Short Answer Type Questions : 3 Marks (30-40 Words)
Question 1 : What was Sophie’s ambition in life? How did she hope to achieve that?
Answer : Sophie’s ambition in life was either to come an actress, a fashion designer or a boutique owner. She had not made any plan about how she was going to achieve her ambition.
Question 2 : Why is Sophie attracted to Danny Casey?
Answer : Danny Casey is a young and successful football player from Ireland. He is also quite handsome, which adds to his popularity among his fans, especially young girls of Sophie’s age. Naturally, Sophie is attracted to him.
Question 3 : How are Jansie and Sophie different from each other?
Answer : Jansie and Sophie have contrasting characters and an altogether different approach towards life. Jansie is quite practical and her feet are grounded in reality, whereas Sophie is a daydreamer and lives in an imaginary world.
Question 4 : Why did Sophie long for her brother’s affection?
Answer : Sophie found in her brother, Geoff, a patient listener to all her fantasies. The other members of her family and even her friend Jansie did not believe her and made fun of her dreams and future plans. This made her quite fond of Geoff and long for his affection.
Question 5 : Did Geoff keep up his promise? How do you know?
Answer : Geoff didn’t keep his promise to Sophie. Sophie told Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey at the Royce’s and requested him not to tell anyone about it. However, Geoff told this to Frank who in turn told his sister, Jansie.
Question 6 : Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?
Answer : Geoff never spoke much and this made Sophie ponder over the areas of his life which he never talked about. His world remained a fascination for her. She felt that when he was not speaking, his mind was away at some unknown place, and so she felt jealous of his silence.
Question 7 : What is unrealistic about Sophie’s dreams of her future life?
Answer : Sophie was born in a poor family and was bound to work in a biscuit factory after passing out from school. However, she dreamt about having a lot of money, and owning a boutique. This was unrealistic about her dreams.
Question 8 : Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from having dreams?
Answer : Jansie discourgaed Sophie from living in a world of fantasy as her dreams were wild and impossible. She told her that they belonged to poor family and were earmarked to work in the biscuit factory after passing out from school.
Question 9 : How do we know that Sophie’s family lived in poor circumstances?
Answer : We know that Sohpie’s family lived in poor circumstances as her father worked as a labourer and they lived in a small, cramped and suffocated house.
Question 10 : Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer : Sophie did not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey because she knew that Jansie cannot keep a secret. Once she gets to know about something, she tells the whole neighbourhood about it.
Question 11 : How did Sophie’s father react when Geoff told him about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer : When Geoff told his father about Sophie’s chance encounter with Danny Casey, he expressed disdain and rubbished her story. He changed the topic and warned Sophie that such made up stories would land her into trouble some day.
Question 12 : What thoughts came to Sophie’s mind as she sat by the canal?
Answer : Sophie felt doubts stirring inside her, as she sat by the canal waiting for Danny Casey. When she say no sign of him, she remembered Geoff’s words that Casey would not come. She thought what she would tell her family.
Question 13 : Which was the only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person?
Answer : The only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person was when she went to watch the match with her family. Sitting amongst the spectators, Sophie saw Casey from a distance.
Question 14 : Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from entertaining thoughts about the sports star, Danny Casey?
Answer : Jansie was a realist, and not a daydreamer like Sophie. She discouraged Sophie from entertaining thoughts about the sports star, Danny Casey, because her dreams were wild and impossible.
Question 15 : Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
Answer : When Geoff told her father about Sophie’s meeting with Danny Casey, Sophie wriggled because she knew that her father wouldn’t believe it. Sophie was sure that he would be angry with her on hearing about the incident.
Question 16 : What did Sophie tell Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer : Sophie told Geoff that she met Danny Casey at Royce’s and said that she asked him for an autograph but neither she nor Danny had a pen or paper. She also said that Danny promised to meet her next week.
Question 17 : “Damn that Geoff, this was Geoff thing, not a Jansie thing.” Why did Sophie say so?
Answer : Sophie had told Geoff about her chance meeting with Danny Casey expecting that he would keep it to himself. Sophie said this as she was annoyed that Geoff had leaked her secret and feared that now Jansie would tell everyone about it.
Question 18 : Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer : Geoff did not believe Sophie’s story about her meeting with Danny Casey . He dismissed the whole story as a most unlikely thing and told her that Casey would never keep his promise of meeting her again to give her his autograph.
Question 19 : What did Sophie imagine about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer : Sophie imagined that she had met Danny Casey at Royce’s and asked him for an autograph but could not get it as neither of them had paper or pen. Casey promised to meet her gain next week.
