Night Voices

• ENGLISH
• Secondary Education

What sounds do you hear at night? Do they sound like voices? Do you know the sources of all the sounds?

Are these voices sometimes 'frightening'? Why do you think they are scary? Try sharing an incident when you got scared because of such voices.

Interesting facts about Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

An author, journalist, and doctor, Doyle was a man of many talents. He was a strong campaigner against injustice, an excellent storyteller, and a multifaceted sportsman. Although primarily known as a detective novelist, he didn’t stick to any single genre; he also wrote fantasy, science fiction, and romance. Here are a few other facts about him that we bet you didn’t know:

• At the age of 23, Doyle wrote his first novel and send it to a publisher. Unfortunately, it didn’t reach the required destination and he had to pen it down again from memory.
  
• He was a right handed batsman and an occasional slow bowler. He was on the same cricket team Peter Pan author, JM Barrie.
  
• As strange as it may sound, he is said to have spent a million dollars promoting validation that fairies exist. His book, The Coming of the Fairies, addresses their supposed authenticity. It was a photograph of a girl surrounded by fairies, which was a hoax, that prompted him to believe in them.
  
• Like his famed character, Doyle was a detective of sorts himself. For example, he used the Holmes method to solve the murder of Marion Gilchrist, a wealthy 82-year-old woman from Glasgow.
  

let's enjoy reading the poem: Night Voices

by 

Arthur Canon Doyle

Identify the rhyme scheme used in the poem.

list down any three pair of rhyming words from the poem.

Which of the following is not a synonym for the word 'sigh'?

1. groan
2. deep breath
3. suspire
4. howl

Which of the following means the same as 'glen'?

1. a deep narrow valley
2. joy
3. a small lake
4. a river side

Where are the speaker and his father? How can you tell?

How old do you think is the speaker? How can you say so?

The speaker hears sounds from different locations. Can you identify the sound words used by the poet in the poem?

Eerie means strange, mysterious and frightening. The atmosphere in the poem progressively gets eerie. From which stanza does the poem really become eerie? How do you know?

Home fun!

Read the poem again and attempt Q-3, 4 , 6  and 7 in the notebook.

Let's share the key points from the poem.

Don't forget to take the notes!

*In this poem, the child is afraid of dark and was hearing strange voices at
 night. The father was trying to convince him by giving the reason that its
 breeze. 

*In second stanza, he asked his father what’s those murmurings and his father convincingly said that its the roar of the waves. But the child was not
 convinced. 

*In third stanza the child asked his father that whose laughing. His father
 replied that somebody is chuckling at the Glen as the light is low.. 

*The child was not at all convinced and was confused because his father was
 not giving any satisfactory answer to him. 

On the basis of your understanding of the poem answer the questions on the next slides.

RTC-1-Father, Father , who is it that- a-murmuring?
Who is it who murmurs in the night?
You say it is the roar
of the waves upon the shore,
But there is someone who murmurs in the night.
a. Identify the poetic device used in the above lines.
b. Identify the rhyme scheme of the above stanza continued...

c. Find a word from the stanza which is synonym to the word ' vroom'.
d. Do you think the speaker is convinced with the explanation given by his father? Pick out the line from the stanza to support your answer.

RTC-2-“But you sit so still and straight,
Ever staring, ever smiling, at the door.”
a. Who is the speaker of the above lines?
b. Identify the mood of the speaker in the above lines. Justify your answer.
c. Why do you think the person sits so still and straight?

There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

Do you think the father answered all the child’s questions correctly? Give reasons for your answer .

The poet uses repetition in the poem. Give examples from the poem to indicate the words/phrases which are repeated. Are these words and phrases used for effect or for emphasis? Give reasons.

Justify the title of the poem 'Night Voices'.

Does the poem make you feel sad, nervous or a little scared? why?