Answer
the following questions by choosing the most appropriate options.
1. What does the poem celebrate?
(a)
the mail train
(b)
human connections
(c)
the railway system
(d)
none of the above
2. Where was the mail train heading?
(a)
Paris
(b)
London
(c)
Glasgow
(d)
Crawford
3. ‘Snorting noisily as she passes’. Which figure
of speech is used here?
(a)
personification
(b)
alliteration
(c)
metaphor
(d)
sarcasm
4. Why does-no one wake up from their sleep as
the train passes?
(a)
They are intoxicated
(b)
They sleep in sound-proof rooms.
(c)
The train created no noise.
(d)
They have become habituated to the train’s passing and ignore it.
5. Which of these is NOT carried by the train?
(a)
letters
(b)
news
(c)
cheques
(d)
furnaces
6. ‘For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?’
Which literary device is used here?
(a)
simile
(b)
metaphor
(c)
rhetorical question
(d)
irony
7. Which regions does the train pass through?
(a)
The seabeach
(b)
hills and plains
(c)
mountains
(d)
war zones
8. Select the correct option that displays the
characteristics of the personified train correctly.
(a)
kind
(b)
aggressive
(c)
methodical
(d)
steady
9. Which of these is repeated numerous times in
the poem?
(a)
letters
(b)
cheques
(c)
postal orders
(d)
sleeping people
10. Which types of letters are mentioned in the
poem?
(a)
chatty
(b)
boring
(c)
adoring
(d)
all of the above
11. What is the main purpose of the Night Mail?
(a)
To transport passengers across the country.
(b)
To deliver mail to various destinations.
(c)
To compete with other modes of transportation.
(d)
To provide entertainment for people along the route.
12. What evidence from the poem suggests the Night
Mail is reliable?
(a)
It carries letters for both rich and poor.
(b)
It travels through diverse landscapes.
(c)
It arrives on time despite challenging terrain.
(d)
It wakes people up in their sleep.
13. Why don’t the sheepdogs react to the Night
Mail (stanza 6)?
(a)
They are scared of the loud noises.
(b)
They are too busy herding sheep.
(c)
They are accustomed to the train’s regular passage.
(d)
The train travels too fast for them to notice.
14. What happens in the farmhouse as the Night
Mail passes?
(a)
Everyone wakes up to check the mail.
(b)
The train sounds its whistle loudly.
(c)
A jug in the bedroom shakes.
(d)
The farmhouse lights turn on.
15. The phrase “Pulling up Beattock” suggests the
train is:
(a)
Departing from a station
(b)
Beginning a climb
(c)
Reaching its destination
(d)
Slowing down
16. What feeling does the poem suggest is
universal?
(a)
The fear of being forgotten
(b)
The excitement of receiving mail
(c)
The annoyance of being woken up at night
(d)
The joy of travelling by train
17. The poem is set in:
(a)
The United States
(b)
France
(c)
Scotland and England
(d)
A fictional world
18. What is the main theme of the poem?
(a)
The power of technology
(b)
The dangers of night travel
(c)
The importance of communication
(d)
The beauty of the Scottish countryside
19. Identify the poetic device.
“Towards
the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set
on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.”
(a)
Metaphor
(b)
Personification
(c)
Simile
(d)
Alliteration
20. Who among the following wrote the poem “The
Night Mail”?
(a)
William Wordsworth
(b)
W. B. Yeats
(c)
W. H. Auden
(d)
P.B. Shelly
Answers-
1. (b) human connections
2. (c) Glasgow
3. (a) personification
4. (d) They have become habituated to the train’s
passing and ignore it.
5. (d) furnaces
6. (c) rhetorical question
7. (b) hills and plains
8. (d) steady
9. (a) letters
10. (d) all of the above
11. (b) To deliver mail to various destinations.
12. (c) It arrives on time despite challenging
terrain.
13. (c) They are accustomed to the train’s regular
passage.
14. (c) A jug in the bedroom shakes.
15. (b) Beginning a climb
16. (a) The fear of being forgotten
17. (c) Scotland and England
18. (c) The importance of communication
19. (c) Simile
20. (c) W. H. Auden
EXTRACT 1
Read the extract given below
and answer the questions that follow:
This is the Night Mail crossing
the border,
Bringing the cheque and the
postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters
for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the
girl next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady
climb :
The gradient’s against her, but
she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland
boulder
Shovelling white steam over her
shoulder,
snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent
grasses.
