HOMESICKNESS

Learning outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
●● relate to the childhood trick played by the speaker.
●● relate how the author looks back at himself and the people with fondness and humour.
●● identify the narrative as a grown-up’s humorous take on a childhood incident.
●● analyse the speaker’s character and his level of confidence at different times.
●● identify the autobiographical elements in the story.
●● explain the importance of the supporting characters and their role in the development of the story.
●● identify adjective clauses and use them in sentences.
●● make sentences using adjective-noun collocations.
●● write semi-formal letters.

Pre-reading
●● Have you ever been to boarding schools or hostels, or know someone who has been to one?
●● How would you feel if you were in one? Why would you feel this way?
●● Do children enjoy playing pranks or some trick or other on people? Is this fun? Why?
●● Do you think you know what is best for you or do you take the advice of elders? Why?
●● What is an autobiography?
[Note: An autobiography is the true story of one’s own life. It is written in the first person and includes
important events in the author’s life. In an autobiography, the author remains the main character and
the narrative is related from the author’s perspective, expressing their own ideas or feelings about
happenings and the people who have played a role in the story of their life.]

Understanding the Text link across the Bristol Channel. The Bristol

I was homesick…crack under the door.
Ask students:
What is the comparison made in the first paragraph?
Do you think the boy is familiar with sea travel? What
makes you think so?
[Note: Roald Dahl studied in a boarding school in
England at St Peters in Weston-super-Mare when
he was about nine years old. This school was
nearest to home because of the regular ferry
Channel is a large strip of inlet in the island of Great
Britain. Dahl may have been familiar with sea travel
and may have suffered bouts of seasickness while
ferrying across this channel.]
Is the comparison a pleasant one? What has
brought about this comparison? How does the
writer make it sound as if he is speaking directly to
the reader? (By addressing the reader directly in an
informal manner, as in, 'You don’t know how awful
it is…', 'You probably think it silly…', 'You might, by
the way…') What information do we get about

