1. ON THE FACE OF IT
( Susan Hill )
JOHNSON JOHN
(PGT English), JNV ERNAKULAM
2. A PLAY FEATURING AN OLD
MAN AND A SMALL BOY
A BOND UNITES THE
TWO TOGETHER
3. THEMES
● LONELINESS
BOTH OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS - LAMB AND DERRY ARE LONELY
● SELF ACCEPTANCE
DERRY IS UNABLE TO ACCEPT HIMSELF WHILE LAMB HAS ACCEPTED HIS
DISABILITY.
● INSENSITIVE SOCIETY
THE UNKIND REMARKS OF PEOPLE HURT DERRY LEADING HIM TO BE
WITHDRAWN AND DEFIANT
7. (Vocabulary)Pages 56,57
▪ On the face of it – used to say that
something seems to be good, true etc. but
that this opinion may need to be changed
when you know more about it.
9. (Vocabulary)Pages 58,59,60
▪ Jelly – a fruit product made by boiling sugar
and juice of fruit
▪ Weeds – wild plants
▪ Monstrous – extraordinarily ugly
▪ Daft – silly
▪ Dribble – to let saliva trickle from the corner
of the mouth
10. (vocabulary)Pages 61 - 68
▪ Trespassing – intruding
▪ Peculiar – different from the usual or normal
▪ Panting – breathing heavily
▪ Withdrawn – lost to oneself
11. A LONELY CHILD
● ACID LEFT DERRY’S FACE SCARRED AND
DISFIGURED
● HE FEELS THAT PEOPLE STARE AT HIS FACE
● THINKS THAT PEOPLE ARE SCARED OR DISGUSTED
OF HIS UGLY FACE
● DEEPLY HURT BY UNKIND REMARKS
● LOCKED IN A WORLD OF HIS OWN
14. A LONELY OLD MAN
● LAMB LIVES ALL ALONE
● HE KEEPS HIMSELF ENGAGED
● HE OBSERVES THE BEES OR PICKS THE APPLES
● HE IS OPTIMISTIC AND HAPPY
● HE IS HANDICAPPED AND HAS A TIN LEG
● DOESN’T CARE MUCH ABOUT HIS DISABILITY- HAS
LEARNT TO ACCEPT IT
16. LAMB’S GARDEN
● IT WAS WALLED BUT THE GATES WERE KEPT
OPEN
● THERE WERE WEEDS AND TALL GRASS ALONG
WITH TALL SUN-FLOWERS, CRAB APPLE TREES
AND PEACH
● THERE WAS ALSO A HIVE OF BEES BEHIND THE
TREES
19. DERRY’S MOTIVE IN ENTERING THE GARDEN
DERRY THOUGHT THAT THE GARDEN, OVERGROWN
WITH GRASS AND WEEDS, WAS A DESERTED ,PLACE
WHERE HE COULD SPEND HIS TIME , AWAY FROM
THE PRYING GLANCES OF PEOPLE. THOUGH THE
GATE WAS OPEN HE CLIMBED OVER THE WALL TO
GET IN. HE WALKS SLOWLY AND TENTATIVELY
THROUGH THE LONG GRASS AND WAS STARTLED TO
HEAR LAMB SPEAK TO HIM.
21. DERRY HAS INHIBITIONS
TO HELP DERRY OVERCOME HIS
INHIBITIONS LAMB TOLD HIM THE
STORY OF A MAN WHO LOCKED
HIMSELF UP IN A ROOM TO BE SAFE
22. THE MAN WHO LOCKED HIMSELF UP
● THE MAN WAS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING
● FEARED THAT A BUS MIGHT RUN OVER HIM
● A MAN MIGHT BREATH DEADLY GERMS ONTO
HIM
● A DONKEY MIGHT KICK HIM TO DEATH
● LIGHTNING MIGHT STRIKE HIM
● HE MIGHT SLIP ON A BANANA PEEL MAKING
PEOPLE LAUGH
24. LOCKING HIMSELF DIDN’T HELP THE MAN
● A PICTURE FELL OFF THE WALL ON TO HIS
HEAD AND KILLED HIM
● DERRY LIKES THE STORY AND LAUGHS A
LOT
● DERRY FEELS THAT LAMB SAYS PECULIAR
THINGS
25. FRUITFUL FRIENDSHIP
● LAMB’S UNENDING ENTHUSIASM AND UNENDING
ZEAL TO LIVE LIFE DESPITE ALL ODDS HELPED DERRY
CHANGE HIS OUTLOOK
● DERRY WHO WAS CARRYING ON AN UNHAPPY
EXISTENCE WAS ABLE TO SEE SOME MEANING IN LIFE
26. A BOND UNITES DERRY AND LAMB
● BOTH HAD A PHYSICAL DEFORMITY
● BOTH HAVE AN EMPATHETIC FEELING
TOWARDS EACH OTHER
● LAMB HAS AN UPPER HAND IN IN
EXPERIENCE WHICH HELPS HIM TO
INSPIRE THE LITTLE BOY
27. LAMB REMOVES HIS BASELESS FEARS
● TELLS THAT NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS
WORTHLESS
● NOTHING DESERVES TO BE CONSIDERED AS TRASH
● EVEN WEEDS HAVE THEIR OWN VALUE
● ADVISES DERRY TO IGNORE PEOPLE’S COMMENTS
● TELLS HIM TO HEAR ONLY THOSE THINGS THAT ARE
WORTH HEARING
● CONVINCES HIM THAT IT IS ATTITUDE THAT
MATTERS
28. MAIN POINTS
▪ Mr Lamb lived in a big house with a garden.
