The Computer Swallowed Grandma (Poem)

Unit 1 – Poem

The Computer Swallowed Grandma

Warm Up

Look at the picture, discuss in pairs and present it before the class.

If your grandmother is …
- ready for a bicycle race, __.
- willing to play hide and seek, _.
- grabbing a lollipop from you, ___.

• How will you react to these situations?

Poem

The computer swallowed grandma.
Yes, honestly it's true!
She pressed ‘Control’ and ‘Enter’
And disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.

I’ve searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
In desperation, I asked Jeeves
I’ve even used the Internet,
My searches to refine.
But nothing did I find.

The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found ‘Online.’

So, if inside your ‘Inbox’,
My Grandma you should see,
Please ‘Copy’, ‘Scan’ and ‘Paste’ her
In an email back to me.

Anonymous

Spotlight

106-year-old Mastanamma, the great grandmother from Andhra Pradesh, is the star of a YouTube cooking channel with over 2,80,000 subscribers throughout the world. All credit for her new-found stardom goes to her grandson Karre Laxman. Mastanamma passed away in 2018.

Glossary

• devoured – consumed
• squirm – turn
• desperation – hopelessness

A. Read the poem aloud in pairs.

B. Read these lines and answer the questions given below.

1. The computer swallowed grandma.
   Who swallowed Whom?

2. She pressed ‘Control’ and ‘Enter’
   And disappeared from view.
   How did Grandma disappear from view?

3. It devoured her completely.
   Who does ‘it’ refer to?

4. She must have caught a virus
   Or been eaten by a worm.
   What happened to Grandma?

5. I’ve searched through the recycle bin
   And files of every kind;
   I’ve even used the Internet,
   But nothing did I find.
   Where did the author search for grandma?

C. Work in pairs. Read the last two stanzas of the poem and answer the following questions.

1. Who did the author ask for grandma?
2. Did the author get a positive reply?
3. What is the author’s plea?

D. Pick out the rhyming pairs and write them in the blanks given.

Stanza 2	Stanza 3	Stanza 4	Stanza 5
_ & ___	_ & ___	_ & ___	_ & ___

Practice Practice Exercises

1. The computer swallowed grandma. Who swallowed Whom?

2. She pressed ‘Control’ and ‘Enter’ And disappeared from view. How did Grandma disappear from view?

3. It devoured her completely. Who does ’it’ refer to?

4. She must have caught a virus Or been eaten by a worm. What happened to Grandma?

5. I’ve searched through the recycle bin And files of every kind; I’ve even used the Internet, But nothing did I find. Where did the author search for grandma?

1. Who did the author ask for grandma?

2. Did the author get a positive reply?

3. What is the author’s plea?