Rohit Yadav
Primary question
Question 1.
What is the moral issue that the story raises?
Answer:
The characters in Jack’s stories held the narrator’s views that he had derived from personal experience. Telling the story to his daughter, Jo, Jack tried to encourage moral good. The characters react according to values based on his personal conviction.
In Roger Skunk’s story, the skunk smelt so bad that none of the other little creatures would play with him. With the skunk’s disgrace, Jack recalled his own humiliation as a child. The wizard granted Roger Skunk his wish and soon he smelt of roses. He found friends as a consequence of changing himself, but his mother felt that he smelt awful. She took him back to that “awful wizard”, and made the wizard change Roger back.
When Jo felt that Roger Skunk’s mommy was stupid, Jack emphatically defended her. He argued that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals and believed that his mommy knew what was right. Through his story, evidently, Jack reiterated the fact that parents know what is best for their children and advocates unquestioning obedience in the children.
Question 2.
How does Jo want the story to end? Why?
Answer:
Jo, like any normal child, wanted the story to have a happy ending. She did not want the skunk to be shunned by his friends for a lifetime. She was happy when the skunk smelt of roses and gained acceptability. So, she could not bear the fact that Roger Skunk’s mommy felt that a skunk should smell like one and had him changed back.
Jo was sorry for the skunk who had been insulted by the other creatures for such a long time. She wanted to change the end of the story. She wanted the wizard to hit the skunk’s mommy on the head and not change the little skunk back into a foul-smelling creature.
Question 3.
Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard that was hit and not the mother?
Answer:
Jo’s insistence that the wizard should hit mommy back, angered Jack. Jack insisted that it was the wizard that was hit and not the mother because every time Jack created a story, he laced it with some autobiographical details. Roger Skunk’s insult was based on his own childhood—he remembered “certain humiliations” of his own. Jack felt he was telling her “something true, something she must know”. Thus, when Roger Skunk’s mommy found the smell of roses awful, she took him back to the wizard.
She hit the wizard right over the head with an umbrella and made him change his smell. When Jo insisted the wizard hit mommy, Jack refused to do so. Evidently, he had been taught by his own mother to embrace his individuality at the cost of popularity. He wished to pass on the moral to his daughter in the garb of a simple story. With “rare emphasis” Jack defended the mommy as if “he was defending his own mother to her”. He refused to alter the end and insisted that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals and she knew what was right for him.
Question 4.
What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
Answer:
Jack continued telling the story even when he heard Clare moving around heavy furniture though she was six months pregnant. After Jack finished the story, he went downstairs. He saw his wife, Clare wearing an old shirt of his on top of her maternity dress, painting the chair.
He thought of the woodwork as confining as a cage and felt himself caught in an ugly middle position.
This is a representation in fiction of the way in which the male psyche is reinforced by the patriarchal cultural climate of the 1950s that began to unravel during the 1960s and 1970s. The unsettling of gender roles and perspectives is further reflected in the story. The male chauvinistic attitude was reflected even while he was telling the story to his daughter. When Jo thought the story was over, jack resented her attitude. He did not like women when they took anything for granted. He liked them apprehensive, hanging on to his words.
Question 5.
What is your stance regarding the two endings to the Roger Skunk story?
Answer:
Agreeing with the end of Jo’s story:
• Poetic justice—good rewarded
• Tiny skunk was innocent so it was unfair to punish him
• The skunk had found friends after a long time
• Being isolated and humiliated is not good for a child’s psyche
• Mommy needed to sympathise with Roger Skunk’s emotion
Agreeing with the end of Jack’s story:
• The world is based on individual differences
• One has to be true to one’s identity
Parents are a better judge of the situation
• Life has to be accepted in totality in all its colours
Question 6.
Why is an adult’s perspective different from that of a child?
Answer:
An adult’s perspective is different from that of a child’s because
• children have a rose-tinted view of the world while adults are more realistic, even cynical.
• duty, morals, individuality, etc. are terms that children realise later in life.
children understand only the reality that they have been exposed to and cannot think of ideas and feelings in abstraction.
• children understand only basic emotions such as happiness and sadness.
• children cannot justify or explain an unhappy ending.
Extra Questions and Answers
Short Answer Questions
Question 1.
How did Jo respond to her father’s story-telling?
Answer:
Jo listened to her father’s stories with interest and looked forward to the ritual. However, Jack felt that working his way through this routine was especially tiring on Saturday, because Jo never fell asleep any more. Jo patiently listened to the story and at times predicted the happy end with delight.
Question 2.
