Class 11 NCERT English book Woven Words Essay Lesson 5 What is good book? Question and answer.
Understanding the text
1. What, according to Ruskin, are the limitations of the good book of the hour?
2. What are the criteria that Ruskin feels that readers should fulfill to make themselves fit for the company of the dead.
3. Why does Ruskin feel that reading the work of a good author is a painstaking task?
4. What is the emphasis placed by Ruskin on accuracy?
Answer:
1. What, according to Ruskin, are the limitations of the good book of the hour?
Ruskin states that “good books of the hour” are essentially like printed conversations or letters, serving a temporary purpose.
They are useful for conveying information or providing entertainment, much like a friend’s letter or a newspaper.
However, they lack the permanence and depth of “true books.”
They are “merely letters or newspapers in good print,” meant for immediate consumption, not lasting reflection.
They are a “multiplication” of the authors voice, or a “conveyance” of information, and not a “preservation” of wisdom.
2. What are the criteria that Ruskin feels that readers should fulfill to make themselves fit for the company of the dead?
Love and Desire for Learning: Readers must genuinely love the authors and desire to be taught by them.
Humility and Openness: They must be willing to enter the authors’ thoughts, not just seek confirmation of their own.
Effort and Diligence: They must be prepared to work hard to understand the authors’ meanings, like miners extracting gold.
Intellectual Honesty: They must approach the texts with a sincere desire to learn, not with arrogance or preconceived notions.
Rise to the Authors Level: They must make the effort to understand the author, as the authors will not make it easy.
3. Why does Ruskin feel that reading the work of a good author is a painstaking task?
Ruskin compares the process to mining for gold, where the author’s words are the “rock” and the reader’s understanding is the “metal.”
Good authors often hide their deeper thoughts in “parables” and “hidden ways,” requiring readers to work to uncover them.
It requires “pickaxes” of “care, wit and learning” and a “smelting furnace” of a “thoughtful soul.”
Essentially, true authors do not give away their wisdom easily. They desire that the reader earn the knowledge.
The reader has to analyse the words, and meanings carefully.
4. What is the emphasis placed by Ruskin on accuracy?
Ruskin emphasizes the importance of accuracy in language as a hallmark of true education.
He stresses the need to understand the precise meaning of words, “syllable by syllable—nay, letter by letter.”
He believes that accuracy in language, both in pronunciation and meaning, distinguishes an educated person from an uneducated one.
He states that a truly educated person knows the “peerage of words” and understands their true meaning, and history.
He also shows how even small errors in language can reveal a lack of education.
Appreciation
1. The text is an excerpt from Sesame and Lilies which consists of two essays, primarily, written for delivery as public lectures in 1864. Identify the features that fir the speech mode. Notice the sentence patterns.
2. The lecture was delivered in 1864. What are the shifts in style and diction that make the language different from the way it is used today?
Answer:
1. Speech Mode Features:
Ruskin’s writing, even in its printed form, retains strong characteristics of spoken delivery. Here’s how:
Direct Address:
He frequently uses “you,” directly engaging the audience (“Perhaps you think no books were ever so written?”). This creates a sense of immediate interaction.
He uses questions to provoke thought and guide the audience’s understanding.
Rhetorical Questions:
Ruskin employs rhetorical questions to emphasize his points and draw the listener into his line of reasoning. For example, “Will you go and gossip with your housemaid, or your stable-boy, when you may talk with queens and kings?”
Imperative Sentences:
He uses strong commands and exhortations (“You must, in a word, love these people,” “Get into the habit of looking intensely at words”). This conveys a sense of urgency and authority.
Figurative Language and Analogies:
Ruskin’s use of vivid imagery, such as the “court of the Dead” and the mining analogy, adds a dramatic and engaging quality to his delivery. These devices are very useful in spoken word, to keep the listeners attention.
Sentence Patterns:
The sentence structure, while complex, often contains phrases designed for oral emphasis. There are many instances of sentences that are constructed to create a very strong feeling of importance. Also there are instances of repitition, used for emphasis.
