Poem - Snake
Question 6
a) The poet decides to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking because he was second to come over there. The snake was the first comer. Unless the snake was gone, he couldn’t go to the trough.
This tells us that the poet respects the snake and his right to exist.it also tells us that the poet is quite generous ,gentlemanly and considerate.
b) From the above mentioned stanzas, the picture of the snake emerges very beautiful and clear.
The snake is yellow-brown or golden-brown in colour. It weakly trails his soft belly over the edge of the stone trough. It seems tired and thirsty and drank water slowly. Just like a cattle, it raises its head and then drinks some more water. It has a two-forked tongue, which it flickered and mused while drinking.
c) The poet described the day and atmosphere to be hot. It is clear through phrases used in the poem like: ‘On a hot, hot day’, ‘in the deep, strange scented shade…’, ‘burning bowels of the earth’, ‘day of Sicilian July, when Etna smoking’.
d) By this the poet wants to convey that there is intense heat inside the hole of the earth as it is burning.
e) I think the snake was not conscious of the poet’s presence as if it were, it couldn’t have behaved majestically and as if it were in a dream. It looked around like a god but not at the poet, though it looked in the direction where the poet stood.
f) The snake’s thirst was satiated as it looked dreamily after drinking the water. The expressions used to justify the same are: ‘and flickered his two-forked tongue’, ‘mused a moment’, ‘he drank enough’, ‘and lifted his head dreamily.’
a) The poet decides to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking because he was second to come over there. The snake was the first comer. Unless the snake was gone, he couldn’t go to the trough.
This tells us that the poet respects the snake and his right to exist.it also tells us that the poet is quite generous ,gentlemanly and considerate.
b) From the above mentioned stanzas, the picture of the snake emerges very beautiful and clear.
The snake is yellow-brown or golden-brown in colour. It weakly trails his soft belly over the edge of the stone trough. It seems tired and thirsty and drank water slowly. Just like a cattle, it raises its head and then drinks some more water. It has a two-forked tongue, which it flickered and mused while drinking.
c) The poet described the day and atmosphere to be hot. It is clear through phrases used in the poem like: ‘On a hot, hot day’, ‘in the deep, strange scented shade…’, ‘burning bowels of the earth’, ‘day of Sicilian July, when Etna smoking’.
d) By this the poet wants to convey that there is intense heat inside the hole of the earth as it is burning.
e) I think the snake was not conscious of the poet’s presence as if it were, it couldn’t have behaved majestically and as if it were in a dream. It looked around like a god but not at the poet, though it looked in the direction where the poet stood.
f) The snake’s thirst was satiated as it looked dreamily after drinking the water. The expressions used to justify the same are: ‘and flickered his two-forked tongue’, ‘mused a moment’, ‘he drank enough’, ‘and lifted his head dreamily.’
g)The poet has a dual attitude towards the snake. It is because he is caught in between by human instinct and rational thought. Human instinct makes him appreciate the snake and love animals. However, the voice of human education or rational thought says that snakes are poisonous and are to be killed.
h) The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the poet likes the snake for its beauty and considered it like a king and a guest, yet he hit the snake with a log. Moreover, though he did not want it to go, his act forces the snake to leave immediately.
i) The expressions are: ‘and flickered his two-forked tongue/ from his lips’, ‘and mused a moment’, ‘But must I confess, I liked him’, ‘How glad I was…’, ‘like a guest in quiet’, ‘I stared with fascination’, ‘Like a king in exile.’
h) The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the poet likes the snake for its beauty and considered it like a king and a guest, yet he hit the snake with a log. Moreover, though he did not want it to go, his act forces the snake to leave immediately.
i) The expressions are: ‘and flickered his two-forked tongue/ from his lips’, ‘and mused a moment’, ‘But must I confess, I liked him’, ‘How glad I was…’, ‘like a guest in quiet’, ‘I stared with fascination’, ‘Like a king in exile.’
j) We find the snake thirsty at the beginning of the poem. It draws its slack body over the edge of the water-trough leisurely and slowly. But when the poet strikes a log at it, it ‘convulses and writhes’ like lightening
k) The poet feels this way because he feels regret and realizes that he shouldn’t have thrown a log to kill the snake.The snake had come to satiate his thirst,was his guest and had harmed him in no way.
The expressions are: ‘how paltry,how vulgar,’what a mean act,’I despised myself’.
l) The poet makes an allusion to the albatross because it was shot by the Ancient mariner, although nobody wanted it to die. However, later on board the ship, everybody agreed on it being a right thing to do. Later, the mariners wanted it back as it brought with it, the wind to steer the ship. Likewise, the poet in Snake wants the snake back to accept his hospitality like an honored guest.
m) It means that the poet has something to regret for ever. This is that he shouldn’t have thrown a log to kill the snake.
