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Question
Choose the correct alternative.
The poem is titled ‘Night of the Scorpion’, for, the major part of the poem _______________.
Options
the mother remains triumphant at the end.
the scorpion is the victor.
the father succeeds in curing the mother.
Solution
The poem is titled ‘Night of the Scorpion’, for, the major part of the poem the scorpion is the victor.
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Read the following extract and do the activities.
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Patting with his poison – flash
Of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
(A1) Choose the correct option for the following.
(1) The incident in the poem took place in
(i) the morning (ii) the night
(iii) the afternoon (iv) the evening
(2) ‘The Evil’ mentioned in the poem was
(i) the peasant (ii) the God
(iii) the scorpion (iv) the mother
(3) The scorpion crawled beneath a sack of
(i) sugar (ii) a wheat
(iii) corns (iv) rice
(4) The peasants are compared with
(i) flock of sheep (ii) group of monkeys
(iii) swarms of flies (iv) herds of cattle
(A2) Write the reactions of the people when they knew that the mother was stung by a scorpion.
(i)..................................................................
(ii)................................................................
(iii)...............................................................
(iv)...............................................................
(A3) Write down the rhyming words from the stanzas for the following.
(i) fight - (ii) clash -
Get into pairs and discuss the following with your partners and complete the table.
Many people are superstitious. This means that they have a belief for which they have no logical reason.
An example of superstition is that - walking under a ladder brings bad luck. In pairs, list any superstitions that you know of.
| Superstition | What it implies |
| (1) Smashing a mirror | Brings seven years of bad luck. |
| (2) | |
| (3) | |
| (4) | |
| (5) |
Brainstorm what you know about Scorpions. Use the points given below.
Complete the following table.
| Scorpion | |
| Many images of the scorpion contrast in the opening lines of the poem. Find examples of each and add them to the columns below. | |
| Timid | Dangerous |
|
(1) hides _________ (2) ___________ back |
(i) Diabolic ____________ (ii) ____________ |
Complete the following table.
|
Imagery |
|
| Look at the description of the village peasants. What does the imagery suggest about them? |
|
| The Images | What images suggest |
| They came like swarms of flies. | |
| They buzzed the name of God. | |
| They threw giant scorpion shadows on the mud-baked walls. | |
| They clicked their tongues. | |
Choose the correct alternative.
The poet seems to see the villagers as impractical and almost irritating which suggests that ________________.
Choose the correct alternative.
This is a _____________ poem as it tells a story.
Choose the correct alternative.
The peasants chant the name of God to _______________.
From the poem provide evidence for the following:
| Stages | Evidence (lines from the poem) |
| (a) the attempts by the peasants to help alleviate the mother’s pain. | |
| (b) the action of these same peasants to kill the scorpion | |
| (c) the reaction of the rational father. | |
| (d) the various superstitions versus the ‘scientific’ | |
| (e) evil versus good. |
Prepare a Presentation (on paper or on a PC) as a piece of reference to other students. Make use of the following points.
