Off to Outer Space Tomorrow Morning

Question 1.
Pick out two phrases from line 1 which suggest the final moments for the
launch of the rocket.
Answer:
The two phrases from the line I which suggest the final moments for the
launch of the rocket are a countdown and last look.

Question 2.
With what feelings is the speaker flying out of the earth?
a. despair
b. lack of confidence
c. apprehension?
d. doubt about his return to the earth?
e. Choose your response from the ones given above or give your own. Say
which line or lines in the first stanza support your response.
Answer:
The speaker or author of the poem had apprehension about the flying out of
the earth.

Question 3.
State the reason for the poet to say “calendars and clocks” are useless in space
(stanza 2)
Answer:
There is no work, no day and night or seasons. Totally there was no change in
atmosphere, so there is no need for a calendar or clock.

Question 4.
The expression “winter under lock”, means, that in space.
a. there is no change of seasons.
b. seasons change frequently.
c. weather is chilly always
d. weather is very hot always
Answer:
The expression “Winter under lock” means, in space weather is chill always.
Question 5.
The speaker has the feeling that he is imprisoned. What might have been the
reason for him to have such a feeling? (Read lines 9 to 12)
Answer:
In space, there is no communication, no letters, no mail. Nobody visits him
Totally he was alone and he felt that he was in prison and he imprisoned in it.

Question 6.
The speaker says, “Teacups circling around me like the planets around the sun.
“Why does it happen only in space and not on the earth?
Answer:
Earth has gravitational force but in space, there is the absence of gravitational
pull, due to this the teacup or whatever may be the object, it would revolve
around like the planets around the Sun.

Question 7.
Read stanza 5, and identify the indirect comparison (metaphor) in it.
Answer:
In stanza 5, the indirect comparison or metaphor is “Tracking through your
telescope my upward shooting star”.

Question 8.
The speaker in the line (19) says “But you needn’t think I’ll give a damn for
you”. This is the same as saying
a) I don’t think I will have time to think about you.
b) I don’t think I will have no time to think about you.
Answer:
The speaker in line 19 says “But you needn’t think I’ll give a damn for you”
means
(a) I don’t think I will have time to think about you.

Read and appreciate

Question 1.
The tone of the poem is one of
a) mourning                            [ × ]
b) jubilation                             [ ✓ ]
c) disappointment                   [ × ]
d) sadness                               [ × ]
e) humor                                  [ × ]
f) anger                                    [ × ]
g) protest                                 [ × ]
You may think more than one is appropriate. Mark if you think so, and mark ()
if you do not. Justify your choice in your group.

Question 2.
Do you think that the repetition of the last line of every stanza is intentional?
What might have been the purpose behind it? What does it suggest? Sing it
aloud and try to find out the answer.
Answer:
Yes, the repetition of the last line of every stanza is intentional. The poet had a
joyful mood, and he feels more enthusiasm – off to outer space. The purpose
was he should say to everybody.

Question 3.
The poem is not full of figures of speech. Yet the poem has two similes. Pick
them.
Answer:
The poem had two similes. They are
i) In solitary confinement as complete as any gaol, and
ii) with the teacups circling around me like the planets around the sun.

Question 4.
Pick some instances of daily routine mentioned in the poem. Do you think the
speaker doesn’t want to do these things?
Answer:
Some instances of daily routine mentioned in the poem are

1. pass the helmet from its plastic hook

2. cross out the name from the telephone book
3. seeing the calendar
4.  seeing the time
5. awaking at daylight
6. sleeping at night
7. watching the television
8. writing letters
9. posting mails
10.visiting friends

Question 5.
A group of rhyming words has been given to you. Write down the remaining
ones. You may practice them with proper pronunciation with the help of your
teacher.
ex. Look, hook, book
Answer:

Question 6.
The rhyme scheme in the poem is a a a b. Do you find any other rhyme
scheme in the pattern of the poem? Look at the last line of all the stanzas, and
find it out.
Answer:
The last line is repeated in all the stanzas to stress or emphasize the
information to all with pride.