What similarity did Jack view in Roger Skunk and himself?
Answer:
The tiny little Roger Skunk smelt very bad. None of the other little woodland creatures agreed to play with him. He was alienated by his peers and he was left alone in tears. Jack’s empathy with the creature revealed that he had faced humiliations of a similar nature in his own childhood. He identified with the plight of Roger Skunk.
Question 3.
How did the Wizard help the skunk?
Answer:
The Wizard rummaged around for his magic wand and asked Roger Skunk what he wanted to smell like. Roger replied that he wished to smell like roses. The skunk’s wish was fulfilled. He was pleased with his transformation and was happy to have friends to play with.
Question 4.
How did Roger Skunk find the extra pennies?
Answer:
The Wizard asked the skunk to go to the end of the lane and turn around three times and look down the magic well and there he would find three pennies.
Question 5.
What had upset Jo about the Skunk’s story? How did Jack react to it?
Answer:
Roger Skunk’s mother felt that Roger should smell like a little skunk and not like roses. She took Roger Skunk back to that wizard and hit him right over his head with an umbrella and made him change Roger back. This upset Jo, she wanted the wizard to hit Mommy back and refuse to change Roger back. Jo’s . reaction upset Jack. He tried to make her see how Roger Skunk’s mother knew what was best for Roger.
Question 6.
What story did Jo want to hear the next day? Why? What was the father’s reaction?
Answer:
Jo pleaded with Jack to continue with the same story, the next day, where the wizard hit Roger’s mommy back with the magic wand. Being a child, she looked forward to a happy ending and could identify with the seclusion of the skunk. But Jack refused, he wanted the little skunk to listen to what his mommy thought was best for him. He reasoned with Jo that Roger loved his mother more than all the other little animals, and she knew what was right for him.
Long Answer Questions
Question 1.
Jack had a typical pattern of story that he told Jo. What was the pattern?
Answer:
The characters in Jack’s stories were based on his personal experiences. Through the stories that he told his daughter Jo, Jack tried to encourage goodness and decency. The animal characters in each story, a small creature, usually named Roger (Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk), reacted according to values based on personal conviction. The character had some problem and went with it to the wise old owl. In Roger Skunk’s story, the skunk smelt so bad that none of the other little creatures would play with him.
The owl told him to go to the wizard, and the wizard performed a magic spell that solved the problem. The wizard would then demand in payment more pennies than that Roger Creature had, but he would direct the animal to a place where the money could be found. Then Roger would be happy and play many games with other creatures, and go home to his mother just in time to hear the train whistle that brought his daddy home from Boston and they would have a sumptuous meal.
Question 2.
What was Roger Skunk’s problem? How was it resolved?
Answer:
In Roger Skunk’s story, Roger Skunk smelt very bad. It was because of his foul smell none of the other little creatures would play with him. Tiny animals called him Roger “Stinky Skunk” which made him miserable.He could do nothing but cry. The owl suggested that Roger Skunk meet the wizard. He told Roger that to go there the skunk needed to go through the dark woods, under the apple trees, into the swamp, over the crick to the wizard’s house. The wizard granted Roger Skunk his wish and soon he smelt of roses. He found friends with his new smell but his mother felt that he smelt awful. She took him back to that “awful wizard”, hit him on his head and the wizard made Roger Skunk smell bad again.
When Jo felt that Roger Skunk’s mommy was stupid, Jack emphatically defended her. He argued that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals and believed that his mommy knew what was right. Through his story, evidently, Jack reiterated the fact that parents know what is best for their children and advocates the unquestioning obedience of the children.
Question 3.
Why was Roger Skunk’s mommy not happy with the change in her child? What did she do?
Answer:
When Roger Skunk went to the wizard and told him he had no friends because of his foul smell, the wizard with his magical powers changed Roger Skunk’s foul smell to a very pleasant one. When Roger Skunk ran out into the woods, smelling of roses, all the other animals gathered around him because he smelled so good: But Roger Skunk’s mommy felt that he smelt awful. She took Roger Skunk to the wizard and hit him over his head with an umbrella. She made the wizard make Roger Skunk smell very bad again. After Daddy Skunk came home from Boston they had a sumptuous meal and mommy hugged Roger Skunk and said he smelled like her baby.
Question 4.
Why was Jo not happy with end of story? Why did her father not agree with her?
Answer:
Jo, like any other child, wanted the story to have a happy ending. She did not want the skunk to be rejected by his friends. She was happy when the skunk smelt of roses and was accepted by his friends. As a result she could not bear the fact that Roger Skunk’s mommy felt that a skunk should smell like one and she hit the wizard over the head, who in turn made Roger Skunk smell very bad again.
