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'... and heard them gnaw off… (Class 12 English 2026, Q13b)

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EnglishCBSE Class 12 · Board exam 2026, set 301/5/1 · 5 marks · Long answer

CBSE Class 12 English 2026: question 13(b)

Set in the CBSE Class 12 board exam of 2026, paper 301/5/1, section C, question 13(b), for 5 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q13(b) · 5 marks · Long answerMemories of Childhood

'... and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit.' This episode highlighted the indignity meted out to Zitkala-Sa. Support your answer with evidence from the text. (Memories of Childhood)

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2026 board paper, set 301/5/1.

Hints

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

Hint 1

What did long hair mean in her culture, according to her mother?

Hint 2

Recall how she was taken from under the bed and made to sit.

Hint 3

Think about how others reacted when she cried, and how she felt afterwards.

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 agree and the official marking scheme matchesChecked 2026-11-01

  1. Discrimination (1 mark): Zitkala-Sa is a Native American girl in a missionary school. The school tries to suppress her cultural identity, and cutting the long hair that her people wear as a sign of pride is part of this. Her mother had told her that only cowards and mourners have their hair shingled.

    1 mark

  2. Treated like an animal (1 mark): Her protest is ignored. She hides under a bed, is dragged out, carried downstairs and tied to a chair. She feels tossed about like a 'wooden puppet' and struggles helplessly.

    1 mark

  3. No sympathy, humiliation (1 mark): She cries aloud, but nobody cares and everyone looks on unmoved. Her hair is cut, she feels she is 'one of the many little animals driven by a herder', and she loses her spirit. The humiliation is psychological as well as physical.

    1 mark

  4. Model answer (Expression, 2 marks): In Memories of Childhood, the cutting of Zitkala-Sa's braid shows the indignity done to her. She comes from a culture in which only cowards and mourners cut their hair, so the rule is an attack on her identity. She hides under a bed, but she is dragged out, tied to a chair and tossed about like a wooden puppet. She cries aloud, yet nobody comforts her. Her hair is cut, and she feels like a helpless animal driven by a herder. The humiliation is deeper than physical pain, since it takes away her dignity, her culture and her spirit. The incident shows how the school tried to erase Native American identity in the name of civilisation.

    2 marks

Answer: The forced haircut shows cultural discrimination, rough handling like an animal or puppet, indifference to her cries and psychological humiliation that broke her spirit.

Where the marks are

  • Discrimination as a Native American; attack on cultural identity (1 mark)
  • Dragged out, tied to a chair, treated like an animal or puppet (1 mark)
  • Cried aloud, nobody cared; psychological humiliation and loss of spirit (1 mark)
  • Expression: grammar, spelling, coherence, 120-150 words (2 marks)

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