Parent-child relationships

Kezia is the central child character in “The Little Girl.” The story focuses on how her feelings for her father change from fear to understanding and affection. “The Sound of Music” is about musicians, so it is not the correct chapter. Exam tip: Link important characters with the central theme of their chapters.

Kezia felt frightened on seeing her father. In exams connect her fear with his serious behaviour.

Kezia felt her father's behaviour was strict. Understand the father from the child's viewpoint in exams.

Kezia was very frightened of her father because she found him stern and intimidating. Therefore, her voice trembled and she stammered when she spoke to him. Speaking softly may suggest fear, but the text specifically states that she stammered. Exam tip: Remember Kezia’s initial fear of her father and how her view of him changes later in the story.

Grandmother sent Kezia to her father. Remember Grandmother as a character who tries to connect the family.

Grandmother wanted Kezia to talk to her father. Understand it as an effort to improve the relationship.

Kezia decided to make a pin cushion for her father. This is a sign of her love in the story.

Kezia made a pin-cushion for her father’s birthday. To stuff it, she tore up papers containing his important speeches, which made him very angry. The story does not mention her making a birthday gift for her grandmother. Exam tip: Link the pin-cushion with Father’s birthday and the torn speech papers.

Kezia had torn her father's important papers. This is the reason for his anger in the story.

Kezia tore the papers to fill her pin-cushion, but she did not know that they were pages of her father’s important speech. Therefore, she tore them unknowingly, without understanding their importance. She did not do it in anger or to take revenge. Exam tip: Focus on a character’s intention behind an action.

Kezia unknowingly tore up the papers kept for her father’s speech and used them to fill a pin-cushion. On seeing this, her father hit her palms with a ruler. Therefore, option A is correct. He did not merely ask her to paste the papers or make a new pin-cushion. Exam tip: Link this incident with Kezia’s fear of her father.

Kezia wanted to give her father a gift with love. In exams look at the feeling behind the mistake.

After the punishment Kezia became more afraid of her father. Understand the relation between punishment and a child's feeling.

Kezia cried at night because she had a frightening dream. Although she was generally afraid of her father's stern manner, the immediate reason for her crying at night in the story was the bad dream. Exam tip: Notice time clues such as “at night” and choose the direct cause mentioned in the episode.

A butcher came in Kezia's frightening dream. Kezia was afraid of her father, so her fear appeared in her mind as the image of a butcher. A doctor and a teacher are not mentioned in connection with this dream. Exam tip: Remember the character's fear along with its cause.

Alice was the cook in Kezia’s house. She worked in the household, so she was neither a family member nor a neighbour. Exam tip: Remember the supporting characters and their roles separately.

Kezia was usually comforted by her grandmother when she was frightened or had nightmares at night. Only when Grandmother was in hospital did Kezia sleep beside her father, who comforted her on that particular occasion. Therefore, Father is the closest but incorrect distractor. Exam tip: Notice words such as “usually”; they ask about the regular situation, not a single event.

Kezia felt lonely when Mother and Grandmother were away. In exams write the link between situation and feeling.

On the frightening night her father took her close. This incident shows the father's love.

When Kezia was frightened by a nightmare, her father took her to sleep beside him. His care and warmth made her feel safe. ‘Angry’ may relate to her earlier fear of him, but in this scene she feels protected and loved. Exam tip: Focus on Kezia’s changing attitude towards her father in the chapter.