NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English

The Interview NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7

The Interview NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Interview Think as you read

Question 1.
What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Answer:
The writer believes that interview helps us in finding out the hidden talents of person. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years. They regard it as the highest form of deciding the truth but in practice it is an art. Thus, an interview helps us to know the truth as well as the art.

Question 2.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Answer:
Most of the celebrity writers despise being interviewed as it is an unwanted intrusion into their privacy. They believe that the interview diminishes them in one way or the other. They do not want to be prey of the interview. The wife of Rudyard Kipling calls that an interview is immoral, and it is a crime.

Question 3.
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer:
Some of the world fame writers are averse to being photographed. They despise it vehemently and offer their condemnatory remarks. It is like taking a photographic portrait of somebody. After that his soul is stolen. It is the severest offence of life. Thus, many people regard it as a crime and offence.

Question 4.
What do you understand by the expression “Thumb prints on his windpipe”?
Answer:
In the writer’s opinion, interviewing is like the “thumb prints on his windpipe.” It is related to the fact of smothering a person whose finger imprints can be traced on the throat. Similarly, the writer perceives an interview as immoral, a crime and an offence. It is an assault as well as vile. No respectable person believes in an interview. This expression explains the feeling of being suffocated.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 5.
Who, in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer:
Inspite of drawbacks, interview is the most supreme and serviceable medium of communication. Through interviews” we deduce clearly about impressions of different personalities. Through the art of questioning others, we can get every point of his/her soul from him/her. So, the interviewer has got an unmatchable power and influence.

Question 6.
The medium you like best for an interview, print, radio or television.
Answer:
The medium I like the best for an interview is the television. It has both audio and visual effect. It presents the interviewer and interviewee before the audience in their true colours. Usually celebrities accuse the reporters of misquoting them or misreporting them in the print media or the radio. This is not possible when they are face-to-face on the television.

Their lip movement and body movement while replying to probing questions are there for all to see. The recording of various expressions coming on the face of the interviewee and his/her gestures and words are the additional advantages that television holds over the print media or the radio. The print media has dull, dry woods alongside a picture, whereas the radio tries to create the atmosphere by skilful variation of the sound. Both expect a lot of attention from the reader/audience.

Question 7.
Every famous person has a right to his or her privacy. Interviewers sometimes embarrass celebrities with very personal questions.
Answer:
Interviewers want to present exclusive and intimate details about the famous person they are interviewing. Some interviewers focus on the public life and achievements of the individual only. They try to be objective in their approach as well as assessment. However, there are others who want to make their interviews spicier and usually cross the thin limit of privacy of the individual. In their zeal to present good copy, they embarrass the famous person with the personal questions.

Sometimes, the impact of such questions on famous person reveals his/her aversion as well as irritation at the silliness of the person. If they shout, they are accused of being rude and proud, and if they keep mum, they are labelled as arrogant. In my opinion, privacy of an individual must be respected.

The Interview Understanding the Text

Question 1.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
After screening and going through the interview extract, one can easily notice that Umberto Eco does not allow the slightest wrinkle on his face while being interviewed. Rather, he interacts very properly and methodically. He gives details about writing his novel The Name of the Rose and the way he pursues his philosophical interests. He feels happy considering him as a University Professor. Thus, he does not think that interviewing is any kind of crime or an offence. It is only a way to detail others.

Question 2.
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer:
Umberto Eco works on the theory of interstice i.e., an empty space. Eco believes that we have a lot of empty spaces in our lives. He terms them interstices. He always works in empty spaces. He gives an example by saying, “Suppose one is coming over to my place in a lift from first floor to the third floor. The wait and the time duration to come over to the third floor is an interstice.” So Umberto Eco works so much during this empty space.

