three men in a boat q.ans

three men in a boat q.ans

CLASS-9
NOVEL-THREE MEN IN A BOAT
SUMMARY-Lesson-1to10

THREE MEN IN A BOAT

Chapter 1

The narrator, J., is smoking in his room with his friends, George and William SamuelHarris, and his dog Montmorency. The men, all hypochondriacs, are chatting about their latest illnesses, each man certain that he is in danger of death or serious disease.

In a flashback, J. recollects how he once went to the British Museum to research a treatment for his hay fever, and after reading about diseases, convinced himself that he was suffering from every illness known to man except for housemaid’s knee. J.’s doctor, clearly recognizing the man's paranoia, prescribed him beefsteak, beer, walking, and good sleep habits, and urged him not to “stuff up your head with things you don’t understand” (10).

J. still believes that he suffers from every disease, but he is especially concerned about his ‘liver condition’ – the main symptom of which is “a general disinclination to work of any kind” (10).

The friends decide that taking a vacation together would restore their health, and debate locations for a week-long excursion. J. suggests a rural, old-world spot, but Harris wishes to avoid remote locations and counters with the suggestion of a sea cruise. J. vetoes that idea because one week is not enough time to overcome seasickness and actually enjoy the trip. He notes to the reader that no one admits to being seasick on land, but that many people have trouble with it when actually on a ship. George suggests taking a boat trip down the Thames, an idea that everyone approves. Though J. worries that Montmorency will get bored in the boat, they decide to bring him along anyway.

Chapter 2

The men begin to make plans for their boat trip. George and J. want to camp along the river, believing that sleeping outside will offer a true escape from the city. J. writes sentimentally and poetically about the beauty and power of nature.

However, Harris points out that camping would be unpleasant if it rains, so they decide to camp on nights with good weather and sleep in inns when the weather is poor. J. believes Montmorency will prefer hotels because they offer more excitement and stables that the dog can run around in. J. explains to the reader that Montmorency’s adorable appearance endears him to everyone who meets him, but he is actually a hyperactive troublemaker.

The men leave for a pub, to further discuss arrangements for the trip.

Chapter 3

At the pub, they compile a list of what they need to pack. Harris volunteers to write out the list, and J. compares him for the reader to his Uncle Podger, who always volunteers to help others but bungles the job because he is so accident-prone. Further, Uncle Podger ends up causing more work for everyone else because of his general incompetence. To illustrate his point, J. tells a lengthy story about how Uncle Podger once caused chaos for his entire household when trying to complete the simple task of hammering a nail into the wall.

Because the men do not want to leave anything behind, the list soon becomes ridiculously long. George suggests that they bring only the things they cannot do without, and they agree to travel light, even deciding to bring a cover a sleep in the boat so that they do not need to pack a tent. George promises that it will be easy to wash their clothes in the river with a bit of soap, and J. and Harris trust him (although J. notes that they will later regret this).

Chapter 4

Continuing to plan, the friends discuss what they will need for cooking. Although paraffin oil stoves are more common, they decide to bring a methylated spirit stove, remembering how the paraffin oil had oozed everywhere on a previous boat trip.

For breakfast and lunch, they choose food that is easy to cook - but not cheese, because of its strong smell. J. launches into a long digression about when his friend Tom once asked him to transport some cheese on a train journey. Everyone sitting in J.’s car left because the smell was too strong. When J. delivered the cheese to Tom and his wife, Tom’s wife refused to stay in the house until the cheese was eaten. They could not escape the cheese's stench until they buried it miles away at the seaside.

Back at his house, J. volunteers to pack the clothes, believing himself an exceptionally efficient packer. However, he keeps forgetting items, and then has to unpack in order to fit them in. To the reader, he expounds briefly on his habit of losing his toothbrush when traveling.

Harris and George watch J. pack with great amusement, and volunteer to pack the food when J. finally finishes. They are no better at it – they constantly forget items, and Harris steps in the butter. Throughout it all, they keep tripping over Montmorency. After some bickering, they finish, and assign George to wake them up at 6:30 the next morning.

Chapter 5

However, they oversleep, only waking when Mrs. Poppets comes in at nine. Harris and J. are greatly irritated with George, and their mood grows worse when they learn that the day’s weather forecast is poor. J. digresses to complain about how often weather forecasts are inaccurate. He also concocts a hypothetical story about staying inside when the forecasts predict rain and missing a beautiful day, and then believing the forecast of sun the next day, but ending up wet.

When they finally depart, the greengrocer’s errand-boy mocks them for their immense amount of luggage. As the men wait for a taxi, passers-by speculate about where they are going. Eventually, they hail a taxi to the train station, but none of the conductors there know which train they should take. When one conductor tells them that nobody knows where the trains are supposed to go, they give him a half-crown bribe and luckily end up heading towards Kingston, disembarking when they reach the river.

Chapter 6

As the men row through Kingston, J. provides some background on the area. (Although Kingston is now a suburb and part of Greater London, it would have been an independent town when Jerome wrote Three Men in a Boat in 1889.) J. describes how many of the pubs in this area claim that Queen Elizabeth dined there. He also tells about a shop that boasts a beautiful carved oak staircase, which the present owner has covered in blue wallpaper.

