The Road Not Taken

Sonnet 18

Monsoon History: An Interpretation

Si Tenggang Homecoming: Exercise

si tenggang’s homecoming

ii
it’s true i have growled at my mother and grandmother
but only after having told of my predicament
that they have never brought to reason.
the wife that i began to love in my loneliness,
in the country that alienated me,
they took to their predecisions.
i have not entirely returned, i know,
having been changed by time and place,
coarsened by problems
estranged by absence.

Muhammad Haji Salleh

(a) What does si tenggang mean when he said i have growled at my mother and grandmother?

__________________________________________________ [1 mark]

(b) What does the word they refer to in the line, they took to their predecisions?

__________________________________________________ [1 mark]

(c) Which line shows that si tenggang has learnt from difficult experiences?

__________________________________________________ [1 mark]

(d) Do you think travelling changes a person? Why?

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_________________________________________________ [2 marks]

Sonnet 18: Exercise

Read the lines of the poem Sonnet 18 below and answer the questions that follow.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

32. (a) What does the world ‘fair’ mean?
______________________________________________ [ 1 mark]

(b) In your own words, what does the line “Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade” imply?
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______________________________________________ [ 2 marks]

(c) What do you understand by the last two lines of the sonnet?
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Looking For A Rain God: Exercise

Read the extract from the short story Looking for a Rain God below and answer the questions that follow.

The adults paid no attention to this: they did not even hear the funny chatter; they sat waiting for the rain; their nerves were stretched to breaking-point willing the rain to fall out of the sky. Nothing was important, beyond that. All their animals had been sold during the bad years to purchase food, and of all their herd only two goats were left. It was the women of the family who finally broke down under the strain of waiting for rain. It was really the two women who caused the death of the little girls.

(a) Whose funny chatter was it?

_______________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) What did the family do in order to survive the drought?

________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) Who killed the little girls?

________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(d) Do you think it is right for the girls to be killed? Give a reason.

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________ (2 marks)

Monsoon History: Exercises

Read the stanza below and answer the questions that follow.

The air is wet,
……soaks
Into mattresses,
….curls
In apparitions of smoke.
Like fat white slugs furled
Among the timber, ,
Or silver fish tunnelling
The damp linen covers
Of schoolbooks,
….or walking
Quietly like centipedes,
The air walking everywhere
On its hundred feet
Is filled with glare
Of tropical water.

1. What is the above stanza about?

2. What kind of imagery is used to depict the dampness?

3. What kind of climate is depicted in the above stanza?

Poetic Devices used in” Monsoon History”.

Simile - “The air is wet….. Like fat white slugs furled
- “The air still silent
Like sleepers rocked in the pantun”,

Metaphor - watch mother uncoil
Her snake hair

Onomatopoeia - silver fish tunnelling
- rolling darkness
- down pouring rain
- the air ticks with gnats……

Contrast - “Clashing their timid horns”

Read and understand the devices above.

Looking For A Rain God: Analysis

Setting- BOTSWANA, AFRICA.

1. Rural Botswana

2. The wild bush - Unlimited vast area where certain parts are cleared.
- Ploughed and planted with crops.
- Cleared areas are called lands.
- Uncleared areas are known as bush.

3. Little rest camps - Stop-overs for people travelling to their lands
- Found where underground water is very near the surface.
- Shallow wells can be dug to quench thirst on journey.

4. The Village - Settlement where an ethnic group lives together.
- They work on lands nearby
- They return to the village to stay when there is a prolonged drought

5. The lands - Vast clearings in the bush.
- Within walking distance from the village.
- Plant crops like corn, pumpkin and watermelon seeds.

Characters : Mokgobja, Ramadi,Tiro and Nesta, Neo and Boseyong.

Themes : Power of superstitions
Harshness of life in the bush

Tone : Sympathetic and tense

Moral Values :

1. Children should be protected.
2. Superstition can lead us astray.
3. Murder is always wrong.

Looking For A Rain God: Exercises

Character Review

Write a short description of the characters below:-
1. Mokgobja

2. Ramadi

3.Tiro and Nesta

4. Neo & Boseyong

Answer the following questions.

