3 The Cop and the Anthem
- If only he could reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected, success would be his. (Rewrite using ‘unless’.) Unless he could reach a table in the restaurant unsuspected, success would not be his. 1
- Have you ever stolen/wanted to steal anything? Narrate in brief. Yes, when I was about 12 years old, I stole my friend’s remote-controlled toy car, which his uncle had sent him from abroad. It was a beauti... 1
- Have you ever bought/eaten something and then found that you did not have enough money to pay for it? Describe Yes, it happened to me once. I went to a mall and bought a jacket for myself. I had been looking at a lot of jackets and I got confused with... 1
- Give your opinion about Soapy’s desire to enter prison. I find it very strange that a person can actually want to enter prison, whatever be the reason. At least, from what I know of prisons, they... 1
- The umbrella man did not call a policeman. Give reasons for this. The umbrella man had himself probably stolen the umbrella from somewhere. When Soapy picked up the umbrella, the man first thought that he c... 1
- Discuss the meaning in the context: He caught at the immediate straw of ‘disorderly conduct’. Soapy wanted to be arrested by a policeman and imprisoned. However, his efforts towards this end had been unsuccessful, and he was worried t... 1
- A voice like butter cakes and an eye like the cherry in the Manhattan cocktail. A very smooth voice and a hard, stony eye (a tough person). 2
- Describe the end of the story in your own words. Initially Soapy had felt that he would like to pass the winter months in prison, and he makes several efforts to get himself arrested. The n... 1
- Describe the wonderful change in Soapy’s soul. After listening to the anthem, Soapy remembers his earlier life, and is horrified to realize that he has indeed become a degraded person. He... 1
- Describe Soapy’s behaviour on the sidewalk. On the sidewalk Soapy began to yell drunken meaningless things at the top of his harsh voice. He danced, howled, spoke wildly and made a big... 1
- Who twirled his club? A policeman 2
- Who was lighting a cigar? A well-dressed man 2
- Rearrange the following sentences according to their occurrence in the extract: Soapy saw a quaint old church. Soapy’s ears caught sweet music. Soapy decided to go into the downtown district and find work. A policeman ca... 1
- Go to your school/college library and read some other stories by O’Henry like, ‘The Gift of the Magi’, "The Gift of the Magi": This is a heartwarming story about a young couple, Jim and Della, who are deeply in love but very poor. They each sa... 2
- Make a list of jobs which would give you an opportunity to help the society or serve the country. There are several ways to maximize the frequency with which your site/page is crawled by search engines. Here are some effective ways: Publi... 2
- You are the class representative and you have been asked by the Principal to conduct an interview of a cop. Good morning, Mr. Pawar. Congratulations on your excellent work in finding the bank robbers. May I ask you a few questions about your life?... 1
- ‘Forgiveness is often better than punishment’. Write two paragraphs – one for and another against this notion. We all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. That is why we are human. However, mistakes should be forgiven if there is sufficient repentance. F... 2
- Convert the following sentences into the affirmative without changing their meanings : (a) Men who smash windows refrain from remaining to chat with the police. (b) On the opposite side of the street was a very ordinary restaur... 1
- Convert the following sentences into the negative without changing their meanings: (a) The policeman did not accept Soapy even as a clue. (b) Soapy drifted along, twice not successful. (c) Soapy stopped his racket which was... 1
- Find out the words used for the ‘degraded state of Soapy’. the pit into which he had tumbled the degraded days unworthy desires dead hopes wrecked faculties base motives mire evil that had enslaved h... 1
- O’Henry has used different words to indicate prison where Soapy wants to reach. Make a list of those words the island 1
- Write an incident in which you did something wrong and repented for it later. Give reasons. A lady who stayed in my building used to shout at me for playing noisily under her window. One day, she shouted at me as usual from her wind... 1
- After listening to the sweet and solemn organ notes, Soapy decides to: 1. pull himself out of the mire, conquer the evil that had enslaved him and make a man of himself again 2. resurrect his old eager ambitions... 1
- Soapy’s earlier life was much different from his present life. Complete the table to show this contrast. Earlier lifePresent life (a) contained friends and roses(a) unworthy desires (b) eager ambitions(b) dead hopes, degraded days (c) clean thou... 1