The Little Girl Class 9 Worksheet English Chapter 1

Multiple Choice Questions

Q1. Why do you think Katherine Mansfield titled her story like The Little Girl?
(a) Because the story talks about the little girl and her feelings
(b) Because the story has a little girl in it
(c) Because The Little Girl seems to be an attractive and interesting title for a story
(d) Because Katherine Mansfield liked the little girl in the story
Ans: (a)
Sol: The story gives us an insight to a little girl's mind beautifully explaining the thoughts and the emotions that these little children go through or might experience in certain circumstances and how they gradually begin to understand life in their own little way. Therefore,  the title is appropriate for this story.

Q2. Kezia was beaten up with a ruler by her father because
(a) she went to an ice cream parlour
(b) she failed in her exam
(c) she disagreed to sleep alone
(d) she has torn down the papers of her father’s speech
Ans: (d)

Q3. Kezia saw these children playing
(a) football
(b) badminton
(c) hide and seek
(d) tag
Ans: (d)

Q4. How many children did the Macdonalds have in the text titled The Little Girl?
(a) Five
(b) Six
(c) Four
(d) Three
Ans: (a)
Sol: The Macdonalds had five children. Among them was the baby Mao, two little girls and two boys who played with their father in the evening.

Q5. Why did Kezia tear the papers?
(a) To clean her room
(b) To play
(c) All of these
(d) To fill the cushion
Ans: (d)

Q6. In the text The Little Girl,  whom did Kezia find standing at her bedside with a candle when she woke up in the dark due to her nightmare?
(a) The cook, Alice
(b) Her Grannie
(c) Her Father
(d) Her Mother
Ans: (c)
Sol: Kezia often had nightmares and sleeping alone in the dark made it scarier for her. She woke up shivering and found her father standing beside the bed with a candle in his hand.

Q7: The father who lived next door to Kezia’s would
(a) make barbeque
(b) play and laugh
(c) water his plants
(d) speak angrily
Ans: (b)

Q8: Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
(a) Once he beat her for tearing his papers
(b) She thought that he was a hard-hearted man
(c) He used to speak rudely to her and always found faults in her
(d) All of these
Ans: (d)

Q9: Which family lived in the neighbourhood of Katherine?
(a) The Smiths
(b) The Wilson Family
(c) The Johnsons
(d) The Macdonald Family
Ans: (d)
Sol: The Macdonald family was Kezia’s next-door neighbour.

Q.10. What would Kezia find her mother doing on Sunday afternoons in the drawing-room?
(a) Nothing
(b) Reading
(c) Busy in her work
(d) Talking to her father
Ans:  (b)

Reference to Context Questions

Q1: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!

(a) Who does ‘he’ refer to in this extract?
Ans: He refers to the father of the little girl, Kezia.

(b) What kind of a person was Kezia’s father?
Ans: He was a strict disciplinarian with a harsh exterior.

(c) What were the feelings of the little girl towards him?
Ans: The little girl was afraid of him and tried to avoid him.

(d) How did she feel when her father left for office?
Ans: She heaved a sigh of relief after he left for his office.

Q2: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father”. And oh, there was a glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road!

(a) Who is the little girl?
Ans: The little girl is Kezia.

(b) Who were the people in Kezia’s family?
Ans: Kezia’s family consisted of her father, mother, grandmother and herself.

(c) What did ‘he’ do before going to work every morning?
Ans: Before going to work every morning, he came to Kezia’s room and casually kissed her.

(d) What does this gesture show about him?
Ans: This gesture shows that he loved her girl but was not very expressive in his affection.

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Why was Kezia scared of her father?
Ans: Kezia’s father was a busy man and had little time for the little girl. Being a very disciplined man, he was strict with Kezia as well and she would at times get harsh words of scolding and physical punishment from him. He never displated any soft feelings for his little daughter nor did he play with her like Mr Macdonald. All he did was giving her a perfunctory kiss rather than a loving one. Moreover, he was a large man, and his size, too, terrified the little girl. So scared was Kezia of him that she felt relieved when he was gone from home

Q2: What was Kezia’s father’s routine before going to office and after coming back in the evening?
Ans: Before going to office, Kezia’s father would come to her room, give her a perfunctory kiss and leave for work. He would return in the evening and in a loud voice ask for his tea, the papers and his slippers to be brought into the drawing-room. He would wait for Kezia to help him take off his shoes and exchange a few words with Kezia.

Q3: Why did Kezia go slowly towards the drawing-room when mother asked her to come downstairs?
Ans: Kezia was afraid of her dominating father. He always scolded her for one thing or the other and did not display any soft feelings or affection for his little daughter. So frightened was she of him that she went very slowly towards the drawing-room when she was asked to come downstairs to take off his shoes.

Q4: Why did Kezia stutter while speaking to Father?
Ans: Kezia’s father’s had a loud and domineering personality and he frequently frequent rebuked her for her behaviour and appearance. His constant criticism and scolding shook her self-confidence. Moreover, his large size frightened her. Though Kezia tried her best to please him, she found herself tongue-tied while talking to him. This made her stutter in his presence.

Q5: Why was Father often irritated with Kezia?
Ans: Kezia was very scared of her father. She stuttered when he spoke to her. Also, the terrified expression on her face irritated him. In his presence she wore an expression of wretchedness. He felt that with such an expression, she seemed as if she were on the verge of suicide.