Question 20 : Write a character sketch of Jansie.
Answer : Jansie is a practical and realistic girl who knows her limitations. belongs to a poor family and is aware of the fact that she would work at the biscuit factory after passing school. She is also nosey.
Long Answer Type Questions : 6 Marks (120-150 Words)
Question 1 : Every teenager has a hero/heroine to admire. So many times they become role models for them. What is wrong if Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey and is ambitious in life?
Answer : Sophie was a girl having unrealistic dreams. She felt that would become either a boutique owner, shop manager, actress or a fashion designer, though her friend Jansie realised that with their background and education, they would just become workers in a biscuit factory.
Like every young girl, Sphie also had a strong desire of knowing the unknown, seeing the unseen and even dating famous people like Danny Casey. So she visited the perfect place for lovers and sat on the solitary wooden bench under the tree waiting for Danny, but there was no sign of him. So, she became burdened with sadness. This kind of fantasising may lead to depression among teenagers, as their life’s ambitions are not fulfilled. It is not wrong to be ambitious in life. However, being over-ambitious like Sophie leads to failure and frustration in life. Hence, once should set practical goals in one’s life.
Question 2 : Teachers always advise their students to dream big. Yet, the same teachers in your classrooms find fault with Sophie when she dreams. What is wrong with Sophie’s dreams?
Answer : Sophie lives in a world of dreams, which is far from reality. It is not unreasonable to have high hopes and ambitions for one’s future, but such dreaming can be justified only when is prepared to work hard to realise one’s dreams.
Sophie too needs to work hard to achieve her drams, instead of just imagining a bright and successful future for herself, or fantasising about her meeting with Danny Casey. She should accept the reality that she belongs to a middle class working family. Initially, she would face some difficulties because of her poor financial condition, but if she persists with sincere devotion, she could certainly raise her status to the level from where she would actually have the company of successful people like Danny Casey. Besides, with better educational qualifications, increased opportunities, hard work and more savings, she could even own a boutique in future.
Question 3 : Sophie lives in a world full of dreams which she does not know that she cannot realise. Comment.
Answer : Sophie has been portrayed as the central character in the story ‘Going Places’. She perfectly represents the girls of her age who live in poor families.
Sophie always lives in a dream world, dreaming impossible things. The opening scene of the story clearly depicts what sort of girl she is. She is not ready to accept the reality of her family’s condition and dreams of having a boutique of her own.
She makes up a story of meeting Danny Casey, a charming and upcoming footballer. Nobody believes her but she refuses to accept that it is her fantasy. Rather, she starts believing that she has met him and to prove that she is telling the truth, she makes up another story that she has fixed a date with him. She is so lost in her dreams that she actually goes to the canal and waits for him. Danny does not show up. She knows that he will not come, but still she becomes sad. Such is the character of Sophie.
Question 4 : It is not unusual for a lower middle class girl to dream big. How unrealistic were Sophie’s dreams?
Answer : Sophie always lived in a make-believe world of her own and had the unrealistic expectation that she will have a successful career as a boutique owner, store manager, actress or even a fashion designer. This was totally unrealistic, as she was from a working class family and was bound to work in the local biscuit factory after passing out from school. Similarly, she imagined that a famous footballer like Danny Casey would date her. She even went to the extent of waiting beside the canal for him. After he did not turn up, she realised that this was only her dream and Danny will never date her. Even then, she is lost in her dream world, becoming sad that Danny did not come. This shows how unrealistic were her dreams.
Question 5 : How different is Jansie from Sophie?
Answer : Sophie and Jansie were classmates as well as friends. They both belonged to lower middle-class families. But that is where their similarity ends. There is a striking contrast between their characters. Sophie is a day-dreamer and Jansie is practical. Sophie lives in a world of dreams and does not want to come out of this fairyland. She is an incurable escapist and dreams of having a boutique, becoming an actress or a fashion designer. Jansie, on the other hand, is very grounded. She has her feet firmly planted on the ground and knows they are both ‘earmarked for the biscuit factory’. She knows big things require big money and experience which they lack desperately. She advises Sophie to be sensible and not entertain wild dreams. Sophie and Jansie’s temperaments differ greatly. While Sophie shares her dreams only with her brother, Goeff, Jansie on the other hand is nosey. She takes an interest in learning new things about others and can spread stories in the whole neighbourhood.
Question 6 : Has Sophie met Danny Casey? What details of her meeting with Danny Casey did she narrate to her brother?
