with the text ..
1. For how lonworkingg do you think Connie had kept Jim's letter? Give reasons for
your answer.
2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving
conflicts? Do you agree?
4. Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other, or different
from each other? Find evidence from the story to support your answer.
5. Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers
become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
6. What is Connie's Christmas present? Why is it the best Christmas present
in the world?
7. Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any
other title(s)?
Answers
Answer:
1. Connie had kept Jim’s last letter till January 25, 1915. The letter was dated Dec. 26, 1914.
2. The desk must have been sold when Connie’s house had burnt. The table had been damaged by fire as well as water.
3.Both Jim and Hans were soldiers. Both were warm hearted. They had seen the sufferings of war. So it was natural for them to hate war. They favoured a peaceful solution to settle disputes. Games or sports, they said, were good ways of resolving conflicts. I also quite agree with them.
4.All human beings are alike in many ways. They love peace and hate war. They want to live together. Examples from the story: “Then they were calling out to us from a cross no man’s land. “Happy Christmas, Tommy! Happy Christmas! “When we had got
5. The British and the German soldiers belonged to different camps. They were enemies in war time. But after all they were human beings and therefore they had similar feelings. They shared the festive spirit of the Christmas. They got over hatred and played games, feasted and drank like good friends. Both hated war. Both were anxious to go back to their families at the end of war.
6. Connie thought that Jim had come back home from war. She mistook the author for Jim. She had been waiting for her husband Jim. So the coming home of Jim was the best Christmas present in the world for her.
7. Decidedly the title of the story is most suitable. For the old Connie, no other present could have given her such joy as the coming home of Jim, her husband. Her presumption might be wrong, but she got the greatest happiness of her life. Since the story revolves around Christmas, the alternate title of the story could be War and Peace’ or ‘Christmas Gift’. But neither can be a match to the present title.