Important Questions Flamingo

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15 Important Questions from Flamingo
1.How different from usual was the atmosphere at school on

the day of the last lesson?
Ans : The order came from Berlin that only German should be taught in the
schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Meaning that the natives were now even
supposed to think in a foreign language. Therefore there was something
unusual about the school on the last day of the French lesson. The usual noises
or the hustle and bustle was missing. Everything was solemn or strange just
like a Sunday morning. The elders of the village were seated at the back.
M.Hamel wore clothes that he usually only wore at the time of inspection.
M.Hamel asked everyone to protect and guard their native language and
identity because it’s the key to prison of enslavement. He also told them that
French is the most beautiful, clear and logical language in the world .Franz
suddenly grew interest in the language and started to develop respect for
M.Hamel. He was feeling guilty for skipping the classes and not learning the
lessons and he felt bad that he will not see M.Hamel again.
2.What change was there in Franz’s attitude towards

M.Hamel? (2M)
Ans : Franz felt completely different about M.Hamel that day. After the news
that this is going to be their last lesson in French Franz developed a strange
interest towards his school and the language. He was amazed at how well he
understood everything now when M.Hamel began reading out a grammar
lesson in class. All that M.Hamel said seemed so easy to Franz and he
genuinely regretting not reading his lessons and ignoring M. Hamel’s classes.
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THEEXTRACL ASS.COM PAGE 2
3.Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it.

Describe how regretful M.Hamel and the village elders are for
having neglected their native language, French.
OR
Our native language is the part of our culture and we are
proud of it. How does the presence of the village elders in the
classroom and M. Hamel’s last lesson show their love for it?
Ans : The feeling of guilt and regret for not learning their native language
and neglecting it hits the villagers and M.Hamel very late. It is only then when
they are no more allowed to learn French and only speak or learn in German
they understand or realize the value of their language. On the day of last
French lesson the village elders sat at the back of the class as they wanted to
show respect to M.Hamel for his forty years of service. M.Hamel himself had
put on fine Sunday clothes in order of the last French lesson. M.Hamel
expressed how they all had to reproach themselves with as most of the people
of Alsace could neither speak not write French. Parents sent their children to
mills or farm to earn extra money; M.Hamel himself cancelled his classes when
he wanted to go for fishing or sent students to water his flowers instead of
learning their language. While delivering the last lesson M.Hamel assuming
the role of the mentor called upon the students and the village elders to guard
their language declaring that French is the most beautiful, clear and logical
language in the world. Everyone felt guilty for having ignored the French
lessons.
4.“Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

Explain.
Ans : When Franz wondered whether they would make even the pigeons
sing in German, he meant that they had grown up using French as their
language. Now, taking it away from them would be unfair and unkind. The
language was as natural to them as cooing is to the pigeons. Pigeons
symbolised freedom, the freedom that the people of Alsace and Lorraine
lost.
5.The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles

and make everyone happy, but they live and die in squalor.
Elaborate.
Ans : Annes Jung the author showers light over the harmful business of
bangle making. The children working under such hazardous conditions don’t
enjoy their childhood or lose their childhood. They work in pathetic, awful and
miserable ambience. High temperature badly lit and poorly ventilated glass
furnaces push them in a condition where they often lose their eyesight before
stepping into adulthood or go completely blind. In fact their eyes are more
adjusted to darkness. The stinking lanes of Firozabad are choked with
garbage and humans and animals live together in such dingy conditions. They
are caught up in the vicious cycle of ‘sahukars’, policemen, the keepers of law,
bureaucrats and the politicians and therefore there is no development or
progress in their lives and are trapped in such inhuman conditions. This kills
their hopes, desires and dreams. They are doomed to live and die in
unpleasant and miserable conditions or in squalor.
6.How is Mukesh’s attitude towards his situation his situation

different from that of Saheb? Why?
Ans : Mukesh is a rebel and does not give up on his dream to become a
motor mechanic. Even though he is working under the same pathetic
atmosphere like his community i.e. mind numbing, back breaking he wants to
free himself from the vicious cycle which his community has been caught in.
Saheb however is still suppressed under the weight of the heavy steel canister
that he carries on his back he is bound by 800 rupees and the meals he get
from where he works. He is no happier and his face has lost its carefree look.
He is no more his own master. The difference in their attitudes can be
attributed to the different situations they are caught up in. Saheb is an
immigrant from Bangladesh, Dhaka and Mukesh is a citizen of India. Mukesh
is daring and this is what makes Mukesh a little more aggressive than Saheb.
7.‘Garbage to them is gold’. How do rag pickers of Seemapuri

survive?
Ans : Garbage for the rag pickers of Seemapuri is considered to be nothing

less than gold. It is their daily bread and their means of survival. But for the
children it’s something wrapped in wonder. As Saheb says that sometimes he
even finds a ten rupee note in the garbage. They grow up and help their
parents in earning. Seemapuri houses are 10,000 rag pickers mostly
Bangladeshi refugees who have lived there for more than thirty years without
any identity and without any permit. Food for them is more important for their
survival than an identity. These people live in mud structures with the roofs
made of tin and trampoline. All they have to look forward is the bag of
garbage. This is how the rag pickers of Seemapuri survive.
8. Why do you think Gandhiji considered the Champaran episode

to be a turning point in his life?
Ans : The land of the Champaran was divided into large estates that were
owned by the Englishmen who hired the Indian tenants to grow indigo there.
The Indian peasants were sharecroppers who had to surrender 15% of the
indigo harvest as a rent to the British. But after developing the synthetic indigo
the indigo plantation was not beneficial or profitable at all and therefore new
arrangements were made where the landlords asked the peasants to pay
compensation for releasing them. The financial condition of the poor peasants
was declining day by day even though some of them agreed to sign this
agreement but many others wanted their money back. Gandhiji arrived
Champaran at this time to lessen then burdens of the poor peasants. He met
the commissioner after collecting all the facts but he tried to bully Gandhiji
and advised him to leave the place to which Gandhiji refused. Gandhiji had a
fight with the British authorities many times before he could convince them to
agree on his viewpoint. This episode of Champaran brought out the selfless
nature and revealed the principles of Gandhiji political field. Not only he
helped the peasants but also stayed back in Champaran for the social and
cultural upliftment of the poor and backwards of the villages of Champaran.
9. Though the sharecroppers of Champaran received only one

fourth of the compensation, how can the Champaran struggle still
be termed as a huge success and victory?
Ans : Despite of receiving just one fourth of the compensation the Champaran
struggle is still termed as a huge success and victory because it taught the
peasants some of the most valuable lessons of their life. They learned how to
release the fear that they had of the landlords, it made them aware about
their rights. The struggle also taught them the way to fight for their future
causes i.e. patiently and with non-violence. They learned to fight the
oppression and be self-reliant as well. The moral victories of these peasants
lead the landlords to surrender a part of their money and also a part of their
prestige.
10. Jansie is just as old as Sophie but she is very different from
her. Bring out the contrast between the two friends citing relevant
instances from the story, “Going Places”.
OR
Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie highlighting their

temperament and aspirations.
OR
How is Sophie different from Jansie ?
Ans : Sophie and Jansie apart from being classmates are good friends as
well. Both of them belong to lower middle class - families. There is a striking
contrast between their characters. Jansie is practical unlike Sophie who is a
day dreamer. Sophie escapes from her real world to the world of fantasies
and does not want to come out of this fairy land. She dreams of being a
fashion designer or an actress and having a boutique but Jansie on the other
hand does not have any other plans other than working in the biscuit factory
where both Jansie and Sophie are embarked to work. Jansie understands that
big things require big money and experience both of which they certainly
don’t have. She asks Sophie to be practical and sensible. Sophie shares her
dreams only with her brother Geoff, Jansie on the other hand is nagging. She
learns new things about others with great interest and then spreads it in the
entire neighbourhood.
11. Why did Sophie like her brother, Geoff more than any
other person?
OR
Why did Sophie long for her brother’s affection?
Ans : Geoff symbolized freedom and she always wanted to be a part of his
ventures where he met new people, travelled new places and because he was
the only one believing in her day dream stories she longed for his affection.
Geoff was the only person who listened to her fantasies and long cherished
dreams. She only trusted Geoff to keep all her secrets to himself and that is
why she liked her brother more than any other person.
12. Why has the poet brought in the image of merry children
spilling out of their homes?
Ans : The image of children present a stark contrast to her old ageing mother.
Her mother’s pale ashen like face symbolizes inactiveness, death, ageing and
decay on the other hand the trees and young children symbolize the activeness,
zeal and the beginning of life.
13. What does the parting words of the poet and her smile
signify?
Ans : The last four lines of the poem are the parting words that she says to her
mother. These words are expressive of her dilemma and confusion in her mind
and the repetition of the word “Smile” three times signifies ;Her fear of losing
her mother, the anxiety of her mother’s frailing health, which she tries to cover
up with a smile and the hope that her mother would survive long.
14. The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of
Shakespeare, buildings with dome, world maps and beautiful
valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?
Ans : The poet is telling us that all those images of what an ideal world should
be for the children where they can learn and grow is surely wicked because
these children are brought up in such a way that they are looking for bad
qualities in everyone, the map is a bad example to be hung there, the ships and
the sun which these children have never seen in their lives and the desire for
love and acceptance from the society will only tempt them to steal. But their
lives aren’t nothing of that sort in fact they live in houses that are cramped (to
indicate small homes filled beyond their capacity) and from fog to endless night
means that these children living in the slum have never seen a clear sky, there is
so much pollution that the sky is always covered with fog no matter day or night.
For them it is always the night because of the blackened lead sky. All their time
and space are foggy slum the poet uses a metaphor to show that their life is
dark, dirty and without hope. Their chances of escaping have been further
reduced by building bigger slums.
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.
15.Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are fluttering

through her wool?
Or
Why is she finding the needle hard to pull?
Or
What is suggested by the image of massive weight of Uncle’s

wedding band?
The poet describes Aunt Jennifer’s movement while she is working on the wool
which means that she is nervous and not confident unlike the tigers that are
certain in their movements. Aunt Jennifer is so nervous that she is unable to pull
even the ivory needle. The massive weight of uncle’s wedding band symbolises
the responsibilities of Aunt Jennifer as a married woman. By saying that it “sits
heavily” the speaker directly points out the fact that she is weighed down by her
responsibilities as a wife or by the duties she carries out as a married woman.

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THEEXTRACL ASS.

15 Important Questions from Flamingo

1.How different from usual was the atmosphere at school on

2.What change was there in Franz’s attitude towards

3.Our language is part of our culture and we are proud of it.

4.“Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”

5.The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles

6.How is Mukesh’s attitude towards his situation his situation

7.‘Garbage to them is gold’. How do rag pickers of Seemapuri

Ans : Garbage for the rag pickers of Seemapuri is considered to be nothing

8. Why do you think Gandhiji considered the Champaran episode

9. Though the sharecroppers of Champaran received only one

Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie highlighting their

How is Sophie different from Jansie ?

Why did Sophie long for her brother’s affection?

Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool

15.Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are fluttering

Why is she finding the needle hard to pull?

What is suggested by the image of massive weight of Uncle’s

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