NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo - Prose Chapter 7 -The Interview
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo - Prose Chapter 7 Free PDF Download
Please Click on Free PDF Download link to Download the NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo - Prose Chapter 7 The Interview
Text Book Questions :-
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
(a) Urge the departure—insist for leaving.
(b) Conflict of duties—dispute of duties.
(c) Harbour a man like me—give shelter to me.
(d) Seek a prop—look for a support.
Think as you Read :-
1. What are some of the positive views on interviews ?
Ans. Since a little over 130 years of its existence, interview has become an integral part of journalism. It is considered to be a source of truth in the highest form and an art in practice. According to Denis Brian, we get to know the most vivid impressions of our contemporaries through interviews. It is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.
2. Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed ?
Ans. Celebrity writers see themselves as the victims of interview. They think that interviews are unwarranted intrusion into their lives and feel that it somehow diminishes them. They feel it is like stealing a person’s soul by taking his/her photographic portrait. V.S. Naipaul feels that some people are wounded by interviews whereas Lewis Carroll has called it a crime and an immoral act.
3. What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed ?
Ans. Some primitive cultures believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody, it is equivalent to stealing one’s soul
4. What do you understand by the expression “thumbprints on his windpipe” ?
Ans. This expression means strangulating someone and leaving the thumb-marks on his throat. This shows Saul Bellow’s outlook and uneasiness while being instigated by the interviewer.
5. Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities ?
Ans. In today’s world, interviewer is our chief source of information about personalities. Everything reaches us through information gathered by the interviewer who asks questions from others. He holds a position of an unprecedented power and influence.
Understanding the Text :-
1. Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion
Ans. . Yes, Umberto Eco likes being interviewed. This is clear from the fact that he himself waited for the interviewer Mukund Padmanabhan to come to him for the interview. He patiently answered all the questions asked by him. He didn’t show any unwillingness or felt uneasy while replying. He told about his achievements very discreetly. While the interview was going on, he laughed occasionally. This shows that he liked being interviewed. At certain points, he agreed or disagreed with the interviewer showing his interest in it.
2. How does Eco find the time to write so much ?
Ans. Eco finds the time to write in the intervals between two activities. He works in empty spaces because he considers these empty spaces very significant in life. He quotes an example that while he was waiting for the interviewer, he already had written an article. He writes novels on Sundays and doesn’t participate in the meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He watches television at 9.p.m. only after dinner and then writes on the topics of common interests which saves his time. Thus, he utilises every fragment of time.
3. What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style ?
Ans. Umberto Eco’s academic writing style was distinctive. His books for children are about non-violence and peace. His non-fictional writing and scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular academic style which is invariably depersonalized and often dry and boring. He thinks that scholarly books should be written the way he had done i.e., by telling the story of the research and that was why his essays always had a narrative aspect.
4. Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar ?
Ans. Umberto Eco considered himself an academic scholar first and then a novelist. He himself said, that ‘‘I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays. He participated in academic conferences and not meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He identified himself with the academic community. He told that he started writing novels accidentally. He had nothing to do one day, so he started writing. His works on semiotics, literary interpretations, medieval aesthetics, etc. prove that he considered himself an academic scholar first.
5. What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose ?
Ans.The novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ is a different kind of novel which is very serious in nature. It’s a detective yarn at one level but it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Yet it enjoyed a huge mass audience. Eco had adopted an informal approach in writing it and the readers took delight in reading it. Another reason for the novel’s success is that it deals with a period of medieval history. Still Eco thinks that the success of the book is a mystery
Talking about the text :
Discuss the following :
1. The medium you like best for an interview, print, radio or television
Ans. I think that the best medium for an interview is television as it provides the audio as well as videos. It exposes both the interviewee and interviewer in their actual form. It also reveals their reactions, facial expressions and gestures. Sometimes the celebrities misbehave with the interviewers and accuse them for misrepresenting them but it is not possible when they are on the television .
2. . Every famous person has a right to his or her privacy. Interviewers sometimes embarrass celebrities with very personal questions.
Ans. Interviewers want an exclusive coverage for their interviews and in that pursuit, they try to gather the intimate details of the lives of famous personalities. Some interviewers emphasize on their public life and their achievements only whereas some probe into their personal life to increase the popularity of their interview by adding spicy matter. They know that public wants more and more information about the lives of the celebrities, so to satisfy their curiosity, the interviewers often ask inconvenient questions to them. This results into zero tolerance for the interviewee and he develops aversion towards the interviewer. And if they protest, they are accused of being arrogant and offensive. Thus, in my view, every famous person has a right to his or her privacy.
Writing :
If the interviewer Mukund Padmanabhan had not got the space in the newspapers to reproduce the interview verbatim, he may have been asked to produce a short report of the interview with the salient points.
Write this report for him
A Great Novelist, Umberto Eco
Report by :Mukund Padmanabhan
24th April, 20XX, XYZ : Yesterday, I met the well-known scholar and novelist, Umberto Eco. He is a professor at the University of Bologna in Italy. He has acquired a formidable reputation as a scholar for his ideas on semiotics (the study of signs), literary interpretation and medieval aesthetics. After that, he began writing fiction which covered literature, academic texts, children’s books, newspaper articles etc. He acquired the intellectual superstardom with the publication of ‘The Name of the Rose’ which sold more than 10 million copies. The novel deals with theology, metaphysics and medieval history. He told that he has some philosophical interests that he pursues through his academic work and his novels. He added that his books for children are about non-violence and peace. He revealed the secret of his success too. He told that we all have empty spaces in our lives and if we eliminate them, we can achieve a lot. He added that he is fond of telling stories and how he research them. When he began to write novels at the age of fifty, it was only to satisfy his taste of narration. He reached the large number of readers through his novels and people take him as a novelist rather than the academic scholar. But he finds himself more a university professor than a novelist who writes novels on Sundays.
