Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers Television
Television Questions and Answers Extract Based
Question 1.
The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set –
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
(a) Who are being addressed to by the poet ? Why ?
(b) What is the most important that the poet has learnt ? Why does the poet call the television an idiot box ?
(c) What advice does the poet give to the parents ? What would be a better thing ?
(d) Name some of the things in houses which have televisions.
(e) In what way does the poet indulge in a bit of exaggeration ?
(f) Describe the effects of television on children’s mind.
Answer.
(a) The parents are being addressed by the poet directly because he wants to make them realise that they have neglected their duties and responsibilities towards their children by allowing them to go on watching the television.
(b) The poet has learnt the most important thing that the children should not be allowed to watch the television. The poet calls the television an idiot box because it produces dullness in the mind of those who watch it and fills their mind with foolish stuffs.
(c) The poet advises the parents not to allow their children to watch the television and keep them away from the television. It would be better if the television is not installed in the house.
(d) The poet has seen in almost every house that the children are seen glued to the screen of the television and they are so much lost in watching the programmes that their mouths remain gaping and eyes fixed to the screen. They watch the television in different postures, i.e. in half-lying position while relaxing and in some odd manner.
(e) The poet indulges in a bit of exaggeration that is amusing when he says that sometimes the children stare so hard that their eyeballs fall off and he had seen a dozen eyeballs rolling about the floor in our house.
(f) According to the poet, watching the television is not good for younger minds. It kills their imagination. It blocks their minds and makes them dull.
Question 2.
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink-
(a) About which thing does the poet show his concern ?
(b) Why are the children unable to take the eyes off the screen ?
(c) What made the poet astonished when he once visited someone’s house ?
(d) How does the television keep the children still ?
(e) What hampers the children’s physical and mental growth ?
(f) What kind of personal relationship do the children lose when they remain busy in watching the television ?
(g) How do the parents feel when their children watch the television ?
Answer.
(a) The poet expresses his concern over what the modem invention the television set has done to the children. He says that watching the television has become a craze in modem time. The children keep themselves busy in watching the television for several hours.
(b) Children of today spend hours together in front of the television. They are unable to take the eyes off the screen because they are fascinated and intoxicated by the meaningless entertainment that is churned out on the television.
(c) When the poet once visited someone’s house, he was astonished to see so many people staring at the television continuously. It seemed to the poet as if they were sitting in front of the television for a long time and were completely under the spell of the scenes of the television.
(d) Children do weird things like climbing a window, jumping over it, fighting, kicking and punching other children. By doing these things, they may accidently hurt themselves. So, it is better to switch on the television and let them watch it to keep them still.
(e) It is the television set only, which makes the children immobile. They are in sedentary position all day and thus do not move out of the house to play or undertake any physical exercise or sports etc. They do not even move out, mingle with each other, play together or even fight. All this hampers their physical and mental growth.
(f) The children become so much engaged in watching the television that the personal relationships between the mother and the child are also somewhat lost. The children do not argue with the mothers for cooking any nutritional food etc. The poet refers to the personal touch the parents have with their children. The small arguments and even scolding are also essential in life.
(g) When the children remain busy in watching the television and are fully engrossed, the parents feel and think that they have got relief from their children and now they will be able to fulfil their household chores. The mothers think that they will prepare the lunch and wash the dishes without any worry and disturbance.
3. But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES!
(a) What question does the poet raise to the parents ? What kind of damage does the television do the children ?
(b) Which words have been used by the poet to show the negative impacts of the television ? Which figure of speech has been used in the line ‘IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD’ ? Explain it clearly.
(c) To what extent does the television make the children’s brains dull ? What is very significant to the growing child ?
(d) What does the poet mean when he says, ‘HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE’ ?
(e) What objection will the parents raise to the poet ?
(f) What do the parents think of the television ? Why do they show their inability ?
Answer.
