An Old Woman question and answer for class 11. We have explained notes of the poem An Old Woman for first PUC students.
In this post we have explained questions and answers from the poem An Old Woman for PUC first year exam. An Old Woman poem notes are given.
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an old woman questions and answers for class 11
Comprehension I
1) ‘You’ in the poem refers to……………
a. the speaker.
b. the passerby.
c. the reader.
d. Anyone
Ans: a. the speaker
2) What does the old woman offer to do?
Ans: The old woman offers to be a tourist guide.
3) What does she expect for her service?
Ans: She expects fifty paise coin for her service.
4. The lines, ‘You turn around and face her with an air of finality’ suggest that he decided to
a. gives her a fifty paise coin and get rid of her.
b. allows her to take him to the shrine.
c. end the farce.
Ans: c. end the farce
5) The old woman’s eyes are compared to…………….
Ans: bullet holes
6) ‘you are reduced to so much small change in her hand.’ Here, the speaker is suggesting that
a. one is reduced to an insignificant position.
b. one feels that one is being cheated.
c. one feels a change in one’s personality.
Ans: c. one feels a change in one’s personality.
Comprehension II
1. How is the plight of the old woman depicted in the poem?
Answer: The old woman is little adamant when speaker refuses to give her any money. But, it also shows how she does not resolve to beggary. She wishes to take the speaker to the horse shoe shrine; in return she demands a mere fifty paisa coin. Poverty and old age are two curses that can cripple a person and make him utterly helpless.
notes of the poem An Old Woman for first PUC
2. The Old Woman in the poem is a self-appointed tourist guide, not a beggar. Do you agree? Give reasons.
Answer: Yes, I agree that the old woman is a self-appointed tourist guide and not a beggar. She is asking a 50 paisa coin in return for taking the speaker round the Horse-Shoe Shrine. This shows that she does not want to beg but wants to earn her living in the only way she knew.
3. How does the Speaker’s attitude undergo a change?
Answer: The old woman is shown as a helpless woman who laments saying “What else can an Old Woman do on hills as wretched as these?” The Speaker looks into her eyes and realizes she is right. Her helplessness because of her old age moves him. He is also touched by the fact that she wants to earn the fifty paisa coin by showing him the horse shoe shrine rather than demanding it as a charity. All this brings about a change in his approach and attitude.
Comprehension III
1. “The Old Woman reduces the self-esteem of the speaker and makes him feel that he is nothing more than ‘so much small change’. Comment.
Answer: The old woman is shown as a helpless woman. The Speaker looks into her eyes and realizes she is right. Her helplessness because of her old age moves him. He is also touched by the fact that she wants to earn the fifty paisa coin by showing him the horse shoe shrine rather than demanding it as a charity. The woman pesters him to give her that little job, so that she can earn a bit to fill her stomach. Her willingness to work for a living has reduced him to the small change in her hands.
questions and answers from the poem An Old Woman for PUC first year
2. What is the Speaker trying to convey through the lines ‘and the hills crack, and the temples crack, and the sky falls’?
Answer: The Speaker highlights the fact that growing old is not just for the living forms it also applies to the non-living forms like the hills and the temples. ‘Cracks’ are simply a sign of old age. It is a natural process that with the passage of time, the hills and temples which were strong earlier develop cracks. Everything around the poet seems to fall at the attitude carried by the old woman. Her willingness to survive with dignity in those wretched hills at that age causes the hills and the temples to crack and the sky to fall.
3. Bring out the significance of the phrase ‘cracks around her eyes’ in relation to the description of the woman as ‘shatter proof crone’.
Answer: The ‘cracks around her eyes’ are symbolic of her old age and rich experience. It also talks about the wisdom that comes with age. The hills and temples represent the same wisdom and dignity that a woman stands for. The old woman and the hills have been around for centuries. In spite of being old the woman is able to carry on and find means to keep her life going just like the hills and the temples.
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