If I were You | Question and Answer |
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Thinking about the Text
Question I Answer these questions.
Question 1. “At last a sympathetic audience.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer Gerrard says this.
(ii) Why does he say it?
Answer He says it because the intruder had asked him to talk about himself.
(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious?
Answer He was being sarcastic. The intruder was in no way sympathetic. In fact, he told Gerrard, at gunpoint, to tell about himself so that he could use the information for his benefit.
Question 2 Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?
Answer The intruder chose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wanted to take on because the intruder looked similar to Gerrard. Also, Gerrard lived alone and did not meet a lot of people. Thus, no one would doubt the intruder and he would easily get away from the police.
Question 3 “I said it with bullets.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer Gerrard says this.
(ii) What does it mean?
Answer He shot someone with his gun to escape as things were going wrong.
(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?
Answer No, it was not the truth. Gerrard said so because he wanted the intruder to believe that he was also a criminal. The intruder would have killed him if he had not lied about his identity.
Question 4 What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.
Answer Gerrard’s profession is that of a playwright. There are number of instances that reflect this but some of them are as follows:
This is all very melodramatic, not very original, perhaps, but…”
Finally, a sympathetic audience!”
In most melodramas the villain is foolish enough to delay his killing long enough to be frustrated”.
I said, `You were luckier than most melodramatic villains.”
That’s a disguise outfit; false moustaches and what not”
Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother – quite amusing. I think I’ll put it in my next play.”
Question 5 “You’ll soon stop being smart.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer The intruder says this.
(ii) Why does the speaker say it?
Answer The speaker (intruder) said this because Gerrard was not anxious or upset when intruder entered into his house. The intention behind saying the line is to frighten the Gerrard.
(iii) What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?
Answer According to the intruder, Gerrard would stop being smart when he would know what was going to happen to him. The intruder’s plan was to kill Gerrard and take on his identity.
Question 6 “They can’t hang me twice.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer The line is spoken by an intruder.
(ii) Why does the speaker say it?
Answer The speaker said so because he was telling Gerrard about his murdering of a man and he won’t mind killing him too as the police cannot hang him twice for the same offence.
Question 7 “A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?
Answer The mystery that Gerrard proposed to explain was the false story that he had made in order to trick the intruder. The story begins like that Gerrard told himself as a criminal. He asked the intruder to meet people of different trades and to be a bit of a mystery man who is present here today and vanishes tomorrow. The game became adverse after things started going wrong. As he murdered someone and ran away from the crime scene. Unfortunately, one of his men got arrested and things got revealed which otherwise must have been burnt by his men. With this, he analysed that some troubles are in his way and that’s why he must escape from the location.
Question 8 “This is your big surprise.”
(i) Where has this been said in the play?
Answer First, it was spoken by the intruder when he revealed to Gerrard why he was there and what he was going to do with him. On the second occasion, it was spoken by Gerrard when he was about to reveal his false story to the intruder.
(ii) What is the surprise?
Answer When the intruder said this line, the surprise was that he was going to kill Gerrard and take on his identity. When Gerrard said this line, the surprise was that he too was a criminal like the intruder.
Thinking about Language
Question I Consult your dictionary and choose the correct word from the pairs given in brackets.
1. The (site, cite) of the accident was (ghastly/ghostly).
Answer The site of the accident was ghastly.
2. Our college (principle/principal) is very strict.
Answer Our college principal is very strict.
3. I studied (continuously/continually) for eight hours.
Answer I studied continuously for eight hours.
4. The fog had an adverse (affect/effect) on the traffic.
Answer The fog had an adverse effect on the traffic.
5. Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant (artist/artiste).
Answer Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant artist.
6. The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary (collage/college) of science fiction and mystery.
Answer The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary collage of science fiction and mystery.
7. Our school will (host/hoist) an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
Answer Our school will host an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
8. Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and (shake/shape) well before using the contents.
Answer Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and shake well before using the contents.
Question II Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what
we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, “Oh! that was clever!”, that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever‘ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
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Oh, wasn’t that clever! /Oh, that was clever!
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You have been a great help, I must say!
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You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
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Oh, very funny! /How funn
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically.
Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
Write down three such expressions along with what they really mean.
| What the author says | What he means |
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Why, this is a surprise, Mr-er
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He pretends that the intruder is a social visitor whom he is welcoming. In this way , he hides his fear. |
| At last a sympathetic audience! |
He pretends that the intruder wants to listen to him whereas the intruder wants to find out information for his own use.
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Answer
| What the author says | What he means |
| You won’t kill me for a very good reason | Gerrard was just pretending to have a very good reason. However, there was no such reason. |
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In most melodramas the villain is foolish enough to delay his killing long enough to be frustrated. You are much luckier.
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Gerrard said that the villain takes too long a time to make the killing and ends up being at the Wrong end. However, the intruder has been quite smart and lucky for not killing Gerrard and taking on his identity. As we know, Gerrard then tells him a cooked up story and the intruder turns out to be like the foolish villain of most melodramas.
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Sorry I can’t let you have props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother-quite amusing.
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The spot of brother’ that Gerrard found quite amusing was actually a life-threatening situation. He was being held at gunpoint by a murderer who wanted to kill him and take his identity. |
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