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SECTION B LITERATURE COMPONENTS

POEM

Paper 2: Section B

Poems open-ended questions (2 questions 3 marks)

Students must learn and understand the element of:

persona

meaning (literal and figurative)

tone/mood

themes

moral lessons/messages

PMR Tips:

1. Answers could be lifted from the extract or could be paraphrased.

2. For yes/no question, marks are given for a relevant reason which is related to the

poem.

Lower Secondary Form 1 to Form 3 Poems

1. The River Valerie Bloom

2. Mr. Nobody Unknown author

3. I Wonder Jeannie Kirby

4. Heir Conditioning M SHANmughalingam

5. A Fighters Lines Marzuki Ali

6. Leisure William Henry Davies

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Form 2

I Wonder by Jeannie Kirby.

Answer the following questions.

1. How does the child describe the wind?

Ans: as something that cannot be seen

2. What does the child want to know about the moon?

Ans: where the missing bit goes when the moon is not round

3. What are the words the child uses to describe clouds?

Ans: fluffy and high

4. What does the child wonder about Dad?

Ans: why Dad does not answer the questions

5. What can you learn from this poem?

Ans: Children are very imaginative and curious. / Children often ask simple questions

about things that adults take for granted. / When children become adults, they stop

being curious. / Adults do not know everything about nature. (Accept any suitable

answer)

6. What would the child like to know about birds?

Ans: who showed them how to build their homes

7. In the poem, the child thinks that trees are

Ans: resting

8. The child thinks that when the moon is not round, the missing bit is

Ans: hidden somewhere

9. The child thinks that _____ lights the stars and paints the rainbows.

Ans: someone

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10. The child asks her father what makes _____ flash.

Ans: lightning

11. When the stars disappear, the child thinks that

Ans: a person has blown them out

12. What are the things mentioned in the poem?

Ans: moon, cloud, rainbows

13. What are the words that describe the child in the poem?

Ans: smart, curious, imaginative

14. The line Who taught the birds to build a nest shows that the poet

Ans: feels that someone teaches birds how to build a nest

15. All the questions that the poet asks are about

Ans: nature

16. The poet thinks that her father

Ans: knows the answer to her questions

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Form 2

Heir Conditioning by M SHANmughalingam.

Answer the following questions.

1. Look at the first line from the first stanza, where the grandchild says did you breathe

This shows that the grandchild thinks that

Ans: it is difficult to breathe in a hot environment

2. What are the things that the grandchild considers as things that you must have in life?

Ans: faxes and long distance calls

3. Do you agree with this statement? Why?

Ans: Yes. In the poem, the grandparent says that they did not knowdestruction of forests This means that there was no destruction of forest.

4. From the first three lines of the poem, we know that the grandchild

Ans: thinks it is difficult to live without air cons

5. In the poem, it shows that the grandchild would find it difficult to live

Ans: without phones and faxes

6. Why do you think the grandparent says that nature fears the grandchild?

Ans: because people destroy the environment

7. Do you agree with the above statement? Why?

Ans: Yes. Based on the poem, the child wonders how his grandparents could live

without faxes and long distance calls. This means he could not imagine how life is

without modern-day inventions as he is used to it.

The grandparent points out that there was no destruction of

forests when he was young.

The grandchild is used to modern-day inventions.

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8. In this poem, the grandparents feels that problems such as traffic jams and destruction

of streams are caused by

Ans: ignorance

9. The grandchild thinks that in the old days, people

Ans: suffered a lot

10. In the first two lines of the stanza, the grandparent

Ans: admits that their life was different from the grandchilds

11. This poem is in the form of

Ans: a conversation between a grandparent and a grandchild

12. The grandchild thinks that life was _____ before modern inventions.

Ans: difficult

13. A long time ago, people had respect for

Ans: God and nature

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Form 3

A Fighters Lines by Marzuki Ali. Answer the following questions.

1. The poem, The Fighters Lines, is written by

Ans: Marzuki Ali

2. In stanza 1, the persona had made a name for himself in history for his role in the

Ans: fight for independence

3. In stanza 1, we know that the persona is

Ans: old and tired

4. What does the persona say about the fight for independence?

Ans: it was costly in terms of lives lost

5. What is the best word to describe the personas physical handicap?

Ans: physically disabled

6. In stanza 2, which words show that the persona is alert and aware of current social

problems?

Ans: disturbs me

7. What do you think the phrase remnants my crippled years mean?

Ans: The remainder of the wheelchair-bound days.

8. The persona uses the words net of deceit indicate that the

ans: problem is becoming extensive/widespread

9. Who did the persona directed his battle cry to? Ans: youths

10. Why are the young people referred to as heirs of our freedom? Ans: They have inherited what the persona fought for.

11. The persona wants the young people to do the following except Ans: abuse their positions

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Form 3

Leisure by William Henry Davies.

Answer the following questions.

1. What does the cows and sheep do in the fields?

Ans: graze

2. Based on the poem, write down one expression that is compatible (well-matched)

Ans: life full of care

3. According to the poem, what are the things that beauty does

Ans: smile, dance and laugh

4. The beautiful things in nature are

Ans: stars, steams, trees

5. The word boughs refer to

Ans: branches of trees

6. When can streams be full of stars?

Ans: in broad daylight

7. The persona is advising us to do the following except

Ans: work and neglect to rest

8. When beauty moves her feet, she is

Ans: dancing

9. The expression stand and stare is example of the poetic device of

Ans: metaphor

10. The main theme in the poem Leisure is

Ans: relaxation is part of life

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11. What can we learn from the poem?

If we do not take the time to look around and enjoy nature, we will miss out on the

beauty, joy and movement of life.

12. What are some activities of leisure mentioned in the poem?

stand beneath the boughs

watch the squirrels

enjoy the beautiful stars at night

enjoy nature