WORKBOOK QUESTION-ANSWERS, BEETA PUBLICATIONS: A CONSIDERABLE SPECK

ASSIGNMENTS

Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions

Question 1

Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the question; write the correct answer only.)

1. What made the speaker notice the speck that would have been beneath his sight?

(a) Its presence on a white sheet of paper
(b) Its shape like a full stop
(c) Its dark colour
(d) None of the above

Answer: (a) Its presence on a white sheet of paper

2. What was the strange thing that made the speaker think about the speck?

(a) The speck was a living mite.
(b) The speck was clearly visible to him.
(c) The speck was a figment of his imagination.
(d) The speck was a fluff of dust.

Answer: (a) The speck was a living mite.

3. What was it that the speaker said the living mite could call its own?

(a) Movements
(b) Decisions
(c) Fears
(d) Feelings

Answer: (a) Movements

4. What was the mite’s suspicion?

(a) Of being thrown away from the paper
(b) Of being blown away by the speaker’s breath
(c) Of getting killed by the speaker’s pen
(d) All of the above

Answer: (c) Of getting killed by the speaker’s pen

5. What did the mite drink or smell?

(a) Ink
(b) Sweat
(c) Water
(d) None of the above

Answer: (a) Ink

6. Which figure of speech is used in the phrase ‘with cunning crept’?

(a) Assonance
(b) Simile
(c) Metonymy
(d) Alliteration

Answer: (d) Alliteration

7. Which poetic device is used in the line given below?

‘With loathing, for again it turned to fly’

(a) Metaphor
(b) Personification
(c) Simile
(d) Oxymoron

Answer: (b) Personification

8. The speaker decided not to kill the mite because of which of its qualities?

(a) Small size
(b) Fear of the speaker
(c) Intelligence
(d) All of the above

Answer: (c) Intelligence

9. Which characteristic trait of the speaker is revealed in the line ‘Whatever I accorded it of fate’?

(a) Arrogance
(b) Superiority
(c) Annoyance
(d) None of the above

Answer: (b) Superiority

10. Which figure of speech is used in the line given below?

‘I have none of the tenderer-than-thou’

(a) Personification
(b) Metaphor
(c) Simile
(d) Alliteration

Answer: (b) Metaphor

Note: The expression ‘tenderer-than-thou’ is figurative and ironic, presenting an attitude of self-righteous superiority in terms of ‘tenderness’. Among the options given, ‘metaphor’ is the closest answer.

11. According to the speaker, the modern world is swept by which of the following?

(a) Individualism
(b) Collectivistic love
(c) Selfishness
(d) None of the above

Answer: (b) Collectivistic love

12. Why did the poet allow the mite to draw off instead of killing it?

(a) It was too tired and wanted to take rest.
(b) He believed in collectivistic ideology.
(c) It did not intend any harm to him.
(d) None of the above.

Answer: (c) It did not intend any harm to him.

13. Which of the following poetic devices is used in the title of the poem?

(a) Paradox
(b) Metaphor
(c) Personification
(d) Oxymoron

Answer: (a) Paradox

14. What is the central theme of the poem?

(a) Mind, its creativity and imagination
(b) Collectivistic ideology
(c) Superiority of man
(d) None of the above

Answer: (a) Mind, its creativity and imagination

15. Which of the following lines contains the same literary device as the one in the title of the poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’?

(a) ‘The little window where the sun

Came peeping in at morn’
(b) ‘His honour rooted in dishonour stood

And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.’
(c) ‘Good we must love and must hate ill,

For ill is ill and good good still.’
(d) ‘Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb

The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.’

* Beattock refers to the steep railway ascent/route near Beattock, a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, through which the railway line mentioned in W. H. Auden’s Night Mail passes.

* gradient’: steepness or slope of a road, railway line, or piece of land.

Answer: (b) ‘His honour rooted in dishonour stood / And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.’

Justification: The title ‘A Considerable Speck’ combines apparently contradictory ideas: a speck is tiny and insignificant, whereas considerable suggests importance or significance. Similarly, ‘honour rooted in dishonour’ and ‘faith unfaithful’ bring together contradictory ideas. Thus, both use paradox.

Section B: Context Questions

I. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

A speck that would have been beneath my sight
On any but a paper sheet so white
Set off across what I had written there.
And I had idly poised my pen in air
To stop it with a period of ink
When something strange about it made me think,
This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,
But unmistakably a living mite
With inclinations it could call its own.

