class 12 English Q and A:
Gyanmoya
A Roadside Stand
--Robert Frost
About
the author: Robert Frost was
born in San Francisco on 26 March, 1874. As a child, Frost was sickly and
neurotic. His father died of tuberculosis when he was only eleven .Frost and
his family went to New English to have his father's remains buried there .They
had to settle down at salem in New Hampshire because they had no money to
return. Frost wrote poetry whenever he found time. In 1912, he made a crucial
decision of his life. He chose poetry for his vocation. He left for England
with his wife and four children. within six months of his arrival in England,
Frost decided to publish a collection of his earlier poems. His poetic career
was studded with honours such as membership in the American Academy and the
Pulitzer Prize. Robert Frost died in January 1963.
Summary of A Roadside Stand: Robert Frost has always been attached to the complexities of human life and man's ultimate acceptance of his burdens, and these are the themes that find expression in most of his poems. Like his other well-known poems dealing with human tragedies and fears, this poem ‘A Roadside Stand’ too is about the lives of poor deprived people who have always borne the indifference of the government and other social service agencies. The poet contrasts the lives of the necessitous people of the countryside, with the inconsiderate and insensitive city dwellers who don't even bother to notice the roadside stand that these people have put up to sell their goodies. These poor people wait in vain for the passing cars to stop and buy their fare .If at all a car stops by, it is either to ask directions or to complain about something. The post's deep sympathy and compassion towards the impoverished needy people is evident in the poignant portrayal of the little roadside sheds and the person standing there with the hope of earning his livelihood.
A Roadside Stand NCERT Solutions:
TEXTUAL
QUESTION AND ANSWER
class 12 English Q and A:
Gyanmoya
1. The city folk who drove thorough the
countryside hardly paid any heed to the roadside stand or to the people who
rain it. If all they did, it was to complaint. Which lines bring this out? What
was the complaint about?
Ans: The lines in the
poem which bring out the callous and insensitive attitude of the city dwellers
are,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of
sorts.
At having the landscape marred with the
artless paint. Of sings that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong... Those
speeding by in their ‘polished’ cars complained about the view that was being
spoilt by the construction of the shabby little roadside stand or the flaws and
clumsiness of paint on the direction boards. They fell these stands are a
blemish on the rural landscape they are passing through.
2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up
the roadside stand?
Ans: The poor farmers did not beg, they just wanted to
earn a livelihood by selling their goodies. The city dwellers had money they
could spare and which could be used to buy something from the roadside stand so
that the impoverished villager could sustain his family.
3. The government and other social service
agencies appear to help the poor rural people, but actually do theme no good.
Pick out the words and phrases that the
poet uses to show their double standards.
Ans: the seeming
benefactors who appear to help the poor are actually trying to fulfil their own
selfish motives the words and phrases that describe their double standards are,
‘greedy good doers, beneficent beasts of prey, swarm over their lives enforcing
benefits...that are calculated to soothe them out their wits, and by teaching
them how to sleep they sleep all day, destroy their sleeping at night the
ancient way.’
4. What is the ‘childish longing that the poet
refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
Ans: by ‘childish
longing’, the poet refers to the eager and anxious wait of the farmers for a
prospective customer. They keep thier windows open with the hope that they
would her the sound of brakes when a car pulls up at the stand to buy the
goodies and display. It is only on the rich folks of the city that they have
pinned their hopes of livelihood.
The poet says that the ‘childish longing’
goes in vain because it often leads to disappointment. The poor villagers are
completely ignored by the ‘polished’ cars that drive past and the indifferent
attitude of the rich city dwellers dispirits them. Even if a car stops, it
would either be to ask direction, reverse the car or to ask for a gallon of
gas.
5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable
pain that the poet feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor?
Ans: The concluding lines of the poem speak of the
poet’s pain at the suffering of the rural poor. ”I can’t help owning the great
relief it would be to put these people at one stroke out of their pain.”
A Roadside Stand important question and answer:
ADDITIONAL
QUESTIONS &ANSWER
(Important
Question)
class 12 English Q and A:
Gyanmoya
1. What was it Propose?
Ans: The Propose was to earn some money. They expected
city people to oblige them who passed from there.
2. Why does the poet use the word ‘Pathetic’?
Ans: The poet use the word ‘Pathetic’ to show that it
begged in the most humble way.
3. Who are referred to as the flower of cites?
Ans: The best thank of the city are referred as the
flower of cites.
4. What are being sold in the ‘A Roadside
Stand’
Ans: The road side stand offered some of the ordinary
things of daily use for sale. They in could with berries. There sold in wooden
quarts, the quarter of a gallon croak necked gourds with silvery hand lumps
were also offered for sale at the roadside stand.
5. Of all the thousand selfish cars only some
stop there but not fan buying something. Why do they stop there at all?
Ans: Out of at the thousand selfish cars only some of
them stop there. But there propose is different some stop only to use, the yord
to back and turn around the cars. The third one asks if they stop here only to
serve themselves.
