Question Bank — A Photograph

QUESTION BANK

Unit: A Photograph (Hornbill, Class 11)

Section A — MCQs (10 questions, 1 mark each)

1. The word ‘cardboard’ in the first line refers to
   a) a wooden frame
   b) the photograph itself
   c) a box
   d) the sea shore

2. The three girls in the photograph are
   a) the poet, her mother and her aunt
   b) the poet’s mother and her two cousins
   c) the poet’s grandmother and her friends
   d) the poet and her two sisters

3. Assertion (A): The sea appears to have changed less than the human beings in the photograph.
   Reason (R): The sea is a permanent element of nature while human life is transient.
   a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
   b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
   c) A is true but R is false.
   d) A is false but R is true.

4. The phrase “terribly transient feet” suggests
   a) the girls were walking fast
   b) human life is short-lived
   c) the sea was rough
   d) the girls were tired

5. Assertion (A): The poet’s mother would laugh at the snapshot years later.
   Reason (R): The photograph reminded her of her lost childhood and the way her cousins were dressed.
   a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
   b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
   c) A is true but R is false.
   d) A is false but R is true.

6. “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss” refers to
   a) the sea and the beach
   b) the mother’s past holiday and the poet’s memory of her laughter
   c) the camera and the photograph
   d) the poet and her uncle

7. The line “Now she’s been dead nearly as many years / As that girl lived” indicates that
   a) the poet’s mother died at the age of twelve
   b) the mother has been dead for as many years as she lived after the photograph was taken
   c) the poet is twelve years old
   d) the cousins are now dead

8. The three stanzas of the poem represent
   a) childhood, youth and old age
   b) the mother’s childhood, her middle age and her death
   c) the poet’s birth, schooling and career
   d) summer, monsoon and winter

9. The tone of the last stanza can best be described as
   a) humorous
   b) angry
   c) silent and sorrowful
   d) joyful

10. Which literary device is used in “Its silence silences”?
    a) Simile
    b) Personification and alliteration
    c) Metaphor only
    d) Onomatopoeia

Section B — Reference to Context (3 extracts, 4 marks each)

Extract 1

“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. Who is the speaker and what does ‘cardboard’ refer to?
2. What scene does the cardboard capture?
3. Identify the literary device used in “All three stood still to smile through their hair”.
4. What does the phrase “some twelve years or so” tell us about the mother?

Extract 2

“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.””

1. Who is ‘she’ in the extract?
2. What does the mother’s laughter indicate?
3. Name the figure of speech in “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss.”
4. Why does the poet call the laughter “wry”?

Extract 3

“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. What does “this circumstance” refer to?
2. Explain the line “Its silence silences.”
3. Identify the poetic device used in the last line.
4. How does the poet feel about her mother’s death?

Section C — Short Answer (5 questions, 3 marks each)

1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem and why has the poet used it?
2. What has the camera captured in the photograph?
3. What has not changed over the years? What does this suggest?
4. What does the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss” mean?
5. What are the three phases of life depicted in the three stanzas of the poem?

Section D — Long Answer (2 questions, 6 marks each)

1. Describe the three phases of the poet’s mother’s life as depicted in the poem “A Photograph”. How does the poet convey the theme of transience of life?
2. “There is nothing to say at all. Its silence silences.” How does the poem bring out the deep sorrow and helplessness felt by the poet after her mother’s death?

Section E — Language and Writing (2 questions, 4 marks each)

1. From the poem, give the contextual meaning of the following words and then verify with a dictionary:
   a) paddling
   b) transient

2. Imagine you are the poet. Write a short diary entry (80–100 words) expressing your feelings after looking at the old photograph of your mother and her cousins.