Question 1.
Given below is a list of words related to ghosts and ghost stories with their jumbled up meanings against them. Match the words/expressions with their correct meanings :
| A. | Apparition | (i) a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event |
| B. | Poltergeist | (ii) a reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people |
| C. | Clairvoyance | (iii) a conjurer who expels evil spirits by conjuration |
| D. | Crystal Ball | (iv) a spelling-board device intended to communicate with and through the spirit world, obtaining answers to questions. |
| E. | Eerie | (v) beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation |
| F. | Medium | (vi) any of a set of 22 playing cards bearing allegorical representations, used for fortune telling |
| G. | Transmigration | (vii) a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, a ghost, spectre or phantom – |
| H. | Psychic | (viii) so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine |
| i. | Ouija Board | (ix) the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses |
| J. | Exorcist | (x) a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living |
| K. | Premonition | (xi) a globe of quartz crystal in which images, believed to portend the future, are supposedly visible to fortune tellers |
| L. | Paranormal | (xii) to pass into another body after death: going from one state of existence or place to another |
| M. | Tarot Card | (xiii) capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy |
| N. | Vampire | (xiv) German word, meaning ‘‘noisy ghost”-a troublesome spirit that announces its presence with unexplainable sounds and the creation of disorder |
Answer:
A. (vii)
B. (xiv)
C. (ix)
D. (xi)
E. (viii)
F. (x )
G. (xii)
H. (xii)
I. (iv)
J. (iii)
K. (i)
L. (v)
M. (vi)
N. (ii)
Question 2.
The title of the story is A
Shady Plot. The dictionary defines the words as: shady adjective
(а) Full of shade; shaded.
(b) Casting
shade: a shady grove.
(c) Quiet, dark, or
concealed; hidden.
(d) Of dubious
character or of questionable honesty
Answer:
(c) Quiet, dark, or concealed;
hidden.
plot noun
(a)
- a small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.
- a measured area of land.
(b) a ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.
(c) storyline-the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic
work, as a play, novel, or short story.
(d) a secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme.
Based on the definitions above can you predict what the story will be about?
Make a brief note of your prediction in your notebook.
Answer:
(c) storyline-the plan, scheme,
or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short
story.
Question 3.
Based on your reading of the
story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.
(a) The narrator earns his living by ……
(i) writing ghost stories
(ii) working
as a reader for a magazine
(iii) working
as a stenographer
(iv) working as an
accountant in a lumber company
Answer:
(i) writing ghost stories
(b) The writer was overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories
because ……
(i) whenever magazines
wanted a ghost story, they got in touch with him
(ii) he was always able to write a ghost story whenever he had to write
one
(iii) the readers appreciated his
ghost stories
(iv) he knew the ghost lady
would help him write a good ghost story
Answer:
(iii) the readers appreciated
his ghost stories
(c) The sight of the ghost materialising in his room filled the narrator with
……
(i) fear
(ii) excitement
(iii) joy
(iv) anticipation
Answer:
(i) fear
(d) The ghost wanted John to
(i) stop his
wife from using the Ouija board
(ii) stop
using the Ouija board himself
(iii) stop
his guests from using the Ouija board
(iv) stop people from using the Ouija board
Answer:
(iv) stop people from using the
Ouija board
(e) John wants the ghost to disappear before his wife enters the room and
waves his arms at the ghost with something of the motion of a beginner when
learning to swim. His movement shows his ………
(i) fear
(ii) amusement
(iii) desperation
(iv) anxiety
Answer:
(iii) desperation
(f) When the narrator says his wife is never so pretty as when she’s doing
something she knows he disapproves of, his tone is ……….
(i) amused
(ii) ironic
(iii) angry
(iv) irritated
Answer:
(iv) irritated
(g) The ghost says “It’s all your fault”. ‘It’ here refers to ………
(i) the narrator’s wife’s anger
(ii)
the ghost’s anger
(iii) the narrator’s
wife leaving him
(iv) the ghost
materialising in sections
Answer:
(iii) the narrator’s wife leaving him
(h) Gladolia wishes to leave the narrator’s house as ……….