Q.7 Diary entry
day/date time
Dear diary
I had a terrible incident in my life, today. I did something for which I shall regret throughout my life. A snake visited my water trough today in the afternoon. It was extremely hot and he had come to quench his thirst. Knowing this, I fought against my consciousness and threw a log at him. I know it was a very selfish and cruel thing to do and my indecisive mind couldn’t focus well. It expected hospitality but my mind was in a state of dilemma. I was torn between rational thought and conscience I threw the log at him and Iimmediately regretted my action.I had no right to harm him as he had harmed me in no way and was a guest of mine.
(poet)
Question 8:(just read the answer you don’t have to write)
k) The poet feels this way because he feels regret and realizes that he shouldn’t have thrown a log to kill the snake.The snake had come to satiate his thirst,was his guest and had harmed him in no way.
The expressions are: ‘how paltry,how vulgar,’what a mean act,’I despised myself’.
l) The poet makes an allusion to the albatross because it was shot by the Ancient mariner, although nobody wanted it to die. However, later on board the ship, everybody agreed on it being a right thing to do. Later, the mariners wanted it back as it brought with it, the wind to steer the ship. Likewise, the poet in Snake wants the snake back to accept his hospitality like an honored guest.
m) It means that the poet has something to regret for ever. This is that he shouldn’t have thrown a log to kill the snake.
Q.7 Diary entry
day/date time
Dear diary
I had a terrible incident in my life, today. I did something for which I shall regret throughout my life. A snake visited my water trough today in the afternoon. It was extremely hot and he had come to quench his thirst. Knowing this, I fought against my consciousness and threw a log at him. I know it was a very selfish and cruel thing to do and my indecisive mind couldn’t focus well. It expected hospitality but my mind was in a state of dilemma. I was torn between rational thought and conscience I threw the log at him and Iimmediately regretted my action.I had no right to harm him as he had harmed me in no way and was a guest of mine.
(poet)
Question 8:(just read the answer you don’t have to write)
By using alliteration, sibilance and onomatopoeia, D.H.Lawrence has succeeded in creating a kind of visual and sensory effect on us. In line ‘And trailed his yellow- brown slackness, soft-bellied down,’ we feel the onomatopoeia effect in ‘trailed’, ‘slackness’, and ‘soft- bellied down.’ We almost hear both the sound and the movement of the snake. Equally in line ‘And flickered his two- forked tongue,’ /f/ sound (sibilance) and onomatopoeic effect in ‘flickered’ lend a visual and sensory movement to the snake.
In the line ‘Softly drank through his straight/ gum, into this slack long body/ Silently’, the /s/ sound conveys the snake’s feature of the snake through sibilance. In doing so, the poet has been successful in bringing out the image of the snake through the sound, movement and shape. Another example of onomatopoeic word ‘slowly’ and /s/ sound indicates the use of sibilance, conveys this effect: ‘And slowly turned his head,/ And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream’.
Question 9:
literary devices.1) Repetition:
Hot, hot day;
Earth brown, earth golden;
Was it cowardice, was it perversity, was it humility;
I was afraid, I was most afraid;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream.
Simile:
as drinking/ cattle do;
And lifted around like a god;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream;
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken;
and I, like a second comer;
like a king in exile;
he had come like a guest;
writhed like lightening.
In the line ‘Softly drank through his straight/ gum, into this slack long body/ Silently’, the /s/ sound conveys the snake’s feature of the snake through sibilance. In doing so, the poet has been successful in bringing out the image of the snake through the sound, movement and shape. Another example of onomatopoeic word ‘slowly’ and /s/ sound indicates the use of sibilance, conveys this effect: ‘And slowly turned his head,/ And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream’.
Question 9:
literary devices.1) Repetition:
Hot, hot day;
Earth brown, earth golden;
Was it cowardice, was it perversity, was it humility;
I was afraid, I was most afraid;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream.
Simile:
as drinking/ cattle do;
And lifted around like a god;
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice a dream;
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken;
and I, like a second comer;
like a king in exile;
he had come like a guest;
writhed like lightening.
Monday, 20 October 2014
Answer 5 A Shady Plot
(a) Jenkins had always called upon Hallock whenever he wanted a ghost story to be published in his magazine. John’s ghosts were live propositions as Jenkins called them. This time again Jenkins wanted Hallock to come up with another supernatural thriller, which would give the readers horrors and that is what the public wanted too.
(b) The narrator lacked the self confidence as he himself talked of how he didn’t specialize in ghost stories; instead, he said that the ghost stories specialized in him. His first story had been a ghost fiction too; however, for that also he had to chase inspiration in vain for months. This all shows that the narrator was, though natural, an accidental ghost fiction writer.
