Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Based on your reading of the story answer the following question by ticking the correct option.
What made the writer overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories?
Options
He was contacted whenever magazines wanted a ghost story
He was always able to write a ghost story whenever he had to write one
He had an Ouija board
He knew the ghost lady would help him write a good ghost story
Advertisements
Solution
He was always able to write a ghost story whenever he had to write one
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
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
- Full of shade; shaded.
- Casting shade: a shady grove.
- Quiet, dark, or concealed; hidden.
- Of dubious character or of questionable honesty.
plot noun
- i) a small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.
ii) a measured area of land - a ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.
- storyline- the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story
- a secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme.
Based on the definitions above, can you predict what the story is about? Make a brief note of your prediction in your notebook.
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.
Gladolia wishes to leave the narrator's house as ………………….
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 the narrator hesitate to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board Party?
Answer the following question briefly.
What message does the ghost convey to the group assembled in the narrator's house? What is their reaction to the message?
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:
After her reconciliation with her husband, John Hallock, Lavinia writes a letter to
her friend expressing how her relationship with him has almost been on the verge
of breaking and what has saved it. Write her a letter.
Gladolia, the narrator's cook, is an African. The language she speaks is different from that of the others. This is known as Dialect. A dialect consists of words or phrases that reflect the regional variety of a language. An author often uses a dialect to make the dialogue more authentic. Initially, a dialogue may seem a little difficult to understand. However, as you continue reading, the language becomes more comprehensible.
Working in groups, write what Gladolia's words mean as shown.
| Column A | Column B |
| • Misto Hallock | • Mister Hallock |
| • de Missus | |
| • sho t'inks you's lost! | |
| • she done 'phone you dis mawnin' | |
| • fo' de lawd's sake | |
| • not to stop to argify now | |
| • I's gwine t' quit. | |
| • I don't like no hoodoos. | |
| • I'se done lef' dis place | |
| • I is |
Do you think a story has an atmosphere? Complete the following blanks to make
up your ghost story by choosing the correct options.
| A Ghost Story She opened the _________________ (secret door/ spaceship's hatch/ door of the cottage/ cemetery gate/ door of the castle/ cockpit) _________________ (brashly/ loudly/ silently/ stupidly/ fearfully/ joyously). Standing in front of her was a ________________ (terrifying/ handsome/ smelly/ anonymous/ tiny/ huge/ bossy) ___________ (policeman/ spy/ apparition/ witch/ prince/ wizard) with a _________________ (wand/ rose/ rod/ knife/ scythe/ coded message) in his/ her (its) _________________ (ghoulish/ bony/ beautiful/ fair/ manly/ gloved/ magical) hand. |
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 was particularly angry with Washington and wished to frighten him
because…. ...................................................................(Complete the statement)
Answer the following question.
The Ghost was most angry with ….(Complete the statement by ticking the correct
option)
