with no plans to resort to his old profession along with scores of other people who cross the grand central everyday… to escape seems to be an all pervasive feeling.

Questions with the clues to the answers (well…really comprehensive clues)

(Q.) Why did the narrator meet a psychiatrist?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The narrator met a psychiatrist because he was sure he had been on the third level of the Grand Central Station. He was also aware of the fact that only two levels of the station existed and the presidents of the rail road would even swear on a stack of timetables to prove this point. The need to meet a psychiatrist became urgent because he was in a dilemma.


(Q.) What, according to the psychiatrist, was Charley’s problem?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley told the psychiatrist about his belief in the existence of the third level at the Grand Central Station but was told that it was only a waking- dream wish fulfillment. The third level was the work of his mind, his desire and fantasy. The psychiatrist also added that Charley was unhappy because of the insecurity, fear, war, worry and that he just wanted to escape just like everyone else. And the third level offered him that escape just like his hobby of collecting the stamps which was interpreted as ‘ a temporary refuge from the reality’.




(Q.) What does Charley think of Grand Central?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley thought that Grand Central was growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and stair cases, like roots. According to him, the grand central was so big that it could lose his way very easily and each time discovered some new part of it suggesting its meandering ways. Charley thought that there was probably a long tunnel that nobody knew about, feeling its way under the city, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. He thought Grand Central had been an exit, a way of escape.


(Q.) What was the most shocking and disturbing discovery/ revelation made by Charley?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The most shocking and disturbing discovery Charley made was that the note had been sent by his friend Sam who had recently disappeared. Charley found out that he had exchanged a large sum of present time dollars and bought eight hundred dollars worth of old-style currency which he wanted to invest in the business in 1894 at Galesburg. He also admitted that Sam was his psychiatrist who could not go back to his ‘old business’ (psychiatry) in 1894. It was shocking because Sam had initially dismissed charley’s claims of third level as a ‘waking dream fulfillment’ whereas his letter in the end becomes the clenching evidence of the third level.

(Q.) What was Charley’s argument when the psychiatrist told him that the stamp collecting was a temporary refuge from reality?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley argued that his own grandfather lived at a time when things were pretty nice and peaceful and he was the one who had actually started his collection of stamps. Charley refused to believe that his stamp collection was ‘a temporary refuge’ from reality. He considered third level to be true. He further gave the example of the President Roosevelt who also shared his hobby and was far removed from any desire to escape.

Q.) What idea did Charley have about the tunnel and why didn’t he tell the psychiatrist about it?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley felt there was a tunnel that nobody knew about, which was feeling its way under the city at that moment too, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. Grand Central, he felt, was like an exit, a way of escape and perhaps that’s how he got into the tunnel. He didn’t want to tell the psychiatrist, for he would not have believed him and would have wanted to treat him it as it would further prove that charley was imagining the third level since he nurtured a desire to escape.

Q.) Describe briefly the scene at the station as seen by Charley.
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley noticed that everyone at the station was dressed like eighteen-ninety something. He never saw so many beards, side burns, and fancy moustaches in his life. A woman he saw was wearing a dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves and a skirt to the top of her high-buttoned shoes. On the tracks, he saw a locomotive, a very small Currier and Ives locomotive with a funnel shaped stack. The open gaslight and brass spittoons at the third level clearly gave it a look of 1894.


(Q.) Why did Charley go to the newsboy?
Or
How did charley confirm that he has been to the third level? (same answer)
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley had walked up to the newsboy to confirm what he thought was true, i.e. the third level of the Grand Central as he saw existing in the year 1894. He saw the newsboy selling the newspaper, The World, which hadn’t been published for years and which carried the lead story about President Cleveland. Later, he found a copy of the same newspaper in the Public Library Files dated June 11, 1894.

(Q.) Describe Galesburg, as it existed in the year 1894?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Galesburg was a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches met overhead and roofed over the streets. In 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat on their lawns, the men smoking. It was the peaceful and tranquil place without wars and worry.