J. uses this as an occasion to meditate on how people always want what they cannot have, and do not want the things they do have. He recalls a former classmate namedStivvings, who was dedicated to his studies but was often too sick to complete his work. Meanwhile, the other boys hoped to get sick to avoid schoolwork, and became sick only when vacation came around. Returning to the subject of the oak staircase, J. writes at length about how people in the future will consider quotidian objects like dinner-plates and cheap figurines as priceless works of art, much as his contemporaries consider the day-to-day objects of prior civilizations to be priceless.

In the boat, Harris and Montmorency accidentally spill the contents of the food hamper. As they row past Hampton Court, J. initially marvels at the building’s beauty, but then decides that it would be too dark and depressing to live in all the time.

Harris tells his friends about the time he attempted the hedge maze at Hampton Court. The map, given out in advance, seemed quite simple, so that Harris was confident he could easily best the maze. His confidence attracted a mob of 20 people who were lost in the maze, and they turned on him when he realized the maze was more complicated than he thought it was. They wandered for a long time, until a young groundskeeper came to fetch them, and got lost himself. An older groundskeeper eventually guided them out.

The men agree to send George through the maze on their return trip.

Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

After passing Hampton Court, the men row through a lock — that is, a section of the river where the levels are lowered or raised between gates, to regulate traffic and water flow. This particular lock attracts many picnickers and pleasure-boaters, and J. remarks how nice it is to see people dressed up in their summer clothes. However, he criticizes his friends’ outfits – Harris has chosen to wear yellow, which does not suit him, and Georgehas bought an ugly new blazer for the trip.

J. digresses to consider how women’s boating clothes tend to be pretty but impractical. He recounts a time he and a friend took several women rowing. The women wore such delicate clothes that even a drop of water would stain them, and they were unable to have fun on the trip because they were concerned about ruining their outfits.

The boat nears Hampton Church, and Harris proposes stopping to visit the graveyard, where someone named Mrs. Thomas is rumored to have a funny tombstone. J. protests, as he finds cemeteries depressing. For the reader, he recounts a time that he visited one with his friends. He refused to enter, and insulted the groundskeeper rudely when the man offered to show him the graveyard’s points of interest.

However, Harris insists on visiting the tombstone. George has gone into town to run some errands for the bank where he works. J. and Harris bicker about whether to visit the cemetery, and Harris decides he needs a drink. While trying to find the whiskey bottle, he falls head-first into the food hamper.

Harris and J. stop to eat lunch by the side of the river. A man appears and accuses them of trespassing, threatening to report them to the landowner. Harris – a large man – physically intimidates the visitor until he leaves. J. explains to the reader that the man was expecting a bribe, and most likely did not work for the landowner at all. He adds that these attempts at blackmail are common along the banks of the Thames, and that tourists should avoid paying people who do this.

J. then launches into a diatribe on the violence he would like to inflict on landowners who actually do enforce trespassing laws on tourists like himself, since their claim at owning the river is specious in his mind.

J. shares his feelings with his friends, and Harris insists that he feels more anger towards the owners than J. does. J. chides Harris for his intolerance, and tries to convince him to be more Christian.

During their conversation, Harris mentions that he would sing a comic song while hunting the owners, so J. then digresses to explain how Harris believes himself a fine singer of comic songs, while he is actually quite terrible at it. He tells the reader of a party where Harris demanded he be allowed to sing, and then embarrassed himself and the piano players who tried to help him. Jerome relates part of this section in play-form.

J. then digresses to tell of a time he and others embarrassed themselves at a party. Two German guests, whom everyone was mostly ignoring, interjected to insist that a colleague of theirs could sing the funniest German songs they had ever heard. They offered to fetch him, and the man soon arrived to play. Though it turned out that his song was actually tragic, J. and the other guests laughed constantly, thinking it polite to do so. However, they actually angered the pianist, and the two German liars escaped before the song was finished, having played their practical joke.

The boat approaches Sunbury, where the backwaters flow in the opposite direction. J. recounts another boat trip on which he tried to row upstream in this area, but was only able to keep the boat in the same place. He lists a few points of interest around Sunbury and Reading, including a Roman encampment from the time of Caesar, a church that holds a torture instrument called a ‘scold’s bridle,’ and a dog cemetery.

When Harris and J. arrive at the village of Shepperton, they reunite with George, who surprises them by announcing that he has bought a banjo.

Since George has been away from the boat all day, Harris and J. assign him to untangle the tow-line while they make tea.

To the reader, J. explains how easily tow-lines become tangled. On long journeys like this, it is common for travelers to take a break from rowing while someone tows the boat from shore. However, J. observes that the towers, on the shore, tend to become distracted by their conversation and stop paying attention to the boat. Whoever is left on the boat is usually uncomfortable or responsible for whatever crisis emerges, but is ignored by the towers.

Over tea, George tells a story about seeing a couple distracted as they towed their boat from land. Sneakily, he tied his boat to their tow-line, thus tricking the couple into dragging the wrong boat for several miles. J. recounts a similar story, about a group of men whose boat ran aground because they were distracted. However, he argues that girls are the worst towers of all because they are so flighty and distractible.

After tea, George tows the boat from the shore. According to J., the last few hours of towing are always the most difficult. He remembers going boating with a female cousin. When towing the boat at the end of the day, they got lost, only to be saved by a group of working-class locals.

Although the friends intended to spend their first night on Magna Charta Island, they are too tired to travel all the way there, and decide to stop earlier. Because they did not bring a tent, they have to pitch the canvas cover over the boat before they can sleep. This task proves more difficult than it seems, and it takes them several attempts to successfully set it up.

