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Question
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?
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Solution
At first all the mariners said that the ancient mariner had done a wrong thing by killing the bird. Then, when the weather improved, they all said that he had done the right thing by killing the bird. Finally when the ship stopped moving they said he had committed a crime by killing the bird. They changed their mind three times. This shows that they did not have an opinion of their own or a mind of their own.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
What was the crime committed by the mariner?
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 Ancient Mariner stopped one of the three wedding guests because…………
Answer the following by choosing the right option from those given below:
'He cannot choose but hear' means………
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 question briefly.
How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?
Answer the following question briefly.
How do we know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans? Why did the sailors hail it in God's name?
Answer the following question briefly.
What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it ?
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 sailing conditions change after the ship had moved out of the land of mist and snow? What or who did the mariners blame for this change?
Answer the following question briefly:
What is the narrator trying to convey through the description of the situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza ?
Answer the following question briefly:
Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
The poem is full of strange, uncanny or supernatural elements. Discuss how these elements appear in the poem. You should consider:
- the strange weather;
- the albatross as a bird of "good omen"
- the spirit from "the land of mist and snow''
- the strange slimy creatures seen in the sea
- the ocean appearing to rot
- the death fires and sea water being referred to as witch's oil
Now write a paragraph about the supernatural elements in the poem and how they add
to the events that take place in the poem.
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.
After you have read the poem, discuss the following questions in your groups:
i. Why did the Ancient Mariner stop the particular wedding guest to listen to his tale?
ii. Why did he have to tell his tale to someone?
iii. What is the poet trying to convey through this poem?
