The writer recalls his Grandmother as short, healthy and slightly bent. Her hairs were silver in colour and were scattered messily on her wrinkled face. She used to walk around the whole house in white clothes. She kept her one hand resting on her waist and the other hand was telling the beads of her rosary.The writer thinks of her as not very pretty but constantly beautiful all the time. He compares her calm face with the winter landscape. During their lengthy stay in the village, Grandmother woke him up from the bed in the early morning, plastered his wooden slate, organized his breakfast, and sent him to the school. The temple was connected to the school. She sat inside and studied the sacred texts while the children learned the alphabet.On their way back to the home she used to give the stale chapattis to the street dogs. A turning point in their beautiful relationship arrived when they went to live in a city. Despite the fact that they shared a room, their relationship started to grow apart. Now, the writer used to go to the city school on a school bus and studied subjects like English, Physics, mathematics and many more subjects that his grandmother could not understand at all.His grandmother could no longer go to school with him to send him. She felt upset that there was no teaching about God and scriptures at the city school. Instead, he was given music lessons, but she said nothing. She thought music was dreadful. It was just good for prostitutes and beggars, according to her. It was not intended for gentlemen.When the writer went to a university, he got a separate room in his house. The common link of the relationship between the grandson and the grandmother was broken now. Grandmother rarely talked to anyone in the house now. The writer’s grandmother quietly accepted her loneliness. She was constantly occupied with her spinning wheel and reciting prayers and she hardly ever spoke to anyone. She took a break in the afternoon. Her daily routine consisted of breaking bread into pieces and giving it to the birds. The birds would perch on her legs, head, and even her shoulders.When the writer was leaving on a trip abroad for his further studies, his grandmother did not get disturbed at all. Rather she went to the train station to say goodbye, but she didn’t say anything and merely kissed his forehead. Her lips were moving in prayer, her thoughts were consumed by prayer and her fingers were busy reciting the storey of the beads on her rosary. Seeing her grandmother at this old age, the writer was thinking that it might be his last meeting with his grandmother. But when he came back home after a duration of 5 years, his grandmother was there to welcome him back and he saw her celebrate his return.The next morning after the return of his grandson she got ill. Although the doctor told them that it was a slight fever and would go away very soon, still she could foresee that her time to leave this world was near. She did not want to waste her time talking to someone. Her fingers were busy reciting the storey of the beads on her rosary.She went to her bed praying and telling the beads till her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell down from her lifeless hand. Her body was discovered on the floor, wrapped in a red shawl after she died. To grieve her death, thousands of sparrows flew in and sat dispersed around her body. All the sparrows flew away without making any noise when the dead body of the old lady was carried away for the last rites.

In describing his grandmother's appearance, the author compares her to: a) A bustling city market b) A calm winter landscape c) A colorful tapestry d) A vibrant temple festival The author's relationship with his grandmother: a) Was built on shared religious beliefs b) Revolved around their love for music c) Was strained due to their different lifestyles d) All of the above Which statement best represents the grandmother's view of the author's education: a) She saw it as essential for his future success b) She believed it distanced him from his heritage c) She felt indifferent towards his academic pursuits d) She actively discouraged him from studying The recurring mention of the rosary beads suggests: a) The grandmother's deep faith b) Her superstitious nature c) Her anxiety about the future d) A sense of comfort and routine The author reflects on his childhood as: a) A carefree time spent with his grandmother b) A period of conflicting emotions and growth c) A series of insignificant events d) A constant struggle against tradition The snapshot mentioned in the poem serves as: a) A symbol of innocence and lost time b) A reminder of the fleeting nature of life c) A tool for communication between present and past d) A catalyst for conflict between generations The poem's overall tone can be described as: a) Humorous and lighthearted b) Nostalgic and bittersweet c) Critical and judgmental d) Romantic and idealistic Which symbol best captures the essence of the grandmother's character: a) The bustling marketplace b) The winding village path c) The blooming flower d) The ancient temple bell The poem suggests that the author's perspective on his grandmother changes over time because: a) He matures and gains a deeper understanding b) Their physical distance creates barriers c) He becomes influenced by modern values d) She undergoes a significant transformation The most likely reason the author wrote this poem is: a) To entertain his readers with anecdotes b) To criticize traditional ways of life c) To celebrate the enduring bond of family d) To express his personal grief and loss

His face is a poem,Each wrinkle a line,Each scar is a stanzaEach freckle, a rhyme.His face shares an epicOf a journey so bold,Penned in the creasesOf a man's who's grown old.His poem captures joy,Great love, and some strife,It's like a biography—A story of life.Question"His poem captures joy,Great love, and some strife"From these two lines, we can determine thatResponsesA Grandpa has had a very pleasant life, free of conflict.Grandpa has had a very pleasant life, free of conflict.B Grandpa has had a very difficult life, full of conflict.Grandpa has had a very difficult life, full of conflict.C Grandpa has had a mostly pleasant, but somewhat difficult life, with some conflict.Grandpa has had a mostly pleasant, but somewhat difficult life, with some conflict.D Grandpa has had a mostly difficult, but somewhat pleasant life, with its share of conflict.