They cook dinner, which is very satisfying because they have had such a long and exhausting day. They then prepare to sleep together in the boat's cramped quarters. J. tells his friends a story about two men who accidentally shared a bed in an inn; during the night, they stumbled into the same bed, and each thought his bed had been invaded by an intruder.

J. sleeps badly, and has a dream that doctors are trying to cut him open after he swallowed a sovereign. He begins a serious digression, discussing the beauty and melancholy of night. He concludes the chapter with a story about a knight who gets lost in the woods but manages to find joy in his suffering.

Character Sketches Three Men in a Boat SA-I| Class 9th

Jerome, The narrator (J)

Jim is the narrator of the story who is single and live the life in his own way. He is funny, lively and poetic man but hypochondriac. He thinks himself as a walking hospital. He has a dog named Montmorency. He is quite lazy and easy going though he sees himself as intelligent and hard-working. He is romantic and likes human beings. He loves to watch sunset and the beauty of stars at night. He loves to muse and comments on certain truths about life and human beings. He loves to eat, drink and hates work. He possesses a good sense of humour and appears dreamy. He hates sea-voyages. He is humourous by nature and can take joke on himself. He likes to work in group. He has deep interest in history as he told many ancient stories and loves artwork. He is vain about his dress sense and appearance. He is friendly and caring and is practical in his life.William Samuel Harris (Harris)

Harris is boastful person. He always creates a mess whenever he takes a job. He is fond of drinks. He also likes food and thinks that eating regularly keep the diseases in check. He is short-tempered and has bad manners. He thinks that he suffers from fits of giddiness. He loves to swim in the morning. He does not like to sleep outside at night. He has weak memory as he gets lost in maize and moody in nature. He loves to sing and think himself as a good singer but has a bad voice. He always makes fool of himself by doing something strange. He is lazy by nature and wants other people to do the job. He has good physique. He likes to argue with Jerome and hates to watch George snoring. He doesn't care about the people around, is keen at his own decisions.George

George is a bank clerk. He is mature and sanest person. He is practical and knowledgeable person. His friends think that he is lazy and and likes to sleep. He is a polite person and makes sensible suggestions sometimes. He is in the habit of snoring. He created mess a lot of time with Harris. He cooks well among his three friends. He likes to play banjo though he is not good at that. He avoids to do work as much as he can. He wonders why he could not be happy like that always, why he could not remain away from sins and temptations, why he could not do well to others, and why he could not lead a sober and peaceful life. He loves orders and discipline in his life. He does have mischievous nature.

Montmorency

Montmorency, the dog was the fourth member of the boating trip. He was a pet of Jerome. He is adventurous and is fond of doing some action. He doesn’t like to live alone. He hates cat as he got embarrassed by them once. He looks like a fox-terrier having a gentle look in his eyes. He looks like an angel. His ambition in life is to get in the way and be sworn at. He likes noise and is fond of doing some action. He had killed dozens chickens, had hundred and fourteen street fights, killed two cats and kept a man pinned in his own tool shed by making him afraid to come out. His idea of life was to march around the slums with the most disreputable dogs. He can squirm in anywhere where he particularly is not wanted. He is a perfect nuisance, makes people mad, and has things thrown at his head.

Uncle PodgerUncle Podger is uncle of Jerome. He is a leading member in his family. He always takes his job seriously. He is dedicated towards his job. Even for very small and less important work, he involves all the family members and makes a lot of mess. At the end, he thinks that the job is perfectly and easily done. He is a forgetful person as he forget his handkerchief which was in his coat. He is an impatient person and grunts over his family members. He is a clumsy person.

Herr Slosen Boschen Herr Slosen Boschen is a German Professor. He is good singer but he sings only in German language. He was once invited in a highly cultured party. Two students who returned from Germany asked him to sing a song. An announcement is made that he is going to sing a comic song but he starts singing a tragic song. The audience didn’t understand German and they laughed because they thought he is singing a comic song. He feels very insulted and leaves the party immediately. He is angry person as he cursed his audience.

Question: 1. Discuss the main plot of “Three Men in a Boat”.

Ans. The story is a travelogue which starts with three friends George, Harris and Jerome and their dog, Montmorency. They all were smoking in the room and suffering from health issues. They decided to go for a trip to River Thames between Kingston and Oxford on Saturday. The story is a humorous compilation of the incidents that occur to them on their trip. The story also includes the related incidents told by the author and his friends. They hired a boat for their journey. They decided to camp outside in fine weather and inside during bad weather. They did a lot of mishaps during their journey of the boat which was quite funny. The characters present their views on different aspects of life. We get to know of Uncle Podger, the Hampton Court Maze and the unreliability of barometers. Jerome also tells about how girls tow their boat and other related funny stories.

Question: 2. Describe the packing incident before the trip.

Ans. They move the table up against the window, piled everything in a heap in the middle of the floor, and sat round and looked at it. Jerome asked to leave the packing to him. George and Harris started relaxing which hurt Jerome as he thought to supervise the packing. When he packed everything, Harris told him that he forgot the boot so he had to repack everything. Harris and George started packing rest of the hamper, they started with breaking a cup. They packed the strawberry jam on top of a tomato and squashed it and Harris sat on butter. Montmorency sat down on things, put his leg into the jam and pretended that the lemons were rats. Harris move him away with a frying pan.

