English LiteratureISC Class 12 · Chapter 6

ISC Class 12 The Medicine Bag (Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve): Summary, Themes and Solved Questions

Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked

The Medicine Bag by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve traces Martin's change from mild embarrassment about his Sioux Grandpa to pride in him. When Grandpa travels alone to the family's home, Martin's friends are fascinated by him, and Martin comes to accept his heritage and the medicine bag. Its central idea is embracing one's cultural roots.

What The Medicine Bag is about

The Medicine Bag by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, a Lakota (Sioux) writer, is one of the five Class XII stories in Prism: A Collection of ISC Short Stories, prescribed for ISC Literature in English (English Paper 2).

It was set in both 2025 papers. The specimen asked for its central idea ('Embracing one's cultural roots') and set a 5-mark question on how the narrator's attitude to his Sioux Grandfather moves 'from mild embarrassment to appreciation'. The 2025 board paper asked a statement-pair MCQ on Grandpa's promise to give Martin the medicine bag, a reason completion on why the family felt guilty when Grandpa travelled to them alone, and a 10-mark question: why do Martin's friends appreciate his Grandpa, and how does peer pressure affect Martin's attitude?

The examiners found the 10-mark question hard: 'most candidates could not answer this question properly, and instead ended up writing a summary of the short story'. They asked teachers to help students 'relate the events and characters to the lives of the children in the story'.

The story is in copyright, so this page does not reproduce its text. Plot and character points come only from the CISCE 2025 specimen and marking scheme; the two quotations are the lines printed in the 2025 paper.

Weightage: Question 4 (Prism) carries 20 marks. The Medicine Bag supplied the 10-mark option (a) and two Section A items in 2025, and a 5-mark question and an MCQ in the specimen.Source: CISCE ISC Specimen Question Paper 2025, English Paper 2; 2025 board paper in the ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance 2025, Literature in English

The Medicine Bag: summary

In our own words, in the order of the text. Read the NCERT text itself too: the board quotes from it.

Martin's embarrassment. Martin, the narrator, has a Sioux grandfather who lives on a reservation. Martin had bragged about Grandpa to his friends, but he never showed them Grandpa's picture, afraid they might laugh: Grandpa was not tall and stately like the Indians his friends saw on television, and he did not live in a tepee but in a part tar-paper shack on the reservation. The image Martin had projected did not match the reality, and he felt mildly embarrassed by it.

Grandpa's journey. Grandpa travels all alone to the family's home. His arrival makes Martin and his family feel guilty: they were his only living descendants, yet they had not kept in close touch, had not realised how old and infirm he had grown, and had neglected their duty to him.

The friends' visit. Martin's sister's friends meet Grandpa and spread wonderful stories about him, so Martin's friends want to see him too. Grandpa dresses for the occasion, and his appearance makes them murmur 'wow'. They listen in awe as he tells them how he killed a deer and that his vest is made from its skin. To them he seems an exotic, unusual figure from a world they have never known; they sit respectfully quiet and are reluctant to leave, and Martin's mother has to send them home. The friends' appreciation relieves Martin of his fear of embarrassment and makes him see Grandpa in a new light.

The medicine bag. Grandpa tells Martin, 'Tomorrow, when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag.' Martin feels 'a hard squeeze' near his heart and is scared, but he answers, 'OK, Grandpa.' Having learnt to value his grandfather, Martin accepts the legacy of the medicine bag and, with it, responsibility for his heritage. The story's central idea, as the specimen key puts it, is embracing one's cultural roots.

Themes and message

Embracing one's cultural roots

The specimen key gives this as the central idea. Martin moves from hiding the reality of his Sioux grandfather to accepting the medicine bag, the symbol of his heritage. The story shows identity as something to be claimed with pride rather than concealed.

From the text: Specimen Q1(vi) answer: 'Embracing one's cultural roots.'

