Jammu and Kashmir Board Class 10 English Tulip Book Poem 5 My Mother at Sixty-six Question Answers
My Mother at Sixty-six Question Answers: Looking for My Mother at Sixty-six important questions and answers for JKBOSE Class 10 English Tulip Book? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practicing JKBOSE Class 10 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the board exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring My Mother at Sixty-six Question answers now. The questions listed below are based on the latest JKBOSE exam pattern. All the exercises and Questions Answers given at the back of the lesson have also been covered.
- Mother at Sixty-six Textbook Questions
- Mother at Sixty-six Multiple Choice Questions
- Mother at Sixty-six Extract- Based Questions
Jammu and Kashmir Board Class 10 English Tulip Book Poem My Mother at Sixty-six Textbook Questions
Exercise
Question Answer
Thinking about the Poem
- How does the poet describe her mother in the poem?
Ans. The poet describes her mother as dozing, with her mouth open, and her face looking ashen like a corpse. Later, she compares her mother’s pale and wan appearance to a late winter’s moon.
- Why does the poet look outside? What activities does the poet see outside the car window?
Ans. The poet looks outside to distract herself from the painful realization of her mother’s aging. She sees young trees sprinting and children spilling out of their homes.
- Why are the young trees in the poem described as sprinting?
Ans. The young trees are described as sprinting to convey the speed at which the car is moving, which contrasts with the slow passage of time for her mother.
- Why is the mother compared to the late winter’s moon?
Ans. The mother is compared to a late winter’s moon because, like the moon in winter, her mother appears pale, wan, and distant, symbolizing her frailty and aging.
- What childhood fear do you think the poet is referring to in the poem My Mother at Sixty-six?
Ans. The poet is referring to the childhood fear of losing her mother and being separated from her due to death.
- What does Kamala Das do after the security check? What does she notice?
Ans. After the security check, Kamala Das looks at her mother again and notices her pale, wan face, comparing it to the late winter’s moon. She feels a deep sense of sadness and fear but tries to mask it with a smile.
- but all I said was, see you soon Amma; all I did was smile and smile and smile…
a) What does the poet actually feel at this moment?
b) Why did the poet say ‘see you soon Amma’? What does the poet actually mean by ‘smile and smile and smile…’? What kind of smile is it?
Ans.
a). The poet feels a deep sense of fear and sadness about her mother’s aging and the possibility of losing her.
b). The poet says ‘see you soon Amma’ to reassure both herself and her mother, though she fears it may not happen. The ‘smile and smile and smile’ refers to a forced, sad smile used to hide her inner turmoil and sorrow.
- Driving from my parent’s home 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 but soon put that thought away
a) Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
b) What did the poet notice about the mother?
c) Why did the mother’s face look like that of a corpse?
Ans.
a). The poet was driving to Cochin, and her mother was sitting beside her.
b). The poet noticed that her mother looked old, frail, and her face was ashen like that of a corpse.
c). The mother’s face looked like that of a corpse because she was dozing with her mouth open, and her pale appearance reflected her fragility and old age.
- Discuss mother-daughter relationship as described in the poem.
Ans. The poem portrays a deep emotional bond between the mother and daughter, characterized by love, concern, and fear of loss. The daughter is pained by the realization of her mother’s aging and impending death, while she tries to maintain a calm demeanor for her mother’s sake.
- My Mother at Sixty-six is an emotional account of the poet towards the numbered days of her mother. Discuss.
Ans. The poem reflects the poet’s realization that her mother’s days are limited due to her old age. The poet experiences emotional turmoil as she contemplates the possibility of losing her mother but tries to put on a brave face for her mother’s sake.
Learning about the Literacy Device/s
- The poet compares her mother to many things. Pick out two similes which reinforce this comparison.
Ans.
- “Her face ashen like that of a corpse.”
- “Wan, pale as a late winter’s moon.”
- What image does the poet use to describe death in the poem?
