AHSEC | Lesson 6 | Keeping Quiet Questions Answers | English

 Lesson 6 | Keeping Quiet By Pablo Neruda | Questions Answers | English

Lesson 6: Keeping Quiet

I. Very short type questions.

1. Who is the poet of the “Keeping Quiet”?
Answer: The poet of the “Keeping Quiet” is Pablo Neruda.

2. What does the poet in “Keeping Quiet” ask us to do?
Answer: The poet in “Keeping Quiet” asks us to Keep Quiet up till he counts up to twelve.

3. Why does the poet ask us to keep Quiet?
Answer: The poet asks up to keep quiet because it will help to introspect ourselves and create a mutual understanding amongst us.

4. What is the real name of Pablo Neruda?
Answer: The real name of Pablo Neruda is Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto.

5. What is the ‘exotic moment’ in ‘keeping Quiet’?
Answer: The ‘exotic moment’ will be when the people will be without rush and harshness caused by the engines.

6. How can we all be together in a ‘sudden strangeness’?
Answer: We all be together in a sudden strangeness without rush and without engines when we all will be keeping quiet for a few whiles.

7. What is meant by ‘green wars’?
Answer: By ‘green wars’ the poet wants to denote the activities of people that degrade the environment. The wars with gas or fire leaves no survivors, but only causes great harm to the world.

8. Read the following stanzas carefully and Answer the followings:

a. “Those who prepare ………… in the shade, doing nothing.”  
[H.S. 2013, 2015]

i. What are the different kinds of wars mentioned by the poet in the passage?
Answer: The different kinds of wars mentioned by the poet in the passage are green wars, wars with gas and wars with fire etc. 

ii. What kind of victory do they achieve?
Answer: The people achieve a kind of victory where no survivor is left. 

iii. What should the warmongers do?
Answer: The warmongers should call off the wars and walk about with their brothers in search of peace. 

iv. Find the words in the passage that mean ‘those left alive’ and ‘win’?
Answer: Those left alive – Survivors 
Win – Victory

b. “Now we will count ……... our arms so much.”
i. How long does the poet want to stay still?
Answer: The poet wants to stay still until he counts up to twelve.
ii. Why does he ask us to keep still and not use any language?
Answer: 
iii. What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’?

c. “Perhaps the Earth can ………. Keep quiet and I will go”.        [H.S. 2018]

i. What can the Earth teach us?
Answer: The Earth can teach us how a dead like object can later prove to be alive. The Earth maintains a deep silence in the night as if it is a dead object, but later in the morning life begins with new spirit. 

ii. Why does the poet count up to twelve?
Answer: The poet counts up to twelve so that the people can keep quiet for a while and get an opportunity for self-introspection. 

iii. What will ‘keeping quiet’ help us achieve?
Answer: Keeping quiet for a little while will help to ensure peace everywhere. People will stop hurting themselves and the nature.


II. Short type Answers.

1. Why does the poet Neruda wish to count to twelve?
Answer: The poet urges the people to keep quiet up till he counts to twelve. Keeping Quiet for a while would bring a halt to all human activities in the world. The earth would experience peace at large and get an opportunity to introspect the human activities.

2. What is the significance of the phrase ‘the face of the earth’ in Neruda's poem.
Answer: ‘The face of the earth’ signifies lives and the activities going on in the world. The world is so lively and drastically busy that people have no time to look back. But Keeping quite would help the world to bring a new momentum to this world.

3. What is considered to be ‘an exotic moment’ in the poem?              [H.S. 2018]
Answer: The people on the earth are so busy that their activities create terrific nuisance. When the people will Keep quiet that will be an ‘exotic moment’ without rush and harshness caused by the engines.

4. ‘Fishermen in the cold sea would not harm whales’ What is meant by the above line by Neruda?

Answer: Human beings are involved in various selfish activities which hurt the world and its environment. But actually, those activities have many negative effects which ultimately hurt the human beings. So, people should give a few seconds to then selves to introspect those activities.

5. ‘……. and the man gathering salt would look at his hurt hands.’ What, is meant by gathering salt in the above lines? How are his hands hurt?
Answer: In the question mentioned line “gathering salts” means such human activities which are carried on by human beings to earn their bread and butter.

In the process of carrying out all selfish human activities, the human beings have caused great damage to the world and its environment.

6. What is the meaning of “wars with gas”?
Answer: The people of the world are busy hurting it and its environment. Their harmful activities produce catastrophic gases which are responsible for environmental degradation.

7. What do you mean by “wars with fire”?
Answer: By “wars with fire” it is meant the human wars with arms and ammunitions. These wars create great destructions to the mankind and the world and its environment.

8. Who are the brothers mentioned in the poem?
Answer: In the poem “Keeping Quiet” the phrase ‘brothers’ indicates the whole mankind at large. The people in this world are not more than brothers as the greater humanity bind us into human beings.

9. What is the likely confusion regarding Neruda’s desire?
Answer: In the poem “Keeping Quiet”, Neruda appeals us to keep quiet. But having said that, he never wants us to confuse with total inactivity or death.

10. What is the meaning of ‘want no truck with death’? About what are we so single minded? 
Answer: By ‘want no truck with death’ the poet means that he has only asked to keep quiet for a little while, but not to relate that silence with total inactivity or death. 
We are very much single minded about keeping our lives moving by any means.

11. What is this sadness that Neruda talks of?
Answer: The sadness that Neruda talks of is that the people never try to understand themselves and threaten them with death.

12. What can ‘finally teach us’ as note in Neruda’s poem?
Answer: In Neruda’s poem the poet appeals us to keep quiet. But the readers confuse the silence with death. The earth can teach us how the people can keep silence and later prove to be active. The earth becomes silent at night but later in the day time becomes active. 

III. Long Answer Type Questions:

1. What will “counting up to twelve” and “keeping quiet” help to achieve?

Answer: The people in this world are selfish. They carry out activities which fulfill their self-interest. But the selfish activities are hurting the nature a lot. There is degradation of humanity everywhere. So, the poet appeals everyone to keep quiet and give themselves a few minutes for self-introspection. Keeping quiet for a little while will help to ensure peace everywhere. People will stop hurting themselves and the nature. It will also help to develop a sense of mutual understanding and a feeling of brotherly hood amongst the people.

2. Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
Answer: For the sake of greater humanity, the poet of “Keeping Quiet” has asked everyone to keep quiet and give themselves a chance of self-introspection. But the reader must not confuse the silence with total inactivity and death. The people must keep silence and bring their works to a halt so as to stop all harmful activities. They must wait for a while for reviewing their activities.
The earth can teach them how the people can keep silence and later prove to be active. The earth becomes silent at night but later in the day time becomes active.