OU Degree 6th Sem English – Television Poem Questions and Answers & Summary
Comprehension I (Short Answer Questions)
Question 1.
Who is the poet addressing in the poem? What is his advice to them?
Answer:
The Poet Roald Dahl is addressing to the parents. He advises them to never let their children watch television, or not to install it at all. He discusses the negative impact of television on young minds. He also asks them not to install T.V at their houses.
Question 2.
What did the poet find in every house he visited?
Answer:
In almost every house, the poet has observed that the children are sitting and staring at the television screens without doing any productive work.
Question 3.
How does the poet describe the television-viewing habit of children?
Answer:
The poet says that the children watch the television till their eyes pop out. They stare at it with so much attention that they almost get hyphotised by it.
Question 4.
How does the poet exaggerate children’s addiction to television?
Answer:
The poet is basically describing the behaviour of children while watching TV in their homes. They watch it with mouth wide open and eyes constantly on the screen. He tells exaggerating that they watch it to such an extent that one would think that their eye balls will come out.
Question 5.
From the parents’ point of view, in what way is the television ‘useful’?
Answer:
Roald Dahi describes the possible advantages for parents to let children watch TV. He further says that while watching television there is silence at home as children do not indulge in fights or kick each other they don’t disturb the mother from work at the kitchen. They are fully engaged a watching a that there will be no jumping from the window sills.
Question 6.
According to the poet, how does television affect the physical health of children?
Answer:
Dahl opines that by watching television, the brain becomes soft like cheese. Children now believe everything they watch or hear on T.V. They cannot find their own logic to analyse and interpret a thing. The power of thinking the thought process freezes and gets rusty.
Question 7.
What, according to the poet, would children do before the invention of television?
Answer:
The poet wants to support his advice with the experience of the children in the past. He makes a reference to books in the context that reading was one of the most popular past times of children before television made to way into their lives. He urges parents to reintroduce reading and exploring the world of books to their children.
Question 8.
What kind of books would children read in the past?
Answer:
Children used to read tales of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, treasure islands and other. Some stories of the smugglers, pirates and such other stories have been read by the children in the past. They also would read the stories of ships, elephants and cannibals who eat the human flesh, sitting around the pot.
Question 9.
According to the poet, what should be installed in place of television and why?
Answer:
Dahl advises parents to remove television from the wall and in place of it a bookshelf should be installed. He is of the opinion that only reading books can replace the habit of watching TV. He tells the parents not to keep ‘dirty books’ on the book-shelves.
Question 10.
What would be the initial and eventual reaction of children to the removal of television?
Answer:
In the absence of television set, the children would initially be very hungry with their parents. Their initial reaction would be some dirty looks, screams, yells, bites and kicks, or sitting their parents with sticks, as the poet feels.
Question 11.
How does children’s perspective on television change after they discover books?
Answer:
Reading fairy tales and adventure stories certainly develops child’s creative ability as there is no ready image infront of him. The children will feel the need of having something to read. When they start reading, they will find great joy in that. They will also feel how they missed this joy the past because of that ridiculous machine’ collect television.
Question 12.
Why does the poet choose to write some lines in capita, letters? What does it suggest?
Answer:
The poet uses capital letters in certain sections of the passage as he wants to emphasize the ill-effects of television watching. They carry the main message of the poem which is all about watching too much television fills up the mind of children with useless facts.
Comprehension II (Essay Type Answer Questions)
Question 1.
What, according to the poet, is the impact of television on the minds of children?
Answer:
The poem Television’ is a way the poet ‘Roald Dahl’ has conveyed the harmful effects of installing a TV set at home. Dahl is critical of the television set and calls it an ‘idiotic thing’ out of aversion for it. He believes that it clogs and freezes the mind of young children. He advises parents never to install the ‘idiotic thing’ so as to save their children’s thinking and imagination from decaying.