Jo felt sorry for the skunk who had been insulted by the other creatures for smelling bad. It was for the first time . that he had found company of his friends. Therefore, in order to change the end of the story, she wanted the wizard to hit the skunk’s mommy on the head and not change the little skunk back into a foul-smelling creature.
Question 5.
Jack’s stories were autobiographical. Justify this statement with reference to the skunk’s story.
Answer:
Jack created the stories out of his mind. Therefore, the stories were bound to have some autobiographical details. The story of Roger Skunk who smelled so bad that none of the other little woodland creatures would play with him was out of his own childhood. He remembered “certain humiliations of his own”. He evoked Jo’s pity by tracing Roger Skunk’s tears along the side of her nose. Jack felt he was telling her “something true, something she must know”.
Thus, when Roger Skunk’s mommy found the smell of roses awful, she took him back to the wizard. She hit the wizard right over the head with an umbrella and made him change his smell to the original one. When Jo insisted the wizard hit mommy, Jack retorted sharply. With “rare emphasis”, Jack defended the mommy as if “he was defending his own mother to her”. He was not willing to alter the end of the story and insisted that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals, since she knew what was right for him.
Question 6.
The story depicts Jack’s tension based on his perception of gender roles. Give reasons to justify your answer.
Answer:
While Jack was telling the story, he heard sounds of furniture being moved but he did not go down to help Clare, though he knew that she should not move heavy things as she was six months pregnant. After Jack finished the story, he went downstairs and saw his wife, Clare wearing an old shirt of his on top of her maternity dress, painting the chair. He visualized the woodwork as a cage and he felt caught in an ugly middle position.
He felt that both of them were caged together. He did not want to speak with her, work with her or touch her. This is a representation in fiction of the way in which the male psyche is reinforced by the patriarchal cultural climate of the 1950s that began to unravel during the 1960s and 1970s. This unsettling of gender roles and perspectives is further reflected in the story. The male chauvinistic attitude was reflected even while he was telling the story to his daughter, Jo, who assumed the story to be over. But, Jack did not like women when they took anything for granted; he liked them apprehensive, hanging on his words. Thus, he deliberately contained them in his story.
Question 7.
The story within a story is dealt with very convincingly. Justify.
Answer:
Jack narrated the story of Roger Skunk to Jo. The story effectively brings out Jack’s emotions and the child’s perspective. Jack creates a story out of his mind with autobiographical details. In Roger Skunk’s isolation, he recalls “certain humiliations of his own”. He wishes Jo to know “something true”, something she must know “and has (had) no wish to hurry on”. Jack wishes her to realize that the skunk’s mommy loves him very much. She knows what is right for him. He defends the skunk’s mommy from Jo’s allegation of her being stupid, with rare emphasis, as though he was defending his own mother to her.
With Jo, on the other hand, Updike successfully brings out the child’s perspective. She has learnt about a new creature, a skunk, at nursery school, and wants him as the hero of her bedtime story. Her joy and sorrow is linked to that of the protagonist, the skunk. She does not want to dwell on his sorrow. On the contrary, she wants him to get over his troubles quickly and wishes for the story to have a happy ending. She expresses her emotions, likes and dislikes immediately, like any other four-year-old. She longs for the story to end on an optimistic note—“that the wizard took that magic wand and hit that mommy”.
Question 8.
What is your stance regarding the two endings to Roger Skunk’s story?
Answer:
The end of Jo’s story ensures poetic justice—where good is rewarded. Roger Skunk was innocent and having him suffer comes across as unjust. The skunk had found friends after long. Being isolated and humiliated is not good for a child’s psyche. It is important that his mommy understood his need for acceptance amongst his peers. The end of Jack’s story gives out that the world is based on individual differences. One has to be true to one’s identity. Parents are better judge of the situation. One should accept of life in all its colours.
Question 9.
There is a hint of marital discord in the story. Justify.
Answer:
Certain threads in the story, which come up, like digressions from time to time hint at the marital discord between Jack and his wife. When Jack heard a chair scrape downstairs, he realized his wife was at work but he “had no wish to hurry on”. He made a dispirited observation of Jo’s expression “without a trace of sincerity” and was reminded of his wife’s feigning pleasure at cocktail parties. He continued with the story, leaving his pregnant wife to move around heavy furniture.
After the story, Jack went downstairs and watched his wife labour, but did not help her. He felt “caught in an ugly middle position” and must have felt trapped in responsibility and marriage. The use of the image of the “cage” while reveals his dissatisfaction with his marriage. The story ends with the most poignant and telling lines—“…he did not want to speak with her, work with her, touch her, anything”.
