Poem - A Considerable Speck

Treasure Chest

Poetry

Poem 14 - A Considerable Speck

MCQs

1. (a)

2. (a) 

3. (d)

4. (c)

5. (a) 

6. (d)

7. (b)

8. (c)

9. (c)

10. (d)

11. (b)

12. (c)

13. (d)

14. (a)

15. (b)

Contextual Questions

Extract 1

Ans 1: The speaker noticed ‘a speck’, when he was writing something and had lifted his pen to mark a period. It would have been beneath his sight because he was busy writing so the speck would not have been in his line of vision.

Ans 2: The speaker idly posed his pen in the air because he was about to mark a period i.e., put a full-stop and probably think what to write next.

Ans 3: The strange thing was the speck on the paper. In reality it was a tiny mite.

Ans 4: The last line means that the tiny mite had its own minds and feelings, as well as decision-making power.

Ans 5: The speck appears insignificant but it has a mind of its own and the ability to wander anywhere on the paper making the speck a significant thing. Thus it justifies the title of ‘considerable speck.’

Extract 2

Ans 1: The speaker is talking about the mite’s intelligence. It is because the mite knew it had to move fast to preserve itself.

Ans 2: The speaker thought that the mite did not have feet because it seemed too tiny to have feet. It was able to move swiftly across the paper implying it had feet, proving the speaker’s belief incorrect.

Ans 3: The mite ran frantically around the paper in an act of self-preservation, proving it did not want to die.

Ans 4: It stopped in the middle of the sheet of paper. It did not know what to do and resigned to its fate.

Ans 5: The speaker appears to be all-powerful and decide what would be the mite’s fate as the last line clearly says ‘to accept whatever I accorded it of fate’.

Extract 3

Ans 1: The speaker says he lacks collectivistic regimenting love. The result is that he appreciates the individuality of the mite.

Ans 2: The poet is criticising the principle of collectivism that is used against individualism. This is a reference to communism where emphasis was on the needs of the group as a whole and not the individual. Thus, this is a satire on the tendency of people to follow the group or community instead of their individual identity.

Ans 3: The poor microscopic item is the mite. It is called so because it is tiny and at the mercy of the speaker. It suggests that the speaker respects the individuality of even a tiny creature.

Ans 4: The speaker respects the individuality of the tiny mite who tried its best to preserve itself. I think the speaker was right in doing so because even the tiniest living being has the right to live.

Ans 5: This extract is about the individual thinking,imagination and creativity of the mite which is better than the herd-mentality of communism. This theme of faculty of mind, its imagination and creativity is strengthened in this extract.

Extract 4

Ans 1: The speaker has a ‘mind’ implying he can think for himself. He has imagination and creativity as a result. His individuality is conveyed by this assertion.

Ans 2: The speaker finds the speck also has a mind. It can think and perceive danger and immediately act upon it. That is how the speaker realises the speck has a mind.

Ans 3: The speaker spares its life and allows it to rest on the sheet of paper. The speaker realises that the speck has a mind and intelligence which is absent in humans in the world so he did not punish the mite.

Ans 4: The speaker is against the herd mentality or collectivism where the group takes importance over the individual. Due to the herd mentality the individuals lose their mind, i.e., their intelligence and creativity. The symbolic meaning of the given line is that the mite displays individual intelligence and the will to preserve it. The speaker respects this tiny display of mind.

Ans 5: The central theme of the poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’ is the importance of the human faculty of mind, its imagination and creativity. The poet recognises and appreciates the use of mind by an inconsequential mite, which appears on a sheet of paper on which he was writing something. The mite uses its mind, imagination and creativity to preserve itself. The mite is better at preserving itself than humans who are influenced by the principle of collectivism.

Extract 5

Ans 1: The small mite is referred to as ‘it’. It paused to check if the pen was a friend or a foe that would destroy it.

Ans 2: It paused to think probably the ink made it feel it was not safe so it started racing wildly. The speaker was writing so the ink was not dry.

Ans 3: It smelt or drink the wet ink. It did so to check whether it was safe or not. Afterwards it ran until it reached the middle of the paper.

Ans 4: The speaker has beautifully described how the mite pauses on getting suspicious about speaker’s pen doing harm to him and then races wildly, creeping, faltering, hesitating and finally, recoiling itself in desperation, accepting its fate and falling asleep in the middle of the sheet of paper.

Ans 5: The speaker allows the mite to live, in fact to sleep and recover. He appreciates the fact that the mite has a mind of its own and it can decide for itself. It justifies the theme of human intelligence—its imagination and creativity that sets a human apart from other living beings.