He say it is also a monster that hypnotizes children and fills them with junk. Moreover, he believes that ability to think of new ideas diminishes when a child passively engages in watching television. Watching too much destroy’s children’s ability to create or understand the world of fantasy.
With their minds clogged and cluttered, they become dull and thus loll and slop and lounge about. Their brain becomes soft and their thinking power rusts and freezes He loses the capability to understand and respond to the environment around him.
Question 2.
What, according to the poet, is the effect of reading books on children?
Answer:
The habit of reading opens up one’s mind and makes them imaginative. When they have to imagine the visuals of their books on their own, the horizons of their thinking are bordered. They will spend most of their time reading interesting and informative books which will educate as well as entertain them. It will have a great effect on their understanding and knowledge.
Children will be well equipped with varied information about the world around them. The knowledge and other benefits that they gain from the pleasurable pastime of reading will make them thankful towards their parents. They will love their parents even more for saving them from the idiot box television and making them read wonderful books Reading books is a very good habit and brain exercise for children.
Question 3.
Compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of watching television and reading books.
Answer:
Television’ is one of Roald Dahl’s best-known poems. In this the poet criticizes children’s addiction to television. It highlights the negative impact of television on young minds and warns that too much television can kill the imagination of children.
He says that the television telecasts only rotter stuff and kills the imagination and rational thinking power which makes the children dull. They watch it hours together their brain changes like cheese and there physical inconvenience make them unhealthy individuals.
The power of thinking, the thought process freezes and gets rusty. The poet suggests to install a book shelf in the house. In contrast he proposes reading books as a healthier alternative to watching television and advises parents to wean their children away from television if they want their children to grow up with healthy minds. Reading books makes children to enjoy the stories including that of smugglers, pirates, cannibals etc. They will become more creature and will grow in imagination. Whereas watching TV will only all the imagination in the children.
Question 4.
The poet uses phrases such as “we’ve learned” and “we’ve watched”. What is the tone of the poem and how do such expressions contribute to it?
Answer:
The usage of phrases like ‘we’ve learned and ‘we’ve watched is used by the poet Roald Dahl in his poem ‘Television’. He used such phrases to involve the readers. He is addressing the parents of the children, who are addicted to watching the television, but the poet involves the readers as well as himself in the poem. The poem is an authentic proposal of he poet to children. He uses these phrases to show the authority there is a correction in the behaviour of the children to set them right.
Question 5.
To what extent do you agree with the poet’s views on the impact of television? Justify your answer.
Answer:
In the poem, he describes how a television affects the life of a child. He discusses the pros and cons of the subject. To a certain extent we can go with the views expressed by the poet about the children who are addicted to watching the television children, spending too much time in front of the television, is not good for their health they stare at the screen, do not move from the place.
They are hypnotised by it. It is not good for their mind. However, parents can permit children to watch good entertaining programmes and knowledgeable programmes. They can gain a lot of information by batching them parents can restrict their children’s time for watching the television. Every telecasted programme is not bad.
The poet has vividly described the horrors of watching a monster like, Junk television and given a simple solution to avoid it. He reminds the parents that before this nauseating machine was invented, the children used to only read and keep on reading books filled with fantasies and fairy tales. The new trends should be known to children only if they watch TV, we cannot fully agree with the poet that every programme is rotter or useless.
Question 6.
According to the poet, what gift do children have at a young age and how can parents nurture it?
Answer:
According to the poet, the best gifts the parents can give to their children are good books to read. As children are gifted with a fresh and fine imagination. They have to develop their innate powers. Reading good books will have a lot of impact on their young minds. But as the children sits before the TV screen, their brain becomes like cheese, the mind becomes rotten without any imaginative power.
They will become inactive. However, parents should be careful while selecting the books for children they should keep only good books and not ‘dirty books’ and should be some fantastic tales of smugglers, pirates etc. Parents are advised to keep the TV away. The innate qualities are to be nurtured.
