2nd year english notes lesson 4 Learning to Write in College

2nd year english notes lesson 4 Learning to Write in College Russell Baker SHORT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS FOR CLASS XII Question No: 1 Why did the writer not want to write an essay? What discovery changedhis mind? Answer: The writer did not want to write an essay because he did not likeessay at all. He felt writing an essay a boring task. Of all forms of writing, noneseemed as boring as the essay.Discovery that changed his mind was that he saw an interesting topic on hishomework sheet offering a choice of topic to him. The topic on which his eyesstopped was ³The Art of Eating Spaghetti.´ This produced extraordinarysequence of mental images arousing his interest and his mind was changed. Hestarted writing the essay for his own pleasure. Question No: 2 Why did eating spaghetti so delight the people at the supper table? Answer: The eating of spaghetti so delighted the people at the supper tableas it was an exotic treat in those days. No one among them had enoughexperience of eating spaghetti. They had good humour and laughing argumentswith each other especially on the socially acceptable method for movingspaghetti from plate to mouth. Question No: 3 What comments does the writer make on the role of formal rules inwriting? Answer: The writer¶s comments signify that it makes no difference toviolate the rules of formal way of writing. About role of formal rules in writing,the writer makes comments that he likes writing the essay (i.e. The Art of Eating Spaghetti), not for Mr. Fleagle but for his own pleasure. It is sure itwould violate all the rules of formal composition and Mr. Fleagle would surelygive it a failing grade. Doesn¶t matter, he would write something else for Mr.Fleagle. Question No: 4 What is your opinion of Mr. Fleagle? How did it change during the course of reading the essay? Answer: I am of the opinion that Mr. Fleagle is a serious, nice,hardworking, kind and dedicated teacher.During the course of reading the essay, my opinion about him was changedgradually. In the beginning, he seems to me a prim and boring teacher of English. But later my thoughts changed. I came to know he was really a nice,hardworking and dedicated teacher. Even when he was reading the writer¶sessay to the class, he smiled. He actually had a deep love for his students andwanted them to learn in order to be successful in life. Question No: 5 What was the significance of the essay·s main event for the writer? Answer: The essay¶s main event signifies that it was the pleasure the writer felt when Mr. Fleagle was reading the essay to the class. This event wassignificant for the writer who was in pure ecstasy at the startling demonstrationthat his words had the power to make people laugh. This gave him (i.e. thewriter) earnest, serious and touching feelings of personal importance