CBSE Class 10 English The Trees Important Questions Set 02

Extract Based Questions

Extract 1

(a). By ‘inside’, what does the poet actually mean?
(a) Inside a garden
(b) Inside a house
(c) Inside a valley
(d) None of the above
Answer: (b) Inside a house

(b). Why could no bird or insect dwell in the forest?
(a) The forest outside was non -existent.
(b) The forest was not preferred by animals.
(c) The forest was captured inside the house.
(d) Both (a) and (c)
Answer: (d) Both (a) and (c)

(c). What did the poet mean exactly by ‘The trees inside are moving out into the forest’?
(a) The trees were walking away.
(b) The forest was shifting.
(c) Vegetation growth inside the house was pushing itself out.
(d) Both (b) and (c)
Answer: (c) Vegetation growth inside the house was pushing itself out.

(d). Which entity did the poet talk of immediately after the line, ‘no insect hide’?
(a) Roots
(b) Man
(c) Dogs
(d) Sun
Answer: (d) Sun

(e). What forest is referred to in the lines mentioned in the extract?
(a) Urban concrete forest where at present there is no vegetation.
(b) She means the desert existing outside her house.
(c) Tress outside her house.
(d) None of the above
Answer: (a) Urban concrete forest where at present there is no vegetation.

(f). What do trees symbolise?
Answer: Trees symbolise nature. Nature, captivated inside the house is seeking to move out, thereby symbolising womanhood too.

(g). Why were the forests empty?
Answer: Trees were captivated inside the house to decorate the interiors, implying that there has been deforestation outside and hence no tree could be found in the forests. Therefore, the forests were empty.

(h). How would other creatures benefit from trees?
Answer: The birds could find shelter and insects seek to hide themselves inside the trees.

(i). Why have the trees been referred to as ‘moving out’?
Answer: The reference is to the full grown trees or plants inside our houses. Once grown they seek more space and thus try to push themselves outside

(j). Where are the trees trying to move into?
Answer: Forests.

Extract 2

(a). The ‘roots are disengaging themselves’ for what purpose
(a) The roots are actually growing out of the house.
(b) The roots are straining to breakaway.
(c) The roots coming out of the cracks.
(d) All of the above
Answer: (d) All of the above

(b). Which figure of speech is being used by the poet to describe the trees?
(a) Antithesis
(b) Personification
(c) Simile
(d) Metaphor
Answer: (b) Personification

(c). Which of the following can be said to be the nearest antonym to ‘exertion’?
(a) Endeavour
(b) Bringing to bear
(c) Cessation
(d) Transaction
Answer: (c) Cessation

(d). “The leaves strain toward the glass.” What does this line mean?
(a) The leaves make great efforts to break free.
(b) The leaves bang the windows.
(c) The leaves walk towards the glass.
(d) All of the above
Answer: (a) The leaves make great efforts to break free.

(e). What is the poet hinting at by explaining the activity of the plants?
(a) Gazing at stars
(b) Walking amongst nature
(c) Peter patter rain drops
(d) Escape to freedom
Answer: (d) Escape to freedom

Extract 3

(a). What does the poet exactly mean by, ‘departure of the forest’?
(a) Trees growing out of the house
(b) Forest stepping out
(c) Trees walking away
(d) None of the above
Answer: (a) Trees growing out of the house

(b). “The night is fresh” can be classified under which figure of speech?
(a) Antithesis
(b) Metaphor
(c) Simile
(d) None of these
Answer: (b) Metaphor

(c). What is the poet’s reaction to the activity taking place inside her house?
(a) Happy
(b) Ecstatic
(c) Indifferent
(d) Melancholic
Answer: (c) Indifferent

(d). Why do you think the poet is writing long letters?
(a) May be she feels nostalgic
(b) May be she feels good about trees receiving freedom
(c) May be she is writing another poem
(d) May be she loves writing because she hardly mentions about the departure of the forest
Answer: (d) May be she loves writing because she hardly mentions about the departure of the forest

(e). Adrienne Rich’s influence of the ______ movement is evident in this poem too.
(a) Nationlist
(b) Communist
(c) Surrealist
(d) Feminist
Answer: (d) Feminist

Extract 4

(a). What impact do leaves have on glass?
Answer: The leaves are pushing themselves against the glass to move outside.