5. How did the villagers react to the sudden disappearance of the two girls?

6. The family tried to cover the truth of the girls’ deaths from the villagers. What gave the family away?

7.What was the reaction of the men to the women’s hysterics?

8.What did Mokgobja witness when he was young?

9. How did the police uncover the truth?

10. Who is the main character?

Sonnet 18: More Analysis

The first line establishes immediately what a professor of mine called "the poetic contract." Quite simply, Shakespeare tells us what his poem will be about. He is going to compare his amore to a summer's day. With lines two and three we realize that the rest of the poem will expand and extrapolate the answer. The second line establishes the manner in which the question will be answered. The sonnet is virtually synonymous with poems about love and lovers, so from that we also know that not only will the answer to the question in line one be "yes" (yes, I will compare you to a summer's day), but the answer will come out quite in favor of the lover over the aspects of the object the lover is being compared to.

That would, in fact, be the traditional idea as executed by a competent Hallmark card writer. However, as the poem goes on we realize that Shakespeare's sonnet plumbs and climbs multiple levels until finally the poem isn't just about love and lovers, but about decay and the poem itself.

"Temperate" and "lovely" are the key descriptors of lines one and two. Everything's calm, the skys are blue, but then we have a bit of a wind picking up in line three, a cool stiff breeze perhaps that "shakes the darling buds of May". Deployed here, the wind efficiently reminds the reader that fall - or is it The Fall - even in late spring is never too far off or too far behind. Or, as the next line notes so well "summer's lease hath all to short a date."

So what we have here at the 1/4 way mark is a temperate poem of love with hints of mortality setting in. One might expect the rest of the poem to progress steady on from summer to fall to winter to a "how I will cherish growing old with you" progression, which is a great progression that's been done well by many poets including S himself. But lines 5-9 shift the poem decisively away from this agenda.

Where we had hints of an approaching fall early on, lines 5-6 stop the poem squarely in the hot hot summertime. Summer, tho it may seem like a time of paradise in the dead of winter, can be so warm, so sweaty it seems that cooler air or evening will never arrive. And the clouds that dim the "gold complexion" do nothing to alleviate. Time is very very still all of a sudden in lines five and six.

The light is very bright, very hot and that heat comes to bear on the next line "every fair from fair sometimes declines".

For a sonnet in particular, the tone of this line surprises with its tone of resignation. But care must be taken here to remember that line is part of a phrase which continues into the next. The full phrase reads "every fair from fair sometimes declines/ By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed." The question to ask about line 8 is "what is 'nature's changing course?" There is perhaps a bit of confusion. After all, nature doesn't change. There are the same cycles of seasons year after year. It is nature's nature to change and it is that nature that is "untrimmed", unaffected by sail or wind. This aspect of nature cannot be cut, shaved, shorn - not even by Nature itself. Time will march on, beauty will change in decay. It will not last. We can look at Apollo's lovely torso, but time and decay did remove those arms. Nature ain't gonna change, you're gonna get ugly, you gonna die...

And then line 9 comes along, the most famous "but", the most famous literary rescue of all time. We're still in that loonggg summer. Suddenly, though, it's not so hot, the cloud's aren't stuffy. That famous b-u-t offers a promise of alleviation, a promise of hope that the march of time can be staved off, that beauty and love can somehow remain unaltered. I can almost hear you pant "how's that? How can it be done? Where is this fountain of youth?"

Easy now. We're getting there. Patience. What is "that fair thou ow'st"? I'll answer first and then explain. What is owed - that is, what must be given back gradually is the life and beauty first granted us. Turn the word "fair" into "fare" and what do you get? With fare you get a debt you must pay. With "fair" you get the nature of the payment, your "fairness" i.e. your beauty. In larger terms, you owe the life you are given. And that debt you pay gradually over the years. You decay gradually, you die.

Sonnet 18: Analysis

Sonnet 18 is part of a large group of sonnets that Shakespeare wrote addressing a man of great beauty. Shakespeare, in sonnet 18, uses descriptions of nature, and the power and images that they imply, and directly compares them to the power the young man possesses in his youth, vigor, and promise. Shakespeare then finds that the beauty and power of nature do not compare to the beauty and power of the young man. He uses his poem as a way to provide the youth with an eternal existence and subsequently makes it evident that Shakespeare sees the young man as more than a human, he sees him as a god.

