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Going Places
Think-as-you-read Questions
Question 1.
Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
Answer:
Both the girls belong to poor families. As per their economic background, they would find a job in a biscuit factory after schooling.
Question 2.
What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of? WTiy does Jansie discourage her from having such dreams?
Answer:
Sophie was dreaming of opening her own boutique. She believed that she was as efficient and original as Mary Quant. So she would easily get a job of a manager in a shop or would become an actress. In this way, she would earn money and then would open her own boutique. Jansie was a practical girl. She knew that all these were Sophie’s dreams which were not possible so she discouraged her from having such dreams.
Question 3.
Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
Answer:
When Geoff told his father that Sophie had met Danny Casey, she wriggled because she knew that her father would not believe it. He would take it as a story that she had made up.
Question 4.
Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer:
Initially, Geoff is doubtful but when Sophie starts adding the details, he starts believing in her story. But when she tells him about the proposed date with Danny Casey, Geoff becomes sceptical.
Question 5.
Does her father believe Sophie’s story?
Answer:
Sophie’s father does not believe her. He knows that she is a dreamer and lives in a world of imagination. She is used to make up stories to impress him.
Question 6.
How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in the fantasy of her future?
Answer:
Geoff is a person who speaks very little. Sophie knows that he has his own world which is far away from her. She believes that he visits places she has never been to. She hopes that in future, he would introduce her to the beautiful and glamorous world which is the most appropriate place for her.
Question 7.
Which country did Danny Casey play for?
Answer:
Danny Casey, an Irish sports star, used to play for the Irish team.
Question 8.
Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
Answer:
Sophie did not want Jansie to know about her story with Danny for two reasons. First, it was meant to be something special just between her brother Geoff and herself. Secondly, Jansie would have told the whole neighbourhood about it.
Question 9.
Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey?
Answer:
No, Sophie did not meet Danny Casey, but she liked fantasising that she had met him.
Question 10.
Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person?
Answer:
The only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person was in a football match on a Saturday. Sophie along with her father and little brother Derek went to watch United. They saw champion Danny Casey there to play football:
Going Places Understanding the text
Question 1.
Sophie and Jansie were classmates and friends. What were the differences between them that show up in the story?
OR
How different is Jansie from Sophie?
Answer:
Sophie and Jansie were classmates and friends but were very different from each other. Sophie was filled with fantasies and desires. She lived in her world of dreams which was far away from reality. She wanted to open a boutique or become either an actress or a manager. Though she came from a humble background, she wanted to be part of a rich, sophisticated circle. Moreover, she liked the football star Danny Casey so much that she started hero-worshipping him. Her wild fantasies forced her to imagine not only talking to Danny Casey but to even going for a date with him. She is so much engrossed in her world of fantasy that she starts hallucinating about Danny Casey.
On the contrary, Jansie is more realistic and practical. She is well aware of her family background. She knew that both she and Sophie would have to work in a biscuit factory after passing out the school. She kept on reminding Sophie of her reality but all in vain. Unlike Sophie who was all the time lost in her own world, Jansie was nosey to know everything. Sophie never shared her secrets with her because she knew that Jansie would blab around her secrets.
Question 2.
How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father?
Answer:
Sophie’s father is symbolic of a typical poor class family man. He works hard to fulfil the needs of his family. He is rough in manners and is described as a ‘heavy breathing man in his vest’. He never believes any of the Sophie’s stories and knows that she is not to be believed due to her characteristic fantasies. When Geoff tells him about Sophie’s meeting with Danny Casey, he gives an expression of disdain and calls it another of her wild stories. He is a practical man who does not like his daughter getting too much involved in her fantasies. As a father, he knows his daughter’s temperament very well. That’s the reason he doesn’t believe in Sophie’s story of having met Danny Casey. Rather he becomes aggressive and warns Sophie that one day she would get into a load of trouble.
Question 3.
Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective, what did he symbolise?
