Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Newcomer Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Brian Patten. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, A Shot in the Dark and The Solitary Reaper so, you can check these posts as well.
The Newcomer Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Bloated – much bigger than desired
- Thrush – a type of bird
- Not even the ghost of – not even the slightest trace of
- Warren – an area where rabbits live in burrows
- Doe – a female deer
Question 1: How do the animals feel about the newcomer? What do you think is the main emotion in the poem?
Answer: None of the animals is happy about the newcomer; they are all suspicious about it and want to warn the other animals as soon as possible. The main emotions or feelings in the poem are those of fear, suspicion, anticipation, awe, and surprise.
Question 2: There are a lot of negatives in the poem. What is the effect of the word ‘no’ repeated again and again?
Answer: The repetition of the word ‘no’ helps to paint a dark or negative picture. It brings out or reiterates the great difference between the unwelcome visitor and the other animals living in the wild.
Question 3: What is meant by ‘not even the ghost of a wing’?
Answer: Some creatures have wings but cannot fly while others seem to fly but do not have wings (flying squirrel, bats, etc.) but humans do not have any feathers or wing-like parts.
Question 4: What do the humans do in the river and in the warren? What do these actions tell us about the abilities of humans?
Answer: In the river, the humans ‘ignore the impassable dam: In the warren, they dig deeper than the animals ‘dare’ go. This suggests that they have abilities beyond those of the other animals.
Question 5: Read and answer the questions:
‘There’s something new in the whiteness,’
i. Who says these words and to whom?
Answer: The snow-white polar bear says this to the other animals (the fish, thrush, rabbit).
ii. What else does the speaker say?
Answer: The polar bear says that he saw the newcomer’s shadow on a glacier, but it left no paw marks there.
iii. What was the ‘something new’ that the speaker saw?
Answer: The ‘something new’ was a human.
iv. Who else heard this news?
Answer: The whole of the animal kingdom heard this news.
So, these were the Questions & Answers.