In the following passage, the narrator reflects on his mother's character. Select the best evidence to support the statement "Photographs of the narrator's mother don't reflect her personality as he knew it." There may be more than one correct choice.She liked to make me laugh by calling herself an Okie even though she was as glossy and nervy and stylish as a racehorse. That exotic character unfortunately comes out a little too stark and unforgiving in photographs—her freckles covered with makeup, her hair pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck like some nobleman in The Tale of Genji—and what doesn't come across at all is her warmth, her merry, unpredictable quality, which is what I loved about her most. It's clear, from the stillness she emanates in pictures, how much she mistrusted the camera; she gives off a watchful, tigerish air of steeling herself against attack.

What did the author see when she visited her old house after the fire?

Summary 1. "My Grandmother's House," written by Kamala Das, is a sentimental poem. Despite the fact that it is a short poem, it has a large amount of significance. Kamala's childhood recollections with her grandma, where she felt more love and tranquility than she does today, runs throughout the poem. This poem focuses on love loss and emotional pain. 2. My Grandmother's House is a very short poem with only 16 lines. The first line of the poem tells readers about her grandmother's house, where she lived when she was a child. 3. The poem was written to honour her grandmother, with whom she spent her childhood. 4. The poet considers the times she spent with her grandma to be the greatest of her life and wishes she could relive them. She is saddened by their passing. Important points from the text: ● Kamala Das wrote an autobiographical poem called My Grandmother's House. She recounts the terrible and pitiful state of her grandmother's house, as well as the state of her own life. ● Her grandma has passed away. She's all by herself. When she visits her old residence, she recalls her history. The house is currently in a vulnerable state. ● The poet recalls a period when she was a youngster and could enjoy love in a safe and secure environment. She contrasts this happy existence with her current position, which is devoid of affection. The speaker reflects on the past, describing a house that still exists but is distant in her mind. This was her grandmother's house, and she was adored there. ● Grandmother was the only source of happiness and warmth in that house, and when she died, the entire house fell silent. Nature entered in the shape of a snake, a symbol of danger and coldness, slithering through the books, a revealing scene, maybe significant to the speaker. ● The poet wonders if she could bring the memories of her grandmother’s house to her bedroom door like a brooding dog. The poet is constantly comparing her childhood experiences with the present world of human nature. She says that earlier she lived in a house where she was honoured and loved but now she feels lost. ● Poet desires to bring these pleasant sentiments into her bedroom, where she is now residing. She wishes to have this darkness in her bedroom for the rest of her life in order to relive the memories of the past. English 302 ● Though the poet had experienced love in the past, she had lost it all in the present. She seeks affection and is willing to beg for it at the doors of strangers. She has a desire to rekindle the love. ● This contrast and comparison of then and now, past and present, generates tension inside this single-stanza poem and provides the reader with a clear image of how the speaker's circumstances have changed. ● The message of the poem: My grandmother's house is a poem about the poet's yearning for her grandmother's house, where she was happy and loved. ● The poem is about the poet’s childhood memories. ● She shows her love towards her grandmother. ● The poem wraps within itself a sense of nostalgia and quest for love. ● Poet says that her grandmother’s home was a place when she felt secure and loved but after her grandmother’s death the house is frozen with silence. Following are the main literary devices used in the poem My Grandmother’s House. 1. Simile– It is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of similar kinds. i.e. My blood turned cold like the moon, lie behind my bedroom door like a brooding dog. 2. Metaphor– it is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not denote to suggest a similarity. i.e. to peer through blind eyes of windows Important words from the text: 1. Despair: sad/ without hope 2. Frozen: cold 3. Brooding: to worry about something 4. Peer: to look carefully. 5. Armful: the quantity that can be contained in the arms Evaluate yourself: 1. After the death of the poet’s grandmother, what happened to the house? 2. Why is the air in grandmother’s house described as frozen? 3. ”The poet in the poem thinks of her past.” Explain this line. 4. “The house is silent.No one lives here. Even the air doesn’t seem to be moving.” Explain this line in your own words 5. What do you think is the message of the poem? What is the poet conveying? Do you know? The poet Kamala Das was one of the most prominent feminist voices in the post-colonial era. She was born on 31st March 1934 and was a bilingual writer. She was popularly known as a poet and a short story writer. She has been labeled as the mother of modern Indian English poetry. Kamala Das English 302 had written the poem to reminisce her childhood at her grandmother’s place. She deemed those memories to be the best in her life and desired to relive them. Extend your horizon: “Grandparents make the world….. a little softer, a little kinder and a little warmer.” Read the quote and write an essay describing your relationship with your grandparents.