Class 10 English · Chapter 7

Samacheer Class 10 English - The House on Elm Street

9 textbook Q&A9 verifiedFree Content

Chapter-wise textbook exercise answers for The House on Elm Street with validation-aware solutions.

Answers marked verified were checked during generation against the chapter context and source question text.
Sections in this chapter
A 5B 2C 1D 1
Your Progress - Chapter 70% complete
1A5 questions
Q.1It sat alone. What happened there is still today unknown. It is a very mysterious place, And inside you can tell it has a ton of space, But at the same time it is bare to the bone. a. What does 'It' refer to? b. Pick out the line that indicates the size of the housev
Solution

a. The demonstrative 'It' in the stanza names the subject being described throughout the poem — the house. b. The line that directly indicates the size is "And inside you can tell it has a ton of space," which states the interior is large.

Answer:

a. 'It' refers to the house. b. "And inside you can tell it has a ton of space."

Q.2I drive past the house almost every day. The house seems to be a bit brighter. On this warm summer day in May. It plays with your mind. a. Who does 'I' refer to? b. Pick out the alliterated words in the 2nd line.v
Solution

a. In first-person narration, 'I' denotes the poem's speaker (the observer who drives past the house). b. The repetition of the initial consonant 'b' in "bit brighter" is an example of alliteration.

Answer:

a. 'I' is the speaker/narrator who observes the house. b. The alliterated words are "bit brighter."

Q.3It never grows leaves, Not in the winter, spring, summer or fall. It just sits there never getting small or ever growing tall. a. What does 'it' refer to? b. In what way the tree is a mystery?v
Solution

a. The pronoun 'it' in this stanza names the tree described. b. The mystery comes from the tree's unnatural constancy: it never grows leaves in any season and neither gets smaller nor taller, which is unusual for a tree.

Answer:

a. 'It' refers to the tree. b. The tree is mysterious because it never changes with the seasons (never grows leaves) and does not grow taller or smaller — it remains unchanged.

Q.4Rumors are constantly being made, And each day the house just begins to fade. What happened inside that house? a. Does the house remain the same every day? b. Why does the poet consider the house to be a mystery?v
Solution

a. The line "each day the house just begins to fade" shows the house changes (fades) daily. b. The house is mysterious due to unknown events inside it, circulating rumours, its decaying/fading look and its empty, bare interior that invite speculation.

Answer:

a. No — the house does not remain the same; it is described as beginning to fade each day. b. The poet finds it mysterious because people make rumours about it, its past is unknown, and its changing/fading condition and emptiness raise questions about what happened there.

Q.5What happened inside that house? I really don't know I guess it will always be a mystery. a. Does the poet know what happened in the house? b. What is mysterious about the house?v
Solution

a. The poet states "I really don't know," so they do not know what happened. b. Its mysteriousness comes from unknown events, persistent rumours, its bare interior and fading appearance which offer no clear explanation.

Answer:

a. No — the poet explicitly says they do not know. b. The mystery is that what occurred inside is unknown; the house is empty, decaying and the subject of rumours, so its past remains unexplained.

2B2 questions
Q.1Where is the house located? Why is it a mysterious place?v
Solution

Location: The poem's title and context identify the house as being on Elm Street. Reason for mystery: unknown events inside, persistent rumours, and the house's eerie, decaying, and empty appearance.

Answer:

The house is on Elm Street. It is mysterious because its past and what happened inside are unknown, people spread rumours about it, and its empty, fading condition suggests unexplained events.

Q.2How is mystery depicted in the poem?v
Solution

The poet creates mystery by describing a lonely house whose interior and past are unknown, mentioning persistent rumours and asking "What happened inside that house?" without answering. The house's gradual fading, the bare interior, and the strange tree that never changes add unexplained, uncanny details. The speaker's repeated uncertainty ("I really don't know") and the use of rhetorical questions invite readers to imagine untold events, strengthening the mysterious mood.

Answer:

Mystery is shown through an abandoned, fading house with an unknown past, through rumours and unanswered questions (rhetorical questions), and through eerie, unchanging details (the tree that never grows leaves). The poem's imagery of emptiness, decay and the speaker's admitted ignorance all deepen the sense of mystery.

3C1 questions
Q.1Read the poem and write the rhyming words and rhyme scheme for the given stanzas. Stanza Rhyming words Rhyme Scheme alone - - - space 1 3 - May mind - 4 tree - - tallv
Solution

Stanza 1: alone - unknown - bone; place - space; rhyme scheme: a a b b a. Stanza 3: day - May; mind - kind; rhyme scheme: a b a c c. Stanza 4: tree - be; fall - tall; rhyme scheme: a b c c a.

Answer:

Stanza 1: alone - unknown - bone; place - space; rhyme scheme: a a b b a. Stanza 3: day - May; mind - kind; rhyme scheme: a b a c c. Stanza 4: tree - be; fall - tall; rhyme scheme: a b c c a.

4D1 questions
Q.1Identify the poetic lines where the following figures of speech are employed and complete the tabular column. Figure of speech Meaning Lines A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa. e.g. "The Western wave was all a-flame." The "Western wave" is a synecdoche as it refers to the sea by the name of one of its parts i.e. wave. Synecdoche A figure of speech in which a statement appears to contradict itself. e.g. To bring peace we must war. Be cruel to be kind. Paradox A figure of speech wherein the word imitates the sound associated with the object it refers to. e.g. Pitter patter, pitter patter Raindrops on my pane. Onomatopoeia A figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer. e.g. And what is so rare as a day in June? Rhetorical Questionsv
Solution

From the poem text provided, the only clear example among these figures is a rhetorical question — the repeated line "What happened inside that house?" which poses a question to highlight the unknown. The supplied lines do not contain obvious synecdoche, paradox or onomatopoeia. If full poem text contains additional lines not in the extraction, please supply them for more precise identification.

Answer:

Synecdoche: none clearly present in the given lines. Paradox: none clearly present. Onomatopoeia: none present. Rhetorical question: "What happened inside that house?" (used to suggest mystery rather than request information).