English Class 12 NCERT Vistas Book Chapter 8 – Memories of Childhood Summary, Explanation, Justify the title, question, answers and previous year important solution which asked in the CBSE board exams.
This unit is divided into two sections.
It describes the autobiography of the lives of two women from marginalized communities who look back on their childhoods. Hence this chapter is named Memories of Childhood.
- 1st unit: The cutting of my long hair by Zitkala-Sa.
- 2nd unit: We too are human beings by Bama.
About the author – Memories of childhood summary written by Gertrude Simmons Bonin, is a chapter from her occupation ‘Indian American Stories’ and describes her persecution at Carlisle Indian School.
The first part, justify the title of memories of childhood. The second part, an excerpt from ‘Karuku’, is Bama’s autobiography related to his first skills with intangibility.
Memories of Childhood Summary Class 12
- The cutting of my long hair by Zitkala-Sa: Memories of Childhood Summary
The first experience at the school, where he entered with other Native American girls and boys, was equally unpleasant.
The sound of SN’s bell had entered his ears. The constant struggle of insolence and the loud sound of the shoes was excruciating. Zitkala yearned for freedom, but it was useless for her to think.
A white woman watched the girls stand in a line and walk into the dining room. The narrator saw that they were Indian girls, dressed in cloaks and tight shoes and braided hair.
She was feeling very uncomfortable in school dress. Moreover, she felt even more embarrassed when she removed the blanket from her shoulders.
He saw boys coming through the front door. A small bell rang, and each student took out a chair from under the table.
The narrator also took out a chair and sat down. But he was surprised to learn that he was the only person. As soon as she got up, the second bell rang.
Everyone was sitting and he had to crawl into his chair again. She heard a man’s voice at one end of the hall, and she was praying.
Other students hung their heads on plates. As the narrator looked around, he saw her as a pale woman. He wondered why the woman was looking at him.
When the man stopped his hum, a third bell rang, everything tapped, and everyone started eating with a knife and fork.
Then Zitkala started crying. He had never used a knife and fork. All the new changes were very uncomfortable for him.
The eating problem was not the end of the problems; Her friend Judwin knew English and used to talk to the blonde woman about cutting her long hair.
The idea of cutting her hair could be denied to the narrator. His mother taught him that only skilled warriors who were taken captive in war cut the enemy’s hair. In their society, they used to cut short hair out of mourning and hair fall was done by cowards.
Judwin thought the schoolboy was powerful, and they all had to be allowed to cut their hair.
Zitkala was ready to fight, telling her friend that she would fight first and not submit to the oppressors willingly.
When she got a chance to escape, she fainted. She entered a large room. It was dark because the veil was down.
Zitkala crawled under the bed farthest from the door. After some time people started looking for him. He heard Judwin call his name but did not answer.
Eventually, while the women and girls were looking for Zitkala, she came across the room she had been hiding in.
He held his breath as he searched the room. As soon as the curtain was removed, the whole room became lit. Then, it was visible away.
She was protesting widely, kicking and scratching nails. He was brought down and tied to a chair. He felt an excellent blade against a thick scissor on his neck.
A thick braid was cut off and people started staring at him. This was the end of their resistance. He lost his soul.
He was reminded of all the humiliations he had done to his mother. She was very sad, and no one consoled her and missed her mother and felt like an animal driven by animals.
- We too are human beings by Bama: Memories of Childhood Summary
This is the second part of this chapter. The narrator takes us back to his childhood. When she was in third grade, it hardly took her 10 minutes to walk from school to home.
But it took them half an hour to cover this distance. On the way she carefully visited the entertainments, shops and markets.
The captivating monkey, the snake-hunter, the cyclist who had been pedaling for days, were just such an enchanting sight. Other amusing things like political speeches, puppet shows and stunt performances were going on in the market.
The market was filled with seasonal fruits, cold coffee, ice pellets and delicious treats. The narrator felt enchanted in every way.
One day when the narrator returned home, he saw a barn built on the road. A landowner is sitting on a sack placed on a stone, watching the quick action.
The people of his caste were running cattle. She stayed there for some time and enjoyed it. Then he made his way down the street from the market and saw an older adult coming. He also had a small packet in his hand, holding it with a string.
There was some bread in it, and the packet was soaked. The narrator thought to himself that the box might be undone, but still, Bada was not touching it.
The way he walked, it became a bama scream with laughter. The elder said, handing over the packet to the landlord. The landlord opened the box and started eating.
The narrator returned home and told his elder brother Annan about the incident. She laughed fearlessly, but Annan did not like hearing this. Annan tells him that he is considered to be of a high and low caste.
The landlord belonged to the upper caste. The thinking of the upper caste people is that if the people of the lower caste touch them or any of their things, they become impure.
That’s why the elderly were carrying packets with a string. She got sad hearing this story. Nobody wanted to laugh anymore.
She was feeling sad. He wondered how these people considered themselves to be so capable. He felt himself compelled to touch the wretched vadas.
Annan told Bama that he was born in a low caste community, so he was never respected or respected.
He advised her to study hard and learn everything she could to progress because only education can help her overcome all resentment.
