CBSE Class 11 English Poem 1 A Photographer Question Answers (Important) from Hornbill Book
Class 11 English A Photograph Question Answers – Looking for A Photograph question answers (NCERT solutions) for CBSE Class 11 English Hornbill Book Poem 1? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 11 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Poem 1: A Photograph now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract based questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions.
Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.
- A Photograph NCERT Solution
- A Photograph Extract Based Questions
- A Photograph Short Answer Questions
- A Photograph Long Answer questions
Related:
A Photograph NCERT Solution
Think it out
1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
Ans: In the poem, the word ‘cardboard’ means a frame which supports the photograph. This word had been used in the poem because the picture is very old when the cardboard was used as a photo frame.
2. What has the camera captured?
Ans: The camera has captured the poet’s mother and her two cousins, Betty and Dolly, on the beach. They went for paddling where her mother’s uncle captured the photo in between the moment. Her mother was around twelve years old and was in the middle. She was holding the hands of her cousins who were on the side of her. It was her mother’s favourite past memories.
3. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?
Ans: The lines ‘And the sea, which appears to have changed less’ depicts that the sea which touched her mother’s feet is the one which has not changed over the years. Whereas, her mother and her cousins grew older. The sea symbolises eternity and immortality. Human being has a life span and has to die one day. Life is not permanent. The poet is sad about her mother’s demise twelve years ago and her laugh is her favourite past memory.
4. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?
Ans: The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot recalling her favourite past memories. She looked back at the photograph and remembered how their parents would dress them up for the beach holiday. Her laugh indicated her remembering the innocent days and the nostalgia feeling. Behind the laugh is also a feeling of pain that those days won’t be back.
5. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.”
Ans: the above lines means that the poet’s mother felt pain whenever she saw the old photograph because the innocent childhood days would never be back. Those are just the memories. While the poet has lost his mother twelve years ago and she misses her a lot and recalls her laughing and pointing out the outfits they used to wear at the beach holidays. Both of them lost something.
6. What does “this circumstance” refer to?
Ans: The words ‘this circumstance’ refers to the present situation of the poet which is the painful memories of her mother who have been deceased twelve years ago. While looking at the old photograph of her mother’s childhood makes her miss her more. She remembers her laughing and how the photograph was her favourite past memory.
7. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?
Ans: the first stanza depicts her mother’s childhood days when she was twelve years old or so. It talks about a photograph of her with her two cousins on a beach holiday. Her uncle took the photograph. Her mother changed over the years as she grew older. While the sea which touched their feet in that beach holiday hadn’t changed over the years.
In the second stanza, the poet talks about her childhood days when her mother used to look at the photograph and recalls everything mentioned in the first stanza.
In the last stanza, the poet shares that her mother is dead as many years ago as was her age in the photograph. She died twelve years ago. The poet is recalling her mother’s old memories while looking at the photograph. She is in pain and misses her deceased mother. She has no words to describe her grief.
Class 11 English A Photograph Question Answers Poem 1 – Extract Based Questions
Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage
Extract Based Questions
A Read the given stanzas and answer the questions that follow:
“The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands,
And she the big girl- some twelve years or so”
1. What does cardboard mean in this context?
A A thick paper on which the poet’s photograph was pasted
B A thick envelope
C A thick piece of paper with a photo of the poet’s mother attached
D A paper boat
Ans C A thick piece of paper with a photo of the poet’s mother attached
2. What does the cardboard depict?
A A scenery
B The picture of a house
C The picture of a school
D The picture of three girls
Ans D The picture of three girls
3. Who is the big girl mentioned here?
A The poet herself
B The poet’s mother
C The poet’s relative
D The poet’s friend
Ans B The poet’s mother
4. In the picture, what are the three of them doing?
A playing in the sand
B standing beside house
C holding hands
D holding hands and paddling
Ans C holding hands
B Read the given stanzas and answer the questions that follow:
“All three stood still to smile through their hair
At the uncle with the camera.
A sweet face, My mother’s,
that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less.
Washed their terribly transient feet.
1. What does the phrase “smiling through their hair” signify in the poem?
A The girls who were photographed had their hair decorated
B The photographed girls were wearing a mask
C When the girls were smiling for the camera, their hair was covering their faces.
D The hair of the girls in the picture was smiling as well
Ans C When the girls were smiling for the camera, their hair was covering their faces.
