Answer any four of the following questions in 30 – 40 words each:
(a) Why were some elderly persons occupying the back benches that day ? (The Last Lesson)
(b) Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from having dreams ?
(c) Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young children ?
(d) How would keep quiet affect life in and around the sea ?
(e) Why did the Maharaja decide to get married ?
(f) What is mother Skunk’s role in the story?
Answers
The correct answers are -
(b) Jansie was a hands-on girl while Sophie's dreams were unrealistic so impossible to achieve. She realized they were earmarked for the biscuit factory and it's not easy to get the illusion of Sophie setting up a shop. So she deterred Sophie from unrealistic dreams
(c) Kamala Das wants the pain and anguish synonymous with her mother's death believed to be driven away. When her mother ageed she became consumed by the terror of separation from her parents. The infant is a sign of life and happiness that is complex. After looking at her mom, she looks at the young children to distract this disturbing thought.
(d) Keeping quiet will in various ways influence the people in and around the sea. For some time the fisherman is not going to kill the whales and other life at sea. This will help keep the ecological balance intact. The person collecting salt will even get some time to heal his injured hands. In all, keeping quiet will give everyone some time to self-introspect
(e) The Maharaja has decided to get married to achieve his goal of killing hundreds of tigers. His territory, Pratibandapuram, had no tiger left as he had killed all the seventy tigers in the area. And he wants to marry a princess from a country that has a huge population of tigers.