(i) she does not like the Ouija boards
(ii) she is afraid of the ghost
(iii)
she is afraid of magic and hoodoo
(iv)
she likes Ouija boards and hoodoo
Answer:
(iii) she is afraid of magic
and hoodoo
Question 4.
Answer the following
questions briefly :
(a) What genre of
stories does Jenkins want the narrator to write? Why?
Answer:
Jenkins wants the narrator to
write stories on the supernatural this time. He wants the narrator to do so
because that is what the public wants. His stories are interesting and
mysterious and his ghosts are propositions.
(b) Does the narrator like writing ghost stories? Support your answer with
evidence from the story.
Answer:
The narrator likes writing ghosts stories because a ghost story has been his
first fiction. It has changed the narrator with the idea. The idea comes to
the narrator out of nowhere when Jenkins wants the narrator to write, the
story comes by itself and the narrator is always be able to dig one story.
(c) What makes Helen, the ghost, and her other co-ghosts organize The Writer’s
Inspiration Bureau?
Answer:
Helen and her other co-ghosts organise the Writers Inspiration Bureau for
which they scout around until they find a writer without idea and with a mind
soft enough to accept impression. The case is brought to the attention of the
main office and one of them is assigned to it.
(d) Why had Helen, the ghost been helping the narrator write ghost stories?
Why was she going on strike? What condition did she place for providing
continued help?
Answer:
Helen the ghost had been helping the narrator to write ghost stories because
he had always needed ideas and Helen gave them. She was now going on a strike
because they were called too often and the people were using Ouija boards as
the medium. Helen wanted John to get t all his friends to stop using the board then only would they start
helping them.
(e) How does the ghost undermine the narrator’s faith in his ability to write
ghost stories?
Answer:
The ghost thinks that the narrator can not write ghost stories but the
ghosts give him the idea. Helen tells him that many a time it is she who has
leant on his shoulder when he is thinking hard for an idea.
(f) Why does John want the ghost to disappear before his wife appears on the
scene? What impression of his wife’s character do you form from his words?
Answer:
He asks the ghost to leave
before his wife comes there, because he doesn’t want her to know his secret,
moreover she would be afraid. These words show that his wife is suspicious and
jealous.
(g) Why does the narrator hesitate to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the
Ouija Board Party?
Answer:
The narrator hesitates to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the Ouija
Board Party, because the ghost has asked him not to use it, then only she
would help the narrator with ideas for ghost stories and Laura Hinkle is also
very flirtatious.
(h) What message does the ghost convey to the group that had assembled in the
narrator’s house? What is their reaction to the message?
Answer:
The ghost spelt T-R-A-I-T-O-R
and then it said H-E-L-E-N. It wants to convey that someone had been trying to
communicate with John through Mrs.Hunt’s and Mrs. Sprinkle’s Ouija.
Everybody’s gaze turned towards the narrator and he came under the suspicion.
(i) Do you agree with the narrator calling the assembly of women
“manipulators” ? Give reasons.
Answer:
The narrator rightly calls the assembly of women manipulators. Lavinia
“manipulated” by buying Ouija board but says that it is for John’s research.
Laura Hinkle manipulates John by trying to be flirtatious in order to learn
working on the Ouija board.
(j) Why is John’s wife angry? What does she decide to do?
Answer:
John’s wife is angry because as
John’s hand moves faster and faster on the board, his companion starts to
spell out traitor and then it spells. Helen. Miss Hinkle asks Lavinia whether
she knows anyone by the name of “Helen”. Miss Hinkle tells her that someone by
the name of Helen has been trying to communicate with John. Lavinia gets angry
at this and becomes suspicious of John. She decides to leave John and goes
back to her grandmother.
(k) Why does John wish he were dead?
