My Shadow Question and Answer
A. Answer these questions.
1. What are the shapes the shadow grows into?
The shadow sometimes becomes very tall and long, like an India-rubber ball stretched upward, and sometimes becomes so small that it disappears.
2. Who does the shadow resemble?
The shadow resembles the child himself, looking like him from head to toe and copying his movements.
3. Why is the shadow a coward?
The child jokingly calls the shadow a coward because it always stays very close to him and never leaves his side.
4. Why do you think the shadow stayed back early in the morning?
The shadow seemed to have stayed back because the sun had not risen yet, so there was not enough sunlight to form a visible shadow; the child humorously imagines that it was still asleep in bed.
5. What makes the poem light and gives it a sing-song effect?
The poem feels light and musical because of its simple childlike language, regular rhythm, rhyming pairs, repetition, and playful comparisons, which make it easy and enjoyable to read aloud.
B. Read these lines and answer the questions with reference to the context.
1. “For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, / And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.”
a. How does the india-rubber ball help visualise the shadow?
The comparison with an india-rubber ball helps us imagine the shadow suddenly stretching and becoming very tall and long.
b. When do you think the shadow appears ‘so little’ during the day?
The shadow becomes very small when the sun is high in the sky, around noon, because the sunlight falls almost directly down and the shadow becomes short.
2. “But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, / Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.”
a. Pick out words that suggest affection for the shadow.
The words “my,” “little,” and “lazy little shadow” suggest affection and fondness for the shadow.
b. Does the shadow seem more like a real person? Why?
Yes. The child treats the shadow like a real person by calling it “lazy” and a “sleepy-head” and imagining that it has stayed at home and is sleeping in bed.