(b). Why are the small twigs stiff with exertion?
Answer: Since the small twigs are also trying hard like the trees to move outside, the pressure exerted for the same has made them stiff.

(c). Why has the figure of speech simile been used in the lines above?
Answer: The struggle of the plants to move outside has been compared to a newly recovered patient still under the effect of medicine, wanting to go home. The plants due to the struggle and pressure exerted to move out also have become dazed due to exhaustion.

(d). Who is half-dazed and why?
Answer: The patient just released from the hospital is still under the influence of strong medication.

(e). Name two poetic devices used in the above lines.
Answer: Personification- Leaves shown to perform actions like humans. Enjambment- Only punctuation mark at the end to indicate completion of sentence. The thoughts are passed on from one line to the other.

Extract 5

(a). Who is the speaker of the above lines?
Answer: Presumably the poet is the speaker.

(b). What does the ‘moon’ in the above lines signify?
Answer: It is a clear picture of the moon visible to the eye as it has not been yet obstructed by the trees outside.

(c). Which leaves and lichen have been mentioned in the extract?
Answer: These belong to the plants which are struggling hard to move out in the open.

(d). Why have the leaves and lichen been compared to a voice inside the room?
Answer: The leaves and lichens of the plants seem to be crying out their desire to free themselves from the confines of the house.

(e). Which is the figure of speech used in the line ‘the smell of leaves and lichen’?
Answer: Alliteration.

Extract 6

(a). Why is the glass breaking?
Answer: The grown plants inside the house are pushing against the glass , thus cracking and breaking them, to move out in the open.

(b). Why are the trees stumbling forward into the night?
Answer: The trees all together are struggling and pushing against the glass to break free of the confines of the house. And when they achieve that they topple over together in the open space as there is nothing to hold them.

(c). Why has the moon’s image been shown as ‘broken’?
Answer: When the trees stumble and topple over in the space outside, it no longer remains empty and the space is crowded with trees. So, the moon’s image appears to be broken from amidst them.

(d). Where does the moon show itself?
Answer: On top of the tallest oak tree.

(e). What is the general impression formed in the mind of the reader after reading the lines above?
Answer: The lines above do not throw a very positive picture. Instead the impression formed in the minds of the readers is that of chaos and uncertainty. It shows a conflict between man and nature.

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. (i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest. (ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: “... sun bury its feet in shadow...”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?
Answer: (i) No bird could sit, no insect could hide, and the sun could not bury its feet in shadow.
(ii) In an area with dense forest cover, the sun’s rays enter through the leaves and present a splendid view of light and shade. The sun’s ‘feet’ are the sun’s rays.

Question 2. (i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do? (ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?
Answer: (i) The trees are inside the poet’s house. Their roots work all night to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves strain towards the glass. The small twigs become stiff with exertion.
(ii) The branches are compared to newly discharged patients moving half-dazed to the clinic doors.

Question 3. (i) How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change? (ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it? (iii) Why do you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters?
Answer: (i) (a) The whole moon shines brightly in an open sky. (b) The moon is broken like a mirror and its pieces flash in the crown of the tallest oak. The change is caused by the trees moving out: the moon is now seen through their branches.
(ii) The house became silent and lifeless.
(iii) The poet does not mention it perhaps because the event is so unexpected and strange that others would not believe it, or because we often stay silent about important happenings that embarrass us or that we cannot explain.

Question 4. What are the three things that can’t happen in a treeless forest? (CBSE 2017)
Answer: The three things that can’t happen in a treeless forest are: (i) the sitting of a bird on trees, (ii) the hiding of insects and (iii) the sun burying its feet in the shadow of the forest.

Question 5. The poem ‘The Trees’ presents a conflict between Man and Nature. Discuss the statement.
Answer: The poem ‘The Trees’ presents the rebellion of the trees against human oppression and imprisonment within walls. The forest is the natural habitat of the trees. The trees feel suffocated in houses. They rebel against it and move out.

