The Interview Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Other than celebrities, what do some people think about an interview?
Answer:
Other than celebrities, mostly common persons think that an interview is the only and best source of truth. It according to them, is an
art.

Question 2.
In which way do the celebrities take an inter-view?
Answer:
Celebrities find themselves as victims, they take interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives which somehow diminishes them.

Question 3.
What did ‘Caroline’, the wife of ‘Rudyard Kipling’ write in her diary?
Answer:
Caroline wrote that two reporters from Boston destroyed their whole day on 14 October, 1892.

Question 4.
Who described interview like thumbprints on his windpipe and why?
Answer:
‘Saul Bellow’ once described interviews as being like thumbprints on his windpipe because he became exhausted by the interviewes.

Question 5.
How Umberto Eco managed to write too much in his life?
Answer:
Umberto Eco started to utilize interstices: the empty space which according to him is enough with everyone.

Question 6.
How can we say that Umberto Eco had a wide range of writing?
Answer:
Umberto Eco was an expertise in semiotics and other than this he started to write fiction, literary fiction, academic texts, essays,
children’s books, newspaper articles etc. So his versatility in writings can be easily understood.

Question 7.
What made ‘The Name of the Rose’ a hugely successful novel?
Answer:
According to Umberto Eco, the most possible reason about the success of the novel was a time’s mystery and actually nobody could
predict the exact reason of it.

Question 8.
What is Umberto Eco’s theory of interstices?
Answer:
Umberto Eco says about the elimination of empty spaces from the universe, from all the atoms and then the universe would become as
big as his fist.

Question 9.
How many copies of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ were sold?
Answer:
More than 10 million copies of the novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ were sold.

Question 10.
How and when did Umberto Eco start to write novels?
Answer:
Umberto Eco started to write novels accidently at the age of 50. Then only on Sundays, he used to write the content of the novels.

Question 11.
Umberto Eco does many things, but says, “I am always doing the same thing but that is more difficult to explain”. What does he mean to
say?
Answer:
Umberto Eco says that he has philosophical interests which reflect in all his writings : fiction and non-fiction. In this way, he does the
same thing, though he seems to pursue various activities : writing notes for newspapers, novels, teaching, writing essays, children’s
books etc.

Question 12.
Despite the drawbacks, the interview is a ‘supremely serviceable medium of communication’. Explain.
Answer:
Despite its drawbacks, the interview has its own advantages. Though, interview is an intrusion into the personal life of the interviewee, it
is always a supremely serviceable medium of communication. Through the interviews only, we get vivid impressions of our
contemporary celebrities. We get a glance of their way of working.

Question 13.
What are some of the positive views on inter-views?
Answer:
Interview is considered as a reliable source of truth. Contemporaries and their success can be read through the interviews. A very
important part of journalism is interview now a days.

Question 14.
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed ?
Answers :
Most celebrity writers despise being interviewed because they have faced the fright of interview. Among them, interview is regarded as
an unwarranted entrance into their privacy.

Question 15.
What is the belief in some primitive cultures about being photographed?
Answer:
Some primitive cultures believe that a person’s soul is stolen if he or she is photographed.

Question 16.
What do you understand by the expression “thumbprints on his windpipe”?
Answer:
“Thumbprints on his windpipe” expresses the block,age to any person’s freedom and privacy. It can be \ considered as a suffocation felt
by the interviewes.

Question 17.
What in today’s world, is our chief source of information about personalities?
Answer:
In today’s world, our chief source of information about personalities is an interview.

Question 18.
Do you think Umberto Eco like, being Inter viewed? Give reasons for your opinion.
Answer:
Umberto Eco surely likes being interviewed as a part of his interview is presented in this chapter. He answers every question asked by
Mukund and never frustrates and criticizes the interview like many other celebrity writers.

Question 19.
How does Eco find the time to write so much?
Answer:
Umberto Eco uses each and every moment of time. Even he is capable to utilize the little space between different act.s. So he calls it as
usage of interstices; the management of time.

Question 20.
What was distinctive about Eco’s academic writing style?
Answer:
Eco’s academic writing style can be said as narrative which is personalised and interesting. Ecos writing style is not dull and boring;
different from others.
Question 21.
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar?
Answer:
Umberto Eco firstly considered himself as an academic scholar because he was a professor and wrote many academic texts while he
wrote his first novel at the age of 50 accidenty.

Question 22.
What is the reason for the huge success of the novel, The Name of the Rose?
Answer:
The Name of the Rose is a serious detective story but delved into metaphysics, theology and medieval history. The novel got a huge
success and the reason Umberto Eco assesses is its favourable publication time.

The Interview Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Give a character sketch of Umberto Eco on the basis of the chapter ‘The Interview’.
Answer:
Umberto Eco, a university professor at the university of Bologna in Italy, is an academician and a famous novelist. He, through various
interview discloses his secret of success in life and never hates the interviewers. He has his taste in various fields of writings as
academic texts, fiction and non-fiction, literary fiction, essays, children’s books, newspaper articles etc.

He always wanted to be called as an academician not a novelist. He used to participate in academic conferences, on the other hand, he
avoided the meetings of writers and Pen Club Members. He has written forty scholarly works and novels only five. He used to denote
time for writing novels on only ‘Sundays’. He discovered a magical trick of working in interstices.