Stereotype versus reality

Martin's embarrassment comes from the gap between television images (tall, stately Indians in tepees) and his real grandfather (not tall, living in a part tar-paper shack). The story exposes how media stereotypes distort the way minorities see themselves.

From the text: 2025 scheme, Question 4(iii)(a).

Peer pressure, in both directions

Fear of his friends' laughter first makes Martin hide his grandfather; his friends' admiration then makes him proud of him. The 2025 scheme notes that it is 'actually peer pressure that makes Martin see his grandfather in a new light' and perhaps accept the medicine bag willingly.

From the text: 2025 scheme, Question 4(iii)(a).

Duty to the old and family guilt

Grandpa's lonely journey shows the family how far they have neglected him. Their guilt (2025 reason completion) prepares for Martin's acceptance of his duty and inheritance.

From the text: 2025 Q2(v): they were his only living descendants and had neglected him.

Characters

Martin (the narrator)

Grandpa's grandson, who grows from embarrassment to pride.

At first anxious about what friends will think; he brags but hides Grandpa's picture.
Sensitive to peer opinion.
Capable of growth: he comes to accept his Grandpa and his legacy.
Honest about his fear: 'a hard squeeze' near his heart when told of the medicine bag.

Specimen Q4(i); 2025 Q1(vii) and Q4(iii)(a).

Grandpa

Martin's Sioux grandfather, who travels alone to the family's home and passes on the medicine bag.

Old and infirm, yet determined: he makes the journey alone.
Dignified: he dresses for the occasion when the boys visit.
A storyteller who holds the boys in awe.
A keeper of tradition, passing on the medicine bag.

2025 scheme, Q2(v) and Q4(iii)(a).

Martin's friends

The boys whose opinion Martin fears and whose admiration changes him.

Curious and fascinated by Grandpa.
Respectful listeners; reluctant to leave.
Accepting of cultural difference.

2025 scheme, Q4(iii)(a).

Martin's family (mother and sister)

Grandpa's only living descendants.

Guilty at having neglected him.
The sister's friends spread wonderful stories about Grandpa; the mother sends the boys home.

2025 scheme.

How it is written

Device	Example	Effect
First-person narration	Martin tells the story: 'I felt a hard squeeze from where my heart is supposed to be…'	Lets the reader share Martin's embarrassment, fear and growth from the inside.
Symbol: the medicine bag	Grandpa's promise to give Martin the medicine bag.	Stands for Sioux heritage and the responsibility of carrying it forward.
Contrast	Television images of Indians against the real Grandpa in his tar-paper shack.	Exposes stereotype and sets up Martin's change of attitude.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

Tomorrow, when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag.
Grandpa: To Martin; Statement I in the 2025 MCQ.
The moment of inheritance; it causes Martin's fear and acceptance (Statement II).
I felt a hard squeeze from where my heart is supposed to be and was scared, but I answered, 'OK, Grandpa.'
Martin: His response; Statement II in the 2025 MCQ.
Shows Martin's awe at the responsibility and his acceptance of it.

The Medicine Bag in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Pride in heritage

Suppose a student whose grandparents speak only a regional language feels shy to invite friends home.

What does Martin's story suggest?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Martin feared his friends' laughter.
The friends were fascinated instead.
Heritage became a source of pride.

Answer: Friends often respond to real people and stories with interest, not mockery. Like Martin, the student may discover that what he hides is what others admire.

Memory hook: What you hide may be what they admire.

Stereotypes from media

Imagine a classmate from the North-East is asked whether she 'lives in the jungle', based on a film.

How does The Medicine Bag explain the harm of such images?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Media images replace real people.
They make members of a group ashamed of their reality.
Meeting the real person corrects the image.

Answer: Martin's embarrassment came from TV stereotypes. Real contact, as with his friends and Grandpa, breaks them.

Memory hook: Meet the person, drop the picture.

