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Read the following extracts… (Class 12 English 2026, Q8A)

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EnglishCBSE Class 12 · Board exam 2026, set 301/1/1 · 4 marks · Case-based

CBSE Class 12 English 2026: question 8(A)

Set in the CBSE Class 12 board exam of 2026, paper 301/1/1, section C, question 8(A), for 4 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q8(A) · 4 marks · Case-basedCompetency-basedMemories of Childhood

Read the following extracts and answer the questions for ANY ONE of the given two (A) or (B):

I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother, I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's ! In my anguish, I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder.
(Memories of Childhood)

  1. (i)

    Complete the following suitably "Then I lost my spirit", indicates that the speaker _________.

    1 mark
  2. (ii)

    What does Zit Kala-Sa imply about the prejudice prevailing in society when she talks of having 'suffered extreme indignities' ?

    1 mark
  3. (iii)

    Why did Zit Kala-Sa yearn to be with her mother in her moment of anguish ?

    1 mark
  4. (iv)

    The tone of the narrator in the extract can be best described as

    1. (A)bitter and strong willed
    2. (B)detached and impersonal
    3. (C)pained and despairing
    4. (D)grateful and reflective
    1 mark

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2026 board paper, set 301/1/1.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Think about what cutting her hair meant to her.

Hint 2

Compare how her mother treated her with how the school staff did.

Hint 3

Look at words like 'anguish' and 'moaned'.

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

Verified: two independent solves agreeChecked 2026-11-01

  1. (i) The speaker felt defeated, humiliated and helpless, and her will to resist was broken.

    1 mark

  2. (ii) She implies that society was prejudiced against Native Americans, who were treated as inferior and made to give up their identity.

    1 mark

  3. (iii) She yearned for her mother because only her mother used to comfort her and reason with her gently, and no one at the school did.

    1 mark

  4. (iv) Option C: pained and despairing.

    1 mark

Answer: (i) she lost her will to resist; (ii) society was prejudiced and disrespectful towards Native Americans; (iii) only her mother offered comfort and gentle reasoning; (iv) C

Where the marks are

  • (i) Loss of spirit, defeated (1 mark)
  • (ii) Prejudice and humiliation (1 mark)
  • (iii) Mother's comfort and reasoning (1 mark)
  • (iv) C (1 mark)

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Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from Memories of Childhood, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2026 board paper, set 301/1/1: every question, by section.

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