Question 6. Determine the message conveyed by the poetess, Adrienne Rich through the poem ‘The Trees’.
Answer: Adrienne Rich uses trees as a metaphor for human beings, particularly women. In a male-dominated society, women are not free. They are struggling to free themselves. Similarly, nature, represented by trees and forests, is struggling to free itself from the onslaughts of man to destroy it. The victorious march of the trees gives a message of hope that nature can’t be suppressed by the control of man.

Question 7. Why do you think that the poet scarcely mentions the departure of the trees in her letters?
Answer: The poet scarcely mentions the departure of the trees in her letters. One possible reason is that the poet wants to keep the escape of the trees from her house a secret. This is why she does not mention it in her letters. One can also infer that the poet is finding it difficult to express the emotions she experienced as the trees made their way to the forest.

Question 8. The trees have been shown to have human qualities in the poem. Justify the statement with any two instances from the poem.
Answer: The trees have shown some human qualities in the poem. The way they struggled to get themselves free from the boundary of the house is similar to the struggle of oppressed people who are deprived of their freedom. similarly, the trees did not give up when enslaved and were determined, like humans, to get freedom. Humans, too, fight till the end and finally win.

Question 9. Change never comes easily. Justify the quote in the context of the poem “The Trees”.
Answer: In the poem "The Trees," the quote "Change never comes easily" is depicted when the trees struggle to move from inside the house to the forest. They work hard, struggling to free their roots and branches. This teaches us that change is challenging and requires effort.

Question 10. How does the description of the moon in the third stanza differ from its portrayal in the fourth stanza?
Answer: The third stanza shows the moon shining in the open sky but in the fourth stanza the moon seems to be broken like a mirror and its pieces shine in the crown of the tallest oak tree. The change occurs due to the shifting of the trees outside.

Question 11. The poet has drawn a parallel between the struggle of the trees and the struggle of women in a patriarchal society. Comment
Answer: The poet has used the imagery of the trees' movement and their effort to break free from the boundaries of the house as a metaphor for the emancipation of women. In the poem, the trees are portrayed as actively working, and straining to free themselves and move into the forest. This can be seen as symbolic of women who have faced oppression, restrictions, and limitations within a patriarchal society. The trees' struggle represents the struggle of women to break free from societal constraints and live a life of freedom.

Question 12. The poem ends on a note of victory. Justify with reference to the literal and symbolic meaning.
Answer: In the literal sense, the poem ends with the trees successfully returning to their natural habitat, i.e., the forest. However, symbolically, it ended with the victory of women in getting themselves free from the confines of patriarchal society and the dominance of men.

Question 13. In the poem “The Trees”, the poet compares the trees to “newly discharged patients”. Highlight any two reasons for the same.
Answer: In the poem, the poet compares the ‘trees’ to ‘newly discharged patients’. Firstly, the trees were enslaved inside the house like patients in a hospital. Secondly, the trees were exhausted like patients, due to the effort that they had to put in order to be liberated from the boundaries of the house.

Question 14. Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a forest without trees.
Answer: The three things mentioned in the first stanza that cannot happen in a forest without trees are:
(1) Birds sitting on the tree branches.
(2) The hiding of insects in the branches of trees.
(3) The sun, burying its feet in the shadow of the trees in the forest.

Question 15. What picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet?’
Answer: The sun’s feet are the rays of the sun that reach the earth after falling on the leaves of the trees and finally, reaching the earth’s surface.

Question 16. Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do?
Answer: The trees are at the poet’s house. The roots are working hard to remove themselves from the cracks of veranda. The leaves are making an effort to reach towards the glass in order to come out, and the twigs are making attempts to set themselves free and reach the forest.

Question 17. What does the poet compare the trees' branches to?
Answer: The poet uses the word long cramped for the branches. She says that the branches are trying hard to come out of the roof. She then compares them with newly discharged patients who are trying to move out of the clinic in their half-consciousness.

