The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers, Extra Question
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The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers
The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Directions:- Answer the following The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers in about 100-120 words each.
Q.1 Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris. (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Taplow has mixed feelings about Crocker-Harris. He thinks he is unfair as he has made him do extra work on the last day of school. He, according to Taplow, is the only teacher who sticks to the rules. He does not declare the results before the headmaster declares them. Taplow, in fact, even imitates his teacher. “My dear Taplow, I have given you exactly what you deserve, no less, and certainly not more,” when he wants to find out what his result is. He thinks he is hardly human, a shriveled-up nut inside, with no feeling.
He does not like people to like him. However, despite all the uncomplimentary remarks. Taplow admits that he likes Mr Crocker-Harris. Mr Crocker-Harris cracked a joke in class which nobody understood, and nobody laughed. However, Taplow felt sorry for him, and out of politeness, he laughed. The master at once complimented him on his improvement in Latin and then asked Taplow to explain the joke to the whole class.
Q.2. Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Yes, he does, though he tries to hide his bias by pretending that he does not like Taplow’s comments against a teacher. He probes Taplow’s mind, encouraging him to reveal his dislike for Crocker-Harris. He tells Taplow not to wait for the teacher and to go and play golf. He allows Taplow to imitate his teacher and then pretends to scold him.
He wonders whether Crocker-Harris beats up his students and Taplow immediately refuses this and says his teacher is not a sadist. Frank appears as an easy-going teacher, not afraid of breaking the rules, and envious of the control Crocker-Harris has on the boys.
Q.3 What do you gather about Crocker-Harris from the play? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Crocker-Harris is a strict disciplinarian, who does not believe in breaking any rules. The students are mortally afraid of him. He does not spare Taplow even on the last day of school and makes him attend an extra class. Taplow thinks he is inhuman, a shrivelled, dried-up nut inside. He is a man of principles and does not favour anyone. Crocker-Harris tells Taplow that he would be given exactly what he deserves, nothing less and nothing more. But despite his strictness, students like him for he is an upright and capable teacher, with a sense of humour.
The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers, Extra Question
Directions:- Answer the following The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers Extra in about 30-40 words each.
Q.1. How is Crocker-Harris different from other masters? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Unlike other masters, he is a stickler for rules and waits for the headmaster to announce the results first, on the last day of the term.
Q.2. “Who else pays attention to it” What does the word ‘it’ refer to? What did Taplow mean when he said the above words? Does it tell us something further about Mr Crocker-Harris?
Ans. ‘It’ is the rule about revealing the result before the last day to the students. Taplow is critical, he feels Mr Crocker-Harris does not care for the anxiety of the students. It tells us that Mr Crocker-Harris is a strict disciplinarian.
Q.3. What confession does Frank make? What do you think he must be doing?
Ans. Frank admits that he breaks the rule. He must not announce the results to his class before the headmaster does.
Q.4. What was Taplow interested in? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. He was extremely interested in science, which he thought was more exciting than plays or dull classics.
Q.5. Who are ‘slackers’? Who are ‘we’? What does Frank’s tone suggest?
Ans. Slackers are lazy students who do not want to work hard. ‘We’ stands for the science teachers. Frank’s tone suggests disappointment that good students do not take up science. They do not show much interest in what he teaches.
Q.6. What made Taplow lose interest in the subject/ book being discussed?
Ans. Taplow finds the plot interesting, but he does not like Mr Crocker-Harris’ method of teaching. They are asked to learn a lot of Greek words without making a mistake.
Q.7. What did Taplow mean by saying: “Fifty lines if you get them wrong?”
Ans. Taplow meant that Mr Crocker-Harris warned the students that they had to write 50 lines without making mistakes if they got the Greek words wrong.
Q.8. Why was Taplow waiting outside Mr Crocker-Harris’ room?
Ans. Taplow was asked to do extra work (detention) on the last day of school because he missed a day due to illness.
Q.9. Do you think Taplow was respectful of Mr Crocker-Harris? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. No, Taplow was bitter. He was punished even on the last day of school and the teacher hadn’t even told him whether he had passed.
Q.10. What do you think Taplow would have wanted to do? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Taplow would have wanted to go and play golf with his friends as it was a day of excellent weather, instead of studying Greek.
Q.11. “The man’s hardly human-made Taplow say so? “What (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Mr Crocker-Harris never expressed any feeling. He told Taplow that he had given him exactly what he deserved, nothing less and nothing more. He was not affected by Taplow’s anxieties and did nothing to allay his fears.
Q.12. After saying the above line, Taplow immediately realised his mistake. What did he realise?
Ans. Taplow realised how rude his comments were against a teacher and that too before another teacher. He realised that he got carried away and had gone too far.
