Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Gift of Ku Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Talking Leaves, The Tree Lover and Think Like A Tree so, you can check these posts as well.
The Gift of Ku Questions & Answers
Question 1: Choose the correct options.
1. ‘Aumakua’ was the Hawaiian word for the
(a) female power of the earth.
(b) breadfruit tree.
(c) male power of the heavens.
(d) ancestral guardian spirits.
2. In a miraculous transformation, Ku’s head became
(a) the trunk of the tree.
(b) the fruit of the tree.
(c) the branches of the tree.
(d) the leaves of the tree.
Question 2: The Hawaiians believed guardian spirits lived in Nature. True or False?
Answer: True
Question 3: What was ulu? What did the word stand for?
Answer: ‘Ulu’ was the breadfruit tree. The word meant ‘to grow, increase and spread’.
Question 4: The text says almost every part of the breadfruit tree was useful to the Hawaiins. Mention any three uses of the breadfruit tree.
Answer: Some uses of the breadfruit tree:
1. The trunk made surfboards, hula drums, and parts for canoes and houses.
2. The young buds were used as medicine.
3. The inner bark was used for making beaten cloth.
4. The wood was used for making furniture.
Question 5: How did the breadfruit tree spread to all the islands in the region?
Answer: Early voyagers carried the young shoots of the breadfruit tree over thousands of miles of sea to new lands, spreading them from island to island across the Pacific Ocean.
Question 6: Give one example from the text to show that Ku was a strong man.
Answer: Ku was a strong man because with powerful hands, he moved huge piles of soil effortlessly, and with his long digging stick, he alone did the work of twenty people.
The Gift of Ku Questions & Answers
Question 7: Why did Ku’s wife feel very sad? Why did she agree to let her husband go forever? What does this reveal about her character?
Answer: Ku’s wife felt very sad because Ku told her that he could help the villagers in the time of famine only if he went very far away, never to return.
Ku’s wife agreed to let her husband go forever because she could not let her family or other villagers suffer any more from the famine. She knew she had to make this sacrifice so that others could survive, so that fields were barren no more. This reveals that she was a strong and selfless woman.
Question 8: The family watched with wonder. Why were they wonderstruck?
Answer: The family was wonderstruck because a plant grew from the spot where the earth had swallowed up Ku. The plant emerged from the ground in the morning and grew very swiftly into a huge tree with high branches, thousands of leaves and hundreds of ulu, the nutritious breadfruit.
Question 9: What is the best method of eating the breadfruit?
Answer: The best method of eating the breadfruit is to roast the fruit well and remove the skin before eating it.
Question 10: Why did the breadfruit tree disappear into the ground? Is it normal for a tree to do so?
Answer: The breadfruit tree disappeared into the ground when people began to grab the fruit greedily. No, it is not normal for a tree to do so but this is a legend and it is common for legends to have supernatural elements.
Question 11: Ku spoke to his wife on two occasions. What did he tell het on both occasions? What do his statements reveal about the kind of person he was?
Answer: Ku spoke to his wife on two occasions. The first time he told her that the trunk of the tree was his body, the branches were his arms, the leaves his hands and the fruit his head. He told her that the fruit must be roasted and its skin removed before it was eaten.
The second time he told her that the new shoots around the trunk must be dug up and shared with others so that they could all have the fruit of the tree.
His statements reveal that he placed others’ needs before his own. He was selfless and self-sacrificing.
Question 12: Do you think it is easy to make sacrifices like Ku and his wife did? Give reason for your answer.
Answer: No, it is not easy to make sacrifices like Ku and his wife did. It is difficult to overlook personal gains for the sake of others. However, when need arise, one has to make a decision. Ku and his wife did know that they were in a position to help others when no one else could. So, though, it was difficult, they choose to acknowledge their responsibility towards the community.
Question 13: Ku offers his own life in order to save the lives of the people of his village community. Can the value of caring for others be found in the cities of today? Give reasons.
Answer: Such a feeling of belonging to one’s community and the value of caring for others is difficult to find in the cities of today. Yes, there are people who do work tirelessly for the improvement of their communities but usually the cities have demanding lifestyles which do not facilitate much social interaction. Moreover, cities bring together people from different parts of the country, different backgrounds, busy schedules and the pressure to do well for oneself and one’s family make it hard for people to participate in community welfare.
So, these were The Gift of Ku Questions & Answers.