6. What is the attitude of the city dwellers
towards the people sitting up the roadside stand?
Ans: The city people pass by in their shining vehicles
but never bother to spare a glance at the roadside stand painstakingly set up
with lot of hope and expectation. The indifferent city dwellers feel that these
stands spoil the scenery of the countryside. They hardly stop to see what the
farmer has put on display. And even if they do, it is only ask direction, to
reverse the car, or to ask for a gallon of gas.
7. Why does the poet call the traffic
‘polished’?
Ans: Frost calls the traffic ‘polished’ in other to
stress a contrast that is central to the poem. The contrast he tries to draw is
between the shiny vehicles driven by well-to-do city folks on one hand and the
unsophisticated, semi-literate, ‘artless’ stand set up by impoverished farmer
on the other.
8. What would be a great relief to the poet?
Ans: It would be a great relief to the poet if the
sufferings of the poor came to an end at one stroke.
9.
How does
the poet describe the role of the ‘good doers’?
Ans: the role of the
‘good doers’ is very deceptive and manipulative. They are actually greedy
selfish people posing as benefactors intending to achieve maximum profits from
the innocence and gullibility of the rural folks. They swarm over the lives of
the poor, squeeze out all the benefits and lull them into complacency. They rob
the innocent villagers of their peace of mind.
10. What is
the more hurting than the ‘hurt of the scenery‘?
Ans: more hurting than
the hurt to the scenery is the indifference of the city dwellers the plight of
the poor people. It is their attitude of neglecting and looking down upon these
people that sadden the poet.
11. How does
frost bring out the urban-rural divide in this poem?
Ans: Frost uses the
symbol of the roadside stand to bring out the hug economic, social and mental
disparity between the urban rich and the rural poor. On one hand, the poor man
waits day after day with his products without being able to sell any, and on
the other the rich city dwellers drive past the sheds without even bothering to
give it a second glance.
A Roadside Stand Previous paper question answer:
(Most
important questions)
class 12 English Q and A:
Gyanmoya
2012 Year
1. “The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of scrts
At having the landscape marred with the
artless paint
Of signs that N turned and the S turned
wrong
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden
quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene
You have the money, but if you want to be
mean,
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go
along”
Question::
1. How did the traffic pass? (1 mark)
2. Why did one turn out of sorts? (1 mark)
3. What are the two things that were sold in that
stand? (1 mark)
4. What should one do if one wants to be mean? (1 mark)
2. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers
to in the poem ‘A Roadside Stand’? Why it is ‘Vain’? (2 marks)
2013 Year
1. “The hurt of the scenery wouldn’t be my complain
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is
unsaid
Here far from the city we make our roadside
stand
And ask for some city money to feel in hand
To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give as the life of the moving-pictures
promise
That the party power is said to be keeping
from us”.
Question:
1. What is not the complaint of the poet? (1 mark)
2. What is the real worry to the poet? (1 mark)
3. Why do the people who are running the roadside stand
‘ask for some city money’? (1 mark)
4. What is the party in power doing for the rural
people? (1 mark)
2. Name some of the things that the roadside stand
offered for sale. (2 marks)
2014 Year
1. Which things irritated the passersby who stopped at
the roadside stand? (2 marks)
2015 Year
1. What is in ‘the news’ as mentioned in ‘A Roadside
Stand’? (2 marks)
2. Why do the
people who are running the roadside stand ‘ask for some city money’? (2 marks)
2016 Year
1. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry
children ‘spilling out of their homes’? (2 marks)
2. ‘Of all the thousand selfish cars’ some stop there
but not for buying something. Why do they stop there at all? (2 marks)
3. Why will
sooth the rural poor out of their wits and how?
(2 marks)
2017 year
1. “The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the
traffic speed,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled
It would not be fair to say for a dole of
bread,
But for some of the money, the cash whose
flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and
withering faint”.
Question:
1. Where are the shed put up? (1mark)
2. What was its purpose? (1 mark)
3. Why does the poet use the world ‘pathetic’? (1 mark)
4. Who are referred to as ‘the flower of cities’? (1 mark)
2. What are being sold in the roadside stand? (2 marks)
3. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers
to? Why is it ‘in vain’? (2 marks)
2018 Year
1. Who are
referred to as the ‘flower of cities’ in A Roadside Stand? (2 marks)
2. Which things irritated the passersby who stopped at
the roadside stand? (2 marks)
2019 Year
1. How did the travelers on the highway react to the
roadside stand? (2 marks)
2020 Year
1. “sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in
vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window
there,
That waits all day it almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a
stopping car,”
Question:
1. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers
to? Why is it in vain? (2 marks)
2. Who waits near the open window? (1 mark)
3. What does the person waiting near the open window
pray for? (1 mark)
2. What is in ‘the news’ as mentioned in ‘A Roadside
Stand’? (2 marks)
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Class-12: English Question and Answers:
gyanmoya