(c) Helen and other co-ghosts organized The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau because they felt there were many writers without ideas, however, with a vulnerable mind who were looking for an inspiration to write ghost stories. The bureau would assign a ghost to such a writer so that he/she could write good ghost stories.
(d) Helen provided inspiration to the narrator to write ghost stories. She and co-ghosts were going on a strike because they were tired of answering questions of Ouija board fanatics. They felt they were disturbed too often to answer silly questions. She urged the narrator to influence his friends and acquaintances to stop using the Ouija board. It was on this condition she promised to help the narrator to write stories.
(e) Helen tells the narrator that she had helped him write his ghost stories. She tells the narrator of the many times when she had leaned on the narrator’s shoulder and had given him ideas, when he was thinking hard while writing a ghost story. Helen tries to tell the narrator that had she not been there for him as a muse, he would not have been able to write good ghost stories.
(f) Lavina is a sensitive woman and is subject to hysterics. If she sees John talking to a ghost she would lose it all. Lavinia is crazy about every new fashion and fad, so much feminine in nature that John fears the thought of how she would react in such a situation.
(g) Helen, the ghost, had asked the narrator to influence his friends to stop using the Ouija board. It was only on this condition that Helen promised to help the narrator to write ghost stories. If Helen sees him now himself trying to communicate ghosts through Ouija board, he fears how and what she would do to him. That is why the narrator was reluctant to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board party.
(h) 
Helen called John a traitor as he bluffs her. He had promised Helen that he would convince his friends to stop contacting ghosts; rather here he himself was doing the same. She is annoyed and filled with anguish and so goes to everyone’s Ouija board one by one and tells that Mr. Hallock is a traitor. After this revelation everybody suspected John of cheating upon his wife, later John clarified to his wife and she even understood.
Helen called John a traitor as he bluffs her. He had promised Helen that he would convince his friends to stop contacting ghosts; rather here he himself was doing the same. She is annoyed and filled with anguish and so goes to everyone’s Ouija board one by one and tells that Mr. Hallock is a traitor. After this revelation everybody suspected John of cheating upon his wife, later John clarified to his wife and she even understood.
(i) The narrator felt that everybody in the room was looking at him suspiciously. That is why he called the assembly of women “manipulators”. The women were not manipulating things. However, they were just reporting what was happening at their Ouija Board.
(j) John’s wife is angry because she, like other women, believed what the spirit said through the Ouija board, about her husband. A woman even reported that Helen has called John a traitor. Lavinia thought that her husband was cheating on her. She decided to go to her grandmother’s house. She also decided to separate from her husband.
(k) John wished he was dead because a brief meeting with a ghost had created such situations that he was about to lose his wife, whom he loved dearly; it destroyed his happiness and home.
(l) John assures his wife that his flirtations with Helen the ghost are above board. He tries to tell her that whatever that has happened between him and Helen is over the board of Ouija and there was nothing that he wished to hide from his wife; in fact there was nothing to tell.
(m) John thought that his wife would become hysterical if she saw the ghost Helen; however, when the encounter happened, she confidently spoke to the ghost and was not at all scared of it.
Answer 6
How are you? Hope you are doing fine. Sorry about delaying in replying to your letter. I was caught in some personal problems.
I want to share something very strange that happened to me. A few days back I purchased an Ouija board. I called my friends over for an Ouija board session. John was also part of it. Suddenly a ghost, named Helen, started communicating with all of us together. She called John a traitor. I was confused. I did not understand what was happening. We do not know anybody with such a name. It occurred to me that John was cheating on me. I decided to leave him and go to my grandmother’s house. When I went to see him before leaving, I found him talking to the same ghost. I saw the ghost with my own naked eyes and I also spoke to her. It was then that I realized that Helen was helping him write all those superb ghost stories. Finally, the misunderstanding was cleared. Now I am in my own home, happy with my husband. And, yes, no more Ouija board parties for me!
So much for now.
Love
Yours truly
Lavinia
The past few days have been a rollercoaster ride for me. I was sitting in my study trying to write a ghost story and suddenly a ghost appeared. At first I could not believe it, however, slowly I got talking to it. She declared that she and other ghosts were going on a strike. Imagine ghosts going on a strike! Apparently, she had helped me write all my earlier ghost stories, as what she claimed. She then appeared in the Ouija board session that my wife had organized for her friends. She called me a traitor openly in front of all my folks. My wife and her friends almost believed that I was cheating on my wife. Lavinia threatened to leave me. Here I was caught between a ghost who threatened to go on a strike and a wife who was on the verge of leaving me. Phew!!
Thankfully Lavinia got a chance to meet and speak to Helen and her misunderstanding was cleared. One good thing came out of these encounters with Helen; I now have got an idea for my next story. This one is going to be my best story so far.
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