( Updated For ICSE 2026 Session )
Welcome to “A Considerable Speck Workbook Ans: ICSE Treasure Chest (Evergreen),” your guide to unraveling the mysteries of the poem “A Considerable Speck,” featured in the ICSE English Literature Treasure Chest by Evergreen Publications. In this post, we provide comprehensive answers to the workbook questions, helping you delve into the evocative imagery and themes of the poem.
Explore each line and stanza with meticulous answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions that deepen your understanding of the poem’s exploration of the unseen and the supernatural. Through these solutions, we dissect the poet’s use of language, symbolism, and mood to evoke a sense of mystery and introspection.
The contextual inquiries encourage you to engage critically with the poem, prompting a closer look at the broader implications of its themes, such as the presence of spirits and the intersection between the physical and spiritual realms. This analysis sharpens your literary skills and appreciation for the craftsmanship behind the poem.
Whether you’re a student navigating ICSE English Literature or a poetry enthusiast drawn to the spectral world of “A Considerable Speck,” this workbook answer guide serves as a valuable companion. Join us on this literary journey as we shed light on the poem’s intricate details, one answer at a time.
Table of Contents
Poem In Details :
The poet suddenly saw a speck running across the page. If it had not moved he would not have noticed it. The speck was a living mite. He held his pen over it and stopped. He did not want to kill it. He began to notice its movements carefully. He waited for the mite to move. The mite raced towards the inked words on the sheet of paper. It either drank the ink or smelt it, but it did not relish it. As it had no intention to face death, it ran down on the paper in sheer terror and with cunning. The poet wondered if it had feet. After running the mite paused and bent down in desperation. It seemed to accept whatever was in its fate.
The poet decided not to kill the tiny creature, thinking that the mite had its own mind. He refrained from killing it not because he believed in indiscriminate love for all human beings but because the mite being an intelligent creature deserves an opportunity to live. He is happy to find on his paper the least display of mind (by the mite). So he allowed the mite to lie there till it slept.
Stanza Wise Explanation :
Stanza 1
The poet suddenly noticed a speck running across the sheet of paper on which he was writing. Had it not run over the page he would not have even noticed it or thought if to be of any consequence. He held his pen tightly over it when he was just about to stop his writing with a period (full stop).
The poet’s reflection on the issue of the importance of human faculty of imagination and thought is thus triggered by the running of the mite (a very small insect, nothing more than an inconsequential speck).
Stanza 2
The running of the speck made the poet think that it was no dust speck from his blown-over breath. It was certainly a living mite with its own inclinations, that is, it had a mind of its own.
Stanza 3
The poet observed the movements of the mite carefully. The mite after running stopped as if it had become frightened of his pen. As it did not want to be killed, it came rushing to where the ink on the manuscript had not yet gone dry. The mite stopped again. It drank or smelt the ink. It did not relish it and so it again turned to fly.
These movements of the mite revealed to the poet to his surprise that even the smallest insect could also think on its own.
Stanza 4
The poet realized that he was clearly dealing with a creature with the faculty of independent thinking, which is what intelligence is. The mite, he thought, could not have feet, as it was very small, yet it seemed to have a set of them to use to escape from danger as it did not want to die. The poet observed how it ran in terror and then crept cleverly. It staggered. The poet could observe that it hesitated to move.
Stanza 5-6
The poet continued to watch the movements of the mite on his page quite amusingly. The mite, noticed, stopped at one point. It bent down in desperation as if it were ready to accept whatever fate it had.
The poet here declares that he did not believe in indiscriminate love for all human beings As the mite seemed to have a mind of its own, so he decided not to kill it. The poet here satirises those who equate the intelligent with the dullard. A mere mite with intelligence is superior to a human who has no mind of his own, no wit or brain. The poet allowed it to lie on the paper till it slept.
Stanza 7
The poet here says that he is a thinking human being and as such he gives importance to any ‘display of mind’ on any ‘sheet’ of paper. Incidentally, the insignificant mite has displayed his mind on his sheet of paper and gets rewarded. The poet implicitly expresses his praise for those who give life to the text by using their intelligence, imagination and individual thinking.
Workbook MCQs :
Read the following questions and select the correct option:
1. Select the correct option.
1. Assertion: The mite was not cowardly.
2. Reason: It did try to escape to safety.
(a) 1 is true but 2 is false.