▪ Derry climbed over the garden wall to enter
the garden.
▪ Derry expected it to be an unoccupied
place.
29. MAIN POINTS
▪ Lamb had a tin leg and some kids called
him Lamey - Lamb
▪ He has accepted his disability
30. MAIN POINTS
▪ Derry was a 14 year old boy .
▪ His face was burnt on one side due to acid.
▪ He sequestered himself
31. MAIN POINTS
▪ Mr. Lamb realised that Derry was a lonely
child.
▪ He encouraged Derry to overcome his
handicap with courage.
▪ Before he met Mr. Lamb , Derry was a
cynical (pessimistic) young boy.
32. MAIN POINTS
▪ Derry was hurt by the mean and insensitive
remarks of people.
▪ Mr. Lamb’s behaviour brought a change in
Derry’s thought process.
▪ Though the association was brief it definitely
left a mark on Derry’s mind.
33. QUESTIONS
▪ Who is Mr. Lamb ?
▪ Who is Derry ?
▪ How does Derry get into Mr. Lamb’s
garden?
▪ How are Mr. Lamb and Derry different in
their attitudes to their respective disabilities?
34. QUESTIONS
▪ Why does Mr. Lamb always leave his gate
open ? Why does he live in a house without
any curtains ?
▪ Why does Derry decide to come back to Mr.
Lamb ?
▪ The play ends tragically, yet leaves one with
a sense of hope. Explain.
35. EXTRACT BASED REFERENCE TO
CONTEXT TYPE QUESTIONS -
YOU MAY BE EXPECTED TO
ANSWER QUESTIONS BASED ON
WHAT LEADS TO THE QUOTE, WHAT
THE QUOTE MEANS OR WHAT IT
REVEALS ABOUT THE STORY
36. BRIEFLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW
THE EXTRACT
“SOME CALL THEM
WEEDS. IF YOU
LIKE,THEN…..A WEED
GARDEN, THAT. THERE’S
FRUIT AND THERE ARE
FLOWERS, AND TREES
AND HERBS. ALL SORTS”
● WHO IS THE SPEAKER?
● WHAT IS PECULIAR
ABOUT THE PLACE?
● WHY DOES THE
SPEAKER ALLOW
WEEDS?
● WHO IS SPOKEN TO?
37. BRIEFLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW
THE EXTRACT
“PEOPLE FUSS” ….
“ONCE I GOT HOME, THEY
WILL NEVER LET ME COME
BACK”
● WHO IS THE SPEAKER?
● WHAT MAKES HIM
APPREHENSIVE?
● WHERE WAS HE AT THE
MOMENT?
● WHAT WAS HIS
RESOLVE BEFORE
LEAVING?
38. NUGGETS OF WISDOM
(Ponder over the following with respect to the lesson and real
situations in life around you)
● DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT OUTLOOK
● WHAT YOU ARE INSIDE IS IMPORTANT
● EVERYONE NEEDS TO DEVELOP CONFIDENCE AND
REALISE POTENTIAL
● PEOPLE CAN INFLUENCE OTHERS FOR GOOD OR
FOR WORSE
● A POSITIVE ATTITUDE HELPS US TO TACKLE ALL
DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE
39. ON THE FACE OF IT
JUSTIFY THE TITLE OF
THE LESSON
40. KNOW YOUR EMOTIONS
STUDY THE CHART IN THE SLIDE
THAT FOLLOWS AND CATEGORISE
THE EMOTIONS OF DERRY AND LAMB.
ALSO SEARCH FOR YOUR EMOTIONS
AND FIND OUT YOUR STRENGTHS
AND WEAKNESSES