CBSE Class 10 English The Ball Poem VBQs

Choose the correct answer.

Question. In ‘The Ball Poem’, the poet wants to know about the boy’s:
(i) background
(ii) reaction
(iii) mood
(iv) attitude
Answer. B

Question. The boy in ‘The Ball Poem’ is completely surrounded by:
(i) joy
(ii) zeal
(iii) sorrow
(iv) difficulties
Answer. C

Question. In the poem, the lost ball reminds the boy of his:
(i) sweet memories
(ii) childhood days
(ii) friends
(iv) relatives
Answer. A

Question. John Berryman is reluctant to:
(i) give a ball to the boy.
(ii) console the boy.
(iii) bring the boy’s lost ball.
(iv) All of these
Answer. D

Question. The poet in ‘The Ball Poem’ personifies the ball as:
(i) the worldly things
(ii) the relationships
(iii) Both (i) and (ii)
(iv) Neither (i) nor (ii)
Answer. C

Question. What does ‘in the world of possessions’ means?
(i) Love
(ii) Lust
(iii) Materialistic things
(iv) None of these
Answer. C

Question. Name the literary device used in “And no one buys a ball back.”
(i) Metaphor
(ii) Simile
(iii) Alliteration
(iv) Anaphora
Answer. C

Question. Why does the poet decide not to condole the boy?
(i) He is busy.
(ii) He is indifferent.
(iii) It will be of no use.
(iii) He is happy.
Answer. C

Question. According to the poet, what is the child learning?
(i) To bear loss.
(ii) To take care of things.
(iii) To be responsible.
(iv) To be careful.
Answer. A

Question. Name the literary device used in “Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then Merrily over — there it is in the water!”
(i) Metaphor
(ii) Simile
(iii) Alliteration
(iv) Anaphora
Answer. D

Read the extracts below and answer the questions that follow:

1. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.

Questions:

Question. The poet personifies the ball as:
(i) the worldly things
(ii) the relationships
(iii) Both (i) and (ii)
(iv) Neither (i) nor (ii)
Answer. C

Question. According to the poet:
(i) money can buy everything.
(ii) money cannot buy everything.
(iii) money is the most powerful.
(iv) money must not be wasted.
Answer. B

Question. The boy is learning against the sense of:
(i) relationships.
(ii) his belongings.
(iii) playing carefully.
(iv) lost things.
Answer. D

Question. The boy is trying to learn:
(i) the reality of life.
(ii) losing things.
(iii) the materialistic world.
(iv) the miseries of life.
Answer. A

Question. Everyone must learn in his/her life the harsh truth of standing up:
(i) against the wrongs.
(ii) with his/her relatives.
(iii) against the odd miseries of life.
(iv) All of these.
Answer. C

2. He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
This epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.

Questions:

Question. In case of loss, the poet says to us, we must learn to live without:
(i) our belongingness.
(ii) worldly things.
(iii) relationships.
(iv) All of these.
Answer. D

Question. Money cannot buy:
(i) ball.
(ii) worldly things.
(iii) sense of belongingness
(iv) materialistic things.
Answer. C

Question. This is the reality of life that:
(i) we have to accept the miseries of life.
(ii) we have to accept the loss and stand up again.
(iii) Both (i) and (ii)
(iv) Neither (i) nor (ii)
Answer. C

Question. This stanza has been picked up from the poem:
(i) The Ball Poem
(ii) Amanda
(iii) A Tiger in the Zoo
(iv) Fire and Ice
Answer. C

Question. The poet of this stanza is:
(i) Robert Frost
(ii) John Berryman
(iii) Peter Niblett
(iv) None of them
Answer. B

Short Answers Type Questions

Question. What is the boy learning?
Answer. The boy is sad over the loss of his ball but he is learning to accept it. He could get another ball but he is learning to let go of the lost things and learn to cope with the loss.

Question. What is the central point in the poem?
Answer. The central point in the poem is the loss of the ball by the boy. It is also his understanding of the loss and bearing with it. In the world of materialism, people lose things, but they have to forget those things and move ahead. The boy is doing the same thing in the poem.