Answer:
Sophie liked her brother Geoff more than any other person. She hero-worships him. Geoff was three years out of school and was working as an apprentice mechanic. She used to confide in him all her secrets. Geoff was silent most of time and Sophie was curious to know the areas of his life about which she knew nothing. In fact she wanted to be admitted more deeply into her brother’s affections and hoped that someday he would take her along with him.
She wanted to be part of the other world which Geoff belonged to. She wanted to visit that world riding with her brother on his motorcycle. He would be in new, shining black leathers and she would wear a yellow dress and then the entire world would applaud and rise to greet both of them. Thus, for Sophie, her brother Geoff was very close to her heart.
Question 4.
What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her family’s financial status?
Answer:
Sophie belonged to a poor family. Her parents managed the household with difficulty. Her father was a typical poor class family man, rough in his manners and indisciplined. The marks of the sweat on his face indicated that he had to work hard throughout the day to earn his livelihood. Sophie’s mother was an average housewife who was burdened with the family’s responsibilities. She was busy with household chores. She had a crooked back due to constant hard work and the incongruity of the bow clearly showed that she was not a sophisticated lady.
Even the younger brother Derek’s comment on Sophie that “she thinks money grows on trees” emphasized the importance of money in the family. The family was living in a small house with minimum requirements, including very old furniture. All those things indicate that Sophie came from a family with a humble background.
Going Places Talking about the text
Question 1.
Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind. Explain.
Answer:
No doubt Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind. As a young girl she is engrossed in the world of fantasy. She talks about buying a shop and having her own boutique. In order to earn money, she would work as an actress or a manager. She imagines meeting Danny Casey, the Irish football star, and even fantasises going for a date with him. She goes to the wharf and waits for him. But he doesn’t come and she feels sad and disappointed.
In fact, it is all in her mind. She herself has created a story in her mind and finally starts hallucinating. But finally when she realises that it is all her fantasy she feels disappointed. Both the things take place in her mind. Thus, her dreams and disappointments are all in Sophie’s mind.
Going Places – Solved Question Bank
Reference-to-Context Questions
Question 1.
“Well, I’ll be a manager then—yes, of course—to begin with. Till I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
Answer the following.
(a) The speaker was sure they would make her a manager to begin with. (True/False)
(b) The speaker knew exactly how things were going to shape up. (True/False)
(c) The speaker thought she would become ________ in the beginning.
(d) The speaker said that she knew how it was all going to ________
Answer:
(a) True
(b) True
(c) a manager
(d) look
Question 2.
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these things.
(a) Jansie was melancholy because she and Sophie worked in the biscuit factory. (True/False)
(b) Jansie and Sophie were earmarked to work in a ________ .
(c) What were Jansie’s feelings about her new job at the biscuit factory?
(d) Jansie wished that ________ wouldn’t say the things she said.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) biscuit factory
(c) melancholy
(d) Sophie
Question 3.
“Huh – if you ever come into money ________ if you ever come into money you ’ll buy us a blessed decent house to live in, thank you very much.”
(a) The speaker says that if they ever come into money, they will buy a decent house. (True/False)
(b) The speaker wants to use the money they come by to buy a decent house. ( True/False)
(c) If you ever come in money you will buy us a ________ decent house.
(d) What kind of house does the speaker think they should be buying?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) blessed
(d) decent/blessed
Question 4.
And she was impatient. She was conscious of a vast world out there waiting for her and she knew instinctively that she would feel as at home there as in the city which had always been her home.
(a) She would feel as confident in that vast world as she did at her home. (True/False)
(b) She was confident of a vast world ________ for her out there.
(c) She was ________ .
(d) She experienced ________ at home and in the city?
Answer:
(a) True
(b) waiting
(c) impatient
(d) confidence
Question 5.
“I met Danny Casey, ” Sophie said.
He looked around abruptly. “Where?”
“In the arcade – funnily enough. ”
“It’s never true. ”
“I did too. ”
“You told Dad?”
(а) Sophie told her brother that she had met Danny Casey. (True/False)
(б) The speaker’s Dad had also seen Danny Casey. (True/False)
(c) Sophie had met Danny Casey, according to her, in the
(d) Sophie said that she had met in the arcade.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) False
(c) arcade
(d) Danny Casey
Question 6.