Question: 3. What problem that three men discussed and what they decided? /Why three men went to the trip?

Answer

The three men were feeling seedy. Harris and George felt extraordinary fits of giddiness. Jerome liver was out of order. He thought that he is suffering from each diseases that pill-circular mention except housemaid’s knee. They thought that they wanted rest and change. They should go out for a week to some old world and a peaceful spot. George was in the favour of sea trip but Jerome opposed it. He thought that sea-trip will make them tired after the journey. Lastly, they decided to go for a boat trip. However, Montmorency was not happy with this idea but they didn’t care about his thought.

Question: 4. Describe the incident in the party where Herr Slossenn Boschen sang his song?

Ans. It was a highly cultured party. Two young men who just returned from Germany said that Herr Slossenn Boschen will sing a comic song for them. They said nobody could sing it like Herr Slossenn Boschen. Young men whispered that they all will laugh while passing through the room. As the song started, everyone in crowd including the narrator fixed their eyes on young men as they didn’t understand German. When they tittered, all tittered; when they roared, all roared. German Professor did not seem happy and the expression of his face was one of intense surprise. Actually, it was a sad song. The two young men disappeared. He told that he only knew to sing the song in German. He felt very insulted and the party was ended.

Question: 5. Describe any humourous incident from the novel./Describe the incident of two ladies who were beautifully dressed.

Ans. Once the narrator went on a boat trip with two ladies. They had put on silky stuff, ribbons, dainty shoes and light gloves and were beautifully dressed. But they didn’t dressed for a river picnic, they were going to a photographic studio. While stepping in boat, the first thing that they noticed was that the boat was not clean so the narrator and his friend dusted all the seats for them. They thought that a drop of water would destroy their dress. The narrator tried his best, but could not prevent a few drops of water falling on their clothes. The ladies felt relieved when he asked another man to row. But the man spread more than a pint of water on their dresses, they began to protect themselves with their umbrellas and drew rugs and coats over themselves.

Question: 6. What happened to Harry at Hampton Court Place?

Ans. Harris once went in to maze to show it to his country cousin. He studied the map thought that it is simple. He met some people who had been there for three-quarters of an hour and lost. Harris asked them to follow him. Harris kept on turning to the right but it seemed a long way and his cousin thought that it was a very big maze. After a long time, they passed the half of penny on the ground. The woman with the baby said that she had thrown it on the ground just before she met him and said he is an impostor. Harris thought they should go back to the entrance and try again but he failed. They called the young keeper who was new and not able to locate them and also got lost while entering the maze. The old keeper came after the lunch and rescued them.

Question: 7. What happened to George’s father and his friend in the inn called “The Pig and Whistle”?

Ans. George’s father and his friend got into the same bed in a dark hotel room unknowingly. When they got a room they were very happy and switched off the light and went to bed as they were tired. They got in the same bed the only difference was one lay with his feet next to the other's head. Each thought that there is another man in his bed. They both fought with each other not knowing that the other person was his friend. Each complained to the other that there was someone else in their bed then the other advised them to throw out the intruder. Finally they threw each other out and both landed on the floor. They thought that it was not a very naive hotel as strange things happened in it.

DEAR DEPARTED

Summary:

The play ‘The Dear Departed’ presents an interesting situation that has tragically become common place in the world of today. The scene of the play is set in the sitting room of a small house in a lower middle-class district of a provincial town. The setting of the play reveals that the tea-table has been laid. Mrs. Slater, a plump and active lady is in mourning and she is getting ready to receive some guests. She beckons to her daughter Victoria, who is ten year old, and instructs her to change into something sober. It is revealed that Victoria’s grandfather has passed away and the Slater family is getting ready to receive Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Ben.

Victoria expresses surprise at this news because her aunt and uncle had not paid them a visit for years. Mrs. Slater reveals that they were coming over to talk about grandfather’s affairs, on hearing of his death. In the meanwhile Mr. Slater enters. He is a heavy man who stoops he is also in mourning dress. Henry Slater is skeptical whether Elizabeth will come, for the last time when Mrs. Slater and Elizabeth had  quarreled, she had vowed never to pay a visit again to their house. Mrs. Slater gives Henry new slippers of her father.

She also plans to take away the new bureau of the grandfather and shift it to their room, before Elizabeth and Ben arrive. Both the husband and wife, lock the front door and shift the bureau down and put their old chest of drawers there. Victoria wants to know why they were stealing grandfather’s things but her mother tells her to remain quiet. Grandpa’s new clock is also taken away. Meanwhile there is loud knocking at the door and the Slaters take plenty of time to look normal. Mrs. Jordan and Ben pretend to be emotional at the death of Mr. Abel Merryweather.

Both the ladies compare their mourning dresses, criticizing the other’s outfit. Mrs. Jordan is surprised to discover that no doctor had been summoned to check on her father. Mrs. Slater insists in a stubborn manner that she had been keen on Mr. Pringle and if he was out of station, they couldn’t be offensive and call someone else. Mrs Slater reveals that her father had been happy in the morning and he had apparently gone to pay the premium of his insurance policy. He was generally going to “Ring-O-Bells’ frequently and the night before he had come drunk and had gone to bed without having dinner. Mrs Jordan and Ben prefer to have tea before going and looking up father.