Off to Outer Space Tomorrow Morning Additional Questions

and Answers

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1.
Off to outer space, tomorrow morning was the poem written by ____
a. Leonore Marshall
b. Rock Saumure
c. George Bernard Shaw
d. Norman Nicholson
Answer:
d. Norman Nicholson

Question 2.
You can start the _____
a. television
b. space travel
c. count down
d. writing
Answer:
c. count down

Question 3.
You can take a _____
a. last look
b. plastic look
c. book
d. helmet
Answer:
a. last look

Question 4.
You can pass me my _____
a. book
b. hook
c. helmet
d. telephone book
Answer:
c. helmet

Question 5.
You can cross out ____
a. my name
b. wishes
c. my book
d. writing
Answer:
a. my name

Question 6.
I’m off to outer space tomorrow _____
a night
b. morning
c. evening
d. noon
Answer:
b. morning

Question 7.
There won’t by any ____
a. hotels
b. houses
c. calendar
d. friends
Answer:
c. calendar

Question 8.
There won’t be any ____
a. switch
b. lock
c. knock
d. clock
Answer:
d. clock

Question 9.
Daylight with be on the ____
a. sky
b. switch
c. head
d. floor
Answer:
b. switch

Question 10.
I’ll doze when I’m _____
a. sleepy
b. tired
c. happy
d. sad
Answer:
a. sleepy

Question 11.
I’ll wake without a ___
a. alarm
b. call
c. knock
d. round
Answer:
c. knock

Question 12.
I’ll be writing no, ___
a. lessons
b. letters
c. poems
d. mail
Answer:
b. letters

Question 13.
Nobody visits me and not a _____ in hail
a. friend
b. guest
c. relatives
d. person
Answer:
a. friend

Question 14.
In solitary _____ as complete as any gaol
a. prison
b. confinement
c. goal
d. space
Answer:
b. confinement

Question 15.
When my ____ door is sealed
a. wooden
b. iron
c. capsule
d. new
Answer:
c. capsule

Question 16.
With the teacups circling ____ me like the planets
a. round
b. back
c. turned
d. around
Answer:
a. round

Question 17.
I’ll be center of my ____ a universe of one
a. place
b. home
c. space
d. gravity
Answer:
d. gravity

Question 18.
You can watch on ____
a. movies
b. the play
c. television
d. dance
Answer:
c. television

Question 19.
Tracking through your ____
a. line
b. way
c. path
d. telescope
Answer:
d. telescope

Question 20.
You needn’t think I” give a _____
a. damn
b. helmet
c. gift
d. surprize
Answer:
a. damn

Question 21.
When the rockets ____ me on my trans-galactic hop
a. follow
b. move
c. pull
d. thrust
Answer:
d. thrust

Question 22.
With twenty hundred _____ before the first stop
a. light-years
b. million
c. dollars
d. rupees
Answer:
a. light-years

Question 23.
Every ____ on the earth can go and blow your top
a. one
b. soul
c. body
d. person
Answer:
b. soul

Question 24.
Daylight will be on the switch and ______ under lock.
a. summer
b. rainy
c. winter
d. daily
Answer:
c. winter

II. Match the following :

A

Answer:
1–f
2–a
3–e
4–b
5–c

Answer:
1–e
2–a
3–d
4–b
5–c

III. Give one word/phrase for the following:

Question 1.
A vehicle used for traveling or carrying things into space.
Answer:
rocket

Question 2.
Part of the spacecraft separated from the main.
Answer:
capsule

Question 3.
Weight due to the force of gravity or attraction.
Answer:
center of gravity

Question 4.
The author of the poem ‘Off to Outer Space Tomorrow Morning’.
Answer:
Norman Nicholson

Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each:

Question 1.
Why does the poet say ‘you can take a last look’ and ‘you can cross out my
name in the telephone book’?
Answer:
The poet might be saying these words both teasingly and seriously. In the first
instance, going by the jovial tone throughout the poem, we can say that it is
his way of saying goodbye and as it is the space voyage, he would be out of
touch with his near and dear ones. So he says they can take a last look and
cross out his name from the telephone book. However, we cannot rule out
another more serious interpretation. Maybe deep down, the speaker has a
doubt whether he will ever come back because anything can happen to him.
So maybe he indirectly refers to this tragic possibility.

