CBSE Class 12 English Flamingo My Mother At Sixty Six Worksheet

Question. Why did the poet look at her mother again?
(a) because she was busy
(b) because she was going away
(c) because she wanted to stay back
(d) because of fear and insecurity

Answer: D

Question. Why has the poet used the imagery of merry children spilling out of their homes?
(a) to show hope
(b) to show happiness
(c) to show youthfulness of her age
(d) to show hope and happiness in children

Answer: D

Question. Which Rhyming scheme is used in the poem?
(a) coupled rhyme
(b) monorhyme
(c) Alternate rhyme
(d) free verse

Answer: D

Question. What question arises from the complexity of the situation in the poem?
(a) what to do in old age
(b) how to take care of one’s skin
(c) how to drive
(d) How to strike a balance between duties and responsibilities

Answer: D

Question. What is her work known for?
(a) for its originality, versatility and flavour of the soil
(b) for its popularity
(c) for its style
(d) for the expressions used

Answer: A

Question. What does this narrative style of the poem signify?
(a) differing thoughts
(b) many thoughts
(c) contrasting thoughts
(d) a single thread of thought mixed with harsh realities

Answer: D

Question. Quote an example of alliteration used in the poem.
(a) like ashen
(b) smile, smile and smile
(c) Friday morning
(d) None of these

Answer: D

Question. Quote an example of personification used in the poem.
(a) sprinting trees
(b) home to cochin
(c) airport’s security check
(d) All of these

Answer: A

Question. Who lives at Cochin?
(a) Poet
(b) Her parents
(c) Both A and B
(d) None of them

Answer: A

Question. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
(a) Losing her mother
(b) heart attack
(c) headache
(d) children screaming at her

Answer: A

Question. What does the narrative single sentence style of the poem highlight?
(a) Poet’s feelings
(b) Poet’s insecurities
(c) poet’s thoughts
(d) poet’s intertwining thoughts

Answer: D

Question. What is the universality of the theme of the poem?
(a) death is a truth
(b) Life is a reality
(c) everyone is happy
(d) to show old age

Answer: A

Question. What does the poem revolve around?
(a) poet’s fears
(b) poet’s love for her mother
(c) Theme of old age
(d) All of these

Answer: D

Question. How is the imagery of ‘young trees and merry children’ a contrast to the mother?
(a) mother is old in comparison to the trees and children
(b) mother is like ash while the trees are green and children are happy
(c) like spring and autumn season
(d) Mother’s health-hopelessness and trees and merry children- youthfulness and hope

Answer: D

Question. Whose house the poet was leaving?
(a) her friend’s house
(b) in-law’s house
(c) her husband’s house
(d) her parents’ house

Answer: D

Question. Quote an example of a metaphor used in the poem.
(a) as a late winter’s moon
(b) ‘Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes’
(c) Driving from my parent’s home
(d) None

Answer: B

Question. Why does the poet feel parted, upset and sad?
(a) because of her fears
(b) because she was getting late
(c) fear of missing her flight
(d) because of her duty towards mother and her own needs

Answer: D

Question. What does ‘ashen face ‘ signify?
(a) colour of face
(b) face is covered with ash
(c) Pale and lifeless face of poet’s mother
(d) to show ugly face

Answer: C

Question. Why does the poet feel scared?
(a) Because of her duties and commitments
(b) Because of her job
(c) Bcause of her children
(d) Because of her mother’s deteriorating health

Answer: D

Question. What is the tone of the poem towards the end?
(a) sad
(b) hopeless
(c) cheerful
(d) resignation with acceptance

Answer: C

Question. Who is the poet of poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’?
(a) John Keats
(b) Rudyard Kipling
(c) William Wordsworth
(d) Kamala Das
Answer. D

Question. What is the significance of the title ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’?
(a) Poet’s fear of losing her old mother
(b) Poet’s fear of moving fast
(c) Poet’s inability to express her feelings
(d) All of these
Answer. A

