NCERT English Class 11 | Chapter 4 | Landscape of the Soul | Question Answer |

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT                                                                        PAGE 38

1. (i) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.

Answer: Paintings in China are imaginative and spiritual, whereas paintings in Europe are based on realistic views or real items. The mismatch between the perspectives of two distinct disciplines can be seen in the paintings of Wu Daozi and master painters from Europe.

(ii) Explain the concept of shanshui.

Answer: It refers to a form of Chinese painting that blends natural landscapes, spiritual spaces, and conceptual spaces. It means "mountain water." It represents the Daoist perspective of the universe from two opposing poles.

2. (i) What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?

Answer: Outsider art is created by an artist who has no official training but possesses the artistic talent and a point of view. Art brut, sometimes known as "raw art," refers to art in its most basic form or state.

(ii) Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his contribution to art?

Answer: The 'untutored genius' who constructed 'heaven' was Nek Chand. He was the world-famous Rock Garden of Chandigarh's 80-year-old designer. It's an example of outsider art, in which raw materials and stones are used to produce a work of art. Everything and anything may be used to make art; all that is required is a critical eye. 'Women by the Waterfall' is one of his most well-known works.


TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT                                                                          PAGE 38

Discuss the following statements in groups of four.

1. “The emperor may rule over the territory it has conquered, but only the artist knows the way within.”

Answer: This statement illustrates that, while an emperor may command a whole country and wield authority over the lands he has conquered, only an artist can see beyond appearances. He is aware of the universe's path as well as its unfathomable works. Regardless of how powerful an emperor is, only he can see the true meaning of his work through ways he knows about.

2. “The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.”

Answer: This sentence explains that even though an emperor may rule an entire kingdom and have power over his conquered territory, only an artist would be able to go beyond material appearance. He knows both the path and the mysterious works of the universe. The true meaning of his work can only be seen by means known to him, irrespective of how powerful an emperor is.


THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE                                                                      PAGE 38

1. Find out the correlates of Ying and Yang in other cultures.

Answer: Yang and yin are complementary polarities that have been linked throughout cultures and styles. In Indian culture, God and nature are revered. God is yang, and nature is yin. A combination of two is required to create the world and all of its worldly items and animals.

2. What is the language spoken in Flanders?

Answer: French is spoken in Flanders.


WORKING WITH WORDS                                                                                 PAGE 38

I.       The following common words are used in more than one sense.

panel             studio             brush   essence           material

Examine the following sets of sentences to find out what the words, ‘panel’ and ‘essence’ mean in different contexts.

1.       (i) The masks from Bawa village in Mali look like long panels of decorated wood.

Answer: boards of decorated woods

(ii) Judge H. Hobart Grooms told the jury panel he had heard the reports.

Answer: a group of men selected to give a unanimous verdict on a legal matter.

(iii) The panel is laying the groundwork for an international treaty.

Answer: a group of experts

(iv) The glass panels of the window were broken.

Answer: window panes

(v) Through the many round tables, workshops and panel discussions, a consensus was reached.

Answer: group discussions

(vi) The sink in the hinged panel above the bunk drains into the head.

Answer: a flat board fixed with the hinge.

2.       (i) Their repetitive structure must have taught the people around the great composer the essence of music.

Answer: The most important quality of something.

(ii) Part of the answer is in the proposition, but the essence is in the meaning

Answer: The main part.

(iii) The implications of these schools of thought are of practical essence for the teacher.

Answer: practical importance

(iv) They had added vanilla essence to the pudding

Answer: the liquid extracted from the vanilla plant has a strong and concentrated taste.

II.    Now find the sentences each for the rest of the words to show the different senses           in which each of them is used.

Answer:


Poem: The Voice of the Rain                    by Walt Whitman

THINK IT OUT                                                                                                    PAGE 42

I.       1. There are two voices in the poem? Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

Answer: The two voices that are represented in the poem are that of the poet and the rain. Lines 1-2 and 3-9 indicate their voice respectively.

2. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?

Answer: The phrase alludes to a peculiar occurrence in which the rain responds to the poet's question. It's unexpected to hear the answer.

3. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.

Answer: 'Poem of Earth,' 'eternal I rise impalpable out of land and the deep sea,' and other words/phrases suggest a link between rain and music: 'Poem of Earth,' 'eternal I rise impalpable out of land and the bottomless sea,' and so on. 'For singing returns duly with affection.' Both come from a source, rise up, find fulfilment, travel around whether or not they are cared for, and eventually return to the point of origin with love.

4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science

Answer: Rain Water rises unspoiled from the land and deep-sea, accumulates in the sky, changes shape, and finally descends to earth to bathe the dry, microscopic dust particles and everything buried beneath them. Then it returns to its original location. According to science textbooks, due to the extreme heat, water vapours from rivers and the ocean rise to the sky. They take the shape of clouds and, after condensing, fall like rain. Rivers carry the water back to the oceans and seas.

5. Why are the last lines put within the brackets?

Answer: A statement about music and its cycle appears in the last two lines. These are not the same as the first nine lines. The poet's voice is heard in the first two lines, while rain speaks in lines three through nine. The song cycle is enclosed in brackets to indicate that the speakers differ but the substance is similar.

6. List the pair of opposites found in the poem.

Answer: rise-descend; day-night; reck’d-unreck’d

II.      Notice the following sentence pattern.

1.       And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.

2.       I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.

3.       Eternal I rise

4.       For song…duly with love returns.

Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

Answer:

1.       I said to the soft-falling shower, “Who are you?”

2.       The voice of the rain said, “I am the poem of Earth.”

3.       I rise eternally.

4.       For song returns duly with love.

III.     Look for some more poems on the rain and see how this one is different from them.


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