Textbook Comprehension I (with answers)
1. 'I was educated more by my father's library,' says Borges. He means: a. school or the university did not educate him. b. he was educated in his father's library too. c. he learnt through private tuitions held in his father's library. Answer: b. He says his father's library educated him "perhaps more than" school or university - not instead of them.
2. Why does Borges feel guilty about his mother? Because he was not a happy man and so could not give her the happiness she deserved. He feels he should have been more understanding of her.
3. According to Borges, blindness is: a. just a physical handicap. b. not a misfortune. c. actually a resource. Answer: c. Whatever happens to a writer is a resource for his art.
4. Why does Borges prefer to believe that he is not blind? It is his way of accepting and enjoying life. He continues to buy books and fill his house with them, as if he could still read them.
5. When we read a book what matters is not the author's intention but what sense we get out of it. True/False? True. The author's intention is "a meager thing"; a book goes beyond it.
6. How does the book go beyond the author's intention? Every book has something more, something mysterious. When we read an ancient book we read all the time that has passed since it was written. Even if it has errors, it keeps something sacred and magical that brings happiness.
7. When does the poetic act happen, according to Borges? When the poet writes the poem and when the reader reads it - each time in a slightly different manner.
8. What cannot be defined without oversimplifying it? Poetry - like the colour yellow, love, or the fall of leaves in autumn.
9. Which is the most astounding invention of man? The book.
Textbook Comprehension II and III (model answers)
Q. Why does Borges feel remorseful after his mother's death? Can this experience be generalised? (II-1) He feels he was not a happy man and could not give her the happiness she deserved; he should have been more understanding. Yes, it can be generalised. Borges himself says all children, when their mother dies, feel they took her for granted, like the moon, the sun or the seasons. We realise a mother's worth only after losing her.
Q. How does Borges elaborate on Goethe's words 'all that is near becomes far'? (II-2) Goethe refers not only to the sunset but to life itself: all things leave us. In Borges's case, the visible world has moved away from his eyes, probably forever. But it has been replaced by other things, and his duty is to accept and enjoy them.
Q. What, according to Borges, should one think of humiliations and misfortunes? (II-3) One should think of them as a resource. They are given to us for a purpose, as raw material like clay, so that we may shape our art and transmute our miserable circumstances into lasting works. He supports this with Homer's words that the gods spun ruin for men so that there might be a song for future generations.
Q. Discuss Borges's views on poetry and poem. (II-4) A poem is only a series of symbols on a page. Poetry is the aesthetic act - the experience that happens when the poet writes and when the reader reads, slightly differently each time. Poetry is so intimate that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it. It is magical, mysterious and unexplainable, though not incomprehensible. If the reader does not feel it, the poet has failed.
Q. Why is it important for poetry to use language precisely? What example does Borges use? (II-5) Precise words are what create emotion. Borges quotes Emily Dickinson: "This quiet dust was gentlemen and ladies." The idea that we all become dust is a cliche, but the words "gentlemen and ladies" give the line its magic. Had she written "men and women", the line would have been trivial.
Q. In spite of modern modes of communication, Borges believes that books will not disappear. Illustrate. (II-6) Borges says the book is man's most astounding invention. Other inventions extend our body - the telephone our voice, the telescope and microscope our sight, the sword and plough our arms. Only the book extends our imagination and memory. Books are the great memory of all centuries; their function is irreplaceable. If books disappeared, history and man would disappear too.
Q. 'Poetry is magical, mysterious and unexplainable.' How does Borges explain the strange aspect of poetry? (III-1) Borges says poetry cannot be defined, just as we cannot define yellow, love or falling autumn leaves. It is not the printed poem but an event that happens between the poet and each reader, differently every time. We become aware of it when it happens, yet cannot fully explain it. Its magic lies in precise words, as in Dickinson's "gentlemen and ladies", and in essential metaphors that have existed from the beginning of time.
Q. How does Borges value literature? Why is it important for the future of mankind? (III-2) Borges calls literature "a controlled dream" and says we owe it almost everything we are, have been and will be. Our past is a sequence of dreams, and books are the great memory of all centuries. Literature preserves human experience, imagination and history. Without books, history - and man himself - would disappear, so literature is essential for mankind's future.
Exam-Pattern Questions and Answers
Two-mark questions
Q1. What was Borges's first literary reading? His first reading was Grimm's Fairy Tales in an English version. He says he was educated by his father's library.
Q2. Name the essential metaphors mentioned by Borges. Time and a river; life and dreams; death and sleep; stars and eyes; flowers and women.
Three-mark question (about 60 words)
Q3. How does Jorge Luis Borges define poetry? (asked in the 2025 board paper) Borges says poetry is so intimate and essential that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it, like yellow, love or falling autumn leaves. Poetry is the aesthetic act, not the poem, which may be only a series of symbols. It happens when the poet writes and when the reader reads, slightly differently each time. It is magical, mysterious and unexplainable.
Four-mark question (about 100 words)
Q4. Why does Borges believe that books will never disappear? Some people think modern communication will replace books with something faster. Borges disagrees. He says the book is the most astounding of man's inventions. The telephone extends our voice, the telescope and microscope our sight, the sword and plough our arms - they are extensions of the body. Only the book is an extension of our imagination and memory. Literature is a controlled dream to which we owe almost everything we are. Books are the great memory of all centuries, so their function is irreplaceable. If books disappeared, history and man himself would disappear.
Reported speech (as set in 2025)
Report the conversation: Alifano: Can we talk about Dona Leonor, your mother? Borges: My mother was an extraordinary person. Alifano: What is blindness to you? Borges: Well, now it is a way of life. My duty is to accept it.
Answer: Alifano asked Borges if they could talk about Dona Leonor, his mother. Borges replied that his mother had been an extraordinary person. Alifano then asked him what blindness was to him. Borges said that it was then a way of life and that his duty was to accept it.
[Exam Tip] — In reported speech, "Can we" becomes "if they could", "your mother" becomes "his mother", "is" becomes "was/had been", and "now" becomes "then". Keep "Borges" and "Alifano" straight.