Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Short Answer Questions

Q1: Stealth is an important aspect of fog. State any two instances from the poem “Fog” that suggest the same.
Ans: The cat does not make a sound while it moves and the same does the fog. The way the fog sits is very much like a cat sitting on its haunches, looking here and there over the city and the same does the fog enveloping the city.

Q2: Highlight any two characteristics of fog from its description in the poem and justify your choice of characteristics briefly.
Ans: Fog enters the city stealthily without making any noise. It stays for a short period of time, suddenly and engulfs everything underneath it, and then disappears suddenly without making any noise.

Q3: Is the fog portrayed as a resident of the city or as an outsider? Support your answer with two such references from the poem “Fog”.
Ans: “Fog” is portrayed as an outsider, with unpredictable arrival. It comes to the city, hovers over it for some time and then returns back all of a sudden like an outsider who visits a city and then moves on to any other destination.

Q4: Would you describe the role of the fog as active or passive? Support your answer with reference to the poem “Fog”.
Ans: The role of the fog may be described as a passive one. The fog is compared to a cat that likes to sit on window edges and look outside. The fog too sits silently for a while and then moves on.

Q5: Why does the poet use the phrase “silent haunches”? Substantiate your answer with reference to the poem “Fog”.
Ans: The poet uses the phrase “silent haunches” to describe the quiet and sneaky movement of fog as it sits over the city and its harbour for some time. “Silent haunches” is the way a cat sits on its haunches, i.e., on its bent knees. without anybody noticing, similarly, the fog hovers over the city silently.

Q6: Comment, in detail, on the significance of the closing phrase of the poem- “moves on”.
Ans: The fog comes hovering and stays for a little period of time over the city like a cat that comes silently and sits on its haunches for a short period of time. Like a stalking cat, fog moves on. It disappears silently unnoticed as the cat is not to be found at the same place.
The poet highlights the temporariness or the transient nature of the naturally happening fog. It is not there to stay for long as it moves to further destinations.

Long Answer Questions
Q7: In the poem “Fog”, the poet features the fog as animated. If you had to write a similar poem for one other natural phenomenon, which animal would you use to convey the characteristics of that particular phenomena? Justify, in detail, your choice of animal corresponding to it by bringing out similarities.
Ans: The poem ‘Fog’ describes the advancement of fog toward the city and harbour. He says the fog comes like a cat comes on its little feet. This means the fog advances towards the city very slowly and calmly just like a cat. It enters our home in an unpredictable manner.
Similarly, the zigzag movement of the flowing river can be compared to the zigzag movement of a snake. Just like the river water never flows in a straight manner in the same way the snake can never walk straight. Its movement is graceful and beautiful. Many poets have described the wavy motion of the snake with that of the wavy water.

Q8: Do you agree with the poet’s comparison of fog to a cat or do you feel some other image would have done. justice to the poem? Justify your answer by substantiating your claims with examples.
OR
The poet beautifully compares the fog to a cat. Choose any two animals from ‘How to Tell Wild Animals’ that do not have qualities that can be drawn out to be compared with a fog.
Ans: Yes, I totally agree with the poet’s comparison of fog to a cat. The poet compared the sneaky, silent movements of a cat to the movement of the fog. The way a cat walks into a place with its padded paws without making any noise and sits there on its “haunches” silently, fog too enters the city silently and stays there for a short time. Fog moves out of the city in the same quiet manner as the cat that moves silently without anybody noticing her absence. Any other image or animal would not have done justice to the poem as the movements of a cat perfectly define that of fog.
‘How Tell Wild Animals’ that do not have qualities that can be drawn out to be compared with a fog are the Asian Lion and the Bear. Both of these animals have a huge and terrible build. Their presence can never be unnoticed. One can notice them from a far distance. Moreover, the loud roar of the Asian Lion and the black colour of the Bear can easily attract everyone’s attention.