L-5
The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan
(A) Short
Answer-type Qs & Ans.
Q1. Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow
comment on Crocker-Harris?
Ans. Yes,
Frank encourages Taplow to comment on Crocker-Harris. He, very tactfully, asks
him several questions about him in order to make Taplow comment on his teacher.
He feels envious of Crocker Harris’ popularity also. He asks Taplow to repeat the mimicry of Crocker-Harris.
Q2.Why did Taplow go to Crocker Harris’s room?
Ans. Taplow had to stay for extra time at Mr.
Crocker Harris’s room as punishment because he had missed a class due to ill
health a week ago. Taplow was to do some extra work for his teacher, who was
leaving school due to his health problems.
Q3. What was
Taplow’s reply when asked by Frank about his future plans if he got favourable
remove? What was Frank’s reaction to it?
Ans. Taplow tells him that he would like to
opt for science. Franks seems to be sad at Taplow’s choice as he considers the latter
(Taplow) a slacker (idler, loafer). But Taplow tells the young
teacher in a protesting manner that he is not a slacker and he is extremely
interested in science.
Q4. What justification did Taplow give to Frank in
calling ‘Aeschylus’, muck?
Ans. Taplow replies that he does not think
that the play is ‘muck (mud, dirt/ worthless)’. He also adds that it has a good
story about a wife murdering her husband and all that. Taplow expresses his dislike
for the way it is taught to the students and it has a lot of Greek words.
Q5. Why did Taplow not leave Mr. Crocker’s house when
Frank told him to do so as his teacher was late in reaching home? What did
Taplow say to Frank, the young teacher in this regard?
Ans. Taplow expressed his unwillingness to
leave the place and also added that he could never think of disobeying Mr.
Crocker-Harris. He also wondered at the consequences of disobeying his teacher.
He imagined that Mr. Harris would not hesitate to follow him to his home if
ever he disobeyed him.
Q6.What did
Taplow say about Mr. Crocker Harris lacking in emotions?
Ans. Taplow said that Mr. Crocker Harris had
no feelings. He said that he had shrivelled (dried) up like a nut from inside
and he seemed to dislike people who liked him and this was quite funny to find
such masters who did not like to be admired.
Q7. What What did Taplow say about the joke cracked by Crocker-Harris in the class?
Ans. Taplow tells Frank that, one day, Mr.
Crocker-Harris cracked a joke in the class at which no one except him laughed
because none including Taplow understood the joke. But, to be polite to his
teacher, Taplow laughed. In the heart of hearts, he also felt sorry for the
joke.
Q8. What did Mr. Harris tell Taplow, seeing him
laughing at the joke?
Ans. Mr. Harris appreciated Taplow’s progress
in learning Latin. Then he asked Taplow to explain the whole joke to the students,
who did not understand him.
Q9. Who is a sadist? Is Crocker-Harris a sadist according
to the definition given by Taplow for this term?
Ans. The sadist is the person who takes
pleasure in causing pain or trouble to others. But this term does not suit to
Crocker-Harris. He is a strict teacher, who does not like that the rules and
regulations of school should be broken.
Q10. Who is Millie? What does she tell Tallow about Mr. Crocker Harris? Where does she
send him?
Ans. Millie is Mr. Crocker
Harris’s wife. She tells Taplow that Mr. Crocker is at the Bursar’s (accountant's)
office and it would take quite a long time. She also suggests Taplow indirectly
to go and come back after forty-five minutes. To get an excuse for sending him,
she tells him to bring some medicine for her husband.
(B) Long Answer-type Qs.
Q1. Comment on
the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.
Ans. Taplow thinks very high of his teacher,
Mr. Crocker Harris. He calls him a different kind of teacher, who believes in
strict discipline. He is never loose in his behavior with the students.
He does not like that any of
his students should miss his class. He has a very different way of punishing
students. He keeps in his mind their betterment while punishing them. Taplow has
been punished in such a way. He wanted to make his loss that was caused due to
his absence from class. He does not disclose the result of exams to achieve
cheap publicity from the students.
Taplow thinks that he does not like buttering
from students. He shrinks when he comes to know that someone likes him. He is
not a sadist like some other teachers in school. In spite of his strictness, he
is popular with students. That’s why the teachers like Frank envy him.