(a) The poet questions the parents of the bad effects television has made on the minds of their children. The television not only blocks their mind and deteriorates their senses but kills their imaginative and creative faculty. It makes them dull and restricts them from experiencing world’s fantasies.
(b) The words rots, kills, clogs, clutters have been used to show the negative and harmful impacts of the television. The poet has used the figure of speech personification in the line ‘IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD’. Here, the poet not only gives television the human ability to kill something, but also gives imagination the ability to die at its hand.
(c) The television blocks the children’s minds in such a way that they become dull and blind to the interesting things around them. The notion of a fairyland or fantasy is very significant for a growing child.
(d) The poet means to say that the brain of a child who watches the television excessively becomes soft like cheese as he loses all his power of thinking. Such a child can merely watch but he cannot think.
(e) The parents will ask the poet if the television set is removed, there will be no means left with them to entertain their children and they will like to know as to how to entertain them.
(f) The parents think and understand that television is very harmful for their children and it is not for the development and growth of their children. But they are unable to remove it away because they have no other source for the entertainment of their children.
Question 4.
‘All right)’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY… USED … TO … READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
(a) What does the poet ask the parents at their objection ? What does the poet remind the parents ?
(b) What shows that the children in the past were fond of reading the books ? What was surprising about them ?
(c) Which books does the poet mention ? What did the books contain ?
(d) What monster is the poet referring to in the above extract ? How was situation different before its invention ?
(e) What is the significance of the variation in font ? Why has the poet capitalised the words ?
(f) What is the purpose of repetition ? Give an instance of repetition in the extract.
Answer.
(a) At the objection of the parents, the poet asks them as to how they used to entertain themselves as children when the television was not invented. The poet reminds the parents that when they were children, they used to read only books to entertain themselves.
(b) The children in the past were so fond of reading the different kinds of books that the books were seen everywhere. Their nursery shelves were full of books. It was surprising about them that they would spend half of their lives in reading the books.
(c) The poet gives a short list of the books which the children used to read before the invention of the television. The children used to read the books which were filled with tales of treasure islands, voyages, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants and cannibals.
(d) The television has been referred to as a monster which has swallowed the tenderness and innocence of the children by filling their minds with stupid stuffs. When the television was not invented, the children were fond of reading the entertaining and knowledgable books which enlightened their minds and hearts.
(e) The poet has used variation in font which changes the reader’s focus and emphasis. The poet has capitalised the words to put an emphasis on reading the books.
(f) Repetition is the purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect. Sometimes, especially with longer phrases that contain a different key word each time, this is called parallelism. There is an instance of repetition in the extract:
THEY USED TO READ ! They’d READ and READ
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more.
Question 5.
One half their lives was reading hooks!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ‘round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
(a) In the past, how did the children spend their leisure time ? How were the books useful for them ?
(b) How do we come to know the children’s excessive fondness of the books ?
(c) What kinds of popular books were read by the children ?
(d) What did the smugglers and sea robbers do in some of the stories ? Who was Penelope ? What kind of dish did the cannibals like to eat ?
(e) What are the impacts of the television and books on the minds of the children ?
(f) How, according to the poet, can children get benefit from reading books ?
Answer.
(a) In the past the children spent their leisure time in reading the different kinds of books. The books not only enlightened them with knowledge but also were the great source of entertainment.
(b) In the past when there was no television, the children were extremely fond of reading the books. This could be known by their huge collection of books. The nursery shelves were full of books. In nursery schools, books remained scattered on the floor. Even in their houses, the bedroom and the bed- books cluttered up everywhere.
(c) In poet’s time, the children used to read the popular books of adventures. They used to read fantastic stories of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, treasure islands, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants, cannibals and so on.
(d) In some of the stories, the smugglers and sea robbers used to operate in boats with covered oars. The cannibals liked to eat a very sweet smelling dish named after Penelope. Penelope was the faithful wife of Odysseus in Homer’s epic poem ‘The Odyssey’.
