UNIT IV

poem: Television
gldDahl

gre-reading Activit
many hours off
low
Ho
Whatk television
kind of programmes do
do you
watch ina a day?
you generally
much of what you
watch do vou watch?
Watch remember or are able to
recall
Doyou
Whatwould you
television
do
even
when your kind of
programme is not on air?
, y
when there is no
television or internet or mobile phonts
Howdo vou think people spent their
, time when there was no
1When a story or book that you have read is television
made into a film ora atelevision programme,
which one do veyou prefer and why?
do you r
What remember more-the storiessyou have read or listened to or thetelevision
anngrammes you have watched?
Ou know any other term for television?

About the Author

uDahl (1916-90) was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and
recognisedwihi screenwriter.
as one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th 2

Tnhl's books deal

century"
fantasyJahd a make-believe world and are a thrilling mixture
ntesque and the comic. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), The BFG (1982) of
(1988) are among his most popular children's novelsstthat have also been made and
into
Resides, he has published more than a dozen collections of short
stories. About his
dren's stories, he once said: "I make
ke my points by exaggerating wildly. That's the only
in get through to children". He received several awards, including the Edgar Allan
Award (1954, 1959), World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (1983),
hor of the Year Award (1990) and Children's
Millennium Children's Book Award (2000).

65
66 English in Action: A Textbook for College Students

About the Poem

"Television" is one of Roald 1 Dahl's best-known poems Using his characteristie

negativeyuimmoapan
Dahl criticises children's addiction nto television The poem highlights sthe
of television on young minds and warns that too much television can kill
the
of
children.Dahl
television
also proposes reading, books as a healthier
alternative ipagiwatrnat
their
andjadvises parents to wean their children away from television if they wN
children to grow up with healthy minds and healthy bodies. He is
once children overcome their initial resistance and discover the pleasures of contident tha
will thank their parents for introducing them to the world of imagination. reading they
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
Adozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
(Until they're hypnotised by it) 4
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?
 Poenm: Television 67
IT
ROTSTHE SENSE IN THE HEADI
Cr KILS
LrT CLOGSIMAGINATION DEAD O
IT MAKES AND CLUTTERS UP THE
HE CAN NO CHILD SO DULL AND MIND!
A
LONGER BLIND
A
HISFANTASY,
BRAIN
A UNDERSTAND
FAIRYLAND!
BECOMES
HIS POWERS De
OF ASSOFT AS CHEESE!
HE THINKINGONLY
CANNOT THINK-HE RUST AND FREEZE!
"All right" you'll cry." All SEES!
But if we take the set right!" you'll say,
What shall we do to away,
Our darling children?entertain
We'll answer this by Please eexplaint"
asking you,
"What used the darling
How used they keep ones to do?
themselves contented
Before this monster was
Have you forgotten? Don'invented?"
t you know?
We'll say itvery loud and slow:
THEY.. USED ... TO... READ! Theyd READ
AND READ and READ, and and READ,
To READ some more. Great then proceed
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, ite's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
 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
clog kiog: block; choke up; to be filled with something so that nothing else passes
through it
clutter /klata'/: to fill a place with things that are not organised
contented kan'tent1d: satisfied; happy
foul faoV: unpleasant
 69
Poem: Television

to look at someone or somethingg with your mouth open because you are
stare;
pelgespl:
prised
/go:stlV: extremely unpleasant or bad amazement
ahastly expressions of surprise,
tScott! gadzooksl: shoddy material
or
enk /dyAgk/: useless, cheapin a lazy, relaxed way
tollu
Aoy: to sit or lie down
move in a lazy way
ounge Aaondy: to recline, act or noise quieter, less clear
a
ffle /mafV: subdued; to make to vomit; revolting
eaUseating /nT:sieit1r: something that makes you want
pals1vl: extremely unpleasant; disgusting
repulsive ri
ridiculous Ii'dikjYlas/: very silly
poneself in a disordered way
slop /slopl: to keep
child
tot /tot/:a small
Comprehension
poet addressing in the poem? What is his advice to them?
Who is the
2
prose: The Fringe Benefits
of Failure, and the
Importance of Imagination
KRowling

