Solution of Chapter 4. Landscape of the Soul (NCERT - English Hornbill Book)

Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view with examples.

Explain the concept of shanshui.

What do you understand by the terms ‘outsider art’ and ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’?

Who was the “untutored genius who created a paradise” and what is the nature of his contribution to art?

Discuss the following statements in groups of four.

“The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered, but only the artist knows the way within.”

Discuss the following statements in groups of four.

“The landscape is an inner one, a spiritual and conceptual space.”

Find out the correlates of Yin and Yang in other cultures.

What is the language spoken in Flanders?

The following common words are used in more than one sense.

Panel, studio, brush, essence, material

Examine the following sets of sentences to find out what the words, ‘panel’ and ‘essence’ mean in different contexts.

(i) The masks from Bawa village in Mali look like long panels of decorated wood.

(ii) Judge H. Hobart Grooms told the jury panel he had heard the reports.

(iii) The panel is laying the groundwork for an international treaty.

(iv)The glass panels of the window were broken.

(v) Through the many round tables, workshops and panel discussions, a consensus was reached.

(vi)The sink in the hinged panel above the bunk drains into the head.

(i) Their repetitive structure must have taught the people around the great composer the essence of music.

(ii) Part of the answer is in the proposition; but the essence is in the meaning.

(iii) The implications of these schools of thought are of practical essence for the teacher.

(iv) They had added vanilla essence to the pudding.

● A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting.

● Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint.

The above two examples are ways in which contrast may be expressed. Combine the following sets of ideas to show the contrast between them.

(i) European art tries to achieve a perfect, illusionistic likeness.

(ii) Asian art tries to capture the essence of inner life and spirit.

● A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting.

● Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint.

The above two examples are ways in which contrast may be expressed. Combine the following sets of ideas to show the contrast between them.

(i) The Emperor commissions a painting and appreciates its outer appearance.

(ii) The artist reveals to him the true meaning of his work.

● A classical Chinese landscape is not meant to reproduce an actual view, as would a Western figurative painting.

● Whereas the European painter wants you to borrow his eyes and look at a particular landscape exactly as he saw it, from a specific angle, the Chinese painter does not choose a single viewpoint.

The above two examples are ways in which contrast may be expressed. Combine the following sets of ideas to show the contrast between them.

(i) The Emperor may rule over the territory he has conquered.

(ii) The artist knows the way within.

Find out about as many Indian schools of painting as you can. Write a short note on the distinctive features of each school.

Find out about experiments in recycling that help in environmental conservation.

There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?

There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.

How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science.

Why are the last two lines put within brackets?

List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.

Notice the following sentence patterns.

Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.

Notice the following sentence patterns.

Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.

Notice the following sentence patterns.

Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

Eternal I rise

Notice the following sentence patterns.

Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

For song... duly with love returns

Look for some more poems on the rain and see how this one is different from them.