All four of them start discussing about the obituary and the kind of announcement in the newspapers to be inserted. Mrs Jordan wants a long poem but Mrs Slater protests by saying that it will cost a lot. Meanwhile Mrs Jordan reveals that her father had willed his gold watch to her son Jimmy. Mrs.Slater feels very offended and refuses to believe it. Victoria says that grandfather had not gone in the morning to pay his premium but had instead gone over to ‘The Ring of Bells,’ the public house, managed by John Shorrock’s widow. Everyone starts blaming the old man for not paying his premium. Victoria is instructed to go over to grandpa’s room to get the receipt of the premium.

Mrs Jordan is surprised to note a new bureau and she wishes to know the details, because she doubts Mrs Slater’s version. Victoria enters, looking dazed. She gives the shocking news that ä  Grandpa was stirring and moving. After some time Mr Abel Merryweather enters and is surprised to see his otherdaughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs Jordan. He reveals that he was well and just had a slight headache he notices Henry wearing his new slippers and takes them. Abels wishes to know, why all were in mourning dresses. Mrs Jordan makes up some story to pacify him. Abel Merryweather enjoys tea and has a generous slice of the apple-pie.

He grumbles and scolds Mrs Slater for taking away his bureau. Mrs Jordan gets agitated and accuses her sister of robbing her father. The husbands also join their wives in hurling accusations at each other Abel discovers about his death. He addresses his daughters directly and declares that he was going to change his will and all the money will go to the one, in whose house he dies. Both the daughters fight with each other to keep their father. Abel is amused and watches all the fun. At last he makes his announcement which shocks everyone. On Monday, he would go to the lawyer and alter his will, then he would go to the insurance office and pay his premium.

After that he would go to the church and get married to Mrs. Shorrock. Everyone is shocked. Abel reveals that he had at last found someone who was happy to keep him. He exits with an invitation of his marriage. He also thanks Mrs. Slater for shifting the Bureau down-stairs for now it will be easy to cart it away to “Ring-O-Bells.’

Q.5

1) How does Mrs. Slater plan to outshine the Jordans? What does it reveal about her character?

Ans.  Mrs. Slater was not very happy with the partial mourning dresses that she and her family were wearing. However, she thought that her sister in their hurry to start off for her house, wouldn’t have thought of mourning dresses and so she would outshine them.
Ans.  Mrs. Slater always liked grandfather’s bureau. After his death, she decided to shift it to her room before her sister arrived so she can say that it belonged to them

Mrs. Slater was a very superficial person. She was not concerned about the death in her family but was more bothered about her appearance and how to be better than her sister

(2) Why does Mrs. Slater decide to shift the bureau from grandfather's room before the arrival of the Jordans? How does Henry react to the suggestion?

Henry was shocked at the suggestion because he felt that the sisters should amicably divide grandfather’s things. He also felt that it was too heavy and moreover, he was worried about the arrival of the Jordans while they were shifting it.

(3) What is the reason for the Jordans taking a long time to get to the house of the Slaters? What does it show about the two sisters' attitude towards each other?

Ans.  Mrs Jordan took a lot of time to reach the home of the Slater’s because she wanted to get a complete new mourning dress before coming. Both the sisters are not grief-stricken at the death of their father but are trying to outshine each other in wearing their best mourning dresses.

(4) What does Mrs. Jordan describe as 'a fatal mistake'? What is the irony in the comment she makes on Mrs. Slater's defense?
Answer
Mrs. Slater’s not calling the doctor as soon as she realises that grandfather is dead, is described by Mrs Jordon as ‘a fatal mistake.  According to Mrs. Jordan grandfather could have been revived had Mrs. Slater sent for another doctor. It is this blunder on Mrs. Slater’s part that Mrs. Jordan describes as fatal.

(5) Ben appreciates grandfather saying 'its' a good thing he did'. Later he calls him a 'drunken old beggar'. Why does he change his opinion about grandfather?
Ans.  Ben appreciated grandfather when he came to know that he had gone out to pay his insurance premium. However, when he got to know that he had not paid the premium instead gone to a public house, he calls him a drunken old beggar.
Ben changed his opinion about grandfather when he realised that he hadn’t paid premium because now after his death they could not claim the insurance money.

(6) What change does grandfather make in his new will? What effect does it have on his daughters?
Ans  Grandfather decided that in his new will, he would leave all his money and things to the person he would be living with when he died. This led to another spat between the daughters. Since both of them were very keen to get his money and things, they wanted that he should stay with them.

(7) What are the three things that grandfather plans to do on Monday next?
Ans. The three things that grandfather planned to do on Monday next was first to go to a lawyer and change his will, then pay his insurance premium and finally go to St. Phillip’s church and get married.

6. Answer the following in detail:
(1) Bring out the irony in the title of the play.
Answer
The title of the play 'Dear Departed' is ironical. In the beginning of the play, we come to know that grandfather Mr. Abel has departed from this world. He is not dear to his own daughters though they pretend that he is dear to both of them. They are eager to divide his belongings between them. Even Mrs. Slater with whom he has been living fetches his clock and bureau from his room where he is lying 'dead'. Even they can't wait for the last rites of his burial. Even their husbands Ben and Henry do not love grandfather. So, no one is grieved at his departure. In this way, we can say that the title of this play 'Dear Departed' is an ironical statement of dying love and absence of filial obligations.

(2) How does the spat between his daughters lead to grandfather discovering the truth?