Answer : No, Sophie never really met Danny Casey. She has just seen Danny Casey on the field when she went to watch team United play a football match. There, she was one of the spectators and could see Casey playing only from a distance.
However, Sophie lived in an imaginary world. Casey was a young sport-star and Sophie worshipped him as her hero. Her meeting with Casey was just another of her wild fantasies. She was so engrossed in her daydreams that what she imagined seemed real to her.
Sophie told her brother Geoff that she met Casey near Royce’s. As she was looking at the clothes, Casey came and stood beside her. She wanted to take his autograph for her younger brother Derek, but neither of them had a pen or paper. Casey then suggested that they could meet again next week, and then he would also give his autograph.
Question 7 : What were Sophie’s plans for the future? Why would you call her dreams unrealistic?
Answer : Sophie planned to open a boutique after she passed out of school. When Jansie told her that opening a boutique would require a lot of money, she said that she would become a manager and save money for her boutique. She latter also added that she would either become an actress or a fashion designer.
For a girl from a lower middle class family such dreams are certainly far from reality. Sophie’s friend Jansie, who is quite practical, knows that they will ultimately have to work in the biscuit factory. She even dissuades Sophie from indulging in such childish fantasies. But Sophie wants to materialise all those things which were simply not possible practically. Never for once in the story does Sophie think practically or come out of her dream world.
Question 8 : Draw a character sketch of Sophie’s father.
Answer : Sophies’ father is a happy-go-lucky and carefree man. He does not appear to be either soft or even sophisticated. He is a heavy breathing man. He usually sits in his vest at the table. Sophie , it appears, fears him. He does not believe in his daughter’s wild stories and so he ignores her completely and prefers to watch television than listen to her. Even when his son Geoff tells him that Sophie had met the Irish prodigy, Danny Casey, he completely ignores the news. He is extremely interested in football and, like all his children, he also adores Danny Casey. He is a middle-class man who goes to the pub on his bicycle to celebrate his team’s victory and the fact that Casey had scored a second goal. He is a rather dominating person and a typical representation of the lower-middle family of that time.
Value Based Answer Type Questions : 6 Marks (120 – 150 Words)
Question 1 : Sophie lives in her fantasies. She hopes to make it big. You realise that the modern day youth are also like that. You decide to write an article about the need to dream and how it can prove to be harmful sometimes.
Answer :
Dream Big
by Ashu
We all hope to achieve our inner dreams and desires some day. Dreams are like a guiding light, they make us work harder. It is only when we dream big that we can achieve something great in life, because every dream precedes the goal. It is well said that one who does not dream cannot reach his goals. But how much living in fantasy world is good? The modern day youth has the tendency to drift away in their wild fantasies without realising the reality. Being always in a dream world actually does more harm than good.
This doesn’t mean that we should be afraid to dream. What is needed is a balance. We must never forget the difference between imagination and reality. It is important to dream, because only then can we strive to achieve our goals. Just forgetting reality in the pursuit of dreams is harmful.
Question 2 : Now I have become sad, she thought. And it is a hard burden to carry this sadness. Sitting here waiting and knowing he will not come I can see the future and how I will have to live with this burden. They of course will doubt me, as they always have, but I will have to hold up my head remembering how it was. Already I envisage the slow walk home and Geoff’s disappointed face when I tell him, “He didn’t come, that Danny.” And then he’ll fly out and slam the door. “But we know how it was, ” I shall tell myself, “Danny and me.” It is a hard thing, this sadness.
Sadness is really difficult to carry. And more difficult is to carry unfulfilled desires.
After reading the above statement and ‘Going Places’ who far do you feel that sadness and unfulfilled desires can’t be carried for a long time? Elucidate.
Answer : Sadness and unfulfilled desires are both difficult to carry. Their burden produces more and more sadness and frustration. Therefore, one needs to be happy and not think about the unfulfilled desires and move on in life. Sophie, the protagonist of the story ‘Going Places’ has been nurturing her dreams since her childhood. She dreams of becoming a fashion designer, a manager, or an actress when she grows up. Besides, she has taken a fancy for Danny Casey, a young footballer, and often imagines being with him. She has been telling stories regarding her imaginary meetings with Danny.
To create twists in something which has not happened is really painful, as one is cheating oneself only. Her poverty, her shattered dreams and unfulfilled desires are very painful as she has to carry them permanently. In real life too, if one is sad and there is no way to mitigate this sadness, every passing moment adds to more and more sadness, and unfulfilled desires are often a source of sadness. Therefore, one needs to be happy and not think about the unfulfilled desires and move on in life.