Maharashtra Board Class 6 English Unit 2 Chapter 2.1 The Clothesline Solutions

Question 1. Read the poem aloud. Recite any stanza of your choice from memory.
Answer: This is an activity-based question for students to perform.
In simple words: This question encourages you to read the poem out loud and practice memorizing a part of it.

🎯 Exam Tip: Engaging with the poem through reading aloud and memorization helps to better understand its rhythm, tone, and themes, which is beneficial for answering related questions.

Question a. What is described in the poem?
Answer: The poetess Charlotte Druitt Cole describes the clothes on the clothesline swaying in the wind, waiting to be free.
In simple words: The poem describes clothes hanging on a clothesline, moving in the wind, and seeming to want to be free.

🎯 Exam Tip: Identify the main subject and central action described in the poem, often introduced early on, to score points on basic comprehension questions.

Question b. What are the clothes compared to? Give two examples.
Answer: The clothes are compared to white snow, restive horses, fairy-tale witches, a bird and a sail.
In simple words: The poem compares the clothes to various things like white snow, restless horses, magical witches, a bird, and a boat's sail.

🎯 Exam Tip: When asked for examples of comparisons, list specific items mentioned in the poem to show a thorough understanding of the poetic devices used.

Question c. What do restive horses do?
Answer: Restive horses are unable to remain still; dance in a lively, playful manner and walk or move with high springy steps.
                              OR
Restive horses caper and prance
In simple words: Restless horses cannot stand still; they move around playfully with energetic, springy steps.

🎯 Exam Tip: Focus on adjectives and verbs used to describe specific comparisons in the poem to accurately detail their actions.

Question d. What do fairy-tale witches do?
Answer: Fairy-tale, witches dance wildly in a very hard and violent manner.
In simple words: Fairy-tale witches are depicted as dancing in a wild, forceful, and energetic way.

🎯 Exam Tip: Pay attention to descriptive words in the poem that reveal the nature and actions of the comparisons made, such as how witches dance.

Question e. What did one of the fluttering creatures do?
Answer: One of the fluttering creatures freed herself from the clutches of the pegs, and soared high into the air like a bird and made it difficult for anyone to find her.
In simple words: One of the clothes broke free from its pegs, flew high into the sky like a bird, and was then hard to locate.

🎯 Exam Tip: Trace the narrative elements of the poem to describe specific events, such as the escape of one of the clothes items, in your answer.

Question f. What could have happened to the one who flew away? Who was she?
Answer: The one who flew away happened to be the poetess' handkerchief. She could be hidden somewhere in a ditch or drowned in the sea.
In simple words: The item that flew away was the poetess's handkerchief, and it might have landed in a ditch or sunk in the sea.

🎯 Exam Tip: For questions asking about possibilities, list all potential outcomes mentioned or implied in the poem to demonstrate comprehensive understanding.

3. Form groups and discuss the following questions:

Question a. Why are clothes compared to living things?
Answer: The clothes are compared to living things, as they feel they need to be free from any kind of bondage just like living things.
In simple words: Clothes are likened to living beings because they seem to desire freedom from being tied down, much like living creatures do.

🎯 Exam Tip: When analyzing comparisons, explain the underlying reason or shared characteristic that makes the comparison meaningful in the poem.

Question b. The events described in the poem take place at a certain place, at a certain period of the year, under specific weather conditions. Describe the place, the time and the weather conditions.
Answer: The events described may be taking place in the backyard of a household, during the spring season, whilst the warm air in the afternoon makes the weather seem warmer than usual.
In simple words: The poem's events likely occur in a house's backyard during spring, specifically in the afternoon when the air feels unusually warm.

🎯 Exam Tip: Extract details about setting (place, time, weather) from the poem's descriptions to provide a complete picture in your answer.

4. When we say that two or more words rhyme, we mean that they end with the same sound or syllable. For example, 'ring - sing'. Rhyming words are often used in the verse at the end of the lines. List the rhyming words from the poem. Note the words 'behind' and 'wind'. They have similar spellings, that is they look the same. But they are pronounced differently, that is, they do not 'sound' the same. This is known as 'eye rhyme'. Separate the examples of eye rhymes from the following list.
Answer:

In simple words: This question explains the difference between true rhymes (same sound) and eye rhymes (same spelling, different sound) and asks you to categorize given word pairs from the poem accordingly.

🎯 Exam Tip: Understand the definitions of rhyming words and eye rhymes to correctly identify and separate them based on pronunciation and spelling patterns in a poem.

5. List all the phrases from the poem in which two or more words are joined with 'and'.

Question 1. List all the phrases from the poem in which two or more words are joined with 'and'.
Answer:
1. hither and thither
2. caper and prance
3. shiver and skip
4. flipping and flapping and flopping
In simple words: This task asks you to find and list all phrases from the poem that use the word 'and' to connect two or more words.

🎯 Exam Tip: Carefully read through the poem, specifically looking for the conjunction 'and' to identify phrases that join multiple words or actions.

6. Form groups and discuss what must have happened to the handkerchief. Write the story in your own words.

Question 1. Form groups and discuss what must have happened to the handkerchief. Write the story in your own words.
Answer: Wash your handkerchief clean. Hang it with a peg to dry in the wind. Watch how it flutters.
In simple words: This question asks you to imagine the handkerchief's journey after it flew away and describe what might have happened to it in your own narrative.

🎯 Exam Tip: For creative writing tasks based on a poem, use details and themes from the original text as inspiration to construct a plausible and imaginative story.

7. Wash your handkerchief clean. Hang it with a peg to dry in the wind. Watch how it flutters.

Question 1. Wash your handkerchief clean. Hang it with a peg to dry in the wind. Watch how it flutters.
Answer: This is an activity-based question for students to perform.
In simple words: This task instructs you to clean a handkerchief, hang it to dry, and observe how it moves in the wind.

🎯 Exam Tip: Activity-based questions encourage practical observation related to the poem's themes, helping to connect textual descriptions with real-world phenomena.

8. Complete the following comparisons.
as white us
as green as
us red as
as blue as
us black as
as bright as

Question a. Rewrite these comparisons using the comparative degree. Example: Whiter than snow
Answer:
• Bluer than sky
• Blacker than coal.
• Redder than blood.
In simple words: This question asks you to change the given "as...as" comparisons into the comparative degree, showing a higher level of the quality.

🎯 Exam Tip: To use comparative degrees correctly, remember to add '-er' to short adjectives (or use 'more' for longer ones) and follow with 'than'.

Question b. Find suitable objects for each comparison. Example: Petals or flowers or feathers whiter than snow.
Answer:
• Ocean or eyes bluer than sky.
• Leaves or moss greener than grass.
• Crow or night blacker than coal.
• Sapphire or rose redder than blood.
• Stars or light brighter than sun.
In simple words: For each comparison, you need to think of appropriate objects that fit the description, similar to the example provided.

🎯 Exam Tip: When finding objects for comparisons, select items that are commonly associated with the given quality to provide clear and relatable examples.

Reading Skills And Poetic Device

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below.

Question 1. How do the clothes on the clothesline dance?
Answer: The clothes on the clothesline dance hand-in-hand in a row, hither and thither, and to and fro.
In simple words: The clothes on the line move together like they are dancing, swaying back and forth.

🎯 Exam Tip: When asked about actions, use the vivid verbs and adverbs from the poem to describe how the subject moves or behaves.

Question 2. How do they go?
Answer: They go flipping, flopping and flapping away.
In simple words: The clothes move by turning, swaying, and fluttering in the wind.

🎯 Exam Tip: Pay attention to onomatopoeic or descriptive words that mimic movement, as these often directly answer "how" questions.

Question 3. What are the clothes on the clothesline compared to?
Answer: The clothes on the clothesline are compared to fluttering creatures that are as white as snow.
In simple words: The clothes are likened to light, moving beings that are as white as snow.

🎯 Exam Tip: Clearly state the explicit comparisons made in the poem to ensure full marks for questions asking about metaphors or similes.

Question 4. What do they do in the merry March wind?
Answer: The clothes on the clothesline shiver and skip in the merry March wind.
In simple words: In the cheerful March wind, the clothes tremble and move lightly, as if skipping.