In the first quatrain Shakespeare begins his comparison between the young man and nature by comparing the young man to a summer’s day. The image suggests illumination, brilliance, light, life, and all things associated with the sun as the source of all these things. Shakespeare feels the same way about the young man; he is in his prime, in his glory, full of life and beautiful. He is idealized by Shakespeare in this description. It is interesting to note that the first line is in the form of a question. Shakespeare at this point, realizes that he’s made a mistake in his comparison. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” (Line 2) He knows that his language and comparison are inadequate in trying to express the way he feels. He knows that comparing the youth to a summer’s day does not do justice to the feelings he has for him. The youth is more perfect than the beauty of a summer’s day. The man is more temperate--- he is gentler, more constant, and more controlled. He is safely more reliant than a summer’s day. Shakespeare questions the idea of the man being as gorgeous as a summer’s day and then ups the ante by saying the youth is more impressive. This is a great compliment and establishes that the feelings that Shakespeare has for the young man far transcend those of friendship or admiration. His feelings for the youth are that of love.

The following lines offer explanations of why the comparison to a summer’s day is not good enough. Shakespeare begins to show all of summer’s imperfections, beginning with the example that rough winds come in May and disturb the darling flowers. May is a time in the year when the weather starts to warm up and flowers are in full bloom--- the very beginning of summer. Shakespeare again uses a force of nature when he speaks of the wind. The image suggested is that of the hot wind of May coming and blowing petals off of the beautiful flowers. In contrast, the wind may be a metaphor for problems and obstacles in life and how the young man is not affected by opposition--- that he cannot be shaken. “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May...” (3) The summer may have imperfections but the youth, by Shakespeare’s belief, does not. This seems contradictory, as the fact is that the youth is a human and all human beings are imperfect. Shakespeare is happily blinded by his love. In his eyes, the youth can do no wrong and he has no negative attributes. Like any person in love, Shakespeare puts the youth on a great pedestal. This again is an affirmation of the love that Shakespeare feels for the man.

Shakespeare continues in his explanation of the inadequacy of summer. It may be beautiful at times, but it is important to realize that it only lasts for a period of time during the year--- “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. (4). This comparison implies that the youth’s beauty lasts all year long; there is no limit on it and there is no time clock ticking to end it. The issue of time is one of great importance in this poem. Shakespeare feels as though the youth is not subject to time or age. Summer’s glory and beauty may end, but the youth’s will not. His denial of the mortality of the youth proves that he does not see him as human, but as something greater.

Shakespeare expresses that the sun shines too much some days and it is too hot. Other days the sun’s face is hidden by clouds and it is overcast. His personification of the sun lends a hand to comparison. The sun is too hot, but the youth is, as before, temperate. The sun’s golden complexion may be hidden by clouds but the youth’s beauty and golden complexion are never hindered or hidden. There is great power in the comparison of the youth to the sun. Shakespeare believes that all the power the sun possesses, brilliance, heat, color, blindness, and life are nothing compared to the power and perfection of the young man. This belief again provides affirmation that like a God, the young man is greater than the source of light and life on earth.

“And every fair from fair sometimes declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed:” (7-8) By saying that every fair from fair declines, Shakespeare is saying that every beautiful thing, at some point, grows less and less beautiful and that it reaches the point when it can never be as beautiful as when it first came into being. All beautiful things will fall from perfection. Like summer, beauty has a time limit on it. This is not the case with the young man. His beauty will never dim, nor wilt like the flowers in the wind, nor lessen, nor be covered like the sun may be. He will always retain the state of perfection. Absolute perfection is another quality that makes the youth like a God.

The next line shows that beauty flails because of chance accidents or by the fluctuation of nature’s course. This again ties in to the idea that a summer’s day is unpredictable and subject to change. This again is not true for the youth. The youth is temperate and his perfection is untouchable. He is steadfast and reliable. He is immune from accidents or fluctuation. He is again, perfection.

At this point Shakespeare has finished explaining how summer is an inadequate comparison to the youth and begins to explain his promise to the youth. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade…” The eternal summer represents the eternity of the youth’s perfection. The eternal summer won’t ever fade and it will never lose its original beauty. This again affirms that the youth is not subject to time. He is immortal. He is God-like.

Shakespeare finally declares that the reason that the youth will always be immortal and in perfect state is death has no power over him. “Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade...” (11) Unlike Death’s eventual victory over every living thing, it will not have any affect on the youth. The reason for this being that the youth, in all his glory, will always and forever be captured in Shakespeare’s verse and because of these lines, the youth will remain immortal and will grow as time grows.

“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this give life to thee.” (13-14) This final part of Shakespeare’s promise to the youth explains that as long as man inhabits the earth, the verse will always exist, and because of the existence of the verse, the youth will live on forever in the words. His image and beauty will always be captured in time and because it is captured, he will remain immortal. The verse gives the youth a means for immortality and eternal existence because it transcends the time barrier. He is a god.

Through the intensity of the emotion of love that Shakespeare is able to express in his writing it is proven that he viewed the youth as godlike. He idealizes the young man by the description of his beauty. His writing is motivated by the love that he feels for the youth. He explains the youth’s perfection by comparing and contrasting the youth to a summer’s day. He explains that a summer’s day is as inadequate a comparison, as the language he uses is in his attempt to express all he feels for the youth. Through the verse and his use of symbolism and personification of aspects of nature, and of the youth, Shakespeare is able to fully utilize this comparison by morphs the youth into the “endless summer,” an ideal without flaw or imperfection. He shows admiration and adoration for the youth by denying the man have any faults. Shakespeare explains that the youth, unlike summer, is immune to time and aging and the fading of beauty, and therefore makes him immortal. He provides means for immortality and eternity though the verse he writes because the youth will still exist on paper, even after the youth is no longer part of the physical world. Shakespeare catapults the man into a creature of perfection, beauty, endless youth, immortality, and because of all these attributes, he is a god in his own right.

Si Tenggang Homecoming

About The Poem

1. The poem has 6 stanzas.
2. Literally the poem is a reflection of Si Tenggang's return to his homeland after his journey overseas. The journey has widened his perspective of life.He had learnt to to think differently and was eager to share his new-found knowledge with his people. He tried to convince them that nevertheless he is still a 'Malay' at heart and had never abandoned the Malay culture.
3. Unfortunately, his people could not understand the change in him and they were afraid that his experience and knowledge will threatened their customs and familiar ways of life.
4. The name Si Tenggang is taken from Malay folk tale.
5. The Writer for si tenggang isn’t the same to the person in the folk tale.
6. Muhammad doesn’t use capital letters for his persona’s name to show that he’s a different person.
7. Muhammad’s si tenggang is different.
8. His someone who has returned after years of travel, ready to share his knowledge and experiences with his people.
9. Although his travels have changed him, but he is still a Malay, ready to fit again into society.

STANZA 1

My travel overseas have changed my life and character. I now have new knowledge and a different way of looking at life

STANZA 2
I have been discourteous to my elders but only because they do not understand my problems. They find it difficult to accept the changes in me. In the foreign country I turned to my wife in my loneliness. Now I cannot return to my old way of life completely because I have changed.

STANZA 3
I come home now feeling more confident. I am wiser and have learnt many new things. I am no longer afraid of other cultures and the differences between people. I am now less easily fooled by clever talk. But I am still Malay. I believe in good things. Moreover, I am now more tolerant than people who have never been abroad. Now I want to share my new knowledge with others.

STANZA 4
My travels have made me look for sincerity. I will not make demands that are against my own principles. I have learnt to choose and make comparisons. I believe that the wisdom of my ancestors will guide me.

STANZA 5
Now I am able to argue fiercely and with reason. But I am still humble and respectful.

STANZA 6
I am not a new person and I am not really different from you. My foreign experience has taught me to cope with anything. I am not afraid of the challenges of the future. I am the same as you but I have been freed from narrow traditional ways. I have become independent and this is my true self.

The important changes in si tenggang are :

He has a broader outlook in life

He is more tolerant

He has to learn to accept people who more different

He is not fooled by clever words

He is able to tell whether people’s views are sincere or not.