Question 3.
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer:
Umberto Eco displays philosophical interests in his writing style. His books for children are about non-violence and peace. They even find ethical facts. His essays have a narrative aspect which exhibits his personal quality. It departs from the regular academic style, which is dry and boring. He started writing novels by accident at the age of 50 years.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 4.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer:
Umberto Eco does not regard himself a novelist first. It gives him much elation if he is called a University Professor who writes novels on Sundays. He participates in academic conferences but not in the meetings of Pen Clubs and writers. He prefers identifying himself with the academic community.

Question 5.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel “The Name of the Rose”?
Answer:
The novel The Name of the Rose is a detective novel at one level but it delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. It is a wrong belief that people do not like reading difficult experiences, and they just like trash. Two to three million copies were sold of this book in US. It proves that people like reading difficult experiences.

The Interview Extra Questions and Answers

The Interview Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
What does the author say about the interview?
Answer:
The author believes that the interview has become commonplace of journalism. Our lives have become complicated as we have to face and pass through this vile process of screening and interaction. Many celebrities had to be interviewed daily and many of them may have to pass from it a number of times. But it is piercing, troublesome and peace-disturbing as it is the wearer who realises where the shoe pinches.

Question 2.
Write down the opinions that disfavour the cause of the interview.
Answer:
Regarding the conduction of an interview, some believe that in its highest forms, the interview is a valuable source of truth. In practice, it is nothing but a simple art. It is like stealing one’s soul. People hate the interview and call it as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 3.
How does V.S. Naipaul feel about interview?
Answer:
V.S. Naipaul vehemently condemns the cause of the interview. He believes that it is more than losing something from our body. He says that through interviews many would lose a part of our self. In reality, it is horrific for the interviewing candidate. This is the cause why people refuse to give their consent for an interview.

Question 4.
What do Rudyard Kipling and his wife comment about the interview?
Answer:
Rudyard Kipling is a man of free and frank nature. He is more condemnatory for the attitude of the interviewer. His wife Caroline calls it immoral, crime, an assault and it merits punishment. It is both cowardly and vile. She believes that a respectable person will never ask for an interview.

Question 5.
How do the other authors opine about the interview?
Answer:
Many authors do not favour the interview. H.G.Wells in an interview in 1894 referred to “the interviewing ordeal”. But he remained a frequent interviewee. Saul Bellow once agreed for an interview but he regarded it as being like thumb prints on his windpipe.

Question 6.
Umberto Eco says: “I am always doing the same thing but that is more difficult to explain.” Why does he say so?
Answer:
Umberto Eco feels elevated on calling him a professor. People think that he is doing many things but he concludes of doing himself the same thing. It is because that Umberto Eco had some philosophical interest which he followed in his novels and other academic work. His children books are based on peace and non-violence. There is a touch of philosophical and ethical interest as well.

Question 7.
What secret does Umberto Eco point out to Mukund Padmanabhan about an interview?
Answer:
Umberto Eco points out towards empty space in this universe. According to him if the empty space is eliminated from the universe, and as well as from the atoms, this universe will turn as big as our fist. In the same way, our lives are full of empty spaces. Umberto Eco calls them interstices. Eco says: “ Suppose you are coming over to my place on the third floor. You are in an elevator from the first to third floor and I am waiting for you. This is an interstice.”

Question 8.
How does Umberto Eco explain his capacity of doing so much work? What are ‘interstices’ and how does Eco use them?
Answer:
Umberto tells the secret pf his working style. People have a lot of empty spaces in their lives. He calls them ‘interstices’ or ‘intervals’. He utilises and makes use of them. This is the secret of his success. He tells his interviewer that while he was waiting for his elevator to come up, he has already written an article.

Question 9.
Describe the distinct style of ‘The Name of the Rose’.
Answer:
‘The Name of the Rose’ is the most popular and respected novel of Umberto Eco. It is a very serious novel. At one level, it appears to be a detective yarn. But it also delves into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. It is for those readers who don’t want easy experiences. But still it has a tremendous mass appeal.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 10.
Justify the title ‘The Interview’.
Answer:
The title of the excerpt is quite logical and apt. Umberto Eco likes to be interviewed. He cooperates fully with the interviewer, Mukund. He prefers himself to be called an academician than a novelist. He tells him that he started writing novel at the age of 50 just by accident. He wrote 40 non-fictional writings against 5 novels. He thinks himself a professor who writes novels on Sundays.

Question 11.
Why did Umberto Eco start writing novels at the age of 50, more or less?
Answer:
Umberto Eco was basically an academician. He was pursuing scholarly pursuits through academic writings. He wrote about forty non-fictional writings. He himself says that ‘he became a novelist by accident’. Perhaps that was the reason he started writing novels so late – at the age of 50, more or less.

Question 12.
“In spite of the ‘drawbacks’ the interview is a ‘supremely serviceable medium of communication’. Justify the statement.
Answer:
Many celebrities consider the interview ‘an unwarranted intrusion’ in their lives. But it has become a commonplace feature of journalism. It is a great serviceable medium of communication. We get the most vivid impressions of our contemporaries only through interviews. Everything reaches us in the simplest and true form when one asks questions of another.

Question 13.
How is Umberto Eco’s non-fictional writing a departure from his regular style?
Answer:
Umberto Eco’s non-fictional writing is a departure from his regular style. It has a ‘certain
playful and personal quality about it.’ His regular academic style is ‘depersonalised and boring’. Like other scholars Eco doesn’t make false hypotheses. On the contrary he tells the story of his research including his ‘trials and errors’.

Question 14.
‘The Name of the Rose’ is a very ‘serious novel’. Yet it enjoyed a mass audience. Give reasons for its popularity.
Answer:
Umberto Eco’s famous novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ is a very ‘serious novel’ But it enjoyed a mass audience. The interviewer wants to know the reason of its huge success. Even journalists and publishers are puzzled. People like what is served to them. If they are given to read even serious novels, they will read them. They accepted and digested a serious novel like ‘The Name of the Rose’. Its ‘timing’ was perfect. About 10 to 15 million copies of the novel were sold.

Question 15.
What is the position of the interviewer during the interview?
Answer:
According to Denis Brian, the interviewer holds a position of ‘unprecedented power and influence. He holds the balance between the audience and the man who is being interviewed. Almost everything of the celebrity reaches us through one man asking questions of another.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 16.
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give a reasoned answer.
Answer:
Yes, Umberto Eco likes being interviewed. Throughout the interview, he remains cool and composed. He answers Makund’s questions and queries very patiently. He seems to be relaxed and tries to make Mukund quite comfortable. There is no trace of any impatience or irritation visible during the interview.

The Interview Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
Explain the word Interview and how do many writers find favour with it.
Answer:
The word ‘interview’ is derived from French derivative word “entrevue”. It is a conversation between a journalist or broadcaster and a person of public interest. It is an oral examination of an applicant for a job through the process of formal questioning. Since the word has wider implications, it duly involves screening, interaction and introspection. During the process, both the interviewer and the interviewee, participate and the interviewee has to face the horror of the interviewer.

The word interview was inserted 130 years ago. Since then it became a commonplace in journalism. In this world, all have to undergo through the process of the interview. Thousand of people are interviewed daily for one or the other kind. Depending on the merit of the interview, people have claimed in its highest form as a source of truth and in its practice, it is an art. H.G. Wells remained averse to ‘interview’ and in 1894 he referred to it as an ordeal. But forty years later he himself was found interviewing Joseph Stalin of Russia. People view that almost everything reaches us through asking the interviewer who holds a position of unprecedent power and influence.

Question 2.
What does Umberto Eco point out about himself and his novel, “The Name of the Rose”?
Answer:
In an interview with Mukund, Umberto Eco points out that he regards himself a University Professor rather than a novelist. Uikewise, he readily went in academic conferences but did not go to meetings of Pen Clubs and the writers. He links himself with the academic community. He is a professor who writes novels on Sundays. Even people have the impression that Umberto Eco is doing many things.

Here Eco tells that his work includes philosophical interest and in his novels for children one can find non¬violence and peace. He says that the universe has empty spaces and these are eliminated in all the atoms. The universe will become as big as the fist of a man. He regards these empty spaces as interstices and he works in them.

For his writing, Umberto Eco adopts informal approach. He departs from a regular academic style and his essays follow a narrative aspect, which was the crowning success for his novel The Name of the Rose. It attracted a mass audience. His novels are full of narration. Side by side his novel has metaphysics, theology and medieval history as well. It has other experiences too.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 3.
How does Umberto Eco pursue his philosophical and academic interests? How does he make use of ‘interstices’? How has he developed a non-fictional style?
Answer:
Umberto Eco has many philosophical interests. He pursues them through his academic works and novels. Even his children’ works are about non-violence and peace. They are the same bunch of ethical and philosophical interests. Eco wrote more than 40 scholarly works on non-fiction. Eco considers himself ‘a university professor who writes novels (only) on Sundays’. He prefers to be called an academician.

Umberto shares a secret with the interviewer. He thinks that if we eliminate the empty spaces from the universe, the world will shrink. It will become as big as a fist. Similarly, we have a lot of empty spaces or ‘interstices’ in our lives. He works in these spaces and uses them to his advantage.

Umberto Eco has evolved a distinct non-fictional style. His scholarly works have a certain playful and personal quality about them. It is different from his regular style which is ‘depersonalised and often dry and boring’. He is different from other scholars. Eco tells the story of his research. Even he includes his ‘trials and errors’. His essays always have a narrative aspect. This narrative style of his scholarly works was fully developed later on in his novels.

Question 4.
Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly.’ But still many of them ‘despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion in their lives’. Describe opinions for and against the interview as mentioned in the lesson.
Answer:
The interview has become an indispensable feature of journalism today. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over the years. Some of them have been interviewed repeatedly. Opinions vary. Some consider it a source of truth. Some call it a great art. It is the most effective and powerful medium of knowing important persons or celebrities.

Usually celebrities despise being interviewed. They consider it as an ‘unwarranted intrusion’ into their lives. They somehow feel that it diminishes them. Naipaul feels that people are ‘wounded by interviews’. They lose a part of themselves. Lewis Carrol never consented to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling considered it immortal and an offence against his person. H.G. Wells interviewed Joseph Stalin.

But he also considered it as ‘an ordeal’. Saul Bellow considered interviews as ‘thumbprints on his windpipe’.In spite of some of these drawbacks, the interview remains ‘a supremely serviceable medium of communication’. Because of this, the interview holds a position of great power and influence.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 7 The Interview

Question 5.
What picture do you form of Umberto Eco after reading the extract of the interview of Eco that was taken by Mukund Padmanabhan?
Answer:
‘The Interview’ is an extract from an interview of Umberto Eco. The interviewer Padmanabhan helps us know many aspects of his writings, style and ideas. He emerges as a many-sided genius.Even the novelist David Lodge can’t understand how Umberto Eco can do all things he does. Eco answers it very modestly.

He only gives the impression of doing many things. Actually, he is doing the same thing. He pursues his philosophical interests through his academic writings and novels. Eco himself tells the secret of his success. He feels there a lot of‘empty spaces’ in our lives. He calls them ‘interstices’. He works in these empty spaces. He utilises them to his advantage.

Umberto Eco prefers himself to be called an academician rather than a novelist. He wrote more than 40 philosophical writings against just five novels. He started writing novels just by accident and that too at a late age of 50. Modesty and honesty are the signs of a great writer like Eco. Mukund Padmanabhan asks the reason behind the huge success of ‘The Name of the Rose’. Umberto honestly replies that the success of this novel is a mystery even to him. Perhaps, he wrote it at an appropriate time. Had it been written 10 years before or after, perhaps it wouldn’t have been such a huge success.

I Will Fly Summary

error: Content is protected !!