Answer:
From different parts of the
room other manipulators begin to report. Each of those five Ouija boards is
calling John’s name. Lavinia is looking at him through narrowed lids as though
he is some peculiar insect. The murmur of conversation rises louder and
louder. Miss Hinkle says that John looks sly, he goes straight upstairs and
dozes off. In the morning there is no sign of his wife. He has hardly seated
himself at the desk as he finds a white slip of paper saying that Lavinia is
going back to her grandmother and her lawyer will communicate with John. John
reading it cried “I wish I was dead” because he feels sad that his wife is
leaving him.
(l) When confronted by Lavinia about his flirtations over the Ouija Board,
John insists that ‘the affair was quite above-board, I assure you, my love’.
Bring out the pun in John’s statement.
Answer:
Lavinia is getting
suspicious4 of John with the Ouija board as his Angers seem to stick to that
dreadful board. It spells Helen that makes Lavinia suspicious. She says they
do not know anyone by the name of Helen. She thinks there is somebody hiding
there. Lavinia tells John there is not a bit use trying to deceive her, he is
trying to conceal something. It is bad enough to have him flirt over Ouija
board with that hussy to which John replies that the affair is quite above
board which means that John has nothing to do with Miss Hinkle.
(m) John’s apprehensions about his wife’s reaction to her encounter with the
ghost are unfounded. Justify.
Answer:
John thinks if Lavinia sees the ghost, she would react sharply but she
doesn’t. A broad satisfied smile spreads over her face “I thought you were
Helen of Troy, she murmurs”. The ghost said, “I use to be Helen of Troy, New
York and now I’ll be moving along.” Lavinia falls at this.
Question 5.
Answer the following
questions in detail :
(a) After her
reconciliation with her husband, John Hallock, Lavinia writes a letter to her
friend expressing how her relationship with him had almost been on the verge
of breaking and what saved it. Write her letter.
Answer:
Dear friend,
I had bought Ouija board and arranged for an Ouija Board Party. My friends sat in couples with a board. There was a squeak of legs heard all around. I paired John with Laura Hinkle who had a flirtatious way. She tried to move her hand over the board and soon it spelt Helen. Then all the five boards echoed the same name. I got annoyed at this and suspected John for I did not know anyone by this name. I planned to leave him and go back to my grandmother. Our marriage was about to break but Helen’s ghost appeared before me and John that made me know the truth. It was all due to the Ouija board. It saved my break with John.
Yours Lavinia
(b) John Hallock reflects upon his experience with Helen’s ghost and in
retrospect he finds it quite amusing. All the same he is relieved that he is
no longer plagued by it. r Ironically, the self same ghost inspires his
creativity and he writes a diary entry reflecting upon the comical aspect of
his experience. Write his diary entry.
Answer:
Tuesday 15th may, –
20XX, 10.30 p.m.
Dear Diary
I was thinking of writing a ghost story when suddenly I saw an apparition
taking shape in front of me. It named itself as Helen. The ghost told me that
these ghosts helped people like us with ideas to write their stories. I
imagined it to be something very funny that the ghost and his co-mates were
coming up. But it suddenly appeared before me and Lavinia and it had also
appeared by the Ouija boards surprising all the women. But the most
interesting part that I realised was that the same ghosts inspired my
creativity to write a ghost story.
Question 6.
The narrator and his wife
reveal something about their character in their words and actions. We also
learn about them from what other people say. Can you pick out the words that
describe them from the box given below? Also, pick out lines and Instances
Answer:
| John Hallock | 4. I sat down to write a ghost story. | 4. creative |
| 5. His magazine was only one to print my stuff. | 5. protective | |
| Lavinia Hallock | 1. Such as my wife’s shopping | 1. loves novelty and thrills |
| 2. Cure her of her tendency to take everv new fad | 2. spendthrift | |
| 3. John, whv are vou sitting in the dark? | 3. suspicious | |
| 4. Looking as if I were some peculiar insect | 4. Jealous |
Question 7.