AnsAbel Merry weather recognises his bureau and wants to know the reason for its shifting. Mrs Slater had already told her sister that the bureau belonged to them. This lie is enough to start a fight between the two sisters. Mrs Jordan accuses her sister of stealing her father’s things, thinking him to be dead. That is when Abel discovers that they had gathered there for the official mourning of his death.


(3) Compare and contrast Henry's character with that of his wife. Support your answer with evidence from they play.
Answer
Henry is timid and honest by nature. Soft at heart, he tends to get bullied by his dominating wife. Initially he protests against stealing the grandfather’s slippers and bureau but when Mrs Slater forces him, he gets carried away. He is a worried looking man who believed what his wife says and ends up supporting her. Mrs Slater by contrast is vain, pretentious and greedy. She makes the plans and he executes them with his wife’s help of course.

7. Bring out the traits in Mrs. Slater's personality quoting evidence from the play.

Trait	Evidence from the play
Greedy	She shifted grandfather’s bureau and clock from his room before her sister arrived so that she could not lay a claim on it.
Overpowering/ dominating	She made her husband shift the bureau in spite of his reluctance.
Blunt/ straight talking	She told everybody that her father had been a little drunk that morning
Impolite	She misbehaved with her sister when she accused her of robbing grandfather of his things in spite of the fact that she was guilty of the same.
Insensitive	She did not even wait for grandfather’s funeral before she started dividing things between them.

8. Answer the following with reference to the context.

 1. "Are we pinching it before Aunt Elizabeth comes?"

a) What does 'it' refer to here?

b) How does Vicky conclude that her parents are 'pinching it'?

c) Mention the two reasons that Mrs. Slater gives for her action.

d) What does it reveal about the difference between the attitude of the elders and that of Vicky?

Answer

a) “It” refers to the bureau that was grandfather’s room.

b) When Victoria was told by her father that he and his mother were shifting the bureau downstairs, she concluded that her parents are “pinching it” because everything that was in grandfather’s room had to be equally divided amongst the two sisters.

c) Firstly, she always like the bureau of grandfather. Secondly, she knows that her sister Elizabeth would not let her take it.

d) The elders instead of mourning the death were busy dividing grandfather’s things. Victoria, on the other hand, had wisdom beyond her years. She immediately understood the meaning of their actions. She did not like her parents shifting the bureau.

Page No: 156

2. "I don't call that delicate, stepping into a dead man's shoes in such haste."

a) Who makes this comment?

b) What prompts the speaker to say this?

c) Bring out the significance of this statement.

Answer

a) Mrs. Jordan made this comment.

b) When grandfather sees Henry wearing it, Mrs. Slater quickly gives them back to him. This prompts Mrs. Jordan to make this comment.

c) Stepping into dead man’s shoe is to take the position of the dead man although one might not be capable of it. Mrs. Jordan on seeing her brother-in law wearing grandfather’s shoes feels that he was in too much of a hurry to step into the grandfather’s shoes. He didn’t even wait for his funeral.

3. "Now, Amelia, you mustn't give way. We've all got to die some time or other. It might have been worse."

a) Who is the speaker of these lines?

b) What prompts the speaker to say these words?

c) What does he mean when he says 'It might have been worse'?

d) What does it reveal about the speaker's character?

Answer

a) Ben is the speaker of these lines.

b) When he sees Mrs. Slater shedding tears for grandfather, he makes this formal statement to console and sympathise with her.

c) He means to say that death of grandfather at the age of 72 is quite normal. His death might have been worse than this death.

d) The speaker Ben is not serious at all. He is ironical and formal.



Date:
Day:
Time:
Today is the worst day of my life, when Grandpa was supposed to have passed away. I am deeply shocked at the behaviour of my mother and father, who are pinching the belongings of my Grandpa. Imagine none even went to look up Grandpa. I know Grandpa was not happy living with us, I tried my best but mummy never listens. Even papa supports her. I am so ashamed to see their hypocrisy. I don’t know how they will expect respect from me, when they have behaved so abominably. I pity Grandpa for this treatment. Oh! how I wish I was grown up enough to look after him.
Victoria.

 1

‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’

Notes on 'Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments'

 ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’

 Summary of ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’

This poem is the 55^th sonnet of the 154 sonnets written by William Shakespeare. Written in blank verses, the poem is about the futility of monuments and statues built by the kings and the powerful.

Absolutely confident of his writing skills, the poet claims that his poetry would outline the ornate marbles, statues and gold-plated monuments built by the rich and the powerful. As a result, the name of his friend, who is referred to in his verses, would live for a much longer time than the monuments that would stand neglected and tarnished with the passage of treacherous time.

The destructive wars would leave no trace of the statues and the devastation caused by them would bring all the magnificent monuments to the ground. However, neither wars not their devastation would wipe out the memory of the ones praised in this poem.

Neither death nor the enemies’ hatred would absolutely affect their reputation and they would continue to be praised by the generations to come till the last judgement day.

The poet wishes this praiseworthy soul to live in his poetry and in the hearts of his admires till he finally rises from his grave, like all the other souls and is rewarded by God on the day of judgement.

Question and answers:

Why do you think the rich and the powerful people get their statues and monuments erected in their memory?

Answer:

The rich and the powerful get monuments and statues carved on the one hand to make an ostentatious display of their wealth and on the other hand, to immortalize themselves so that the future generations know and remember them. However, the monuments and the statues fail to fulfill their wish.

Describe how monuments and statues brave the ravages of time.

Answer:

The statues and the monuments which the rich and the powerful get erected in their memory brave the ravages of time. Initially, they stand neglected and face the evil practices adopted by the future generations. Later, they are tarnished by the destructive wars. In short, they face the difficult and cruel times and thus, brave the ravages of wars and conflicts.

Why does the poetry refer to time as being ‘sluttish’?

Answer:

Time has been personified here as a slut which means being disloyal and untrustworthy. The poet calls time sluttish as it is not loyal to anyone. Just as a slut, loses its charm and beauty with time, the princes and the powerful, who enjoyed great privileges and popularity at one time get lost and forgotten with the passage of time. The ornate monuments and statues that they get erected to perpetuate their names even after their death stand neglected after some time and eventually, they are tarnished by wars. Hence, time displays its disloyalty towards once all powerful kings. 

The poet says that neither forces of nature nor wars can destroy his poetry. In fact, even godly powers of Mars will not have a devastating effect on his rhyme. What quality of the poet is revealed through these lines?

Answer:

Forces of nature or wars can destroy human beings, animals, cities, and even monuments. The power of the God of war, Mars, has a devastating effect on everything that is mortal. However, poetry and the great creations of the poet are immune to such forces of nature. The sonnet written by the poet in praise of his friend will survive all these natural forces, wars and the ravages of time. Even the godly power of Mars can’t diminish the shine and glory of his rhyme. The poem will survive all these and be remembered till posterity.

Sure of his verses not being destroyed by forces of nature, wars and the unmatchable power of God, the poet reveals his self-confidence, optimism and his immense faith in the power of his poetry. He conveys that ‘Pen is mightier than the sword’.

Literary devices :
 Personification- Sluttish time
Here time has been personified as a slut to indicate that it is heartless and cruel .

Alliteration : Not marble, nor gilded monuments
(repetition of 'm', 'n', 'l', and  'r' sounds

2)you shall shine  (sh sound)

3)  unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time

4) when wasteful wars  ( w sound repeated )

Repetition -'nor',  'shall '.

Ans. the qs. in brief :

i) marble  srtands for ornate statues.

ii)  powerful rhyme - verses written by the poet.
iii)  wasteful war - war is destructive .
iv)  'your ' refers to -a worthy friend of the poet .
v) 'oblivious enmity' refers to enmity that makes one forget the values of life.
vi) 'you' will be remembered - till the doom's day.
vii) judgement refers to -the final judgement of mankind .
'dwell in lover's eyes ' means he is alive in the memory of the people who love him.

The Letter

Summary: This story was written by Dhumketu. This story is about an old man who was a hunter during his heydays. When his daughter got married, he understood the pain of separation. After that, he gave up hunting began another phase of his life, i.e. to wait for a letter from his daughter. He goes to the post office every day to enquire about the letter. The post office becomes a pilgrimage for him and he continues his daily pilgrimage for five years. Everyone in the post office makes fun of him but nobody ever tries to understand the pain of an old man who is waiting for a letter from his beloved daughter. On his last visit to the post office, the old man gives five guineas to a clerk and requests him to deliver the letter to his grave whenever the letter comes. One day; the postmaster is anxiously waiting for a letter from his sick daughter and his agony makes him realize the pain and agony which the old man must have suffered. It was on that day when a  letter from the old man’s daughter arrives. But it was too late because the old man had died by that time. However, at the end of the story; everyone in the post office appear to realize the importance of human emotions and relationships.

a.    Who was Ali? Where did he go daily?

Answer: Ali was an old man who was a clever shikari in his youth. He went to the Post Office  daily  for the last five years to receive a letter from his daughter .

b.    
"Ali displays qualities of love and patience". Give evidence from the story to support the statement.

Answer: Ali loves his daughter too much. This is evident from the fact that when his daughter goes away , he realizes the pain of separation. He has a lot of patience which is evident in his daily journey to the Post Office.

c.    How do you know Ali was a familiar figure at the post office?

Answer: All the people at the post office knew him by face and name. They even remembered his daughter’s name. They often discuss the mental state of Ali during breaks. This shows that Ali was a familiar figure at the post office.

d.    Why did Ali give up hunting?

Answer: When Ali’s daughter got married and left him; he understood the pain of separation. He began to feel the pain of the birds whose  dear ones had killed. After that, Ali gave up hunting.

e.    What impression do you form of the postmaster after reading the story 'The Letter'?

Answer: The postmaster had an expressionless face ard was too occupied with his own affairs to think about others. It is only when he  had  to wait for the news of the well being of his daughter , he realized a father’s anxiety for his daughter. This
incidence totally changes  him.

f.    The postmaster says to Ali, "What a pest you are, brother!" Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: I do not agree with this statement. Though Ali comes daiy to the post office;he waits patiently without disturbing anyone.Hope lures him to the door whenever post office employees jokingly call out his name,but he does not rebuke them.

g."Ali came out very slowly, turning after every few steps to gaze at the post office. His eyes were filled with tears of helplessness, for his patience was exhausted, even though he still had faith." Why were Ali's eyes filled with tears of helplessness? What had exhausted his patience but not his faith?

