CBSE Class 12 English Poets And Pancakes Worksheet Set A

Question. Why was Subbu termed as ‘many sided genius’?
(a) for his flattery
(b) for his gossiping
(c) for his interaction with others
(d) for his ability to create and manage things

Answer: D

Question. ‘In any case, there was this man in the make-up department who would wish the direst things for Subbu’. Here ‘direst things’ refers to something that is
(a) urgent
(b) desperate
(c) disastrous
(d) dreadful

Answer: D

Question. ‘Often he looked alone and helpless-a man of cold logic in a crowd of dreamers....’ it can be inferred that the man
(a) rationalised every thought before it was spoken.
(b) failed to consider human emotions and social dynamics.
(c) was critical of what others did around him.
(d) egoistic and always thought other lacked reason.

Answer: B

Question. What has Asokamitran brought up through this write up?
(a) Topics of film industry
(b) Topics of make-up industry
(c) Topics of gossip
(d) Topics of heroines

Answer: D

Question. Who was the Englishman?
(a) Salman Rushdie
(b) D.H Lawrence
(c) George Orwell
(d) Stephen Spender- Editor of a British Periodical—The Encounter

Answer: D

Question. Why was the author praying for crowd shooting at all times?
(a) To attract the crowd
(b) To avoid people
(c) To avoid Epical narrations
(d) None of the options

Answer: A

Question. What is the example of National Integration in Poets and Pancakes?
(a) Make-up department of Gemini
(b) Rehersal room
(c) Office of Gemini studio
(d) None of the options

Answer: A

Question. What does the expression ‘ fiery misery’ mean?
(a) The glow of lights
(b) The bright lights
(c) The bright colorful dresses of heroines
(d) Discomfort to the actors in the make-up room

Answer: D

Question. ‘An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets’.
Pick the idiom that matches best with ‘blew over’
(a) At one’s wits end
(b) Get bent out of shape
(c) Lave the blues
(d) Experience pins and needles

Answer: B

Question. What has been the make-up room compared to?
(a) A make up company
(b) A parlour
(c) A jewellery shop
(d) A hair-cutting salon

Answer: D

Question. Why did everybody in the studio think of giving some work to the author?
(a) Because of the idle appearance of his work
(b) Because he was an office boy
(c) Because he was a helper
(d) None of the options

Answer: A

Question. Why was Subbu considered number 2 at Gemini studio?
(a) Because of his flattery
(b) Because of his abilities
(c) Because of creative skills
(d) None of the options

Answer: C

Question. What things attracted the audience in the plays staged by MRA?
(a) Their jewellery
(b) Their make up
(c) Their dialogues
(d) Their sets and costumes

Answer: D

Question. What does his book “My Years with Boss” talk of ?
(a) his job
(b) The nature of his boss
(c) His environment
(d) Impact of movies on every aspect of life in India.

Answer: D

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Why does the author mention the names of four heroines? What does he want to emphasize by singling out one of them?
Answer: The author mentions Greta Garbo, Miss Gohar and Vyjayantimala, the top heroines in 1950’s and 1960’s, who must have used pancake— thick make-up for the face. Rati Agnihotri, who came in the eighties may not have even heard of it. He wants to emphasize that he is talking of the early 1950s.

Question. What explanation does Asokamitran offer for the practice of the make-up men who could ‘turn any decent–looking person into a hideous crimson hued monster’ ?
Answer: Ashokamitran explains that those were the days of mainly indoor shooting. Then he makes a humorous remark. The sets and studio lights needed the girls and boys to be made to look ugly in order to look presentable in the movie.

Question. ‘Here was a man who could be inspired when commanded.’ What example is given to illustrate it and what does it highlight?
Answer: The producer would ask Subbu how to do the scene of the rat, who has fought the tigress underwater and killed her, tending her offsprings lovingly. This is a ludicrous situation, but Subbu felt inspired and would suggest four ways of the rat pouring affection on its victim’s offsprings. When asked about the effectiveness of the scene, Subbu would come out with fourteen more alternatives.

Question. What made the lawyer lose his job? What does the writer find so funny about the situation?
Answer: One day the Boss closed down the Story Department. As a result, the lawyer, who was on the attendance rolls of the Story Department, lost his job along with other writers and poets. The writer calls its “the only instance in all human history where a lawyer lost his job because the poets were asked to go home.”

Question. What notion was in the air about the Moral- Rearmament Army? How did it prove absurd? What did the author learn later about the MRA?
Answer: Someone called this two hundred strong group an international circus. This description was absurd. First, they were not very good on the trapeze. Secondly, their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table. Some years later, the author learnt that the MRA was a kind of counter movement to international communism.

Question. What do you learn about the literary taste of the staff of Gemini Studio as for English poetry was concerned?
Answer: The staff at Gemini Studios was quite simple. The only English poets they knew or heard of were Wordsworth and Tennyson. The more literate ones knew of Keats, Shelley and Byron. One or two might have come to know about Eliot.

Question. What kind of effect does Asokamitran’s style of writing have on the reader?
Answer: Ashokamitran has used gentle humour to highlight the weaknesses and eccentricity of the people at the Gemini Studio. This creates an interesting picture of the people involved with film making there and the way films were made as compared to the films made in modern times.

Question. The people left in ‘utter bafflement’ after the English poet’s speech. Mention two things the speaker could have kept in mind before addressing an audience to avoid such a reaction: Give your rationale for it.
Answer: The speaker could have talked about his interest and experience with Communism. Also an interpreter would have made it easier for the audience to understand what he was saying as the former did not understand English.

Question. “Soon I was praying for crowd-shooting all the time.” What forced Ashokamitran to make this remark?
Answer: The ‘boy’ in the make-up department would barge into Ashokamitran’s cubicle to enlighten him on how great literary talent was being allowed to go waste in a department fit only for barbers and perverts. The author felt sick of his ‘epics’ and prayed that he remained busy with making-up players for the crowd scenes.

Question. What explanation does the author offer for Subbu having enemies?
Answer: The author suggests that it might be because of his intimacy with the Boss or because his general demeanour resembled that of a sycophant. It may have been due to his readiness to say nice things about everything.

Question. How did the staff of Gemini Studios react to the MRA’s arrival?
Answer: The staff had a nice time hosting two hundred people of all hues and sizes of at least twenty nationalities. The author found it a pleasant change from the usual collection of crowd players waiting to be slapped with thick layers of make-up by the office-boy in the make-up department.

Question. Discuss the significance of the make-up room in the chapter, ‘Poets and Pancakes’.
Answer: The make up room symbolized true national integration with people from all over the country working together in harmony to cover the actors with make-up. It was also a place where a clear hierarchy was maintained in the manner the make-up was done to cover the actors. The chief make-up man only applied make-up on the lead actors; the senior assistant took care of the second lead; the junior assistant dealt with the comedian while the actors in the crowd were taken care of by the ‘office boy’.