Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Short Answer Questions

Q1: What is the role/ importance of punctuation marks in language? Why has the poet used the exclamation mark after Amanda? Comment on the title of the poem.
Ans: (i) Punctuation is an important part of grammar. It is used to create sense, clarity and stress in sentences. It is used to structure and organise our writing.
(ii) The exclamation mark is used after Amanda! to show the mother’s surprise on seeing Amanda. Amanda is a sulky and moody girl which upsets the mother.

Q2: Is the purpose of someone constantly giving instructions to Amanda being fulfilled? Explain.
Ans:  No, Amanda sulks and becomes moody when her mother gives her too many instructions. She does not listen to her mother and doesn’t care to follow the instructions but she can’t dare to ignore them either. So, she sulks. Parents in their endeavour to make their children well-behaved, give them too many instructions.

Q3: Amanda imagines herself to be Rapunzel, yet would not like to do what all she did. Identify and state the reasons for her decision.
Ans: Amanda wants to be Rapunzel to live a peaceful life in a tower, where no one gives any instruction and she doesn’t have to do any work. But she doesn’t want to escape with a prince like Rapunzel. She never wants to escape and leave such a peaceful atmosphere, with no instruction and no work to do.

Q4: What message does the poet want to give through the poem — ‘Amanda’?
Ans: The poet wants to convey that parents in their endeavour to make their children well-behaved, mannerful and inculcating good habits, give them too many instructions or nag (always finding fault) them. They should adopt positive measures, acceptable to children. Otherwise, they will stop listening to them and indulge in daydreaming as Amanda did.

Q5: Who was Amanda? What idea do you form her through the poem?
Ans: Amanda was a little school going girl. She seems to love fairy tales, stories like Rapunzel and mermaids. She does not like too many instructions or nagging which make her sulk and become moody. Then she does not listen to her mother attentively and starts daydreaming.

Q6: Why does Amanda dream to live the life of an orphan?
Ans: She thinks orphans lead a carefree life. There is no one to pester them with instructions. They can wander in a street and make patterns in the soft dust with their bare feet. They don’t have to clean the shoes or room or do the homework.

Q7: Why is Amanda forbidden to eat chocolate? How does Amanda behave when she is addressed by the speaker?
Ans: The speaker asks Amanda not to eat chocolate. It is because she has had acne already. Eating chocolate might create more pimples. Amanda listens to the speaker without raising her face.

Q8: Do you think that Amanda doesn’t like to be controlled and instructed not to do one thing or the other? Give a reasoned answer.
Ans: Amanda loves her freedom. She doesn’t want it to be curtailed. She wants to lead her own kind of life. If she is asked what to do and what not, she feels that her freedom is curtailed. She doesn’t bother to answer her mother when she goes on instructing her what to do and what not.

Q9: List the things which Amanda’s mother doesn’t want her to do.
Ans: Her mother doesn’t want her to hunch her shoulders and bend her body down. She stops her from eating chocolates as it would not be good for her pimpled face. She wants her to stop sulking as others would think that she is being nagged by her mother.

Q10: Why does Amanda want to be a mermaid?
Ans: Amanda is a little girl. She, in fact, is a symbol of every child who is instructed by the parents to do or not to do this or that. If she were a mermaid she would blissfully drift in the sea without the constant nagging of her elders.

Long Answer Questions
Q11: Discuss the importance of proper upbringing with reference to the poem Amanda by Robin Klein.
Ans: Upbringing plays an essential role in personality development of an adult. Whenever we wish to admire or criticise someone we question the upbringing of that person. Robin Klein’s poem Amanda highlights the tension in the ‘proper’ upbringing of a child. To instil good values and moral principles in a growing child comes as a foremost duty for the parents. However, the poem Amanda shows how a child feels trapped within the cluster of instructions. Amanda is no less than a victim in this travesty. No proper space is given to her creativity. She is instructed for everything. As a result, she feels trapped and seeks an escape. Her imagination proves to be her escape and also her defence against her nagging parents. Situation of Amanda is so bad that she wishes to be an orphan, in order to get rid of her parents. She imagines enacting various roles varying from mermaid to Rapunzel. Amanda wishes to live alone and carefree. It is very important to understand the situation of Amanda where her freedom is cut short by constant instructions and guidelines. Proper balance should be maintained when dealing with such delicate issues. Love and care should always be part of this two way transaction.

Q12: How does Amanda tackle the nagging nature of her parents? Explain with examples from the poem. What values does it portray about Amanda?
Ans: Amanda is a small girl who is termed as moody for her careless behaviour. But it is very surprising to know that this is her defence mechanism to shield against her nagging parents. Amanda is getting instructions from her parents, which become too much to handle for the small girl. She is told not to eat her nails and sit in a proper position. Amanda’s response to it is her work of imagination where she is a mermaid drifting effortlessly by the languid river. Further, she is asked about cleaning her room and finishing her homework to which she reacts being an orphan roaming in the street and making patterns with her bare feet. Amanda then faces the heat for eating a chocolate, which had once caused her acne. She takes the form of Rapunzel and wishes to live on top of a tower away from everyone in her imagination. Amanda’s parents are upset over her behaviour and casualness, but she stays in her own world. All these portray Amanda in a positive light while her parents in a negative light. We as readers feel very sorry for a child like Amanda.

Q13: State the key points in the poem Amanda. What do you learn from it? [CBSE 2016]
Ans: Every child is special in itself, and it requires a great deal of patience and love to make them understand this. Parents should give proper space to children, as they learn through experiences as well. Children do tend to learn certain bad habits, to undo that requires a great level of understanding and the right approach. One cannot teach their child everything in one day and expect them to behave properly henceforth. It is natural for a child like Amanda to seek freedom at her place, to curb that freedom means to make her angry and moody. Growing up a child should not be about dos and don’ts only. To have nagging parents judging every action of a child would do more harm than good. Robin Klein points to the fact that Amanda is forbidden to do anything without seeking permission. Everything she does is corrected by her mother all the time, she cannot perform a single thing according to her will. She can’t sit lazily around, she can’t eat chocolate because that could cause acne. Life of Amanda is very suffocating and limited in itself. She yearns for freedom and choice. Her mother doesn’t understand the fact that Amanda is innocent and naive, she is too small to understand the benefits of advice. Only thing that matters to Amanda’s mother is what society will make of Amanda. We witness the miserable failure of parents when Amanda wishes to be an orphan so that she could be free.

Q14: How would you characterise the speaker in the poem Amanda!’? List any two qualities, supporting the reason of your choice, with evidence from the poem.
Ans: The speaker seems to be Amanda’s mother. I would consider her as caring but over protective so much so that She appears as if she is a nag and lacks understanding on her part of being a mother. Evidence is ample; It is clear from the poem that she constantly keeps on nagging Amanda for biting her nails, sitting in a slouching posture, eating chocolates, etc. She can be easily blamed for not understanding the psychology of her daughter’s mind.
But a mother is a mother and she thinks that she has to do all these things to properly channelize her daughter though she would need to be stricter and people may regard her as a harsh mother. It becomes clear here when she asks Amanda to stop sulking because she was conscious of what people might think of her as a mother.