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Question
Answer the following question briefly.
Describe the ancient mariner.
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Solution
The ancient mariner is the narrator in the poem. He is an old sailor who has a long grey beard and glittering eyes. He seems to be frighting with unnaturally skinning hands that held the wedding guest. He seems be a sociable guy before undertaking that fateful trip down to the Arctic. His life undergoes a major change as he shoots an albatross. He suffers from guilt and remorse for having killed the albatross. He repents his action and his penance continues through the rest of his life as he feels the urge to share his story with whoever he meets.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
What was the crime committed by the mariner?
Why did the wedding guest beat his breast ?
1. What can you see in the picture? Does the man look happy? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Why does he have the bird hanging around his neck?
3. Have you heard of the expression-'having an albatross around your neck'? What do you
think it means? Does it mean:
a. something that you can always be proud of
b. something that you have to do because you have no choice
c. something that is with you all the time as a reminder that you have done something wrong?
4. What is an albatross?
Using the words given above rewrite PART I of the poem in your own words. The first stanza has been done as an example:
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
An old sailor stopped one of the three people passing by, who asked: "Old man, with your long grey beard and glittering eye, why are you stopping me?"
Answer the following by choosing the right option from those given below:
'The sun came up upon the left, /Out of the sea came he;'This line tells us that the ship………………….
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The storm blast had been described as being tyrannous because……….
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The sailors felt depressed on reaching the land of mist and snow because……
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
'God save thee, ancient Mariner, /From the fiends that plague thee thus!- Why look'st thou so?' means……….
Answer the following question briefly.
Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer the following question briefly.
What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been depicted in the poem?
Answer the following question briefly.
How did the sailors reach the land of mist and snow?
Answer the following question briefly.
How does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?
Answer the following question briefly:
In which direction did the ship start moving? How can you say?
Answer the following question briefly:
How did the other mariners behave towards the Ancient Mariner at first? How many times did they change their mind about the Ancient Mariner? What does this tell us about their character?
What is indicated by the line ‘The bloody sun, at noon,/Right up above the mast did stand,/No bigger than the moon’?
Answer the following question briefly:
What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
Answer the following question briefly:
What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?
Answer the following question briefly:
Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.
This is a very dramatic poem, excellent for reading aloud or even dramatising. The class should be divided into groups and given the different dramatic moments from the poem to be performed as follows. Some of them are given below:
- the first storm that they encounter
- the time spent in the land of mist and snow
- the coming of the albatross and the subsequent events till they move out
- the killing of the albatross till they reach the silent seas
- the suffering of the sailors in the hot region till they hang the albatross around the Ancient Mariner's neck.
