Reading Comprehension 2

 

Comprehension Questions on IWant a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I think the tune ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’is significant for the narrator as it was heard many times during his stay at the ‘Cottage by the Sea’ in 1954. It was in the early mornings when breakfast was being prepared that the song would be played on the kitchen radio.

The narrator as a child attacked Captain Freckles without any concrete reason. It was a sudden act that could not be controlled. Two children staying at ‘The Cottage’ were the leaders of the group that excluded the narrator. The leader had freckles and the deputy had crew-cut styled hair. The two of them labelled the narrator as a ‘wog boy’. They created a song that they would sing while he ate. The attack occurred during a game of ‘kiss chasy’. The narrator was excluded from the game from the beginning. After they had played enough, they decided to play a nasty trick on him. Pretending to be nice and allowing him to play, one girl caught him and spat at his face. The group stood around him, laughing and chanting the song. Obviously, all this was quite enough a reason for the narrator to punish the freckled boy for coming up with such an idea. The head matron was nearby, and managed to save the freckled boy. The gang never teased him again. They kept a ‘respectful’ distance.

The narrator attempted to arouse sympathy for his younger self through his well-structured seemingly disorganised descriptions of his holiday by the seaside. He describes it as though he is still seven years old. The introduction laid out all the things that he had learned from this holiday. The radio tune, the date, place, red and black (the act of strangling), the two nasty boys, lying matrons all come to his head when he hears ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’. Sympathy for himself is also strengthened in a way through his attitude. There were, I think, a few reasonable days at the outset of this three-week adventure in foreign parts.–he writes. He had only barely enjoyed just a few days. He had wanted to go back home. He prepared himself for a ‘very different trip’, ‘astral journeys back to Carlton’ at night.The contrast between the very happy song and his experience of sadness is a very good example of the techniques that the author used to generate sympathy. The summer holiday environment juxtaposed with the cruelty of children was very scarring for the little boy.

Recounts of people being bullied usually arouse some sympathy. Most of the descriptive passages of the teasing were written with a positive note. Displayed his poetic talents, run-away hit, very catchy refrain, heavenly choir, serenade, are all examples of the positivity. He describes himself as a (through a third-person perspective) wog boy just before the ‘strangling’ paragraph. He cannot play the games with the other children. All of this naturally requires sympathy while reading.Sympathy felt by the reader does not directly become interest. There were not that many attention-grabbing events in the recount. A quick glance through it leaves many questions. Slow, attentive reading of the passage is required.

The narrator now views his ‘holiday’, which must have been a special one, as a learning process, an interesting happening that allowed him to grow up. It was his first time going to somewhere other than the ‘inner suburbs of Melbourne’ (Carlton) and Merri Creek. He also attempted to strangle a boy, met some bullies and a very receptive group and learned that lying is sometimes easier for everyone. The matron obviously hadn’t wanted to say ‘your son attempted to strangle another child’ to the narrator’s father. His father was also spared the shock and disappointment. The narrator was able to forget about the incident for a while, and everyone was happy. Obviously, the freckled boy felt that he had perhaps underestimated the extent of the consequences of bullying. Especially when the victim had absolutely no connections whatsoever to the gang.

The last sentence of the passage by Arnold Zable is Perhaps I’ll get a hippopotamus for Christmas.This can be interpreted in many ways. It is ridiculing the song. It refers to the fact that he is a good boy that receivesanimals for Christmas presents. He is also expressing his surprise at the matron’s action and finishes off with a rather vague suggestion.Did the narrator’s life change after the incident? Events occurring during your 7 year old year do not usually leave any deep impression. Staying away from home for 3 weeks with strangers must have been challenging and difficult for the narrator at that age. Readers must take that into account when reading the passage. What he learned, we learnas well, through our reading. We share Arnold Zable’s experiences for a time.

Wednesday, 30 March 2016Noah Nishihara Home group T09