05: Television By Roald Dahl : Icse-x-english

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Qstn #1
The poet's treatment of his subject is critical, but he still does not sound too opinionated. Why?
Ans : In this stanza, the poet criticizes the increasing craze for television among children. However, as the starting line puts it, he has learned about it primarily from other people or some other source. Thus, he does not directly start criticizing television for its bad impact on children but traces the root of his opinion in how others perceive it. That is why he does not sound opinionated.

Qstn #2
Why do you think the poet has used the adverb 'never' three times in the third line?
Ans : The adverb 'never' is generally used to mean 'not ever'. The purpose of using it is to stress the avoidance of something not agreeable or acceptable. In this stanza, the poet wants to say that children should not be allowed by their parents to spend a lot of time sitting before the television set, because this is a harmful practice in many ways. In order to assert this point forcefully, the poet repeats the adverb 'never three times. The use of capital letters twice further reinforces his point.

Qstn #3
What has been referred to as 'the idiotic thing in this stanza? Why?
Ans : In this stanza, the phrase 'the idiotic thing has been used for the television set. In some way, the phrase reinforces the poet's view that television is an extremely useless thing as far as children are concerned. This explains why he feels that children should be kept away from it.

Qstn #4
Do you think that the idea of not installing a television set sounds practical in today's context?
Ans : The presence of a television set in almost every urban household is almost unavoidable today. Keeping that in mind, this idea may appear to be rather unrealistic. However, the negative impact that its presence casts on children is a stark reality. Perhaps the poet is just too impulsive while expressing his view against television. But if we look at the problem with a sensitive and empathetic approach, we may find that his view is not illogical or unacceptable. As readers, we cannot simply overlook his deep concern for children that is quite genuine.

Qstn #5
Describe the significance of the bracketed lines at the end of the stanza.
Ans : The pair of lines bracketed here is an example of a literary device called parenthesis. Usually, a parenthesis is added to a sentence or word, either to provide an explanation or to emphasise the point expressed by its precedent. Here, the poet employs this device to exemplify the negative impact of children's obsession with television. Indulging in a bit of exaggeration, he says that sometimes the children stare so hard that their eyeballs fall off, and he has seen a dozen such eyeballs rolling about on the floor in one house. This 'diversion from the normal track of expression lends an amusing twist to it, and makes the reading more interesting and enjoyable.

Qstn #1
What kind of emotional response does the first line of the stanza convey? When will this response be noticeable?
Ans : The emotional response of children that this line conveys is that of sheer joy. This type of response, as the poet says, will come into notice when they start reading books.

Qstn #2
What has been referred to in this stanza as 'that ridiculous machine'?
Ans : The phrase 'that ridiculous machine' here refers to the TV set. It is followed by another that refers to the TV screen as 'That nauseating, foul, unclean, repulsive television screen. The poem has many such phrases that have been used to denounce the role of television in the lives of children excessively used to watching it.

Qstn #3
How does this stanza speak of the maturing of children's realization regarding their newly acquired habit?
Ans : As the poet says, children will gradually understand the joy of reading and soon will gain interest. These books will make its own place in their hearts and they will become fond of reading. Subsequently, showing a mature understanding, they will realize that they had been wasting a lot of their precious time in watching the television.

Qstn #4
Why, according to the poet, the children will start loving their parents?
Ans : The poet thinks that the children will soon realize that their parents did a wonderful thing for them by throwing away the television and instead, installing the lovely books to entertain and teach them so much. Due to this, they will love their parents all the more.

Qstn #5
Describe a few qualities that the parents should have, if they want positive change in their children as suggested here.
Ans : Two qualities that they should have are determination and patience. Determination is required when they decide to replace their children's bad old habits with a far more productive.

Qstn #1
How does this stanza describe children's fascination with television?
Ans : The poet says that it is not uncommon to see the children sitting and staring continuously at the television sets. In almost every house, the same scenario is seen. The children are so obsessive of watching the television, that they remain engrossed in it without caring for how long they have been sitting.

Qstn #2
How does children's habit of watching TV gives some relief to their elders in the house?
Ans : As the poet says, due to their obsessive indulgence in watching television, children remain glued to one place. This means that they do not perform their naughty acts like climbing out of the window sill. Moreover, they do not quarrel or fight as children are normally supposed to do. Due to this, their elders can feel relieved and feel free to cook the lunch or wash the dishes, without worrying too much about them.