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Question
Answer in your own word.
What are the instances which create humour in “The Luncheon”?
Solution
The instances in the story that creates humor are:
- when the writer sees the woman at Foyot's
- when she orders dish after dish, after first saying that she eats nothing for luncheon, and then insisting that she ate only one thing for luncheon.
- when she tells the writer, who is dating only a mutton chop, that he should not overload his stomach.
- when she says that the writer has insisted on her eating asparagus.
- when the writer imagines what he would do while paying the bill.
- when the writer says that he would not eat anything for dinner that night.
- when the writer tells us the woman's weight when he sees her again after twenty years.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
B. Read the following passage and do the given activities:
B1. Choose the correct options from the bracket and fill in the blanks:
(younger, eighty, twenty, interval)
i. I went over during the _______ and sat down beside her.
ii. None of us are getting any _______.
iii. It was _______ years ago.
iv. I had _______ francs to last me the rest of the month.
I caught sight of her at the play and in answer to her call. I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her and, if someone had not mentioned her name, I hardly think I would have recognized her. She addressed me brightly.
“Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time does fly! We’re none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.”
Did I remember?
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment and I was earning barely enough money. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and presently, I received from her another letter saying she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me. But her time was limited and the only free moment she had was on the following Thursday and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot’s afterward? Foyot’s is a restaurant and it was so far beyond my means that I had never even thought of going there. I had eighty francs (gold francs) to last me the rest of the month and a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks, I could manage well enough.
B2. Where and when did they decide to have luncheon?
B3. Find out the ‘Synonyms’ from the passage for the following words:
i. A set of rooms
ii. Acknowledged
iii. Handle
iv. Directed.
B4. Do as directed:
i. I hardly think about it.
(Begin the sentence with ‘How_______!)
ii. She had read a book of mine.
(Begin the sentence with ‘Hadn’t _______?)
B5. Personal Response:
If you were in the place of the narrator, how would you have reacted in the given situation?
Talk with your partner and discuss the following question:
What was the occasion?
Talk with your partner and discuss the following question:
Did you enjoy the lunch? Why?
Discuss in pairs:
People with foibles are often not conscious of them. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
As you know, every country has its own currency. Find out the currency of at least 6 countries along with their current exchange rate in India, with the help of the internet. One is done for you.
For example, Switzerland: franc; 1 franc = 66.73 INR
Choose the correct option from the bracket and fill in the blanks given below.
(addressed, luncheon, generously, unwise, insist)
I invited my relatives to ____________
Choose the correct option from the bracket and fill in the blanks given below.
(addressed, luncheon, generously, unwise, insist)
Parents always____________ on children to be allrounders.
Choose the correct option from the bracket and fill in the blank given below.
(addressed, luncheon, generously, unwise, insist)
The king decided to donate his wealth among his subjects____________.
Answer in your own word.
Describe the use of irony and humour in “The Luncheon”.
After reading the story, but the following events into the correct order :
(a) She gave me her last kind of advice on how to improve my eating habits.
(b) I met her in the theatre after many years and I could hardly recognize her.
(c) Twenty years ago, I lived in Paris and earned just enough money to get by.
(d) I was really scared what could happen when I would pay the bill.
(e) “I never eat anything for luncheon.”
(f) I ordered a mutton chop for myself.
(g) She had read a book of mine. (h) She ordered asparagus.
(i) She suggested him to invite her to a famous and expensive restaurant.
(j) I didn’t have dinner for the rest of the month.