Question 2.
‘Space’ and ‘confinement’ signify concepts that are opposite. Why does the
poet choose to talk about ‘solitary confinement’ in ‘outer space’?
Answer:
Space is boundless, vast and open. Yet, unlike on the earth, none can freely
move around in space. One has to remain in the spaceship. That is why the
poet refers to his existence in the spaceship as solitary confinement.

Question 3.
Why does Norman Nicholson feel that he is imprisoned in space?
Answer:
The speaker would be totally cut off from the world. Nobody would visit him
nor would he have a friend near him. He would not write any letters nor would
he receive any. He would be like a prisoner.

Question 4.
The speaker in ‘Off to Outer Space Tomorrow Morning’ is uncertain of his
return. How does he express this?
Answer:
The speaker says that people can take a last’ look at him as he is all set to go
to outer space. The word ‘last’ is indicative of the fact that the speaker is
uncertain of his return. Further, the speaker says that his name could be
crossed out from the telephone book. It is as if he has the feeling that his
existence on the earth needn’t be recorded.

Answer the following questions in 6-8 sentences each:

Question 1.
What indirect references does the poet make to the interferences that people
suffer from in life?
Answer:
When he says that he won’t give a damn for the person he addresses, there is
the suggestion that in our day-to-day existence, we cannot live our lives
without bothering about what other people say or what other people think of
us. Again, his statement that when he reaches space after having travelled
twenty-hundred light-years, he would no longer care for others who explode
and show their anger, shows his disdain for interferences by others in our lives.
Thus the poem, though in a light vein, makes indirect references to some of
the unhealthy aspects of life on the earth.

Question 2.
How does the poet describe life in space?
OR
What are the feelings of the poet in the poem ‘Off to Outer Space Tomorrow
Morning’?
Answer:
The poet uses a unique technique. Through negative references he conveys
positive feelings. When he compares the life in outer space to solitary
confinement in a jail and when he says there would be no friend who would
enquire after his well-being, it is as though he laments about his loneliness.
But then, the tone, that is light and jovial, persists throughout the poem and
we can make out that he is looking forward to the experience of being alone
amidst the vastness of the outer space with no one to disturb him. The poet
has no sense of regret as such an existence offers him the splendour of being
the centre of his own gravity, a universe by himself, with tea cups circling
around him like the planets in orbit.

Read the following extracts and answer the questions given below them:

Question 1.
“There won’t be any calendar Daylight will he on the switch and winter under
lock.”
a) Why are calendars useless in outer space?
b) Winter under lock” – what does this mean?
Answer:
a) There is no concept of day and night in space, hence no concept of time.
Therefore, calendars are useless in outer space.
b) ‘Winter under lock’ means that there is no change of seasons.

Question 2.
“There won’t be any calendar, there won’t be any clock”.
a) Who has made this statement?
b) Where is the speaker experiencing this?
c) Why will there be no calendars or clocks?
Answer:
a) The poet Norman Nicholson.
b) In space.
c) There is no concept of time or day and night in space. So there is no need
for calendars or clocks.

Question 3.
‘With the teacups circling round me like the planets round the Sun’.
a) Where does the speaker experience this?
OR
Where does this happen?
b) Why does the speaker have the above feeling?
OR
Why would the poet feel so?
Answer:
a) In outer space.
b) The earth has the force of gravity, but in space, there is no gravitational
force. Hence the poet says that when the capsule doors are shut and when he
is on the space flight beyond the earth’s gravitational force, the teacups would
fly around him like the planets in an orbit around the sun.
Question 4.
“In solitary confinement as complete as any gaol.”
a) What is referred to as ‘solitary confinement’?
OR
What two aspects are compared in the line?
b) Why does the speaker say so?
Answer:
a) Life in the spaceship is referred to as solitary confinement.

b) The speaker uses this comparison to highlight the fact that he is going to
be totally cut off from the world. Though space is vast and open, one cannot
move about freely like on the earth. One has to remain in the spaceship. That
is why the poet refers to his existence in the spaceship as solitary confinement.