Question 5 - Chapter 7 - The Interview - Flamingo - Chapters (Literature) - English Class 12

Read the extract and answer the following questions.

Extract:

Mukund: Could the huge success of the novel have anything to do with the fact that it dealt with a period of medieval history that... 

Umberto Eco: That’s possible. But let me tell you another story, because I often tell stories like a Chinese wise man. My American publisher said while she loved my book, she didn’t expect to sell more than 3,000 copies in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin. So I was given an advance for 3,000 copies, but in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S. A lot of books have been written about the medieval past far before mine. I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. I think if I had written The Name of the Rose ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. Why it worked at that time is a mystery.

(The Interview)

Question (i)

What is the name of the novel that is being discussed in this extract?

1. The Name of the Rose
2. Foucault's Pendulum
3. The Island of the Day Before
4. Baudolino

Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

(a) The Name of the Rose

Step-by-step explanation:

• To answer this question, we need to use our background knowledge or do some research to find out what novels Eco has written and which one deals with a period of medieval history.
• According to some sources (such as https://www.britannica.com/biography/UmbertoEco), Eco has written several novels, including Foucault's Pendulum (1988), The Island of the Day Before (1994), and Baudolino (2000). However , his first and most famous novel is The Name of the Rose (1980), which is set in a 14thcentury Italian monastery and involves a series of murders and a mystery involving a lost book.
• Therefore, based on these sources, we can infer that the name of the novel that is being discussed in this extract is The Name of the Rose.😊

Question (ii)

 What does the word 'advance' mean in this context?

1. A payment made before a service or work is completed
2. A movement forward or ahead
3. A development or improvement
4. A proposal or suggestion

Answer: