A Photograph Extra Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?

 

Ans. ‘Cardboard’ refers to the photograph only. In the past photographs used to be fixed on a cardboard and hung from the wall for everyone to see it.

Q2. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

 

Ans. The sea has not changed over the years. It suggests the immortality of sea as compared to the mortal human beings whose life comes to an end finally.

Q3. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What does this laugh indicate?

 

Ans. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. This is an indication of the fun and joy she had experienced during the beach holiday and she had fond memories of that particular incident. It brought joy to her when she looked at the snapshot.

Q4. What does ‘this circumstance’ refer to?

 

Ans. ‘This circumstance’ refers to the loneliness and the sense of loss that the poet suffers as she remembers her mother who is no more.

Q5. What do you learn about the poet’s mother from the photograph?

 

Ans. The poet’s mother had been a fun loving girl who had taken great delight with her cousins at the beach and had the fond memories of the holiday that she cherished even when she was a grown up.

Q6. What has the camera captured?

 

Ans. The camera has captured some happy moments from the childhood of the poet’s mother. It was a scene taken from a beach where she had gone with her cousins and her uncle for a sea holiday. The girls were paddling in the water.

Q7. The poet’s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

 

Ans. This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.

Q8. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease or loss”

 

Ans. ‘Both’ refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet remembering her mother’s laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is no more now.

Q9. What scene from mother’s childhood has been captured in the photograph? Who had taken the photograph?

 

Ans. The scene that has been captured in the photograph is from mother’s childhood when she went for paddling with her two cousins. Mother’s uncle had taken the photograph.

Q10. How did the cousins accompany mother for paddling?

 

Ans. Her cousins accompanied mother by holding her hands when they went for paddling.

Q11. Explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the first stanza.

 

Ans. The contrast is between the sea and the humans. The sea had remained the same for all these years, but the humans have undergone changes. Her mother grew up and now she had been dead for the past twelve years.

Q12. How does the poet feel when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother?

 

Ans. The poet feels sad when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother. Her mother died twelve years ago.

Q13. Why doesn’t she want to think about the photograph anymore?

 

Ans. She doesn’t want think about the photograph anymore because it brings the pain of loss to her mind.

Q14. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

 

Ans. The three stanzas depict three different phases of life. The first stanza refers to the childhood of the poet’s mother. The second stanza refers to the adulthood of the poet’s mother. The last stanza refers to the last phase of life – the death of the poet’s mother.