Questions and Answers of ‘Grandmother’

                    1.  Write a short summary of the poem ‘Grandmother’.

         The poem ‘Grandmother’ is written by an American-Indian poet Ray Young Bear(1950). The poet recollects and portrays his      Grandmother’s loving and caring nature and also shows the deep love, respect and affection which he has for her. He makes us realize how close he was with his Grandmother by saying that he’d recognize her even if he is to see her from a mile away. He imagines of her wearing a purple scarf (symbol of compassion) with plastic shopping bag (an identity provider) which she used to hold. Mr. Young Bear is confident about those hands which make him feel warm can be of no any other’s than his own caring Grandmother. He also hears the inspiring voice of his Grandmother which would encourage him for the preservation of cultural identity from the graveyard where she was buried. 

   Thus, the poem ‘Grandmother’ is a remembrance poem which also reflects the socio-economic condition and the lost culture of American-Indians especially the Mesquaki tribes. The eternal presence of Grandmother in the poem represents those all Negro women who are lovely, practical ordinary traditional and simple in nature.

                2. How foes a speaker feel towards Grandmother?

        Grandmother is an ocean full of love and care. The speaker takes his Grandmother as his source of inspiration. He expresses his warm love, respect and affection towards her who used to protect him in every situation. He portrays his Grandmother as a caring personality through the sentence he has written in the poem 'I’d know that these were her hands warm and damp with the smell of roots’. He also takes his Grandmother as his guide who guides him in every stages of his life lightening the darkness of his journey of life. Hence, the speaker has respectful and affectionate feelings towards his Grandmother. 

       

        3. What are the four things that Ray Young Bear remembers of his  Grandmother?    

                            

           Grandmother for Ray Young Bear was dearest person of his life. Though, she has left him physically she’s always alive in his remembrance. To feel the presence of his beloved Grandmother he remembers her purple scarf and plastic shopping bag. In addition to that, he also remembers her hands that used to provide him warmth and that soothing voice of her which used to lighten his darkness. Hence, the four things that Mr. Young Bear remembers of his Grandmother are purple scarf, plastic shopping bag, caring and warm hands and inspiring voice if her.

     4. What kind of activities of Grandmother does poet recollect in this   poem?     

                                                  

       Grandmother is a real identity    connection of the speaker. His loving Grandmother has left him physically. In order to cherish the moment he had with her he recollects those activities of his Grandmother. He remembers the hardworking nature of her which used to boost up him as well. It reminds him his true 'self’ which is always full of energy. He acknowledges her voices that always used to awaken the consciousness relating to ancestral identity.

       Thus, the speaker recollects the activities of wearing purple scarf with plastic shopping bag which used to represent the Mesquaki tribe, the inspiring voice, hardworking nature and so on of his Grandmother in this poem.

                          5. What is the main idea of the poem ? 

  

        Ray Young Bear is an American-Indian poet. He belongs to Mesquaki tribe which has been losing its identity with the flow of time. He remembers his Grandmother who used to hold traditional aura. He misses the guidance given by his Grandmother regarding the preservation of culture.The speaker is always honored to have been received guidance given by his Grandmother which said  that every single person has to show some responsibility towards preservation of one’s culture. Moreover, he believes that the one who hold the identity of one’s culture also hold respect. Thus, the main idea of the poem ‘Grandmother’ is the preservation of one’s cultural identity.    

                               

       6. What impression of Grandmother does poet give in the poem?          

          

       The speakers in the poem ‘Grandmother’ is the grandson who fondly reminisces his Grandmother who was a member of Mesquaki tribe. She was a woman who used to hold traditional aura. She was very caring and loving at the same time. She was the source of inspiration to him. A practical and simple woman had always taught him the importance of preservation of cultural identity. She was so close to him in a sense that he could recognize her even if he gets to see her from a mile away. He without any doubt can figure out the hands full of love and warmth can be of no other other person rather than his only Grandmother. Furthermore, he describes his Grandmother as a enlightening voice who lightens the darkness of him. 

 

       Hence, the speaker gives the impression of his Grandmother being loving, caring and inspiring in nature.

    7. What image do you find in this poem written by the member of the Sauk and Indian fox tribe of North America? To what sense do they    appeal?      

    

         A protest literature based poem ‘Grandmother’ is written by native American poet Ray Young Bear. Thus poem by Mr. Bear consists of various imageries. Imagery is the device which is used to create mental images of reader. 

      The types of imageries are visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery, tactile imagery and gustatory imagery where visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight, auditory imagery appeals to the sense of sound, olfactory imagery appeals to the sense of scent, tactile imagery appeals to the sense of touch and gustatory imagery appeals to the sense of taste. In the context of the poem, there has been used four imageries. Purple scarf, plastic shopping bag refers to visual imagery, the inspiring voice of Grandmother from the rock refers to auditory imagery, smell of roots refers to olfactory imagery and warm hand of Grandmother on head refers to tactile imagery.

       8. What is the relevance of grammatical distortion in the poem      ‘Grandmother’?

            Poetry is the flow of powerful    emotions. As this American- Indian poet has written this poem as protest literature he didn’t think that the standard of grammar would be in top priority than that of his emotions he had to express. There can be some grammatical distortion which can be pointed out. 

         First letter of any word in any sentences must be capitalized. But, the poem fails to use this formula and the pronoun 'I’ and also the first letter of word after the full stop has not been capitalized. Similarly, it lacks the use of coma (,) in 1st sentence after 'mile away’. In addition to that, 2nd sentence of poem itself isn’t complete.