Question. What is the main idea of the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’?
(a) Painful old age
(b) Discolouration of skin
(c) Carelessness of a daughter
(d) Lack of strength
Answer. A

Question. What is the distinctive feature of the poem?
(a) metaphors are used
(b) simile is used
(c) alliteration is used
(d) narrative style using a single sentence in a set of 14 lines
Answer. D

Question. What does the narrative style of the poem signify?
(a) differing thoughts
(b) many thoughts
(c) contrasting thoughts
(d) a single thread of thought mixed with harsh realities
Answer. D

Question. Who lives in Cochin?
(a) Poet
(b) Her parents
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of these
Answer. A

Question. Name the poetic devices used in the poem.
(a) metaphor
(b) simile
(c) alliteration
(d) all of these
Answer. D

Question. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels in the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’?
(a) losing her mother
(b) heart attack
(c) headache
(d) children screaming at her
Answer. A

Question. What did the poet realise with pain?
(a) her mother’s appearance like a corpse
(b) she is inconsiderate
(c) old age is pleasant
(d) she has duties
Answer. A

Question. What is the familiar ache?
(a) poet’s childhood fear
(b) poet’s mother’s weak health
(c) poet’s duties
(d) poet’s helplessness
Answer. A

Question. What was the poet’s childhood fear?
(a) Parting from her husband
(b) Parting from her friends
(c) Parting from her siblings
(d) Losing her mother
Answer. D

Question. Which poetic device is used in “Trees sprinting-” ?
(a) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(c) Alliteration
(d) Personification
Answer. D

Question. What do the running trees signify?
(a) fast moving appearance
(b) speed of the moving car
(c) fast moving change in human life from childhood to old age
(d) None of the above
Answer. C

Question. What does the poet notice outside the car ?
(a) sprinting trees and running children
(b) schools and roads
(c) other vehicles
(d) many people on the road
Answer. A

Question. Why has the poet used the imagery of merry children spilling out of their homes?
(a) to show hope
(b) to show happiness
(c) to show youthfulness of her age
(d) to show hope and happiness in children
Answer. D

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. Where was the poet going ? Who was sitting beside her ? What does she say about the one going with her ?
Answer : The poet was going to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting beside her. The poet turned to look at her mother. She found her mother dozing. Her mouth was open and she looked as pale as death.

Question. What do the poet’s parting words to her mother signify ? 
Answer : As her parting words, the poet says just this to her mother, ‘‘See you soon, Amma.’’ These words signify that youngers do feel for their elders, but they don’t communicate their feelings in a manner that can soothe the troubled heart of their elders.

Question. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ ?
Or
Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children ? 
Answer : This image helps to bring out the contrast between childhood and old age. While childhood is a period of carefree merry-making, old age is a period of death-like sadness. With childhood, the journey of life begins, and with old age, the journey ends.

Question. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport ? How did she hide them ?
Answer : The mother’s pale face gave her ache. It was like she used to feel in her childhood when some fear overpowered her. But she hid her feelings by saying, ‘‘See you soon, Amma.’’ The only thing the poet did was smile and smile and smile.

Question. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’ ? 
Answer : The poet is driving to the airport. She looks outside and finds the trees coming fast towards her. They seem to be running fast. In fact, it is only the car that is running, not the trees.

Question. What was the poet’s childhood fear ? 
Answer : In her childhood, the poet used to fear that her mother would leave her one day. It is a fear of insecurity that every child feels when its mother is not around.

Question. Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to ‘a pale winter’s moon ? 
Answer : Winter, like old age, is a time of inactivity. Old age is the last phase of human life, just as winter is the last phase of the year. And in old age, a man grows pale like death, just as the moon in late winter looks pale white.

Question. In the last line of the poem, why does the poet use the word ‘smile’ repeatedly ? 
Answer : By using the word ‘smile’ repeatedly, the poet wants to convey how hard she tried to hide her feelings of pain from her mother.

