Karnataka Class 10 English Solutions Poetry Chapter 1 Grandma Climbs a Tree
Karnataka Class 10 English Solutions Poetry Chapter 1 Grandma Climbs a Tree
Grandma Climbs a Tree Poem Questions and Answers, Notes, Summary
Question 1.
The speaker in the poem does not call his grandmother ‘childish’, what else was she according to him? Why does he consider her to be so? (line 1-4)
Answer:
The speaker in the poem does not call his grandmother ‘childish’. According to him, she was ‘genius’ because she could climb a tree whether the tree was high or big and spreading. She was skilful and she can climb it very quickly. She could climb the tree tired less even at the age of sixty-two. She had this gift and enjoying it though it was unusual. So the speaker considered her to be a genius.
Question 2.
Grandma had been in the habit of climbing trees for a very long period. Identify the lines that suggest this. “Ever since childhood, she’d had this.
Answer:
gift”…. this line suggests that the grandma had been in the habit of climbing trees for a very long period.
Question 3.
Look at line 7 and 8 ‘She would be told ’ who do you think would tell her so?
Answer:
I think that the well-wishers, family members or neighbours would tell her so.
Question 4.
Do you find anything odd in the reply given by the grandma? If so, why do you think it is odd? (line 10-11)
Answer:
We can’t say that grandma’s reply is odd. We can instead say that her reply shows her bohemian (having irregular habits and showing disregard for social conventions) spirit. She boldly declares that if climbing trees in old age is considered disgraceful, she would choose to be disgraceful. Her reply shows her freedom of spirit.
Question 5.
Others had feared that granny would fall from a tree one day or the other. Did this happen? Or did something else happen? (line 15-18)
Answer:
Yes, it had happened. One day when others were in town she had a terrible fall. But the effect of this was the opposite. Instead of fearing, the grandma climbed the tree and made up her mind that she wouldn’t come down.
Question 6.
What had the doctor recommended? What was the reaction of the kids to this advice?
Answer:
The doctor recommended her to stay on the bed for a week. The kids sighed with relief and tucked her-up well to the bed, it means the kids looked after her and wished that she would stay in bed and be out of trouble.
Question 7.
Quote the lines which suggest how wholeheartedly granny enjoyed climbing a tree.
Answer:
The lines which suggest that Granny wholeheartedly enjoyed climbing a tree were as follows:
- “When last the climbed a tree she was sixty- two”.
- “For being happier in a tree than in a lift”
- “She climbed a tree and couldn’t come down”.
Question 8.
‘My dad knew his duties’. What did he think his duty was?
Answer:
The speaker’s dad knew his duties mean he agreed to fulfill his mother’s desire immediately because he was obedient and loved his mother.
Question 9.
Look at the picture given below the title. Quote the lines that might have guided the artist to draw.
Answer:
The lines that might have guided the artist to draw are “Made her a tree-house with windows and a door.
“So granny moved up …………………”
“She sits there in state ………………. upholding her right to reside in a tree.”
Question 2.
‘Growing old gracefully’ is an expression used in the poem. Discuss with your partner whether what the grandma was doing was graceful or otherwise.
Answer:
What is being graceful and what is not being graceful is subjective. According to traditional ideas, girls are supposed to be graceful and they are not supposed to climb trees in a manly or disgraceful manner. But, these ideas needn’t be taken as the ultimate truth. Grandma did what her heart prompted her to do and while doing what she did, she did not hurt anyone. So, we will not be fair in our judgment of her action if we consider it disgraceful.
Question 3.
Both the narrator (speaker in the poem) and his father were very considerate towards Grandma. Substantiate the statement with textual support.
Answer:
The narrator admires his grandma and calls her a genius. When she boldly chooses to be disgraceful, he readily supports her. When the doctor advises rest for grandma, he lovingly tucks her up in bed. However, he feels sorry for the grandma as he knows that being confined to bed is torture for grandma. All these details show how much the narrator loves his grandma. His father too is equally considerate. When grandma demands a house on the treetop, he readily agrees and builds one on the treetop with the help of his son. After the house is built, every day, the narrator climbs the tree to give Grandma company over a glass of sherry.
