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Non-fiction - 4. Why The Novel Matters

Class 12th Kaleidoscope CBSE Solution
Stop And Think-pg-168
  1. What are the things that mark animate things from the inanimate?
  2. What is the simple truth that eludes the philosopher or the scientist?…
Stop And Think-pg-171
  1. How does Lawrence reconcile inconsistency of behaviour with integrity?…
Understanding The Text
  1. How does the novel reflect the wholeness of a human being?
  2. Why does the author consider the novel superior to philosophy, science or even poetry?…
  3. What does the author mean by ‘tremulations on ether’ and ‘the novel as a tremulation’?…
  4. What are the arguments presented in the essay against the denial of the body by spiritual…
Talking About The Text
  1. The interest in a novel spring from the reactions of characters to circumstances. It is…
  2. ‘The novel is the one bright book of life’. ‘Books are not life’. Discuss the distinction…
Appreciation
  1. Certain catch phrases are recurrently used as pegs to hang the author’s thoughts…
  2. The language of argument is intense and succeeds in convincing the reader through…
Language Work
  1. A. Vocabulary There are a few non-English expressions in the essay. Identify them and…
  2. Given below are a few roots from Latin. Make a list of the words that can be derived from…
  3. Grammar: Some Verb Classes A sentence consists of a noun phrase and a verb phrase. The…
Task
  1. Identify the intransitive verbs and the copulas in the examples below, from the text in…
  2. Identify other sentences from the text with intransitive verbs and copulas.…
  3. Spelling and Pronunciation Let us look at the following letter combinations and the sounds…

Stop And Think-pg-168
Question 1.

What are the things that mark animate things from the inanimate?


Answer:

The animate things have life in them, they move, feel the touch of things, breath, reproduce and continue to grow. Whereas inanimate things can do none of these. They are stagnant in a particular state like a corpse.



Question 2.

What is the simple truth that eludes the philosopher or the scientist?


Answer:

The simple truth that paradise is not anywhere beyond life. It is here, right in the middle of living. It is the experiences one has and the values one gains. That is all a part of Paradise. It is nowhere beyond life. And ‘man-live’ being just a tin can or a jug is a blurred concept. Everything is actually concentrated in Man-alive i.e., in living man.




Stop And Think-pg-171
Question 1.

How does Lawrence reconcile inconsistency of behaviour with integrity?


Answer:

Lawrence says that there is no absolute and nothing is absolutely right. All things flow and change, and even change is not absolute. What he means to say is that man is man-alive is made up of constantly occurring changes. These changes occur either deliberately, like changing a bad habit or over the course of time like changing hobbies. Lawrence also says that even a minute reply like ‘yea’ doesn’t remain the same every day. It is mainly because of these changes that new things seem to happen in life and we seem to live. It is also only because of our constantly changing habits/actions that we have people around, who love us and that is integrity. Had we been stuck with being just one self from beginning till end, we’d become similar to a dead pen.




Understanding The Text
Question 1.

How does the novel reflect the wholeness of a human being?


Answer:

The novel reflects the wholeness of a human being by affecting the entire man-alive and not just mere instincts. The novel is made up of characters. Characters are its soul players just like in reality we humans. A novel is alive completely based on its characters and characters display various traits. A novel doesn’t show only one side of a human being, it allows the reader to have an overview of every character in detail. All the flaws and good deeds of every character is clearly seen. That’s how a novel reflects the wholes of a human being.



Question 2.

Why does the author consider the novel superior to philosophy, science or even poetry?


Answer:

The novel is the one bright book of life. Not all kinds of books are life. Most books are only tremulations on the ether. But the novel as a tremulation can make the whole man alive tremble. Which is more than poetry, philosophy, science, or any other book tremulation can do. That is why the author considers the novel to be superior to philosophy, science or even poetry.



Question 3.

What does the author mean by ‘tremulations on ether’ and ‘the novel as a tremulation’?


Answer:

By saying ‘tremulations on ether’ the author means to say that most books are like messages or news being read on the radio. One can hear them, feel sorry or happy about a specific piece of news for some time. But one can never identify with the news. Whereas ‘the novel as a tremulation’ is a multi-dimensional review of the characters of the novel. Through the deeds of the characters a reader can understand what needs to be done and what needs to be avoided in life. It actually gives the reader an insight into the crucial moments of life without actually having to experience them. In that way, a person can mould his or his decisions and grow well.



Question 4.

What are the arguments presented in the essay against the denial of the body by spiritual thinkers?


Answer:

Lawrence says that the people who overlook the importance of the body are themselves limited to the body. Since every person’s man-alive ends with his body. There is no bigger truth cause the thoughts that take off from the philosopher’s mind are themselves actually dead. They are mere tremulations in the ether. But if the tremulations reach another man alive, he may receive them into his life, and his life may take on a new colour, like a chameleon creeping from a brown rock on to a green leaf. Yet, fact that the spirit, the message or teaching of the philosopher or the saint, isn’t alive at all remains the same.It is just a tremulation upon the ether, like a radio message. If someone quivers from the tremulation of the other into a new life, that is because the person is man-alive.




Talking About The Text
Question 1.

The interest in a novel spring from the reactions of characters to circumstances. It is more important for characters to be true to themselves (integrity) than to what is expected of them (consistency). (A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds—Emerson.)


Answer:

It is a fact that the backbone of any given novel. The plot, storyline and the events all roll around the characters. So it is very essential for the characters to be true to their integrity. If they aren’t true to their own integrity, then they will lose their luster and become flat characters. There are basically two types of characters. Round characters and flat characters in any novel. Flat characters are those who remain consistent in their behaviour all through the plot. No incident changes them. Nothing has an impact on them. But round characters are those that constantly keep changing or rather say developing themselves throughout the storyline. They help the keep the reader glued to the novel and helps the reader understand the motive of the plot.

If every character is stuck to ‘what should be done’ rather than being true to their own character trait, the novel will become a straight line and lose its charm. Hence it is mandatory for the characters to stick to their integrity rather than doing what is expected.



Question 2.

‘The novel is the one bright book of life’. ‘Books are not life’. Discuss the distinction between the two statements. Recall Ruskin’s definition of ‘What is a Good Book?’ in Woven Words Class XI.


Answer:

‘The novel is a bright book of life’ means that the novel casts light on the real aspects of life and portrays them in the form of a story so that people can gain knowledge from them. But there is also a reminder that the author posts. He strongly says that though the novel might be a real-life portrayal of events, it is not ‘life’ in reality. It is just meant to draw experience and collect important lessons. This now takes us back to what Ruskin had said in ‘What is a Good Book?’. Ruskin had said that it is mandatory to read between the lines of a good book so as to understand the underlying meaning that a good author has wanted to say.




Appreciation
Question 1.

Certain catch phrases are recurrently used as pegs to hang the author’s thoughts throughout the essay. List these and discuss how they serve to achieve the argumentative force of the essay.


Answer:

The catch phrases are-

i. Body- the author describes the importance of the body and discusses how the body is the ultimate phase of being in learner mode.


ii. Spirit- the spirit according to the author is a misleading concept which makes a man get into vagueness. It leads man to things that are unreal to the imagination.


iii. Man alive- this is the realistic concept of the author in which he says that everything happens because man is alive.


iv. Tremulations- Here tremulations are the talks that the saints and philosophers do because of which man-alive may be influenced to change


v. Change- the only constant.



Question 2.

The language of argument is intense and succeeds in convincing the reader through rhetorical devices. Identify the devices used by the author to achieve this force.


Answer:

Given below are the list of rhetorical devices used to intensify the language of argument-

•Allusion- The mention of the Bible.


•Amplification- The repetitive use of words like man alive, spirit, tremulations etc.


•Metonymy – By saying that books ‘The novel is the one bright book of life’.




Language Work
Question 1.

A. Vocabulary

There are a few non-English expressions in the essay. Identify them and mention the language they belong to. Can you guess the meaning of the expressions from the context?