(i) Where is the Night Mail
heading? What does it carry?
Ans. The Night Mail is heading
to Scotland. It carries various types of mail.
(ii) ‘Letters for the rich,
letters for the poor’. Comment on the significance of this line.
Ans. This line highlights the
social and economic equality facilitated by the mail service. It doesn’t
discriminate based on wealth. Everyone, from a wealthy businessman receiving a
cheque to a young girl next door getting a letter, benefits from the mail’s
ability to connect.
(iii) How does the mail train
start its journey? How would you describe it?
Ans. The poem doesn’t
explicitly mention the starting place of the train. The poem starts right in
the middle of the action, with the line “This is the Night Mail crossing the
border.” However, we may speculate that it is a city of England, possibly
London.
The Night Mail’s journey starts
from a lower elevation, travels rural landscapes and enters Scotland.
(iv) Describe various regions
through which the train passes.
Ans. The poem mentions
“cotton-grass and moorland boulder,” suggesting it’s traversing hilly and open
moorland landscapes. The “silent miles of wind-bent grasses” point towards
vast, possibly desolate plains.
(v)
How does the poet describe Glasgow area later in the passage?
Ans. The Glasgow area is
described as being dark and having factories with tall chimneys that spew smoke.
EXTRACT 2
Read the extract given below
and answer the questions that follow:
Birds turn their heads as she
approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her
blank-faced coaches.
Sheep-dogs cannot turn her
course;
They slumber on with paws
across.
In the farm she passes no one
wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently
shakes.
(i)
Which figure of speech is used in Line 1?
Ans. The figure of speech used in Line 1 is personification.
Pronoun ‘she’ is used for the night mail train.
(ii)
Comment on the use of phrase ‘blank-faces’ for the train coaches.
Ans. The phrase refers to the fact that the train has no passengers
aboard. The train is running specially for delivering letters and mails.
(iii)
What do sheep-dogs do? What is their purpose?
Ans. The arrival of the train does not wake up the sheep-dogs as they
are aware of the fact that they cannot do anything to alter the train’s
course.
(iv)
How do sleeping people react as the train passes? Why?
Ans. The poem says “no one wakes,” suggesting they’re accustomed to the
train’s passing and remain asleep as the train passes.
(v)
What kinds of letters are carried by the train?
Ans. The poem mentions the train carries various types of letters –
letters of thanks, joy, financial news, love letters, gossip, etc.,
highlighting its role in communication and connection.
EXTRACT 3
Read
the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Dawn
freshens, the climb is done.
Down
towards Glasgow she descends
Towards
the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards
the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set
on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All
Scotland waits for her :
In
the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men
long for news.
(i)
Where is the train heading? How has its initial journey been described by the
poet?
Ans. The train is heading towards Glasgow, Scotland. The poet initially
describes the journey as challenging, mentioning the train “pulling up
Beattock” (a climb) and facing a “gradient” (slope) but still being “on time”.
(ii)
How is Glasgow described in the quoted lines?
Ans. The poem hints at Glasgow’s industrial nature by mentioning
“steam tugs,” “cranes,” “fields of apparatus,” and “furnaces”.
(iii)
Which figure of speech is used in Line 5 here, and why?
Ans. Line 5 uses a simile. It compares the furnaces “set on the
dark plain” to “gigantic chessmen” using ‘like’ This comparison creates a vivid
image of the industrial landscape resembling a giant chessboard.
(iv)
Briefly describe the things carried by the train.
Ans. The train carries letters, cheques, postal orders, news, and
potentially other forms of communication.
(v)
What does the poet convey about the waiting people of Scotland later in the
context?
Ans. The line “All Scotland waits for her”suggests a sense of
anticipation and dependence on what the mail train brings. Later lines mention
“men long for news” in remote areas, highlighting their desire to stay
connected through the mail.
EXTRACT 4
Read
the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Letters
of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters
of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted
bills and invitations
To
inspect new stock or visit relations,
And
applications for situations
And
timid lovers’ declarations
And
gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News
circumstantial, news financial,
Letters
with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters
with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters
from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters
to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters
of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
(i)
How did the train start its journey? What regions did it cross at night?
Ans. The poem doesn’t provide details about the train’s origin.
It likely begins its journey from a major city in southern England, possibly
London, a common starting point for mail trains.
