Amanda
By– Robin Klein
COMPREHENSION OF STANZAS
Read the following stanzas and answer the questions that follow :
STANZA 1
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
Questions :
(a) What is Amanda doing to her nails?
(b) What does she do to her shoulders?
(c) What is her sitting posture?
(d) How should Amanda sit?
(e) Name the poem and the poet.
Answers :
(a) She is biting her nails.
(b) She hunches her shoulders.
(c) She is sitting in a slouching posture.
(d) Amanda should sit straight.
(e) Poem: Amanda.
Poet: Robin Klein.
STANZA 2
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me —
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
Questions :
(a) Who do these lines refer to?
(b) How is the sea?
(c) Who is the sole inhabitant of the sea?
(d) Why is this stanza bracketed?
(e) What does the person refer to want to do?
Answers :
(a) These lines refer to a little girl Amanda.
(b) The sea is peaceful and beautiful.
(c) Amanda is the mermaid who is the sole inhabitant of the green sea.
(d) This second stanza is bracketed because this is the daydream of Amanda.
(e) Amanda wants to drift blissfully with the soft-moving waves of the sea.
STANZA 3
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
Questions :
(a) What does the speaker ask Amanda about her homework?
(b) What does he ask her about her room?
(c) What was Amanda told to clean?
(d) Has Amanda cleaned her shoes?
(e) Name the poem and the poet.
Answers :
(a) The speaker asks Amanda if she has done her homework.
(b) He asks her if she had cleaned her room.
(c) Amanda was told to clean her shoes.
(d) No, Amanda has not cleaned her shoes.
(e) Poem: Amanda.
Poet: Robin Klein.
STANZA 4
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet)
Questions :
(a) Who longs to be an orphan?
(b) Where is the orphan roaming?
(c) How does the speaker make designs?
(d) What does the speaker say about silence and freedom?
(e) What does ‘orphan’ long to do?
Answers :
(a) The orphan longs to roam freely in streets.
(b) The orphan is roaming in the street.
(c) The speaker makes designs with her bare feet on the soft dust.
(d) The speaker says that silence is golden and freedom is sweet.
(e) Amanda longs to be an orphan.
STANZA 5
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne. Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
Questions :
(a) What does the speaker tell Amanda about chocolate?
(b) Why should she not eat chocolate, according to the speaker?
(c) What does the speaker want Amanda to do when he is talking to her?
(d) Was Amanda listening to the speaker
(e) Name the poem and the poet.
Answers :
(a) The speaker tells Amanda not to eat chocolate.
(b) She should not eat chocolate as it causes acne.
(c) The speaker wants that Amanda should look at him when he is addressing her.
(d) No, Amanda was not listening to the speaker.
(e) Poem: Amanda.
Poet: Robin Klein.
STANZA 6
(I am Rapunzel, I have not care ;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare ;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair !)
Questions :
(a) Who was Rapunzel?
(b) What kind of life did Rapunzel lead?
(c) What did she do with her bright hair?
(d) What does the girl in these lines want to do?
(e) Which word in the Stanza means ‘peaceful’?
Answers :
(a) Rapunzel was a fairy with very long hair.
(b) She led a peaceful life in a tower in which she was imprisoned by a witch.
(c) She let her hair fall down from the castle for her lover to climb upholding them.
(d) She wants never let down her bright hair.
(e) tranquil
STANZA 7
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda! [H.B.S.E. March 2017 (Set-B, D)]
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
Questions :
(a) Whom does the speaker ask to stop sucking?
(b) Did Amanda really sulk?
(c) What kind of girl was Amanda?
(d) What does the speaker fear people will think about him?
(e) What is the name of the poem and the poet?
Answers :
(a) The speaker asks Amanda to stop sucking.
(b) Amanda did not sulk. But she had some bad habits like nail biting.
(c) She was freedom loving and moody.
(d) The speaker fears that people will think that he nags Amanda.
(e) The name of the poem is ‘Amanda’ and the name of the poet is Robin Klein.
Stanza-8: (Page 61)
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
Word-Meaning: Bite– (here) using teeth to cut something, Hunch- lower down, Slouching- bending down, Straight-upright, erect,
Paraphrase
The mother said to Amanda, “Don’t put your nails in your mouth and bite them. Don’t lower down your shoulders, Amanda. Stop bending down, and sit up straight, Amanda!”
Questions:
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
(b) What is Amanda doing with her nails?
(c) How is Amanda keeping her shoulders?
(d) How should Amanda sit?
Answers:
(a) Amanda’s mother is the speaker of these lines.
(b) Amanda is biting her nails with her teeth.
(c) She is keeping her shoulders down.
(d) She should sit upright and straight.
Stanza-9: (Page 61)
There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.
Word-Meaning: Languid— calm, Emerald— a green precious stone, Sole— only one, Inhabitant— dweller, Mermaid— a maid with a tail of a fish, Drifting— moving leisurely, Blissfully— in a state of bliss,
Paraphrase
Amanda is lost in her imagination and doesn’t bother what her mother is instructing her to do. She imagines herself at a small island where the sea is calm and looks greenish like an emerald. She imagines that she is the only inhabitant on that island. There, she would drift around blissfully like a mermaid freely.
Questions:
(a) Where does Amanda imagine herself to be?
(b) What is the sea compared with?
(c) What does she want to do at the island?
(d) What is a mermaid?
Answers:
(a) Amanda imagines herself on a lonely island surrounded by the sea.
(b) The sea is very calm and the water is greenish like an emerald.
(c) She wants to roam around freely and blissfully like a mermaid on the island.
(d) A mermaid is a mythical character which has its upper part like a girl and the lower like a fish.
Stanza-10: (Page 61)
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes. Amanda!
Word-Meaning: Tidy— clean,
Paraphrase
Amanda’s mother again asks her, “Have you finished your homework, Amanda? Have you made your room clean and tidy? I think I told you to clean your shoes but you have not cleaned them yet.”
Questions:
(a) Who is the speaker here?
(b) What does she ask about her homework?
(c) What does she say about the room?
(d) What does she ask about her shoes?
Answers:
(a) Amanda’s mother is the speaker here.
(b) She asks Amanda if she has finished her homework.
(c) She asks if Amanda has made her room neat and clean.
(d) She asks if Amanda has polished her shoes as she was asked earlier to do so.
Stanza-11: (Page 61)
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
Word-Meaning: Orphan— who has no one to look after him/her, Roaming— wandering, Pattern— design Soft dust— soft sand, Hushed— (here) silent, Bare feet— without shoes, Freedom— independence,
Paraphrase
Again Amanda doesn’t give any reply to the questions posed by her mother. She is again lost in her imaginary world. She imagines herself as an orphan. She is wandering the streets of the town. She is barefooted. Her bare feet walk on the soft sand and their movements create designs and patterns on the soft sand. She realises that silence is golden and freedom is the sweetest thing in the world.
Questions:
(a) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(b) What does she imagine herself to be?
(c) What does she want to do?
(d) How are silence and freedom valued here?
Answers:
(a) Amanda is the speaker of these lines.
(b) She imagines herself to be an orphan.
(c) She wants to roam around the streets freely.
(d) She realises that silence is golden and freedom is the greatest virtue in the world.
Stanza-12: (Page 61)
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
Word-Meaning: Acne—pimples,
Paraphrase
Amanda’s mother is giving instructions to her and says “Don’t eat that chocolate. Amanda! Remember, you have acne and must be careful, Amanda! Will you please look toward me when I am speaking to you, Amanda?”
Questions:
(a) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(b) What is she asked not to do?
(c) Why is eating chocolate harmful for her?
(d) Where should she look when someone is talking to her?
Answers:
(a) Amanda’s mother is the speaker of these lines.
(b) She is asked not to eat chocolate.
(c) She should not eat chocolate as she has pimples on her face.
(d) She should look at the speaker when someone is speaking to her.
Stanza-13: (Page 62)
(I am Rapunzel, I have not care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
Word-Meaning: Tower— minaret, Tranquil- peaceful, vital Rare— unusual, Certainly— definitely, Bright— shining,
Paraphrase
Again Amanda instead of giving any reply to the questions asked by her mother loses herself in her imaginary world of dreams. She imagines herself to be Rapunzel. Like her, she doesn’t care for anybody. She lives quietly alone in a tower like Rapunzel. She pledges that she will vet never let her bright hair down.
Questions:
(a) Who is Rapunzel?
(b) Who imagines herself as Rapunzel?
(c) Where does Rapunzel live?
(d) What decision does she take about her hair?
Answers:
(a) Rapunzel is a beautiful fairy living all alone in a tower.
(b) Amanda imagines herself to be another Rapunzel.
(c) Rapunzel lives alone in a silent tower leading a carefree life.
(d) She will never let her hair down.
Stanza-14: (Page 62)
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you, Amanda!
Word-Meaning: Sulking— feeling unhappy, Moody— of unstable nature, Nagging— there taunting and troubling,
Paraphrase
Amanda’s mother asks her not to look unhappy and sad. She should look a little more cheerful. Amanda has been very moody and of unstable nature. She asks her again to look cheerful, otherwise, people will blame her mother of nagging and troubling her continuously.
Questions:
(a) What does she ask Amanda to stop at once?
(b) Why does she call Amanda moody?
(c) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(d) What would others say about Amanda’s mother?
Answers:
(a) She asks Amanda to stop being sulky and unhappy.
(b) Amanda is a girl of shifting mood and unstable mind.
(c) Amanda’s mother is the speaker of these lines.
(d) If Amanda doesn’t stop sulking, others will think that her mother has been nagging her continuously.
Want to Read More Check Below:-
Amanda- About the Author & Introduction
Amanda- Central Idea & Style of the Poem
Amanda- Short & Detailed Summary
Amanda- Value Points of the Poem
Amanda- Summary in Hindi – Full Text
Amanda- Multiple Choice Questions in Quiz
Amanda- Extract Based comprehension test Questions
Amanda- Important Extra Questions- Very Short Answer Type
Amanda- Important Extra Questions – Short Answer Type
Amanda- Important Extra Questions – Long Answer Type
