Question 1.
In pairs discuss the following questions :
(a) When do you generally use a mirror?
(b) Is a mirror essential for us?
(c) Given below is a list of possible reasons why a person uses a mirror.
(i) to check one’s appearance
(ii) to look beautiful
(iii) to make sure one is neat and tidy before going out.
(iv) to check for a pimple or a grey hair
(v) to apply make-up
(vi) to make a phone call
(vii) as a decorative item at home.
(a) We generally use a mirror to see our reflection while getting ready for office or going out.
(b) Yes, a mirror is essential for us to make our appearance better.
(c) (i), (iii),(iv), (v), (vii)
Question 2.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice.
(a) When the mirror is being described as being ‘unmisted by love or dislike’ we understand that the mirror is ……….
(i) not misted
(ii) not prejudiced
(iii) has four angles
(iv) is silver in colour.
(b) The other word for ‘contemplation’ is……..
(i) contempt
(ii) meditation
(iii) mediation
(iv)thoughtful
(c) When the mirror says ‘it has no preconceptions’ it means that ………..
(i) it reflects back an image objectively
(ii) it modifies an image as it reflects it
(iii) it beautifies an image as it reflects it
(iv) it gives a biased view of a person/object
(d) The mirror has been called ‘a four-cornered god’ because ……………..
(i) it is square shaped
(ii) like God it watches you unbiased and fair from all four angles
(iii) it reflects back all that it sees
(iv) it never stops reflecting
(e) The ‘speckles’ refer to …………….
(i) a pink object
(ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it
(iii) a person with pink pimples
(iv) pink spots in general
(f) The phrase ‘agitation of the hand’ suggests that the person is ……………
(i) very ill
(ii) very upset
(iii) very angry
(iv)very happy
(g) By saying ‘Now I am a lake’ the narrator wants to show that ………………….
(i) the poem is not only about external beauty but also the inside of a person
(ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces
(iii) the depth of the lake is important
(iv) the lake does not show as exact an image as a mirror
(a) (ii) not prejudiced
(b) (ii) meditation
(c) (i) it reflects back an image objectively
(d) (ii) like God it watches you unbiased and fair from all four angles
(e) (ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it
(f) (ii) very upset
(g) (ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces
Question 3.
Answer the following questions briefly
(a) What is the poetic device used when the mirror says ‘I swallow’?
(b) How does the mirror usually pass its time?
(c) What disturbs the mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall?
(d) Why does the mirror appear to be a lake in the second stanza? What aspect of the mirror do you think is being referred to here?
(e) What is the woman searching for in the depths of the lake?
(f) How does the narrator convey the fact that the woman looking at her reflection in the lake is deeply distressed?
(g) What makes the woman start crying?
(h) What do you think the ‘terrible fish’ in the last line symbolizes? What is the poetic device used here ?
(a) The poetic device used here is personification.
(b) Mirror usually passes its time by meditating on the opposite wall.
(c) Faces and darkness disturb the mirrors contemplation of the opposite wall.
(d) The mirror appears to be a lake because the lake can reflect surfaces. The mirror displays the true and objective images as it is truthful.
(e) The woman is searching for her reflection, her face.
(f) The woman is weeping, has tears and is upset. She is also showing her protest with agitation of hands.
(g) The woman starts crying because she is not happy with her image reflected by the lake.
(h) The ‘terrible image’ symbolises the old, worn out face of the woman. The poetic device ‘Simile’ is used here
Question 4.
Read the poem silently and answer the following questions:
(a) List out the adjectives that have been used to describe the mirror. Add a few more adjectives to the list.
(b) In the second stanza why has the narrator replaced the mirror with a lake? What is he/she trying to focus on?
silver, exact, unbiased, unmisted by love or dislike, not cruel, truthful, eye of a little god, four- cornered, meditator The mirror is used as a human. So the word ‘swallow’ has been used.
The poet has done so because the lake also reflects images as the mirror does. The woman is not happy with her image told by mirror, so she has turned to the lake. She is trying to focus on the fact that a woman cannot accept the fact she has aged and does not look as charming as in her young age.
Question 5.
Find the various instances of personification used in this poem.
Instances of personification in the poem.
- Whatever I see I swallow immediately.
- I have looked at it so long I think it is a part of my heart.
- I see her back and reflect it faithfully.
- The eye of a little god four-cornered
Question 6.
Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow by ticking the correct choice :
A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
(a) What is the woman bending over?
(i) the mirror
(ii) the lake
(iii) the opposite wall
(iv) the moon and the candles.
(b) Why have the candles and the moon been called ‘liars’?
(i) because they make people beautiful
(ii) they hide the blemishes of people with their soft light
(iii) they hide the blemishes and make people look beautiful in their soft glow
(iv) they can’t talk.
(c) Why does she turn to them in spite of calling them ‘liars’?
(i) the reality is too harsh for her to bear
(ii) she is desperately looking for someone to comfort her
(iii) she wants to be told that she is still beautiful
(iv)she can hide her signs of graying in their light.
(a) (ii) the lake
(b) (iii) they hide the blemishes and make people look beautiful in their soft glow
(c) (ii) she is desperately looking for someone to comfort her
Question 7.
Imagine you are the mirror. Write a speech that you would like to deliver to the humans who come to see their reflection in you. You could begin like this ……
Good Morning dear humans
I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to express my feelings and share my thoughts with you. As you know, all my life is spent in faithfully reflecting all that comes before my eyes …..
………. I’m as pure as silver and reflect the images objectively. Nobody can blame me to be biased or being affected by any sort of like or dislike as I’m same for everbody. I want people to take me as truthful and not cruel as I reflect the same image as it is. I treat everybody in the same way because I am like god’s eye and am four cornered. As god looks after the people on earth with the same love and affection from all the four directions, I also give out the same treatment.
A wall is placed opposite me who is like my close companion. I keep looking at her all the time and she has become part of my life. Nobody can separate us except for some faces and darkness, she keeps looking at me and anybody can see the wall into me. This friend of mine is painted in pink and has got some spots of pink colour.
I am also compared with a lake which also reflects the image. A woman bends over it and tries to find her face in the depth of water. But she does not find clear image of her face and becomes distressed. Therefore, she takes the help of moon and candles who can give her temporary glow but cannot change the reality. I am a testimony to how she has grown from a young girl to an old woman. With each passing day the mirror reveals that she is ageing.
Question 8.
Here is another poem on mirror. The narrator calls the mirror a ‘fibber’. How is this poem different from the poem by Sylvia Plath ? Have a class discussion on the comparison in terms of the theme, the tone and the language used.
MIRROR
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Can’t you show me tall and slim?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Must I look so bloody grim?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
You’re distorting my poor waist!
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
And why the heck am I defaced?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Why have I a double chin?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
And what’s the stupid, goofy grin?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Pointless asking ‘Who’s the fairest?
More bloody likely,,‘Who’s the queerest?
Now look, I paid a big bucks for thee,
So why can’t you be nice to me?
Mirror, mirror, on the wall.
Who’s the fairest of them all?
Me, you say? Ah, that’s better
Mirror, mirror, bloody fibber!
| Poem by Sylvia Plath | Another poem on mirror |
| THEME | |
| • Appearances | • Self-realisation |
| • Transiency of time | • Denial |
| • Transformation | • Self-pity |
| • Realisation of truth | |
| TONE | |
| • Somebre | • Humorous |
| • Unbiased | • Complaining |
| • Unprejudiced | • Obsessive |
| LANGUAGE | |
| • Figurative (metaphor, personification) | • Sarcastic |