Class 8 English - My Grandmother’s House - Questions & Answers


Class 8 English - My Grandmother’s House - Questions and Answers | Questions and Answers for Class 8 English - Unit 5 SHARE AND CARE | Std 8 English - My Grandmother’s House - Questions & Answers | Textual Activities

My Grandmother’s House Poem Summary
The poem “My Grandmother’s House” is a wonderful creation by “Kamala Das”. She has written about her grandmother’s house. She also used to live with her grandmother in that house. When she was young in the house she was very beautiful. Her grandmother’s house was also very decent and comfortable. There she and her grandmother lived a very happy life.
Everything around that very house was good. But when her grandmother died and the speaker lived in another place, the house became in bad condition. Everywhere that house became in a pitiable condition. Bushes grew around when the speaker went there to see the house. When she reached there she was warmly welcomed. She saw her house damaged. A strong feeling caught her mind. Everything changed when she went there but still, she was proud because when she reached there she was received warmly which she got at the stranger’s door.
In this poem, Kamala Das, the speaker explained in her autobiography how she lived when she was too young.

New Words
Peer: to look closely or carefully at somebody/something
Frozen: very cold
Despair: the state of having lost all hope
Brooding: sad or mysterious
Stranger: a person that you do not know

1. ......... ‘That woman died, ......... ’Who is the woman referred to here? How is she related to the poet?
Answer: The woman referred to here is the grandmother of the poet.

2. What happened to the house after the death of the grandmother?
Answer: After her death, the house withdrew into silence and snakes moved among the books.

3. ’.......... to lie Behind my bedroom door like a brooding Dog.... means that
i. The memories will always remain with the poet.
ii. The memories will lie uncared for in a corner.
iii. The memories are as important as a dog.
Answer: The memories will always remain with the poet.

4. The poet wants to go back to the house
i. to peer ...............
ii. to listen ..................
iii. to pick ..............
Answer: To peer through blind eyes of the window
To listen to the frozen air
To pick an armful of darkness

5. Identify the most appropriate meaning for the expression, ‘an armful of darkness’.
i. Sad days
ii. Darkness of the past
iii. Memories of the grandmother’s house.
Answer: memories of the grandmother’s house.

6. In the last three lines of the poem, the poet thinks of herself as a beggar.
a. What is she begging for?
b. What does she mean by ‘small change’?
Answer: a. The poet is begging for love.
b. She means that love may not be in substantial amounts; even a small amount of love is also fine for her.

7. Why are the eyes of the windows described as blind?
Answer: Windows are dusty and so one cannot see through it.

8. The air in the grandmother’s house is frozen. Why?
Answer: Due to silence and loneliness, nobody lives in that house.

9. Which words tell you that the poet is talking to someone? What is she talking about?
Answer: The word ‘darling’. She is talking about her grandmother’s house that she had lived in and the love she received while living there.

10. How does the house itself share the grief of the grandmother’s death?
Answer: The house withdrew into silence and snakes moved among the books after her grandmother passed away.

Let’s revisit
Activity 1.
1. The poet thinks of her past. How is her present different from the past?
Answer: She had been given too much love in the past. But in the present, she is begging for love.

2. Find hints/phrases from the poem which give you the idea that house was deserted after the death of the grandmother?
Answer: “The house withdrew into silence and snakes moved among the books”, “ Blind eyes of windows”, “ Frozen air”, “ An armful of darkness”.

Activity 2.
Look at the phrase ‘blind eyes of windows’.
(i) Do you think that windows have eyes?
(ii) Aren’t ‘eyes’ a feature of living beings?
(iii) Is the poet attributing human qualities to ‘windows’? How?
Here the poet uses personification. Personification is a figure of speech where a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. E.g. The flowers danced in the breeze. Pick out another example of personification from the poem.
Answer:
a. Windows do not have eyes.
Eyes, a feature of living beings is attributed to windows.
b. Yes
c. Yes. Here the poet uses personification. Personification is a figure of speech where a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes.
Eg: ‘.... pick an armful of Darkness to bring it here to lie Behind my bedroom door like a brooding Dog...’

Activity 3.
......... my blood turned cold like the moon is an example of simile. Pick out another simile
from the poem.
Answer:
Simile: Behind my bedroom door like a brooding dog.

Activity 4.
‘........... blood turned cold’ is an instance of a tactile image. Find out other images from the poem.
Answer:
Snakes moved among books – Visual image
Peer through blind eyes – Visual image
Listen to the frozen air – Auditory image
Pick an armful of darkness – Visual
By now at stranger’s door – Visual



ഈ ബ്ലോഗിലെ എല്ലാ പോസ്റ്റുകളും ഒരുമിച്ച് കാണാനും ആവശ്യമുള്ളവ എളുപ്പത്തിൽ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കാനും ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്കുക.

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