CBSE Class 12 English Poets And Pancakes Worksheet

Questions Based On Extracts:
 

(1) Gemini Studios was the favourite haunt of poets.’

Question. Did the people at the studios have any political affiliations?
Answer: Most of the people wore Khadi and worshipped Gandhiji but beyond that they did not appreciate any political thought.

Question. Find a word/phrase which means ‘a place often visited’
Answer: haunt

Question. Name any two poets who used to meet there regularly.
Answer: S.D,S Yogiar/Sangu Subramaniam/Krishna Sastry /Harindranath Chattopadhyaya.

Question. Why was the Gemini Studios the favourite haunt of poets?
Answer: It was an excellent place for coffee at all times. 

(2)”He is not a poet. He is an editor. That’s why The Boss is giving him a big reception.”

Question. Why was he invited to the Gemini Studios?
Answer: He was invited to address the staff of the Gemini Studios. 

Question. Who is The Boss?
Answer: The Boss is Mr.S S Vasan ,the owner of the studio. 

Question. Who is ‘he’ being talked about?
Answer: He refers to the poet Stephen Spender. 

Question. Was ‘he’ able to make his visit meaningful?
Answer: His visit could not be proved meaningful as none could understand what he intended to say as his accent was beyond their comprehension.

Question. Why was the office boy frustrated? Who did he show his anger on?
Answer: The office boy had joined the studio years ago in the hope of becoming an actor or a screenwriter, or a director, or a lyricist. The fact that he ended up becoming none of these left him frustrated. According to him, “great literary talent was being allowed to go waste in a department fit only for barbers and perverts”. He used to direct his anger at the author even though it was meant for Kothamangalam Subbu.

Question. Subbu is described as a many-sided genius. List four of his special abilities.
Answer: Subbu was a multi-disciplinarian. He could provide solutions to problems and remain cheerful all the time .He was an actor, a poet and a novelist.

Question. Did the people at Gemini Studios have any particular political affiliations?
Answer: The people at Gemini Studios did not have any particular political affiliations. The common political notions of the day managed to influence them but that was limited to wearing Khadi and admiring the Gandhian philosophy. They were averse to the term ‘Communism’ but had only an erroneous understanding of the concept.

Question. Why was the Moral Re-Armament army welcomed at the studio?
Answer: Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament army was welcomed at the studio mainly because of their political association. The people at the Gemini Studios were averse to Communism, and hence, were ready to play host to the MRA. Apart from that, the studio people hardly had any occupation and suffered from boredom. The MRA came as a welcome change to their monotonous days at the studio.

Question. What does the writer mean by ‘the fiery misery’ of those subjected to make-up’?
Answer: The make-up room of Gemini Studios looked like a hair cutting salon. It had around half a dozen mirrors with incandescent lights at all angles around them. The artists would feel the heat emanating from these lights. Thus, the writer uses the term ‘fiery misery’ to denote the uncomfortable situation of those subjected to make-up. :

Question. What is the example of national integration that the author refers to?
Answer: The make-up division of the Gemini Studios was an example of national integration. According to the author, this is so because people from different regions and religious groups worked together in the same department. The department was headed by a Bengali who was succeeded by a Maharashtrian. The other helpers included a Dharwar Kannadiga, an Andhra, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese and the local Tamils.

Question. What do you understand about the author’s literary inclinations from the account?
Answer: Though the author had a very tedious and unchallenging job at the studios, his interest in literature and writing is apparent in his willingness to participate in the short story contest organized by the British periodical, ‘The Encounter’. Moreover, the author appears to be a keen reader visiting libraries and buying books on wide-ranging topics whenever he could afford them. The narrative also establishes the fact that the author was one of the most knowledgeable persons in Gemini Studios. His idea about how prose writing was not meant for geniuses but for those with patience and perseverance, highlights his deep thoughts on literature and creative writing.

Question. How does the author describe the incongruity of an English poet addressing the audience at Gemini Studios?
Answer: The audience at the Gemini studios was not knowledgeable enough to understand the thrills and travails of an English poet, of which the visitor poet-editor talked about, in his speech. The studio made films for simple people whose limited resources did not provide them with an opportunity to develop a taste in English poetry. The audience failed to understand anything the poet said, all the more, because of the latter’s accent. The poet-editor, in turn, looked baffled realizing the utter inappropriateness of his speech being directed to such an audience.