(b) 1 is false but 2 is true.
(c) Both 1 & 2 are true.
(d) Both 1 & 2 are false.
Answer:- (c) Both 1 & 2 are true.
2. Which of these statements in NOT true?
(a) The poet spares the mite as he feels it has a mind of its own.
(b) The poet spares the mite out of pity.
(c) The poet once thinks of killing the mite.
(d) The poet has no indiscriminate love for all living beings.
Answer:- (b) The poet spares the mite out of pity.
3. Which of the following lines contains the literary device used in the title of the poem itself- “A Considerable Speak’.
(a) Parting is such sweet sorrow
(b) Her mouth was a fountain of delight.
(c) O, my love’s like a red, red rose
(d) The fair breeze blow, the white foam flew.
Answer:- (a) Parting is such sweet sorrow
4. What is the tone of the poet while observing the mite?
(a) ironic
(b) fearful
(c) amusing
(d) disgusting
Answer:- (c) amusing
5. In the poem, the poet invents the anecdote about the mite to
(a) narrate an amusing incident
(b) express his disgust for useless insects
(c) suggest the importance of individual mind
(d) amuse the readers
Answer:- (c) suggest the importance of individual mind
6. When did the poet notice something running across his paper?
(a) when he sneezed
(b) when he was writing
(c) when he was about to put a full stop to his writing finally
(d) when he left writing
Answer:- (c) when he was about to put a full stop to his writing finally
7. What did the poet like in the mite?
(a) its colour
(b) its being intelligent
(c) its being fearful
(d) its running in terror
Answer:- (b) its being intelligent
8. How did the mite taste or smell the ink?
(a) with loathing
(b) with relish
(c) hesitatingly
(d) with a shudder
Answer:- (a) with loathing
9. What did the poet imagine?
(a) that the mite was a proud creature
(b) that the mite did not want to die
(c) that the mite feared nothing
(d) that the mite was mischievous
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10. Why did the mite falter and hesitate?
(a) It was happy.
(b) It was terrified.
(c) It was cunning.
(d) It did not know what to do.
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11. What did the mite finally do?
(a) It squatted.
(b) It bent down and moved backwards in fear.
(c) It sat still.
(d) It ran away to the edge of the sheet of paper.
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12. What do you imply by ‘collectivistic regimenting love’?
(a) love for the whole society or group
(b) forced love
(c) one-sided love
(d) indiscriminate love for all irrespective of one’s mental calibre.
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13. Why did the poet not kill the mite?
(a) because it had a mind of its own.
(b) because it was a lively creature.
(c) because it had no evil intention.
(d) because the poet took pity on it.
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14. What is this poem about?
(a) a mite on a white sheet of paper
(b) about the mind, its creativity and imagination
(c) collectivist ideology
(d) individuality
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15. The title ‘A Considerable Speck’ is quite .
(a) amusing
(b) ironical
(c) surprising
(d) foolish
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Comprehension Passages :
Passage – 1
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
A speck that would have been beneath my sight
On any but a paper sheet so white
Set off across what I had written there.
And I had idly poised my pen in air
To stop it with a period of ink
(I) What is a speck? What did it turn it to be?
Answer:- A speck is a small piece of dirt. In the poem, it turns out to be the mental ability to create poetry.
(II) What had the poet been doing? What does the last line here tell you in this context?
Answer:- The poet had been writing something. The last line indicates that he had raised his pen to put full-stop or an end to the sentence he was writing.
(III) What do you mean by ‘idly poised my pen’?
Answer:- The words “idly poised my pen’ indicate that the writer had put the pen in his hand in an ideal position to mark a full-stop.
(IV) What did the poet observe about the mite later in the context?
Answer:- The poet later observed that the mite was not just a small piece of dirt. It was something lively and full of intelligence.
(V) Why did the poet spare the mite ?
Answer:- The poet did not kill the mite because he took it as something lively and with a mind of its own.
Passage – 2
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
When something strange about it made me think,
This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,
But unmistakably a living mite
With inclinations it could call its own.
(I) What was ‘something strange’ about the speck?
Answer:- The little speck appeared to be a small piece of dust only. But the poet felt that it was something lively. It was strange that the speck for the poet meant something having its own mind and intelligence.
