Describe A Shady Plot as a ghost story, describing the supernatural and the atmosphere around which it revolves.

Ans. Helen, an owl-eyed and unattractive ghost plays a vital role in the story. She appears in parts, first her arm, then a leg, a sleeve and at last, a complete woman stood there. It does not create fear, on the other hand, the ghost appears to be a real human being. In fact the way she appears and disappears is humorous. She also helps the couple to reunite at the end, instead of creating trouble in their lives, as ghosts are supposed to do. Ouija boards are mentioned which are intended to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Ouija boards help to get answers to their questions. This story is different from other ghost stories as it does not send a chill down the spine. Here the ghost does not threaten, but assists the narrator by providing him with plot to write ghost stories and is a source of amusement to the readers.

1.    How does the story criticize commercialization of art?
Patol Babu - Film Star by Ray is a criticism of the commercialization of the blessed skill of acting into a form of business where only expressions, timing, accuracy and effects have more importance. Patol was a genuine actor who began his acting career as a stage artist years ago. When he made his second coming, it was to the celluloid screen. But what he experienced in films was actors and actresses waiting for the director's commands, not the brilliance of acting. He saw that in the films, an unknown actor Patol Babu was not going to have fans because film-world was too big and too vast. As a mark of retaliation, Patol's foregoing the payment for the role is significant in this context. The satisfaction he gets from playing the role to perfection is more than enough for him.

        

      A snake came to my water-trough

         On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
         To drink there.
         In the deep, strange-scented shade of the 
         Great dark carob-tree
         I came down the steps with my pitcher
        And must wait, must stand and wait, 
        For there he was at the trough before me.

1.    Why did the poet have to wait?
The poet had to wait at his water trough because a snake was already drinking water at the trough. It was also out of respect and for fear for the intruder that he chose to wait.

2.    Why does the poet accept that he was to wait?
The poet could have driven the snake away but his education was so inspirational that he considered the snake equal to him, a co owner of the earth and therefore he decided to wait.

3.    What were the thoughts that lined up in the poet's mind on encountering a snake at his water trough?
On encountering the snake at his water trough, the first reaction that the poet had was certainly fear and then, when he recovered from the initial fear of the snake, the poet was able to balance fear against the voice of his education.

 4    Why did the poet decide that he had to stand and wait? How did he treat the    

       snake?
A.   As the snake come to the water trough much ahead of him, the poet thought that it should drink    

      first. He adopted the principle. "First come, first served". So he showed hospitality towards it and

      decided to stand and wait till his turn comes. More over the poet liked the snake and treated it as

     a guest. 

Someone was before me at my water trough,
And I, like a second comer, waiting.

1.    What is very special about the poet that makes him think that he was a second comer? OR What is the poet's world view?
The poet was different from most of the ordinary Sicilians. He was such a differently educated man that he thought and believed that he was a second comer to the water trough even though it was his own water trough. He thought so because he considered that the snakes owned and ruled the earth before men removed forests for building his cities. He believed that man has to give way to snakes whenever they visit his house.

He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
And flickered his two-forked tongue
From his lips, and mused a moment,
And stooped and drank a little more,
Being earth-brown, earth-golden
From the burning bowels of the earth

On the day of Sicilian July,

1.    Why is the snake's lifting its head compared to that of cattle?
While drinking water, cattle are not aware of their surroundings, nor are they worried about any possible threats. They do not drink water at a stretch and are found to be drinking peacefully. As the snake in the poem also drank peacefully and like cattle it lifted its head and did not drink water at a stretch.

2.    What could the snake have mused for a moment?
The snake could have mused about the poet or its surroundings. It could have felt contended and secure. It also could have thought of the poet being his host and even of talking to its friends of him, proudly.

3.    ‘looked at me vaguely’ suggests that

The snake lifted his head and looked in the direction of the poet without really registering his presence

 4     What does the poet convey with the mention of Etna smoking?
      Etna is a volcano in Sicily. It is an active volcano and the reference is indicative of the heat that     

      Sicily experienced at this time and the thirst the poet and the snake were suffering.

  5    'Being earth brown …..'. Three things have been mentioned in this and the next

       line to rein force the idea of heat what are they?
A.  To reinforce the idea of heat, the poet has mentioned three things - the burning bowels of the    

      earth the day of Sicilian july and mount Etna an active volcano in Sicily , smoking. 

The voice of my education said to me
He must be killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, 
The gold are venomous.
And voices in me said, If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.

1.    What does the poet mean by the voice of his education?
By the voice of his education, the poet refers to the artificial conscience that he had developed with the help of education.

2.    Why do people kill golden snakes in Sicily?
In Sicily people believe that golden snakes are venomous and therefore should be killed.