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 the narrator from the opening sentence? (He is
a new boy in a boarding school, St Peter’s, and he
is missing home.) What is his attitude towards his
homesickness? (His attitude is positive; he thinks he
knows how to overcome it.) What did he observe
when his sister suffered from appendicitis? What is
the mood and tone here? Do you think it will get
better? How does his confidence help us to relate
to the narrator? (It endears him to us; we know he is
only a homesick child who thinks he is old enough
to handle his problem on his own.) Why has the
author dealt with the sister’s surgery in detail?
What does he want to convey to the reader? Why
do you think he is confident about his plan? (He
remembered every aspect of this condition, right from
the symptoms to the surgery that involved its removal
which made him confident enough to pretend being
affected by it.)
The next day…on that chair."
Point out to the class that the narrative now moves
on to the specific topic of interest— the appendix
itself and the interest it generates in the young
mind.
Ask students:
What is the point in narrating the episode with
Nanny? (To bring out the relationship between her
and the child-narrator; to highlight his childlike belief
in whatever she said; to comment on her fondly
as he writes about her as an adult.) How does the
conversation reinforce the narrator as a child? (It
is typical of children to keep asking questions and
not worrying too much about the plausibility of
the answers.) “God works in his mysterious ways,”
she said, which was her stock reply whenever she
did not know the answer.” Whose voice can you
identify in the second part—is it a child talking
about the present or is it a grown-up talking about
the past? (It is the grown-up commenting on the
Nanny of his childhood.)
Ask students:
Do you think the speaker was generally afraid of
the Matron? Which words tell you so? What tells us
that the Matron was an authoritative figure? (He
refers to her as one with a booming voice, one who
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shouts, snaps, and so on) What did the Matron think
could be the cause of the ache and what did the
speaker lie about? How was he able to convince
the Matron? Can you show how he would have
let out the cry? Do you think he was a great actor?
What was the clincher? Why did he say that it
was a clincher? (He knew the exact symptoms for
appendicitis. He was sure that the Matron would be
led to believe that he was suffering from appendicitis
when he added that he had been vomiting all
morning besides having a severe pain on the lower
right side of his abdomen.) What does the speaker
mean when he says that ‘there’s nothing left to be
sick with’? (There was nothing left in his stomach to
bring out) What did he note about the Matron now?
Would you describe the scene as a serious one or
is the scene comical? Why does it appear comical?
(Because we know that the boy is pretending
convincingly and leading others to believe him) Is the
speaker is feeling hopeful, victorious or nervous?
Explain why you think so.
Ask students:
What was the one symptom he was not in control
of? (That of developing high body-temperature)
Why did the doctor in the school, not go ahead
with the operation? (He did not want to risk an
operation, as even a simple procedure could develop
complications.) Did the speaker’s plan succeed?
Which line tells you that the speaker felt that Dr
Dunbar was not convinced? (But Dr Dunbar was
far wiser…school doctor.) What do you think could
happen now? Do you think this episode would end
on a serious note or in a light-hearted manner?
●● Ask students to read the text till the end.
Discuss:
●● why the speaker says that the doctor gave him a
penetrating look yet it was not unkindly.
●● why the speaker was trembling. (He knew that he
would be punished if the truth was disclosed.)
●● if he still has the same confidence that he had
started off with.
●● how and why Dr Dunbar helped the speaker
and what this tells us about the doctor.
●● the change in mood and why it has changed.
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 Ask students:
What did the boy promise the doctor? What do you
think about the speaker? What is the mood here?
How has it changed? Why has it changed?
Appreciating the Text
This excerpt from an autobiography reads more
like a memoir and can be analysed as such. It is
the recollection of a specific event in the writer’s
childhood that impacted him for life.
The first-person narrator is a child though the
author is an adult recalling a specific incident in his
childhood.
Characters: The child narrator is the main character,
the protagonist, retelling an event in his life. The
Matron is a figure of authority and a source of
knowledge though with failings. Dr Dunbar is
the boy’s hero who rescues the child from his
loneliness while providing him with a life-skill to
handle his problems—s‘to stick it out.’
conversation with Dr Dunbar also provides a wider
point of view than that of the child narrator.
The episode about the boy’s elder sister’s attack
of appendicitis is embedded in the main narrative
about the way the boy handles his homesickness.
The episode serves many purposes:
a. It explains why the boy thought of
pretending to have appendicitis.
b. It provides a glimpse of the medical care at
that time.
c. It allows for the loose, rambling structure of
a memoir.
d. It develops a personal rapport between the
narrator and the reader.
The text is rich in imagery— for example: …my
heart was singing out with all sorts of wonderful
songs of praise and joy is a graphic visual image of
his joy, far more evocative than ‘I was overjoyed.’

The conversations between the boy and the Point of View is restricted to that of the child
Nanny and Dr Dunbar bring alive the interaction narrator.
between the child and the two adults in authority
Theme: Stick it out!
who also serve as mentors. The episode with the
Nanny highlights the humour in the narrative. The

Post-reading
Discussion:
In what way did each of the characters help the speaker achieve his goal.

Grammar and Usage relative clause/adjective clause

Write these sentences on the board: Rita is my friend. She works in Star Hospital. She is a doctor.
Ask students to combine the three sentences into one using the word who.
My friend Rita who works in Star Hospital is a doctor.
My friend Rita, who is a doctor, works in Star Hospital.
Explain that:
●● the sentence has two clauses. One clause that is independent and one clause that is dependent on
the main clause.
●● the main clause is My friend Rita is a doctor. / My friend Rita works in Star Hospital.
●● the other clause that is dependent is who works in Star Hospital / who is a doctor

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 Now ask students what the dependent clause describes.
Elicit that it describes Rita (Noun). Point out that it does the work of an adjective by describing a noun.
Hence it is also called an adjective clause.
Ask students to identify the word that is used to introduce this clause. (who)
Explain that a relative clause is an adjective clause qualifying a noun or a pronoun. It is linked to the
main clause by relative pronouns like who, whom, whose, which, that, and so on. The clauses that begin
with these words are called relative clauses.

Words in Use adjective noun collocations

Recap collocations in class.
Note: Collocations are pairs of words that go together. They are a combination of two (or more) words
that are used together as an expression to convey a certain meaning.
Write a few adjective-noun collocations on the board.
Example: heavy rain; serious injury; valid reason; speedy recovery
Explain that some adjectives can be paired with only certain nouns and that they sound wrong when
used randomly.
Example: Heavy traffic; Big mistake. We do not say Big traffic and Heavy mistake.
Activity:
Divide the class into groups. Write on strips of paper adjective-noun collocations, such as:
stale bread — bright light — regular exercise — rotten apples — fast food — calm sea — dark skin — mild
winter — good health (Note: You may add more to the list.)
One member from each group takes turns to come forward, and pick a strip and mime the collocation.
The rest of the group guesses the collocation.
Award points.