(Q.) In which context did Charley say, “eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894”?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley had got his three hundred dollars out of the bank and got them changed into old-style currency so that he could go back to the third level and buy the tickets to Galesburg. For his three hundred dollars he had got only two hundred dollars old-style currency but he didn’t mind that. The only consolation was that in the year 1894, the two hundred dollars would have more value, as things were much cheaper than they were now.

(Q.) What did Charley suspect when his friend Sam Weiner disappeared?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Despite Charley’s efforts to go to the third level, he was unable to find it again. He shared his experience with his wife, who got worried. He went back to his stamps. His friend Sam had disappeared and nobody knew where he was but Charley was certain that he had found the third level and gone there. Charley’s description of the place had fascinated him and he had gone there, in 1894.

(Q.) What was written on the paper that Charley found inside the envelope?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Charley read the note that said the fact that the third level existed, was true. The note signed by Sam also read that he had been at Galesburg for two weeks and was enjoying himself there. Sam had urged Charley and his wife Louisa to keep looking for the third level till they could find it and join him. It was worth the effort.

(Q.) What happened when Charley went to buy the tickets?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The clerk at the ticket counter stared hard at Charley and also glanced at his fancy hat bands. But he figured the fare. When Charley was about to pay the fare for two tickets, he told him that it wasn’t money and if Charley tried to cheat him, he wouldn’t get far. Charley went away from there as fast as he could.

(Q.) Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) According to Charley’s psychiatrist Sam, it was just a waking dream wish fulfillment and provided escape from modern day fear, insecurity, worry, etc. On the other hand, the vivid description that Charley provides indicates that the place really existed and later Sam exchanging money, disappearing and sending a letter in the first day cover perhaps prove that it was not an escape but a reality.


(Q.) What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?
(7 Marks)
(Ans) Charley, the main character of Jack Finney’s ‘The Third Level’ gave up hope of ever finding the third level again. He resumed his stamp collecting to pass his time. It was then that he noticed a first day cover which he had not seen before and should not have been there. It bore the stamp of July 18, 1894 and had been posted from Galesburg, Illinois. As Charley read the contents of the letter, he was shocked and surprised to read that it was Sam, his friend who had posted it to him. Earlier he had only hoped that Charley was right about the third level but now he actually believed in it. He had found it and had been there for two weeks. He admired the place as it was peaceful, people were warm and friendly. He urged Charley and Louisa to continue their search for the place and not to give up.The letter brought out the difference between the two worlds –the peaceful one of the pre-world war era and the modern world full of stress, worry and insecurities. People led a life of fun, enjoyment and little pleasures meant a lot to them in 1894. The letter also corroborates charley’s belief in the third level.

(Q.) ‘The Third Level’ written by Jack Finney is a story that illustrates an intersection of time and space. Elaborate.
(7 Marks)
(Ans) In ‘The Third Level’, Jack Finney treats his favourite subject ‘Time’ in a new dimension. The Third Level is a point where the past and the present meet.Charley, the protagonist loses his way. He finds himself in what he thinks is the third level of the Grand Central Station in New York. He realizes that something is different and discovers that he has somehow reached the year 1894.It is the period Finney would want to be in. The responses and happiness of the three characters in the story revolve around the third level. Charley is excited and wants two tickets for Galesburg, a peaceful town in the pre-war period. Sam, Charley’s psychiatrist friend attributes it to his desire to escape from the stress of life. Later on, Sam drew all his life’s savings from the bank and exchanged it for 1894 currency. He was able to cross time and reach a quieter, more peaceful past where his services as a psychiatrist were not required. Louisa did not believe that one could cross over the time dimension till Charley received a letter from Sam. Jack Finney leaves the readers wondering what ‘The Third Level’ really is. Even though Charley is able to find proof and make the transition back and forth in time, Sam, his friend is already there and enjoying himself. The reader gets transported into the shadowy, eerie world of dreams, desires and reality.

