COMPILATION OF POEMS HOTS QUESTIONS

(AND SUGGESTED ANSWERS)

1) The Living Photograph

Giving Suggestions [2 marks]

Q There are many signs of old age. One of them is becoming absent-minded. Suggest two others.

A - Losing teeth - Bent back / back ache

- Poor eyesight - Head turning bald
- Crinkled/wrinkled skin - Slower movement

Q How would you preserve the memories of your loved ones? State two ways.

A - Keep their photographs / belongings such as shirts or bags

- Follow their advice or practise what we learnt from them
- Visit their grave or do their favourite activities

Q How can we treasure our memories with our loved ones? Give two ways.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q Appreciating the elders is lacking among teenagers nowadays.

How can you promote this value among teenagers? Suggest two ways.

A - Through awareness campaigns at school

- Through advertisements on social media
- Through posters in public area such as billboards
- Through themed competitions such as essay writing or short videos

Q Suggest two ways you can express your love towards the elderly people.

A - Ask for / listen to their advice when you are in trouble

- Do things they love for them such as cook their favourite food
- Always check on them to see if they are healthy or sick
- Buy them presents or celebrate their birthday

Q Give two suggestions on how you can show your love and appreciation towards your grandmother.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q The poet shows how she loves and appreciates her grandmother in the poem. Give two other ways how
you can show your love and appreciation towards your family members.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q We must treasure our elders while they are alive. How would you do this? Give two ways.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

Q State two ways how to strengthen the relationship between the younger and the older generations.

A - Spend quality time doing activities together (such as walk in the park or conversation over tea)
- Young people show respect by asking for advice from older people
- Older people show that they care about younger people by sharing their life experience
Response – Reason [2 marks]

Q Some children sent their parents to nursing homes as they get older. Do you agree with their deed?

A Opinion: Disagree Opinion: Agree

Reason: We should look after our parents like how Reason: They are safer at nursing homes / They
they raised us / We are indebted to our parents would have friends to talk and won’t feel lonely

Q Apart from keeping photos, give another choice to make sure memories stay alive. Give a reason for your
answer.

A Way: Follow their advice in life Way: Keep their belongings such as dress or bag
Reason: We can feel closer to them Reason: It can remind us about them

Q How do you feel about death? Give a reason to support your answer.

A Feeling: Scared / Fear / Anxious / Worried Feeling: Sad / Unhappy

Reason: Because I don’t know what will happen Reason: Because I have to leave my loved ones /
when I die / Because death can be painful Because I will be separated from my loved ones

Q Suggest what you can do to foster a good relationship with your family members?

A - Spend quality time together doing activities everyone enjoys (such as watching movies, picnic)
- Respect each other by respecting each other’s privacy

Q State a way to show kindness to the elders. Give a reason for your answer.

A - Help them to do things they find hard to do such as crossing the road
- Patiently teach/guide them to do things they do not know how to such as using modern gadgets

Q The writer admires her grandmother for her personal qualities.

State one quality and support your answer with evidence from the poem.

A Quality: Loving / Caring Quality: Kind

Evidence: Her big hand holds mine Evidence: A kind, old smile round her eyes

Quality: Elegant / Fashionable Quality: Brave / Strong

Evidence: She wore white broderie anglaise Evidence: Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in
shirt/pleated skirt the eyes

Q What is the emotion felt by the persona in stanza 3? Why do you think so?

A Emotion: The persona misses/loves her grandmother

Reason: The persona keeps a photo of the grandmother / The persona wants to remember the
grandmother as she appears in the photo (smiling, healthy) / The persona reminisces his/her childhood
memories with grandmother.

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

 2) The Charge of the Light Brigade

Giving Suggestions [2 marks]

Q Suggest two ways to protect your country.

A - Join the army and serve as a soldier

- Do not leak secrets about our country to other countries
- Keep good image of our country
- Make our country’s name known worldwide for good things such as sports or academic
achievements

Q One of the consequences of war is the loss of lives. State two others.

