A Shady Plot
How does the lesson, 'A Shady Plot' remind us that man has no right to invoke supernatural powers through Ouija boards, Tarot cards etc to solve his problems and that one should face life boldly and overcome difficulties using wit and intelligence? Write in 80 to 100 words.
Ouija boards and tarot cards are appendages used by those who do not know how to face life’s adversities and depend on such supernatural paraphernalia to understand life. A Shady Plot shows us how such things can backfire and one should exercise caution in invoking powers over which they do not have any control. People shouldn’t depend on devices like Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards to solve their problems because superstitions lead to unnecessary troubles. John Hallock’s dependency on Ouija Board stunted his creativity. He couldn’t conceive creative ideas of his own. On account of his inability to reveal his relationship with Helen, the ghost, the shadows of divorce loomed large over his relationship with his wife, Lavinia. Things only became crystal clear after Lavinia threw away the Ouija Board. The misunderstandings got cleared, his wife and maid returned to him. The ghost was no longer a threat to the wife. To conclude, a man gifted with wit and intelligence should use them to solve his problems to have a better control over his life.
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What problems did Helen, the ghost, cause in John Hallock’s life?
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
It’s those Ouija board fanatics. There was a time when we had nothing much to occupy us and used to haunt a little on the side, purely for amusement, but not anymore.
(a) Who is the speaker? Who is being addressed?
(b) What is the speaker's complaint?
(c) What is Ouija board?
Why did John want his wife to get rid of the Ouija board she had bought?
Why does Lavinia feel that the Ouija board would help her husband?
What sort of person was Michael's dad ?
Why is John's wife angry 4nd what does she decide to do?
Apparition | a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event |
Poltergeist | a reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people |
Clairvoyance | a conjurer who expels evil spirits by conjuration |
Crystal Ball | a spelling board device intended to communicate with and through the spirit world, obtaining answers to questions |
Eerie | beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation |
Medium | any of a set of 22 playing cards bearing allegorical representations, used for fortune telling |
Transmigration | a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, a ghost, spectre or phantom |
Psychic | so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine |
Ouija Board | the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses |
Exorcist | a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living |
Premonition | a globe of quartz crystal in which images, believed to portend the future, are supposedly visible to fortune tellers |
Paranormal | to pass into another body after death: going from one state of existence or place to another |
Tarot Card | capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception and mental telepathy |
Vampire |
German word, meaning 'noisy ghost'- troublesome |
The narrator earns his living by
The writer was overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories because .....................
The sight of the ghost materialising in his room filled the narrator with.......
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