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Question
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
How does the writer create humour in this story?
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Solution
The story is full of humour. Mrs. Packletide arranges for the shooting. The funniest part is that a weak tiger is arranged and cheaper goats are left to lure him. Mrs. Packletide is not a good shooter but a platform is constructed in a tree and she sits there with a rifle a thumb- nail packof patience cards. The funniest part is as soon as the tiger caught sight of the goat it lay flat on the earth, seemingly less from a desire to take advantage of and attack its prey.
The rifle is shot with a loud bang and the great beast springs to one side and then rolls over dead. Miss Mebbin makes fun of Mrs. Packletide by bringing out the fact that the wrong animal had been killed. The bullet had hit the goat but the tiger had a heart failure because of the loud noise of the rifle. The villagers shouted happily for they were only anxious for their thousand rupees and gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the tiger. Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras happily and her pictured feme reached the pages of Texas Weekly Snapshot.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Read these lines and guess the answers to the questions given below
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger …. The
compelling motive ….was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently …… personally
procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully
counter that sort of thing.
a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Answer the following question in your own words :
Why did Mrs. Packletide wish to kill a tiger ?
Answer the following question in your own words:
Who was Miss Mebbin? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide? How did she behave during the tiger shooting?
Answer the following question in your own words :
Mrs. Packletide was a good shot. Discuss.
Answer the following question in your own words:
How did the villagers react to the tiger’s death?
Answer the following question in your own words :
How did Miss Mebbin manage to get her week-end cottage? Why did she plant so
many tiger lilies in her garden?
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
Do you think the writer is trying to make fun of the main characters in the story i.e. Mrs. Packletide, Miss Mebbin and Loona Bimberton? Pick out instances from the story that point to this fact.
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
Aperson who is vain is full of self importance and can only think of himself/herself and can go to great lengths to prove his/her superiority. Do you think Mrs Packletide is vain? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
Sometimes writers highlight certain negative aspects in society or human beings by making fun of them. This is called a Satire. In your groups, discuss whether you would classify this story as a satire. Give reasons to support your answer
Choose extracts from the story that illustrate the character of the people listed in
the table given below. There are some words given to help you. You may add
words of your own. One has been done as an example:
vain jealous competitive shrewd manipulative stingy materialistic spiteful
| Character | Extract from the story | What this tells us about the character |
|
Mrs. Packletide |
(i) The compelling motive for her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else; only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully counter that sort of thing | Competitive |
| (ii) Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, |
||
| (iii) Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya. |
||
| Louisa Mebbin | (i) "If it's an old tiger I think you ought to get it cheaper. A thousand rupees is a lot of money." | |
| (ii) Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in general, irrespective of nationality or denomination |
||
| (iii) "How amused every one would be if they knew what really happened," said Louisa Mebbin a few days after the ball. |
||
| (iv) Louisa Mebbin's pretty week-end cottage, christened by her "Les Fauves," and gay in summer-time with its garden borders of tiger-lilies, is the wonder and admiration of her friends |
||
| Loona Bimberton | (i) As for Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of repressed emotions |
|
| (ii) There are limits beyond which repressed emotions become dangerous. |
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger.
....................................................................................
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
Mothers carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day's work in the
fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the restful sleep of the venerable
herd-robber.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of nationality or denomination.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Years later Mrs. Packletide writes her autobiography. As Mrs. Packletide, write
about the tiger episode with the help of the clues given below.
| jealous of the applause Loona was getting-thought of tiger hunt--all arranged-- Louisa Mebbin accompanied; turned out to be a blackmailer-huge price to pay to outdo a rival |
In groups of four, construct the dialogues and enact the following situations
from the story:
1. Mrs. Packletide and the headman of the village/other villagers discussing the
details of the tiger shooting
2. Miss Mebbin blackmailing Mrs Packletide into gifting her a cottage
3. Loona Bimberton and a lady-friend discussing Mrs Packletide's hunting success
Answer the question given below:
The hunting of lionesses is discouraged because
Answer the question given below:
The Maasai warriors chase a lion with rattle bells to
Answer the question given below:
The Maasai use three parts of the lion. They are
Answer the following question:
Why does the author say that Louisa Mebbin had a "protective elder sister" attitude towards money?
