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Question
Answer the following question briefly.
What is the reason for the Jordans taking a long time to get to the house of the Slaters? What does it show about the two sisters' attitude towards each other?
Solution
Jordans took a long time in getting to reach the Slaters because they had to arrange for the mourning dresses for themselves. Since the readymades did not work for Elizabeth, she might have to get them – stitched. Both the sisters had rivalry between them for every worthless thing. They could not stand each other.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Read an excerpt from the diary of a 72 year old man :
As I sit here alone and waiting
I gaze at people passing me by.
I try to smile and reach out to them
But no one notices; no one waits.
They look to me like I am nothingAre they afraid to be seen saying "Hi" to an old
man like me?
Once my life, it's like a flower,
I had bloomed into a child.
Now, like the dying flower
Waiting for my one day to comeIt will be then that I am gone,
And yet, I still would not have heard that simple word, "Hi"
That for so long my heart had desired.
• What do you think is he feeling?
• What situation do you think leads people to feel so?
• Can such people be helped? How?
Given below are the main incidents in the play. They are in a jumbled order. Arrange them in the sequence in which they occur in the play.
1. Victoria is asked to fetch the bunch of keys to the bureau to look for the insurance
receipt.
2. Mrs. Slater instructs Victoria to put her white frock on with a black sash.
3. Mrs Slater discovers that grandfather is 'dead'.
4. The Slaters fetch the bureau and the clock from upstairs.
5. The family sits down to have tea.
6. Henry wears the new slippers of grandfather's
7. Grandfather comes to know how his daughters have been in a hurry to divide his
things between them.
8. Grandfather announces his intention to change his will and to marry Mrs.
Shorrocks.
9. Grandfather comes down and is surprised to find the Jordans.
10. They discuss the obituary announcement in the papers and the insurance
premium payment.
11. The Jordans arrive and learn the details of grandfather's 'demise'from the Slaters.
Answer the following question briefly.
How does Mrs. Slater plan to outshine the Jordans? What does it reveal about her character?
Answer the following question briefly.
Why does Mrs. Slater decide to shift the bureau from grandfather's room before the arrival of the Jordans? How does Henry react to the suggestion?
Answer the following question briefly
What does Mrs. Jordan describe as 'a fatal mistake'? What is the irony in the comment she makes on Mrs. Slater's defense?
Answer the following question briefly.
Ben appreciates grandfather saying 'its' a good thing he did'. Later he calls him a 'drunken old beggar'. Why does he change his opinion about grandfather?
Answer the following question briefly.
What are the three things that grandfather plans to do on Monday next?
Answer the following in detail:
How does the spat between his daughters lead to grandfather discovering the truth?
Answer the following with reference to the context.
"I don't call that delicate stepping into a dead man's shoes in such haste."
a) Who makes this comment?
b) What prompts the speaker to say this?
c) Bring out the significance of this statement.
Answer the following with reference to the context.
"Now, Amelia, you mustn't give way. We've all got to die some time or other. It might have been worse."
b) Who is the speaker of these lines?
c) What prompts the speaker to say these words?
d) What does he mean when he says 'It might have been worse'?
e) What does it reveal about the speaker's character?
