If I were a giant

Summary of the poem if i were a giant by jackie hosking

In the poem, a little child wonders in her dream, what if it were to be a giant, whether she
could stand on her toes and paint the sky with brushes made of tree branches. She wants to
paint the clouds, the flowers and dew by mixing colours from the desert with that of the
sunrise.

She dreams of her giant strides to the snowy mountains, to fetch snow for painting white and
to the corn fields for getting the yellow. She compares the setting sun to the sun getting ready
for bed and wants to paint it for the occasion. She wants to make the nights and shadows as
black as she can, with ink.

But in the end, she knows that when she comes out her dream, it would be morning and the
nature would have painted everything the way she wanted it to be.

The cowardly lion

THE COWARDLY LION

Answer in brief.

1. Where were Dorothy and her friends going and why?

Ans: Dorothy and her friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were walking through the
thick woods to reach the Emerald City to meet the Great Wizard of Oz.

2. What did the Cowardly Lion do to the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman while they were
walking through the forest?

Ans: With one blow of his paw,the Cowardly Lion sent the Scarecrow spinning over and over to
the edge of the road. Then he struck at the Tin Woodman with his sharp claws.

3. Why did the Cowardly Lion decide to go with them and what did they all do?

Ans: The lion wanted to ask Oz to give him courage as his life was simply unbearable without a
bit of courage. So, they set off upon the journey, the Cowardly Lion walking by Dorothy’s side.

B. Answer in detail.
1. What did the lion reply when Dorothy asked him why he was a coward?

Ans: When Dorothy asked him why he was a coward, the lion said that it was a mystery. He felt
he might have been born that way. He learned that if he roared very loudly, every living thing
was frightened and got away from him. But whenever there was danger, his heart began to
beat fast.

2. Why were the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion going to the
Great Oz?
Ans: The scarecrow was going to the Great Oz to ask him to give him some brains as his was
stuffed with straw. Tin Woodman was going to ask him to give him a heart. Dorothy was going
to ask him to send her back to Kansas. And the Cowardly Lion was going to ask Oz to give him
courage.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. “You are nothing but a big coward to strike a stuffed man like the poor Scarecrow!”
a. Who called whom a coward?
b. Why did she call him a coward?
c. What did Dorothy do?
Ans: a. Dorothy called the Lion a coward.
b. He pushed the Scarecrow and struck the Tin Woodman. They were very easy to strike
and so she called him a coward.
c. Dorothy helped the Scarecrow up to his feet.2. “Perhaps you have a heart disease.”
a. Who said this and to whom?
b. Why did he say this?
c. What did the Tin Woodman not have?
Ans: a. Tin Woodman said this to Cowardly Lion.
b. Lion said that whenever there was danger, his heart began to beat fast, so Tin
Woodman said this.

c. Tin Woodman did not have a heart.

Dusk Questions & Answers

Dusk written by Hector Hugh Munro who is also known by the pen name ‘Saki’. “Dusk” is
another of Saki’s darkly unexpected stories. The protagonist, Gortsby, spends the duration of
the story watching individuals running about at dusk. His error in judgement causes a young
man to get the better of him with his story of misery.

Dusk Questions & Answers:

Q 1. What was the atmosphere at Hyde Park?

Ans: The whole atmosphere at Hyde Park was full of sadness (dusky). It was an early March
evening at around 6:30 and there was not completely dark due to moonlight and street
lamps. Though there was an emptiness over the road and sidewalk, even some people were
moving here and there while others were sitting on the benches and chairs in the Park. Their
faces were hardly visible in the twilight. According to Gortsby, it was the time of dejected and
disappointed people who would come to such a place to enjoy their solitariness.
Q 2. Where did Norman Gortsby sit? How does the narrator describe the dusk in and
around the park?

Ans: Norman Gortsby sat on a bench in the almost deserted park. It was some thirty minutes
past six on an early March evening, and dusk had fallen heavily over the scene mitigated by
some faint moonlight and many street lamps.

Q 3. How does Norman Gortsby view ‘Dusk’?

Ans: Norman Gortsby views dusk as the hour of the defeated. The people who had fought
and lost came out at this time so that their shabby clothes, bowed shoulders and unhappy
eyes might pass unnoticed and unrecognized by those who were successful.

Q 4. Draw a profile of the person who first sat near Gortsby on the bench?

Ans: It was an elderly gentleman who first sat near Gortsby on the bench. The man seemed
to have lost interest in life. He looked dejected and disappointed but refused to admit this
fact. He was not wearing entirely shabby clothes but one could not call them fine too. Even
his physical appearance did not seem deceptive. It seemed that no one cared him; perhaps
he was in the dusk of his life.