(II) What was the first thing about the speck that struck the poet’s mind?
Answer:- The first thing that struck the poet about the speck was that it was “a living mite” ; and it had its own ability to move around and even think.
(III) The mite had its own ‘inclinations’. Explain in the context.
Answer:- The poet was writing something when he noticed a small particle of dust. Later he realized that it was something having its own life and ability to think. In the given context, it implies the poet’s own creative ability.
(IV) In what way did the mite reach the inked portion of the sheet of paper?
Answer:- The mite reached the inked portion of the paper without anyone’s help. It just landed there after it had gone across the sheet of paper still unwritten.
(V) What was it that refrained the poet from killing the mite?
Answer:- The feeling that the mite had its own mind which could think like a living organism, refrained the poet from killing the mite.
Passage – 3
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
It paused as with suspicion of my pen,
And then came racing wildly on again
To where my manuscript was not yet dry;
Then paused again and either drank or smelt-
With loathing, for again it turned to fly.
(I) When did the poet notice the reality of the speck on his page?
Answer:- The poet noticed the mite racing wildly to the place where his manuscript was kept. It went away and came back again. It brought the reality of the speck to the poet that the mite was nothing else but his own creative ability.
(II) What is the significance of the word ‘suspicion’ in Line 1 here?
Answer:- The word ‘suspicion” in line I here indicates that the mite as creative energy was hovering round the poet’s pen. In this situation, ‘suspicion” suggests that the ‘mite’ as creativity was perhaps confirming the poet’s proper use of his abilities to write poetry.
(III) How did the mite seem to drink or smell the ink?
Answer:- The mite seemed to drink or smell the ink with a sense of dislike i.e., loathing.
(IV) What is a manuscript? How would it be dry?
Answer:- A manuscript is the handwritten or unpublished copy of a writing. It would dry as and when the ink on the pages does not remain wet.
(V) What did it do in terror?
Answer:- The mite drank a little ink and turned to fly away in terror.
Passage – 4
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Plainly with an intelligence I dealt.
It seemed too tiny to have room for feet,
You must have had a set of them complete
To express how much it didn’t want to die.
It ran with terror and with cunning crept.
It faltered: I could see it hesitate.
(I) What do you mean by ‘an intelligence’ in Line 1? Why does the poet assert this?
Answer:- ‘An intelligence’ here means independent faculty to think. The poet asserts this to highlight that the mite he is talking about has special significance and value for him.
(II) What was it that refuted the poet’s thinking that the mite had no room for feet?
Answer:- The mite was very small. There was no scope for such a small entity to have feet. But the way it ran in a very clever way refuted the poet’s thoughts that the mite had
no room for feet.
(III) ‘It ran with terror and with cunning crept’. Explain.
Answer:- These words mean that the mite ran here and there in fear. But it moved away to avoid the cause of the terror very cleverly and intelligently.
(IV) What is it that the poet satirizes later in the context? Why?
Answer:- The poet satirizes those who equate the intelligent with the dullard. The poet rather believes that a mite with intellect is better than a man who lacks independent thinking and intellect.
(V) What does the poet appreciate in others?
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Passage – 5
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Then in the middle of the open sheet
Cower down in desperation to accept
Whatever I accorded it of fate.
I have none of the tenderer-than-thou
Collectivistic regimenting love
With which the modern world is being swept.
But this poor microscopic item now!
Since it was nothing I knew evil of
I let it lie there till I hope it slept.
(I) What position did the mite take eventually? In what state was it?
Answer:- The mite moved away and took its position in the middle of the page. It was in a state of indifference and ready to accept its fate.
(II) Explain ‘Collectivistic regimenting love’?
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(III) Which ideology is implicitly criticised here?
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(IV) What made the poet let the mite ‘lie there till it slept’?
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(V) Why does the poet choose a ‘considerable speck’ to express his appreciation of the mind, its imagination and creativity?
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Passage – 6
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it in any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.
(I) What does the poet appreciate and why?
Answer:- The poet appreciates ‘mind’, i.e., intelligence in others. He does so because he himself has the ability to think intelligently.
(II) What quality in a writing appeals to the poet?
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(III) Do you think the idea contained in this last stanza has relevance in the context? What is it?
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(IV) In what way did the poet identify with the mite?
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(V) What does the poet mean by “display of mind”?
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