“Well – he has green eyes. Gentle eyes. And he’s not so tall as you’d think
if she should say about his teeth, but decided against it.
(a) The speaker says that the person she is talking about has green eyes. (True/False)
(b) The person being described is gentle. (True/False)
(c) The speaker decided against speaking ________ .
(d) She wanted to speak about his teeth but ________ against it.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) False
(c) teeth
(d) decided
Question 7.
“One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble, ” her father said aggressively. “Geoff knows it’s true, don’t you, Geoff?”
“He don’t believe you though he’d like to. ”
(a) One of these days Sophie’s father would land in a load of trouble. (True/False)
(b) Sophie turned to Geoff to validate what she was saying. (True/False)
(c) According to Sophie’s father, Geoff would like to ________ what Sophie had said. (True/False)
(d) What, according to Sophie’s father, would she land herself into by her talking?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) believe
(d) trouble
Question 8.
“….And, then just as he was going, he said, if I would care to meet him next week he would give me an autograph then. Of course, I said I would. ”
(a) The speaker said that just as he was going, he enquired if Sophie would care to go with him. (True/False)
(b) The speaker offered to take her autograph next week. (True/False)
(c) He offered to give his ________ when he and Sophie met the following week.
(d) He offered to give his autograph ________.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) False
(c) autograph
(d) next week
Question 9.
On Saturday they made their weekly pilgrimage to watch United. Sophie and her father and little Derek went down near the goal – Geoff, as always, went with his mates higher up.
(a) They went to watch a game by United on Wednesday. (True/False)
(b) Geoff went with his ________ higher up while the rest sat near the goal.
(c) For Sophie and her family, the weekly visit to the football game was like a ________ .
id) Who, along with Geoff, sat higher up to watch the game?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) mates
(c) pilgrimage
(d) his mates
Question 10.
“What’s this you’ve been telling?” Jansie said, next week.
‘About what?”
“Your Geoff told our Frank you met Danny Casey. ”
This wasn’t an inquisition, just Jansie being nosey,
but Sophie was startled.
(a) Jansie asked Sophie what she had been telling others. (True/False)
(b) Jansie said that their Frank had learnt from Sophie’s Geoff that Sophie had ________ Danny Casey.
(c) By enquiring whether Sophie had actually met Danny Casey what was she not carrying out?
(d) The name of Jansie’s brother was ________ .
Answer:
(a) True
(b) met
(c) an Inquisition
(d) Frank
Question 11.
It was meant to be something special just between them. Something secret. It wasn’t a Jansie kind of thing at all. Tell gawky Jansie something like that and the whole neighbourhood would get to know it. Damm that Geoff, was nothing sacred?
(a) According to the author, if something was told to Jansie, it remained a secret. (True/False)
(b) The secret between the speaker and Jansie was meant to be something ________ between them.
(c) What unique quality did the message told to Jansie have?
(d) As Jansie broadcast the message, what word did the speaker use, to describe Jansie?
Answer:
(a) False
(b) special
(c) secrecy
(d) gawky
Question 12.
She realised then that Jansie didn’t know about the date bit – Geoff hadn’t told about that. She breathed more easily. So Geoff hadn’t let her down after all. He believed in her after all. After all, some things might be sacred.
(a) The speaker realised that Jansie did not know about her secret date. (True/False)
(b) Geoff had not told Jansie about his secret date. (True/False)
(c) As Geoff had not let down the speaker she ________ more easily.
(d) ________ were considered sacred between Geoff and the speaker.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) False
(c) breathed
(d) some things
Going Places Short Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from living in a world of fantasy?
Answer:
Jansie was a realistic and practical girl. She knew very well about her socio-economic background and accepted it. Being a good friend of Sophie, she often reminded her of the reality of their lives. She knew that Sophie lived in the world of her fantasy. But she always used to discourage her from living in that world because she knew that it would be heartbreaking for Sophie.
Question 2.
Why did Jansie discourage Sophie from having dreams?