Pre-readingActivity
what is failure to vou?
How would you define success? And
failure in life?
Have you ever experienced
. doing or attempting something?
, Does the fear of failure stop you from
a bad thing?
. Do you think failure is always
learn from our failures?
What life lessons can we 'sympathy'2
know what 'empathy' means and how it is different from
Do you beings have that sets them apart from
What do you think is the capacity that human
.
other creatures?
we should worry only about ourselves or do you think we have some
Do you think fortunate than us?
responsibility towards others, particularly those who are less

About the Author

Rowling (born 1965), best known as JK Rowling, is a British novelist, screenwriter
Joanne fantasy series Harry Potter,
and film producer) She is the author of the best-selling story. She came from a
comprising seven books. Rowling's life is a classic rags-to-riches
she became an international
humble economic background and lived on welfare before Stone. Six other books
sensation in 1999 with her first book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'sturned
into blockbuster
followed and they sold hundreds of millions of copies and were of £600 million.
films, and today, she is one of the richest women, with an estimated wealth
71
 72
English in Action: ATextbook for College Students
She is also one of Britain's s most benevolent celebrities, donating alarge
fortune to charities. proportion of he

About the Speech

1he current selection is an extract from the graduation speech deivered by Rowl.
Harvard University on June 5, 2008. The speech was later published as a book ing at
title Verv Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the lmportance of Imaginatiow ith the
e
Recalling her rown graduation ceremony and drawing on her lite experiences, Rowl (2015)
delivers an insightful speech. Instead ofa rouine speech given on suchoccasionsm
ns motivatiryg
the graduating students to pursue success Rowling encourages them to redefine
and failure on their own terms. She advises them not to be afraid of failureand
them to use their privileged postion to serve the needy. She emphasises that only thro
succes,
exhorts
imagination can one feel the pain of others and create a better world for everyone

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

JK Rowling

(Extract)

On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic succese
Ihave decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. .. 6
What I feared most foror myself at your age was not poverty, but failure..Ultimately
we allhave to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eaper
to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional
measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, Ihad failed on an epic scale. An
exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and
as poor raas it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that
my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and hy
every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life
was a dark one..
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant astripping
away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than
what Iwas, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to
me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, Imight never have found the determination
to succeed in the one arena I believed Itruly belonged. Iwas set free, because my greatest
fear had been realised, and Iwas still alive, and Istill had adaughter whom Iadored, and
 74
English in Action: A Textbook for College Students
criteria/krar'tio.ri.y plural of criterion; principles or standards by which somethin
be judged or decided
epic/ep.i/scale: extremely large scale
exceptionally/k'sep,fn.Li/: unusually, greater than normal
iringe benefit/ frnd ben..U: something extra that you get in addition to your pa
humility/hju:'mil a ti/: hunbleness; modesty
implodefm'paUd/: to crash or collapse inward violently
inessential/, tn.r'sen./: not absolutely necessary
Vinevitable/ nev.I.tY.b: unavoidable; certain to happen
essays on ethics and virtue
I7utarch: a Greek philosopher, best known for his
vicissitudes/vI' SIS.L.tfu:dzk unforeseen change in one's life or fortunes

Comprehension I
ation?
 Vocatalary: One-ord Substitutes
Who s
Ceeson overly anxious about his/her Answer k Hypocrite
erson who is selfless ad has concern for
3 elfare of others L Maverick
eerson who is 70-vears old
Vocabulary: One-word Aperson offunorthodox ortunconventional