(i) When did the speaker notice ‘a speck’? Why did he feel that it would have been beneath his sight?

Answer: The speaker noticed the speck while it was moving across the paper on which he had been writing. He felt that it would have been beneath his sight because it was extremely small and would normally have been too insignificant to attract his attention. The whiteness of the paper, however, made the tiny speck clearly visible.

(ii) Why did the speaker idly poise his pen in the air?

Answer: The speaker idly poised his pen in the air because he intended to stop the tiny speck by placing a period of ink over it. At first, he thought that it was merely a dust speck and was about to kill or remove it with his pen.

(iii) What was ‘strange’ about it that attracted the speaker’s attention? What was the speck in reality?

Answer: The speaker noticed that the speck was moving purposefully and seemed to possess its own inclinations. This made him realise that it was not an ordinary speck of dust but a living mite.

(iv) Explain the meaning of the last line of this extract.

Answer: The last line, ‘With inclinations it could call its own’, means that the tiny mite appeared to possess its own desires, intentions and will. The speaker recognises that even such an insignificant creature has a mind and an independent existence of its own.

(v) Explain briefly how this extract justifies the title of the poem.

Answer: The extract introduces the ‘speck’ as something extremely small and apparently insignificant. However, the speaker discovers that it is a living creature possessing intelligence and independent inclinations. Thus, although it is a ‘speck’ in size, it becomes ‘considerable’ because of the mind and life it possesses. This apparent contradiction justifies the title ‘A Considerable Speck’.

II. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Plainly with an intelligence I dealt.
It seemed too tiny to have room for feet,
Yet must have had a set of them complete
To express how much it didn't want to die.
It ran with terror and with cunning crept.
It faltered: I could see it hesitate,
Then in the middle of the open sheet
Cower down in desperation to accept
Whatever I accorded it of fate.

(i) Which characteristic trait of the mite is the speaker talking about in the first line of this extract? Why?

Answer: The speaker is referring to the intelligence of the mite. He recognises that its movements are purposeful and that it behaves intelligently to protect itself from being killed. Its actions reveal that it possesses awareness and an instinct for survival.

(ii) Why did the speaker at first think that the mite did not have feet? What made him change his stance at the very next moment?

Answer: The speaker initially thought that the mite was too tiny to have room for feet. However, its quick and purposeful movements made him realise that it must have a complete set of feet. Its movements served as evidence of its physical existence and intelligence.

(iii) What made the speaker realise that it did not want to die?

Answer: The mite ran with terror, moved cunningly, faltered, hesitated and finally cowered in desperation. These actions clearly showed the speaker that it was trying to escape death and therefore valued its own life.

(iv) What did it do in the middle of the sheet of paper? Why?

Answer: In the middle of the sheet, the mite cowered down in desperation. It did so because it was frightened and apparently unable to find a safe way to escape the speaker’s pen. It seemed to surrender itself to whatever fate the speaker might decide for it.

(v) Explain the attitude of the speaker towards the mite in this extract.

Answer: The speaker’s attitude changes from casual indifference to interest, sympathy and respect. He initially regards the mite as an insignificant speck that he could easily kill, but its intelligent behaviour makes him recognise it as a living creature with a will to survive.

III. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

I have none of the tenderer-than-thou
Collectivistic regimenting love
With which the modern world is being swept
But this poor microscopic item now!
Since it was nothing I knew evil of
I let it lie there till I hoped it slept.

(i) Which trait is the speaker referring to when he says he does not have it? What is the result of lacking this trait?

Answer: The speaker is referring to the self-righteous, ‘tenderer-than-thou’ attitude associated with collectivistic thinking. He does not believe in blindly treating all creatures or individuals according to a collective ideology. His independent mind allows him to judge the mite as an individual living being rather than simply as an insignificant object.

(ii) Explain, with reference to the context, the meaning of the phrase ‘Collectivistic regimenting love’.

Answer: ‘Collectivistic regimenting love’ refers ironically to a social or ideological attitude that seeks to regulate individuals by imposing a uniform idea of what is supposedly good or compassionate for everyone. The speaker dislikes such forced, collective conformity and values individual judgement and independent thought instead.

(iii) To whom did the speaker refer as the ‘poor microscopic item’? Why? What does it suggest about the speaker?

Answer: The speaker refers to the tiny mite as the ‘poor microscopic item’ because it is extremely small, vulnerable and helpless in comparison with him. The expression shows that the speaker has developed sympathy and compassion for the creature. It also suggests that he respects life, even when it exists in a very small and seemingly insignificant form.

