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This blog on NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words Poem 4: Telephone Conversation provides clear and concise answers to the questions of this poem. It helps students understand the themes of racial prejudice, satire, and resistance in this powerful poem. These solutions are prepared to help in exam preparation by exploring the poem’s emotional depth. You can also download the free PDF for quick revision.
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Explore Notes of Class 11 English Woven Words
NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Woven Words Poem 4: Telephone Conversation
Here are the NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words Poem 4: Telephone Conversation, designed to enhance understanding of the poem’s themes, imagery, and satirical nuances for effective revision.
UNDERSTANDING THE POEM
1. State the central issue in the poem.
Solution: The central issue in the Telephone Conversation is racial prejudice, depicted through a phone dialogue between an African speaker and a British landlady about renting a flat. The landlady’s fixation on the speaker’s skin colour, asking “HOW DARK? … ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?”, reveals her discriminatory attitude. The speaker’s satirical responses, using terms like “West African sepia” and “peroxide blonde,” expose the absurdity and dehumanising nature of racism, highlighting the broader societal issue of judging individuals based on race rather than merit.
2. There are intervals of silence in the interaction between the landlady and the prospective tenant. What are the reasons for this?
Solution: The intervals of silence in the interaction reflect the landlady’s shock and discomfort upon learning the speaker is African. The first silence occurs after the speaker’s “self-confession,” “I am African,” as the landlady processes this revelation, her “pressurised good-breeding” faltering. Another silence follows the speaker’s witty response, “West African sepia,” as she struggles to comprehend his invented term, indicating her confusion and ignorance. These pauses highlight her underlying prejudice, momentarily disrupting her polite facade, and underscore the tension in their racially charged exchange.
3. How is colour highlighted in the poem and why? List all the words in the poem that suggest colour.
Solution: Colour is highlighted in the poem to expose the landlady’s racist obsession with the speaker’s skin tone, emphasising the absurdity of racial prejudice. The landlady’s questions, “HOW DARK? … ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?”, reduce the speaker to his skin colour, ignoring his humanity. The speaker’s satirical responses, like “plain or milk chocolate,” “West African sepia,” “peroxide blonde,” and “raven black,” mock this fixation, using colour imagery to challenge her prejudice. The vivid red imagery of the British setting, “red booth,” “red pillar-box,” “red double-tiered omnibus”, contrasts with the speaker’s alienation, reinforcing the racial divide.
Words suggesting colour: dark, light, very dark, very light, red (booth, pillar-box, double-tiered omnibus), plain chocolate, milk chocolate, West African sepia, peroxide blonde, brunette, raven black, lipstick coated, gold-rolled (cigarette-holder).
4. Which are the lines in the poem that impressed you the most and why?
Solution: The lines that stand out are:
“Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused,
Foolishly madam, by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black.”
These lines impress due to their sharp wit and biting satire. The speaker humorously describes his body parts in exaggerated, absurd colour terms, mocking the landlady’s fixation on his skin tone. The playful tone, combined with the clever use of “peroxide blonde” and “raven black,” exposes the ridiculousness of racial categorisation, while the phrase “friction, caused, foolishly madam, by sitting down” delivers a subtle jab at her ignorance. This blend of humour and critique makes these lines powerful and memorable.
5. You know what ‘hide-and-seek’ is. What would ‘hide-and-speak’ mean?
Solution: The phrase “public hide-and-speak” in the poem refers to the societal tendency to conceal prejudice behind a facade of politeness, only to reveal it indirectly through words or actions. Unlike the children’s game “hide-and-seek,” where players hide and are sought, “hide-and-speak” suggests hiding one’s true discriminatory feelings while speaking in a way that betrays them. The landlady’s “pressurised good-breeding” and her blunt questions about the speaker’s skin colour exemplify this, as she masks her prejudice with polite inquiry, yet her words expose her bias, creating a “stench” of insincere civility.
6. Certain words in the poem are in capital letters, why?
Solution: The words in capital letters, “HOW DARK?”, “ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?”, “ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?”, “WHAT’S THAT?”, “THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?”, represents the landlady’s spoken questions, emphasising her blunt and intrusive focus on the speaker’s skin colour. The capitalisation conveys her loud, insistent tone, highlighting her lack of tact and underlying prejudice. It also draws attention to the absurdity and offensiveness of her inquiries, making them stand out as pivotal moments in the poem that expose her racism and drive the speaker’s satirical response.
7. Why do you think that the poet has chosen the title Telephone Conversation? If you were to suggest another title for the poem, what would it be?
Solution: The title Telephone Conversation reflects the poem’s setting, a phone call between the speaker and the landlady, where the medium of communication amplifies the absurdity of racial prejudice, as the landlady judges the speaker without seeing him. The title underscores the anonymity of the interaction, where her questions about skin colour are particularly irrational, and highlights the conversational nature of the speaker’s witty retorts. An alternative title could be Shades of Prejudice, as it captures the poem’s focus on the landlady’s obsession with skin colour and the speaker’s satirical play on shades like “sepia,” “brunette,” and “raven black” to critique racism.