Long Answer Questions

Q1: Do you think the Kezia deserved the beating she got for her mistake? What light does this incident throw on her father’s character?
Ans: Kezia earned her father’s wrath for tearing his speech for the Port Authority to stuff a pin-cushion she was making for him as a birthday present. When Father discovered that Kezia was the culprit, he punished her by beating her little pink palms with a ruler to teach her not to touch what did not belong to her.
I think it was too harsh a punishment for an innocent mistake of a fond daughter who was making a gift for her father. Undoubtedly, the papers were extremely important for him and their loss must have caused him a lot of inconvenience but he should have heard out Kezia’s explanation, and understood and appreciated Kezia’s intentions. A firm but gentle reprimand would have sufficed to teach the sensitive Kezia not to touch things that did not belong to her. This incident shows that Father was a very insensitive and harsh man who demanded a very high standard of discipline from his daughter and did not tolerate any disobedience.

Q2: Briefly comment on Kezia’s relationship with her grandmother?
Ans: The little girl is extremely close to her loving and sympathetic grandmother. Failing to get any expression of affection from her parents, especially her father, Kezia turns to her grandmother for the emotional support and comfort that she needs. She turns to her to fulfill her need for love and protection.
Grandmother too showers love upon the little girl. She keeps trying to help the girl build her bridges with her parents. She advises Kezia to talk to her parents when they would be more relaxed as they sat in the drawing¬room on a Sunday afternoon. Again, she suggests to Kezia suggests that she should make a pin-cushion for her father as a present for his birthday. When Father beats Kezia, it is grandmother who tries first to reason with her son and then consoles and comforts Kezia by covering her with her shawl and allowing the child to cling to her soft body.
We also learn that, at night, when Kezia is scared by the dark or by her nightmares, it is for her grandmother that the little girl calls out, and it is grandmother who takes her into her own bed. Hence, her love and support make Kezia look upto her for everything.

Q3: What impression do you form of Kezia’s mother?
Ans: Kezia’s mother is very unapproachable, aloof figure, quite unlike a loving mother a young girl desires and needs. Perhaps her ill-health and her strict and domineering husbands demands leave her with very little room to pay the desired attention to her daughter. Her relationship with her daughter is distant. She treats the little girl in accordance with her husband’s expectations. She orders her to take off her father’s shoes and put them outside as this would indicate obedience. On Sunday afternoons, she spends her time engrossed in her reading, rather than talking to her daughter.
When Kezia innocently tears her father’s papers, she drags her downstairs to face Father’s wrath. She does not try to reason with Father when he reprimands and beats the little girl. She neither defends nor protects her in any way. She does not even go to assuage her traumatised daughter’s physical and emotional hurt. Little wonder then that Kezia turns to her grandmother to fulfill her need for motherly care and affection.

Q4: Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers.” Comment on Kezia’s remark in the light of her relationship with her father and that of the Macdonald children with their father?
Ans: Kezia’s father was a busy man. He was so lost in his business that he had no time for his family. Being a very strict disciplinarian, he was strict with Kezia as well. He did not display any soft feelings for his little daughter through word or deed. All he did was give her a perfunctory kiss rather than a loving one as he left for work each morning. His presence at home frightened Kezia and she was relieved when he was gone. Kezia was unable to speak without stuttering in her father’s presence. Yet, despite all this, Kezia’s father had a loving heart as Kezia discovered when she had her nightmare and she was alone with him.

At once, Father came and took her to his room, made her lie with him and comforted her. He asked her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth. This showed the little girl her father truly loved her and it brought her close to her father. Mr Macdonald, Kezia’s next door neighbour, had five children and Kezia would often see them playing in their garden. One day, when Kezia looked through the gap in the fence she saw the Macdonalds playing ‘tag’.

It was evening, and Mr Macdonald had just returned from work but unlike her father, he looked happy to be playing with his children. He had baby Mao was on his shoulders, and the two girls were hanging on to his coat pockets. The party ran around the flower beds, shaking with laughter. Mr. Macdonald’s sons turned the hose on him and he tried to catch them laughing all the time.

This happy scene made Kezia conclude that there were different sorts of fathers. Mr Macdonald was so different from her own father. He was not at all strict, was always happy and thoroughly enjoyed the company of his children. In contrast, her own father was often in an angry mood and remained much too busy in his work. She dreaded him and avoided his company as much as she could. Whenever she was with him, she would stautter and look silly, like “a brown owl”. His strict discipline and his domineering nature made Kezia wonder what God made fathers for.

Q5: How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?
Ans: Kezia was scared of her father as he looked like a giant. Every morning he came to her room and gave her a perfunctory kiss before leaving for work, but even that contact with him left her feeling uneasy. She was relieved when her father left home for work. Kezia’s father often mocked or rebuked her and once he even beat her for tearing some of his important papers. So great was her fear of him that she stuttered while answering him.
However, a nightmare one night made Kezia discover the tender, caring and loving side of her father. One night when she was alone at home with her father, and she cried out in fear, he came at once to her room, lifted her in his arms and took her to his room. He comforted her and tucked her up nicely and slept next to her. He asked her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth. This incident brought her close to her father.
She felt sorry for him as he had to work so hard that he had no time to play with her. She even realized that her father loved her but didn’t have the art of expressing it. Thus, her attitude towards her father changed and became more understanding and sympathetic.