Television Poem Summary in English
Roald Dahl (1916-90) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screen writer, and wartime fighter of Norwegian descent. His books deal with fantasy and a make – believe world and are thrilling mixture of the grotesque and the comic ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory (1964), The BFG (1982) and Matilda (1988) are among his most popular children’s novels that have also been made into films.
The received several awards including the Edger Allan Be Awar (1954) world Fanstasy Award life Achievement (1983), Children’s author of the year Award (1990) and Millennium children’s Book Award (2000). The poem Television’ is one of the best poems written by the most prolific writer, well-known author of children, named Roald Dahl.
The poem highlights the negative impact of television on young minds and warns that too much television can kill the imagination of children. The author inspires and advises the children to read books instead of watching the television. Though the poem is about children, it is addressed to their parents.
As the mouthpiece of a number of people, the poet begins by saying that the parents should keep the children away from the television set. He makes this statement in a very aggressive way. He compares the television set to be as bad as an idiot box. Hence, the children should be kept away from the television set or may be the best part would be instead, never install the television sets in the house.
He says that almost every house he visited, the children are seen glued to the screen of the Television. They are so much lost in watching the shows that their mouths remain gaping and eyes fixed to the screen until they seem to be popping out of their sockets. They watch it in different postures while relaxing in some odd manner.
The children set and keep on staring at TV screen until they get fully lost in the visuals. They set fixedly at one place as if they were hyphotised by some power an they are so lost in the useless things shown on the television screen.
The parents feel and think that they have relief from their children as they would not jump from the window sill if they watch the TV. They would not fight, kick and hit. In the meantime, the mother will be able to prepare lunch and wash dishes in the sink.
The poet questions the parents of the bad effects which the television has on their children. He emphasis on the negative impact of it. He poet questions the parents of the bad effects which the television has on their children. He emphasis on the negative impact of it.
He say too much of watching it gradually stops the progress of their power of understanding and imagining things ground them. It fills their mind with so much of other stuff they hardly think and imagine freely on their own. Their mind becomes blocked to the natural world. They no more enjoy the world of fantasy and fairyland.
The poet asks the parents to recall how children had kept themselves entertained before television was invented. He reminds them of how children would take great interest in reading different kinds of books they would spend half of their lives in reading books which was the only source of entertainment in the past.
Before the invention of television they had great treasure of books in their rooms. The children used to read the books which were filled with tales of treasure islands, voyages, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants and cannibals. They read tails about Mr. Tod, Squirrel Nulkin written by Beatrix Potter. Such stories were fascinating and would cast a spell on the minds of the small children.
Then the poet makes in earnest appeal to parents to throw away their television set and replace it with a bookshelf, ignoring all the objectives of their children. The poet feels that sooner or later the children will turn their minds to reading books to spend their time.
He shows his firm belief by assuming the parents that the children will not be able to stop reading books once they have started and then will wonder why they had ever liked watching television. In the end the children will thank their parents for introducing then to books.
Television Poem Summary in Telugu
రోల్డ్ డాల్ (1916-90) ఒక బ్రిటిష్ నవలా రచయిత, చిన్న కథా రచయిత, కవి, స్క్రీన్ రైటర్ మరియు నార్వేజియన్ సంతతికి చెందిన యుద్ధకాల పోరాట యోధుడు. అతని పసస్తకాలు ఫాంటసీ మరియు మేక్-బిలీడ్ వరల్డ్తో వ్యవహరిస్తాయి మరియు వింతైన మరియు కామిక్ ‘చార్లీ అండ్ ది చాక్లెట్ ఫ్యాక్టరీ (1964), ది BFG (1982) మరియు మటిల్డా (1988) యొక్క రిలిల్లింగ్ మిశశ్రమం అతని అత్యంత ప్రజాదరణ పొందిన పిల్లల నవలలలో ఒకటి. సినిమాలుగా కూడా రూపొందించారు. ఎడ్జర్ అలన్ బీ అవార్ (1954) వరల్డ్ ఫ్యాన్స్టసీ అవార్డ్ లైఫ్ అచీవ్మెంట్ (1983), చిట్డన్స్ రచయిత ఆఫ్ ది ఇయర్ అవార్డు (1990) మరియు మిలీనియం చిల్డ్స్స్ బుక్ అవార్డ్ (2000) వంటి అనేక అవార్డులను అందుకుంది.