My Mother at sixty six: question bank with answers

My mother at 66
Kamala das:
Summary
The poet is on her way to the airport to cochin with her old mother sitting beside her,as she looks at her mother’s pale and pallid face, she is struck with the horror and pain of losing her. The mother with the dozing face and open mouth is compared to a corpse. The poet is pained and shifts her attention outside the car in order to drive out the negative feelings. The scene outside the window is of growing life and energy. The rapidly sprinting trees alongside the merrily playing children symbolize youth and vitality. The poet here is reminded of her own childhood when her mother had been young whereas now she is encircled with the fear of losing her and that has made her insecure. As she bids goodbye to her mother at the airport, the image of the old, wan, worn out mother in the twilight of years strikes her again but keeping a brave front she hides her tears and smile.


Theme
The poem revolves around the theme of advancing age and the fear that adheres to its loss and separation. It is a sentimental account of the mother’s approaching end through the eyes of the daughter. The seemingly short poem touches upon the theme of the filial bond between the mother and daughter smeared in the backdrop of nostalgia and fear. Nostalgia of the past(the time spent with the mother) and fear of the future without her.

Poetic device
It is a short poem, without a full stop, the poem is like a long sentence, over flowing thought process. The poet uses the device of comparison and contrast, simile and repetition. Although there is no rhyming scheme in the poem yet its lyrical quality cannot be missed.






Following are the clues to the various probable questions from the text.
In case of discrepancies with the answers kindly bring it to my notice.


(Q.) Why does the poet smile and what does she say while bidding goodbye to her mother?
(1 Mark)
(Ans) The poet smiles in order to put up a brave front so that her mother may not observe her pained and frightened look. She smiles in order to reassure her mother and says that she would soon see her again.



(Q.) What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is due to the realization that her mother has gone old and has become frail and pale like a corpse. She is dependent on her children. The ache also refers to the old familiar ache of the childhood that revisits the poet due to the mother’s old age and her approaching end.


(Q.) Why are the young trees described as sprinting?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to be running in the opposite direction when seen through the window of the moving car. The movement is juxtaposed with the expression on the mother’s face i.e. ashen like a corpse. The movement of the children and the trees is in stark contrast with the stillness associated with the mother.



(Q.) Why has the poet bought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet highlights the helplessness and frailty of old age with the help of contrasts. The mother dozes off mouth open, whereas the children spilling out of their homes signify movement and energy, enthusiasm and vivacity, which the old people are bereft off.



(Q.) Why has the mother been compared to ‘late winter’s moon’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon which is dull and shrouded. It symbolizes the ebbing of life. The moon brings to the poets mind night or the approaching end of life. The mother like the late winter’s moon is dull, dim and dismal.



(Q.) What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The parting words ‘see you soon Amma’ are used by the poet to reassure the mother and to infuse optimism in the poet herself. The poet accepts the reality yet keeps up the façade of smiling in order to put up a brave front. It requires a lot of effort and hence the poet has used the poetic device of repetition.


(Q.) What does the poet mean by ‘all I did was smile and smile and smile…’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet realizes the pain and ache she would get at separating from her mother. It was her childhood fear that she experienced again. She was trying to hide her true emotions by smiling and smiling. The smile here is the forced smile and not the natural one.





(Q.) What childhood fears do you think the poet is referring to in the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet refers to the fears of a child has of losing a parent or getting lost somewhere and thus getting separated from them. The poet felt this kind of fear while looking at her mother’s aged and pale face. She was afraid that she might never see her again. However the fear is also symbolic of the strong filial bond that the poet has not yet overgrown.



(Q.) What does the poet mean by ‘she looked?’
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet felt that perhaps her mother too would be feeling insecure about her future. She saw these expressions on her mother’s face as well.


(Q.) What does the poet’s mother look like? What kind of images has the poet used to signify her ageing decay?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet’s mother at sixty-six, is sitting beside the poet and is dozing off with her mouth open. This is a sign of old age. Her face was pale like a corpse’s. Imagery of death has been created by the poet in this comparison.




(Q.) What were the activities that the poet saw outside the car window?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet saw young trees speeding past and it seemed as if they were sprinting or running fast. Happy, enthusiastic and energetic children could be seen running out of their homes. They represent an image of life, youth and energy in comparison to the poet’s mother who is described as a corpse, devoid of any energy and is an antithesis of children who are in the full swing of life.