Duty to elders

Suppose your grandfather, living alone in another town, arrives unannounced and you realise how frail he has become.

What would the family's guilt in the story prompt you to do?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Recognise the neglect.
Keep regular contact.
Value what elders can pass on.

Answer: Martin's family realised too late how old Grandpa had grown. The story urges staying in touch and valuing the elders' legacy while they are with us.

Memory hook: Visit before they have to travel to you.

Topics in this chapter

How the board asks The Medicine Bag

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Question type	How it is asked	Method
Section A: MCQ on central idea or statement pairs	'Which of the following BEST captures the central idea…?' (specimen); 'Statement I… Statement II… choose the correct option' (2025).	Central idea: embracing one's cultural roots. Statement pairs: ask which statement causes the other.
Section A: reason completion	'Martin and his family felt guilty when Grandpa travelled all alone to their home because ____' (2025).	Give the exact reason: only living descendants, little contact, unaware of his age and infirmity, neglect. The examiners found answers 'indirect'.
Section B: change of attitude (5 or 10 marks)	'…from mild embarrassment to appreciation. Summarise the reasons for this embarrassment and the change' (specimen, 5 marks); 'Why do Martin's friends appreciate his Grandpa? How does peer pressure affect Martin's attitude…?' (2025, 10 marks).	Answer both parts with specific incidents; do not summarise the whole story.

Tricks to remember The Medicine Bag

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

E-P-A
Embarrassment (TV image, shack), Pressure (friends), Acceptance (medicine bag).
Use it when: The three stages of Martin's attitude.
Why the boys say 'wow'
Stories spread, Suit (dressed up), Story of the deer, Strangeness (exotic world).
Use it when: Reasons for the friends' appreciation.
I causes II
Grandpa's announcement causes Martin's 'hard squeeze'.
Use it when: Statement-pair MCQ.

The Medicine Bag: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Example 1: Statement-pair MCQ (2025) · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Statement I: 'Tomorrow,' he said, 'when you come home, it will be time to give you the medicine bag.' Statement II: I felt a hard squeeze from where my heart is supposed to be and was scared, but I answered, 'OK, Grandpa.'
(a) Statements I and II are similar.
(b) Statements I and II are not related to each other.
(c) Statement II is the reason for Statement I.
(d) Statement I is the reason for Statement II.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Grandpa's announcement (I) comes first.
Martin's fear and reply (II) are his reaction to it.

Answer: (d) Statement I is the reason for Statement II.

Example 2: Reason completion: the family's guilt (2025) · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder board level

Complete with a reason: In The Medicine Bag, Martin and his family felt guilty when 'Grandpa' travelled all alone to their home because ________.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Who were they to him? His only living descendants.
What had they failed to do? Keep in touch; notice his age.

Answer: they were his only living descendants, yet they had kept little contact with him, did not know how old and infirm he had grown, and had neglected their duty to him.

Example 3: 5-mark model: embarrassment and change (specimen) · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

The Medicine Bag traces the narrator's attitude to his Sioux Grandfather, from mild embarrassment to appreciation. Summarise the reasons for this embarrassment and the change. Write 100-150 words, incorporating: (a) Reasons for embarrassment (b) Specific reasons for the change in attitude.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(a) TV stereotype vs reality; the shack; fear of laughter.
(b) Friends' fascination: sister's friends' stories, Grandpa dressed up, the deer-skin vest story, the boys' awe.
End with Martin's acceptance.

