Class 10 Literature Reader Chapter 4 Extra Question Answers - Chapter 4 - A Shady Plot

Extract Based Questions
Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
I sat staring at it and presently noticed something just taking shape. It was exactly like watching one of these moving picture cartoons being put together.

(a) Who does ‘it’ refer to?

(b) How was ‘it’ taking shape?

(c) What is meant by the word, ‘presently’?

Ans: (a) ‘It’ refers to the ghost of Helen.

(b) ‘It’ was appearing in bits and pieces.

(c) Presently means ‘at that time only.

Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Well, you needn’t be, because I just came to tell you to stop bothering us for assistance; you ain’t going to get it. We ’re going on strike! ”

(a) Who is the speaker?

(b) How is ‘you’ bothering ‘us’?

(c) What does the word, ‘assistance’ mean?

Ans: (a) The ghost of Helen is the speaker.

(b) ‘You’ refers to aspiring writers who needed help from the ghosts to write their entries.
(c) The word ‘assistance’ means ‘help’.

Q3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

So I went home and set down before my desk and … waited, but nothing happened. Pretty soon my mind began to wander off on to other things.
(a)Who is T?
(b)What did T wait for?
(c)What does the phrase, ‘wander off mean?
Ans: (a) ‘I’ is the protagonist, John Hallock, of the story ‘A Shady Plot’.

(b) ‘I’ waited for an idea of a ghost story to strike his mind.

(c) ‘Wander off’ means ‘roam around aimlessly’.

Q4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Well, you needn’t be, because I just came to tell you to stop bothering us for assistance; you ain’t going to get it. We ’re going on strike!”
(a) Who speaks these words and to whom?

(b) What was the ‘bothering’ that was denied?

(c) What does the word ‘bothering’ mean?

Ans: (a) Helen, the ghost, speaks these words to John Hallock.

 (b) Assistance for providing ideas for writing ghost stories was denied.

 (c) The word ‘bothering’ means ‘worrying’ or ‘troubling oneself’.

Q5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: ”
I only waved denial and gurgled in my throat. She went on “It’s bad enough to have you flirt over the Ouija board with that hussy—. ”
(a) What was John denying?

(b) What does the word ‘hussy’ mean?

(c) Why did Lavinia think that John was flirting?

Ans: (a) John was denying his love affair with Helen.

(b) The word ‘hussy’ means an impudent or immoral girl or woman.

(c) Every Ouija board was told that John was a traitor who had deceived a lady named Helen.

Q6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
And I had never found it healthy to contradict Jenkins. Jenkins always seemed to have an uncanny knowledge as to when the landlord or the grocer was pestering me, and he dumped me for a ghost. And somehow I’d always been able to dig one up for him, so I have begun to get a bit cocky as to my ability.
(a)Why couldn’t John contradict Jenkins?

(b)What did John ‘dig up’ for Jenkins?

(c)What does the word ‘cocky’ mean?

Ans: (a) Jenkins was the only publisher who used to publish whatever was written by John. Moreover, John was in dire need of money at that time.
(b) John dug up ideas for writing ghost stories.
(c) The word ‘cocky’ means ‘overconfident’.

Q7. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“I hadn’t the shade of an idea, but at the time that didn’t worry me in the least. You see, I had often been like that before ”
(a)Who is ‘I’? What did he not have an idea about?

(b)Why was he not worried?

(c) What had actually happened earlier to make things right for him?

Ans: (a) There stands for John Hallock. He had no idea about writing a ghost story.
(b) He was not worried because he was overconfident that idea would come to him mysteriously as it had come to him on a previous occasion.
(c) While he was struggling for an idea for writing a ghost story it came to him abruptly and mysteriously. Then he became successful in writing a ghost story for the magazine of Jenkins.

Q8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“I have come to tell you that I am leaving, ” she staccato. “Oh, yes, yes!” I agreed, flapping my arms about to attract attention from the comer.
(a) Who is the ‘she’ referred to here?

(b)Why had she decided to leave?

(c) Why did her husband behave in a strange manner?

Ans: (a) The word ‘she’ here refers to Lavinia, the wife of John Hallock.

(b) She came to know that her husband had a love affair with Helen. She could not tolerate it and decided to leave John’s house.
(c) At that time Helen was in his room. He did not want Lavinia to see Helen. Moreover, Lavinia was going to leave his house.

