My Own True Family
Ted Hughes
Once I crept in an oakwood – I was looking for a stag.
I met an old woman there – all knobbly stick and rag.
She said: ‘I have your secret here inside my little bag. ‘
Then she began to cackle and I began to quake.
She opened up her little bag and I came twice awake —
Surrounded by a staring tribe and tied me to a stake.
They said: ‘We are the oak trees and your own true family.
We are chopped down, we are torn up, you do not blink an eye.
Unless you make a promise now – now you are going to die.
‘Whenever you see an oak – felled tree, swear now you will plant two.
Unless you swear the black oak bark will wrinkle over you
And root you among the oaks where you were born but never grew!
This was my dream beneath the boughs, the dream that altered me.
When I came out of the oakwood, back to human company,
My walk was the walk of a human child, but my heart was a tree.
My Own True Family MCQ Questions – Answers | Class 10 | Madhyamik English
1. The word ‘crept’ means –
(a) rushed
(b) washed through
(c) sneaked in
(d) crawled
Ans: (d) crawled
2. The poet entered a –
(a) sandle wood
(b) oakwood
(c) mangrove wood
(d) mango grove
Ans: (b) oakwood
3. The poet was looking for a –
(a) deer
(b)stag
(c) lion
(d) mare
Ans: (b)stag
4. The poet came across an –
(a) old man
(b) old woman
(c) old wrestler
(d) old robber
Ans: (b) old woman
5. The two words that describe the old woman are –
(a) stick and fat
(b) rag and torn
(c) stick and knobbly
(d) stick and rag
Ans: (d) stick and rag
6. The clothes that the woman was wearing were
(a) torn
(b) colourful
(c) gorgeous
(d) stitched
Ans: (a) torn
7. The woman told that she had the child’s ________ in her little bag.
(a) ball
(b) secret
(c) toys
(d) books
Ans: (b) secret
8. The bag that the woman carried was
(a) heavy
(b) big
(c) light
(d) little
Ans: (d) little
9. The experience of the poet in the midst of an oak-tree was a part of his
(a) pleasure
(b) imagination
(c) reverie
(d) nostalgia
Ans: (c) reverie
10. A visit to the oakwood brought to / in the poet
(a) joy
(b) pride mountain on his back
(c) groom
(d) alteration
Ans: (d) alteration
11. The old woman was –
(a) unwell
(b) malnourished
(c) unsteady
(d) uneasy
Ans: (c) unsteady
12. The phrase ‘a staring tribe’ refers to –
(a) the walnut trees
(b) the olive trees
(c) the oak trees
(d) the berch trees
Ans: (c) the oak trees
13. The old woman began to –
(a) smile
(b) laugh
(c) chuckle
(d) cackle
Ans: (d) cackle
14. The word ‘cackle’ means –
(a) laugh angrily
(b) shout angrily
(c) frown at someone
(d) laugh in a loud unpleasant way
Ans: (d) laugh in a loud unpleasant way
15. The poet found himself –
(a) tied to a concrete pole
(b) tied to a pole
(c) tied to a wooden post
(d) tied to a stone-made post
Ans: (c) tied to a wooden post
16. The cackle of the old woman made the poet –
(a) quirk
(b) quench
(c) quibble
(d) quake
Ans: (d) quake
17. The bark of the oak tree is
(a) black
(b) red
(c) yellow
(d) brown
Ans: (a) black
18. Unless he made a promise, the poet was going to
(a) live
(b) be free
(c) die
(d) be happy
Ans: (c) die
19. When the poet came out of the oakwood, his heart was that of a
(a) stag
(b) tree
(c) human child
(d) old woman
Ans: (b) tree
20. The theme of the poem ‘My Own True Family’ is
(a) importance of family
(b) importance of trees
(c) magic
(d) relation between the old and the young
Ans: (b) importance of trees
21. The child came to see that he was surrounded by a tribe who were
(a) smiling
(b) staring
(c) grinning
(d) crying
Ans: (b) staring
22. The Oak trees wanted the poet to make a
(a) wish
(b) promise
(c) deal
(d) none of the above
Ans: (b) promise
23. The poet awoke-
(a) once
(b) twice
(c) thrice
(d) never.
Ans: (b) twice.
24. What altered the speaker was –
(a) the dream beneath the boughs
(b) his imagination
(c) the old woman
(d) the staring tribe
Ans: (a) the dream beneath the boughs
25. The word ‘felled’ means
(a) cut down
(b) made into fine paste
(c) cut into pieces
(d) destroyed.
Ans: (a) cut down.
26. ‘….came twice awake-’ –The above-mentioned phrase points towards –
(a) a state of dream
(b) an awakened state
(c) an unconscious state
(d) a magical state of heightened consciousness in which truthful visions of stark reality appears.
Ans: (d) a magical state of heightened consciousness in which truthful visions of stark reality appears.
