SPM PAPER 2

SECTION D: COMPILATION OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FOR F5 POEMS

Question 32

What Has Happened to Lulu

Question Answer
Who is the persona? A small child/ A little child/ A young child
What woke the persona up? Voices of people arguing/ Voices of Lulu and
her mother
Whose voices do you think are heard? Kidnapper, Lulu, Mother etc
What did Lulu bring with her? A money-box
Why did mother ‘crumple the note’? She doesn’t want to worry the young child
In stanza 5, what does the phrase ‘gust of rain’ A cry/ Somebody’s cry/ Crying sound
being compared to?
In stanza 4, what can you infer from the line ‘I Lulu left the house in a car/ Lulu ran away in a
heard an engine roar’? car
In your opinion, why do teenagers run away - Bad peer influence
from home?/ Why do you think Lulu ran away? - Desire for misinformed freedom
- Child neglect
- Misunderstanding with family
What does the ‘window wide’ signify? It signifies that Lulu went out through the
window
What is the theme portrayed in the poem? Parents and siblings’ feeling of grief/ Feelings of
helplessness
How do we know that the persona’s mother She cries in helplessness and wanders about the
feels sad? house
What does the ‘curtain flapping free’ It symbolises the running away of the girl and
symbolise? her new life/ it symbolises the running away of
the girl and freedom
How does the persona’s mother show that she She wanders about the house and not being able
does not know what to do about the situation? to tell the persona the truth of the situation
What moral lesson have you learned from the We should never think of leaving or running
poem? away from our family
What do you think was written in the note The note is probably an apology for her actions
crumpled by the persona’s mother? and also a note of love for the persona and
mother
Why do you think Lulu’s mother crumpled the She was sad, disappointed, she did not want the
note on the fire? persona to know
In your opinion why didn’t Lulu take the rag- She did not want to remember her childhood etc
doll with her when she left? Explain. (SPM
2016, 2 marks)
Who is the owner of the old rag-doll? Lulu
‘You don’t know what to do?’ Feeling: Confused
How does mother feel about Lulu’s Reason: Mother does not know what to do to
disappearance? Provide a reason. find her daughter
Do you think Lulu will return? Give a reason for Yes. Why?
your answer. No. Why?
The mother is upset about her daughter. Suggest Make a police report
two actions that the mother can take in this Ask her neighbours and friends if they have
situation. heard from Lulu
In your opinion, is the mother doing the right Yes. Why?
thing by hiding the truth from the persona? No. Why?
Give a reason for your answer.

SPM PAPER 2
SECTION D: COMPILATION OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FOR F5 POEMS
Question 32
 A Poison Tree
Question Answer
How does the persona feel when he sees his He feels happy as it seems he has successfully
enemy lying on the ground? destroyed his enemy
What is the meaning of the line ‘and I sunned it It means the persona pretended and covered up
with smiles’? his anger with insincere smiles
In stanza 1, who are the two people the persona A friend and an enemy
was angry with?
‘And it grew both day and night’ The word ‘it’ refers to his feeling of anger
What does the word ‘it’ in the line refer to?
What is the theme portrayed in the poem? The dangers of keeping our anger within
ourselves
What two things does the persona do to help his He watered it with fears and tears and sunned it
anger grow? with smiles and pretense
What happened to the anger the persona had The persona allowed the anger to grow within
towards his enemy? himself
What moral lesson have you learned from the We should not harbour anger to the point that
poem? we lose all senses of right and wrong
If you are the persona’ foe, whom he is angry I would make an effort to talk things over with
with, what would you do? the persona and apologise to him for the
misunderstanding
What does the shiny apple signify? It signifies the results of the persona’s obsession
with his anger
In stanza 2, which word in the poem means Deceitful
‘devious’?
‘I told it not, my wrath did grow’ [Stanza 1] ‘It’ refers to the persona’s wrath/anger/ feelings
In the line above, what does ‘it’ refer to?
‘I told it not, my wrath did grow’ [Stanza 1] The foe might have done something
Why do you think the persona did not share his unforgivable
feelings with his foe?
Suggest one reason why the persona did not tellHe /She did not want to talk to the foe because
his wrath to his foe he hated the foe so much
Accept logical answers
In your opinion, do you think the foe deserved Yes. Why?
what happened to him? No. Why?
Give a reason for your answer.
In your opinion, what should the persona have The persona should have talked to his foe about
done to prevent the tragedy? his anger to resolve the issue

