Textual Activities
1.Find out the reason of the man for staying at the place.Ans: To make a few shillings the man stayed at the place.
2. The stranger stays with the Sergeant. Find a way ...... by him to allow him.
ANS: The stranger stays with the Sergeant by telling him that he would wait for sailors. The sailors would buy a ballad off him.
3. Write about the persuasive approach of the man?
Ans: The man wanted to stay at quay .He persuades the sergeant to allow him to sit on the steps .Then he tells the sergeant that he knows the man he is waiting for.
4.The man and the Sergeant need each other’s support. Find such examples.
Ans: The following conversation shows they need each other’s support
Sergeant : You know him? Come back here. What sort is he?
Man : Come back is it, Sergeant?
5. The man tries to enforce the Sergeant in favour of the criminal Find the sentence from the text.
Ans: I wouldn’t be in your shoes if the reward was ten times as much.
6. Find the life of the singer that is mentioned in the extract.
ANS : He is a poor man. He sings on the streets and in fairs. He walked through the hills to view rocks and streams.
7.The wavelength of the man and the Sergeant goes together find the evidences from the text.
Ans: The man sings patriotic songs. The Sergeant remembers the songs.
8. The discussion about patriotic songs goes on. Find the points from the extract.
Ans: When the man
9. There is a reference of a criminal. Find sentences in the context and write
Ans: breaking gaol and hiding in the dark,
myself would be trying maybe to put a bullet in his head, or to take up a lump of a stone the way you said he did
10. The Sergeants reaction surprises the audience. Write your opinion.
11. The Sergeant support the man by misguiding his comrades. Write your views.
12. Write your opinion about the man and the Sergeant.
BRAINSTORMING
(A1) There are some dialogues which are short, but quite effective. They give us enjoyment and add beauty to the main story. Find some more from the text.
(A2) Theme
(i) Comment on the given statement after reading the given dialogue-
a. And if we get him itself, nothing but abuse on our heads for it from the people, and maybe from our own relations-you may begin like this
We do not think about society at large because people do not understand how difficult time we face in force. They abuse us even if we obey the orders.
b. It’s a pity some honest man not to be better of that.
c. I wouldn’t be in your shoes if he reward me ten times as much. People generally fall victim to incentives. Some people stick to values. They do not give importance to reward but the nationalism.
d. But when I saw a man in trouble, I could never help trying to set him out of it.
Its human to help others. Here the statement tells us that we should help the people in trouble to come out of it.
(ii) The priorities of the Sergeant are shifted. Complete the given table by using the given clues.
Priorities of the sergeant at the beginning Priorities of the sergeant at the end of the play
Find sentences from the play related to the given points.
a. Loyalty in Irish Nationalism:
(1) May be Sergeant you’ll be on the side of the country yet.
(2) I am thinking it was with the people you were,
(3) In spite of your belt and your tunic, that it might have been as well for you to have followed Granuaile.
(4) Sergeant puts hat and wig behind his back.
b. Tension between different loyalties
(1) It’s little we get but abuse from the people, and no choice but to obey our orders.
(2) Indeed it’s a hard thing to be in the force, out at night and no thanks for it,
(3) But when I saw a man in trouble, I could never help trying to set him out of it.
(4) There’s many a thing a man might know and might not have any wish for.
(A5) The description of the character is given below. Identify the character from the play. Find some sentences which support your choice.
(a) He is a brave but irresponsible person.
Ans The character is the Sergeant. He is brave - I don’t want it. Bring it with you, He is irresponsible Sergeant (after a pause) - no one.
(b) He is a major character. He dominates in the story.
(1) Character : Man , A ballad singer : Jimmy Walsh a man who broke the jail
(2) A story is woven around the a ballad singer.
(c) He is smart as well as brave.
(1) Character: Man
(2) Proof : You might be standing there, looking out that way, thinking you saw him coming up this side of the quay (points), and he might be coming up this other side (points), and he’d be on you before you knew where you were.
(d) He is the centre of the play.
(1) Character : Man
(2)
(e) He is obedient and simple.
(1) Character : Sergeant
