Tamilnadu State Board Class 10 English Solutions Poem Chapter 7 The House on Elm Street
The House on Elm Street Textual Questions
The House on Elm Street Poem A. Read the given lines and answer the questions given below.
1. It sat alone.
What happened there is still today unknown.
It is a very mysterious place,
And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,
But at the same time it is bare to the bone.
a. What does ‘It’ refer to?
b. Pick out the line that indicates the size of the house?
Answer:
a. It refers to the house.
b. “And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,”
This line indicates size of the house.
Nadia Bush Poet Question 2. I drive past the house almost every day.
The house seems to be a bit brighter.
On this warm summer day in May.
It plays with your mind.
a. To whom does ‘I’ refer to?
b. Pick out the alliterated words in the 2nd line.
Answer:
a. I refers to the poet Nadia Bush.
b. be, bit, brighter.
3. It never grows leaves,
Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.
It just sits there never getting small or ever-growing tall
a. What does “it’ refer to?
b. In what way the tree is a mystery?
Answer:
a. ‘It’ refers to the leafless, bare tree.
b. The tree neither grows nor becomes small. This is a mystery.
4. Rumors are constantly being made,
And each day the house just begins to fade.
What happened inside that house?
a. Does the house remain the same every day?
b. How does the poet consider the house to be a mystery?
Answer:
a. No. The house begins to fade every day. It does not remain the same.
b. The poet does not know what happened inside the house. This remains a mystery.
5. What happened inside that house?
I really don’t know I guess it will always be a mystery
a. Does the poet know what happened in the house?
b. What is the mystery about the house?
Answer:
a. No, the poet does not know what happened inside the house.
b. No one knows what is happening inside the house and the poet thinks it will remain a mystery.
The House on Elm Street Poetic Comprehension – Additional
About Nadia Bush Question 1. At night the house seems to be alive,
Lights flicker on and off.
I am often tempted to go to the house,
To just take a look and see what it is really about,
But fear takes over me.
(a) When does the house seems to be alive?
(b) Who is often tempted to go to the house?
(c) Why does she want to go there?
Answer:
(a) The house seems to be alive at night.
(b) The poet Nadia Bush was often tempted to go to the house.
(c) She wants to go there to know what it is really about.
2. Beside the house sits a tree.
It never grows leaves,
(a) What is near the house?
(b) Do leaves grow in the tree?
(c) What does the poet say about the tree?
Answer:
(a) There is a tree near the house.
(b) No, leaves don’t grow in that tree.
(c) She says it is a mysterious tree.
It Sat Alone Figure of Speech Poetic Devices – Additional
1. How could this be?
What is the figure of speech used here?
Answer:
“Rhetorical question” is used here to make a point about the mystery of the tree.
2. But at the same time it is bare to the bone.
Pick out the alliterated words.
Answer:
The alliterated words: “bare – bone”.
3. Rumors are constantly being made,
And each day the house just begins to fade.
Pick out the rhyming words in these lines.
Answer:
The rhyming words are ‘made and fade”.
4. It just sits there, never getting small or ever-growing tall,
What is the literary device used here?
Answer:
Paradox is the literary device used here.
B. Answer the following in a paragraph.
Question 1.
Where is the house located? Why is it a mysterious place?
Answer:
The house is located in a lonely place. It continues to be a mystery because no one knows what happens inside. There is a lot of empty space inside. At night lights go on and off. The poet is tempted to go in to see what happens but fear stops her from entering the house. She passes the house every day. It seems bright on the summer day of May. It is a lonely house. There is a bare tree next to the house. It is another mystery to the poet as it neither grows nor becomes small.
There are plenty of rumors about the place. As time passes, it becomes dim. The poet finds that the house will remain a mystery forever.
Question 2.
How is the mystery depicted in the poem?
Answer:
The house is lonely. No one knows what happens inside. It is spacious and empty. During the night, lights go on and off. The poet is afraid to go in and see. There is a bare tree that neither grows nor becomes small. During all the seasons it remains the same. The rumors spread continuously. Each day the house becomes dim, and the poet doesn’t know what happens inside the house. Thus the house remains a mystery forever.
C. Read the poem and write the rhyming words and rhyme scheme for the given stanzas.
It Sat Alone what is The Figure of Speech D. Identify the poetic lines where the following figures of speech are employed and complete the tabular column.
