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Question I:

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 th ings. 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.

Answer I:

1.     There are mainly four characters in the narrative. They are Jerome (the narrator), George, Harris and Montmorency (the dog).

2.     The narrator volunteered to do the packing because as he though t that he was the best packer. He was very proud of his packing and wanted to show it to everyone.

3.     George and Harris will-fully accepted Jerome's suggestion. George smoked a pipe and "spread himsel f over the easy-chair", while Harris put his legs on the table an d lit a cigar. No, Jerom e wasn't very happy and felt irritated by their reaction.

4.     The real intentio n of Jerome, when he offered to pack, was to show his capability through the supervision skills.

5.     After the bag was shut and strapped, Harris noticed that Jerome had not packed the boots. He waited till then to ask about the boots because he wanted Jerome to realise his mistake and ridicule his packing skills for which he was very proud.

6.     The "horrible idea" that occurred to Jerome a little later was that whether or not he had packed his toothbrush. Whenever he travelled he always forgot if he had packed his toothbrush or not. This very thought haunted him to the core and made his life a mess.

7.     While turning things upside down out of the bag and putting the things back one by one Jerome finally found the tooth brush inside a boot.

8.     Jerome had to re-open the packed bag twice because of his habit of forgetting things. 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 because Jerome was talking too much time and it was also getting late. They also wanted to show their packing skill to Jerome.

10.     

(i)   They started with breaking a cup. True

(ii) They also broke a plate. False

(iii)             They squashed a tomato. True

(iv)              They trod on the butter. True

(v) They stepped on a bana na. False

(vi)              They put things behind them, and couldn't find them. True

(vii)           They stepped on things. True

(viii)        They packed the pictures at the bottom and put heavy things on top. False

(ix)              They upset almost everything. True

(x) They were very good at packing. False

Question II:

What does Jerome say was Montmorency' s ambition in life? What do you think of Montmorency and why?

Answer II:

Jerome says that Montmorency' s ambition in life was to get in the way and he sworn at it. Montmorency was a mischievous little dog wh o loved troubling others. I th ink that Montm orency was a perfect trouble maker who wanted to get involved and play whenever he found people busy with their work or whenever he might felt bored. He meant no trouble intentionally. But when peo ple reacted badly, shouted at him or threw things at his head, he got discouraged and would go away to sit silently in a corner, which the narrator calls as the fulfilment of his conceit.

Question III:

Discuss in groups and Answer the following Questions in two or three paragraphs (100-150 words) 1. Of the three, Jerom e, 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 'contribu te' 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.)

Answer III:

1. Of all the three, Jerome is the best packer. He knew how to arrange things in correct order. Both Harris and George usually messed things up. George stepped on the butter. Harris packed the strawberry ja m on top of a tomato and squashed it. They were constantly getting an noyed by Montmorency. Jerome would take his tim e to pack things but he was good at it. Harris and George would sometimes even kept things behind them and then keep searching for it. They made everythi ng such a chaos.

2.       The packing adventure was already a messy job and Montmoren cy's contribution made it even more  troublesome  and  tiresome.   He   did   his   level   best   to   be   a   "perfect   nuisance". He came and sat down on the things, just when things were about to be packed. He used to put his leg into the ja m and worried the teaspoons . He also pretended that the lemons were rats. So he got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pa n.

3.       Yes, this story is certainly funny. N ot only is the way in which the three friends pa ck for the trip quite amusingly, but also the way the author narrates all the incidents is very entertaining.

Ø The first humorous elemen t is wh en the author offers to pack, George and Harris leaves the whole task to him. Consequently, he has to do the packing although his real intention was to supervise the job.

Ø The second humorous element is when  George placed the butter on the chair and Harris accidently sat on it and it got stuck at his back. When they searched it for packing it was missing. They walk all round the room and at last George finds i t at Harris's back.

Ø The third humorous element is that Montmorency squirms in where he is not wanted. He

Ø wants somebody stumble over him and curse him steadily for an hour. He pretends that lemons were rats.