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🕊️ Poem: I Cannot Remember My Mother • Critical Reflection

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Check Your Understanding 3Critical Reflection 2Answer the Following Questions 4All Exercises 9
Q1

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

1. I cannot remember my mother
only sometimes in the midst of my play
a tune seems to hover over my playthings,

  • (i) Complete the following sentence appropriately.
    The poet is reminded of his mother during his ________________.
  • (ii) What is the primary emotion conveyed by the line 'a tune seems to hover over my playthings'?
    A. It enhances the joy of play.
    B. It disrupts the playtime atmosphere.
    C. It activates memories of the mother.
    D. It symbolises the carefree nature of childhood.
  • (iii) In the context of the poem, what role does the hovering tune play during the speaker's playtime?
  • (iv) State whether the following sentence is true or false.
    The poet experiences the tune lingering over playthings only occasionally during playtime.
  • (v) How could the poet feel his mother's presence, even though she isn't there?
  • (i) Answer: playtime / childhood play
  • (ii) Answer: C. It activates memories of the mother.
  • (iii) Answer: The hovering tune acts as a gentle sensory bridge to his infancy, reminding him of the lullabies his mother used to hum while rocking his cradle.
  • (iv) Answer: True
  • (v) Answer: Even though she is physically absent, her love is deeply etched into his subconscious mind, allowing him to feel her presence through familiar sounds, scents, and sights around him.
Q2

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

I feel that the stillness of
my mother's gaze on my face
has spread all over the sky.

  • (i) What does the poet suggest about the stillness of his mother's gaze spreading over the sky?
    A. The mother's gaze is physically present in the sky.
    B. The sky is a symbolic extension of the mother's presence.
    C. The sky mirrors the mother's emotions.
    D. The stillness is fleeting and unrelated to the mother.
  • (ii) What emotion does the poet associate with the 'stillness' of his mother's gaze?
    A. a sense of grief
    B. a sense of anticipation
    C. a sense of nostalgia
    D. a sense of serenity
  • (iii) State whether the following sentence is true or false.
    The poet suggests that the mother's gaze has a tangible and visual effect on the sky.
  • (iv) What is the purpose of likening the mother's gaze to the sky?
  • (v) Complete the sentence appropriately.
    The tone of the poet in the given extract is ________________ because ________________.
  • (i) Answer: B. The sky is a symbolic extension of the mother's presence.
  • (ii) Answer: D. a sense of serenity
  • (iii) Answer: False
  • (iv) Answer: Likening her gaze to the vast sky conveys that a mother's love and watchful protection are infinite, all-encompassing, and eternally present over her child.
  • (v) Answer: calm and comforted (or serene and reverent) because looking into the quiet blue sky makes him feel peacefully watched over by his mother's eternal gaze.