B. Rhyming Words
Question 1. Have a close look at the rhyme- scheme. Write at least 5 pairs of rhyming words. e.g. said – bed.
Answer:
1) gift – lift
2) told – old
3) agree – tree
4) ail – fall
5) right – tonight
Question 2.
“It was like a brief season”. Name the figure of speech in the sentence. What are the two things compared? Explain.
Answer:
The figure of speech is a simile. The granny was confined in her bedroom and tucked up to her bed was compared as a brief season in hell.
Question 3.
‘For being happier in a tree than in a lift’. What is suggested through this line? Exchange your views with your partner.
Answer:
Here the poet suggested or explained that the granny enjoyed to sit in a tree and she felt very uncomfortable and sad if she were in life.
Question 4.
“There was not a tree, she hadn’t been up’ is an expression. Rewrite the above sentence without using ‘not’ (note: the meaning should be the same) Give some more examples from outside the text to illustrate the effective use of double negatives.
Answer:
There were no trees left, that grandma hadn’t climbed.
Grandma Climbs a Tree Additional Questions and Answers
Multiple Choice Questions
Question 1.
Grandma Climbs a Tree is a poem written by
a) Ruskin Bond
b) Joyce Armor
c) R.K. Narayan
d) T.R Kailasam
Answer:
a) Ruskin Bond
Question 2.
Ruskin Bond is an
a) Englishman
b) Author
c) Indian poet
d) English
Answer:
c) Indian poet
Question 3.
Grandma was a genius because
a) She was skillful
b) She could climb a tree
c) She was good
d) She loved trees
Answer:
b) She could climb a tree
Question 4.
in a trice means
a) Three times
b) try very hard
c) three colors
d) very quickly
Answer:
d) very quickly
Question 5.
Grandma Climbed a tree last time when she was
a) Sixty-two
b) Childhood
c) Six years old
d) last year
Answer:
a) Sixty-two
Question 6.
Usually climbing trees should stop when one
a) grew taller
b) grew old
c) grew stronger
d) grew weak
Answer:
b) grew old
Question 7.
For in all the garden there wasn’t ______
a) a house
b) a pool
c) a tree
d) a swing
Answer:
c) a tree
Question 8.
She learned to climb a tree from
a) a trainee
b) a coach
c) a father
d) a loving brother
Answer:
d) a loving brother
Question 9.
One day she’d have
a) a terrible fall
b) a fear
c) a fruit
d) a call
Answer:
a) a terrible fall
Question 10.
The doctor strongly recommended
a) a quiet relief
b) a quiet medicine
c) a quiet diet
d) a quiet week in bed.
Answer:
d) a quiet week in bed.
Question 11.
Grandma wanted a house
a) in a treetop
b) on the ground
c) besides the river
d) at the seashore
Answer:
a) in a treetop
Question 12.
She called for
a) her mother
b) her brother
c) her father
d) her son
Answer:
d) her son
Question 13.
The opposite of gracefully
a) graceless
b) disgracefully
c) grace
d) not gracefully
Answer:
b) disgracefully
Question 14.
Grandma learned to climb the tree when she was
a) ten
b) child
c)six
d) sixty-two
Answer:
d) sixty-two
II. Match the following :
Answer:
1 – c
2 – a
3 – g
4 – b
5 – f
6 – d
Answer the following questions in a word or a sentence each:
Question 1.
Why does the poet consider his grandmother a genius?
Answer:
The poet considers his grandmother a genius because she could climb any tree however tall or wide even at the age of sixty-two.
Question 2.
How old was a grandmother when she last climbed a tree?
Answer:
Sixty-two.
Question 3.
From whom did grandmother learn climbing trees?