Writing semi formal letters

Explain to students that:
●● we write semi-formal letters to people whom we do not know very well. They are usually more
polite than informal letters.
●● informal letters are neither too formal nor informal.
Distribute a few copies of the formal and semi-formal versions of the same letter. Alternately, you may
read these aloud while students listen and note the differences.

Formal
Dear Dr Dunbar,
I write to thank you sir, for your kind help and advice. I was trying to fool the Matron and the doctor
and have realised that I should not try such tricks again.

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 Thank you very much for helping me to stay at home for three days. I spoke with my mother about this
and she has asked me never to resort to pretence, ever.
Thank you even more for your kind advice on handling painful situations bravely. You helped me not
only to handle this problem but also to face any other challenge in the future.
I am back in school and have made new friends. I am settling down quite well. Thank you once again.

Yours sincerely,
Roald Dahl
(Your name)

Semi-formal
Dear Dr Dunbar,
Hope you are keeping well.
I write to thank you for your help and advice. I realise that it was wrong to hoodwink the Matron and
doctor here. I promise never to try such tricks again.
Thank you very much for helping me stay at home for three days. I told Mother why I had pretended
to be ill and how you helped me get over my homesickness. She asked me never to resort to pretence,
ever.
I can’t thank you enough for your advice on handling painful situations bravely. I know now that I can
face any challenge that crosses my path.
It’s fun being back in school! And I find I am quite happy making friends and settling down. I guess you
have cured me of my homesickness once and for all.

Yours sincerely
Roald
(Your name)

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 WORKSHEET
HOMESICKNESS GRAMMAR

Name of Student: Class:

Complete the sentences with suitable relative clauses.

1. This is the movie that .

2. This is the chef who .

3. This is the time of the month when .

4. The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the place where .

5. He spoke to his friend who .

HOMESICKNESSVOCABULARY

Name of Student: Class:

Match the words in the columns to form adjective noun-collocations. Make sentences with the
collocations in the space given.

1. regular a. voyage
2. flat b. joy
3. private c. exercise
4. immense d. life
5. maiden e. tyre

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 WORKSHEET
HOMESICKNESSWRITING

Name of Student: Class:

You have just returned from Delhi, where you stayed with a friend’s uncle for a few days.
Write a letter, thanking him for having you at his place and for taking you around.

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 ANSWER KEY TO THE WORKSHEETS

HOMESICKNESS
Answer Key to the grammar worksheet
Free response

Answer Key to the vocabulary worksheet

1. c  2. 
e  3. d  4. b  5. a

QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER KEY

HOMESICKNESS

1. Read the line and answer the questions.

He himself sat down behind his desk and fixed me with a penetrating but not unkindly eye.
a. Who is being talked about in the sentence?
b. Why did he look at the speaker with a penetrating eye?
c. What did he ask him?
d. How did the speaker react?

Answers:
a. Dr Dunbar is being talked about in the sentence.
b. He suspected that the speaker was putting up an act of suffering from appendicitis.
c. He wanted to confirm with the speaker whether his suspicion was right and asked him if he was
faking it.
d. The speaker could not deny it and asked the doctor how he came to know that he was faking it.

2. Answer in brief.
a. How did the speaker’s sister get her appendicitis removed?
The speaker’s sister did not go to any hospital and got operated under bright lights with gowned
nurses standing around. The surgery was done at home by the local doctor and his anesthetist.
The doctor arrived with a bag of instruments and operated upon her on the most convenient
table available at home.
b. Why was the speaker’s mother summoned by the headmaster?
The speaker convinced the Matron and the resident doctor into believing that he was suffering
from appendicitis. When they examined him, he yelled whenever they touched the spot where
the speaker felt the appendix would be. Both the doctor and the Matron must have felt it safer to
send the speaker home rather than risk an appendectomy at school.

