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A Work of Artifice
A Work of Artifice
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
(i) What kind of tree is the bonsai? What does it stand for in the poem?
Ans. The bonsai is a small decorative tree that is grown in a pot. It is pruned so that it does not
reach its normal size. In the poem, it stands for a woman oppressed and suppressed in a
male-dominated society.
(ii) Where could it have grown fully?
Ans. It could have grown fully outside in nature, on the side of a mountain. It could have grown
there up to eighty feet in height.
(iii) What does the gardener stand for in the poem? Why does he continue to cut the bonsai down
every day?
Ans. The gardener stands for a man - a lover or a husband - in the poem. He continues to prune
the bonsai tree and does not let it grow. He believes that it has to remain small and weak to look
attractive.
(iv) In what tone does the gardener speak to the bonsai tree?
Ans. He speaks to the bonsai tree in a happy and satisfied tone. He considers it to be lucky to
grow in a pot, where it is being looked after daily with love and care.
(v) Keeping the bonsai tree 'small and weak' is deliberate. What is its implication in the poem?
Ans. The bonsai tree is not allowed to grow to its full potential deliberately. In the poem, it
stands for a woman. Like the bonsai tree, a woman in a male-dominated world is prevented from
growing and showing her capabilities fully. She is made to accept her subordinate position by
keeping her confined to the four walls of her home.
2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak.
(i) What is the function of the 'gardener'? Which function of the 'gardener' referred to in the
poem is in reality regressive and harmful? How?
Ans. The function of the gardener is to prune the branches of the bonsai tree to keep it small and
attractive. The gardener, as a symbol of the dominating male, prevents the growth of his woman,
thus keeping her under his control. It is regressive and harmful for women and society in general.
(ii) In which tone does the gardener speak?
Ans. The gardener speaks in a happy and condescending tone.
(iii) In what way is the 'gardener' wrong?
Ans. The 'gardener' is wrong in the sense that everything and everybody has the right to grow. To
keep something or somebody deliberately underdeveloped is definitely wrong.
(iv) What do the last two lines suggest?
Ans. The last two lines suggest that in a male- dominated world man feels self-satisfied in
his wrong belief that woman is by nature weak, small and domesticated, and that she should
accept her position as such.
(v) What does the word 'croons' mean? What does it imply?
Ans. The word 'croons' means to sing quietly in a happy mood. It implies that the man,
represented by the gardener, is happy and self-satisfied by keeping his woman weak and
underdeveloped.
3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :