Class XII : Assignment 2: My Mother At Sixty Six

Class XII

Assignment 2: My Mother At Sixty Six

                                                                      Kamala Das

 

Read The Following Extracts And Answer The Questions That Follow Each:

1 .  Driving From My Parents

Home To Cochin Last Friday

Morning,I Saw My Mother

Beside Me,

Doze,Open Mouthed,Her Face

Ashen Like That

Of A Corpse And Realised With Pain

That She Was As Old As She Looked But Soon

Put That Thought Away………….

 

Questions

A)Where Was The Poet Coming From And Who Was Sitting Beside Her?

B)What Did The Poet Notice About Her Mother?

C)With What Does The Poet Compare Her Mother’s Face And Why?

D)Name The Figure Of Speech Used In The Given Lines.

 

2…………………And Looked Out At Young

Trees Sprinting,The Merry Children Spilling

Out Of There Homes,But After The Airports

Security Check ,Standing A Few Yards Away…………………..

Questions

A)Where Is The Speaker In These Lines?

B)Why Did The Poet Look Outside The Window?

C)Why Do The  Trees Appear To Be Sprinting?Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

D)Why Does The Poet Use The Image Of”Merry Children………….Homes”? Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

 

3. I Looked  Again At Her,Wan,Pale

As A Late Winters Moon And Felt That Old

Familiar Ache,My Childhood’s Fear,

But All I Said Was,See You Soon ,Amma,

All  I Did Was Smile And Smile And Smile………………….

 

Questions

A)Why Does The Poet Compare Her Mother To “A Late Winter’s Moon”?Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

B)What  Childhood Fear Did The Speaker Have?

C)What Do The Parting Words Suggest?

D)Explain:” All  I Did Was Smile And Smile And Smile………………….” And Name The Figure Of Speech Used.

 

The Last Lesson

Short Questions

1.What Was Franz Expected To Be Prepared With For School That Day?

Ans- That Day Franz  Expected To Be Prepared With Participles Because M.Hamel Had Said That He Would Question Them On Participles. Franz Did Not Know Anything About Participles.

2. What Did Franz Noticed That Was Unusual About The School That Day?

Ans- Usually ,When School Began,There Was A Great Bustle Which Could Be Heard Out In The Street.But It Was All Very Still That Day.Every Thing Was As Quiet As A Sunday Morning.There Was No Opening Or Closing Of Desks.His Classmates Were Already In Their Palaces.The Teachers Great Ruler Instead Of Rapping On The Table,Was Under M.Hamel’s Arm.

3. What Had Been Put Up On The Bulletin Board?

Ans- For The Last 2 Years All The Bad News Came From The Bulletin Board.An Order Had Come From Berlin To Teach Only German In The School’s Of Alsace And Lorraine.The Germans Had Put Up This Notice On The Bulletin Board.

4. What Change Did The Order From Berlin Cause In School That Day?

Ans-Mr. M.Hamel Had Put On His Best Dress-His Beautiful Green Coat,His Frilled Shirt And The Little Black Silk Cap,All Embroidered.The Whole School Seemed So Strange And Solemn.On Back Benches That Were Always Empty,The Elderly Village People Were Sitting Quietly Like The Kids.

5. How Did Franz’s Fellings About M.Hamel And The School Change?

Ans- Franz Came To Know That It Was The Last Lesson In French That M.Hamel Would Give Them.From The Next Day They Will Be Taught Only German.Then He Felt Sorry For Not Learning His Lessons Properly.His Books Which Seem A Nuisance And A Burden Earlier Were Now Old Friends.His Feelings About M.Hamel Also Changed. He Forgot All About His Ruler And How Cranky He Was.

 

Long Questions

1. “When A People Are Enslaved, As Long As They Hold Fast To Their Language It Is As If They Have The Keys To Their Prison.” What Could This Mean?

Ans. Language Is An Important Aspect Of The Culture Of Any Nation. Native Language Unites The People Of A Particular Area Or Nation. During Colonization Colonizers Enforce Political Domination By Exerting Their Rules And Regulation Over The People Of Colonized Nation And Enforce Cultural Domination By Imposing Their Own Language On Them. In Some Cases, Colonizers Prohibit The Teaching Of The Native Language And Try To Deprive The People Of Their Identity.