Answer: Martin is mildly embarrassed by his grandfather because the real man does not match the image his friends have from television. Grandpa is not tall and stately like the Indians on TV, and he lives not in a tepee but in a part tar-paper shack on a reservation. Although Martin has bragged about him, he never shows his friends Grandpa's picture, fearing they will laugh. His attitude changes when Grandpa comes to stay. Martin's sister's friends spread wonderful stories about him, and Martin's friends ask to meet him. Grandpa dresses for the occasion, and the boys are awed; they listen in silence to his story of killing a deer whose skin made his vest, and they are reluctant to leave. Their admiration frees Martin from his fear and makes him proud of Grandpa. (133 words)

Example 4: 10-mark model: the friends and peer pressure (2025) · 10 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Why do Martin's friends appreciate his 'Grandpa' in the short story, The Medicine Bag? How does peer pressure affect Martin's attitude towards his 'Grandpa'? Answer in 200-250 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Part 1: reasons the friends appreciate Grandpa (stories spread, his dress, his stories, exotic figure, respect for difference).
Part 2: peer pressure first causes embarrassment, then pride; acceptance of the medicine bag.
Avoid summarising the whole story (2025 examiners).

Answer: Martin's friends appreciate his grandfather for reasons Martin never expected. Before they meet him, Martin's sister's friends have already spread wonderful stories about the old man, so the boys are eager to see him. Grandpa dresses for the occasion, and his appearance makes them murmur 'wow'. When he tells them how he killed a deer and that his vest is made from its skin, they listen in awe. To them he is an exotic, unusual figure from a world they have only imagined, and his stories seem like tales of a life they have never known. They sit respectfully quiet, and Martin's mother has to send them home. Their response shows that they respect, and accept, cultural difference.

Peer pressure shapes Martin's attitude at both stages. At first, fear of his friends' laughter makes him hide the truth: Grandpa is not the tall, stately Indian of television, and he lives in a part tar-paper shack, so Martin never shows them his picture. When the same friends admire Grandpa, that pressure turns into pride. Their appreciation relieves Martin of his fear of embarrassment and makes him see his grandfather in a new light, with a new sense of responsibility towards him.

This change prepares Martin to accept the medicine bag. Peer pressure, usually a harmful force, here leads him back to his roots, though one may ask whether he must also learn to value his heritage for its own sake. (239 words)

Example 5: MCQ: central idea (specimen) · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

Which of the following BEST captures the central idea of the short story, The Medicine Bag?
(a) Embracing one's cultural roots.
(b) Disrespect for the older generation.
(c) The fruits of modernisation.
(d) Peer pressure in adolescents.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(d) is a theme, but not the central idea.
The story ends with Martin accepting the medicine bag, his heritage.

Answer: (a) Embracing one's cultural roots.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.

Question 4(iii)(a), 10 marks (2025): the friends' appreciation and the effect of peer pressure, 200-250 words. Indicative split; the scheme lists expected points. (10 marks)

Step	Marks
Reasons Martin's friends appreciate Grandpa, with incidents	4
Effect of peer pressure on Martin: embarrassment, then pride and acceptance	4
Organisation, expression and word limit	2

Where students lose marks in The Medicine Bag

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Summarising the whole story
The 2025 examiners: 'Most candidates could not answer this question properly, and instead ended up writing a summary of the short story.'
Do this: Write only on the friends' appreciation and peer pressure, as the question asks.
Usually costs: Most of the 10 marks.
Mistake: Ignoring peer pressure or the change in Martin
The examiners noted that 'peer pressure or the change in Martin's attitude to his grandpa was not discussed in many cases'.
Do this: Give the second part of the question its own paragraph.
Usually costs: Half the content marks.
Mistake: Indirect reason completions
On the family's guilt, 'most candidates gave indirect responses and failed to state the correct answer and the exact reason' (CISCE examiners' comments, 2025).
Do this: State the cause directly: only descendants, little contact, unaware of his frailty, neglect.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Choosing a theme instead of the central idea
Peer pressure is important, so students pick it. The specimen's central idea is embracing one's cultural roots.
Do this: The central idea is where the story ends: Martin accepting his heritage.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on The Medicine Bag