27. The laugh of the old woman was –
(a) beautiful
(b)ugly
(c) charming
(d) attractive
Ans: (b)ugly
28. ‘You do not blink an eye’-The line tells us that human beings are –
(a) sincere
(b) sensitive
(c) insensitive
(d) pathetic
Ans: (c) insensitive
29. The oak trees threatened to _______the poet.
(a) kidnap
(b) kill
(c) torture
(d) annihilate
Ans: (b) kill
30. The oak trees are full of ____towards the human beings.
(a) vengeance
(b) kindness
(c) remorse
(d) repentance
Ans: (a) vengeance
31. The black oak bark will ____the poet among the oaks.
(a) plant
(b) paste
(c) ruin
(d) root
Ans: (d) root
32. ‘….my heart was a tree.’ –The inner meaning of the line suggests that the poet’s heart –
(a) turned into a tree
(b) looked like a tree
(c) became a tree
(d) transformed and he shed all the artificialities of human society.
Ans: (d) transformed and he shed all the artificialities of human society.
33. The dream had ____on the poet.
(a) no impact
(b) a huge impact
(c) a soothing effect
(d) a calming effect
Ans: (b) a huge impact.
34. The poem is written by –
(a) Ted Hughes
(b) Philip Larkin
(c) William Wordsworth
(d) Walt Whitman
Ans: (a) Ted Hughes
35. The poem is all about –
(a) the oak trees
(b) a dream
(c) relation between the human world and the world of nature
(d) all of the above
Ans: (d) all of the above.
36. The incidents in ‘My Own True Family’ took place in a –
(a) real world
(b) actual world
(c) symbolic world
(d) dream world
Ans: (d) dream world.
37. This poem encourages children to-
(a) grow trees
(b) kill trees
(c) enter woods
(d) love dreams.
Ans: (a) grow trees.
38. Finally the boy discovered his own identity among the –
(a) old woman
(b) other human beings
(c) the trees
(d) the stag
Ans: (c) the trees.
39. When the trees are chopped down, the poet does not ____
(a) blink an eye
(b) smile
(c) shout
(d) cry
Ans: (a) blink an eye
40. While searching for the animal in the oakwood, the poet found –
(a) oak trees
(b) a stag
(c) an old woman
(d) a little bag
An: (c) an old woman.
41. The experience of the poet in the midst of oak tree was a part of his —
(a) pleasure
(b) imagination
(c) reverie
(d) nostalgia
Ans: (c) reverie
42. The tribe belongs to the poet’s true
(a) nature
(b) self
(c) class
(d) family
Ans: family
My Own True Family SAQ | My Own True Family Short Questions Answers | Extra Questions
1. When did the poet come twice awake?
Ans: The poet came twice awake when the old woman opened up her little bag.
2. What did the oak trees threaten to do to the narrator if he failed to keep the promise?
Ans: The oak trees threatened to wrinkle over the narrator by black bark if he failed to keep the promise.
3. How was the poet warned by the oak trees?
Ans: The oak trees warned the poet that he would die unless he made a promise to plant trees.
4. What promise did the oak trees want the poet to make?
Ans: The oak trees wanted the poet to make a promise to plant two trees whenever one is felled.
5. In what condition did the poet find the old woman?
Ans: The poet found the woman all knobbly stick and rag.
6. What would happen to the poet if he failed to make the promise?
Ans: The poet would die if he failed to make the promise.
7. Whom did the poet meet in the oakwood?
Ans: The poet met an old woman in the oakwood.
8. Why did the poet go to the wood?
Ans: The poet went to the wood in search of a stag.
9. What did the old woman say?
Ans: The old woman said that she had the poet’s secret inside her little bag.
10. Why were the oak trees unhappy?
Ans: The oak trees are unhappy because they are chopped down and torn up but the poet is indifferent to their destruction.
11. Who introduced themselves as the poet’s own true family?
Ans: The oak trees introduced themselves as the poet’s own true family.
12. “We are the oak-trees and your own true family” – Who is the speaker here? What did the speaker signify in the line?
Ans: The tribe of the oakwood is the speaker in the poem ‘My Own True Family’. The speaker indicates that human beings and trees ahould thrive as a single family.
13. What was the oath that the poet was forced to undertake?
Ans: The poet was forced to undertake an oath to plant two oak trees whenever one would be chopped down.
14. What did the poet realise after coming out of the oakwood?
Ans: The poet realised after coming out of the oakwood that his heart had become a tree.
15. What was it that altered the poet?
Ans: The dream beneath the boughs of the oak trees altered the poet.
16. Why did the poet creep in an oakwood?
Ans: The poet crept in an oakwood for a stag.
17. How did the old woman look?
Ans: The old woman looked all knobbly stick and rag.
18. Why did the old woman begin to cackle?
Ans: The old woman began to cackle to frighten the poet.
19. Who was staring at the poet?
Ans: The tribe of the oaktreea was staring at the poet.
20. Who are the staring tribe?
Ans: The oak trees are the staring tribe.
21. What was the demand of the oak tree?
Ans: The oak tree demanded that the poet would plant two oak trees whenever one tree would be felled.
22. “…dream that altered me.” Who was altered and how?
Ans: The poet was altered by the dream. The poet in his dream felt the importantance of trees in human life.
23. Describe the old woman in your words.
Ans: The poet met an old woman in the oakwood. She was all knobbly stick and rag. She had a little bag. She claimed that she had the poet’s secret in her bag. She also cackled to frighten the poet.
