Question

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

The photographer looked at me without enthusiasm. He was a drooping man in a gray suit, with the dim eyes of a natural scientist. But there is no need to describe him. Everybody knows what a photographer is like.

1. Give reason for the photographer’s apathy towards the narrator. (Analysis)
2. Explain the narrator’s attitude towards the photographer. (Analysis)
3. What was the narrator’s experience with the photographer? (Understanding)
4. What tells you about the appearance of the photographer? (Understanding)
5. How did the narrator spend his time while waiting for the photographer? (Understanding)

Answer 1

1. The photographer showed little interest in the narrator because he looked at him only as a subject for his work. Instead of welcoming him warmly, he immediately began examining his face critically and finding faults with it.
2. The narrator views the photographer with gentle humour and irony. He finds the photographer’s serious behaviour and obsession with correcting every facial feature rather ridiculous and amusing.
3. The narrator’s experience was disappointing and humorous. The photographer criticized his appearance, retouched almost every feature in the photograph, and finally produced a picture that the narrator could hardly recognize.
4. The photographer is described as a drooping man in a grey suit with dim eyes like those of a natural scientist. His dull appearance and serious expression make him seem unemotional and detached.
5. While waiting for the photographer, the narrator passed his time by reading a journal for infants until the photographer called him back.