Class 12 NCERT English Book Flamingo Prose Lesson 8 Going Places Question and Answers.
Question and Answer
1. Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
2. What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of? Why does Jansie discourage her from having such dreams?
3. Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
4. Does her father believe her story?
5. How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in her fantasy of her future?
6. Which country did Danny Casey play for?
Answer:
1. It was most likely that the two girls would find work after school at the biscuit factory. The text states, “Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy.”
2. The options that Sophie was dreaming of were having a boutique, being a manager (to start), being an actress, or being a fashion designer. Jansie discourages her from having such dreams because she knows their reality is different. She points out that having a boutique “Takes money, Soaf,” which they don’t have, and saving that much would “Take you a long time.” She also notes that “They wouldn’t make you manager straight off,” and regarding shop work, “They don’t pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never allow it.” Jansie is pragmatic and understands the financial and practical barriers that make Sophie’s ambitious dreams highly unlikely given their circumstances, particularly their expected future at the biscuit factory.
3. Sophie wriggled when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey likely because she felt nervous, uncomfortable, or embarrassed. She had fabricated the story of meeting him, and now it was being brought up in front of her skeptical father, putting her potentially on the spot or risking exposure of her lie.
4. No, her father does not believe her story. His initial reaction is one of “disdain,” and he later explicitly calls it “another of your wild stories” and warns her about talking herself “into a load of5. trouble.”
5. Sophie includes her brother Geoff in her fantasy of her future by imagining herself riding behind him on his motorcycle. In this fantasy, Geoff is dressed in new, shining black leathers, and she is wearing a special yellow dress with a cape, arriving somewhere important to the sound of applause.
6. Danny Casey played for Ireland. The text refers to him as the “young Irish prodigy.”
Understanding the text
1. Sophie and Janise were class-mates and friends. What were the differences between them that show up in the story?
2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father?
3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective, what did he symbolise?
4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her family’s financial status?
Answer:
- Differences between Sophie and Jansie:
- Sophie: Sophie is a dreamer, highly imaginative, and aspirational. She frequently escapes into fantasies of a glamorous future involving owning a boutique, being a manager, an actress, or a fashion designer. She is optimistic, perhaps even naive, about achieving these ambitious goals despite her circumstances.
- Jansie: Jansie is pragmatic, realistic, and grounded. She is acutely aware of their social and financial realities, knowing that both of them are “earmarked for the biscuit factory.” She attempts to temper Sophie’s dreams with practical concerns about money and the unlikelihood of such grand achievements, trying to bring Sophie back to earth.
- Character and temperament of Sophie’s father:Sophie’s father is portrayed as a hard-working, no-nonsense, and somewhat gruff man. He is physically worn out from his day’s labour (“grimy and sweat-marked from the day”) and seems focused on the immediate realities of life, like eating after work. He is skeptical and dismissive of Sophie’s fanciful stories and dreams, often reacting with “disdain” or aggression when confronted with what he perceives as her “wild stories.” He appears to be a typical working-class father, concerned with practical matters and grounded in his reality, with a passion for football.
- Why Sophie liked her brother Geoff more than any other person and what he symbolised:Sophie liked her brother Geoff because she idealized him and perceived him as a gateway to a wider, more mysterious world beyond their immediate confines. His quietness and reserved nature led her to believe he had experiences and knowledge of places and people she had never encountered. She was “jealous of his silence” because it suggested a life “out there in the world in those places she had never been.”From her perspective, Geoff symbolised freedom, escape, and access to the unknown. He represented the possibility of a life that was exciting, sophisticated, and out of reach to her, a stark contrast to her own predetermined future.
- Sophie’s socio-economic background and indicators of her family’s financial status:Sophie belonged to a working-class socio-economic background. Several indicators point to her family’s modest financial status:
- Future Employment: Both Sophie and Jansie are “earmarked for the biscuit factory,” which implies limited educational and career opportunities often associated with working-class families.
- Father’s Appearance and Job: Her father comes home “grimy and sweat-marked from the day,” suggesting manual labor or a physically demanding job, typically associated with working-class occupations.
- Home Environment: The description of their home is indicative of modest means: a “small room,” “steamy from the stove,” “cluttered with the heavy-breathing man in his vest at the table,” and “dirty washing piled up in the corner.” This portrays a cramped and humble living situation.
- Father’s Reaction to Sophie’s Dreams: Her father’s disdain and dismissal of Sophie’s dreams of wealth (“She thinks money grows on trees,” “This another of your wild stories?”) highlight the family’s financial struggles and their grounded, realistic perspective on money, which is a scarce resource for them.