(Q.) Why does the poet look outside? What does she perceive?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The very thought of separation from her mother upsets and depresses the poet. She experiences the fear that she may never meet her mother again. In order to drive away such negative thoughts, she looks out of the window and her mind gets diverted when she sees trees moving rapidly and children playing merrily.



(Q.) What is the poet’s familiar ache and why does it return?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poet is pained to see her mother old and suffering. The sight of her mother’s pale and weak face looks like that of a corpse, which arouses her childhood’s ‘familiar ache’ in her heart. The old familiar ache refers to the childhood premonition of losing or being separated from the parents (mother), the fear returns due the old age of the mother signifying her approaching end.


(Q.) What does Kamala Das do after the security check-up? What does she notice?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) Immediately after the security check-up at the airport, and standing a few yards away from her mother, the poet observes her mother once again and compares her to the pale, colourless winter’s moon, marking the last phase of her life i.e. her old age. She is pained to see her and the fear of separation returns in her, once again.




(Q.) What poetic devices has the poet used in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?
(2 Marks)
(Ans) The poem is rich in imagery. Devices of comparisons and contrasts are also used by the poet to draw out the differences in young age and old age. She describes her mother’s age as ‘ashen like a corpse’, using simile and compares her to late winter’s moon, using a simile again. The merry children playing happily are contrasted with the old, weak, frail, feeble and pale mother of the poet.




(Q.) Driving from my parent’shome to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realized with pain
that she was as old as she looked and
thought away…

a) Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
b) What did the poet notice about her mother?
c) Why did her mother’s face look like that of a corpse?
d) Find words from the passage which mean
i) Sleep lightly
ii) Dead body
(4 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The poet was driving to the airport in Cochin. Her mother was sitting beside her.
(b) The poet noticed that her mother was looking old, pale and weak. She had dozed off.
(c) She was old, pale and ashen. Since she had dozed off, with mouth open the poet felt she looked like a corpse in that condition.
(d) i) Dozed; ii) Corpse



(Q.) ….andlooked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes

a) What did the poet realize? How did she feel?
b) What did she do then?
c) What did she see outside?
d) Find words from the passage which mean
i) Running fast
ii) Happy
(4 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The poet realized that her mother too, was lost in some distant thoughts. It pained her to see in that condition resembling a corpse.
(b) She started looking out in order to divert her own attention to something else as she wanted to dispel the sad and gloomy thoughts of her mother
(c) She saw young trees moving fast as if they were sprinting and also saw young children happily running out of their homes to play.
(d) i) Sprinting; ii) Merry




(Q.) but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,all I did was smile and smile and smile…’

a) Why did the poet say ‘see you soon, Amma’?
b) Why did the poet smile and smile?
c) ‘Smile and smile and smile’ is a poetic device. Identify it.d) Amma is the fond way of addressing someone. Who is being addressed here?
(4 Marks)
(Ans) (a) The poet says this to reassure her mother that she would see her soon. After the pain, there is a mood of acceptance of reality.
(b) The poet tries to put up a brave front in order to hide her true feelings of pain at seeing the old and weak mother.
(c) It is repetition and is used to emphasize the tone of acceptance of the poet and the brave front she puts up.
(d) The poet’s mother. She addresses her as ‘Amma’ and reassures her that she would meet her again.

High Order Thinking Skill

Higher Order Thinking Questions- a Necessity



In the Board’s question paper in Economics of Class XII, there will be higher order thinking questions of 15 to 20 marks. The objective is to assess the students’ understanding, analytical ability and interpretation.
In the course content for Economics, an attempt is made to introduce basic concepts used in the study of this subject. Many of these concepts are also interrelated.
Memorising these concepts and their relationship will not help in understanding the economic laws and principles. These have to be understood in totality by asking questions such as why and how and going a step further by applying them to various situations.