Answer:
Grandmother learned climbing trees from her brother.
Question 4.
What was the outcome expected of grandma climbing trees?
Answer:
It was expected that one day grandma would have a terrible fall.
Question 5.
What is grandma’s confinement to her bedroom compared to?
Answer:
Grandma’s confinement to her bedroom for a week is compared to a brief season in hell.
Question 6.
What did grandmother demand from the poet’s father?
OR
What did grandma ask for as soon as she was better?
Answer:
She demanded a treetop house.
Question 7.
What does the poet call his grandmother?
Answer:
The poet calls his grandmother a genius.
Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each:
Question 1.
A genius is someone with exceptional ability. What was grandma’s ability? What was exceptional about it?
Answer:
Grandma’s special ability was her passion for climbing trees. What was surprising was that she could climb any tree however tall or wide.
Question 2.
Why did her family worry about her tree-climbing when she was growing old?
Answer:
Naturally, the members of the family were worried about the well-being of Grandma. They were worried that she would fall and get hurt. But strangely, it was not the problem of falling. It was a stranger. Grandma, who had climbed a tree, was hot able to come down and had to be rescued by others.
Question 3.
What kind of trees could grandma climb?
Answer:
Grandma could climb all kinds of trees. Even if the tree had grown to be huge with its branches spreading wide or high, grandma could climb the tree quickly.
Question 4.
‘The outcome was different’. What was the outcome? What was it different from and in what way? What was the immediate result of that outcome?
Answer:
The family members were worried that one day grandma would have a terrible fall. But the outcome was different. She climbed a tree one day and couldn’t come down. The immediate result of this was that the doctor recommended a quiet week in bed for grandma.
Question 5.
What was unusual in the reply given by the grandma?
Answer:
Grandma was very childish in her reply. She said that she would grow old disgracefully.
Question 6.
The speaker in the poem does not call his grandmother ‘childish’. What else was she, according to him? Why does he consider her to be so?
Answer:
The speaker does not call his grandma childish. He calls her a genius because he admires her ability to climb trees of all sizes. He can understand her passion for climbing trees and does not consider it disgraceful.
Question 7.
What qualities of grandma do you appreciate?
Answer:
The grandma’s ability to live life according to the dictates of her heart is appreciable. She was totally unconventional in her approach to life and didn’t go by what society considered right or wrong. She was a genius in climbing trees and had climbed a tree when she was sixty-two.
Answer the following questions in 8-10 sentences:
Question 1.
Write in your own words the substance of the poem ‘Grandma Climbs a Tree’.
Answer:
Refer to the summary.
Question 2.
What qualities of grandma do you appreciate?
Answer:
Ruskin Bond projects his grandma as a feisty old lady, who could easily give the youngsters a run for their money. She followed the dictates of her heart and was unconventional in her ways. She was the happiest on the trees and even at the age of 62 climbed them. It is clear that she did not want to go to her grave with any of her desires unfulfilled. She should be taken as a model by us because quite often we don’t know what would give us happiness, and some other time even if we know, we lack either the conviction or the confidence to pursue our dreams.
Grandma is a metaphor for free will, and through her projection, Ruskin Bond breaks the myth that women and old people cannot climb trees. Here we have a fiery old woman not only climbing trees but also literally living on trees in great style.
Read the following extracts and answer the questions given below them:
Question 1.
“The outcome was different.”
a) The ‘outcome3 of what is being referred to here?
b) What was the outcome expected?
c) What was the outcome that occurred?
Answer:
a) The outcome of grandmother climbing a tree is being referred to here.
b) It was expected that one day she would have a terrible fall. But things turned out different.
c) She climbed a tree one day, and couldn’t come down.
Question 2.
My grandmother was a genius.
a) Whose grandmother is considered a genius?
b) Why does the poet consider her a genius?
c) How old was she when she last climbed a tree?