Answer:
The elderly persons had come to know that, that was the last French lesson they were going to attend as per the order received. They had earlier been indifferent, so in order to express their gratitude and respect, they had come in full attendance on the last day.
Question 3.
What is unrealistic about Sophie’s dreams of her future life?
Answer:
Sophie belonged to a poor family. Her parents were managing the basic necessities of life with great difficulty. But Sophie had high dreams. She had plans to set up her own boutique. She would like to be a manager or an actress. But she was not ready to accept the reality that she could not get any work except that in a biscuit factory.
Question 4.
What was Sophie’s ambition in life? How did she hope to achieve that?
Answer:
Sophie wanted to open a boutique for which she thought she would save money by working as a manager. She also toyed with the idea of becoming an actress to earn good money and have the boutique too.
Question 5.
Sophie was dreaming of so many things in her life. What were they?
Answer:
Sophie, a daydreamer, dreamt of big things in life. She wanted to open a boutique after her schooling was completed and was looking at becoming a manager too. She also harboured the dream of becoming an actress or a fashion designer.
Question 6.
Which was the only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person?
Answer:
When Danny Casey was playing with the United team in the stadium, Sophie saw him for the first time. She was one of the spectators.
Question 7.
Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer:
Sophie did not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey. She did not trust her for keeping secrets as Jansie was fond of gossiping. Sophie feared that she might gossip about her meeting with Danny Casey. This might enrage her father.
Question 8.
Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?
Answer:
For Sophie, Geoff’s silence symbolised freedom. Geoff used to work as a mechanic. He used to ride his motorcycle and visited places where she had never been to. Sophie believed that he moved into a different exotic world which was far away from home and their reality. She was jealous of his silence which does not reveal that world to her.
Question 9.
Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey? Why was she always talking about him?
Answer:
No, Sophie did not meet Danny Casey in reality. She was a dreamer. She had developed a liking for Danny Casey and in her world of fantasy she had imagined herself meeting him. It was just an effect of teenage fantasy and hero-worship that she started hallucinating about the football star Danny Casey.
Question 10.
Did Geoff keep up his promise? How do you know?
Answer:
Sophie had shared her secret of meeting Danny Casey with her brother Geoff. But Geoff didn’t keep his promise not to share it with anyone. He told this to Frank who was his friend and Jansie’s brother. When Jansie came to ask Sophie about Danny Casey, it became evident that Geoff had told that secret to her brother.
Question 11.
Why did Sophie long for her brother’s affection?
Answer:
Sophie liked her brother Geoff more than any other person. She used to confide in him all her secrets. She was very curious to know about his world. She longed for her brother’s affection so that he would take her into his exotic world which was far away from their own real world.
Question 12.
What did Sophie imagine about her brother, Geoff?
Answer:
Sophie imagined that her brother, Geoff, was in the world that she had never seen. Besides, she thought that her brother might be knowing interesting people, she longed to know. She wished that her brother would some day take her to his world with him.
Question 13.
What did Sophie tell Geoff about her ‘meeting’ Danny Casey?
Answer:
Sophie told her brother Geoff that she had met Danny Casey, a sports star, in the arcade. She said that she was looking at the clothes in Royce’s window when Danny Casey came and stood beside her. He had gentle, green eyes but was not very tall. She asked him for an autograph for little Derek, but neither of them had any paper or a pen.
Question 14.
Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
Answer:
Sophie did not want Jansie to know about her story with Danny because she felt that Jansie would tell the same to the whole neighbourhood. She also felt that Jansie might disclose her secret to her father who would be angry.
Question 15.
Why, according to Sophie, couldn’t she take the autograph of Danny Casey when she met him?
Answer:
According to Sophie, she couldn’t take the autograph of Danny Casey when she met him because neither she nor Danny Casey had a pen. Besides, the meeting took place only in Sophie’s fantasy.
Question 16.
How did the evening “blackened the window of Sophie’s mood too”?
Answer:
Sophie was a daydreamer who had carried her fantasy too far. She had imagined her meeting with football star Danny Casey for a date. All this imagination gave her a lot of pleasure. But she met with the reality when Danny Casey didn’t come to meet her. This made her sad and despondent and blackened her mood like the black sky.