SPM PAPER 2
SECTION D: COMPILATION OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FOR F5 POEMS
Question 32
 The Charge of the Light Brigade
Question Answer
From stanza 1, which words tell us that the Into the valley of death
soldiers were entering a very dangerous place?
In stanza 1, which line indicates that the soldiers Into the valley of death
would most surely die.
In stanza 1, which phrase tells you that the Charge for the guns
enemies are waiting with their weapons? (The reason why the commander asked to be
ready with the guns probably after seeing the
enemies all geared up)
In stanza 1, who is giving the commands? The commander, leader, captain

Suggest two ways to protect your country: 1. Do not initiate racism

2. Be secretive about our country’ weapons
Based on stanza 1, who were the six hundred? Soldiers/ Army

In stanza 2, what does the word ‘Theirs’ refer Soldiers/ Army

to?

‘Not though the soldier knew’ That someone has made a mistake
From this line in Stanza 2, what do you think the
soldiers know?

In stanza 2, who were the six hundred? Soldiers/ Army

Which line means the soldiers should not answer Theirs not to make reply
or say anything?

Which line means the soldiers should not ask Theirs not to reason why
anything?

In stanza 2, which word means a ‘careless Blundered

mistake’?

In stanza 3, how were the soldiers attacked? Cannons

If you were one of the soldiers in this poem, Action: Keep fighting
what would you have done? Reason: I need to protect my country and
State your action and give a reason for you cooperate with my teammates to do it
answer.
How do you think soldiers feel when they go to Emotion: Sad
war. Give a reason to support your answer.
Reason: They have to leave their family/
families
Why do you think the line ‘rode the six hundred’ The soldiers keep moving forward
is repeated many times in the poem?
 SPM PAPER 2
SECTION D: COMPILATION OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FOR F5
POEMS
Question 32

The Living Photograph

Question Answer
From stanza 1, which phrase shows that the Straight-back
persona’s grandmother has a good posture?
Which line in stanza 1 tells us the grandmother A kind, old smile round her eyes
is loving?
In stanza 1, what was the grandmother wearing Pleated skirt
in the photograph?
In stanza 1, the ‘white’ hand belongs to whom?

‘Her soup forgot to boil’ She has Alzheimer/ becomes forgetful because
What can you infer from this line? of her old age/ senile
In stanza 2, what does the phrase ‘the awful The afterlife
place’ refer to?
Which line in stanza 2 tells us the grandmother Her soup forgot to boil
has become senile?
In stanza 2, which word means ‘terrifying’? Awful

What happened to the grandmother in the last She died

two lines of stanza 2? Dead
What was the persona’s age when she took the Three
photo?

Based on stanza 3, what does the word ‘there’ In the photograph

refer to?
In stanza 3, which word means ‘wrinkled’? Crinkled

‘The awful place grandmothers go’ Because they died and did not come back
Provide a reason why people go to that awful Accept logical answers
place.
How do you feel when someone you love dies? Sad/ heartbroken
Accept logical answers
Do you love your grandmother? Give two 1) accompany her
examples on how to show your love to her? 2) make breakfast for her
Do you think keeping old family photos are Opinion: yes
important? Give a reason. Reason: to keep the memory
In your opinion, why is the grandmother ‘tall’ in
the photo?
How do you think the persona feels when she
looks at the family photograph? Give a reason.
She was still young and healthy when the photo
was taken
Feeling: sad / happy etc
Reason: she missed her grandmother / she
remembers the good times with her grandmother
etc