He will not give up important values

Moral Values

Travel broadens the mind.

- the persona is forced to look at new cultures and new ways of life. This makes him re-examine his own culture. He learns tolerance through this.

Do not be afraid to experience cultures outside our own.

– see how others live and learn from their way of life. At the same time we should keep what is good in our own traditions.

We should not be afraid of the outside world because we can learn from it.

We should respect people who are different.

We should be humble even if we are cleverer than others.

We should share our knowledge with people who have fewer opportunities to learn.

Sonnet 18: More Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. The poet compares his beloved to
A. a summer's day
B. a beautiful jewel
C. a summer flower
D. a summer shower

2. The phrase 'the darling buds of May' means
A. the beautiful flowers of May
B. the beautiful girls born in May
C. the eyes of the beloved
D. the lines of the sonnet

3. What shines like gold?
A. The flowers of May
B. The beloved's hair
C. The beloved's face
D. The sun

4. The phrase 'fair thou ow'st' means
A. the beauty that death takes away
B. the beauty you owe the poet
C. the beauty you see in nature
D. the beauty you possess

5. What does 'this' mean in 'this gives life to thee'?
A. The eternal summer
B. The summer's day
C. The sonnet
D. The sun

6. The line 'summer's lease hath all too short a date' means
A. summer lasts a short time
B. summer starts on a certain date
C. summer is shorter than other seasons
D. all of the above

7. How long will the sonnet 'give life' to the beloved?
A. As long as the beloved is alive
B. As long as mankind survives
C. As long as the sonnet is read
D. As long as the poet is alive

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. How is the beloved more temperate than a summer's day?

2. How is the 'gold complexion' (line 6) dimmed?

3. How do 'fair' (line 7) things decline?

4. How would you feel if this poem were addressed to you?

5. Would you praise someone you love in this way? Explain your answer.

Looking For A Rain God: Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. The family members go to their land after the November rains because
A. they want to cut firewood so they can work
B. their animals need to drink water at the well
C. they want to plough their land
D. their house has been flooded

2. The little girls play games
A. because they are disobedient and do not want to work
B. that imitate they way their mother talks to them
C. that will make the rain god bring rain
D. because they are stupid

3. The two women start wailing and stamping their feet because
A. they are practising a rain dance
B. the ground is too hot to stand on
C. they are celebrating the November rain
D. they are breaking under the strain of the drought

4. What happens after the girls sacrificed to the rain god?
A. It rains.
B. It drizzles.
C. It does not rain.
D. It rains till the land is flooded.

5. What do the people do at the kgotla?
A. They gather there to hear the announcement for the beginning of the ploughing season.
B. They store their blankets and cooking pots there.
C. They sharpen their ploughs there.
D. They keep their livestock there.

6. How do the villagers feel after they learn about the murder of the children?
A. They feel happy because now it will rain.
B. They feel sorry for Mokgobja and Ramadi.
C. They feel angry with Mokgobja and Ramadi.
D. They feel nothing because it does not concern them.

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. Briefly describe the games played by the two little girls.

2. How do the people who practise black magic cheat the villagers?

3. Briefly describe Ramadi’s character.

4. Briefly describe the feelings of the family after they kill the two little girls.

If by Rudyard Kipling - Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. This advice is given to
A. a man called Will
B. the father
C. the king
D. the son

2. In line 2 of stanza 1, what does the 'it' mean?
A. You
B. Your head
C. Your enemy
D. The bad situation

3. In line 1 of stanza 2, the advice means
A. you should not be controlled by your dreams
B. you should dream about your master
C. you should try your best not to dream
D. you should dream about becoming a master

4. Stanza 2 mentions a person who 'can think'. Such a person will be able to
A. repeat facts to someone else
B. remember the facts
C. analyse the facts
D. learn many facts

5. In stanza 3, what does 'Hold on!' mean?
A. Wait a while.
B. Don't give up.
C. Don't take action.
D. Don't lose your money.

6. In stanza 4, what does 'If all men count with you' mean?
A. If everyone studies mathematics with you
B. If only the men are important to you
C. If everyone is numbered with you
D. If everyone is respected by you

7. Which of the following moral values can be found in the poem?
A. Don't forget your moral principles in trying to please people.
B. Keep calm and cool.
C. Be patient.
D. All of the above.