Question 17.
How is the title ‘Going Places’ most appropriate?
Answer:
In literary terms, going places refers to achieving success. The title ‘Going Places’ is most appropriate as it very clearly describes the protagonist Sophie. She is deeply enthusiastic about her successful life and fantasises all good and successful things for her. In her imagination, she fantasises herself to be an actor or a manger and then finally a boutique owner. She also fantasises to have met the football star Danny Casey as her close friend and going for a date with him. The title ‘Going place’ clearly depicts the exotic journey of Sophie into the dream world.
Going Places Long Questions and Answers
Question 1.
What were Sophie’s plans for future? Why would you call her dreams unrealistic?
Answer:
Sophie was a school girl who would pass out in a few months. She came from a humble background but was untouched by the harsh realities of life. She was lost in her world of fantasies. She planned to open a boutique after she passed out of school. She thought she would work as manager or an actress in order to earn money for the boutique. She didn’t realise that she belonged to a family that didn’t have the sources to finance her dreams. Her dreams had no ground of reality. With the kind of socio-economic background that Sophie belonged to, it was completely unrealistic to have such dreams fulfilled.
Question 2.
Sophie lives in a world full of dreams which she does not know she cannot realise. Comment.
Answer:
There is no doubt Sophie lives in a world of dreams which she cannot realise. She dreams of opening a boutique which requires a lot of money. But the kind of family background she has, it is not possible for her to have that much finances. Moreover, she has high aspirations and a very high esteem about herself. Despite of her poor socio-economic background, she doesn’t accept the idea of working in a biscuit factory which is obvious for a girl of her qualifications and background. Rather she believes that she would get a job not less than that of a manager or would become an actress.
Sophie, like any adolescent, indulges in daydreaming and fantasy to the extent that she completely ignores the reality of her life.
Question 3.
In one’s approach to life one should be practical and not live in a world of dreams. How is Jansie’s attitude different from that of Sophie?
Answer:
Jansie and Sophie have contrasting characteristics and a totally different approach to life. Jansie is portrayed as very practical with her feet grounded in reality, whereas Sophie is a daydreamer living in her imaginary world.
Jansie is a mature person and accepts the truth that people of their kind can only aspire to become workers in a factory. On the other hand, Sophie tries to escape from reality and dreams of becoming an actress, a manager or a fashion designer.
It is not unreasonable to have high hopes and aspirations for one’s future, but daydreaming can be justified only when one is prepared to work hard to fulfil one’s dreams.
Sophie needs to work hard to achieve her dreams, instead of merely imagining a bright and successful future for herself or fantasising about her meeting with Danny Casey. Sophie is a middle class girl with lofty aspirations. She is a daydreamer, unrealistic and impractical. She aspires to be an actress, own a boutique, become a manager, etc. which is all beyond her means.
So we conclude that we shouldn’t daydream but have a realistic view of life.
Question 4.
Teachers always advise their students to dream big. Yet, the same teachers in your classrooms find fault with Sophie when she dreams. What is wrong with Sophie’s dreams?
Answer:
It is true that in our classrooms, the teachers always encourage us to dream big but what they discourage is daydreaming which Sophie used to indulge in all the time. She was far removed from reality and lived in her own world of dreams. She strongly felt that there was a whole new world waiting for her and that she was tailor-made for it. All through the story, she never thought practically or came out of her dreamworld.
Sophie’s ambitions and her dreams were unrealistic as she was from a poor socio-economic background. She was earmarked for joining a biscuit factory after completing her studies. Her parents didn’t even have a decent house to live in. Her father wanted her to step out of her dreamworld and start thinking worldly-wise. Being an impractical person, it was difficult for Sophie to understand that she was living in a world of harsh realities.
Question 5.
Has Sophie met Danny Casey? What details of her meeting with Danny Casey did she narrate to her brother.