‘టెలివిజన్’ అనే పద్యం అత్యంత ఫలవంతమైన రచయిత, ప్రసిద్ధ పిల్లల రచయిత, రోల్డ్ డాల్ రాసిన ఉత్తమ కవితలలో ఒకటి. ఈ పద్యం యువ మనస్సులపై టెలివిజన్ యొక్క ప్రతికూల ప్రభావాన్ని హైలైట్ చేస్తుంది మరియు చాలా టెలివిజన్ పిల్లల ఉహను చంపేస్తుందని హెచ్చరించింది. రచయిత పిల్లలు టెలివిజన్ చూడకుండా పుస్తకాలు చదవమని ప్రోత్సహించారు మరియు సలహా ఇస్తారు. పద్యం పిల్లల గురించి.అయినప్పటికీ, అది వారి తల్లిదండ్రులను ఉద్దేశించి ఉంటుంది.
ఎందరో ప్రజల మౌత్ పీస్ గా, తల్లిదండ్రులు పిల్లలను టెలివిజన్ సెట్ నుండి దూరంగా ఉంచాలని కవి ప్రారంభించాడు. చాలా దూకుడుగా ఈ ప్రకటన చేస్తున్నాడు. అతను టెలివిజన్ సెట్ను ఇడియట్ బాక్స్లా చెడుగా పోల్చాడు. అందువల్ల, పిల్లలను టెలివిజన్ సెట్ నుండి దూరంగా ఉంచాలి లేదా బదులుగా ఉత్తమమైన భాగం కావచ్చు, ఇంట్లో టెలివిజన్ సెట్లను ఎప్పుడూ ఇన్స్టాల్ చేయవద్దు.
తాను సందర్శించిన దాదాపు ప్రతి ఇంటికి, పిల్లలు టెలివిజన్ స్క్రీన్కి అతుక్కుపోయి కనిపిస్తారని చెప్పారు. ప్రదర్శనలను చూడటంలో వారు చాలా నష్టపోయారు, వారి నోళ్లు ఖాళీగా ఉంటాయి మరియు వారి సాకెట్ల నుండి బయటకు వచ్చే వరకు కళ్ళు తెరపైనే ఉంటాయి. వారు కొంత బేసి పద్ధతిలో విశ్రాంతి తీసుకుంటూ వివిధ భంగిమల్లో చూస్తారు.
పిల్లలు విజువల్స్లో పూర్తిగా దూరమయ్యే వరకు టీవీ స్క్రీన్పైనే చూస్తూ ఉంటారు. టెలివిజన్ స్క్రీన్పై చూపించే పనికిరాని విషయాలలో వారు కొంత శక్తితో హైఫోటైజ్ చేయబడినట్లుగా వారు ఒకే చోట స్థిరంగా ఉంటారు. పిల్లలు దీవీ చూస్తే కిదికీలోంచి దూకడం మానేయడం వల్ల తమకు ఉపశమనం ఉందని తల్లిదండ్రులు భావిస్తారు. వారు పోరాడరు, తన్నడం మరియు కొట్టరు.
