CBSE Class 10 English Assignment - Mirror. Students are advised to refer to the attached assignments and practice them regularly. This will help them to identify their weak areas and will help them to score better in examination. Parents should download and give the assignments to their children for practice.

MIRROR

Poem at a Glance

The mirror describes itself.

It is silver-coloured and exact.

It doesn’t suffer from pre-conceived notions or pre-thoughts.

It is not affected by love, hate or other emotions.

The mirror reflects, whatever it sees, faithfully and objectively.

The mirror meditates on the opposite wall most of the times.

Another form of the mirror is a lake.

A women bends over it searching for her youth and beauty.

The woman sees her face in the mirror everyday and day by day she grows

older.

She realizes that she has lost her beauty and youth.

The turns to candles and the moon who are just liar and never present exact

and true images.

The mirror never deceives. The women feels agitated when reality bites her.

She is quite restless to realize that she is no more young and beautiful.

She feels terrible as a fish feels when it is out of water.

Literary Devices in the poem

(I) Personification

I (mirror has been imaged as a person)

(II) Metaphor

I am a lake.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (2 Marks)

(To be answered in not more than 30-40 words each)

1. The mirror says- ‘I am not cruel, only truthful’ Discuss.

Ans. The mirror says that it has no personal feelings. It is neither cruel not hardhearted.

It is only truthful. It reflects or shows whatever it sees in all its

exactness. It does not hide, twist or distort anything. In other words, it

accepts the reality as it is. In this sense the mirror is ‘the eye of a little god’.

Its four corners include the entire world. It looks at things from all the

corners. Its observation is impartial.

2. What makes the woman sad and tearful?

Ans. The woman looks into the water of the lake to see how she really looks. The

mirror says that the candles and the moon are liars. They do not depict the

true reality of a person. The mirror reflects her picture in true colours. Time

and ageing have spoiled her beauty. She is no longer young and charming.

3. What lesson does the mirror convey?

Ans. The mirror conveys that human beings are unable to accept decay and

ageing. They long for the simple and undeniable fact that youth and beauty

cannot last long. The mirror is a constant reminder of this harsh fact.

4. Who is the woman in the poem ‘Mirror’? Why does she feel like a

terrible fish trapped in the lake of life?

Ans. The woman in the poem ‘Mirror’ is an old woman who once was young,

beautiful and charming. She looks into the mirror and finds that she is

becoming older and older day after day. There are wrinkles on her face. The

process of ageing has left its marks on the face of the woman. She is

unwilling to accept the reality of life. She is full of tears and agitation.

5. How does the mirror become ‘the eye of a little god’?

Ans. The mirror says that it has no preconceptions. It is silver and exact. It

reflects what it sees. There is no twist or distortion in its reflecting the thing

or a person. It is like ‘the eye of a little god’. It watches everything in an

impartial manner. Thus it becomes the eye of little god.’

VALUED BASED QUESTIONS (4 Marks)

(To be answered in not more than 100 words)

1. “The poem ‘Mirror’ is like a lake of water”. Discuss the statement with

reference to the following extract.

‘I and silver and exact, it have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately

Just as it is, un-misted by love or dislike.

Ans. The poem is vey suggestive and meaningful. It truly reflects what is before

it. It is free from prejudices. The reflection is neither twisted nor distorted. It

describes its true nature and function. It gives and exact image of whatever

appears before it. It accepts everything as it sees and remains unaffected by

any feelings of love or hatred.

The poet compares the mirror to a lake. The water in the lake also reflects

objects and the human being in all their reality. A women comes and looks

into the water of the lake to see how she looks. Then she turns to look at the

reflection of the candles and the moon in the lake. The mirror says that the

candles and the moon are liars. They do not depict the reality of a person. It

is only the mirror that reflects the picture in its true colour. The fact is that

the woman has grown old. Time and ageing have spoiled her beauty and

charm. There are wrinkles on her face. This brings tears into her eyes. She

feels sad and sorrowful.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

(Reference to Context)

(1) Read the extracts and answer the following question by choosing the

appropriate option:

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately

Just as it is, unmisted by live or dislike.

I am not cruel, only truthful.

(i) ‘I’ here refers to

(a) The poet

(b) The mirror

(c) A woman

(d) A god.

(ii) When the poet says that the mirror has no preconceptions it means.

(a) It reflects your image objectively.

(b) It gives a biased view of the person.

(c) It is emotionally involved with the person whose image it reflects.

(d) It does not care what the other person thinks of it.

(iii) ‘I am not cruel, only truthful’ reveals that the mirror is

(a) Not liked by all people.

(b) Not liked by some.

(c) Hated by some

(d) Avoided by some.

Answer

(i) (b) (ii) (a) (iii) (d)

(2)

Now I am a lake. A woman ends over me,

Searching my reaches for what she really is.

Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.

She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.

(i) Which poetic device has been used in the first line?

(a) Metaphor

(b) Simile

(c) Alliteration

(d) Repetition

(ii) The woman turns away from the mirror as she is unable to face

(a) The mirror

(b) Others

(c) The reality

(d) Herself in the mirror

(iii) The woman is searching for

(a) Her real self

(b) Her lost purse

(c) Her old self

(d) Her lost youth

ANSWER: (i) (a) (ii) (c) (iii) (d)

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

(1)

Read the following extracts and answer the questions:

I am important to her. She comes and goes.

Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.

In me she has drowned a young girl. And in me an old woman

Rises toward her day after day like a terrible fish.

(i) Since when has the woman been coming to the mirror?

(ii) What is the ‘terrible fish’ symbolic of?

(iii) ‘In me she has drowned a young girl.’ What does it refer to?

ANSWER

(i) The woman has been coming to the mirror since her youthful days.

(ii) The ‘terrible fish’ is symbolic of the lady’s terrible old age.

(iii) It refers to the loss of youth and beauty.

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