Answer:
No, Sophie never met Danny Casey. It was one of her wild imaginations that she met Danny Casey, the football star. She told her brother Geoff she met Danny Casey at the market place at Royce’s window. When Geoff showed his disbelief, she gave him Danny’s description. She told him that Danny Casey had green gentle eyes and was not very tall. She said she wanted to have his autograph but unfortunately none of them had a pen. She had a conversation with Danny and found him to be very lonely. Sophie said she was going for a date with Danny, the next week.
Sophie’s imagination is so vivid that she creates each and every minute detail and describes it to her brother so as to make him believe her.
Question 6.
Sophie was a dreamer. The lesson ‘Going Places’ reminds us that mere dreams will not help us to accomplish anything? What qualities, do you think, would help Sophie to realise her dream?
Answer:
Sophie represents a teenager who is lost in the world of imagination. She was fond of daydreaming. As a result, she lost her touch with the reality of life.
She dreams to own a boutique, though she has no financial background. She doesn’t accept the reality that she comes from a poor background. There is no harm in aiming high. One should be ambitious in life. But along with aspirations, we must have a clear planning to achieve that goal. Sophie needs to be practical in her life and analyse her situation. She should be hardworking and determined to achieve what she wants in life. Only dreaming doesn’t help. To succeed in life, actions are required. Sincere and continuous efforts, along with a proper action plan, bring the desired result. Sophie needs to be practical and patient to materialise her dreams.
Question 7.
It is normal for adolescents to fantasise and indulge in hero-worship. How far is it true of Sophie?
Answer:
Teenage is the time of hero-worship and fantasising. When one finds a celebrity one starts admiring that person so much that the celebrity becomes one’s hero and one starts fantasising about him/her. A similar thing happened with Sophie. She liked Danny Casey, the Irish football star. She used to go with her family to see his match and was attracted by his personality.
She liked Danny Casey to the extent, she started fantasising about him. Her wild imagination got converted into hallucination and she started imagining to meet Danny Casey in person. She enjoyed this fantasy so much that she went to the extent of imagining going for a date with Danny, who was her hero.
Sophie, in fact, represents an adolescent lost in the world of fantasies and hero-worship.
Question 8.
Every teenager has a hero/heroine to admire. So many times they become role models for them. What is wrong if Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey and is ambitious in life?
Answer:
There is no denying the fact that every teenager has someone to admire who he/she looks up to as his/her role model. What was wrong with Sophie’s fantasizing was that she was far removed from reality and lived in her own world of dreams. She strongly felt that there was a whole new world for her and that she was tailor-made for it. Sophie’s ambitions and her dreams were unrealistic as she was from a poor socio-economic background.
She was earmarked for joining a biscuit factory after completing her studies. Her imaginative meetings with Danny Casey were part of her dream world. She knew that her parents didn’t even have a decent house to live in. Her father wanted her to step out of her dream world and start thinking worldly-wise. Being an impractical person, it was difficult for Sophie to understand that she was living in a world of harsh realities.
Question 9.
Describe Sophie’s so-called meeting with Danny Casey.
Answer:
As per Sophie, she met with Danny Casey in the arcade outside Royce’s while she was doing window shopping. Sophie narrated her meeting to her brother Geoff and said that Danny Casey was standing beside her. She could not take his autograph as none of them had a pen. She talked to him a little bit. Sophie said that Danny seemed lonely and promised to give her autograph if she would care to meet him next week. Sophie not only imagined her meeting with Danny Casey but also believed to have fixed a date with him.
Question 10.
“There was the sound of applause as the world rose to greet them.” What is the world that Sophie is dreaming about? Why?
Answer:
Sophie always dreamt of a life of sophistication and elegance. Her brother Geoff was very close to her and she used to confide in him. Geoff used to speak less and Sophie believed that he had his own world in which he was moving and which was far away. She wanted to be part of that world. She imagined to be introduced to that glorious world by her brother as she believed her to be most suited for that. She believed that one day she would accompany Geoff to the world which was waiting for her. Geoff in his black leather and she in her elegant yellow dress would be welcomed by the people in that world with a standing ovation and applause.