3.    What is the reason why voices in the poet advised him to kill the snake?
The poet had his own reasons and conscience to spare a snake but he was ruled by a more powerful instinct - the instinct to kill. In Sicily, men are characterised by the courage to kill deadly snakes and if a man didn't kill a snake, he is said to be a coward.

4.    The voice of my education said to me, he must be killed, for in Sicily, the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous. What did the voice of education ask the poet to do ? what is the argument for killing a golden snake? Do you think that the distinction is rational? 
A. The voice of my education asked the poet to kill the snake because the golden snakes of Sicily are highly poisonous where as the black ones are not . No, I don't think this distinction is rational . since he considered the snake his guest. But killing a venomous snake is quite rational. 

  1.    What does the poet do to the snake? How does he feel after it?
          The poet first treats the snake as his guest and allows it to drink water first, But finding

          the snake going back in to its hole he takes a clumsy log and throws it at the snake. It misses

           the target but the poet regrets his haste and mean act.

   2    "Was it cowardice ,that I dared not kill him? Was it perversity , that I longed to

        talk to him? Was it humility to feel so honoured? I felt so honoured". Who is the

         poet ? Whom does ‘him’ refer to ? Why does the poet ask himself these questions?

        What does he  feel honoured by? 
        D.H Lawrence is the poet. He is talking about the guest, the snake. He asks himself these   

         questions because the voice of his education which tells him to kill the snake is in conflict with

         his inner voice which likes the snake and feels honoured because the snake  has accepted his

         hospitality . It has drunk water peacefully. 

3      And immediately I regretted it , I though how paltry , how vulgar, what a mean act,

       I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education "
      The poet threw a log at the snake and later it. It refers to the poet's hasty action of throwing a log at     

      the snake. He thought that his act was paltry, vulgar and mean. Since he was prompted by his voice

      of education to do so he despised it. 

    

 And I have some to expiate, a pettiness" is the last and most powerful line of the poem. Expiate means to repent or atone. The man wants to atone for his sin. He regrets throwing the log at the snake who was his guest and who did not harm him in any way. He wants to repent his pettiness and atone for the sin he has committed by trying to willfully hurt the innocent snake whom he liked and had felt honoured that it had accepted his hospitality.

6 1 ans: The poet wants to convey that the it was an extremely hot day and the snake had come from the deep interior of the earth which was also very hot. 
2.) Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet’s presence ? How do you know? 
Ans. No, I don’t think the snake was conscious of the poet’s presence. The leisurely way in which the 
snake acts shows that it had no idea of the poet’s presence. Had it known the poet was there, it 

would have shown some reaction at least. And even if it had seen the poet, it gave no importance to 

his being there. It looked at the poet only vaguely.

3. The poet is filled with horror and protest when the snake prepares to retreat and bury it 

self in the ‘horrid black’, ‘dreadful’ hole. In the light of this statement, bring out the irony 

of his act of throwing a log at the snake. 

Ans. The poet shows a dual attitude towards the snake. He likes the snake for its graceful 

movements. He treats the snake like one who has come to his place to quench its thirst. He 

treats it like a guest. But at the same time, his voice of education tells him that it is a poisonous 

snake. He picks up a log and hurls it at the retreating snake. Clearly, this action of the poet is 

ironical. He tries to kill someone for whom he had shown such deep hospitality. 

4.  You have already read Coleridge’s poem, The Ancient Mariner, in which albatross is killed 

by the mariner. Why does the poet make an allusion to albatross? 

Ans. The Ancient Mariner’s act of killing the albatross was similar to the poet’s act trying to hit the 

snake. The only difference was that the poet had missed his aim and the snake was saved. His 

purpose was no different from that of the Ancient Mariner. Both of them are filled with regret after 

the act. 

The poet has also used both repetition and similes in the poem. For example, ‘must wait, 

must stand and wait’ (repetition) and ‘looked at me vaguely as cattle do’ (simile). Pick out 

examples of both and make a list of them in notebooks. Give reasons why the poet uses 

these literary devices. 

Examples of Repetition :

1. On a hot, hot day 

2. And slowiy, very slowly, as if thrice adream. 

3. A sort of horror, a sort of protest 

Examples of Simile 

1. He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do 

2. And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do 

3. And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air 

4. And looked around like a god 

The poet has used the device of repetition for the greater effect and similes for purpose of making 

the description more vivid and pictorial. 

5.) What is the difference between the snake’s movement at the beginning of the poem and 

later when the poet strikes it with a log of wood ? You may use relevant vocabulary from 

the poem to highlight the difference. 

The snake’s movement in the beginning is very leisurely. It trails its yellow-brown slackness. It has a 

slack long body. It turns its head slowly and very slowly. But when the poet throws a log at it, the 

snake writhes like lightning and disappears.