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level
Complete with a reason: Martin never showed his friends Grandpa's picture because ________.
Hint
Think of the television image.
Answer
he feared they would laugh, since Grandpa was not tall and stately like the Indians on television and did not live in a tepee.
Q2 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
What does the medicine bag symbolise? Answer in about 50 words.
Hint
Heritage, responsibility, continuity.
Answer
The medicine bag symbolises Sioux heritage passed from one generation to the next. In accepting it, Martin accepts his roots and the responsibility of carrying them forward, completing his change from embarrassment to pride.
Q3 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Describe Grandpa's character in 100-150 words, incorporating: • His journey and its effect on the family • His meeting with Martin's friends.
Hint
Determination, dignity, storytelling.
Answer
Points: old and infirm, yet determined enough to travel alone; his arrival makes the family realise their neglect and feel guilty; dignified, he dresses for the boys' visit; a gifted storyteller (the deer and the vest) who holds them in awe; a keeper of tradition who passes on the medicine bag. Conclude that his quiet dignity changes Martin's view.
Q4 · 10 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
'Peer pressure is not always harmful.' Discuss with reference to The Medicine Bag, in 200-250 words.
Hint
Show both the harmful and the helpful effect on Martin.
Answer
Points: harmful first (embarrassment, hiding the picture, measuring Grandpa against TV stereotypes); helpful later (friends' admiration, Martin's relief and new pride, sense of responsibility, acceptance of the medicine bag); evaluation: the change came from outside, but it opened Martin's eyes to his heritage; the story suggests that peers who respect difference can help a young person value his roots.
Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
How does the story challenge stereotypes of Native Americans? Answer in about 80 words.
Hint
Compare the TV image with the real Grandpa.
Answer
Television shows Indians as tall, stately figures living in tepees; the real Grandpa is a small old man living in a part tar-paper shack. Yet it is the real man, with his dignity and stories, who wins the boys' admiration. The story shows that stereotypes mislead both outsiders and members of the community, and that real people are more interesting than images.
Q6 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which of the following is NOT a reason the 2025 marking scheme gives for the friends' appreciation of Grandpa?
(a) Wonderful stories spread by Martin's sister's friends
(b) Grandpa dressed for the occasion
(c) His story of killing a deer
(d) Grandpa gave each boy a gift
Hint
Recall the scheme's points.
Answer
(d) Grandpa gave each boy a gift.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Who wrote The Medicine Bag?Show answer
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve.
2.Why was Martin embarrassed about his Grandpa?Show answer
Grandpa did not match the TV image of tall, stately Indians in tepees; he lived in a part tar-paper shack.
3.Why did the family feel guilty when Grandpa arrived?Show answer
They were his only descendants but had neglected him and not realised how old and infirm he had become.
4.What story did Grandpa tell the boys?Show answer
How he killed a deer, whose skin made his vest.
5.What is the central idea of the story?Show answer
Embracing one's cultural roots.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

Can you give three reasons for Martin's embarrassment?
Can you list four reasons the friends admired Grandpa?
Can you explain peer pressure at both stages of the story?
Can you explain the symbol of the medicine bag?
Can you answer the family-guilt reason completion precisely?

The Medicine Bag: frequently asked questions

What is The Medicine Bag about?

A boy, Martin, overcomes his embarrassment about his Sioux grandfather when his friends admire the old man, and he accepts the medicine bag as his heritage.

What does the medicine bag represent?

Sioux heritage and the responsibility of passing it on.

How does peer pressure work in the story?

It first makes Martin hide his grandfather and then, when the friends admire him, makes Martin proud of him.

Why are there only two quotations on this page?

The story is in copyright, so this page uses only the lines printed in the CISCE 2025 paper. Collect a few more short quotations from your Prism text.

Based on: CISCE ISC 2027 Appendix I: Prism: A Collection of ISC Short Stories (Evergreen Publications); CISCE ISC Specimen Question Paper 2025: English Paper 2 (Literature in English), with answer key; CISCE ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance 2025: Literature in English (board paper, marking scheme, examiners' comments)