Q.13. Why did Frank say that he envied Crocker-Harris? What does it tell us about him as a teacher?
Ans. Frank was envious of Crocker-Harris’s control on the students. They were all scared to death of him. Frank seemed to be an easy-going teacher with less control over his students.
Q.14. How did Taplow defend Crocker-Harris? (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Taplow defended Crocker-Harris by saying that he was not a sadist, a person who got pleasure by inflicting pain on others, as some teachers did. He was a strict disciplinarian, who followed rules and never broke them.
Q.15. Crocker-Harris would prefer to maintain his distance from students. Which expression, used by Taplow, conveys this?
Ans. Taplow called him inhuman, a person without feelings, all shrivelled up inside like a nut. He hated the idea of being liked.
Q.16. Why did Taplow laugh when he heard Mr Crocker’s joke? Why did Frank laugh?
Ans. Taplow laughed because he felt sorry for the poor joke Mr Harris had tried to make and out of ordinary politeness, Frank laughed at the explanation. What Taplow neither understood nor remembered was the joke Harris cracked.
Q.17. Describe Mrs Millie Crocker-Harris. What was Taplow’s fear of seeing her?
Ans. She was a thin lady of about thirty years, more smartly dressed than other schoolmaster’s wives. Taplow was afraid that she had overheard the conversation and he would not get his remove if she would tell Crocker-Harris.
Q.18. What reassurance does she give Taplow to remove his fears?
Ans. She promises to take the blame for sending him away and asks him to do a job for his teacher bringing a particular medicine from the chemist.
The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers, Extra Question Long Type
Directions:- Answer the following The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers Extra in about 120-130 words each.
Q.1. From what we hear from Taplow, describe Crocker-Harris. (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Crocker-Harris was a stickler for rules and kept his students in suspense till the last. He would not let his students know the results before time. He would make students stay back to do extra work and did not pay much heed to the problems of others. He was not punctual and arrived ten minutes late. Students were scared of him. Taplow could not even think of cutting his class to play golf or do anything else during the waiting period. But Crocker-Harris was not a sadist, he was a man whose feelings and emotions had dried up.
Q.2. Compare and contrast the characters of Crocker-Harris and Frank.
Ans. They are two contrasting characters. In age, outlook, and ideas, they are poles apart; two different personalities. They are both teachers in the same school. Frank teaches science, while Crocker-Harris teaches classical literature. Frank is young, while Crocker-Harris is middle-aged. They both have different temperaments. Mr Crocker-Harris is reserved, and not social at all. He does not want to be popular he seems to hate the idea of being liked by his students. Frank discusses his fellow teacher with a student, which shows he is at ease with students.
Crocker-Harris is a devoted teacher with total command over his subjects as well as his students. Frank doesn’t seem to like his subject very much and is envious of Crocker-Harris’ hold on students. Crocker-Harris follows the rules and regulations very strictly and does not tell the results before they are formally announced. Frank does not care for such formalities. He relishes Taplow’s imitation of Crocker-Harris and also does not stop him from criticizing his teacher. Crocker-Harris would never allow a student to speak in this fashion before him.
Q.3. Comment on the main idea of the play ‘The Browning Version.’ (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. The play brings to light the generation gap, especially between the young and the old. We find this gap between the attitudes of Mr. Crocker-Harris, a middle-aged teacher, and Frank, a young teacher, and also between the teachers and the students, i.e., Mr Crocker-Harris and Taplow.
The senior teacher is a stickler for the rules and regulations. He is rigid and uncompromising. He does not allow a student to become too friendly. He is just and gives only what a student deserves. On the other hand, Frank is a new young teacher who does not mind breaking rules, being friendly with students, and allowing them to talk against a fellow teacher.
Taplow’s attitude towards his teachers shows how the children are quick to find out the weaknesses of their teachers.
Q.4. Draw a rough character sketch of Taplow. (The Browning Version Class 11 Question Answers)
Ans. Taplow is a fifth grader. Just as it is students’ prerogative to talk about their teachers, laugh at their mannerisms, irritate them, and give them nicknames. Taplow does the same for Mr Crocker, who taught them the classics. He disclosed to his science teacher, Mr Frank, that Mr Harris was like a shriveled-up nut with no feeling, and Taplow was afraid of him.
But there was another side to Taplow. In heart of hearts, he liked Mr Harris’ mannerisms and strictness. He is a dutiful, obedient student. Despite Mr. Frank’s coaxing that he should go to play golf when Taplow was asked to wait after school, Taplow did not budge even though Mr Harris was late. He very dutifully waited for Mr Harris’ arrival.
Read- Summary Of The Browning Version
Read- Letter to The Editor Important for Class 12