(iv) Why did the speaker let it lie there? Do you think the speaker was right in doing so? Give a reason to support your answer.

Answer: The speaker let the mite lie there because he knew of no evil that it had done and therefore saw no reason to kill it. Yes, his decision was right because he recognised the mite as a living creature with its own mind and desire to survive. His action demonstrates compassion, tolerance and respect for life.

(v) Explain how this extract reflects the theme of the poem.

Answer: This extract reinforces the central theme that intelligence and individuality can exist even in the smallest and seemingly most insignificant forms of life. The speaker refuses to judge the mite merely by its size. Instead, he recognises its intelligence and independent will, showing that the value of a living being cannot be measured by its physical size.

IV. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it in any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.

(i) What does the speaker want to convey by saying that he has a mind? Which characteristic trait of the speaker is conveyed by this assertion?

Answer: The speaker wants to emphasise that he possesses an independent and thinking mind and is therefore able to recognise intelligence in other beings. This assertion conveys his intellectual awareness, open-mindedness and respect for independent thought.

(ii) Where does the speaker find ‘the mind’? In which ‘guise’ does he find it? How does he recognise it?

Answer: The speaker finds ‘the mind’ in the tiny mite on his sheet of paper. He finds it in the unexpected guise of a microscopic creature. He recognises its mind through its intelligent, purposeful and self-protective movements.

(iii) How does the speaker reward it for displaying its mind? Why does the speaker not punish it for trespassing on his sheet of paper?

Answer: The speaker rewards the mite by allowing it to live and continue its journey instead of killing it with his pen. He does not punish it because its behaviour reveals intelligence and a desire to survive, and he has no reason to regard its presence as harmful or evil.

(iv) What is the reason for the speaker’s feeling of gladness? Give the symbolic meaning of the line ‘On any sheet the least display of mind.’

Answer: The speaker feels glad because he discovers evidence of intelligence in an unexpected and extremely small creature. Symbolically, ‘On any sheet the least display of mind’ means that the presence of intelligence, however small or insignificant it may appear, deserves recognition and respect.

(v) What is the central theme of this poem? How is an inconsequential mite used to justify the theme of the poem?

Answer: The central theme of the poem is the recognition and value of intelligence, individuality and the instinct for survival, regardless of physical size or apparent importance. The tiny mite initially appears to be an inconsequential speck, but its intelligent movements reveal that it possesses a mind of its own. Thus, the mite becomes ‘considerable’ because of its intelligence and individuality, thereby justifying the poem’s title and theme.

V. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

It paused as with suspicion of my pen,
And then came racing wildly on again
To where my manuscript was not yet dry,
Then paused again and either drank or smelt—
With loathing, for again it turned to fly.

(i) What is referred to by ‘It’ that paused with suspicion? Why did it do so?

Answer: ‘It’ refers to the living mite. It paused because it appeared to be suspicious of the speaker’s pen and feared that the pen might harm or kill it. This reaction demonstrates its awareness and instinct for self-preservation.

(ii) Why did it start racing wildly after a pause? Why was the manuscript not yet dry?

Answer: The mite started racing wildly because it was frightened and was trying to move away from the danger posed by the speaker’s pen. The manuscript was not yet dry because the speaker had only recently written on the paper with ink.

(iii) What did ‘It’ drink or smell with loathing? Why? What did it do after that?

Answer: The mite either drank or smelled the wet ink on the manuscript. It apparently reacted to the ink with loathing because it found it unpleasant. After doing so, it turned away and fled again.

(iv) Explain briefly the use of imagery in the extract.

Answer: The extract uses vivid visual imagery to help the reader picture the tiny mite moving across the white sheet, pausing suspiciously, racing wildly and then turning away from the wet ink. Words such as ‘racing’, ‘paused’, ‘drank’, ‘smelt’ and ‘turned to fly’ make the mite’s movements vivid and lively. The imagery also makes the tiny creature appear almost human in its reactions.

(v) How does the speaker deal with the mite? What makes him do so? How does the speaker’s action justify the theme of the poem?

Answer: The speaker chooses not to kill the mite and allows it to live. He is moved by its intelligence, fear, purposeful movements and obvious desire to survive. By sparing it, he demonstrates respect for even the smallest expression of intelligence and individuality. His action therefore reinforces the central theme that the value of life and intelligence cannot be judged by physical size or outward importance.