ఈలోగా మధ్యాహ్న ధోజనం సిద్ధం చేసి సింక్లో గిన్నెలు కడుక్కోగలుగుతుంది అమ్మ. టెలివిజన్ వారి పిల్లలపై చూపే చెడు ప్రభావాల గురించి కవి తల్లిదండ్రులను ప్రశ్నిస్తాడు. అతను దాని ప్రతికూల ప్రభావాన్ని నాక్కి చెప్పాడు. టెలివిజన్ వారి పిల్లలపై చూపే చెడు ప్రభావాల గురించి అతను కవి తల్లిదండ్రులను ప్రశ్నిస్తాడు. అతను దాని ప్రతికూల ప్రభావాన్ని నాక్కి చెప్పాడు.
అతను దానిని ఎక్కువగా చూడటం వలన వాటిని అర్థం చేసుకునే మరియు ఉహించే శక్తి యొక్క పురోగతిని క్రమంగా ఆపివేస్తుంది. ఇది వారి మనస్సును వారు తమంతట తాముగా ఆలోచించని మరియు ఊహించని అనేక ఇతర అంశాలతో నింపుతుంది. వారి మనస్సు సహజ ప్రపంచానికి అడ్డుగా ఉంటుంది. వారు ఇకపై ఫాంటసీ మరియు ఫెయిరీల్యాండ్ ప్రపంచాన్ని ఆస్వాదించరు.
టెలివిజన్ కనిపెట్టబడక ముందు పిల్లలు తమును తాము ఎలా వినోదభరితంగా ఉంచుకున్నారో గుర్తుంచుకోవాలని కవి తల్లిదండ్రులను కోరతాడు. పిల్లలు వివిధ రకాల పుస్తకాలను చదవడానికి ఎంత ఆసక్తి చూపుతారో, వారు తమ జీవితంలో సగం పుస్తకాలను చదవడంలోనే గడిపేవారని, ఇది గతంలో వినోదానికి ఏకైక వనరుగా ఉందని అతను వారికి గుర్తు చేశాడు.
టెలివిజన్ ఆవిష్కరణకు ముందు వారి గదుల్లో పుస్తకాల గొప్ప నిధి ఉండేది. నిధి ద్వీపాలు, సముద్రయానాలు, స్ముగ్లర్లు, సముద్రపు దొంగలు, ఓడలు, ఏనుగులు మరియు నరమాంస భక్షకుల కథలతో నిండిన పుస్తకాలను పిల్లలు చదివేవారు. వారు బీట్రీక్స్ పాటర్ రాసిన మిస్టర్ టాడ్, స్వ్రిరెల్ నల్కిస్ గురించి టైల్స్ చదివారు. ఇటువంది కథలు మనోహరంగా ఉండేవి మరియు చిన్న పిల్లల మనస్సులలో మంత్రముగ్ధులను చేస్తాయి.
అప్పుడు కవి తమ పిల్లల లక్ష్మాలను విస్మరించి, వారి టెలివిజన్ సెట్ను విసిరివేసి, దానిని ప్రక్తకాల అరతో భర్తీ చేయమని తల్లిదండ్రులకు హృదయపూర్వకంగా విజ్ఞప్తి చేస్తాడు. ఇంకేముంది పిల్లలు తమ సమయాన్ని గడపడానికి పుస్తక పఠనం వైపు మళ్లిస్తారని కవి భావిస్తున్నాడు.
పిల్లలు పుస్తకాలు చదవడం ప్రారంభించిన తర్వాత చదవడం ఆపలేరని తల్లిదండ్రులను ఊహించడం ద్వారా అతను తన దృఢమైన నమ్మకాన్ని చూపుతాడు, ఆపై వారు టెలివిజన్ చూడటం ఎందుకు ఇష్టపడ్డారు అని ఆశ్చర్యపోతారు. చివరికి పిల్లలు తమ తల్లిదండ్రులకు పుస్తకాలను పరిచయం చేసినందుకు కృతజ్ఞత్లు తెలుపుతారు.
Television – Roald Dahl
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.) ‘ .
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 —
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!
“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!
One half their lives was reading books!
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.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel JVutkin, 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.
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 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.
Glossary:
