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Discuss in pairs and answer each question below in a short paragraph (30 – 40 words). 1. How many characters are there in the narrative? Name them. (Don’t forget the dog!). 2. Why did the narrator (Jerome) volunteer to do the packing? 3. How did George and Harris react to this? Did Jerome like their reaction? 4. What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack? 5. What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited till then to ask? 6. What “horrible idea” occurred to Jerome a little later? 7. Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush? 8. Why did Jerome have to reopen the packed bag? 9. What did George and Harris offer to pack and why? 10. While packing the hamper, George and Harris do a number of foolish and funny things. Tick the statements that are true. (i) They started with breaking a cup. (ii) They also broke a plate. (iii) They squashed a tomato. (iv) They trod on the butter. (v) They stepped on a banana. (vi) They put things behind them, and couldn’t find them. (vii) They stepped on things. (viii) They packed the pictures at the bottom and put heavy things on top. (ix) They upset almost everything. (x) They were very good at packing.
1. There are four characters in the narrative. They are Jerome (the narrator), George, Harris and Montmorency (the dog).
2. The narrator volunteered to do the packing as he took pride in himself for his packing skills. It was one of those things that he felt he knew more about than any other person living.
3. George and Harris readily accepted Jerome's suggestion. George smoked a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair, while Harris put his legs on the table and lit a cigar.
No, Jerome did not like their reaction.
4. When Jerome had offered to pack, his real intention was to boss the job. He wanted to make Harris and George work under his directions, and to push them aside every now and then to teach them how to pack properly.
5. After the bag was shut and strapped, Harris mentioned that Jerome had not packed the boots.
He had waited till then to ask because he wanted to make Jerome realise his mistake and ridicule his so-called expertise at packing.
6. When Jerome unstrapped the bag to pack the boots in, a horrible idea occurred to him. He wondered whether he had packed his toothbrush or not. He was a bit finicky about having his toothbrush packed every time he went on a trip.
7. Jerome had to make a lot of effort to find his toothbrush. As he had packed everything, he had to rummage through the packed bag to find it. Jerome finally found the toothbrush inside a boot.
8. Jerome had to reopen the packed bag twice owing to his forgetfulness. Once he had to reopen the bag as he had forgotten to pack the boots. The next time, he unpacked when he realised he had packed his tobacco-pouch in.
9. George and Harris offered to pack the hampers for carrying food. Harris said that they would want to start in less than twelve hours time and therefore, it was better that he and George did the rest of the packing.
10. Statements (i), (iii), (iv), (vi) and (vii) are true.
II. What does Jerome say was Montmorency’s ambition in life? What do you think of Montmorency and why? According to Jerome, Montmorency' ambition in life was to get in the way, make people mad, be scolded and have things thrown at his head. The dog felt that his day was fruitful only if he could make somebody stumble over him and curse him for an hour. He took pride in achieving this goal. Montmorency behaved just like a dog would behave in such a situation. He tried to explore whatever he saw being packed. His mischievous tactics to beguile the attention of the trio can be compared to that of a child.
Discuss in groups and answer the following questions in two or three paragraphs (100 –150 words) 1. Of the three, Jerome, George and Harris, who do you think is the best or worst packer? Support your answer with details from the text. 2. How did Montmorency ‘contribute’ to the packing? 3. Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it? (Pick out at least three, think about what happens, as well as how it is described.)
1. All three friends, Jerome, George and Harris prove to be bad at packing things.
However, if we compare them, Jerome is by far the best at packing. Though he is unable to remember whether he has packed his toothbrush; accidentally packs his tobacco pouch and forgets to pack the boots, he is far than the other two.
On the other hand, George and Harris mismanage the whole process. They keep things behind them and then fail to find them; pack heavy things on food items; break and smash things; sprinkle salt over everything; step over food items; etc. This shows their incompetent packing skills.
2. The packing escapade was already a messy job and Montmorency's contribution made it even more tiresome. He did his level best to be a “perfect nuisanceâ€.
He came and sat down on things just when they were about to be packed. According to the narrator, the dog had a belief that whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, it was his cold damp nose they wanted.
Montmorency put his leg into the jam and disturbed the teaspoons. He pretended that the lemons were rats and went into the hamper to kill three of them before being hit with a frying pan by Harris.
3. Yes, this story is definitely funny. Not only is the way in which the three friends pack for their trip quite mirthful, but the way the author narrates all the incidents is also entertaining.
Though Jerome takes pride in his packing skills, he unpacks and re-packs the same things three times, much to the amusement of his friends and readers.
Also, when his friends start to pack the hamper, they create an even bigger havoc. They pack in a haphazard manner, sit on butter and squash things, etc. The behaviour and attitude of Montmorency towards life is one more example of humour in the story.
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