Answer:
a) The poet Ruskin Bond’s grandmother is considered a genius.
b) The poet calls her a genius because she could climb all kinds of trees, whether tall or wide, swiftly.
c) She was sixty-two when she last climbed a tree.
Question 3.
For her, it was like a brief season in hell.
Confined to her bedroom, while every breeze Whispered of summer and dancing leaves.
a) What was like a brief season in hell?
b) Why was grandma confined to her bed?
c) Explain the two things compared here. What is the figure of speech?
Answer:
a) Being confined to bed for a week was like a brief season in hell for grandma.
b) Grandma climbed a tree one day and couldn’t come down. After she was rescued, the doctor took her temperature and recommended a quiet week in bed.
c) Granny’s forced rest on bed, without being allowed to go out and climb a tree is compared to a short stay in hell. It would be so torturous for granny that it is being compared with the unpleasantness of hell. The figure of speech is single.
Question 4.
She sat up and said, “I’ll lie here no longer”.
a) Who does T refer to?
b) Why was the speaker forced to lie down?
c) Why didn’t she want to lie there no longer?
Answer:
a) ‘I’ refers to grandma.
b) Grandma, after having climbed a tree, was unable to climb down. After she was rescued, the doctor took granny’s temperature and strongly recommended her a quiet week in bed.
c) She had resisted the temptation to climb trees for a week and could no longer do so.
Question 5.
“I’ll start work tonight”.
a) Who planned to start the work?
b) What was the work?
c) Why was he doing it?
Answer:
a) The poet’s father.
b) The work was to build a house in a treetop.
c) He wanted to do it to fulfill his mother’s wish to live on a tree.
Grandma Climbs a Tree Poem Summary in English
“Grandma Climbs a Tree ” is a poem written by Ruskin Bond. The Indian council has recognized him as the pioneer of the growth of children’s literature in India. He has written more than 30 books for children. In this poem, we can see Bond’s great ability to enjoy unusual events and activities. Commonly unusual things are seeds for Humour. Climbing a tree by grandma is one of the unusual anecdotes. This is the poem, as the title suggests, how an old woman keeps the childish habits and desires. The speaker here explained his grandma’s habit. He called her genius because she could climb a tree in that old age. The tree may be high or spreading, she would have to climb.
Even at the age of 62, she climbed a tree, she had the capacity of climbing the tree very quickly. She has this skill. She is fond of climbing a tree since her childhood. She had this gift and enjoying a lot. She feels happy to climb a tree. She had more pleasure in a tree than in a lift. As years went on and grandma became old and her well-wishers suggest that she must stop trees. Whenever the people grow old they can give up children’s deeds and lead graceful life. Grandma laughed and said that she will grow disgracefully, what is in that but she can assure that she can do it better.
Others would agree to her. What can she do in a better way? Luckily there was no tree in their garden. Grandma learned to climb a tree from her loving brother when she was six years. All old people feared that if she ‘tree, one day or the other, some danger would happen to her. This is the fear of her beloveds. Once the family members were out of town, grandma had a terrible fall. How did it happen? Don’t know. But the result was (utterly) completely different. Instead of “a threat, she climbed a tree and could not come down.
After the rescue, the Doctor suggested that she had to take complete bed rest for one week. There was no major harm to her. Family members sighed with relief. When grandma was on the bed, it was like a little hell. Her bedroom is like a prison and she felt that she is imprisoned in her room. During her rest period when she was in her room she can feel the breeze and whisper of dancing leaves in the summer.
Grandma.peacefully waited till she became stronger, afterwards, she said to her son that she could not lie on the bed any longer and without hesitating, she ordered that she wanted a house on the treetop. Her son was obedient to his mother and obeyed her order. Immediately he started the work with the help of his son who was an expert. They finished their work and made her a little, beautiful house on the treetop. The house had windows and a door. After that grandma lived in that house and her grandson could climb the tree every day to give glasses and tray. The grandson supplied food and wine to her. She sits there and eats and drinks with her grandson, like this she can claim her right to live on a tree.
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