2. Shifts in Style and Diction:
The language of Ruskin’s 1864 lecture differs significantly from modern English in several ways:
Formal Diction:
Ruskin employs a highly formal and elevated vocabulary, including words like “assuredly,” “canaille,” “portieres,” and “Elysian.” These words are less common in everyday modern speech.
Complex Sentence Structure:
His sentences are often long and intricate, with multiple clauses and subclauses. Modern English tends toward shorter, more concise sentences.
Classical Allusions:
He references classical mythology and literature (e.g., “Elysian gates,” “Faubourg St. Germain”), reflecting the educational norms of his time. These allusions might require some explanation for contemporary readers.
Moralistic Tone:
Ruskin’s language carries a strong moral and didactic tone, reflecting the Victorian era’s emphasis on ethical instruction.
Word usage:
There are words that have fallen out of common usage, or have changed in meaning.
The way that some phrases are structured, is also very different from modern english.
Use of “that” and “which”
The use of those relative pronouns, is often used in a way that is not common in modern speaking.
In essence, Ruskin’s language reflects the formality, erudition, and moral seriousness of the Victorian era.
Language Work
1. Many sentences and paragraph in the excerpt begin with the word ‘And’ To what extent does this contribute to the rhetorical style of the lecture?
2. Study each of the following sentences and notice the balance between its parts. Pick out other sentences in the text that refect this kind of balance
a. It is right that a false Latin quantity excite a smile in the House of Commons: but it is wrong that a false English meaning should not excite a frown there
b. Let the accent of words be watched, by all means, but let the meaning be watched more closely still, and fewer will do the work.
Answer:
1. The Use of “And” at the Beginning of Sentences:
Ruskin’s frequent use of “And” at the beginning of sentences significantly contributes to the rhetorical style of his lecture.
It creates a sense of continuity and flow, as if he’s building his argument step-by-step in real-time. It mimics the natural flow of spoken discourse, where “and” is often used to connect ideas.
It also adds emphasis, giving each new point a sense of equal importance. Each “And” creates a feeling of added weight to the proceeding sentance.
This technique, called polysyndeton, can create a sense of accumulation, drawing the listener or reader along a logical path.
In short, it adds a very conversational, and building, feeling to the text.
2. Balanced Sentences:
Ruskin’s balanced sentences, with their parallel structures, enhance the clarity and persuasiveness of his arguments. They create a sense of order and logical contrast.
Here’s a breakdown of the provided examples and how to find similar structures:
a. “It is right that a false Latin quantity should excite a smile in the House of Commons; but it is wrong that a false English meaning should not excite a frown there.”
This sentence uses a clear “it is right…but it is wrong” structure, creating a direct contrast between two related ideas. The parallel structure of the clauses emphasizes the imbalance Ruskin is criticizing.
b. “Let the accent of words be watched, by all means, but let the meaning be watched more closely still, and fewer will do the work.”
Here, “let…be watched…but let…be watched” establishes a clear parallel. The sentence also contains a second balanced part, “and fewer will do the work.” This creates a feeling of very precise thought.
To find other examples of this balance:
Look for sentences with “but” or “and” that connect clauses with similar grammatical structures.
Pay attention to sentences that repeat key words or phrases in parallel forms.
Search for sentences that create a clear “if…then” or “this…that” type of structure.
Here are a couple of other examples from the text.
“You cannot talk to your friend in India; if you could, you would; you would write instead: that is mere ‘conveyance’ of voice. But a book is written, not to multiply the voice merely, not to carry it merely, but to preserve it.”
This example uses the repetition of “you would” and “not to” to create a balanced effect.”
The living lord may assume courtesy, the living philosopher explain his thought to you with considerable pain; but here we neither feign nor interpret; you must rise to the level of our thoughts if you would be gladdened by them, and share our feelings, if you would recognise our presence.”