Question

Read the following extracts and answer the questions:

I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward’s! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now, I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder. (Memories of Childhood: The Cutting of My Long Hair)

1. Complete the following suitably.
   Zitkala-Sa's description of her experience at the boarding school conveys a sense of abandonment through her portrayal of __________.
2. List any one emotion that Zitkala-Sa experiences as her hair is being cut.
3. Select the suitable option to complete the following.
   The metaphor of being ‘tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet’ contribute to the reader's understanding of Zitkala-Sa's feelings of being ________.
   1. forced to interact with others
   2. manipulated and controlled
   3. preached at and insulted
   4. made to exist like toy animals
4. In what ways does the imagery of her ‘long hair shingled like a coward's’ symbolise the erasure of Zitkala’s cultural heritage and the imposition of Western norms?

Answer 1

1. Zitkala-Sa's description of her experience at the boarding school conveys a sense of abandonment through her portrayal of isolation, loss of personal agency, and the absence of compassion and understanding from those around her.
2. One emotion that Zitkala-Sa experiences is anguish.
3. The metaphor of being ‘tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet’ contribute to the reader's understanding of Zitkala-Sa's feelings of being manipulated and controlled.
4. The cutting of her hair represents the forced removal of her Native American identity, as long hair has always held cultural significance in her society, indicating power and pride. By shingling her hair, the school enforced Western norms, denying her of her cultural heritage and personality while forcing her to conform to an alien way of life.