In Such Cases ,When People Are Attached To Their Native Language, Their Identity Would Be Kept Intact. Their Language Is The Key To Their Prison As Their Language Keeps Them United Against The Invaders And Urge Them To Fight Against The Enslavement.

  Patriotism-An Unmatched Spirit

Patriotism Is Defined As One’s Love For One’s Customs, Culture, Mother Tongue, Motherland And Everything What Is Associated With One’s Motherland. One Should Be Proud Of What One’s Country Has Given To Him. In Indian Context, People Have Started Adopting Western Culture. They Are In The Race Of Being ‘Mod’. This Is Really Surprising As Well As Pathetic. As An Indian, We Own A Rich And Diversified Culture Which Has Attracted Foreigners Too. Many Patriots Have Sacrificed Their Lives In The Name Of Their Country Which Has Attracted Foreigners Too. Many Patriots Have A Feeling That Cannot Be Filled In The Hearts Of Indians But It Should Be Arisen And Inculcated Among The Future Generation Of The Country. The Students Or The Youth Of The Country Need To Be Indianised. Adaption Of Different Cultures Is Not Bad. But Forgetting Our Own Culture For Sake Of Other Ones Is Not Done. The Need Of The Hour Is To Inculcate The Moral Values, Virtues, Love For Humanity And Motherland Among The Indian Youth. Patriotism Is An Undying And Unmatched Spirit That Cannot Be Sacrificed For Anything.

1.  Read The Following Question And Answer The Question That Follows: 

Then He Turned To The Blackboard, Took A Piece Of Chalk And, Bearing On With All His Might, He Wrote As Large As He Could – “Vive La France!” Abraham Lincoln, A Former President Of America Said’ “I Like To See A Man Proud Of The Place In Which He Lives. I Like To See A Man Live So That His Place Will Be Proud Of Him.” After Reading  The Lesson And The Above Quote Of Abraham Lincoln You Being To Reflect On The Lost Spirit Of Patriotism Amongst The Youth In India Due To Which There Is No Respect For Once Countrymen And No Determination Amongst The Youth To Lead The Country To Be A Better Future. Write An Article In About 100 Words For A National Magazine On The Need For Revival Of Patriotic Spirit Amongst The Youth Of India.

Ans: The Need For Revival Of Patriotic Spirit Amongst The Youth In India”

India Has Been The Land Of Proud Martyrs Who Embraced The Gallows For Their Ideals, Where Every Drop In Freedom Fighter’s Blood Fought Not For Itself But For Nation. Today, The Same India Stands Famished And Starved Of The True Patriotic Spirit. Our Youth Appears To Be Driven More By A Crazy Love For A Superficial Self-Advancement Than Anything Else For Our Young Boys And Girls, Country Holds On Better Value Than Just A Geographical Identity. Undoubtedly, ‘Patriotism’ Needs To Be Redefined And Revived In India. We Probably Find Our Patriotic Spirit Stirred Up When There Is An Indo-Pak Cricket Match Or When Terrorists Bomb Our Trains. But We Definitely Forget It When We Cast Our Vote In The Elections, When A Hungry Beggar Asks For A Rupee, When We Shamelessly Throw Garbage On The Roads And So On…. Patriotic Emotions Cannot Be Engendered In A Windfall. They Will Have To Be Engraved On Tender Hearts That Will Remain Placid. Our Education Policies Thus Needed To Be Revalued And Reformed. More National Awareness And Respect Should Be Embedded Into The Scholastic Curriculum. This Could Be Nothing More Than A Sincere Devotion For Making A Peaceful-Loving, Uncorrupt, Crime-Free, Unpolluted And Patriotic India. Small Actions Persuaded With A Notion Of Doing Good To Other Countrymen Is True Patriotism. Today, Our Country Wants Awakened Citizens To Move Forward And It Is In This Sphere Where We Have To Exercise Our True Patriotic Spirit.