CLASS XI

SUB: ENGLISH CORE

CH: 5
TITLE : MOTHER'S DAY
BY: J. B. PRIESTLEY
TEXTBOOK : SNAPSHOTS

HARD WORDS :

1. Muslin
2. Settee
3. Fitzgerald
4. Pearson
5. Sancers
6. Sinister
7. Flurried
8. Cockney
9. Apologetically
10. Dubiously
11. Embarrassed
12. Flustered
13. Resent
14. Bewildered
15. Lax
16. Mannerism
17. Snatch
18. Puffing
19. Contentedly
20. Complacently
21. Terrible
22. Chuckling
23. Astounded
24. Incisive
25. Indignantly
 26. Dorris
27. Staggered
28. Laconic
29. Wrap
30. Irish

WORD MEANINGS:

Flurried - nervous
Cockney - name of a language
Irish - of or belonging to Ireland
Apologetically - feeling sorry
Embarrassed - felt shy
Flustered - confused
Bewildered - surprised
Puffing - pull air repeatedly
Contentedly - with satisfaction
Terrible - very bad

I- SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Q1.Who is Mrs Fitzgerald? What does she advise Mrs Pearson?

Ans: Mrs Fitzgerald is Mrs Pearson’s neighbour and friend. A fortune teller,
who had learnt the art from the East. She advised her to assert herself as
the boss of her own family.

Q2. What change do you notice in George, Doris and Cyril at the end
of the play?

Ans. There is a total change in all of them. They are no longer thoughtless
and overbearing in their behavior. Cyril and Doris agree to get supper ready
while their mom and dad are having a talk.
Q3. What did Mrs Fitzgerald think about the duty of husbands, sons
and daughters?

Ans. She said that husbands, sons and daughters should be taking notice
of wives and mothers. They should not give them orders and treat them like
dirt.

Q4. How did Mrs Fitzgerald offer to help Mrs Pearson to set her family
right?

Ans. Mrs Fitzgerald knew some magic by which she could change places
with Mrs Pearson. Mrs Fitzgerald would look like Mrs Pearson and vice
versa. Thus, Mrs Fitzgerald offered to set Mrs Pearson's family right for her.

Q5. Why did Mrs Fitzgerald request Mrs Pearson to change back?
Who were these two ladies actually?

Ans. Mrs Fitzgerald was, in fact, Mrs Pearson in Mrs Fitzgerald's body. She
saw how miserable her husband and children were feeling. She could
stand it no longer. So she requested Mrs Pearson (infact Mrs Fitzgerald) to
change back.

II-LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Q1. How does Mrs Fitzgerald put Doris, Cyril and George in their
places?

Ans. Mrs Fitzgerald knows some magic. She uses it to change her
personality with that of Mrs Pearson. Soon Mrs Pearson's daughter, Doris,
comes in. She asks mother for tea, but mother says that there is no tea
ready for her. Doris had wanted her mother to iron her yellow silk. But the
mother refuses to do any ironing for her. Doris has never seen her mother
behave like this. She is in tears. When Cyril and George come in, they, too,
receive the same kind of treatment. Mother tells them that from now on,
she, too, will work eight hours a day and five days a week. While all this is
going on, Mrs Fitzgerald (who is in fact Mrs Pearson) enters. The two
ladies change back into their real personalities. They heave a sigh of relief
when Mrs Pearson calls them back with a smile. But now they have learnt
their lesson. Thus Doris, Cyril and George are brought to their places.

Q2. Give a brief character sketch of Mrs Pearson .

Ans. Mrs Pearson is a loving wife and mother. She is very fond of her
husband and children. She looks after all their needs. She does her best to
keep them happy. Mrs Pearson is a simple hearted woman.But she is
gentle to a fault. She does feel that her husband and children are
thoughtless. Her husband and children work eight hours a day and five
days a week but the poor mother has to work all the hours of the day and
all the days of the week. Yet the husband and the children have for her no
word of praise or gratitude. This is what pains Mrs Pearson. But, she is too
weak to protest. It is Mrs Pearson's own weakness that has spoiled her
husband and children.