He studied diligently. As Annan insisted, she stood first in her class, and because of this, many people became her friends.
Suggest Chapter of CBSE Class 12
Important Questions and Answers: Memories of Childhood Summary
The given question and answers of previous years asked in CBSE class 12th board exams & memories of childhood NCERT solutions:–
(1) Which words of her brother made a deep impression on Bama?
Ans. Annan advises Bama education to help him achieve respect, honor, and respect in society. These words profoundly impacted Bama, and he studied hard and diligently as Annan told him. Because of this, she came first in her class, and now everyone wanted to be her friend.
(2) What were the articles in the stalls and shops that fascinated Bama on her way back from school?
Ans. Bama saw a variety of exciting things that thrilled him. She saw dried fish stalls and stalls selling fried snacks. Then there were tools for the sale of wild lemons, needles, earthen garlands, and cleaning the ears on sale. She loved watching the waiter cool the coffee.
(3) Describe the experience Bama had on her way back home which made her feel sad.
Ans. On his way back home, Bama sees an older man in his street taking Vadis to the landlord. As he was carrying the packet from the string, Bama laughed by holding his wire. He related this amusing incident to his brother Annan. Annan was not surprised and told Bama that the older man was carrying the packet because his caste people were considered inferior. This frightening truth made Bama angry. And Annan advised him to study and make progress.
(4) What sort of shows or entertainment attracted Bama?
Ans. Used to go through the market and went to the house with a lot of activity. The snake charm, drama, puppet shows, cycle stunts, political speeches, snowballs, delicious dishes attracted Bama to her, and she loved everything.
(5) What does Zitkala-Sa remember about the first day in the land of apples?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa remembered her first day in apple land as bitter and cold, feeling quite uncomfortable in her school dress. She was feeling annoyed in the dining hall. And in the end, she tied her to a chair and cut her braid.
(6) How did Zitkala-Sa try to prevent the shingling her hair?
Ans. When Judwaine tells Zitkala that he will cut his hair, Zitkala decides to fight first. Then when no one was looking at her, nor was anyone becoming friends, she descended the stairs and darkened into a big room because the curtains were down. He hid under the bed away from the door in that room. And all looking for her reach the room and light up the curtain, she soon finds it and pulls out for the shine of hair. So she could not stop cutting her hair.
(7) Why was Zitkala-Sa in tears on the first day in the land of apples?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa was already uncomfortable in her new dress. Upon entering the dining hall, when a small bell rang, and they thought they had to sit, Zitkala took out a chair and sat on it. But to his surprise, everyone stood. She was getting up when the second bell rang, and everyone sat down. At the end, when all the food used a fork and knife to eat and she could not, due to which she felt embarrassed and started crying.
(8) “I felt like sinking to the floor,” says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why?
Ans. The narrator was given to wear a new dress at school, removing her shawl. She felt ashamed in a dress clinging to her body. She was walking into the dining hall. She felt as if all the unfamiliar ways of dressing had fallen on the floor in shame.
(9) When did Bama first come to know of the social discrimination faced by the people of her community?
Ans. When Bama was in the third grade, he was diagnosed with social discrimination by his community’s people. When she returned home, she saw that the elders of her community took a packet with the help of a rope and beat a landlord without touching it. This incident was enjoyable for her until Annan told her the terrible truth, but Annan said that she could win it by studying hard when she came to know all the truth.
(10) Why did the landlord’s man ask Bama’s brother on which street he lived? What was the significance?
Ans. When Annan was returning home from the vicinal village library, the landlord’s man asked him his name, and he desires to know where Annan lives and what caste he is because all the lower caste people lived in one side area of the city.
(11) What did Zitkala-Sa feel when her long hair cut?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa felt pain and great shame at having her long hair cut. He remembered his mother very much at that time. No one could ease like her mother. She felt bound like an animal.
(12) What was the advice that Annan gave to Bama? Did she follow it?
Ans. Annan tells Bama that she belongs to a community that is considered to be of low caste, not being given any respect, honor, and prestige. But if she studies and progresses with hard work, then they can overcome all such insulting. Bama also followed Annan’s advice. He learned hard in his class that everyone wanted to be friends with him.
FAQs – Memories of Childhood Short Summary
Q1. What is the theme of memories of childhood?
The memories of childhood chapter shed light on hatred, racial discrimination, and ill treatment of humanity and woman in general in particular.
Q2. Who was Bama in memories of childhood?
Memories of childhood are autobiographic stories that deal with two parts: The Cutting of My Long Hair by Zitkala-Sa, and the second is We Too Are Human Beings by Bama. So, Bama is the author of the second story (We Too Are Human Beings) author.
Q3. Who was Zitkala Class 12?
Zitkala is the author of the first story, “The Cutting of My Long Hair” author.
- These topics are also the probability of coming in class 12th English exams:-
| Notice Writing | An Advertisement Writing |
| Speech Writing | Informal Letter Writing |
| Letter to the Editor | Report Writing |
Regarding any queries about Memories of Childhood Summary and important questions of class 12th ask by commenting.