THE WRETCHED STONE Four Levels and Question Answers
- Chris Van Allsburg (1949-)
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| The Wretched Stone |
Four Levels of The Wretched Stone
1.LITERAL COMPREHENSION :
This is a story of a voyage. it is written in the form of a travelogue. captain of the ship Rita Anne,Randall Ethan Hope has kept journal of some interesting events that took place during the voyage between may 8 and July 12.
On may 8,the captain of Rita Anne started voyage in the fine weather with some crews . the crews were not only good sailors ; they were accomplished in many ways .they had many books and musical instruments. the crews were expert in singing , dancing, playing musical instruments and story telling. The long journey was pleasant and smooth.On June 6,they visited an island. They were surprised not to find any fruits or insects there despite the green visitation . Even the water was too bitter to drink and air had bad smell. they found something extra ordinary which they brought into the ship .It was a heavy rock with rough textures and grey in colour and it had glowing surface . after that day , the crew forgot reading, dancing,playing music and story telling. the gathered around that wretched stone and watched it nonstop. they locked themselves into a room where the stone was kept. they believe that captain alone could sail the ship. on June 15, a great sea storm was approaching the ship. captain went to the room to ask the crews for help. they found whole crew had turned into hairy beasts. they did not understand his language. the captain lost hope of survival because his crews were not in the condition to help him.the captain began to play violin and read books to the crew. surprisingly they gradually began to recover.Those who could read recover faster than those who couldn't . the captain promised to set fire to his ship so that the terrible wretched Stone could be destroyed. all of them made an agreement not to talk about the strange events that had taken place in the voyage.
2.INTERPRETATION :
This metaphorical story might be telling us about negative aspects of watching television. Here , the shining stone that is found by the crew stands for TV and apes represents modern non creative people. TV kills the creativeness of human beings .people are always found stick with TV set like the crew in the story. Before TV was invented ,people used to pass their time in some kind of creative works. They used to read , sing ,dance and tell stories. but when TV comes at the home they forget their duties and responsibilities. their behaviour changes completely. the story presents the hope that people will return back to normal if TV set is damaged.
3.CRITICAL THINKING :
The story presents the disadvantages of watching TV. human beings are killing their creativeness by spending their valuable time in front of the TV set. however ,some questions come in the mind while reading the story. TV has both advantages and disadvantages. But the writer only presents the disadvantages . why he does not speak about advantages? TV is the source of information and entertainment .why should we destroy if it gives the information and entertainment? how can a person become ape by watching TV? I think TV is neither bad nor good itself. it is what we watch on TV and how long we watch that determines its advantages or disadvantages.
4.ASSIMILATION :
After reading this story I realized the fact which is going on in every house i.e. mother forgets preparing food ,father forgets about the future and children forget about doing their homework when they are in front of TV set. Parents and children spend their precious time watching useless program on Tv .TV is making them like apes . therefore TV sets should be destroyed to bring them to the normal life.
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Question Answers of The Wretched Stone :
Q.1. Present three arguments for and three against the use of television.
OR,
Write an essay on the advantages and disadvantages of television.
ANSWER : Television, a modern invention is a means of mass communication. It has become one of the integral parts in the daily life of modern people. People are using television for different purposes. There are both advantages and disadvantages of using television.
Television gives us information. People hear news on TV and they get information about what is happening in the world. It informs people about the whole world. People can get entertainment by watching different programs on TV. They can watch and listen songs, dance, films, cartoons etc. All these programs provide the refreshment. People can educate themselves by the means of television. They can become aware about the social evils. TV broadens the mind of the people. They can get various useful knowledge by watching television programs. Therefore, TV has become one of the important sources of information, entertainment and education.
There are many disadvantages of watching television. People becoming dull and lazy stay in front of the television set most of the time. It not only wastes their precious time but also ruin their creativeness. All the programs in the television are not informative and educative. In the name of passing the time, people are found watching useless programs. School children are badly affected by the television. They like more watching television than reading and writing. They, not only watch the programs but also they try to copy it. TV introduces the foreign culture. Therefore, children are found copying foreign cultures.
Thus watching television has both advantages and disadvantages. It can be boon if we use it properly. But it will be a curse if we can't use it properly.
Q.2. Why is the title of "The Wretched Stone" a metaphorical story?
ANSWER : In literal level of understanding, wretched means very painful. So the wretched stone means a stone which gives pain. In this text, many things are used metaphorically. The title itself is metaphorical because the wretched stone here stands for TV set. The writer obviously shows its negative impact on the viewer especially for children. Before invention of T.V., human being would spend their time by reading newspaper, books but after its invention, they obsess with TV, as a result they become lazy and poor in their study.
Q.3. Summarize the story "The Wretched Stone" in a single sentence.
ANSWER : Television makes people lazy and forgetful about duties and responsibilities but reading, writing and other creativity based activities make the human creative and constructive.
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