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. What does the poem advise you to do when someone tells a lie about you? (Stanza 1)

2. In your opinion, is it good advice not to tell anyone about your loss? Explain your answer. (Stanza 2)

3. Give an example of how 'loving friends can hurt you'. (Stanza 4)

4. How can you make 'all men count with you'?

Monsoon History: Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. What is the persona doing?
A. Fishing
B. Catching insects
C. Watching the storm
D. Walking on the beach

2. To the persona, the air on the skin is like
A. curls of smoke
B. fat white slugs
C. silverfish
D. centipedes

3. Who is the persona?
A. Baba
B. Nyonya
C. One of the fishermen
D. One of the children now grown up

4. How many generations are referred to this poem?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Foud

5. What is the weather like at the beginning of the poem?
A. Wet and stormy
B. Fine and sunny
C. Dry and hot
D. Hazy

6. What is the 'silver paper' used for?
A. Making money for the dead
B. Writing messages to the dead
C. Making New Year decorations
D. Wrapping presents for the children

7. What is the 'silver mesh around her waist'?
A. A silver belt
B. A garland of silver paper
C. A sarong made of kain songket
D. A scarf made of silver material

8. What is the weather like at the end of the poem?
A. Windy
B. Still and fine
C. Wet and stormy
D. Hazy and cloudy

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. What is the weather outside like?

2. Identify one good aspect of the family life described in the poem.

3. Why are the pictures of the grandparents 'hung always in the parlour'?

4. In your opinion, how old is the persona now?

5. What memories does the persona have of the parents, nyonya and baba?

The Road Not Taken: Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. We know it is autumn because
A. the roads are grassy
B. the trees are green in colour
C. the leaves are yellow in colour
D. the persona cannot see the roads due to mist

2. The persona is travelling
A. by himself
B. with a guide
C. with a friend
D. with his family

3. In stanza 3, what 'lay in leaves'?
A. The persona
B. One of the roads
C. Both the roads
D. The undergrowth

4. The persona will be telling with a sigh that he
A. travelled on both roads
B. took the less travelled road
C. did not take either road
D. regretted that he came to the wood

5. Which statement best describes the action of the persona?
A. He looked at the two roads and went back to where he came from.
B. He walked on the other road when he was older.
C. He chose both roads and regretted it.
D. He chose one road and regretted it.

6. Which of the following statements is true of the roads as described in this poem?
A. Both roads have black leaves.
B. Neither road has black leaves.
C. Both roads bend in the undergrowth.
D. Neither road bends in the undergrowth.

7. In the last stanza, where does the persona think he will be ages hence?
A. On the road not taken
B. In an unknown place
C. In the undergrowth
D. In the wood

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. What time of day is it when the persona looks at the two roads?

2. Write down any two things about the wood.

3. What is the main theme of the poem?

4. Briefly say why you like any one feature of this poem.

5. Describe one choice you made in school this year which affected your studies.

There’s been a death in the opposite house: Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the correct answer.

1. Who is the persona of the poem?
A. A little boy
B. The dead person
C. Emily Dickinson
D. A little boy now grown up

2. The doctor drives away because
A. the patient has died
B. the patient was recovered
C. he has quarrelled with the neighbours
D. he wants to get more medicines for the patient

3. Who is the man of the appalling trade?
A. The undertaker
B. The persona
C. The miliner
D. The doctor

4. What is the meaning of the 'house' in stanza 5?
A. The coffin
B. The house opposite
C. The persona's house
D. The minister's house

5. 'That dark parade of tassels and of coaches' means
A. the neighbours going in and coming out of the house
B. the funeral procession passing through town
C. the children hurrying past the house
D. the doctor driving away

6. Why does the minister go into the house?
A. He owns the house.
B. He lives in that house.
C. He wants to measure the house.
D. He wants to comfort the family.

7. Which of the following adjectives best describes the town?
A. Cold and unfriendly
B. Small and quiet
C. Rich and uncaring
D. Big and active

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. Why are the neighbours going in and coming out of the house?