2. What has remained constant over time?
A The photo
B The cardboard
C The girls
D The sea
Ans D The sea
3. Identify a term in the extract that describes something as “lasting only briefly”?
A Still
B Transient
C Changed
D Less
Ans B Transient
4. What poetic device involving epithets was used in the poem?
A Terribly transient
B Through their
C Both wry
D Laboured ease
Ans A Terribly transient
C Read the given stanzas and answer the questions that follow:
“Some twenty-thirty-years later
She’d laugh at the snapshot.
“See Betty And Dolly, she’d say, “and look how they
Dressed us for the beach
The sea holiday Was her past, mine is her laughter
Both wry With the laboured ease of loss.”
1. Why did she laugh?
A Seeing the absurd dresses they were sporting while on holiday by the sea
B One of them cracked a joke
C Seeing the weird dresses they were wearing at the party
D Because they saw a funny man at the sea holiday
Ans A Seeing the absurd dresses they were sporting while on holiday by the sea
2. Who are Betty and Dolly?
A They are poet’s cousins
B They are poet’s friends
C They are poet’s mother’s friends
D They are poet’s mother’s cousins
Ans D They are poet’s mother’s cousins
3. The word ___________ in the extract is the synonym of photograph.
A Snapshot
B Picture
C Mine
D Laboured
Ans A Snapshot
4. What do you mean by the word ‘wry’?
A ironic
B cry
C sad
D None of the above
Ans A Ironic
D Read the given stanzas and answer the questions that follow:
“Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived
And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all
Its silence silences”
1. Who does she refer to?
A The poet’s dead aunt
B The poet’s dead mother
C The poet’s dead cousin
D The poet’s sister
Ans B The poet’s dead mother
2. Why is there nothing to be said regarding the poet’s mother’s passing?
A The poet is perplexed
B When her mother passed away, the poet was not in her senses
C The death of the poet’s mother has left a deep void in the poet’s heart
D The poet and her mother did not get along well
Ans C The death of the poet’s mother has left a deep void in the poet’s heart
3. The phrase “events that change your life, over which you have no control” is synonymous to which word in the extract?
A Silences
B Circumstances
C Situation
D Circumstance
Ans D Circumstance
4. What does the author feel in the last phase?
A pain and grief
B happy and nostalgic
C sad and nostalgic
D pain and nostalgic
Ans A pain and grief
Class 11 English A Photograph Question Answers (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)
In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from the Poem 1 A Photograph for CBSE Class 11 exams for the coming session.
Q1 The poet talks about a particular cardboard. How is it special to her?
Ans: The poet mentions a specific piece of cardboard on which her mother’s seaside photo has been taped. The mother appeared to be having fun on her seaside holiday. She lost her mother a while ago, thus the picture holds a unique meaning for her because it both makes her joyful and sad to look at it.
Q2 What can you say about the childhood of the poet’s mother?
Ans: The poet’s mother must have had a happy and fun-filled upbringing. The picture of the seaside holiday makes this obvious. They are having a good time. Even many years after the sea holiday, the poet’s mother still chuckles when she looks at the photo. All of this demonstrates to us what a wonderful childhood it was.
Q3 What moment does the photograph depicts?
Ans: The poet’s mother and her two cousins Dolly and Betty are shown in the snapshot taken by the poet’s uncle, enjoying a seaside holiday. In beautiful beach outfits and without a care in the world, they are all grins.
Q4 Were the three cousins camera friendly? Who was taking their photograph?
Ans: The three cousins appeared to enjoy being photographed since they remained still as the uncle shot the picture at the seashore.
Q5 The poet’s mother would laugh looking at the photograph. Why?
Ans: The poet’s mother, who was in her middle age at the time, used to laugh as she reminisced about those idyllic childhood vacations by the sea and at the out-of-date appearance of the beachwear.
Q6 What impression do you form about the poet’s mother?
Ans: At twelve years old, the poet’s mother was quite attractive. She relished her holiday at sea. This is demonstrated by the joy she experiences in middle life when she sees a picture of herself as a child.
Q7 The sea appears to have changed less in comparison to the three girls who enjoyed the sea holiday. Comment.
Ans: The poet contrasts the transient character of people with the enduring qualities of the sea or other natural objects. The huge sea hasn’t changed much since the photo was taken, even though the poet’s mother grew old and passed away over time.
Q8 Why does the poet feel nostalgic?
