Available Answers

1. 1.

   List the things that the poet tells us the schoolmaster could do.

2. 2.

   Pick out two adjectives used to describe the schoolmaster from the first stanza. Justify the use of these words with instances from the rest of the poem.

3. 3.

   There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule,
   The village master taught his little school;

   1. Where is the school situated?
   2. Why is the mansion noisy?
   3. What is meant by skill'd to rule?
4. 4.

   Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
   The day's disaster in his morning face;

   1. Who were the tremblers?
   2. What is meant by morning face? Whose face is it?
   3. What did the tremblers learn from watching his face?
5. 5.

   And still they gaz's and still the wonder grew,
   The one small head could carry all he knew.

   1. Who gazed and at whom?
   2. Who were they gazing at?
   3. What do these lines reflect about the people who gaz'd?
6. 6.

   Oliver Goldsmith uses a range of details to breathe life into the village schoolmaster. How far do you agree with this statement? Illustrate your answer with examples from the poem.