Question. How does the poet feel when she looks at her mother during her drive to the airport ?
Answer : When the poet turns to look at her mother, she finds her dozing. The mother’s mouth is open. She looks as pale as death. A painful thought comes to the poet’s mind. But soon she drives this thought away.

Question. Why does the poet look at ‘young trees’ and ‘merry children’ ?
Answer : When the poet sees her mother’s pale and aged face, the painful thought comes to her mind that her mother is not going to live long. To drive away this painful thought from her mind, she starts looking out at the ‘young trees’ and ‘merry children’.

Question. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels ? 
Answer : The poet sees that her mother has grown very pale and weak. She looks as pale as death. She realises that her mother is not going to live long. This thought gives her much pain.

Question. What does the poet see when she looks outside during her drive to the airport ?
Answer : The poet sees young trees on the roadside. These trees seem to be running fast towards her. In fact, it is the car that is running, not the trees. Then she sees children running out of their homes in joy.

Question. Why are the youngsters described as sprinting ? 
Answer : While driving from her parent’s home to Cochin airport, the poet looked out of the window of the car. She looked at the youngsters running out of their homes in joy. This scene contrasts the poet’s sadness with the joy of the youngsters.

Question. What does the poet’s smile in the poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’, show ? 
Answer : The poet’s smile shows that she has no idea of her mother’s mental state. While her mother is looking as pale as death, the poet can do nothing but smile and smile and smile.

Question. What painful thought comes to the poet’s mind and how does she drive it away ?
Answer : The poet sees that her mother looks as pale as death. A painful thought comes to her mind. She feels that her mother won’t live long now. But soon she drives this thought away. She starts looking at the scene outside.

Question. What were Kamala Das’s childhood fears ? Why do they surface when she is going to the airport ? 
Answer : In her childhood, Kamala Das’s fears were that her mother would leave her. Those were a child’s fears of insecurity. But now the fear was not of insecurity. It was the fear of being left alone without her mother.

Question. What happens when the poet reaches the airport ?
Answer : First of all, the poet goes through the security check. Then she again looks at her mother who is a few yards away. The mother’s pale weak face gives her pain. But she says only this, ‘‘See you soon, Amma.’’ And then she does nothing but smile and smile.

Extra Questions :

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.

Question. Why did she put that thought away ?
Answer : She put that thought away because it was a painful thought.

Question. Who is ‘I’ ?
Answer : The word ‘I’ refers to the poet, Kamala Das.

Question. What worried the poet when she looked at her mother ?
Answer : The poet was worried to see that her mother had turned pale like a corpse.

Question. Why was the realisation painful ?
Answer : It was because of the realisation that her mother was not going to live long.

Question. Why was there pain in her realization ?
Answer : It pained her to realize that her mother was now not going to live long

Question. What did ‘I’ realise with pain ?
Answer : She realised with pain that her mother had become very old.

Question. Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines.
Answer : The figure of speech used here is the simile : ‘her face ashen like that of a corpse’.

.......... and looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, ..........

Question. What do the ‘sprinting trees’ signify ?
Answer : The ‘sprinting trees’ signify the vitality of youth.

Question. What are ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of ?
Answer : The ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ are symbolic of carefree childhood when all time is playtime.

Question. Which thought did the poet put away ?
Answer : It was the thought that the poet’s mother might not live long now.

I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that
old familiar ache 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 .....

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. 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…

Question. Choose the option that best applies to the given extract.
(1) a conversation
(2) an argument
(3) a piece of advice
(4) a strategy
(5) a recollection
(6) a suggestion
(i) 1, 3 and 6
(ii) 2, 4, and 5
(iii) Only 5
(iv) Only 1
Answer. C

Question. Choose the book title that perfectly describes the condition of the poet’s mother.
Title 1 You’re only Old Once!   —by Dr. Seuss
Title 2 The Gift of Years   —by Joan Chittister
Title 3 Somewhere Towards the End   —by Diana Athill
Title 4 The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read  —by Philippa Perry
(i) Title 1
(ii) Title 2
(iii) Title 3
(iv) Title 4
Answer. C