Q2. What do you gather about Crocker-Harris from
the play?
Ans. Crocker-Harris is a strict teacher, who
believes that rules and regulations in school must be followed by everyone. He
does not believe in favouritism. He does not disclose the result of exams to
students before time.
He is not a sadist, who feels happy buy
putting others in difficulties and troubles. He loves his duty and cares for
his students. He tries to make up for the loss caused by any means. He has a
different way of punishing students. On his last day, he had called Taplow so
that the loss caused by his absence from the class could be made up.
He has control on his
emotions and so he is never swayed by them while deciding about the students’ results or in other situations
also. In fact, he is an ideal teacher From Taplow’s point of view.
Q3. Describe Taplow’s character as shown in the
one-act play.
Ans. Taplow is a boy of sixteen who studies
in the lower fifth grade. He wants to study science. But Agamemnon seems to be
boring for him. He is a disciplined student, who obeys the rules and regulations
of the school. He is obedient to his teacher Mr. Harris Crocker also. He accepts
the punishment given to him by his teacher positively.
He knows that he is punished
by his teacher for missing the class for one day. He does not consider it as punishment;
rather he thinks it extra work given to him by his teacher. His teacher, Frank
tries to make him against Mr. Harris Crocker.
But Taplow respects and
defends his teacher. He waits for him patiently even though his teacher is late
for ten minutes. Thus Taplow is a well-disciplined student as shown in the
one-act play.
(C) Some Important Passages
for Comprehension
Passage 1
“My dear Taplow, I have given you exactly what you
deserve. No less; and certainly no more.” Do you know sir, I think he may have
marked me down, rather than up, for taking extra work. I mean, the man’s hardly
human. (He breaks off quickly.) Sorry, sir. Have I gone too far?
Q1. Name the lesson and its writer.
Ans. The lesson is The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan
Q2. Who is the speaker and whom is he speaking to?
Ans. The speaker is Tallow.
He is speaking to Frank, a young teacher.
Q3. Who is referred to as ‘Sir’ in the above passage?
Ans. The word ‘Sir’ is
referred to Frank, Tallow’s young teacher.
Q4. What is Tallow doing by speaking the quoted words
in the passage?
Ans. He is mimicking his
teacher Crocker-Harris.
Passage 2
Anyway, Crock isn’t a sadist. That’s what I’m
saying. He wouldn’t be so frightening if he were — because at least it would
show he had some feelings. But he hasn’t. He’s all shrivelled up inside like a
nut and he seems to hate people to like him. It’s funny, that. I don’t know any
other master who doesn’t like being liked —
Q1. Who is a sadist?
Ans. The person who takes
pleasure out of others’ sufferings or troubles is called a sadist.
Q2. About whom the person is speaking and to whom?
Ans. The person is speaking
about Crocker-Harris, a teacher. He is speaking to Frank, a young teacher.
Q3. Who is the speaker in the above passage?
Ans. Tallow, a student is the speaker in the above passage.
Q4. What does the speaker
mean by saying that ‘he’ is “all shriveled up inside like a nut…”?
Ans. He means to say that his teacher has no emotions.
Q5. What is the meaning of ‘shrivelled’?
Ans. Wrinkled
Passage 3
TAPLOW:
No, sir. I’m not. In the form the other day he made one of his classical jokes. Of
course, nobody laughed because nobody understood it, myself included. Still, I
knew he’d meant it as funny, so I laughed. Out of ordinary common politeness,
and feeling a bit sorry for him for having made a poor joke. Now I can’t
remember what the joke was, but suppose I make it. Now you laugh, sir.
Q1. Who is
‘he’ in the above passage?
Ans. The pronoun ‘he’ stands for Crocker-Harris.
Q2 Who had cracked
the joke?
Ans. Crocker-Harris
Q3. Why did
not the students laugh?
Ans. They did not laugh because they did not
understand it.
Q4. Why did
Tallow laugh?
Ans. He laughed to please his teacher. He showed
common politeness.
Q5. Why did
Taplow feel sorry?
Ans. He felt sorry for the joke was the poor one,
lacking in humour.
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