🎯 Exam Tip: Look for specific actions attributed to the clothes in connection with the wind to answer questions about their behavior.

Question 5. Pick out the rhyming words from the 1st stanza.
Answer: The rhyming words are 'row-fro-go-snow'.
In simple words: You need to identify words that sound similar at the end of lines in the first section of the poem.

🎯 Exam Tip: To find rhyming words, focus on the ending sounds of the words, especially those at the end of lines in a given stanza.

Question 6. Pick out the eye rhyme pair from the 2nd stanza.
Answer: The pair of eye rhyme in the 2nd stanza is 'behind-wind'.
In simple words: Identify two words from the second stanza that look like they should rhyme because of their spelling but actually have different sounds.

🎯 Exam Tip: Remember that eye rhymes are identified by their similar spelling but different pronunciation, requiring careful observation of both aspects.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below.

Question 1. How was she struggling? Why?
Answer: She was struggling wildly to be free.
In simple words: The handkerchief was fighting fiercely because it wanted to escape and be independent.

🎯 Exam Tip: When a question asks "how" and "why," ensure your answer addresses both the manner of action and the underlying motivation.

Question 2. Whom did she leave behind?
Answer: She left pegs and clothesline behind.
In simple words: The handkerchief left the clips (pegs) and the line it was hanging on.

🎯 Exam Tip: Pay attention to pronouns and their referents in the poem to correctly identify who or what is being discussed.

Question 3. How did she fly?
Answer: She flew like a bird.
In simple words: The handkerchief flew away just like a bird.

🎯 Exam Tip: Identify similes or metaphors in the poem that describe how an action occurred to accurately answer "how" questions.

Question 4. What did she gleam like?
Answer: She gleamed like a sail in the sun.
In simple words: The handkerchief shone brightly, resembling a ship's sail catching the sunlight.

🎯 Exam Tip: Look for descriptive comparisons that use words like "gleam" or "shine" to understand the visual imagery being conveyed.

Question 5. What was she doing for fun?
Answer: She was flipping and flopping and flapping for fun.
In simple words: The handkerchief was playfully moving around by turning over, swaying loosely, and fluttering.

🎯 Exam Tip: Note any actions described with a sense of playfulness or enjoyment to answer questions about character motivation or activity.

Question 6. Where could she now be?
Answer: She could now be hidden in a ditch or drowned in the sea.
In simple words: The handkerchief might be concealed in a trench or submerged in the ocean.

🎯 Exam Tip: When asked about possible locations, include all specific places mentioned in the poem as potential outcomes.

Question 7. What does the poetess know?
Answer: The poetess knows for a fact that her handkerchief won't ever come back to her pocket.
In simple words: The poetess is certain that her lost handkerchief will not return to her.

🎯 Exam Tip: Focus on conclusive statements or feelings expressed by the speaker in the poem to determine what they know or believe firmly.

Question 8. Pick out the rhyming words from the 2nd stanza.
Answer: The rhyming words are : sun - fun; be - sea.
In simple words: Identify the word pairs in the second stanza that share similar ending sounds.

🎯 Exam Tip: Always specify the stanza when asked to find rhyming words from a particular section of the poem to ensure accuracy.

The Clothesline Summary In English

Paraphrase:

The white clothes that are hung on the clotheslines seem to be dancing in a carefree manner. The clothes' movements resemble restless horses and their dance reminds the poetess of the wild dance of witches in fairy tales when they dance in the March wind. The poet claims to have seen her handkerchief struggling to be free of the pegs, thereby freeing herself and flying out of reach, like a bird.

The poetess saw her handkerchief flying away merrily. The handkerchief could now be somewhere hiding in a ditch or drowned in the sea. The poetess feels sad about the handkerchief leaving her, knowing very well that she won't return.

Introduction:

The poetess Charlotte Druitt speaks about the clothes, flapping and blowing on the clothesline on a windy day. She mentions about her handkerchief which left the pegs, gleaming like a sail in the sun and no one could find her.

Glossary:

1. ditch - a trench
2. gleam - a small shaft, stream of light
3. sail - a piece of cloth attached to the mast of a boat to catch the wind and propel it.