Q9. Read the following extract and answer the question that follows:
“It’s those Ouija board fanatics. There was a time when we had nothing much to occupy us and used to haunt a little on the side, purely for amusement, but not anymore. ”
(a) Who is the speaker? Who is being addressed?

(b) What is the speaker’s complaint?

(c) What is an Ouija board?

Ans: (a) Helen is the speaker. She is explaining her problems with John.

(b) The speaker complains that the ghosts don’t get time for amusement as they have to respond to the questions of the Ouija board fanatics.
(c)It is a board on which the letters of the alphabet are marked. Answers to questions are spelled out by a pointer or glass held by the fingertips of the participants and are supposedly formed by spiritual forces.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q10. What made the writer believes that he was good at writing ghost stories?

Ans: The narrator thought that he was good at writing ghost stories because his publisher Jenkins always wanted him to write ghost stories. He told the narrator that his ghost stories were very well-received by the audience.

Q11. Why did the ghost of Helen come to see John Hallock?

Ans: The Ghost came to see Hallock because the people on earth were making the lives of ghosts a hell by calling them every now and then using Ouija Boards and forcing them to answer their questions. The people had robbed them off all their joy and amusement and they couldn’t go haunting people.

Q12. Why did the spirit in the Ouija Board call Hallock a traitor?

Ans: The spirit of Helen had come to Hallock with a request. She wanted him to convince all his friends and relatives to stop using Ouija Board and there he himself was using Ouija Board in the party. So, she called him a traitor.

Q13. Why is John’s wife angry and what does she decide to do?

Ans: John’s wife was angry when all the Ouija boards in the party called him a traitor and another name which was called was Helen. Lavinia thought that her husband was cheating on her and was going around with a woman named Helen. She decided to leave him and said that her lawyer would talk to him.

Q14. John Hallock could never displease Jenkins. Why?

Ans: Jenkins was the only publisher who published John’s books. He wanted John to write books which had supernatural elements in them. All his ghost stories are liked by the public. So, John could never annoy Jenkins.

Q15. Why didn’t John want to partner Laura Hinkle at the Ouija Board party?

Ans: John didn’t want to be a partner with Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board Party because he had been asked by the ghost to not only stop playing but also dissuade others. The ghost made it very clear that only then it would help him write his ghost story.

Q16. What is ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’ and what was its protest?

Ans: It was a bureau which was started by all the ghostwriters to help aspiring authors. The main task of this organization was to scout around until a writer without ideas was found. They would then plant an idea into their inspirational mind.

Q17. Why were Helen and other ghosts unhappy with the use of Ouija Boards?

Ans: Helen and other ghosts were unhappy with the use of Ouija Boards because they had to be always on their toes for the Ouija Board fanatics called them too often to answer their questions. This did not leave them with any time to amuse themselves by haunting others.

Q18. How did ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’ function?

Ans: Those writers who faced difficulties in gathering ideas for writing ghost stories

organized ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’. They moved around until they found a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impression. Then, the case was brought to the attention of the main office, and one of them was assigned to it. When that case was finished they would bring in a report.

Q19. What does the ghost mean when it says, ‘It is all your fault’?

Ans: The ghost means to say that she requested her to persuade the people to stop the use of the Ouija board. But in his own house his wife has arranged an Ouija party. The ghost remains busy answering the questions asked by the people using Ouija boards. It is a violation of the promise and John is bound to suffer.

Q20. Why had John forgotten about Lavinia’s message?

Ans: At that moment John wanted to conceal Helen from Lavinia because he knew that Lavinia was too sensitive to bear the presence of a ghost in her house. So he gave priority to the act of concealing Helen.

Q21. Why did John’s wife get angry with him? What did she decide to do?

Ans: John’s wife came to know that her husband had fallen in love with a lady named Helen. She decided to leave John’s house and take legal action against him using her lawyer.

Q22. At one stage in the story, John wishes that he were dead. Why?

Ans: John found himself in a vicious cycle. His publisher was putting pressure to write

the ghost story as soon as possible. Helen was not going to help him with writing the story. His wife had the confusion that her husband had fallen in love with Helen. She had warned him that she would divorce him. The maidservant was going to leave the house of John. Under this situation, John wished that he were dead.

Q23. What made the writer believes that he was good at writing ghost stories and how was it disproved?

Ans: A ghost story had been the first fiction that the author had written. As it was liked by the readers, Jenkins called on him whenever he wanted a ghost story for his magazine. It was disapproved when he felt that idea had not been coming to him despite his incessant endeavor.

Q24. Why does Lavinia feel that the Ouija board would help her husband?

Ans: Lavinia has seen her husband struggling for getting ideas for writing a ghost story. She thinks that her husband will be able to talk to ghosts using an Ouija board and then he will have sufficient ideas for writing a ghost story.

Q25. Who formed the ‘Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’? Why was it formed? 

Ans: In her previous life, Helen was confused as a writer she hardly got ideas to write stories. In her ghost life she found others who had suffered similarly and they together formed the Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’. It was formed to help a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impression.

Q26. Why did the ghost want people to stop using the Ouija board?

Ans: The number of the Ouija board fanatics had increased alarmingly. The ghosts were facing a lot of problems. They had to answer the questions of the people anytime. They had no time for their amusement. Previously they had sufficient time to haunt people. Their life had become so pathetic that Helen began to weep while she was explaining her miseries to John.

Q27. Why was John surprised at Lavinia’s reaction on seeing the ghost?

Ans: John was of the view that Lavinia would faint after seeing a ghost. But when John saw that Lavinia was looking at the apparition, he became surprised. Lavinia also fell forgivingly into the arms of John though she had warned John that she would leave his house and divorce him. The drastic change in Lavinia was indeed a startling fact for John.

Q28. Why was John not worried when Jenkins asked him for a ghost story?

Ans: John had been writing ghost stories for several years. It was an easy piece of work for him. He impressed Jenkins first time by writing a ghost story. Since then whenever Jenkins assigned John the task of writing a ghost story, ideas for writing the same would come to him without making much effort. Like previous occasions he was sure that he would have no difficulty in writing a ghost story.

Q29. ‘We’re going on strike!’ Explain the context.

Ans: When John was facing problems in writing a ghost story, Helen was sent to him by ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’ to help him. But she explained the problems of ghosts and said that the ghosts were fed up with the excessive use of Ouija boards by the people. They were going on strike and they would not help anyone in writing ghost stories. So she requested John to persuade the people to stop the use of Ouija boards. She warned further that the ghosts would go on strike if the use of the Ouija boards continued.

Q30. Why did John Hallock’s wife decide to leave him?

Ans: Lavinia, the wife of John Hallock, came to know from the users of the Ouija boards that John had fallen in love with a lady named Helen. When the Ouija party was going on in the house of Lavinia, she felt very much humiliated and took it as a severe offense on the part of John, she could not tolerate the ignominy and decided to leave John for good.

Q31. Why did John want his wife to get rid of the Ouija board she had bought?

Ans: John had to write a ghost story for Jenkins. He had been facing problems in getting ideas for writing the same. One evening, Helen came and promised to help him in writing a ghost story on one condition. The condition was that John had to persuade the people to stop the use of the Ouija board. John promised Helen that he would persuade the people. Then if John’s wife used an Ouija board it would be a violation of the promise made by John.

Q32. Why did John Hallock try to prevent Lavinia from seeing the ghost?

Ans: John was well aware of the nature of Lavinia. According to him, Lavinia was very sensitive who would say boo even on seeing a mouse in her room. It would be a very terrifying and shocking experience for Lavinia, if she saw a ghost in her house. So John thought that Lavinia would faint on seeing a ghost. Under this situation, John thought it his moral duty to prevent Lavinia from seeing the ghost.

Q33. John’s apprehension about his wife’s reaction to the encounter with the ghost is unfounded. Justify.

Ans: John was of the view that Lavinia would faint on seeing a ghost. Whenever Helen came to John, he tried to prevent Lavinia from seeing her. When Helen came last time, Lavinia managed to see Helen but she didn’t faint. She began to smile. Later, she talked to Helen. So she was quite normal. Hence, the apprehension of John was indeed unfounded.

Q34. Why did the ghost come to meet John and what did she announce?

Ans: When John was facing problems in writing a ghost story, Helen was sent to him by ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’ to help him. But she explained the problems of ghosts and said that the ghosts were fed up with the excessive use of Ouija boards by the people. They were going on strike and they would not help anyone in writing ghost stories. So she requested John to persuade the people to stop the use of Ouija boards. She warned further that the ghosts would go on strike if the use of the Ouija boards continued.