Question. ‘He senses first responsibility’—What responsibility is referred to here? (2018) 
Answer. The responsibility referred to here is, that in this world of possessions, the boy has not only to learn to take care of his things but also cope up with the loss of his favourite things like the ball.

Question. Why does the poet say he won't ‘intrude on him’?
What does he say about the boy’s loss at this point?
Answer. The poet says that he won’t ‘intrude’ on the boy because the boy has now understood the concept behind the loss of the ball. He is in a shock and is trying to understand what it is all about. The poet says that the boy now senses his first responsibility.
It is towards the world of materialism. He has to learn to cope up with his losses.

Question. What idea does the poet wish to convey?
Answer. Through this poem, the poet wishes to convey the futility of grieving over the past. The memories are the treasure. The poet says that money, material and their losses do not matter. One has to learn to accept them as a part of life.

Question. What does the ball signify for the boy? 
Answer. The ball signifies his childhood for the boy. It symbolizes all his memories of playing with it and its loss is making him sad. The ball signifies his childhood days and his innocence.

Question. What is the boy ‘learning as per the poet’?
Answer. The poet says that the boy has lost the ball and through this loss, he is learning to cope up with the loss. He is also learning how to bear and manage such losses in life. After all, losses are permanent in our life. We should learn their nature sooner or later.

Question. Where has the boy lost his ball? What is the effect of the loss on his mind?
Answer. The boy was playing near the harbour and unfortunately he has lost his ball while playing. The poet describes how the ball was lost. He says that the ball bounced down the street. Then it went in the water. The boy felt an emotional shock at this loss.

Question. What is the boy’s state of mind at the loss of his ball ?
Answer : The boy is very disturbed at the loss of his ball. He keeps staring at the ball with his desperate eyes.

Question. ‘He senses first responsibility? What responsibility is referred to here?
Answer : The responsibility of taking care of his things in this world of possessions and cope up with the loss.

Question. Pick out the words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier.
Answer : The words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier are “He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions.”

Question. What is the deep meaning hidden in the poem “The Ball Poem ?
Answer : The deep meaning of the poem is that our childhood quickly flies as here a ball is lost. Also we grow up unsuspectedly and face hardships like loss.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Elaborate the idea that one should learn to accept and let go and not stick to something that we can not have.
Answer : It is important for everyone to experience to accept the loss and be bold and get on with life. Staying strong is the only way to survive. One should understand that the past is gone and will never come back. Sometimes loss helps us in growing up and we are able to face hardships. We also learn to accept and let go and do not stick to something which we can not have. In the poem, a little boy lost his only proud possession, i.e. his ball. He is learning what is like experiencing grief when he loses a much beloved possession – his ball. He is deeply grieved due to the loss. The poet too feels that it is of no use to purchase another ball. He must feel his responsibility of the loss. The poet, makes the boy understand about his responsibilities as the loss is immaterial. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we love, the things that really matter.

A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
(a) “Money is external”. What does the poet mean by this expression?
(b) He senses his first responsibility–what responsibility is referred to here?

Answer. (a) The poet makes the boy understand about his responsibility as the loss is immaterial. Money is external as it cannot buy memories, nor can it replace the things that we have a bond with.
(b) The responsibility referred to here is to stand up or bear the loss through self-understanding and to console oneself on his own just as the boy who lost his ball, was trying to do.

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water!
No use to say ‘O there are other balls’:
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down (a) Why does the poet think that it is useless to give the following suggestion to the boy? ‘No use to say- ‘O there are other balls’:
(b) What shows that the ball was valuable for the boy? 

Answer. (a) According to the poet, to console the boy by saying that he can get another ball in place of the lost one is futile. The boy had a long association with the ball. It was, thus, useless to give him such a suggestion because he wanted to get back the ball that he had lost.
(b) The ball was valuable for the boy because he reacted after losing it. He was shocked, and he trembled with grief staring at the place where the ball had fallen. All these reactions showed that the ball was valuable for him.