GIRL'S GARDEN

   1.    Summary

A girl’s garden was written by Robert frost, in 1916. He wrote it as part of his mountain interval series. He was writing it to people who are eager to work, but when they have the opportunity, they give up. The subject of the story is this girl‘s garden, and how she fails to take care of it.

In this poem Robert lee frost uses a lot of imagery. He shows us how we lack discipline to finish project that we started out eager to finish. He uses example like these she wheeled the dung in the wheelbarrow along a stretch of road; but she always ran away and left her not nice load Also uses herbegging for seed showing how she starts out dedicated, and she loses interest by not planting the seeds. To shows us how we lack the discipline to finish. He also uses imagery to help thus understandof walled of ground where a shop had stood he also uses imagery to help us understand the characters. For instanceon your slim Jim helps us understand she was weak andit’s as when I was a farmer help us see that she was proud and boastful when she clearly was a sad excuse or being a farmer.

The poem has a mixed tone, because she has the initiative, but then lacks the discipline to finish. So it‘s positive negative, but coming away from this poem I feel sad. It could have been a beautiful garden, but it became a weed patch. The poem is written in a chronological order, which makes it nice, smooth and easy to understand. It uses rhyming scheme of ABCB, which is a little unusual, but it was not a distracting. The title doesn‘t symbolize anything, but it just states the plot of the poem. The theme Robert frost was trying to show us was that, having good ideas isn‘t enough. We need to go out and do them, and finish them. The diction he uses really helps us get point of his poem, because it really supports it. It is a good poem that teaches a valuable lesson.

    2.    Questions & Answers

A neighbour of mine in the village…………………………………………A childlike thing

    1.      Who is the speaker of the poem?

The poet himself is the speaker of the poem.

    2.      Who is the poet’s neighbor?

A young lady

   3.      What did the girl tell the poet?

She tells the poet about a childlike thing.

   4.      What does she like to tell the poet?

She tells the poet about a childlike thing.

   5.      Where did the girl live in her childhood?

She lived in a village.

   6.      When did the girl do the childlike thing?

Once in a spring season

   7.      What does the expression ‘A childlike thing’ suggest?

It suggests her innocent deed.

   8.      Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem.

ABCB

   9.      Pick out a set of rhyming words from the above given stanza.

Spring- thing

One day she asked her father………………………………………And he said, ‘Why not?’

   10.  What did the girl ask her father?

The girl asked her father to give her a garden plot.

   11.  How did the father respond?

The father readily agreed to give her a garden plot.

   12.   Why did she want to get the garden plot?

To plant and tend and reap herself

   13.  What did the girl ask the garden plot for?

Refer question no.10

   14.  What do the words ‘Why not’ imply?

It implies father’s readiness to do it.

   15.  ‘And he said, ‘Why not?’. Who is ‘he’ referred to here?

Father

In casting about for a corner………………………………………… And he said ‘Just it’.

   16.  What do you mean by the expression ‘casting about’?

It means ‘to look for’ or ‘search’ or ‘try to find out’.

   17.  Which part of the plot was given to her?

A corner of the plot

   18.  What sort of plot was given to her?

An idle bit of walled-off ground where a shop had stood

   19.  How did the father respond when he found the apt place?

Just it

   20.  What does the expression ‘Just it’ suggest?

It suggests her father’s confirmation regarding the plot that he thought.

   21.  Which plot did he find for his daughter’s farming?

Refer question no.16

   22.  What was the father searching for?

The father was searching for an ideal plot.

And he said……………………………....on your slim-jim arm

   23.  Did the father help the girl in making the farm? Why?

No. He wanted to make the farm all by herself.

   24.  Pick out a line from poem which indicates her father didn’t help her in making the farm?

An ideal one girl farm

   25.  ‘That ought to make you an ideal one girl farm’. What is ‘that’ referred to here?

The garden plot given by her father / working on the farm.

   26.  Pick out an example for alliteration.

Some strength

   27.  Pick out an example for assonance.

Slim Jim

   28.  What did her father tell after giving her the plot?

He said that he wished to make her a good farmer.

   29.  What is meant by ‘one girl farm’?

It means that she has to work on her own.

   30.  What do the words ‘slim Jim’ mean?

Very lean

   31.  What does the poet try to convey through the line ‘an ideal one girl farm’?

The father leads his daughter into the path of self-discovery.

   32.  What role does the father play in the poem? 

The father plays the role of a mentor.

   33.  ‘…And give you a chance to put some strength/ on your slim Jim arm. What does the girl’s father mean by this?

The father knew that working on the farm would make his daughter physically strong

It was not enough of a garden…………………………………….But she don’t mind now

    34.  ‘It was not enough of a garden’. What is ‘it’ referred to here?

It refers to the garden plot given to her.

    35.  Father said ‘it was not enough of a garden to plow’. Why?

The plot was not big enough to be ploughed with a tractor. So she had to plough it with a spade, all by hand.

    36.  Why did the father want his daughter’s garden to be plowed by hand?

The plot was not big enough to work with machines. So the father told her to plough it by hand to make body strong.

    37.  Did the girl mind plowing with her hand?

No

She wheeled …………………………………………………………………..Her not-nice load.

    38.  What did the girl wheel in a Wheelbarrow?

The dung

    39.  What did the girl need the dung for?

To make the land fertile

    40.  Pick out an example for alliteration.

Wheeled wheelbarrow

    41.  How did the girl carry the dung to her plot?

In a Wheelbarrow

    42.  Where did the girl carry the dung through?

Along a stretch of road

    43.  She always ran away and left her not nice load. Why?

Either because of the bad smell of the dung or felt ashamed when someone saw her carrying the load.

    44.  What does the expression ‘not nice load’ suggest?

It suggests the dung in a Wheelbarrow

    45.  Why did she always run and hide while she was carrying the load?

Refer question no. 42

And hid from anyone passing……………………………………….of all things but weed

    46.  What did the girl do with the dung?

She wheeled the dung in wheelbarrow along the road to her farm. Whenever she saw anyone she left her not nice load and somewhere else.

    47.  What did the girl do with the seed?

She begged the seeds to grow.

    48.  What did the girls think?

She thought she planted one of all things but weed.

    49.  Pick out examples that show her childish thing while farming.

Hid from anyone passing, she begged the seed

A hill each of potatoes…………………………………………………And even fruit trees

    50.  What else did the girl plant?

She planted potatoes, radishes, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn and fruit trees.

    51.  Pick out an example for assonance.

Beets beans

    52.  Pick out an example for hyperbole.

A hill each of potatoes

And yes, she has long mistrusted………………………………………a great deal of none.

    53.   What mistrust did she have about the cider apple?

She believed that the cider apple that grows there even today is the one she planted

    54.  How did the poet describe her plot?

Her crop was a miscellany.

     55.  What does the phrase ‘a little bit of everything’ mean?

Her crop consisted of various fruits and vegetables in small quantities.

    56.  Her garden was a hodge-podge; a mixture of many things. Do you agree? Pick out a line which indicates this.

Yes. Her crop was a miscellany.

    57.  In what ways do you think the girl’s method of farming is different from that of adults?

She did a little bit of everything and didn’t mind to do a great deal of none.

Now when sees in the village…………………………………………..To the same person twice.

    58.  Did the girl like to repeat the story on farming? Pick out lines to suggest this.

No. She never sins by telling the tale to the same person twice.

   59.  Does the girl want to give advice on farming by telling her own experience? Quote relevant lines to indicate this.

No. Oh never by way of advice.

   60.  ‘It’s as when I was a farmer’. What is ‘it’ referred to here?

It refers to the village life

   61.  Does she like to tell about farming in her childhood? Pick out relevant lines from the above given stanza.

Yes. It is as when I was a farmer.

   62.  What is the theme of the poem?

The theme of the poem is the learning experience and the pleasure the woman feels even as an adult.

   63.  What did the girl feel when she visited the village later?

She felt everything would go well.

    64.  What message does the poem convey?

The poem reminds us that initial enthusiasm rarely leads to success. The poem stresses the need of constant hard work and lasting enthusiasm to achieve success in life.

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