MCQs
Question 1.
Clare complains of in __ Jack’s coming down
(a) hesitation
(b) promptness
(c) enthusiasm
(d) delay
Answer
Answer: (d) delay
Question 2.
What is Jo a short form of?
(a) John
(b) Joe
(c) Joanne
(d) Jane
Answer
Answer: (c) Joanne
Question 3.
Jo wanted ___in the story the next day
(a) skunk to smell of roses
(b) skunk mommy to relent
(c) wizard to hit mommy
(d) animals to love skunk
Answer
Answer: (c) wizard to hit mommy
Question 4.
What word does Jo mispronounce as evenshiladee?
(a) Evening
(b) Eventually
(c) Evasive
(d) Evacuation
Answer
Answer: (b) Eventually
Question 5.
Mommy skunk was ___with the wizard?
(a) angry
(b) pleased
(c) indifferent
(d) civil
Answer
Answer: (a) angry
Question 6.
What did mommy skunk call the smell of roses?
(a) Pleasant
(b) Unusual
(c) Heavenly
(d) Awful
Answer
Answer: (d) Awful
Question 7.
How many times did the wizard ask Roger to turn at the end of the lane?
(a) 2
(b) 3
(c) 4
(d) 5
Answer
Answer: (b) 3
Question 8.
What did Jack mistakenly call Roger Skunk?
(a) Roger Rabbit
(b) Roger fish
(c) Roger squirrel
(d) Roger monkey
Answer
Answer: (c) Roger squirrel
Question 9.
What did Roger Skunk want to smell like?
(a) Roses
(b) Lilies
(c) Lavender
(d) Jasmine
Answer
Answer: (a) Roses
Question 10.
Jack felt being ___ suited him
(a) an old man
(b) an Owl
(c) a Skunk
(d) a kid
Answer
Answer: (a) an old man
Question 11.
What is a crick?
(a) A hill
(b) A little river
(c) A park
(d) A dress
Answer
Answer: (b) A little river
Question 12.
Jack’s wife is called
(a) Mommy
(b) Clare
(c) Roses
(d) Jill
Answer
Answer: (b) Clare
Question 13.
Roger Skunk’s smell makes ______ creatures run away
(a) Woodland
(b) Wood York
(c) Yorkshire
(d) Wood hills
Answer
Answer: (a) Woodland
Question 14.
Roger’s daddy returns home from ___
(a) New York
(b) Boston
(c) Washington
(d) Reading
Answer
Answer: (b) Boston
Question 15.
When the problem is solved ___ is demanded
(a) fee
(b) happiness
(c) nothing
(d) food
Answer
Answer: (a) fee
Question 16.
He is advised to go to the ___
(a) Mommy
(b) Wizard
(c) Owl
(d) Skunk
Answer
Answer: (c) Owl
Question 17.
Jack narrates the story in the evenings and for ___ naps.
(a) Monday
(b) Saturday
(c) Sunday
(d) Tuesday
Answer
Answer: (b) Saturday
Question 18.
__ was Jo’s brother
(a) Roger
(b) Bobby
(c) Skunk
(d) Jack
Answer
Answer: (a) Roger
Question 19.
Jo is now nearly ___ years old.
(a) 2
(b) 3
(c) 4
(d) 5
Answer
Answer: (c) 4
Question 20.
`Should Wizard hit mommy?’ is a ___ within a story.
(a) story
(b) digression
(c) metaphor
(d) moral
Answer
Answer: (a) story
Question 21.
What does a 4 year old child symbolise in the story?
(a) innocence
(b) smartness
(c) obstinacy
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (a) innocence
Question 22.
Who is Jo?
(a) A 4 years old girl who is curious to find unknown aspects of the stories told by her father
(b) a girl child
(c) a naughty girl
(d) A 4 years old girl who is curious to find unknown aspects of the stories told by her father
Answer
Answer: (d) A 4 years old girl who is curious to find unknown aspects of the stories told by her father
Question 23.
Why did Jo have a different opinion from her father?
(a) because she was a child
(b) because she was unable to see beyond facial expressions
(c) because she wanted a happy ending
(d) All these
Answer
Answer: (d) All these
Question 24.
Why does Jo’s father has a different opinion from Jo?
(a) because Jo is a child
(b) because he has a mature thought
(c) he doesn’t go by facial expression
(d) All these
Answer
Answer: (d) All these
Question 25.
