Q102
“I am the dream and the hope of the slave” shows that the poet is a/an
- (1) pessimist
- (2) optimist
- (3) cynic
- (4) nihilist
CTET 7 Feb 2026 Paper 1 English, Question 102
Read the extract given below and answer the questions (Q. Nos. 100–105) that follow :
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that is wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Solution.
CBSE answer: (2)
Answer: (2) optimist
- The speaker sees herself as "the dream and the hope" of her enslaved ancestors.
- She moves "into a daybreak that is wondrously clear" and repeats "I rise".
- Someone who looks forward with hope is an optimist.
Trap: (1), (3) and (4) all describe a negative or hopeless outlook, which is the opposite of this line.