AHSEC| CLASS 12| ENGLISH| CHAPTER - 7| KEEPING QUIET| SOLVED QUESTIONS FOR 2 MARK EACH| H.S. 2ND YEAR

KEEPING QUIET

Solved questions for 2 mark each:

(A) SHORT ANSWER:

1. Why does the poet Neruda 'wish to count to twelve'? Exam paper - 2017, 2018

Ans: Poet Pablo Neruda exhorts people to count to twelve and remain calm and still, so that they can experience the "unique moment" of being together in "sudden strangeness."

2. What is the significance of the phrase 'on the face of the earth' in Neruda's poem?

Ans: The phrase "on the face of the earth" is used to emphasize that all the misunderstandings and disputes in the world are born out of different languages and they will disappear when we stop talking and have a moment Will be silent for.

3. What is considered to be 'an exotic moment' in the poem? Exam paper - 2016, 2018, 2019

Ans: The poet feels that if a man remains silent for a moment and introspects, giving up his progressive instincts, he will experience a unique moment of bliss of silence away from the noise and hustle and bustle of modern life. Then he will have a strange feeling of oneness with all the people of the world.

4. 'Will not harm the fisherman/whale in the cold sea.' What is the meaning of the above lines by Neruda?

Ans: In this line the poet urges man to stop harming the nature for his need or comfort. The fisherman harms the whale.

5.. '...and the gathering man will behold his hurt salt land'. What is meant by 'collecting salt' in the above lines? How are his hands hurt?

Ans: 'Gathering salt' refers to the hard work done by men to earn their living. Sea salt collectors hurt their own hands trying to collect salt.

6. What is the meaning of

(a) war with gas

(b) war with fire

Ans: (a) Gas warfare is chemical warfare in which poisonous gases are used as weapons.

(b) 'War with fire' refers to wars fought with firearms and bombs and explosives.

7. Who are the 'brothers' mentioned in the poem?

Ans: In the poem all the people on earth are called 'brothers'. They are all bound by a universal brotherhood.

8. What is the possible fallacy about Neruda's will?

Ans: Neruda's exhortation to remain calm and still for a moment should not be confused with his advocacy of 'absolute passivity'. He believes that life is a 'moving' process and therefore does not want to associate it with inaction or death.

9. What does 'want no truck with death' mean?

Ans: Neruda does not believe in passivity. Life, for him, is a 'moving' process and therefore he does not want to associate it with death or bring it to an impasse.

10. What are we so unanimous about?

Ans: The poet feels that man has single-mindedly focused on progress and progress. By doing so he has sacrificed his human feelings and has become sad and isolated.

11. What is 'this sadness' that Neruda talks about?

Ans: The 'sadness' that Pablo Neruda talks about in his poem "Keeping Quiet" is the sadness of never understanding ourselves because of our insane and meaningless pursuit of material advancement. Thus, we have filled our lives with emptiness and the fear of death.

12. What can 'finally teach us' as noted in Neruda's poem? Exam paper - 2018

Ans: Neruda in his poem "Keeping Quiet" points out that it is the mother earth which teaches us the virtue of keeping quiet and still. In winter everything on the earth seems dead. But life continuous under apparent stillness and in spring we find what earlier seemed dead are in fact, coming to life. The mother earth silently nurtures and sustains life.

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