Answer:

Mens sana in corpore sano is a Latin phrase, usually translated as "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

C’est la vie! is a French word used to express acceptance or resignation in the face of a difficult or unpleasant situation.



Question 2.

Given below are a few roots from Latin. Make a list of the words that can be derived from them

mens (mind) corpus(body) sanare (to heal)


Answer:

a) Mind- remind mastermind, never mind.

b) body- bodily, anybody, nobody.


c) to heal- to heal up.



Question 3.

Grammar: Some Verb Classes

A sentence consists of a noun phrase and a verb phrase. The verb phrase is built around a verb. There are different kinds of verbs. Some take only a subject. They are intransitive verbs.

Look at these examples from the text in this unit

(1a) The grass withers.

(1b) The chameleon creeps from a brown rock on to a green leaf.

Notice that an intransitive verb can be followed by prepositional phrases that have an adverbial function, as in (1b). Such phrases that follow an intransitive verb are called its complements.

A kind of intransitive verb that links its subject to a complement is called a ‘linking verb’ or a copula. The most common copulas in English are, become and seem.

The copula be occurred very often in the text in this unit. Its complement may be a noun phrase or an adjective phrase.

Here are a few examples

• My hand is alive. (be+adjective)

• The novel is supremely important. (be+adjective phrase)

• You’re a novelist. (be+noun phrase)

• The novel is the book of life. (be+noun phrase)

Other examples of copulas from the text are given below

• It seems important.

• The Word becomes more and more boring.

Can you say what the category of the complement is, in the examples above?


Answer:

• It seems important. (be+adjective)

• The Word becomes more and more boring. (be+adjective phrase)




Task
Question 1.

Identify the intransitive verbs and the copulas in the examples below, from the text in this unit. Say what the category of the complement is. You can work in pairs or groups and discuss the reasons for your analysis.

• I am a thief and a murderer.

• Right and wrong is an instinct.

• The flower fades.

• I am a very curious assembly of incongruous parts.

• The bud opens.

• The Word shall stand forever.

• It is a funny sort of superstition.

• You’re a philosopher.

• Nothing is important.

• The whole is greater than the part.

• I am a man, and alive.

• I am greater than anything that is merely a part of me.

• The novel is the book of life.


Answer:

• I am a thief and a murderer.

Ans. be+adjective phrase


• Right and wrong is an instinct.


Ans. be+adverb


• The flower fades.


Ans. be+adverb


• I am a very curious assembly of incongruous parts.


Ans. be+adjective phrase


• The bud opens.


Ans. be+adverb


• The Word shall stand forever.


Ans. be+adverb phrase


• It is a funny sort of superstition.


Ans. be+adjective phrase


• You’re a philosopher.


Ans. be+noun phrase


• Nothing is important.


Ans. be+adjective


• The whole is greater than the part.


Ans. be+adjective


• I am a man, and alive.


Ans. be+noun phrase


• I am greater than anything that is merely a part of me.


Ans. be+adverb phrase


• The novel is the book of life.


Ans. be+adverb



Question 2.

Identify other sentences from the text with intransitive verbs and copulas.


Answer:

a) My hand, as it writes.

b) Whatever is me alive is me.



Question 3.

Spelling and Pronunciation

Let us look at the following letter combinations and the sounds they represent

• ch

• gh

ch is used for the sounds /k/ as in ‘character’, / / as in ‘chart’,

or/ / as in ‘champagne’.

Word initial position



While ‘ch’ is pronounced / / in most words, it is pronounced /k/ in many others. Generally words with Latin or Greek origins are pronounced/k/. Words of French origin are pronounced / /. Words beginning with ‘ch’, followed by a consonant, are always pronounced /k/, for example chlorine, chrysanthemum, Christian, etc.

Word medial position



Word final position



‘Ch’ is not pronounced in ‘schism’ but pronounced as /k/ in ‘schizophrenia’. gh is pronounced /g/ as well as /f/ and sometimes not pronounced at all. In the initial position it is always pronounced /g/. In the medial and final positions, it may be /f/ or silent.



Look for other words with ‘ch’, ‘gh’ letter combinations and guess how they are pronounced.


Answer: