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Raintree 5 Shopping for Time

 Summary: Shopping for Time

The speaker of this poem dreams of a shop which sells time. If there was

such a shop, she would go there regularly to buy a few extra minutes,

Sunday afternoons and sunny summer days. Then she would be able to

spend a few more minutes in bed; she would not be late for anything and

would have enough time for everything. But she does not want to buy

Monday mornings as they remind her of work.

This is a sweet and humorous poem in which the speaker seems to be a

child. It is written in the first person, from the point of view of a young

person. The speaker is imaginative, as she imagines a unique shop where

time is sold in minutes, hours and days. Like many other children, the

speaker feels that she never has enough time to do everything. She wants to

stay in bed for a few more minutes, she wants to enjoy Sunday afternoons

lazily and have sunny summer days as holidays, but she definitely does not

want Monday mornings when work begins. The poet understands very well

how children feel about work and leisure, time and the lack of time. The

poem expresses very well what a young person may wish for or want to

avoid. It almost feels as if the speaker was speaking these lines while

lingering in bed one morning, wishing to stay there longer and dreading to

get up and start work.

POEM SHOPPING FOR TIME

A. 1. The speaker of this poem seems to be a child. We know this because she wants to linger in bed

and enjoy lazy Sunday afternoons and sunny summer days, as children do. She also does not like

Monday mornings, and this could be because school starts on Monday.

2. a. The speaker would be a regular customer at a shop which sells time, if there was such a shop

somewhere.

 b. She would be a regular customer there so that she could buy all kinds of ‘time’ that she could

use and enjoy, such as extra minutes and Sunday afternoons.

3. The speaker wants a few extra minutes so that she can make her hours longer. This would give her

more time for work and play. She would not be late if she had those extra minutes.

4. a. The speaker wants to sleep a little longer with those few precious minutes. She could also use

them to finish work or play longer.

 b. A few minutes could be precious when we do not have enough time to do what we want.

When we are running late for something, even a few minutes could be extremely helpful. We

often do not get extra time when we need it, so even a few minutes can seem precious to us.

5. The speaker also wants lazy Sunday afternoons and sunny summer days.

6. The speaker does not want Monday mornings because Monday mornings remind her of all the

work she has to do.

B. Free response

SHOPPING FOR TIME POEM

A. Answer in brief.

Which store does the speaker want to step into? Why?

 Ans: The speaker wants to step into a store which sells time. She feels she would go to that store and

buy time as and when required. She seems to be short of time.

B. Answer in detail.

Do you think the speaker is lazy? Give reasons.

 [Free response] Suggested answer: The speaker wants to step into a store where, if possible, she

would buy time. She also says she would be a regular customer of that store as she feels she is always

running short of time. She wants to buy only packages of five or ten minutes every time so that she

could sleep or linger a little longer in her bed. That does not mean she is lazy. Probably she is so busy

that she needs just a few moments to relax.


C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

I’d be a regular customer there, you know,

Because I’m always running short of time!

a. Where does the speaker want to be a regular customer?

b. Why is the speaker running short of time?

c. What would the speaker do with extra time?

Ans: a. The speaker wants to be a regular customer to a shop which sells time.

 b. The speaker must be a very busy person.

 c. The speaker wants to stretch her time a little more so that she would linger lazily, just for a

few minutes, in her bed in the mornings.

D. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

 What does the speaker want to purchase in the time shop apart from five or ten minutes? What does

she not want to purchase? Why?

 Ans: The speaker first wants to buy small packages of five or ten extra minutes which would be

precious for her. She would also like to buy some Sunday afternoons, when she need not do any work

and relax in her bed or do things that would please her. She would also like to buy sunny summer

days when she could go holidaying or spend relaxing time with her near and dear ones. She would

not buy Monday mornings because the speaker feels that it is the beginning of the week and it

would remind her of all the work she may have to do through the week.

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