Figure of speech
| Figure of speech | Meaning | Lines |
| Synecdoche
|
A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, e.g. “The Western wave was all a-flame.” The “Western wave” is a Synecdoche as it refers to the sea by the name of one of its parts i.e. wave. |
“Inside it has a ton of space”
A ton of space refers to not only the inside but the entire house seems big. |
| Paradox | A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself. e.g. To bring peace we must war. Be cruel to be kind. |
“It just sits there, never getting small or ever-growing tall” |
| Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech wherein the word imitates the sound associated with the object it refers to. e.g. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter Raindrops on my pane. |
“Lights flicker on and off” |
| Rhetorical Questions | A figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer. e.g. And what is so rare as a day in June? |
“How could this be?” |
The House on Elm Street Key Points
- The house stood alone.
- None know anything about the mysterious place.
- It had plenty of space and looked empty.
- The house seemed alive at night.
- Lights went on and off.
- Though tempted to go in, fear kept the poet from entering into it.
- The poet drove past the house every day.
It seemed to be bright on the summer day in May. - It seemed unique.
- There is a tree near the house and it is always bare without leaves.
- Whatever the season, it just exists there neither shrinking nor growing.
- Rumors are continuously regularly spread and every day the house begins to become dim.
- Nothing is known about what happened inside the house. Everything seems a mystery.
The House on Elm Street Summary
The house on Elm Street was a lonely house. No one knows what happens there. It is a mysterious place. It had plenty of empty space. At night the house is well lit with lights, that go on and off. The poet is very often tempted to have a look at what really happened inside but fear kept him from going into the house. He drives past the house every day. It looks bright on the summer day in May. It looks unique. There is a tree next to the house. It is always bare. It never has the leaves in any of the seasons. It is just there neither growing nor shrinking. Rumours are spread every day and each day the house becomes dim. Not knowing what happened inside the house, it remains a mystery.
The House on Elm Street Explanation of Poetic Lines
Line No. 1 – 3
It sat alone.
What happened there is still today unknown.
It is a very mysterious place,
Explanation:
The poet talks about the house on Elm Street. It was there all alone. What happened there in that house, is still not known till today. It seemed to be a mysterious place.
House on Elm Street Line No. 4 – 5
And inside you can tell it has a ton of space,
But at the same time it is bare to the bone.
Explanation:
Inside the house, there seems to be a lot of space. But at the same time, it is empty everywhere Emptiness is being found in every nook and corner of the house.
Line No. 6 – 7
At night the house seems to be alive,
Lights flicker on and off
Explanation:
At night, the house seems to look lively with the lights flickering now and then. The lights on and off during the night.
Line No. 8 – 10
I am often tempted to go to the house,
To just take a look and see what it is really about,
But fear takes over me.
Explanation:
The poet often gets tempted to go into the house to just take a look at it. She wanted to know what it is really about. But her fear does not allow her to do so.
Line No. 11 – 13
I drive past the house almost every day.
The house seems to be a bit brighter
On this warm summer day in May.
Explanation:
The poet drives past that house every day. The house seems to be a bit brighter during May on the warm summer days.
Line No. 14 – 15
It plays with your mind.
To me I say, it is one of a kind.
Explanation:
This mysterious house plays with our mind since no one knows what is happening there. To the poet, it is one of the mysterious kind.
Line No. 16 – 18
Beside the house sits a tree.
It never grows leaves, Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall.
Explanation:
There is a tree at the side of the house. It never grows leaves in any of the seasons at all. Not a leaf grows in winter, spring, summer or autumn.
Line No. 19 – 20
It just sits there, never getting small or ever-growing tall,
How could this be?
Explanation:
The tree stands there constantly never getting small or forever growing taller. The poet wonders to how could this happen?
The House on The Elm Street Line No. 21 – 22
Rumors are constantly being made,
And each day the house just begins to fade.
Explanation:
Rumors are continuously being made about the house. Each day, the house just beings to lose its brightness. It begins to fade and look dull.
Line No. 23 – 25
What happened inside that house?
I really don’t know.
I guess it will always be a mystery.
Explanation:
The poet wonders what happened inside that house. She really doesn’t know. She just guesses that it will always be a mystery to here.
The House on Elm Street Glossary
alive – alert and active, living
alone – isolated
bare – uncovered
constantly – continuously, always
fade – dim
mystery – something difficult to understand
tempted – enticed
ton of space – a lot of space