5.7 Going Deeper (Exam Prep)

Real-world connections

The poem speaks directly to daily life. Every day we pass elderly people who struggle to cross roads, climb stairs, or carry bags. The poem asks us to see them, not hurry past. The same spirit lies behind real efforts to care for the old — reserved seats on buses and trains, helplines for senior citizens, and the simple courtesy of offering an arm. The boy’s thought, “she is somebody’s mother,” is a rule we can all live by.

Quick revision card

Quick Revision Card

  • Poet: Mary Dow Brine (19th-century American writer).
  • Form: a narrative poem in rhyming couplets, about 8 stanzas.
  • Setting: a slippery, snowy winter street full of a hurrying crowd.
  • Plot: old woman afraid to cross → crowd and schoolboys ignore her → one boy helps her across → she blesses him → he thinks of his own mother.
  • Devices: rhyming couplets, alliteration (“helping hand”), imagery (“amid the throng”), contrast.
  • Theme: kindness and respect for the elderly; the chain of kindness.
  • Moral: help the helpless, for each is somebody’s loved one.

Exam Corner

Objective / one-mark questions

  1. Who wrote Somebody’s Mother?
  2. Why was the old woman afraid to cross the street?
  3. Who finally helped her?
  4. Why did the boy help her?
  1. Mary Dow Brine. 2. The winter street was slippery and busy, and she was old and frail. 3. One kind schoolboy. 4. He thought of his own mother, old and far away, and hoped a stranger would help her too.

Short-answer questions (2–3 marks)

  1. Explain the line “Alone, uncared for, amid the throng.”
  2. How is the kind boy different from the rest of the crowd?
  3. What blessing did the old woman give the boy?
  1. Though surrounded by a large crowd, the old woman was completely neglected — no one cared for her. The line shows the loneliness of being ignored amidst many people.
  2. While the crowd and the cheerful schoolboys hurried past without helping, the one boy stopped, spoke kindly, and guided her safely across. His thoughtfulness contrasts with their indifference.
  3. She prayed that God would be kind to the noble boy, who was surely somebody’s son and his mother’s pride and joy.

Long-answer questions (5–6 marks)

  1. How does the poem use contrast to highlight the value of kindness?
  2. “The poem is about a chain of kindness.” Explain with reference to the boy’s reason for helping.
  1. The indifferent crowd and the carefree schoolboys are set against the one kind boy; the old woman’s loneliness is set against the warmth of his help. These contrasts make the single act of kindness stand out and underline how rare and precious such kindness is.
  2. The boy helps the old woman because he thinks of his own mother and hopes a stranger will help her in return. Kindness given to one stranger is meant to flow on to another, so that everyone’s loved ones are cared for — a continuing chain of kindness.

HOTS (Higher-Order Thinking)

  1. The schoolboys were happy and innocent, yet they ignored the old woman. Does their happiness excuse their behaviour? Give reasons.

Their happiness does not excuse them. Being cheerful is good, but it should not blind us to others’ needs. The poem gently reminds us that true goodness means staying aware of those around us even when we are happy and busy — exactly what the one kind boy managed to do.

Assertion–Reason

  1. Assertion (A): The boy helped the old woman across the street. Reason (R): He thought of his own mother and hoped someone would help her too.

Choose: (a) Both A and R true and R explains A; (b) Both true but R does not explain A; (c) A true, R false; (d) A false, R true.

(a) Both statements are true, and R correctly explains why the boy helped.

A note on the poem

Did You Know? Somebody’s Mother was written in the 1870s and became hugely popular in school readers across the English-speaking world for over a century. Its lasting appeal shows how a simple message of kindness can cross time, countries, and generations.