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 3. Answer in detail.
What was Nanny’s explanation for appendicitis?
Nanny had no idea what an appendix was or its function. When the speaker asked why it was in the
body, she gave her usual reply that God worked in his mysterious ways and there was no answer to
that. She also did not have an answer to what caused appendicitis but said without any hesitation
that it was caused by loose toothbrush bristles,that came off the brush while one brushed, and
travelled into the body and got stuck in the appendix and infected it.

4. Think and answer.

Why do you think the Matron or the resident doctor could not guess that the speaker was feigning
sickness?
[Free response] Suggested answer: The speaker was acting well enough to pull off the pretence. He had
seen his sister suffer from appendicitis and knew the symptoms. When the Matron and the resident
doctor examined him, he reacted in a way that confirmed the condition. This led them to believe
that he was indeed suffering from appendicitis. It could also be that they were not aware that he was
miserably homesick.

STUDENTS’ BOOK ANSWER KEY

HOMESICKNESS

1. In paras 1, 3 and 4, the writer makes it sound as if he is speaking directly to the reader by addressing
the reader directly as ‘you’ (‘You don’t know...’, ‘You will probably think...’, ‘You might...’). He uses
this style of writing to make it feel as if he is telling the reader an anecdote; as if he is chatting or
conversing with the reader personally.
2. In the second part of para 9 it is the voice of a grown-up talking about the past. The second part says
‘which was her stock reply whenever she did not know the answer’. This is not how the writer, as a
child, felt about his Nanny. He came to understand this only when he grew up.
3. No, the writer does not admit directly that in his childhood the Matron was a scary figure.
He expresses it with the single word ‘even’ (‘I did not even feel frightened...’). It tells us that normally,
he did feel frightened of the Matron, and was proud to be unafraid of her on this occasion.
4. The description that the writer exaggerates in para 25 is ‘I let out a cry that rattled the windowpanes.’
This is an exaggeration as he cannot possibly have cried so loudly. He exaggerates this description
because he is trying to tell us how loud he sounded to himself, how loud he tried to cry and to add to
the comic effect.
5. The words used by the writer in paras 35-41 to describe how he was speaking and acting are ‘blurted
out’, ‘kept silent’, ‘nodded miserably’ and ‘asked him, trembling’. These words tell us that he was
alarmed that Dr Dunbar had seen through his act; he was nervous about how Dr Dunbar would react;
and that he wanted to go home.

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 Understanding the Text
A. 1. The speaker thought that he might sound silly for thinking that as a nine-year-old he could make
a number of grown-ups believe that he had appendicitis when he did not and thus get sent home
from school. He argued that he was, in fact, not silly, by explaining that not long before, one of his
sisters had actually had appendicitis, and he had observed closely how she behaved—how she
hurt on the lower right side of her tummy, kept being sick and ran a temperature. So he knew
exactly how to pretend to be ill so that he would be believed.
2. The speaker and his sisters were very excited about the event of an operation inside their home.
They lurked in the corridor outside the nursery while the operation was going on. They stood
fascinated outside the nursery door, listening to the soft murmurs that could be heard from
inside. They could smell the ether through the crack under the door and imagined what the
patient might be looking like.
3. The adults in this story are the speaker’s Nanny, the school Matron, the school doctor, the
speaker’s mother and Dr Dunbar. The speaker, as a child, admired Nanny as being very wise, and
believed everything she told him. This could be because she had a ready reply for every question.
He was rather afraid of the school Matron. It could be because she was rather stern with him. He
loved his mother and wanted to go home to her. He also admired Dr Dunbar greatly because Dr
Dunbar was a skilful doctor as well as a wise and kind person. He listened to his advice and was
grateful to Dr Dunbar for helping him.
4. Dr Dunbar taught the speaker a lesson by pointing out that life is tough and the sooner he
learned to cope with it, the better it would be for him. He explained why the speaker needed to
face his homesickness. At the same time, he was kind, understanding and sympathetic. He told the
school that the speaker had to stay at home for a few days so that the speaker’s plan was not a
complete failure and he did get to spend some time with his family.
B. 1. a. The speaker had asked his Nanny what causes an attack of appendicitis and she had said that
if loose toothbrush bristles were swallowed, then they get stuck in the appendix and turn it
rotten. That is why he would get nervous if he found a loose toothbrush bristle on his tongue.
b. From this statement it is clear that the speaker had great faith in his Nanny’s wisdom.
He believed whatever she told him. The other words that show his attitude towards his Nanny
are ‘Nanny, who in my eyes was filled with more wisdom than Solomon...’
2. a. The Matron’s room in the speaker’s school is being referred to here.
b. The speaker was pretending to have an attack of appendicitis. He had observed his sister, who
had really had such an attack, and she had complained of pain in the lower right side of her
tummy. That is why he was clutching his stomach on the right-hand side.
The speaker was staggering pathetically because he was pretending to be in great pain. He
c.
was putting on an act of being very ill—so ill that he could not eat or walk properly.
3. a. The clincher was the speaker’s (false) report to the Matron that he had been sick all morning.
b. Here, the word ‘clincher’ means the final argument or statement that would decide the case.
It is because the speaker said that he had been sick that the Matron finally began to believe
him.
4. Dr Dunbar said this because he had understood that the speaker had lied and pretended to be
sick in order to come back home. He knew that the speaker may be homesick again, or face other
problems at school, but he had to be strong and face them bravely.

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 Suggested answer (accept any logical answer): Yes, after this incident, the speaker would be able to
bear his homesickness more bravely. He would not be so miserable and would not try so hard to
come back home. Free response.

Appreciating the Text

a. The three most important scenes that the speaker remembers are the scene of his sister’s operation
inside their house, with he and his other sisters waiting outside the door (paras 4-5); the scene inside
the school Matron’s room where he pretended to be ill and tried to make the Matron believe that he
was having an attack of appendicitis (paras 17-31); and the scene in Dr Dunbar’s chamber in Cardiff
where Dr Dunbar saw through his acting and told him that although he could stay at home for a few
days, he would have to be braver from then on (paras 33-43).
b. Suggested answer (accept any logical answer):
The speaker’s conversation with his Nanny was quite amusing because the speaker believed his Nanny
when she told him that toothbrush bristles could make his appendix go bad and remained nervous
about them for a long time. His plan to get out of school by faking an attack of appendicitis was also quite
funny, as it showed him to be a clever, mischievous and imaginative boy. The scene where the speaker
went to the Matron’s room is very amusing because he put on an elaborate act of being in pain and made
everything out to be particularly awful; for example, how he stumbled and moaned to make it look like he
was ill, how he screamed so that it rattled the windowpanes and his claim that he had not eaten anything.
His pretending to be ill when he was actually feeling delighted and thankful to be going home also paints
a very amusing picture of the speaker as a child.

Grammar and Usage

A. 2. surprising  3. frightening  4. interested  5. relaxed  6. exciting
B. 2. relative clause: that is known for selling good spices; noun phrase: the shop
3. relative clause: who works hard to support a large family; noun: Gomti
4. relative clause: who lose their passports; noun: people
5. relative clause: where there is a beautiful greenhouse; noun phrase: a large park
6. relative clause: who has won the Nobel Prize; noun phrase: the famous author
C. 2. Is this the book that you borrowed from the library?
3. We enjoyed the visit to the art museum where you can see some amazing sculptures.
4. Further north is our family home, which was built by my great grandfather.
5. On Nandi Hill there is an old bungalow where Mahatma Gandhi once stayed.
6. We need time to get to Jodhpur, which is quite some distance away.

Words in Use
A. 2. f, iv  3. b, vi  4. c, iii  5. a, ii  6. e, i
B. Sample answers:
2. He had a bright idea of faking appendicitis.
3. He had paid close attention to the symptoms when his sister had appendicitis.
4. It was common knowledge that Matron was a trained nurse.

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 5. She had a stock phrase for each of the questions.
6. He may have suffered severe punishment.

Writing
Sample answer:
Dear Dr Dunbar,
I write to thank you for helping me that day in Cardiff. I may have got into great trouble with the school if
they had found out that I was faking my illness.
Thank you also, for explaining to me why I need to be braver and more patient. I will try to keep in mind
everything you said. I understand that I cannot do something like that again.
Now that I am back in school, I do not find it so awful. Since I could be with my mother for a few days,
I feel less homesick. I write to her regularly. I told her what had really happened. I am beginning to take
part in the school games and I have also made a few friends. I hope to see you when I go home in the
holidays.

Yours sincerely,
Roald

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