Amanda
1. Who was Amanda?
Ans: (B) A school-going girl.
2. How is silence described?
Ans: (A) Golden
3. What does Amanda wish to do in the sea?
Ans: (C) watch soft-moving waves
4. Name the literary device used in the line “freedom is sweet”
Ans: (C) Metaphor
5. How should Amanda sit?
Ans: (C) Straight
6. She is being instructed to
Ans: (A) clean her room
7. What should Amanda not do to her shoulders?
Ans: (B) Hunch
8. What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?
Ans: (C) All of the above (Live in the green sea and lead a relaxing life)
9. What does Amanda wish to do in the sea?
Ans: (C) watch soft-moving waves
10. Who is asked to stop sulking?
Ans: (A) Amanda
11. What was Amanda to finish?
Ans: (A) Her Homework
12. Amanda thinks that she’ll never let down her
Ans: (B) bright hair (Refers to the Rapunzel imagery)
13. What does the speaker ask Amanda not to do to her nails?
Ans: (B) Bite it
14. Name the literary device used in the line “Stop that slouching and sit up straight”.
Ans: (D) Alliteration (Repetition of the ‘s’ sound)
15. Why should Amanda not eat chocolate?
Ans: (C) It causes acne.
16. Who is the poet of the poem “Amanda”?
Ans: (D) Robin Klein
17. How is silence described?
Ans: (A) Golden
18. She is instructed to –
Ans: (D) sit up straight
19. What is the meaning of “slouching”?
Ans: (B) Sit in a lazy way
20. What does she picture herself as in the last stanza?
Ans: (D) None of the Above (In the final stanza, she is simply described as sulking/moody by the speaker)
21. Name the literary device used in the line “Don’t bite your nails, Amanda! Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!”
Ans: (A) Anaphora (Repetition of “Don’t” at the start of consecutive lines)
22. The tone of the lines “I am an orphan, roaming the street…” is
Ans: (C) peaceful
23. The golden silence is contrasted with the
Ans: (B) constant instructions received.
24. What will Amanda’s behavior make people think?
Ans: (B) her mother harasses her
25. The purpose of the speaker’s words in the opening extract is to
Ans: (D) improve the listener’s posture and habits.
26. What does the repetition of “Amanda!” at the end of each line reflect?
Ans: (C) It shows the frustration of the speaker.
27. In Amanda there are how many stanzas?
Ans: (C) seven
28. The sea is
Ans: (A) languid and emerald
Part II: Thinking about the Poem
- How old do you think Amanda is? How do you know this?
Amanda is likely a young school-going girl, roughly 9 to 12 years old. We can infer this because she is being scolded for habits typical of that age group, such as biting her nails, not cleaning her room, and having concerns about acne. Her parents are in the stage of trying to drill manners and “proper” behavior into her. - Who do you think is speaking to her?
The speaker is likely her mother. In many traditional household settings, the mother is often the one closely monitoring the child’s daily habits, chores, and hygiene. The specific nature of the instructions—cleaning the room and sitting straight—points toward a parental figure. - Why are stanzas 2, 4 and 6 given in parenthesis?
The parenthesis are used to indicate Amanda’s inner world. While the other stanzas represent the loud, nagging reality of her mother’s voice, these stanzas show Amanda’s private daydreams. They act as her mental “escape” from the scolding, creating a sharp contrast between the external world and her internal desire for peace. - Who is the speaker in stanzas 2, 4 and 6? Is she listening?
The speaker in these stanzas is Amanda herself (her imagination). She is definitely not listening to the speaker in the other stanzas. She is so exhausted by the constant stream of commands that she completely tunes them out, retreating into fantasies where she is a mermaid or an orphan. - What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?
If she were a mermaid, Amanda would drift blissfully in a languid, emerald sea. She imagines herself as the sole inhabitant of this water world, moving slowly and carelessly with the waves. For her, the mermaid represents total isolation and freedom from human interference. - Is Amanda an orphan? Why does she say so?
No, Amanda is not an orphan. She imagines being one because she is so suffocated by her parents’ constant supervision. To her, the life of an orphan—roaming the streets barefoot and drawing patterns in the dust in silence—seems like “sweet freedom” compared to her restricted life at home. - Why does she want to be Rapunzel?
Amanda wants to be Rapunzel to live in a high, lonely tower where life is “tranquil and rare.” However, she adds a twist: unlike the fairy tale, she would never let down her hair. She doesn’t want to be rescued; she wants to ensure that no one can ever climb up to bother her again. - What does the girl yearn for? What does this poem tell you about Amanda?
Amanda yearns for autonomy and peace. The poem reveals that she is a highly imaginative and sensitive child who feels “nagged” and controlled. It highlights a common conflict where parents, in their attempt to raise a “perfect” child, accidentally stifle the child’s spirit and drive them into a world of lonely escapism.