Ans. The poet uses the image of her mother’s face as “ashen like that of a corpse” to describe death, implying her mother’s frailty and old age, evoking the inevitability of death.
- Cite an example of one device of contrast that the poet uses in the poem.
Ans. The poet contrasts the slow decay of her aging mother with the lively, vibrant image of “young trees sprinting” and “merry children spilling out of their homes,” emphasizing the stark difference between life and approaching death.
- Smile and smile and smile ….. is a poetic device. What is it called?
Ans. The poetic device used here is repetition, emphasizing the continuous and forced nature of the poet’s smile to conceal her deep emotions and fear of loss.
Jammu and Kashmir Board Class 10 English Tulip Book Poem My Mother at Sixty-six Extra Questions
Multiple Choice Questions
- Where was the poet driving to?
(A) Cochin
(B) Delhi
(C) Mumbai
(D) Chennai - How does the poet describe her mother’s face?
(A) Fresh
(B) Dull and pale
(C) Rosy
(D) Glowing - What does the poet notice outside the car window?
(A) Mountains
(B) Rivers
(C) Young trees sprinting and children playing
(D) Cars and traffic - What simile does the poet use to describe her mother after the airport security check?
(A) As pale as a ghost
(B) As pale as the moon
(C) As pale as a winter’s moon
(D) As pale as a flower - What emotion does the poet feel when she sees her mother after the security check?
(A) Happiness
(B) Relief
(C) Familiar ache and childhood fear
(D) Excitement - What does the poet say to her mother at the end of the poem?
(A) Goodbye
(B) See you soon, Amma
(C) Take care
(D) I will miss you - What kind of smile does the poet give at the end?
(A) A cheerful smile
(B) A sad and forced smile
(C) A relaxed smile
(D) A broad smile - Why does the poet describe the trees as ‘sprinting’?
(A) Because the car was moving quickly
(B) Because the trees were running
(C) Because the poet felt time passing quickly
(D) Because the trees were young - What does the ‘familiar ache’ refer to?
(A) A headache
(B) A childhood fear of separation from her mother
(C) Physical pain
(D) Emotional pain from a past event - What literary device is used in ‘smile and smile and smile’?
(A) Metaphor
(B) Alliteration
(C) Repetition
(D) Simile
Answers:
- (A) Cochin
- (B) Dull and pale
- (C) Young trees sprinting and children playing
- (C) As pale as a winter’s moon
- (C) Familiar ache and childhood fear
- (B) See you soon, Amma
- (B) A sad and forced smile
- (A) Because the car was moving quickly
- (B) A childhood fear of separation from her mother
- (C) Repetition
Extract- Based Questions
A. “Driving from my parent’s 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, and looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling”
- Where was the poet driving from?
Ans. The poet was driving from her parent’s home to Cochin.
- Who was sitting beside the poet in the car?
Ans. The poet’s mother was sitting beside her in the car.
- How does the poet describe her mother’s face?
Ans. The poet describes her mother’s face as ashen, like that of a corpse.
- What did the poet realize while looking at her mother?
Ans. The poet realized with pain that her mother had grown old and frail.
- What thoughts did the poet put away after seeing her mother’s condition?
Ans. The poet put away the painful thought that her mother was aging and might not have much time left.
B. “Out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
As a late winter’s 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……”
- What did the poet see when she looked outside the car window?
Ans. The poet saw young trees sprinting and children spilling out of their homes.
- Where did the poet stand after the airport security check?
Ans. The poet stood a few yards away from her mother after the airport security check.
- How did the poet describe her mother after the security check?
Ans. The poet described her mother as wan and pale, like a late winter’s moon.
- What is the childhood fear mentioned in the poem?
Ans. The childhood fear mentioned is the poet’s fear of losing her mother.
- What did the poet do at the end of the poem?
Ans. At the end of the poem, the poet smiled continuously, trying to hide her pain and fear of separation.