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प्रश्न
Answer the following question:
The Ghost was particularly angry with Washington and wished to frighten him
because…. ...................................................................(Complete the statement)
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उत्तर
(i) It was Washington who kept on removing the famous canterville blood stain by using his pinkerten Paragon detergent.
(ii) She has never insulted him and was pretty and gentle.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
I only waved denial and gurgled in my throat. She went on “It’s bad enough to have you flirt over the Ouija board with that hussy ----.”
(a) What was John denying?
(b) What does the word ‘hussy’ mean?
(c) Why did Lavinia think that John was flirting?
Why did John’s wife get angry with him? What did she decide to do?
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?
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:
plot noun.
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.
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 ………………………
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
When the narrator says his wife is never so pretty as when she's doing something she
knows he disapproves of, his tone is …………………….
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
The ghost says "It's all your fault.'It' here refers to ………………………
Answer the following question briefly.
How does the ghost undermine the narrator's faith in his ability to write ghost stories?
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 does John wish himself to be dead?
Read and understand the following ghost phrases and expressions:
a) To give up the ghost-- to die or to stop trying
b) Aghost 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 which 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, especially. 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 ________________. 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 ___________________ .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 a 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 _________________________ 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 _______________________ 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 ______________ and publish my experience under a pseudonym. Only then can I ____________________.
Ghosts and haunting have fascinated the public for centuries. Although many doubt the existence of ghosts or other paranormal entities, many people dedicate their lives to searching and recording paranormal activity. Ghost tours, support groups and research societies, to name just a few, permeate our society and seek to answer questions about paranormal activity. Interview your friends, relatives and people in your neighbourhood about whether they believe in the existence of ghosts. Ask them to tell you of any specific experiences they might have had in this context. In your groups, identify the most fascinating anecdote you have gathered on the basis of your interactions. Narrate it to the class
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
While conventional Ghost stories are scary and gruesome, several modern versions are humorous. The Canterville Ghost, by Oscar Wilde, is one of the best ghost stories written in the vein of comic satire. The story that you just read is another example in case. Humour arises out of the narrator's ability to laugh at himself, clever use of language as well as comic situations. Discuss within your groups what makes the story, A Shady Plot humorous. Share your views during a class discussion.
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 was most angry with ….(Complete the statement by ticking the correct
option)
Answer the following question.
The Ghost did not wish to frighten Virginia because ….(Complete the statement)
Answer the following question:
In the story "Shady Plot", why did Helen appear in bits and pieces?
