Literature Lover

  Question 1: What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used? Answer: The word cardboard denotes the photograph pasted on a hard thick paper. Question 2: What has the camera captured? Answer: The camera has captured the three girls—the poet’s mother and her two cousins, Betty and Dolly. They are in swimming dress and walking in sea water. Question 3: What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you? Answer: The sea has not changed over the years. Its waves are as fresh, shining and tireless as they were years ago. The changelessness of sea reminds us of the changes in human face with advancing age. Question 4: The poetess’s mother laughed at the snapshot? What did this laugh indicate? Answer: This laugh’ indicated her joy at remembering an incident connected with her past life, when she was quite young and free from the worries of life. Question 5: What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease of loss”. Answe...

 1.  Tricki was tottering along in his little tweed coat.... He struggled on, drooping in his harness. I thought it wouldn’t be long before I heard from Mrs. Pumphrey. The expected call came within a few days. Mrs. Pumphrey was distraught. Tricki would eat nothing. Refused even his favourite dishes; and besides, he had bouts of vomiting. He spent all his time lying on a rug, panting. Didn’t want to go for walks, didn’t want to do anything. I had made my plans in advance. The only way was to get Tricki out of the house for a period. I suggested that he be hospitalized for about a fortnight to be kept under observation. The poor lady almost swooned. She was sure he would pine and die if he did not see her every day. But I took a firm line. Tricki was very ill and this was the only way to save him.                                                    ...

  1.     A Triumph Of Surgery i.                   Analyze how Herriot uses Tricki and Mrs. Pumphrey’s relationship to comment on societal attitudes towards pets and the responsibilities associated with their care. ii.                    What does Dr. Harriot mean by ‘Happy Periods’ for himself and his partners? Explain. iii.      What was Mr. Herriot’s strict advice ? Did Mrs. Pumphrey agree to  his advice ? 2.     The Thief’s Story        i. Why does Anil not hand over Hari Singh to the police ? 3.     The Midnight Visitor 4.     A Question of Trust i.      Horace ends up in prison only to regret that a man should not trust anyone blindly without finding out the truth. Do you think his own foolishness was responsib...

Question 1: Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki? Answer: Mrs Pumphrey was worried and upset about Tricki’s health as he was not eating anything. He refused to eat his favourite dishes and had bouts of vomiting. He spent all his time lying on a rug, panting and didn’t show any interest in going for daily walks either. Question 2: What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this? Answer: Initially, Mrs Pumphrey thought that Tricki had become listless, as he seemed to have no energy. She assumed that he must be suffering from malnutrition, so she started giving him some little extras between meals to build him up, some malt and cod-liver oil and a bowl of Horlicks at night to make him sleep. She would also indulge him in cream cakes and chocolates unnecessarily and did not give him enough exercise. With all this pampering and indulgence, Tricki became hugely fat, like a bloated sausage with a leg at each corner. It was absolutely not a wise decision on the part of his ...

  Question 1: Velu stood on the platform, but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train”. Why? Answer: Velu had run away from his home to Chennai by a train for the first time and as he got off the train and stood on the platform, he felt his legs were shaky. He was very hungry and stressed and felt as though he was still on a moving train. Question 2: What made him feel miserable? Answer: Velu had not eaten anything in the past two days except for some peanuts and a piece of jaggery. He felt lost and hopeless when he arrived in the big city. Question 3: (i) Velu travelled without a ticket. Why? (ii) How did he escape the ticket collector’s attention? Answer: (i) Velu travelled without a ticket because he had no money to buy a train ticket for himself. (ii) Velu could escape the ticket collector’s attention because, luckily, the ticket collector didn’t come to the unreserved compartment.  Question 4: Why had Velu run away from home? Answer: The little boy ran away from his...

1. What tasks, do you think, were assigned to the dog and the ox? Ans. The dog was assigned to fetch and carry sticks since he was carrying a stick in his mouth. The ox was assigned to plough the field as there was a yoke on his neck. 2:  Why did the camel live in the middle of the desert? Ans.  T he camel was the laziest animal. Hence, he lived in the middle of a howling desert because he did not want to work. He ate sticks, thorns and prickles and whenever anybody came to speak to him he just said “Humph!” and nothing more. 3:  What made the dog, the horse and the ox very angry? Ans: The dog, the horse and the ox were very angry because man assigned them the work of the camel too, as he lay lazy in the middle of the desert. This meant that the three of them would need to work double-time in order to make up for the camel’s laziness. Question 4: How did the Djinn know the horse was complaining against the camel? Answer: While the other animals were assigned the camel’s w...