Some of these concepts are:

o Marginal and average cost etc and their relationship.
o Concept of equilibrium in microeconomics and in macroeconomics.
o Concepts of elasticity.
o Concepts of domestic product and national product.
o Intermediate and final products.
o Concepts of inflation, depreciation of domestic currency, etc.
Just memorising the meaning of concepts does not help in understanding the subject and the use of these concepts. For instance just memorising the meaning of average and marginal costs and their relationship will not help you in answering question, like.

o Why must marginal cost curve pass through the minimum point of average cost curve? Or
o If marginal revenue falls, will total revenue fall? Or
o Are the wages and salaries received by Indians working in American Embassy in India a part of Domestic Product of India? Or
o What are the main reasons for the present price rise in India? Or
o Why must aggregate demand and aggregate supply be equal when the economy is in an equilibrium?
To give a practice of the application of these concepts and to test whether the students have really understood them, the situations from day to day life should be put before
them. They should then be asked to analyse them. Some topics can also be taken up for debate, such as “Are borrowings bad?” or “Is inflation harmful?”


Some examples of higher order thinking questions in Economics for class XII are given below:-

1 When price of a good rises from Rs.5 per unit to Rs.6 per unit, 3
its demand falls from 20 units to 10 units. Compare expenditures
on the good to determine whether demand is elastic or inelastic.

2 What is the relation between good X and good Y in each case, if 3
with fall in the price of X demand for good Y (i) rises and (ii) falls?
Give reason.

3 Giving reasons explain how the following are treated while estimating 2,2,2
national income:
(i) Payment of fees to a lawyer engaged by a firm.
(ii) Rent free house to an employee by an employer.
(iii) Purchases by foreign tourists.

4 Explain what happens to the profits in the long run if the firms are free to 3
enter the industry.

5 Given market equilibrium of a good, what are the effects of simultaneous 6
increase in both demand and supply of that good on its equilibrium price
and quantity?

6 Explain the implications of the following :
(i) The feature ‘differentiated products’ under monopolistic competition.
(ii) The feature’Large number of sellers’ under perfect competition.
7 At a given market price of a good a consumer buys 120 units. When price
falls by 50 percent he buys 150 units. Calculate price elasticity of demand.

8 Explain, by giving examples, how do the following determine price elasticity
of demand:
(i) nature of the good
(ii) availability of substitutes

9 In the following table, identify the different phases of the law
of variable proportions and also explain the causes:
Variable input (units)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Total product (units)
10
22
32
40
40
35

10 Giving reasons, explain how the following are treated in estimating 6
National Income:
(i) Purchase of a truck to carry goods by a production unit.
(ii) Payment of income tax by a production unit.
(iii) Services rendered by family members to each other.

My Mother at 66

By Kamala Das

Summary

The poet is on her way to the airport in cochin with her old mother sitting beside her,as she looks at her mother’s pale and pallid face, she is struck with the horror and pain of losing her. The mother with the dozing face and open mouth is compared to a corpse. The poet is pained and shifts her attention outside the car in order to drive out the negative feelings. The scene outside the window is of growing life and energy. The rapidly sprinting trees alongside the merrily playing children symbolize youth and vitality. The poet here is reminded of her own childhood when her mother had been young whereas now she is encircled with the fear of losing her and that has made her insecure. As she bids goodbye to her mother at the airport, the image of the old, wan, worn out mother in the twilight of years strikes her again but keeping a brave front she hides her tears and smile.

Theme

The poem revolves around the theme of advancing age and the fear that adheres to its loss and separation. It is a sentimental account of the mother’s approaching end through the eyes of the daughter. The seemingly short poem touches upon the theme of the filial bond between the mother and daughter smeared in the backdrop of nostalgia and fear. Nostalgia of the past(the time spent with the mother) and fear of the future without her.

Poetic device

It is a short poem, with only one full stop in the end, the poem is like a long sentence, over flowing thought process. The poet uses the device of comparison and contrast, simile and repetition. Although there is no rhyming scheme in the poem yet its lyrical quality cannot be missed.

childhood----the loss of innocence

the poem 'childhood' traces the journey backwards....it raises questions and doubts...'when did my childhood go?' the poet is unable to answer that question. can you?

the ghat of the only world

its an emotional account of a friend nearing his death yet unfazed and unperturbed...lives life with the poetry in heart....Amitav Ghosh transforms these last days of the dying poet into indelible portrait of an artist and a gesture of frienship....acquires permanance in writing....

post me your comments on this chapter....