Gladolia, the narrator’s
cook, is an African. The language she speaks is different from that of the
others. This is known as Dialect. A diqlect consists of words or phrases that
reflect the regional variety of a language. An author often uses a regional
dialect to make the dialogue more authentic. Initially a dialogue may seem a
little difficult to understand. However, as you continue reading, the language
will become more comprehensible Working in groups, write what Gladolia’s words
mean as shown.
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B |
| A. Misto Hallock | (i) Mister Hallock |
| B. de Missus | (ii) ……………………………………….. |
| C. sho t’inks you’s lost! | (ii) ……………………………………….. |
| D. she done ‘phone you dis mawnin’ | (iv)……………………………………. |
| E. fo’ de lawd’s sake | (v)………………………………………. |
| F. not to stop to argify now | (vi)……………………………………… |
| G. I’s gwine t’ quit. | (vii)…………………………………….. |
| H. i don’t like no hoodoos. | (viii)……………………………………. |
| i. I’se done let’ dis piace | (ix) …………………………………… |
| J. i is | (x)……………………………………… |
Answer:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN R |
| A. Misto Hallock | (i) Mister Hallock |
| B. de Missus | (ii) The Mrs. |
| C. sho t’inks you’s lost! | (iii) She thinks vou are lost. |
| D. she done ‘phone you dis mawnin’ | (iv) She did not phone vou this morning |
| E. fo’ de lawd’s sake | (v) For the Lord’s sake |
| E not to stop to argify now | (vi) Stop to argue |
| G. Is gwine t’ quit. | (vii) I am also going to quit |
| H. I don’t like no hoodoos. | (viii) I don’t like |
| I. I’se done leP dis place | (ix) I will leave this place |
| J. I is | (x) I am |
Question 9.
Read and understand the
following ghost phrases and expressions :
(a) To give up the ghost — to die or to stop trying
(b) A ghost of a chance — a poor chance, not likely to happen
(c) The ghost at the feast — something or someone that spoils your enjoyment by reminding you of
something unpleasant
(d) Ghost town — a town where most people have left-abandoned and deserted
(e) Ghost-write — to write for someone else
(f) Lay the ghost of something/somebody (to rest) — to finally stop being worried or upset by something or someone that has
worried or upset you for a long time
(g) Ghost image — secondary image, esp. one appearing on a television screen as a white
shadow, caused by poor or double reception or by a defect in the receiver
(h) the ghost of a smile — faint trace of a smile
(i) As white as a ghost — very pale or white in the face
Now complete the following story by using the appropriate phrases in the blanks given below :
I was alone in a place that bore a deserted look like that of a (a) _____ I increased the pace of my footsteps as I walked through the dark forest. I felt someone walking behind me. I turned immediately and spotted the contour of a figure in the form of a (b) _____ It smiled at me wickedly. I started shaking with fear and perspiring profusely when I felt its skeletal hand upon my neck. I woke up with a start, relieved that it was only a nightmare.
This was not the first time I had had one. It had all started when I had watched the horrendous horror film with an eerie ghost character that had a scary ghost of a smile on its face. It had been almost a month. The strange thing was that I saw a similar face at the station the next morning. That was uncanny.
I was to attend a dinner at my friend’s at Northanger Abbey that night. I had decided to narrate my experience to the group that would assemble there although I knew there was (c) _____ that they would be convinced.
After everyone had finished pouring their drinks to themselves, I cleared my throat and started narrating my spooky experience. However, every one of the group started accusing me of being (d) _____ and held me responsible for spoiling the spirit of revelry. I gave up the ghost and sat quietly waiting for the party to be over. Back at home, the fears returned. I knew I had to talk about my experience to somebody to feel better. I have now decided to (e) _____ and publish my experience under a pseudonym. Only then can I (f) _____
Answer:
(a) ghost town
(b) ghost image
(c) a ghost of a
chance
(d) the ghost at the feast
(e) ghost-write
(f) lay the ghost of
something