Ans: The poet comes across an old photo of her mother standing on the seashore with Dolly and Betty, two of her cousins. They were having a good time. When she was about twelve years old, her mother was seen in the picture with a nice smile on her face. When the poet’s mother would see that old portrait, she used to giggle, the poet recalls. Yet, time has gone, and the poet is now left with nothing but her mother’s memories. Thus she experiences nostalgia.
Q9 What does the poet say about her mother’s face?
Ans: The poet observes that her mother had a lovely smile on her face and showed concern for her younger relatives. The poet adds that when her mother later saw the photo, she would laugh heartily because she used to like these seaside vacations.
Q10 How does the poet react to her past? Why has she not mentioned anything about her mother’s death?
Ans: The poet misses hearing her mother’s laughter, which she can no longer hear. The poet is overcome with a sense of grief and chooses not to address the passing of her mother for fear that it will just make her more depressed and render her silent.
Q11 Does the poet appear to be grieving?
Ans: The poet is undoubtedly overcome by a sense of loss. Her mother has been deceased for a long time, and despite the poet’s efforts to cope with her absence, she is still unable to fully move on. She recalls how things were when her mother was present. Her mental condition is perfectly captured in the last line. Her thoughts are silent because of the loss.
Q12 Comment on the tone of the poem.
Ans: The poem has a melancholy tone to it. Shirley Toulson becomes visibly upset when she sees an old photo of her mother and is saddened to think of her deceased mother. She only makes passing references to her mother’s passing; nonetheless, this picture has rendered her dumb and silent.
Class 11 A Photograph Long Answer Questions Poem 1
Q1 The poet has paid a tribute to her mother. Similar instances can be seen in “The Portrait of a Lady”. This made you think that writing about a loved one is much better than building their statues or drawing their portraits. Comment.
Ans: Beautiful writing by authors has served as a monument to their loved ones. Through his anecdote, Khushwant Singh provided a sweet description of his grandma. By this moving poetry, Shirley Toulson honored her mother.
My belief is that writing about a loved one is far superior to creating a statue or a painting of them. A person’s true personality cannot be discerned from a sculpture or portrait alone. One never knows the incredible moment they may have shared with someone. Only words can conjure up such magic.
In contrast to sculptures or pictures, words endure the test of time. So, the best homage that anyone can give to their loved ones is through words.
Q2 “Its silence silences”, writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has milenced her. Do you think that this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why? why not?
Ans: Shirley Toulson has undoubtedly provided a very moving homage to her mother by recalling her through her verses. It is evident that she is feeling a great deal of sadness over her mother’s passing and is filled with nostalgia. She claims that she has grown accustomed to her mother’s absence over the years, but the truth is that she has undoubtedly experienced silence and a significant void.
We cannot dispute how painful losing someone is, yet the attitude the poet displays at the conclusion is not the best way to live your life. Even if we pause to mourn our loss, life will carry on. Loss affects everyone. Natural law forbids us from allowing ourselves to get depressed for no other reason than this. It makes sense that we would be inconsolable. But, it is unacceptable to be so distraught that it interferes with our ability to live our usual life.
Q3 Happy moments are short-lived but provide a lifetime memory. They provide a cushion to bear the difficulties which the future has in store for you. Comment in the light of the poem & Photograph by Shirley Toulson.
Ans: There are good moments and bad times in our lives. With the aid of those joyful memories, which bring us so much joy and enjoyment, we must learn to go on. Everyone will certainly experience hardships at some point in their lives because life is not always a bed of roses.
While we are going through a difficult situation, joyous moments can comfort us and give us the positivity we need. Joyful moments will undoubtedly give us optimism that bad times will also pass just as quickly as pleasant moments. One needs to develop coping mechanisms. Happy memories can give us a support system to face challenges with patience and tranquility.
Q4 Both wry with the labored ease of loss: The poet is missing her mother. What is the role of the mother in forming the personality of a child?
Ans: The influence of a mother on a child’s personality cannot be overstated. The young child closely observes his or her mother as she teaches him or her about the outside world and how to respond to it. By teaching the child to accept mistakes constructively, forgive others, handle irritation, exhibit kindness, and share love, the mother can play a significant role.
When a mother is nurturing and providing for her child, not only will the youngster create a strong tie with her, but it will also be willing to make new connections with people. Both children and adults desire a sense of autonomy and independence. Giving the child options is crucial on the side of the mother. This gives the impression that the child is intelligent enough to make decisions.
A mother’s thoughts feed a child’s mind and spirit just as her one-on-one time feeds a child’s physical needs. A child’s first instructor is her. She makes an effort to instil principles that could benefit a youngster forever.
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