Aperson
whot
pretends to be what he/she is
mCynic
Sceptic

1s Septuagerarian
Substitutes
ExerciseI
tp replacea group of words or
Ohe-word substitutes ane words that can bye used descriptionsin
column I with
ond
sentence without any loss of mean5iting crisp andsubstitutes are an essential featun Matchthe their one-word substitutes in column Il.
us mak precise. 1ake a lookat
ay building and they help Open to moree than one possible meaning or Answer
nterpretation Reticent
pads
" He went to the shop to buy some paper. pens, files and
This can be rewritten as follows ot or print that is impossible or hard to read
Soporific
He went to the shop to buy some stationers at fit orqualified b C Fastidious
NOru speaking freely or openly
NO d. Congenital
Exercise nable of being understood h e Ambiguous
one-word substitutes in column l. lt or
Difticuito impossible to understand
Match the descriptions in column I with their Congenial
nswe
nswe 7. Causthssleep or drowsines & legible
LOne who kniows many languages Valetudinarian RExcessively attentive
atfent to details h Intelligible
2 One who dislikes or distrusts women
b. Pessimist
O A condition present from birth L Ineligible
3. One vwho loves book
Altruist n Pleasant and suited to one's nature li Incomprehensible
4 One who is doubtful about the existence of Td Polvglot
god
Femirnist
5A person who doubts accepted opinions
6 One who is unaffected by joy or grief f Agnostic
7 Aperson who believes that everything is & Misanthrope
motivated by selfishness
B.A person who expects the worst b h. Bibliophile
9 One who hates ormistrusts humankind L Misogynist
10. Aperson who supports women's rights Stoic

76
 Poem: Accomplishments
85
epoemdescribeshow men and women
seem to operate in two
'naturally expected totake care of the distinct spheres; while
ar
wTIen participate in the public sphere. domestic sphere, men are as 'naturally
wtedto Traditionally, a man's role is seen
orotector and a woman's as the caretaker as the
povder er
contribution too of both the homne and
men 'ss society is celebrated, women's the family.
uACKTOWwledged
Nhile and of course,
unpaid. While 'invisible labour' at home goes
to succeed, the poem also implies that underlining how doubly difficult it is for
and
notied remarked upon precisely because it iswomen's
considered
success in the public sphere is
unusual.

Accompl ishment s
Elizabeth Ralph Mertz
When Aristotle wrote his books,
When Milton searched for
rhyme,
Did they have toddlers at the knee
Requesting dinner time?
When Darnte contemplateda hell,
Or Shakespeare penned sonnet,
Did Junior interrupt to say
His cake had ketchup on it?
When Socrates was teaching youth
And Plato wrote the Phaedo,
Were they the ones to clean the mess
The children made with Play-Doh?

If Edmund Burke had had to work

On all his kids' ablutions,
Would he have had the time and strength
To speak on Revolutions?

When Homer wrote his Illiad

Or Aesop told a fable,
Were they concerned about whose turn
it was to set the table?
 87
Poem: Accomplishments
is to his political
Burke:eghteenth century Irish statesman the reference here
pnphlet,
Reflections on the Revoollution in France (1790)
the
wtions: act of washing lliad
ancient oneself of two great epics
Greek poet considered to be the author
dOtyssey
Greek< fables known as Aesop's Fables
up: storyteller known
Sir Isaac for his collection of
century English scientist
who invented the
calculus
Newton, seventeenth
wpopular American brand of laundry detergent evolution
wovin: Charles Robert Darwin, English biologist famous for his theory of
ublished in his book On the Origin of Species (1899)
e make someone quiet or
silent Holmes Jr, influential
Holmesand Brandeis: Louis Dembitz Brandeis and Oliver Wendell were
judges o the supreme Courofbe Iited States in early twentieth century who
champions s of the rights of the citizens and of free speech rights
cgle: to o two or more activities at the sarme time
holarshp: academic study, learning
persevere/po:si'via: continue to do something in adetermined way despite difficulties
Comprehension
Make a list of all th