The Interview

Check NCERT Solutions for 12th Class English subject. In this article, we have provided solutions for all the questions of the 12th Class  NCERT Flamingo Textbook – Lesson 7: The Interview. In this article, candidates of 12th Class can access NCERT Solutions for Lesson 7 of the English subject. Lesson 7 from the Prose section of the Flamingo textbook is an excerpt from  Christopher Silvester’s s introduction to the Penguin Book of Interviews book. The NCERT solutions have been provided after a detailed analysis of the marking scheme of CBSE by the English subject expert.12th Class candidates can study the answers provided here to marks well in school as well as the 12th Class board test.

 Questions and Answers

Q.1 What are some of the positive views on interviews?
Ans. interview in its highest form is taken to deducing truth. But in a real sense, an interview brings to us the truth about people and events. In everyday practice, an interview is an art and varies in its methods and merits. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed since the invention of the interview. Through the interview, we come to know about the things behind their success in life. It false judge the suitability of a candidate for a certain job.

Q.2 Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed?
Ans. Most of the celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they take the interview as an unwanted entry into their lives. That is why they do not want to make themselves the victims of interviews.

Q.3What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Ans. The primitive cultures believe that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody, then one is stealing that person’s soul. So were the beliefs of primitive cultures in matters of their photographs’. So is the case of many of the celebrity writers in matters of interviews in the present era.

Q.4 What do you understand by the expression “thumbprints on his windpipe”?
Ans. The Nobel laureate Saul Bellow, a well-known playwright, and novelist, once described the interview as being like, thumbprints on his windpipe’. The expression explains the feelings of those celebrity writers who did not feel normal at the time of the interview. They felt as if they were before their beast of prey and it was indirectly tightening its grip around their neck.

Q.5 Who in today’s world is our chief source of information about personalities?
Ans. Interviews in today’s world are our chief source of information about personalities. It is through the interview, we gather full information about celebrities and their feelings, principles, and outlook about human affairs.

Q.6  Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Ans. We think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed. Several thousand celebrities have been interviewed over this period including many celebrity writers. This lesson in itself is an interview wherein Mumbai Eco reveals during his interview 11 am a professor who writes novels on Sundays.”In his interview, he gladly gives the details of his narrative writings and of his philosophical interest. He gave a detailed description of the success of his novel, ‘The Name of the Rose. Therefore, we can conclude that he gladly considers himself to be properly highlighted by the interview.

Q.7 How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Ans. According to Umberto Eco everyman has a lot of empty spaces in him which can be put to constructive use. Whenever he finds free time he starts writing something: Mostly he writes on Sundays.

Q.8 What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Ans. Umberto Eco’s academic writing style was different. He had some philosophical interests which we clearly see in his writings. Even he wrote books for children based on non-violence and peace. His essays have a narrative aspect showing his personal quality in sharp contrast to the regular academic style.

Q.9 Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Ans. Umberto Eco did consider himself an academic scholar than a novelist. During his interview taken by Mukund Padmanabhan from The ‘Hindu’, Umberto Eco states“I am a professor who writes novels on Sundays. This undoubtedly indicates that he was not a full-time novelist. Moreover, he considers himself the irregular academy scholar, a university professor,

Q.10 What is the reason for the huge success or the novel, ‘The Name of the Roses’?
Ans. Even Umberto is not sure about the huge success of the novel. “The Name of the Rose. He points out that why it was a success is still a mystery. It is a detective novel. It also delves into metaphysics theology and medieval history. It is presented in a different style of writings to that of other writings on medieval past. Though people are in the habit of reading trash and not difficult experiences like those given in ‘The Name of the Rose’ yet its readers were those who preferred easy experiences.

Q.11 What are the claims about an interview?
Ans. Some extravagant claims about an interview are

(i) It is a source of truth in its highest form.

(ii) It is an art in practice.

Q.12 What will happen to the universe according to Umberto Eco if empty spaces are eliminated?
Ans. Umberto Eco states that if you eliminate the empty spaces from the universe and in all the atoms, the universe will become as big as his fist.

Q.13 What are the bases of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’?
Ans. The novel The Name of the Rose’ met a huge success in the U.S.A. It is a serious novel with detective yarn at one level and delving into metaphysics, theology, and medieval history on the other.

Q.14 What does Umberto Eco like to enjoy on television after dinner?
Ans. Umberto Eco enjoys on television either ‘Miami vice’ or Emergency room after dinner.

Q.15 What is the impact of the invention of the Interview?
Ans. Since its invention, thousands of celebrities have been interviewed, and some of them repeatedly.

Q.16 What are the linkers? Explain with example.
Ans. When the interviewer asks a question from the interviewee the utterances are linked to the words which are called linking words or linkers. In English language linking is done through the use of reference pronouns like this, that, which, etc, In the lesson. The Interview such linkers can be seen e. g

• UMBERTO ECO: I have already written an article. (laughs)
• MUKUND: Not everyone can do that of course. In the above conversation the word that is linking the utterances of Umberto Eco and Mukund.

Q.17 Which medium do you like the best for an interview. print, radio, or television?
Ans. The Interview is a communication between two people. When some celebrities are interviewed, it is telecast for people. People come to know the techniques, processes, and merits of the interview. There are different mediums for an interview. We may read about it in print media or know about it through electronic media. The best medium to my mind is the television because we can also see the gestures and even the impact of the interview when it is telecast alive in picture form before spectators. It impels us to think of the success story of the celebrity and it may inspire others to follow the same path.

Q.18 Every famous person has a right to his or her privacy. Interviewers sometimes embarrass celebrities with very personal questions. Explain.
Ans. As we already know that the interview is a very famous and very impressive method of communication. It is communication between celebrities and people in general. Through this method of communication, we come to know about the life history, about real appearance and ideologies of these celebrities. But sometimes this fire method becomes a source of embarrassment. Sometimes the interviewer asks very personal questions from the celebrities which they do not want to disclose publicly and feel embarrassed. Because of this, some famous personalities always escape from being interviewed. Because of this Rudyard Kipling termed it as immoral and crime

Q.19 What impression do you form about Umberto Eco as a scholar and writer on the basis of The Interview’?
Ans. Umberto Eco was a university professor. He says that he took to writing novels just by accident. He says he wrote novels only in his empty spaces. He wrote them on Sundays. It shows that he is a very dedicated person, who gives most of his time to his profession. He also says that he was first an academician. He identified himself with the academic community and not with the novelist community. He answered each of Mukund’s questions very patiently. All this shows that he enjoys writing novels and is a dedicated professor on the other side.