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प्रश्न
Answer the following question briefly.
How does the ghost undermine the narrator's faith in his ability to write ghost stories?
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उत्तर
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.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
Read the extract given below and answer briefly the questions that follow:
"I hadn't the shade of an idea, but at the time that didn't worry me in the least. You see, I had often been like that before...."
(i) Who is 'I' ? What did he not have an idea about?
(ii) Why was he not worried?
(iii) What had actually happened earlier to make things right for him?
How does the lesson, 'A Shady Plot' remind us that man has no right to invoke supernatural powers through Ouija boards, Tarot cards etc to solve his problems and that one should face life boldly and overcome difficulties using wit and intelligence. Write in 80−100 words.
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:
| Apparition | a feeling of anticipation or anxiety over a future event |
| Poltergeist | a reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people |
| Clairvoyance | a conjurer who expels evil spirits by conjuration |
| Crystal Ball | a spelling board device intended to communicate with and through the spirit world, obtaining answers to questions |
| Eerie | beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation |
| Medium | any of a set of 22 playing cards bearing allegorical representations, used for fortune telling |
| Transmigration | a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, a ghost, spectre or phantom |
| Psychic | so mysterious, strange or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine |
| Ouija Board | the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses |
| Exorcist | a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living |
| Premonition | a globe of quartz crystal in which images, believed to portend the future, are supposedly visible to fortune tellers |
| Paranormal | to pass into another body after death: going from one state of existence or place to another |
| Tarot Card | capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy |
| Vampire | German word, meaning "noisy ghost"-a troublesome spirit that announces its presence with unexplainable sounds and the creation of disorder |
The title of the story is A Shady Plot. The dictionary defines the words as:
shady adjective
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
The narrator earns his living by ………………………….
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
The writer was overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories because ……
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
The ghost wanted John to …………………………………………..
Answer the following question briefly.
What makes Helen, the ghost and her other co-ghosts organize The Writer's Inspiration Bureau? .
Answer the following question briefly.
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 the following question briefly.
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 the following question briefly.
Do you agree with the narrator calling the assembly of women "manipulators?" Give reasons.
Answer the following question briefly.
Why is John's wife angry? What does she decide to do?
Answer the following question briefly.
Why does John wish himself to be dead?
Answer the following question in detail:
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. Ironically, the same ghost inspires his creativity and he writes a diary entry reflecting upon the comical aspect of his experience. Write his diary entry
Now that you have shared a ghost story/anecdote as well as completed a guided story in the class, create your own ghost story on the basis of the starters given below:
a) Stephen knew he would never sleep. The noises, those horrid sounds, would keep him awake...
b) Tap, tap, tap. Was it the branches of the nearby tree, or fingernails against the window?
c) People often say, 'There's no such thing as ghosts....
You are familiar with the key elements of a short story viz setting, plot, conflict, character and point of view. Given below are specifics to be kept in mind while writing a ghost story. Also make use of the vocabulary that you have learnt from the story ‘A
Shady Plot’.
• Colours, sounds, feeling words
• Strong definite characters
• Creating suspense
• Setting the scene and the atmosphere
• Describing the weather
• Clear opening line
• Personal feelings
• Clear ending
• Describing the sounds
• Adding a dramatic element
• Mystery
Answer the following questions :
The Ghost loved the stormy weather because ….(Complete the statement by
ticking the correct option)
Answer the following question.
The Ghost did not wish to frighten Virginia because ….(Complete the statement)
