Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1: What orders were passed to Kezia in the evening when Father returned home from the office?
Answer: When Kezia’s father returned home from the office, she was supposed to come down, take off her father’s shoes and put them outside. She was also to put her father’s teacup on a file tea table.
Question 2: Why did Kezia avoid her father?
Answer: Kezia avoided her father because, according to her, her father was an emotionless person. He never spoke to Kezia lovingly and calmly. He scolded Kezia and reprimanded her for making mistakes. Kezia stammered in front of her father since he was a very huge and giant-like figure far away from the warmth of a father.
Question 3: Why did Kezia stammer in front of her father?
Or
Why did Kezia stutter only with her father?
Answer: Kezia's father always scolded her and never spoke to her in a loving manner. So, Kezia stammered in front of her father because she was afraid of him and found it difficult to speak in front of him.
Question 4: What made Kezia’s father punish her?
Answer: She tore important papers of her father to stuff in the pincushion because she was making a gift to present to her father. Since the papers had her father’s speech written on it, she was punished for tearing it.
Question 5: “Father’s great speech for the Port Authority had been lost.” What had happened to Father’s speech?
Answer: Father’s speech had been torn to pieces by Kezia, the little girl. She was making a pin cushion as a gift to her father for his birthday. As she was not able to find anything to stuff it with, she tore the speech and stuffed it in her cushion.
Question 6: Why did Kezia’s grandmother send her to the drawing room every Sunday afternoon?
Answer: Kezia’s grandmother knew that she was afraid of her father, and she felt that if she spoke to him more often, she would get rid of that fear. So, every Sunday afternoon, she used to send her to the drawing-room to have a nice talk with her father.
Question 7: What did Kezia find whenever, on Sunday afternoons, her grandmother sent her down to have a talk with her parents?
Answer: Whenever Kezia was sent by her grandmother to talk to her parents on Sunday afternoons, she always found her mother reading and her father stretched out on the sofa, sleeping soundly and snoring.
Question 8: How did the father comfort the little girl, Kezia, when she got scared in her sleep?
Answer: The father came to Kezia’s room with a candle, lifted her up in his strong arms, lay beside her and made her stay close to him. She held his shirt and snuggled herself close to her father. This comforted Kezia when she got scared in her sleep.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1: How did Kezia’s negative attitude towards her father change?
Or
What were the circumstances that forced Kezia to change her opinion about her father?
Answer: When her mother was hospitalized, her grandmother went to stay with her. Kezia used to sleep alone at night. She was so scared that she started shouting at night. She had nightmares and trembled with fear. Then, her father came to her room and took her into his arms to comfort her. She felt secure with her father near her. Then she realized that her father was busy with work and had no time to play. She even realized that her father loved her but didn’t have the art of expressing it. Thus, her attitude towards her father changed positively.
Question 2: How did Kezia’s efforts to please her father result in displeasing him very much? Elaborate?
Answer: Kezia was very scared of her father and stuttered while talking to him. This annoyed him a lot. When she waited and stared at him to have a nice long chat, he did not like it. She unknowingly destroyed some of his important papers while stuffing a cushion to which he wanted to present. him on his birthday. This made him very angry, and he beat her up badly. Therefore, Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much.
Question 3: Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr. McDonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?
Or
How is Kezia’s father different from Mr. McDonald?
Answer: Mr McDonald was their next-door neighbour. Once, Kezia saw her neighbours playing “tag” together in the evening. Mr. McDonald with the baby Mao on his shoulders and the two little girls ‘ hanging on to his coat pockets. They ran round and round, shaking with laughter. On the other hand, her own father was very disciplined and strict. He never played with her, and neither interacted much. He even beat her up for her little mistakes.
Question 4: Why was Kezia scared of her father, and how did she get over her fear?
Answer: Kezia’s father was big, like a giant, and was very strict. He punished Kezia when she tore his important speech. One day, when Kezia’s mother fell ill, her mother and grandmother were in the hospital. Kezia was left alone at home with her father. She had a nightmare and screamed with fright. Her father then carried Kezia in his lap to comfort and soothe her. That closeness with her father during those days made her forget all fears.
Question 5: How did Kezia feel in the presence of her father?
Answer: Kezia was scared of her father as he looked like a giant. Every morning, he used to give her a goodbye kiss. She used to feel uncomfortable till her father was at home. She even stammered while answering him. He scolded her one day and even beat her for tearing some of his important papers.
But when Kezia used to cry during the night, he would carry her to his room. She then realized that her father was actually tender and affectionate, and this changed her perception of him.
Value-Based Questions
Question 1: Kezia in the story “The Little Girl” was afraid of her father because he never communicated with her. Imagine you are a parenting counsellor; based on your reading of the story, write a paragraph advising the parents to make communicating with their children a priority.
Answer: In the story, Kezia is always scared of her father. Her father was a strict disciplinarian who was always strict towards her. He never spoke to her softly and in a loving manner. He always scolded her and even beat her up for small mistakes. Parents should not let their stress and workload interfere with their family life. Parents should always spend quality time with their children. Bonding and understanding should always be there so that the children can open up about their feelings and problems with their parents. There should be no communication gap between the parents and the children.
Question 2: ‘ The relationship between a parent and child should be distant and formal, or should it be close and warm?
Answer: In today’s modern context, parents and children should be more like friends. The relationship between them should be warm and close. This would be very helpful in developing the overall personality of the child. It also helps boost the confidence of the child and makes him stronger in his relationship. Therefore, it is necessary that children share a close relationship with their parents, and there should be no fear but only respect and love.