Sophie, as per her habit, is dreaming of a world of elegance and sophistication for which she believed herself to be most suitable.
Question 11.
What made Sophie imagine her meeting with Danny Casey? What does it tell us about her life and her relationship with her family?
Answer:
Sophie is a young girl who lives in her world of imagination. Like adolescents she dreams of unbelievable and far-fetched things. Though she belongs to a lower middle class family, she fantasises a world of sophistication. She has seen Danny Casey playing and has started hero-worshipping him. She not only imagines talking to him but also goes all the way to have an imaginary date with him. In fact, it was her longing and dreaming to be part of an exotic world. Her family knows very well about her imaginary world and always tries to draw her away.
Her father never believed in her stories and says, ‘One day you are going to talk yourself into a load of trouble’. Even her younger brother Derek says, “She thinks money grows on trees”, when Sophie is fantasising about opening a boutique. Her elder brother Geoff also does not believe in her story about Danny Casey initially. This clearly shows that except for her elder brother Geoff, Sophie doesn’t connect well with her family.
Question 12.
‘I can see the future and now I will have to live with this burden’, says Sophie. What is the burden being referred to? What light does it throw on Sophie’s life?
Answer:
Sophie lives in her world of imagination. She tells her brother that she met football star Danny Cassey in the arcade outside Royce and would be going on date with him. Her father does not believe that she has met Danny Casey. Geoff, though believes in her meeting, warns her that Danny Casey is a popular star and has many girl friends.
Sophie has probably met Danny Casey and exchanged a few words and asked for an autograph. It is just in imagination that Sophie fantasises to have a date with Danny Casey. When Danny Casey does not show up for the date, Sophie faces a dilemma of having to uphold the fact that she had really met Danny Casey. She is aware that nobody would believe her. She is deeply sad at the realisation that her life is not going to change. Her life of poverty will not change into the glamorous world of her dreams. This is a heavy burden for her. She finds it very difficult to cope with her reality.
Question 13.
The theme of the story ‘Going Places’ is an adolescent fantasy and hero-worship. Every teenager has a hero in his/her life. Based on your reading of the story, write an article on the topic:
‘Are teenagers justified in their act of hero-worship’?
Answer:
‘Hero-worship’ is a very common phenomenon in teenagers. They idolise, even literally worship their heros or role models. Huge crowds gather outside the studios and stadia to take pictures or autographs of the celebrity stars or sports stars. No doubt it is good to admire and appreciate these achievers, but there must be some limit. The fans should not waste their time because adolescence is the time when the foundation of the success of life is laid in the form of career.
Moreover, aping and doing what they see their stars doing is not going to give them any benefit. In that way adolescents just waste their time and resources. In fact, the teenagers should select their role model very carefully and should have self-control and determination. They should imbibe all the good qualities of these heroes and try to be like them by putting in their sincere efforts. They should plan out their career and set their priorities. They must have some inspiring people as their role models to make their lives meaningful.
Question 14.
All of us, like Sophie, look up to people who then become our role models. These role models have a positive impact on our lives and possess those qualities that we would like to have.
As head boy/head girl of your school, you have to address the students in the morning assembly telling them about the kind of people, they should adopt as role models and seek inspiration from them. Write this speech in 120-150 words.
Answer:
Dear friends
It is said that every successful person has a role model in his life. This role model is the one who changes our life. Role models guide us in our quest for success and make the world a better place. We need to be very careful in choosing our role models. A role model is one who is an embodiment of all virtues; a person who is selfless and truthful, one who is sincere, honest, and straightforward. Depending upon our field of interest, we can have many legendary personalities to make our role models, personalities such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Vivekananda, the list is inexhaustive. These are the people who have enlightened the lives of others, they have lived their life much above the selfish pursuits. We must idolise someone who has the virtues which should be followed to be a good human being.
There are such inspiring people even in our surroundings, in our society, at home, or in school. Our teachers are the best example. They are our best role models who have taught us to differentiate between right and wrong. To conclude, I would just like to say that we should make an honest, sincere, and inspiring person our role model.