Q 5. How did the young man present himself as genuine in his tale?

Ans: The young man was agitated as he sat on the bench to gain Gortsby’s attention. He
frankly stated that he had done the silliest thing in his life. His reference to the mix up in
hotel bookings is often a genuine problem faced by travellers. He’s stepping out to buy an
essential item such as a bar of soap lent further credence to the story. Thus, by blaming
himself and behaving frankly, he presented himself as a genuine person

Q 6. Why had the young man have to book a room in an unknown hotel?

Ans: The young man had to book a room in an unknown hotel because the Patagonian Hotel
he had come to lodge had been pulled down and a cinema theatre run upon its site.

Q 7. What predicament was the young man in?

Ans: The young man had come to London with the intention of staying at the Patagonian
Hotel but on arrival, he discovered that it had been razed. He checked into another hotel and
stepped out to buy a bar of soap. It seemed that he had forgotten to pack soap and hated
using hotel soap. When he turned to go back, he didn’t remember the name of the hotel and
its location. He had just two pence left with him and had no friends or connections in London
to lend him money.

Q 8. What kind of help is the young man looking for?

Ans: The young man is looking for monetary help as he has no money and felt lost in the city.

Q 9. Why did Gortsby think that the man was careless?

Ans: Gortsby thought that the young man was careless because the man had lost the way to
his hotel, didn’t remember the street name or the name of the hotel, and kept the cake of
soap in a place unfamiliar to him.

Q 10. What was the ‘weak point’ in the man’s story?

Ans: The weakest point in the story of the man was that he could not produce the soap
bought by him, to prove to Mr. Gortsby that his story was genuine.

Q 11. Did Gortsby believe the young man’s story? Why?

Ans: Gortsby didn’t believe the young man’s story. However, he wanted to see how far the
young man would act or talk to prove his point and get some sympathy or money. So, he
casually narrated an incident where he and a friend had lost their way in a foreign capital but
somehow managed to go back to their hotel by remembering that it was near a canal.

Q 12: What did Gortsby conclude on finding the soap by the bench?

Ans: Gortsby linked the young stranger’s story and the bar of soap together and concluded
that the soap had fallen out of the youth’s overcoat pocket when he had flung himself down
on the bench.

Q 13. How did the young man fool Gortsby?

Answer: Gortsby realised that the young man was out to extract money from him, and hence
refused the young man a loan. However, after the young man left hurriedly, Gortsby found a
bar of soap lying next to the bench and thought that it was the young men. He ran and
caught up with the young man, apologised and gave him the soap and one pound (one
sovereign). The young man who looked hostile suddenly looked surprised, friendly and
thankful. He hastily took the money and Gortsby’s address and fled the scene. When Gortsby
walked past the park bench, the elderly gentleman was searching for his bar of soap. It was
then that Gortsby realised that he had been fooled by the young man.

Q 14. Describe in short, the various thoughts and feelings of Norman Gortsby from the
beginning to the end of the story ‘Dusk’.

Ans: Norman Gortsby didn’t have a positive opinion of the general public or himself. His
mood matched the dusk or the settling darkness. He saw honest, hardworking people walking
past him as ‘the defeated’. He made conclusions about the old gentleman sitting next to him
without knowing anything about him. He disbelieved the young stranger’s story but took
pleasure to prove him wrong.

On finding the soap, he is elated that the young man was telling the truth but feels guilty that
he didn’t help him. He hastens to hand over the soap and money to the young man. He
chides himself for judging the young man too quickly but realises that he has been fooled
when the old gentleman comes back looking for the soap.
Q 15. Do you think ‘Dusk’ is an appropriate title for the story?’

Ans: Yes, ‘Dusk’ is an appropriate title for the story. Dusk is that part of the day when the
light is dim and murky. It is the time of the day when all living things are hurrying to go back
home or find a safe place before nightfall or darkness. For Norman, Dusk is “the hour of the
defeated” and it provides cover to those who are hiding their shabby clothes, bowed
shoulders and unhappy eyes which means dusk offers the shadowing required to hide their
failures.
At the end of the story, it is seen that Norman has fallen victim to one of the successes which
prove Norman to be one of the people of dusk. The title ‘Dusk’ not only describes the part of
the setting but it also describes the figurative partial darkness of Norman’s trust in mankind.
So, it is an appropriate title.

Q 16. Why do you think the young man built a story around a bar of soap?

Ans: The young man was a master at spinning tales to extract money from people. The
reason why the young man built a story around a bar of soap could be as follows:
It is quite common for people to have preferences for everyday items of use like shampoos,
towels, soaps, etc. A bar of soap is a very normal and common reason for people to go
shopping.