Question. Choose the option that applies correctly to the two statements given below.
Assertion: The poet wards off the thought of her mother getting old quickly.
Reason: The poet didn’t want to confront the inevitability of fate that was to dawn upon her mother.
(i) Assertion can be inferred but the Reason cannot be inferred.
(ii) Assertion cannot be inferred but the Reason can be inferred.
(iii) Both Assertion and Reason can be inferred.
(iv) Both Assertion and Reason cannot be inferred.
Answer. C

Question. Choose the option that displays the same literary device as in the given lines of the extract.
“her face ashen like that of a corpse…”
(i) Just as I had this thought, she appeared and…
(ii) My thoughts were as heavy as lead that evening when …
(iii) I think like everyone else who…
(iv) I like to think aloud when…
Answer. B

2. And
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
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…

Question. What is the most likely reason the poet capitalised ‘Young Trees’?
This was to:
(i) convey a clearer meaning
(ii) highlight the adjective noun combination.
(iii) enhance the contrast.
(iv) draw a connection with the title.
Answer. C

Question. Choose the option that appropriately describes the relationship between the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet knows her mother has aged.
Statement 2: The poet feels the pain of separation.
(i) Beginning – Ending
(ii) Cause – Effect
(iii) Question – Answer
(iv) Introduction – Conclusion
Answer. B

Question. Choose the option that completes the sentence given below.
Just as the brightness of the winter’s moon is veiled behind the haze and mist, similarly, ___________.
(i) the pain of separation has shaded mother’s expression.
(ii) age has fogged mother’s youthful appearance.
(iii) growing up has developed a seasoned maturity in the poet.
(iv) memories warm the heart like the pale moon in winter.
Answer. B

Question. Choose the correct option out of the ones given below.
(1) Simile                           Metaphor
the merry children             old familiar ache.
spilling.
(2) Metaphor                     Imagery
pale as the late                 Young trees sprinting.
writer’s moon.
(3) Imagery                      Personification
all I did was smile             the merry children spilling.
(4) Personification            Simile
Young tree sprinting.        pale as a late writer’s moon.
(i) option 1
(ii) option 2
(iii) option 3
(iv) option 4
Answer. D

Question. Explain : ‘late winter’s moon’.
Answer :: Old age is the last phase of human life, just as winter is the last phase of the year. And in old age, a man grows pale like death, just as the moon in late winter looks pale white.

Question. What do the poet’s parting words suggest ?
Answer : These words suggest that younger ones do feel for their elders though they may not communicate their feelings openly.

Question. Name the poem and the poet.
Answer : The name of the poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’. The name of the poet is Kamala Das. 

Question. Why did the poet look at her mother again ?
Answer : The poet was going away from her mother. She feared that her mother was not going to live long. This painful thought made her look at her mother again.

Question. Why did the poet smile and smile ?
Answer : The poet couldn’t find appropriate words to say to her mother. Therefore, she only smiled and smiled.

Question. What was the poet’s childhood fear ?
Answer : It was the fear that the mother would leave her.

Question. What did she observe ?
Answer : She observed that her mother’s face looked pale white like the face of late winter’s moon.

Question. What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet ?
Answer : In her childhood, the poet’s heart was filled with fear when her mother was not with her. It was the same fear that overcame her now.

Question. What does the phrase, ‘familiar ache’, mean ?
Answer : It means that the pain the poet felt at that particular moment was not a new one. She had felt it often earlier also. That is why she calls it an old familiar pain.

Question. What is the poetic device used in lines 1-2 ?
Answer : The figure of speech used in these lines is simile : ‘............ her wan, pale as a late winter’s moon’.

Question. What do the first two lines tell us about the poet’s feelings for her mother ?
Answer : These lines show that the poet couldn’t bear the thought of separation from her mother. She was always haunted by the fear that her mother would leave her.

Question. What does the repeated use of the word, ‘smile’, mean ?
Answer : It means that the poet tried hard to hide her feelings of pain from her mother.