The
poem mentions the train passing “cotton-grass and moorland boulder,” “silent
miles of wind-bent grasses,” and a farm, suggesting it travels through rural
landscapes at night.
(ii)
What does the poet mean by “applications for situations”?
Ans. “Applications for situations” is a more formal way of saying
“job applications.” These letters likely contain resumes or requests for
employment opportunities.
(iii)
What is being carried by the train except letters?
Ans. The poem mentions “Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,”
suggesting photographs might be tucked within some letters. However, it doesn’t
explicitly state the train carries anything other than letters and documents.
(iv)
What kinds of letters is the train carrying?
Ans. The train carries a wide variety of letters-
·
Personal: Letters of thanks,
joy, love declarations, gossip.
·
Financial: Letters from banks,
receipted bills.
·
Professional: Applications for
jobs.
·
Family: Letters from relatives.
·
Sympathetic: Letters of
condolence.
(v)
How do people wait for the train?
Ans. People wait with anticipation for the train. Lines like “All
Scotland waits for her” suggest people anticipate the arrival of news, both
personal and potentially life-changing. They might be eagerly waiting by their
mailboxes or hoping for news from loved ones.
EXTRACT 5
Read
the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Notes
from overseas to Hebrides
Written
on paper of every hue,
The
pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The
chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,
The
cold and official and the heart’s outpouring,
Clever,
stupid, short and long,
The
typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.
(i)
How has the train covered its journey upto Glasgow earlier in the context?
Ans. The earlier lines like “Dawn freshens, the climb is done. Down
towards Glasgow she descends” suggest the train has completed a challenging
climb and is now heading towards Glasgow.
(ii)
What is the train carrying?
Ans. The train is carrying a vast variety of letters.
(iii)
What does the line ‘The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring’, tells us about
the context of the letters?
Ans. The line “The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring” tells
us about the diverse emotional tones and content of the letters. It suggests
they range from casual gossip (“chatty”) to negativity (“catty”) to mundane
updates (“boring”) to expressions of love (“adoring”).
(iv)
Which different styles and colours are used to write letters by different
people? What do they reveal about them?
Ans. The poem mentions letters written on “paper of every hue”
including pink, violet, white, and blue. This highlights the variety in
stationery choices, which might reflect personal taste or occasion.
Additionally, the descriptive words like “chatty,” “boring,” and “clever”
suggest different writing styles used by different people.
(v)
What have Glasgow’s people been doing as the train reaches the destination?
What do they expect when they wake up?
Ans. The poem suggests a general picture of people in various cities,
including Glasgow, being asleep as the Night Mail arrives. They might be
dreaming of “terrifying monsters” or “friendly tea.” The people anticipate
receiving mail upon waking.
EXTRACT 6
Read
the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Thousands
are still asleep
Dreaming
of terrifying monsters,
Or
of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston’s or Crawford’s :
Asleep
in working Glasgow, asleep in well set Edinburgh,
Asleep
in granite Aberdeen,
They
continue their dreams,
And
shall wake soon and long for letters,
And
none will hear the postman’s knock
Without
a quickening of the heart,
For
who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
(i)
Describe the initial stage of the train’s night journey.
Ans. The poem suggests the train has passed through rural areas based
on references to sheepdogs and farms. It’s now approaching cities.
(ii)
What has it carried for the people?
Ans. The Night Mail carries letters for people of all social classes.
(iii)
What have the people been dreaming of? What do they expect when they wake up?
Ans. The people dream of contrasting things: “terrifying monsters”
representing fear or anxieties, and “friendly tea” symbolising social
connection. Upon waking, they’ll “long for letters,” suggesting they anticipate
news and connection brought by the mail.
(iv)
Point out the two figures of speech used in the last lines.
Ans. Figures of speech in the last lines:
·
Hyperbole: “None will hear the
postman’s knock” is an exaggeration. People might not consciously hear it, but
the line emphasises their anticipation.
·
Rhetorical question: “For who
can bear to feel himself forgotten?” doesn’t expect a literal answer. It
highlights the universal human need for connection and the fear of isolation.
(v)
In what way does the poet emphasise ‘human connections’?
Ans. The poem emphasises human connection in several ways:
·
The importance of letters in
conveying messages, news, and love.
·
The anticipation people feel
for the mail, suggesting their reliance on communication.
·
The fear of being “forgotten”
underlining the universal need to feel connected.
·
Mentioning specific cities
suggests the diverse people the mail reaches, creating a sense of community.
