TELEVISION

1. What is the most important thing that poet has learned as far as children are concerned?

 The most important thing that the poet has learned as far as children are concerned is that children should never be allowed to watch television as it fills their minds with junk and kills their imagination. The better solution to this problem would be not to install the television set in their homes at all.

2. What is referred to as idiotic thing in the above extract? Why do you think the poet advises not to install it?

Television is referred as ‘idiotic’ thing. The poet advices not to install it because kills the imagination , clogs and freezes the brain.

3. Describe what poet sees at every house with television. Why is he upset with what he has seen?

In almost  every house with television, children are staring at the television  screen without doing any productive work. It upsets him because he considers television as a monster that kills children’s imagination.

4.  Explain the figure of speech used in the lines:

“Last week in someone's place we saw

A dozen eyeballs on the floor.”

 The figure of speech used here is Hyperbole, which uses exaggeration  for emphasis  or effect. To put emphasis on the hypnotic effect of television, the poet says that previous week at someone’s palce he had seen half a dozen eyeballs rolling about on the floor.

5. What purpose do the repetitions serve in the extract?

Repetitions are used to emphasize that children should never be allowed to watch television as they just sit and stare at it without doing anything productive.

a). Give two types of repetition:              

·      Is never NEVER NEVER, Let

          Them near your television set-

They sit and stare and stare and sit

b)  What type of rhyme scheme is followed in the extract?

The rhyme scheme followed throughout the poem is aa bb cc dd

Extract 2

1. The poet says “ it keeps them still” what keeps the children still? How?

The television set keeps the children still / occupied / quite / hypnotized as they watch all the junk that it telecasts.

 2. How does the television proves to be useful and convenient for the parents?

Television proves to be useful for the parents because it keeps their children still and occupied. The children then do not indulge in any kind of fights. It allows the parents to do their house hold chores peacefully.

3. According to the poet, what ill effects does Television have on children?

·         It produces dullness in their mind.

·         It kills their imagination and thinking ability.

·         It hypnotises them and fills them with junk.

4. How does the television kill the imagination of children? Name and explain the figure of speech used.

The ability to think of new ideas diminishes when child passively engages in watching television. Watching too much television destroys children’s ability to understand the world of fantasy. Their thinking power rusts and freezes.

Personification is the figure of speech used here. It is used to express a thing or idea as a person.

Dahl(poet) uses personification in the line:

It kills their imagination dead!

He gives television the ability to kill and gives imagination ability to die at its hand.

5.   Do you think Dahl is critical of television? Give reasons for your answer.

Yes, Dahl seems to be critical of television because he seems to highlight only the negative effects of television on children, such as : It rots their senses, kills their imagination, clogs their mind, makes them dull, and incapable of understanding the world of fantasy. It freezes their thinking power.

Extract 3

1. Whose and what question is the poet answering in the above extract? What does he say in his answer?

The poet here answers the parents’ query that if they take the television set away, what type of entertainment they would give to make their children occupied.

 The poet replies by asking  parents to recall how the children kept themselves entertained by reading books before television was invented.

2. What monster is the poet referring to in the above extract?

The poet refers to the television as a monster that kills children’s imagination. Before television was invented, children would actively engage themselves only in reading. Books could be found everywhere – on the nursery shelves ,on nursery floor, in the bedroom or by the children’s bed.

3.THEY ....USED ...TO... READ! One half of their lives was reading books!

The following lines use repetition to create a smooth flow and to put emphasis on the fact that children used to read only books before monstrous television was invented. Moreover, the emphasis on the word READ implying importance of reading books.

4. This is done to catch the reader’s attention and emphasize that instead of watching television, children should engage themselves in reading as they used to do before television was invented. The use of capital letters is equivalent to shouting.

5.Once children start reading, they get so involved in reading that there would be books everywhere. The last four lines describe such a scenario. The nursery shelves would be filled with books. Books would be scattered on the floor and by the children’s bed.

Extract IV

1.     Synecdoche. It is a figure of speech in which a part is put for the whole or the whole for a part. In the poem, the example is: The younger ones had Beatrix  Potter.

 Here  the name of the author Beatrix Potter is used to represent the whole gamut of her works such as ‘The tale of Squirrel Nut kin’, ‘The Tale of Mr Tod’, and ‘The Tale of Piling Bland.’

Example of rhyming scheme is: Potter, Rotter

2. The poet remembers the time when the children used to only read books. They used to read books filled with tales of treasure islands, voyages, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants and cannibals. It was a time when young children travelled to an all new adventurous world of animals with Mr Tod, Squirrel Nutkin, and Piglin Bland.

3.The reference is important because it transports the readers to a time before the television was invented when children used to read.

4.The poet suggests that TV sets should be thrown out and should be replaced with bookshelves.

His suggestion does not seem to be practical as television is also a medium of education. Children can be guided to watch educational programmes and newscasts.

5. TV sets should not be thrown out of the houses. Dahl mentions only the negative aspects of television. Television has educational benefits as it is an audio-visual medium and can help children learn by watching. However, there is a need to maintain a balance between watching television and other activities.

Extract V

1.   He gave this advice in continuation of his suggestion of throwing TV sets away. According to the poet replacing TV sets with bookshelves would be best as far as children are concerned.

2.   Children will give dirty looks to their parents when their TV sets would be replaced with bookshelves filled with books. Children would then scream and yell and fight with their parents.

3.   The parents are advised to ‘fear not’ because their children’s tantrums would be temporary; what would be permanent is their love for books which would soon follow.

4.   Yes. Watching television for hours makes the children dull and passive. It kills their imagination; on the other hand, reading books will help them to travel to new and exciting  worlds of ‘dragons, gypsies, queens and whales.” Dahl remembers his days, when television was not invented and children would spend their time reading; a time when nursery floor and the side of their beds were filled only with books;  a time when young children travelled to an all adventurous  world of animals with Tod, Squirrel Nutkin and Pigling Bland.

5.   To develop a habit of reading books is an important advice that the poet gives. Reading transfers one to a beautiful world of imagination and fantasy. Reading fills one’s heart with true joy and happiness.

Extract VI

1.   It refers to children’s act of starting to read books once television is uninstalled from their houses. The poet feels very excited about it as he employs an easy, delightful and cheering tone while talking about books. His excitement is reflected through: “Oh boy, Oh boy!”

2.   Yes. Watching television for hours makes the children dull and passive. It kills their imagination; on the other hand, reading books will help them to travel to new and exciting  worlds of ‘dragon, gypsies, queens and whales.”

3.   He has a strong dislike for television and he describes it as nauseating, foul, unclean, monstrous and idiotic. However, he firmly believes that reading is a powerful tool for learning and considers books as lovely, wondrous, fine, and fantastic

4.   Yes. Watching television for hours makes the children dull and passive. It kills their imagination; on the other hand, reading books will help them to travel to new and exciting  worlds of ‘dragons, gypsies, queens and whales.” Dahl remembers his days, when television was not invented and children would spend their time reading; a time when nursery floor and the side of their beds were filled only with books;  a time when young children travelled to an all adventurous  world of animals with Tod, Squirrel Nutkin and Pigling Bland.

5.   The television is a silly invention of modern science that does not have any positive effect. It is ‘nauseating’ and disgusting to watch. It is ‘foul’, morally bad and offensive. It telecasts only ‘junk’. The television screen thus is repulsive.