A - Destruction of properties - Jobs or food will be scarce

- Recession / Economy will be negatively - Create more refugees in other countries
affected - Health problems

Q How do you think we should reward the soldiers who had fought for our country? Suggest two ways.

A - Provide support for them and their family such as monthly payment or pension
- Give them special concession for many facilities and services
- Reward them with medal of honour or certificate
- Offer them different jobs after their retirement as a soldier

Q How can we honour our soldiers today? Suggest two ways.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q What can you do to make your country proud? Suggest two ways.

A - Maintain safety and cleanliness - Keep good image of our country

- Make our country’s name known worldwide - Be a good and respectable citizen
for good things such as sports or academic - Stop corruption
achievements - Be good and help each other
Response – Reason [2 marks]

Q Do you think the sacrifice of the soldiers was worth it? State your reason.

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Reason: They proved their bravery / They defended Reason: They did not complete their mission
their country

Q If you were one of the soldiers, would you have followed the given orders? Why?

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Reason: I will be court-martialled (punished) if I Reason: The order was a blunder / I don’t want to
don’t follow order / To prove my loyalty to the follow a suicide mission / I don’t want to die a
country meaningless death

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

Q What would you have done if you were one of the soldiers in The Light Brigade? Give a reason to support
your answer.

A Action: I will follow the order Opinion: I won’t follow order / I will run away
Reason: I will be court-martialled (punished) if I Reason: The order was a blunder / I don’t want to
don’t follow order / To prove my loyalty to the follow a suicide mission / I don’t want to die a
country meaningless death

Q If you were the leader of the troop, what would you have done when you knew you had made a mistake?
Why?

A Action: I would cancel the order / I would tell the troop to retreat
Reason: It was a suicide mission / The troop was not suitable for head-on assault / The troop was not
properly equipped for frontal assault

Q Based on stanza 3, if you were the commander of the Light Brigade, what would you do in that situation?
Give a reason for your answer.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q Do you think war is necessary? State a reason.

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Reason: Some problems cannot be solved peacefully Reason: Everything can be solved peacefully / War
/ We need to defend ourselves if we are attacked only breeds more misunderstanding or problems

Q Do you agree that war is cruel? Give one reason to support your answer.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q “Charge for the guns!” he said.

People tell us what to do almost every day. How would you react if you were told to do something beyond
your capabilities? Provide a reason for your answer.

A Action: I would just do as asked Action: I would be honest and explain that I cannot
Reason: I do not want to cause further problems / I do it
can learn new skills to solve the problem Reason: I do not want to disappoint / I do not want
to cause future problem if I failed the task

Q How can we honour our soldiers today? Suggest one way and give a reason for the suggestion.

A Way: Retell the story of their bravery in textbooks or films

Reason: New generation needs to know about their bravery and sacrifice for the country

Way: Give special concessions for them

Reason: They deserve special treatments for their sacrifices

Q How do you think you would feel if you knew the enemies were waiting for you at the end of the road?
How would you tackle the situation?

A Feeling: Surprised / Nervous / Scared

Action: Regroup to plan a new action / Report to the commander

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

 3) What Has Happened to Lulu?

Giving Suggestions [2 marks]

Q Lulu has left the house. Give two reasons why do you think Lulu decided to do so.

A - She wants freedom - She got into an argument with Mother

- Her mother was abusive / too protective - She wanted to stay with father

Q The number of teenagers running away from home is on the rise. Suggest two contributing factors.

A - They want freedom - They want to follow their friends due to

- Their parents are abusive / too protective peer pressure

Q In your opinion, why do you think teenagers run away? Give two reasons.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Response – Reason [2 marks]

Q In Stanza 6, what is the persona’s mother doing and why do you think she reacts that way?

A Action: She was panicking

Reason: Lulu ran away from home / Lulu disappeared / She did not know what to do

Q In your opinion, what do you think had happened to Lulu? Give a reason.

A Opinion: She ran away from home

Reason: She got into a heated argument with mother / Mother was too protective / Mother was abusive /
She followed her boyfriend or friend / She wanted freedom

Q Imagine that you are a friend of the mother.