Question 18. How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change?
Answer: The poet describes the moon as a full moon in the beginning of the third stanza, but at the end of the stanza, she describes it as broken into pieces. The change in the moon is because of the trees. The trees that were earlier in the poet’s house have now reached the forest. Their long branches have cast a shadow on the full moon, and now it appears to be broken into pieces like a mirror.

Question 19. Why do you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters? (Could it be that we are often silent about important happenings that are so unexpected that they embarrass us? Think about this again when you answer the next set of questions.)
Answer: The poet doesn't mention the departure of the forest from the house in her letters to avoid facing the change happening around her. Change can be difficult, and acknowledging it might make her feel uneasy or overwhelmed. So, she focuses on other things, trying to avoid the reality of the forest leaving, just like people sometimes avoid difficult topics.

Question 20. Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings; this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meanings emerge from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?
Answer: If trees are to be taken as a symbol for human beings, then the poem will define the efforts of humans to free themselves from the clutches of the desire to achieve everything. All human beings are under constant pressure to be at the top in every field. Either they are forced by their own desire to do so or there is a constant peer pressure on them. So, human beings will set themselves free from this race and try to live a happy and peaceful life.

Question 21. Determine the message conveyed by the poet through the poem.
Answer: The poem expresses how humans have destroyed forests and cut down trees for selfish purposes. Humans have made trees confined to the four walls of their houses to fulfil their needs. The poetess says that the trees live in the forest, so keeping them inside the home is a crime. The poem conveys the message that everyone has a deep desire for freedom. We must follow the rules of nature and should not try to overrule it.

Question 22. What is the central idea of the poem ‘The Trees’? (Delhi Gov. QB 2022)
Answer: The central idea of the poem is the conflict between man and nature. A plant is brought inside the house as a sapling, but as it grows into a tree, it gets suffocated in the limited space available. The tree gets desperate to move out and be free. So the trees in this poem are moving out to occupy the empty space in the forest made by man’s indiscriminate felling of trees. Humans must understand the negative impact of their actions on nature and mend their ways before it is too late.

Question 23. “The Trees” is a symbolic poem and Adrienne Rich has used trees as a metaphor for human beings. What do they symbolize ? Explain. (CBSE 2024)
Answer: In "The Trees," Adrienne Rich uses trees as a metaphor for human resilience, growth, and liberation. They represent the ability of humans to transform, liberate themselves from limitations, and welcome new beginnings. The journey of human transformation and reconnection with nature is mirrored in the trees' journey from captivity to the forest.

Question 24. How does the poet use vivid imagery and metaphorical language in 'The Trees' to effectively depict the struggle of the trees to move out of the house?
Answer: The poet personifies the trees: the roots work all night to disengage from the cracks, the leaves strain towards the glass, the twigs are stiff with exertion and the boughs shuffle like newly discharged patients. These images and the simile make the trees’ effort to break out of the house vivid and touching.

Question 25. What is the significance of the empty forest mentioned in the poem? Why couldn't any bird sit or insect hide there?
Answer: The empty forest stands for the damage caused by humans who have cut down trees. Without trees, there were no branches for birds to sit on, no leaves for insects to hide in and no shade for the sun to ‘bury its feet’ in. It shows that trees are the very life of a forest.

Question 26. How does the poet challenge the notion that trees are just mere objects or part of a scenery?
Answer: The poet presents trees as living beings that feel, struggle and long for freedom. They work all night, strain, shuffle and stumble forward to return to the forest. By personifying them, she makes us see that trees have their own life and place in nature and are not mere decorations.

Question 27. Why is the poet writing long letters? Why does she not mention the departure of the trees? (AI 2019)
Answer: The poet is writing long letters probably to keep herself busy in some activity.
She does not mention the departure of the trees in her long letters because she doesn’t want anyone to know that the trees inside her house are rebelling and fighting their way out to reach the forest. The trees struggle silently at night to break free from their captivity when no one is watching them. She wants the trees to be liberated and be one with nature where they belong. Therefore, she feels that it is best not to say a word about it to anybody.