2. Why does the minister feel that he owns the house and all the mourners?

3. Why do the children think of the dead person as 'It'?

4. What is the 'easy sign' referred to in the last stanza?

5. Why does te poet refer to the town as 'just a country town'?

Si Tenggang Homecoming: Questions

Exercise 1
Choose the best answer.

1. The poet says that his journey was
A. a difficult one
B. a loyal teacher
C. a waste of money
D. an enjoyable holiday

2. The contents of the boats are the persona's
A. clothes and books
B. presents for his family
C. new knowledge and attitudes
D. souvenirs bought from the ports he has visited

3. What is the persona's feeling for his village?
A. He loves his village.
B. He hates his village.
C. He is angry with his village.
D. He is ashamed of his village.

4. The line 'i am not a new man' (stanza 6) means
A. I am afraid people will laugh at me.
B. I have nto been changed by my travels.
C. I have given up all that I have learnt abroad.
D. I have been changed by my travels but remain essentially a Malay.

5. Why did the persona begin to love his wife?
A. He was lonely.
B. His wife was lonely.
C. His wife was reasonable.
D. He was persuaded by his grandmother.

6. How does the persona feel on coming home from his travels?
A. He is happy becase he has become rich.
B. He is dissatisfied because his travels were too short.
C. He is proud he has acquired a lot of knowledge.
D. He is happy because he is still a Malay even though he has changed in some ways.

7. Why does the persona call himself 'si tenggang'?
A. He inherited the title.
B. His father gave him that name.
C. He is returned traveller like the legendary Si Tenggang.
D. He wants to keep on travelling to keep on travelling lke the legendary Si Tenggang.

Exercise 2
Write short answers to the following questions.

1. Where is the persona when he speaks?

2. What is the main theme of the poem?

3. What does the poet mean when he says that his physical journey is also a journey of the soul?

4. What moral values can we learn from the poem?

5. What does the poem teach us about what we should do when we know who we are?

There's been a death in the opposite house - Analysis

There's been a death in the opposite house
As lately as to-day.
I know it by the numb look
Such houses have alway.

The neighbors rustle in and out,
The doctor drives away.
A window opens like a pod,
Abrupt, mechanically;

Somebody flings a mattress out,--
The children hurry by;
They wonder if It died on that,--
I used to when a boy.

The minister goes stiffly in
As if the house were his,
And he owned all the mourners now,
And little boys besides;

And then the milliner, and the man
Of the appalling trade,
To take the measure of the house.
There'll be that dark parade

Of tassels and of coaches soon;
It's easy as a sign,--
The intuition of the news
In just a country town.

Analysis

This poem, like many others, reflects her obsession with death. However, this reflection is very indirect because it is made clear to us that the narrator is a boy when they toss the mattress out ("I used to-when a Boy"). This poem makes death a reality-it catches the mood that even an inanimate object like a house can have after a death has occurred. She uses words like 'numb' and 'mechanically' to catch the kind of hushed mood after a death. The entire poem describes the 'practical' things that people do after a death, but through the entire thing there is an ominous undercurrent.

It is also important to note that the body of the dead person is described as an 'it'( "Somebody flings a Mattress out-/The Children hurry by-/They wonder if it died-on that-"). This suggests that after death their is no humanity left, but just an empty shell. This also signifies the obssession that Emily Dickinson had about death. Other important lines are the ones mentioning the 'Dark Parade"(the funeral procession) and "the Man Of the Appalling Trade"(probably someone along the lines of a funeral director or the driver of the hearse).

Another Interpretation:

I think that all Emily is saying is that basically, people are conditioned to deal with death from a young age because death has visible signs even when the actual “death” itself isn’t apparent. Because of this, much of the emotional aspects of death are non-existant in the onlookers of the scene because they have been desensitized to the whole concept of death. The use of "it" in line 11 (they wonder if it died on that-) completely depersonalizes the persons death, and thus, the children who are wondering about "it" show no emotion towards the situation, but rather grimace at the thought of the dead body. Yet, the speaker states "i used to when a boy" showing that this non-sentimental attitude towards death is innate in children. In a nutshell, the theme is that the scene of death has visible signs even when a body is lacking, and beginning at a young age we pick up on the signs and thus become conditioned to deal with death.