READ AND FIND
OUT PAGE
48-54
1. Who is Jo? How does she respond to her
father’s story-telling?
Answer:
Jo is the abbreviation for Joanne. She is Jack and Clare's four-year-old
daughter. Her father, Jack, has been telling her bedtime stories for the past
two years. Jo takes so many things for granted and takes an active interest in
the story-telling session because these stories are woven around the same basic
tale and have the same characters and turn of events. Roger is always the
protagonist (main character). Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk, or
Roger Skunk are all possibilities. The thin small wizard and the huge, wise,
old owl are the other characters. The forest's creatures—small animals—join in
the fun of playing with Roger and deciding whether they like or dislike him.
2. What possible plot line could the
story continue with?
Answer:
Jack told a story of Roger Skunk, an animal with a foul odour, and how the
wizard, at his request, changed his odour to that of roses. The other small
creatures, who had previously despised Roger Skunk, flocked to him because he
smelled so good. They happily returned to their homes after playing various
children's games until dark.
Jo assumed the storey was finished. The storey was
continued by Jack. Roger Skunk's mother was enraged when he returned home
because of the strange odour he had acquired. She described it as an offensive
odour and demanded to know who was responsible for it. She went to the wizard
with Roger Skunk, carrying her umbrella. She smacked the wizard in the head.
The wizard agreed to restore his original odour. She desired a skunk that
smelled like a small skunk. It should act normally and naturally, rather than
roaxn about in acquired smells or in artificial ways. The other small creatures
eventually became accustomed to the skunk's characteristic odor—a foul odor—and
did not flee.
3. What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Answer:
Little Jo had grown accustomed to the happy endings of Roger's stories, in
which the wizard aided him in achieving his goal. The wizard had changed his
foul odour to that of roses at Roger Skunk's request. Other small animals
enjoyed it and happily played with Roger Skunk. She couldn't get over the end
of the extended storey, in which Roger Skunk's mother smacked the wizard in the
head and forced him to change Skunk's odour back to the previous foul one. Jo
couldn't stand Skunk's mother's obstinacy, such as hitting Roger Skunk's
wellwisher. Jo demanded that her father tell her the same storey the next day,
but with a different ending. The wizard should smack that obstinate mother in
the head and leave Roger Skunk smelling like roses. Fairies and wizards are
more real than reality in the beautiful world of a child's imagination. The
harsh realities of life were too much for her to bear. She despised the
obnoxious mother who assaulted her own son's benefactor.
READING WITH
INSIGHT PAGE 55
1. What is the moral issue that the story
raises?
Answer:
The story raises a moral question: should parents always decide what their
children should do or should they be allowed to do what they enjoy? There is a
clear distinction between an adult's perspective on life and that of a small
child. The father, Jack, defends Roger Skunk's mother, who forced the old
wizard to restore Roger Skunk's natural but offensive odour. In one sentence,
he sums up the situation: 'She knew what was right.' According to Jack, the
little skunk loved his mother more than all the other little animals, which is
why he agreed to her mother's proposal. Jack gives an example. Mommy Skunk came
up to Roger Skunk in bed, hugged him, and said he smelled like her little baby
Skunk again, and she adored him. Little Jo, the children's spokesperson, does
not share her father's viewpoint. She believes that the Skunk's mother should
not have taken away her little son's pleasure by depriving him of the pleasant
scent of roses. She insisted that the wizard had struck that mother in the head
and had not returned that little skunk. She refers to the mother of the little
skunk as "a stupid mommy." She realised her father was defending his
own mother in front of her, or something strange like that.
Jo was adamant about her point of view. She insisted
that her father tell her the storey in a different way the next day. The wizard
was the one who used his magic wand to strike that mother.
2. How does Jo want the story to end and
why?
Answer:
Jack ends the story in a way that seems unusual to Jo. In her dream world, the
wizard is a miracle worker. She can’t digest the statement that the little
skunk’s mother hit the wizard right on his head with her umbrella and he agreed
to do what she desired. Roger Skunk did not smell of roses any more. He smelled
very bad again.
Jo didn't want the story to come to a conclusion
like this. She was thinking of the delight of all the small animals. "But
daddy, then he said something about the other little animals running away!"
she says. Her father is the first to admit it. "But Mommy, all the other
animals run away!" Roger Skunk told his mother, he agrees. - The mother is
unconcerned about them. "I don't care," she says flatly. You smelled
exactly like a skunk should."
Jo can't seem to get over the fact that the mother
hit the wizard in the head and he made Roger Skunk stink even worse. "The
wizard hit her on the head and did not change that little skunk back," she
suggested to her father as a way to end the story. She" demanded that her
mother be punished and insisted on a different ending the next night until her
father agreed to consider it, saying, "Well, we'll see."
3. Why does Jack insist that it was the
wizard that was hit and not the mother?
Answer:
Jack has a typical parent's attitude. He believes that parents know best what
is best for their children. He repeatedly asserts parental authority to silence
Jo and stifle her objections and amendments to his story about the
foul-smelling Skunk.
He defends Roger Skunk's mother's behavior. Roger's
unnatural, unkunk-like odour does not sit well with her. She describes the
roses' sweet scent as "awful."
Earlier, the small skunk smelled exactly like a
small skunk should. She wants the foul odour to return to its natural state. He
claims that she was aware of what was right. Second, the baby skunk adored his
mother more than any of the other animals. As a result, he took his mother to
the wizard. He insisted on this ending to emphasize the concern of parents for
their children and their role in bringing them up on proper lines. She hit the
wizard and forced him to change the smell of roses to his earlier bad odour.
4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly
middle position?
Answer:
Jack believes he has been caught in an ugly middle ground in terms of his
physical, emotional, and mental well-being. The woodwork all around them, a
cage of mouldings, rails, and skirting boards, was half old tan and half new
ivory.
He was aware of his responsibilities as a father and
a husband. Bobby had already fallen asleep. His attempts to lull Jo to sleep
proved exhausting. She kept interrupting him, asking for clarifications,
pointing out mistakes, and offering alternative solutions. Jack didn't like it
when women took things for granted. He liked it when they were nervous. So,
despite his haste to go downstairs and assist his pregnant wife in her
difficult task of painting the woodwork, he extended the storey. For Jo, Jack,
and Clare, the outcome of the storey extension was unfruitful and unpleasant. Jo
requested that he alter the story's conclusion. Clare expressed her
dissatisfaction with the length of his story. Jack was exhausted and didn't
want to talk to his wife, work with her, or even touch her. He was stuck in an
unattractive middle position.
5. What is your stance regarding the two
endings to the Roger Skunk story?
Answer:
I prefer the mature and realistic ending to the Roger Skunk story, narrated by
Jack, in which the mother skunk hits the wizard on the head and forces him to
restore the skunk's original smell.
Every animal species has its own unique
characteristics. Roger Skunk was supposed to smell like a little skunk, so she
wanted him to. It should not smell like roses, which is deceptive and borrowed.
Roger Skunk agreed to accompany her because he adored his mother more than any
of the other small animals. She was aware of what was correct.
The mother's assertion was proven correct. When the
wizard restored Roger Skunk's original foul odour, the other small animals grew
accustomed to him and did not mind.
Of course, it took some time for them to figure it
out. Joanne's remark that she was a "stupid" mother did not sit well
with Jack. We, on the other hand, find her to be a loving and caring mother.
Mommy skunk embraced Roger Skunk in bed and said he smelled like her little
baby skunk again, and she loved him a lot. As a result, Jack's version
highlights the mother's love, care, and concern for her baby.
6. Why is an adult’s perspective on life
different from that of a child’s?
Answer:
Because of the differences in their experiences and exposure to the world
around them, an adult's perspective on life differs from that of a child. An
adult encounters a wide range of experiences, both positive and negative,
pleasant and unpleasant, happy and sad, encouraging and discouraging. The child
lives in a safe environment, protected by his parents' love. Nothing is
impossible for their favourite characters in their rosy dream world of fairies
and wizards. Their devotion to these characters borders on hero worship.
Children become lovers of romance, beauty, and all
things pleasant in nature as a result of their experiences in the world of
make-believe. These characters and their superhuman abilities, which seem so
real in stories, may not be so real in reality. Adults who have lived through
the harsh realities of life know that not everything that glitters is gold.
Everything isn't as it seems. They take everything critically and with a grain
of salt. This is a quality that most children lack.
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