What would you do to console her and why would you do this?

A Action: I would bring food and help around the Action: I would help her find Lulu
house Reason: When someone is in trouble and panicking,
Reason: When someone is in trouble and panicking, they often become clueless
they forget to look after themselves

Q If Lulu turned up at your house, what would you do, and why would you do this?

A Action: I would shelter her / I would let her stay Action: I would inform her mother / the police
with me Reason: Her mother must be worried so she needs
Reason: She needed help so I have to help her to know Lulu’s whereabouts

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

Q The persona’s mother is upset because her daughter is missing from home.
If you were the mother, what would you do? Give a reason.

A Action: Report to the police Action: Spread “Missing People” posters

Reason: The police could help to find missing people Reason: To spread news and help locate the missing
person

Action: Ask help from neighbours Action: Report to the police

Reason: It’s easier to find people or get information Reason: The police could help to find missing people
when many people help

Q What would you do if any of your family members disappear from home? Why would you do such action?

A - Same answers as the previous question

4) A Poison Tree

Giving Suggestions [2 marks]

Q What is the best thing to do when you are angry? Suggest two ways.

A - Listening to music or calming sounds like - Sleep to forget problems

birds chirping or water flowing - Do active exercises such as jogging or
- Eat delicious food workout

Q The persona in the poem is very angry with his foe. If you were his friend, suggest two advices you would
give to him.

A - Tell the foe about how he felt and discuss - Learn to manage his anger
how to solve it - Forgive the foe
- Do not bottle up his feelings - Do not do things he will regret

Q Anger management is very important. Give two reasons to support this statement.

A - Anger leads to vengeance - When we are angry, we lose control of

- Being angry is not good for our health ourselves and we may do things we will
- We do reckless things when we are angry regret

Q List down two things that you can learn from this poem.

A - We should not keep our feelings to - We should try to find a solution to our
ourselves problems
- We should manage our anger - We should forgive everyone

Q What would you do if you had a misunderstanding with your enemy? Suggest two ways.

A - Use a middle man to discuss a solution with the enemy

- Forgive his/her mistake and move on
- Think positively and try not to get angry

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

Q Putting yourself in the persona’s shoes, list two ways you can resolve a conflict that you may have with
your enemy without hurting one another.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Response – Reason [2 marks]

Q How would you feel if you had a misunderstanding with your friend? Explain.

A Feeling: Sad / Worried Feeling: Disappointed

Reason: I will have no one to talk to / I will be lonely Reason: I will lose a friend to share my problems
/ I will miss my friend

Q The persona in the poem exacts revenge on the foe. Why do you think he did that? What advice would you
give to the persona?

A Reason: He was angry / He was in pain

Advice: Forgive the foe / Anger only breeds more anger / We must love one another

Q Do you think it is right for the persona to treat his enemy in such a way? How would you treat your enemy?

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Action: I will do like what the persona did / I will get Action: I will forgive the enemy / I will give him a
revenge second chance / I will be patient

Q “In the morning glad I see

My outstretched beneath the tree.”
The lines above show an emotion expressed by the persona. Do you think the emotion expressed is right?
Give a reason.

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Reasons: The foe had done terrible things to the Reasons: We should not be happy with another
persona so the foe deserved it person’s misfortune / We should not exact
vengeance on others

Q If you were the persona, would you have been glad to see your “foe outstretched beneath the tree”? Give
a reason to support your answer.

A - Same answers as the previous question

Q If you are angry at someone, would you do what the persona had done to his foe? Give a reason for your
decision.

A Opinion: Yes Opinion: No

Reasons: They have done terrible things to me so Reasons: We should forgive others / Vengeance will
they deserve it breed more vengeance / They deserve a second
chance to redeem themselves

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY

Q What would you feel if your friend doesn’t forgive you? Explain what you would do to overcome it.

A Feeling: Sad / Upset / Devastated

Action: I would apologise to my friend / I would try to explain the situation / I would find a way to redeem
my friend’s trust

Prepared by: Hafizuddin bin Yahaya / Mr. HBY