Why did Roger want to change his smell?
(a) because no one liked him
(b) none was ready to play with him
(c) he smelt very badly and it made people cry
(d) All these
Answer
Answer: (d) All these
Question 26.
Where does Jo prefer to live?
(a) in the world of friends
(b) in the school of swings
(c) in her world of dreams and fantasies
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (c) in her world of dreams and fantasies
Question 27.
Why does Jo want her father to tell her story in a different way?
(a) to give the story a sad ending
(b) to understand the story better
(c) to complete the story
(d) to give the story a happy ending with an adult and mature understanding
Answer
Answer: (d) to give the story a happy ending with an adult and mature understanding
Question 28.
Why did Roger visit the wizard?
(a) to learn magic
(b) to gossip
(c) to get rid of his mother
(d) to seek advice to get rid of foul smell
Answer
Answer: (d) to seek advice to get rid of foul smell
Question 29.
What part of the story did Jack himself enjoy the most?
(a) when mother hits the wizard
(b) when Roger finds pennies from the magic well
(c) when at the wizard’s house, Roger imitates wizard’s voice
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (c) when at the wizard’s house, Roger imitates wizard’s voice
Question 30.
How many pennies did Roger have to pay?
(a) 7 pennies
(b) 6 pennies
(c) 8 pennies
(d) 4 pennies
Answer
Answer: (d) 4 pennies
Question 31.
What advice did the wise owl give to Roger Skunk?
(a) to visit his friends
(b) to think deeply
(c) to consult his mother
(d) to consult the wizard
Answer
Answer: (d) to consult the wizard
Question 32.
What idea does Jo not approve?
(a) Roger’s mother have rosy smell
(b) Wizard hit Roger’s mother
(c) Roger’s mother hit the wizard
(d) None
Answer
Answer: (c) Roger’s mother hit the wizard
Question 33.
How does Jo want the wizard to behave with Roger’s mother?
(a) nicely
(b) politely
(c) rudely
(d) She wants the wizard to hit her
Answer
Answer: (d) She wants the wizard to hit her
Question 34.
Why does Roger’s mother not want him to smell like a rose?
(a) because she didn’t like it
(b) because she is allergic to it
(c) because he is a skunk and he should smell bad
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (c) because he is a skunk and he should smell bad
Question 35.
How could Roger find so many new friends to play happily?
(a) because of new dishes
(b) because of new clothes
(c) because of new appearance
(d) because of new rosy smell
Answer
Answer: (c) because of new appearance
Question 36.
What did Roger want to smell like?
(a) marigold
(b) Sunflower
(c) Jasmine
(d) Rose
Answer
Answer: (d) Rose
Question 37.
Why does Jo call Roger’s mom stupid?
(a) because she doesn’t listen
(b) because she is stupid
(c) because it is because of her action that Roger start smelling bad again
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (c) because it is because of her action that Roger start smelling bad again
Question 38.
How did Jo want the story of Roger Skunk to end?
(a) wanted to punish Roger’s mother
(b) wanted to hit her
(c) wanted to kill her
(d) wanted to beat her
Answer
Answer: (a) wanted to punish Roger’s mother
Question 39.
How did the wizard help Roger Skunk?
(a) by using magic wand
(b) by chanting
(c) by helping him get rid of foul smell
(d) All these
Answer
Answer: (d) All these
Question 40.
Who is the author of the lesson?
(a) John Updike
(b) John Donne
(c) William Blake
(d) John Williams
Answer
Answer: (a) John Updike
Question 41.
What do adult people signify in the story?
(a) maturity and experience
(b) wise words
(c) cruelty
(d) indifference
Answer
Answer: (a) maturity and experience
Question 42.
Why did Jack start finding storytelling telling ritual a chore ?
(a) because it became a routine to make Jo sleep
(b) because it was becoming interesting day by day
(c) friends were liking it
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (a) because it became a routine to make Jo sleep
Question 43.
What is the moral of the story?
(a) Parents are wise and know what is best for them
(b) mothers should not interfere in their children’s affairs
(c) mothers are cruel
(d) children are cute and right
Answer
Answer: (a) Parents are wise and know what is best for them
Question 44.
What is different about Roger’s story ?
(a) Jo had a different opinion from her father
(b) this was more interesting
(c) it had a wizard
(d) none
Answer
Answer: (a) Jo had a different opinion from her father
Question 45.
Why did Mother Skunk want her son to retain his identity?
(a) she is an adult
(b) has a mature thinking
(c) wanted her son to be accepted as it is
(d) All these
Answer
Answer: (d) All these
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