Answer:   Ali’s eyes were filled with tears of helplessness.  because he felt hurt at the postmaster’s rough and uncivilized  behaviour. His not receiving any letter from Miriam for over a period of five years and the old age had exhausted his patience. But he had still faith that he would receive a letter from Miriam.

h.Tortured by doubt and remorse he sat down in the glow               of the charcoal sigri to wait. Who is tortured by doubt and remorse? Why? What is he waiting for?    
Answer: The postmaster was tortured by doubt and remorse.

The postmaster is tortured by doubt and remorse .He was in doubt about well being of his daughter. He was remorseful because he failed to understand Ali’s pain and anxiety.He is waiting for the news of the wellbeing of his daughter.

         7- Tortured by doubt and remorse. the postmaster sits in the glow of a charcoal sigri                    that night, waiting for news of his daughter. As he sits, he writes his diary. As the                   postmaster, write a diary in about 150 words outling your feeling about the day’s                   events.

         4^th Aug.2016
         9.50 P.M.

I am overburdened with a feeling of doubt and remorse at how I have treated Ali. Today as I was waiting to give the letter Ali had been waiting so long to receive personally to him. I saw Ali coming and knocking at the door. I duly asked him to come in. He was leaning on his stick and had tears on his face. However, his features were unearthly.I gave him the letter. But later Lakshmi Das informed me that Ali had died three months back.

I am feeling a sense of remorse and  guilt at the way I have treated Ali. I  have  insulted Ali. I laughed at his genuine feeling of love for Miriam when he used to wait for a letter from her. I overlooked the human side of his emotions then. But very soon I found myself in the same predicament. I realised my foolishness towards Ali. This has cut me to piecess. How can I make amends for my rough and rude behaviour towards Ali when he was alive ! I really repent my actions and feel  that I should not have been harsh to Ali.

Postmaster

MIRROR

https://youtu.be/oFsRdg6co1c

Summary

In this poem, a mirror describes its existence and its owner, who grows older as the mirror watches.

The mirror first describes itself as “silver and exact.” It forms no judgments, instead merely swallowing what it sees and reflecting that image back without any alteration. The mirror is not cruel, “only truthful.” It considers itself a four-cornered eye of a god, which sees everything for what it is.

Most of the time, the mirror looks across the empty room and meditates on the pink speckled wall across from it. It has looked at that wall for so long that it describes the wall as “part of my heart.” The image of the wall is interrupted only by people who enter to look at themselves and the darkness that comes with night.

The mirror imagines itself as a lake. A woman looks into it, trying to discern who she really is by gazing at her reflection. Sometimes, the woman prefers to look at herself in candlelight or moonlight, but these are “liars” because they mask her true appearance. Only the mirror (existing here as lake) gives her a faithful representation of herself.

Because of this honesty, the woman cries and wrings her hands. Nevertheless, she cannot refrain from visiting the mirror over and over again, every morning. Over the years, the woman has “drowned a young girl” in the mirror, and now sees in her reflection an old woman growing older by the day. This old woman rises toward her out of the mirror like “a terrible fish.”

(a) What is the poetic device used when the mirror says 'I swallow'?

Ans  ‘I swallow’ personifies the mirror. The mirror seems to say that the image on it is deep enough to swallow everything, passively. The objectivity of the mirror is significant.

(b) How does the mirror usually pass its time?

Ans  The mirror usually passes its time by constantly looking at the wall opposite to it.

(c) What disturbs the mirror's contemplation of the opposite wall?

Ans. People's faces and the darkness disturb the mirror's contemplation of the opposite

          wall.

(d) Why does the mirror appear to be a lake in the second stanza? What aspect of the mirror do you think is being referred to here?

Ans. The mirror appears to be lake in the second stanza because it has also the quality of reflecting the image of what appears before it like a lake. As whatever falls on the surface of the lake is drowned into it, the mirror also swallows whatever it sees. A new dimension, depth, is being referred here.

(e) What is the woman searching for in the depths of the lake? 

Ans. The woman is searching for her lost youth, charm and beauty in the depths of the

         lake.

(f) How does the narrator convey the fact that the woman looking at her reflection in the lake is deeply distressed?

Ans. The narrator conveys the fact that woman is deeply distressed because when she sees herself ageing in the mirror, she turns away to find her answers in the candles and the moon. She has tears in her eyes and her agitated hands express her distress.

(g) What makes the woman start crying?

Ans. The woman starts crying when she sees her own reflection in the mirror and realises that she has lost her charm, beauty and youth. She has grown old.

(h) What do you think the 'terrible fish' in the last line symbolizes? What is the poetic device used here?

Ans. The ‘terrible fish’ symbolises the bitter truth which puts human beings to a fatal end. The poetic device used here is a simile.

Page No: 100

5. Read the poem silently and answer the following questions:

(a) List out the adjectives that have been used to describe the mirror. Add a few more adjectives to the list.

Ans. Adjectives used in the poem to describe the mirror:
silver, exact, honest, faithful, unmisted, unbiased, four cornered

A few more adjectives for the same are listed below:
Deep, significant, reality, bitter, fair, honest

(b) In the second stanza why has the narrator replaced the mirror with a lake? What is he/she trying to focus on?

Ans  In the second stanza, the poetess has replaced the mirror with a lake to add a new dimension to it which is depth. The lake has depth. Both the mirror and the lake have the quality of reflecting the image of what appears before them. Just as anything falls and drowns into the lake, the youth and beauty of the woman seems to have drowned  in the mirror.