8. The power of poetry lies in suggestion and understatement. Discuss this with reference to the poem.
Solution: In Telephone Conversation, Soyinka uses suggestion and understatement to powerfully critique racial prejudice without overt condemnation. Instead of directly accusing the landlady of racism, the poem subtly reveals her bias through her questions, “HOW DARK? … ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?”, allowing readers to infer her prejudice. The speaker’s understated, humorous responses, such as “West African sepia” and “peroxide blonde,” suggest defiance and wit rather than anger, making the critique more impactful. The poem’s vivid imagery, like the “stench of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak,” subtly implies the pervasive nature of societal prejudice. This restrained approach engages readers to reflect on racism’s absurdity, enhancing the poem’s emotional and intellectual resonance.
Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1: The Portrait of a Lady (Free PDF)
TRY THIS OUT
1. Enact the conversation bits with your partner.
Solution: Students can enact the dialogue in a Telephone Conversation by dividing roles: one as the African speaker and the other as the British landlady. Begin with the speaker’s polite inquiry: “Madam, I hate a wasted journey, I am African.” The landlady responds with silence, then asks, “HOW DARK? … ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?” The speaker, with increasing wit, replies: “You mean, like plain or milk chocolate?” and later, “West African sepia … down in my passport.” Continue with the speaker’s humorous descriptions: “Facially, I am brunette … Palm of my hand, soles of my feet / Are a peroxide blonde … My bottom is raven black.” End with the speaker’s challenge: “Madam, wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?” Use tone to convey the landlady’s bluntness and the speaker’s sarcasm, practising pauses to reflect the poem’s silences.
2. Attempt a description of
a. the place from which the call was made
b. the lady at the other end
c. the speaker in the poem.
Solution:
a. The place from which the call was made: The call is made from a public telephone booth, vividly described as a “red booth” alongside a “red pillar-box” and “red double-tiered omnibus squelching tar.” This British urban setting, with its iconic red imagery, creates a sense of alienation for the African speaker, emphasising the foreign environment where he faces prejudice. The booth’s confined space mirrors the oppressive atmosphere of the conversation.
b. The lady at the other end: The landlady is portrayed as pretentious and prejudiced, with a “lipstick-coated” voice and a “long gold-rolled cigarette-holder pipped,” suggesting an affected, upper-class demeanour. Her blunt questions, “HOW DARK? … ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?”, reveal her racism, masked by “pressurised good-breeding.” Her clinical, impersonal tone and confusion at “West African sepia” expose her ignorance and discomfort.
c. The speaker in the poem: The speaker is an African man, articulate and quick-witted, seeking to rent a flat. Aware of potential prejudice, he preemptively discloses his identity: “I am African.” His satirical responses, “plain or milk chocolate,” “West African sepia,” “peroxide blonde”, reflect his intelligence and resilience, using humour to challenge the landlady’s racism while maintaining composure, ending with a bold invitation: “Wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?”
3. The poem evokes a mental picture of the scene. Draw a rough sketch to illustrate the episode.
Solution: To create a rough sketch of the episode, depict a red telephone booth in a British urban setting, with a red pillar-box and a red double-decker bus in the background, capturing the “red double-tiered omnibus squelching tar.” Inside the booth, show a man (the speaker) holding a phone, with a thoughtful or slightly exasperated expression, reflecting his reaction to the landlady’s questions. Include speech bubbles with phrases like “HOW DARK?” and “West African sepia” to convey the dialogue’s tension and satire. Add details like a city street with wet tar to ground the scene in reality, emphasising the speaker’s alienation and the absurdity of the conversation.
4. The poem ends with ‘Wouldn’t you rather see for yourself?’. Imagine a personal encounter between the two people in the poem and write down the dialogue they might have had.
Solution: Imagined Dialogue for a Personal Encounter
Setting: The speaker arrives at the landlady’s flat to view it.
Landlady (opening the door, hesitant): Oh, you must be the gentleman from the phone. Well… come in, I suppose.
Speaker (calmly, with a smile): Thank you, madam. I thought it best to see the place for myself, as I suggested.
Landlady (nervously, eyeing him): Yes, well… I just need to know, um, you said something about… sepia? What exactly is your, er, complexion?
Speaker (wryly): Madam, as I said, facially, I’m brunette. But you see my palms, peroxide blonde, wouldn’t you say? (shows hands, smirking) And my soles, equally light, though I won’t trouble you with those.
Landlady (flustered): I didn’t mean to offend! It’s just… tenants, you know, some prefer certain… types. Is that really in your passport?
Speaker (teasing): West African sepia? Oh, madam, it’s a poetic flourish, but my passport simply says African. Would you like to check it?
Landlady (embarrassed): No, no, that’s unnecessary. The flat… it’s small, might not suit you.
Speaker (firmly): Let me decide that, madam. I’m here for the flat, not your approval of my skin. Shall we take a look?
Landlady (awkwardly): Right, yes, this way…
This dialogue maintains the speaker’s wit and the landlady’s discomfort, mirroring the poem’s satirical tone while imagining a face-to-face confrontation where the speaker continues to challenge her prejudice.
Download NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Woven Words Poem 4: Telephone Conversation
You can download the free PDF of NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Woven Words Poem 4: Telephone Conversation for effective revision.
Download more NCERT Solutions of Class 11 English ‘Woven Words’ here!
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| Poem 2: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds Solution |
| Poem 3: Coming Solution |
| Poem 5: The World is too Much With Us Solution |
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