He used to use even the seconds of his time. He captured the empty spaces for writing notes or any content. He had an expertise in
‘Semiotics’: the study of signs. He never became a slave of proud as he openely admitted that his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ got
success accidently and the time was in his favour. He didn’t have any attitude of the celebrity though his novel was bought by more than
the 10 million of the readers.

Question 2.
‘Mukund Padmanabhan’ was a reporter from ‘The Hindu’. In the context of the chapter, re-veal his traits as an interviewer.
Answer:
Mukund Padmanabhan was surely a successful and well thought-out reporter who always used to ask answerable and dexterous
questions to his interviewees. He used to plan and prepare to con-duct an interview of a celebrity. He never asked ugly or embarrasing
questions and on the other hand, the celebrity whom he interviewed always seemed to be comfortable with his questions. Through the
inteviews, readers not only got the informations

about the celebrities but many other important aspects of Mukund’s personality also came in their knowledge. He asked brief and
quality questions to his interviewees scrupulously. He let the interviewees spoke in their own manner and never tried to interrupt or
cross-questioned them.

His interviewees used to be free and frank with him. He was always a prepared interviewer. Mukund, in advance arranged the
informations and personality traits of his interviewees and then with full preparations, started his sessions. In all we can say that
Mukund Padmanabhan was a disciplined and dedicated interviewer.

Question 3.
Several celebrities despise being interviewed. Is this justified? Why? Why not?
Answer:
There are several celebrities mentioned in this chapter like Rudyard Kipling, V.S. Naipaul, H.G. Wells, Saul Bellow and etc. who dislike
interviews very strongly. They never became ready to be interviewed. Most of them considered interviews as an unwarranted intrusion
into their lives. They did not want to reveal the secrets of their personal lives.

Even an interview is considered as an immoral activity, as a crime or sometimes as an assault. They feel that the interviewers waste
their precious time which can be used by them for more creativity. On the other hand, common mass take interviewes very positively as
they come to know about the inner and hidden things of their ideals. But interviewes have their drawbacks also.

Celebrities feel shy and disappointed when they are asked for interviewes but they forget that they become famous and wealthy through
the successful interviewes. General mass become their fan and devotee by knowing more and more about their ideals. Celebrities are
even worshipped. In this regard, it can be said that interview cannot be termed as an immoral activity.
The Interview Extra Questions and Answers Extract Based

Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:

(Para-1)

Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Today, almost everybody who is
literate will have read an interview at some point in their lives, while from the other point of view, several thousand celebrities have been
interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly. So it is hardly supervising that opinions of the interview of its functions, methods
and meritsvery considerably.

Questions :
(a) What is an interview ? What’s its place in journalism ?
(b) What is the relation of an interview with a celebrity ?
(c) What is an interview for a literate person ?
(d) Name the chapter and the writer.
Answers:
(a) An interview is a one-on-one conservation between an interviewer and an interviewee. It has a commonplace in journalism.
(b) Though, according to the text, most of the celebrities despise from interview but several thousand times, celebrities have been
interviewed over the years, some of them repeatedly.
(c) For a literate person, an interview is an exciting content through which he comes to know about their idols.
(d) The chapter is ‘The Interview’ by ‘Christopher Silvester’.

(Para-2)

‘Yet despite the drawbacks of the interview, it is a supremely serviceable medium of communication. “These days, more than at any
other time, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries are through interviews.” Denis Brian has written. “Almost everything of
moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another. Because of this, the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented
power and influence.”

Questions :
(a) Despite the drawbacks, what is an interview ?
(b) Through which medium, how do we get most vivid impressions of our contemporaries ?
(c) How, according to Denis Brian, almost everything of moment reaches us ?
(d) Because of interviews, what position does the inter-viewer hold ?
Answers :
(a) Despite the drawbacks, an interview is a supremely serviceable medium of communication.
(b) Through interviews, we get most vivid impressions of our contemporaries.
(c) According to Denis Brian, almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions to another.
(d) Because of interviews the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.

(Para-3)

And then I have a secret. Did you know what will hap¬pen if you eliminate the empty spaces in all the atoms ? The universe will become
as big as my fist. Similarly, we have a lot of empty space in our lives. I call them interstices. Say you are coming over to my place. You
are in an elevator and while you are coming up, I am waiting for you. This is an interstice, an empty space.
Questions :
(a) What secret did Umberto Eco had ?
(b) What did Umberto Eco tell about the universe as well as fist ?
(c) What, according to the interviewee an ‘interstice’ ?
(d) What example did Umberto quote about an empty space ?

(Para-4)

That’s possible. But let me tell you another story, because I often tell stories like a Chinese wise man. My American publisher said while
she loved my book, she did n’t expect to sell more than 3,000 copies in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin. So
I was given an advance for 3,000 copies, but in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S.
A lot of books have been written about the medieval past for before mine. I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can
predict it. I think if I had written ‘The Name of the Rose’ ten year earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. Why it worked
at that time is a mystery.

Questions :
(a) What does the American publisher say to Umberto Eco ?
(b) How many copies of that book were sold ?
(c) What Umberto Eco says about the success of the book?
(d) What is a mystery according to Umberto Eco ?
Answers :
(a) American publisher says that in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin, sale will not more than 3,000 copies
of the book.
(b) Two or three million copies of that book were sold.
(c) Umberto Eco says that the success of the book is a mystery.
(d) According to Umberto Eco, ‘why it worked at that time is a mystery’. The sale and success of the book was a mystery.