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    L-15 The Christmas Truce Question Answers

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    L-15 The Christmas Truce Question Answers

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    57 views2 pages

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    57 views2 pages

    L-15 The Christmas Truce Question Answers

    Uploaded by

    sabaahmed.0484

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    L-15 Question/Answers

    Answer the following questions


    Q1. Who are the speakers in the play? What were they reading?

    Ans1. The speakers in the play are four English soldiers who are in the trenches
    during the first World War. They are reading out the letters they have written to
    their family, friends and loved ones describing the unexpected interaction that
    took place between them and the German soldiers on Christmas.
    Q2. What made the waiting for the soldiers terrible? How did the weather
    add to the problems?

    Ans2. The waiting was terrible because the soldiers knew that at any moment
    an artillery shell might land and explode beside them in the trench, killing or
    maiming several people. During the day, they did not dare lift their heads
    above ground, fearing a sniper's bullet. The daily rain and muddy conditions
    added to their problems.

    Q3.What incident was being referred to in relation to the tar baby story?
    Ans3. The mud was a good foot or more deep, and splattered and caked
    everything, constantly sucking at the soldiers' boots. One new recruit got his
    feet stuck in it, and when he tried to get out, his hands got stuck as well. This
    incident resulted in the reference to the 'tar baby' story.
    Q4. What arrangement did the English and German soldiers reach?

    Ans4. The British and German soldiers reached an arrangement to ceasefire till
    midnight the next day. Soldiers from both sides started climbing out of the
    trenches and walking to the no-man's land. They shook hands and smiled at
    each other. The British soldiers exchanged their mufflers for German gloves,
    their tea for German coffee, English food for German food, a jackknife for a
    leather equipment belt and even badges and buttons from uniforms were
    exchanged as gifts. One of the British soldiers even managed to get a German
    spiked helmet as a gift.
    Q5. How did they celebrate Christmas?
    Ans5. On Christmas Eve, the Germans had placed Christmas trees in front of
    their trenches, lit by candles or lanterns and started singing carols. They
    applauded each other and soldiers from both sides then walked on to the no-
    man’s-land. They lit a bonfire around which they shook hands, joked together
    and exchanged gifts from the possessions they had there. They also shared
    stories from their personal lives, addresses and their common hopes for peace.
    This is how the soldiers celebrated Christmas.
    Q6. Why did more of the Germans know English?
    Ans6. Many of the Germans knew English because many of them had worked
    in England before the war. Someone was a waiter, another was a porter at
    Victoria Station, while another had a fiancée in London.
    Q7. What help did one of the German soldiers ask from an English soldier?
    Ans7. One of the German soldiers had a fiancée who lived in London, and he
    requested an English soldier to send his fiancée a postcard that he would give
    him later.

    Q8. What lesson did you learn from the story? What do you think the old
    German soldier meant when he said that the answer lay in ‘our hearts’?
    Ans8. The play teaches us the lesson that universal brotherhood and humanity
    are greater that nationalistic differences. It is up to the common citizens to take
    decisions and make changes and not allow leaders and governments to make
    choices for them, which end up causing so much suffering. This is what the old
    German soldier meant when he said that the answer lay in ‘our hearts’.

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