(e) For the poet, it is only reading that can fill children with true joy and happiness. Watching television for hours, makes them dull and passive. It kills their imagination; In the other hand, reading books will help them to travel to new and exciting worlds of dragon, gypsies, queen and whales.
(f) According to the poet, the children should read books. It will help them in developing their imagination and creative thinking skills. It will awaken their senses. It will give them enough opportunity to imagine and visualise a scene explained in the story.
Question 6.
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
(a) Who liked to read Helen Beatrix Potter ? What was the subject of her books ? Which figure of speech has been used in, ‘The younger ones had Beatrix Potter ?
(b) Mention the tales which the younger children liked to read ? Who wrote the tales ?
(c) Why does the poet use the words, ‘please, beg and pray’ ?
(d) According to the poet, what should be done to save children from the hypnotism of television ?
(e) How does the television kill imagination ? Give the answer in earlier context.
(f) What kind of hostility and aggressiveness will the parents have to face when they remove the television from the eyes of their children and instal the bookshelves ?
Answer.
(a) The younger children liked to read stories written by Helen Beatrix Potter. Helen wrote the children books featuring animals with colourful, illustrations. In the line, ‘The younger ones had Beatrix Potter’, the poet has used figure of speech metonymy which involves a comparison between two conditions or elements that have a pre-established connection in the empirical world. The general effect of metonymy is to bring before the mind a definite image and thus to impart a graphic quality.
(b) The younger children liked to read the following tales such as, The Tale of Mr. Tod, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Pigling Bland, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, etc. All these tales were writtn by Beatrix Potter.
(c) The poet uses the words ‘please, beg and pray because he wants to make sincere appeal to the parents to throw away their television sets and replace them with bookshelves.
(d) According to the poet, the children should be encouraged to read different kinds of book in order to save them from the hypnotism of television.
(e) When we watch the television, we are not actively engaged with the stuff we watch. We receive
the material passively. We do not think or imagine. Slowly television kills our imagination. We accept only what we see.
(f) When the parents remove the television away and instal the bookshelves, they will have to become the victims of their children’s anger and protest. The children may be angry. They may make dirty and angry faces. They may cry loudly and might even bite, kick and hit the elders with sticks.
Question 7.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start – oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
(a) What kind of attitude and behaviour will the children show to find a sudden change ?
(b) How does the poet console the parents ?
(c) How will the children feel when once they start reading the books ?
(d) What will the books give to the children ? What will the children wonder at one stage ?
(e) How will the children feel obliged to their parents ?
(f) Why does the poet advocate to read only the books. What is the role of fantasy in chlidren’s education ?
Answer.
(a) On finding a sudden change in their routine life, the children may become aggressive. They may become violent to see the bookshelves at the place of television. They may scream and yell and can even go to the extent of biting and kicking or even hitting with the sticks.
(b) The poet consoles the parents by saying that they need not be afraid of their children’s aggressive behaviour. In the beginning, they will oppose this change, but gradually they will mould themselves in the new environment of the books.
(c) When once the children start reading one of the books, they will derive great joy and pleasure from the books and will like to spend their leisure time in the company of the books. Once they develop the habit of reading, they will forget the television.
(d) The books will give the children the imagination and thoughts, the knowledge and wisdom, the satisfaction of the mind and heart. At one stage they will grow so keen on reading books that they will wonder what they had found in that silly machine called television. They will find the television screen the ridiculous, repulsive and disgusting thing.
(e) On finding the great advantages of the books, the children will love their parents for giving them the opprtunity to find real joy in reading books. Even when they grow up, they will feel highly obliged to their parents for taking that television set away and installing the bookshelf there.
(f) The poet advocates for reading and only reading because he thinks that the television can never be a substitute for books. In his opinion, the books are the only things that can deliver real wisdom. Fantasy has a great role to perform in children’s education as it makes them give wings to their minds and fly into hitherto unknown territories and bring treasures to mankind.
Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers