The story has many instances of unexpected reactions from the characters to others’ behaviour. Pick out instances of these surprises.

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Solution

The first instance is that of the crofter’s hospitality to the peddler. The rattrap peddler, used to being shooed away, was surprised at the friendly behaviour of the crofter. The peddlar was also surprised at the sudden invitation given by the ironmaster, who was himself shocked to realise his mistake in recognising the peddler, the next day. Another unexpected reaction, for both the peddler and the ironmaster, is Edla’s intervention to seek peddler’s presence for Christmas. However, the most unexpected reaction is from the peddler when he leaves the package and the letter for Edla, showing gratitude to the girl’s hospitality and respect for him.

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Similar questions

Write down the positive and negative traits of Private Quelch's character instances from the story.

	Positive traits	Instances from the story
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

	Negative traits	Instances from the story
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

The narrator and his wife reveal something about their character in their words and actions. We also learn about them from what other people say. Can you pick out the words that describe them from the box given below? Also, pick out lines and instances from the story to illustrate your choice.

shy	arrogant	loyal	clever	overconfident	Manipulative
protective	self-disparaging	suspicious	sceptical	jealous fearless	Firm
shrewd	strong	gullible	sly	creative	Loves novelty and thrills

Person	Extract from story	What it tells us about the character
John Hallock	1. …in the end things had always come my Hallock way….. somehow I'd always been able to dig one (plot) up for him, so I'd begun to get a bit cocky as to my ability (to write stories).	1. ______________
	2. "But my ghosts aren't a bit like you----".	2. sceptical
	3. We scout around until we find a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impression.	3. gullible
	4. __________________________ __________________________	4. creative
	5. __________________________ __________________________	5. protective
Lavinia Hallock	1. __________________________ __________________________	1. loves novelty and thrills
	2. __________________________ __________________________	2. Spendthrift
	3. __________________________ __________________________	3. suspicious
	4. __________________________ __________________________	4. jealous
	5. Buys the Ouija board but says it is for John's research	5. manipulative
	6. Does not flinch when she meets the ghost but talks to her casually.	6. strong

The author has used gentle humour to point out human foibles. Pick out instances of this to show how this serves to make the piece interesting.

Q. Point out the differences in the characters of Snowball and Napoleon. Cite instances to support your answer.

Locate instances of irony in the story.

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