Television by Roald Dahl

TELEVISION 

Line-by-line Explanation

“The most important thing we've learned,”

The poet says that he has learned an important lesson about children.

“So far as children are concerned,”

This lesson is especially about the effect of television on children.

“Is never, NEVER, NEVER let”

The poet strongly advises parents never to allow children to watch television.

“Them near your television set”

He says children should be kept away from the television.

“Or better still, just don't install”

He jokingly suggests that the best solution is not to have a television at home.

“The idiotic thing at all.”

He calls the television an “idiotic thing” because he thinks it can have harmful effects on children.

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“In almost every house we've been,”

The poet says that in nearly every house he has visited,

“We've watched them gaping at the screen.”

he has seen children staring continuously at the television screen.

“They loll and slop and lounge about,”

Children sit or lie lazily while watching television, often eating snacks.

“And stare until their eyes pop out.”

They stare at the screen for such a long time that the poet humorously says their eyes might pop out.

“(Last week in someone's place we saw”

The poet gives a humorous example from a recent visit to someone's house.

“A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)”

This is an exaggeration. He jokingly imagines that the children had stared so much that their eyeballs had fallen onto the floor.

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“They sit and stare and stare and sit”

Children spend a long time sitting and staring at the television.

“Until they're hypnotised by it,”

They become so fascinated by television that they seem to be under a spell.

“Until they're absolutely drunk”

The poet compares their condition to being drunk. They become completely absorbed in television.

“With all that shocking ghastly junk.”

He considers much of the television content to be useless, disturbing or harmful “junk.”

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“Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,”

The poet admits that television has one advantage: it keeps children quiet and still.

“They don't climb out the window sill,”

While watching TV, children do not run around or get into trouble.

“They never fight or kick or punch,”

They also do not fight with other children.

“They leave you free to cook the lunch”

Parents can do their household work while the children watch TV.

“And wash the dishes in the sink—”

Parents can also wash the dishes without being disturbed.

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“But did you ever stop to think,”

The poet asks parents whether they have ever thought seriously about the effects of television.

“To wonder just exactly what”

He wants them to consider what television actually does to children.

“This does to your beloved tot?”

He asks what this habit does to their beloved little child. “Tot” means a small child.

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The poet's strong warning

“IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!”

The poet says that excessive television damages a child's mental abilities.

“IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!”

He believes too much television destroys children's ability to imagine and create things in their minds.

“IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!”

Television fills the child's mind with too much unnecessary information and makes clear thinking difficult.

“IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND”

Too much television can make a child mentally inactive and less interested in the real world.

“HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND”

The child gradually loses the ability to understand certain creative and imaginary ideas.

“A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!”

The child may find it difficult to imagine magical or imaginary worlds because television has weakened his own imagination.

“HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!”

This is a comparison/metaphor. The poet humorously compares the child's brain to soft cheese to suggest that excessive television makes the mind weak and inactive.

“HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!”

The poet says that the child's ability to think becomes weak, just as something unused may rust and freeze.

“HE CANNOT THINK—HE ONLY SEES!”

This is the final warning. The child becomes so dependent on television that he only watches what is shown on the screen instead of using his own thinking and imagination.

🌟 Central idea

The poem is a humorous but serious warning against excessive television watching by children. Dahl argues that too much television can reduce children's imagination, creativity and thinking ability, even though it keeps them quiet and gives parents free time.

20 MCQs — Television by Roald Dahl

1. Who wrote the poem “Television”?

A. William Wordsworth

B. Roald Dahl

C. Robert Frost

D. W. B. Yeats

Answer: B. Roald Dahl

2. What does the poet advise parents to do with their television set?

A. Watch it with children

B. Keep it in the bedroom

C. Never install it

D. Watch it only at night

Answer: C. Never install it

3. What does the poet call the television?

A. Wonderful thing

B. Idiotic thing

C. Useful machine

D. Magic box

Answer: B. Idiotic thing

4. What do children do while watching television?

A. Study

B. Play outside

C. Sit and stare at the screen

D. Read books

Answer: C. Sit and stare at the screen

5. What does “gaping at the screen” mean?

A. Looking at the screen continuously

B. Cleaning the screen

C. Switching off the TV

D. Talking to the screen

Answer: A. Looking at the screen continuously

6. What does “loll and slop and lounge about” suggest?

A. Children are active

B. Children are lazy and relaxed

C. Children are studying

D. Children are sleeping outside

Answer: B. Children are lazy and relaxed

7. What does the poet humorously say happened to the children's eyeballs?

A. They became smaller

B. They disappeared

C. They were on the floor

D. They became blind

Answer: C. They were on the floor

8. What does “hypnotised” mean in the poem?

A. Frightened

B. Deeply fascinated or spellbound

C. Tired

D. Angry

Answer: B. Deeply fascinated or spellbound

9. What does the word “ghastly” mean?

A. Beautiful

B. Funny

C. Horrible

D. Interesting

Answer: C. Horrible

10. What does “junk” refer to in the poem?

A. Valuable information

B. Things of little value

C. School books

D. Healthy food

Answer: B. Things of little value

11. Why do parents allow children to watch television?

A. To improve their studies

B. To keep them quiet and occupied

C. To make them exercise

D. To teach them cooking

Answer: B. To keep them quiet and occupied

12. What household work can parents do while children watch TV?

A. Cook lunch and wash dishes

B. Go shopping

C. Repair the television

D. Read newspapers

Answer: A. Cook lunch and wash dishes

13. What does the poet say television does to the senses?

A. Improves them

B. Rots them

C. Strengthens them

D. Changes them

Answer: B. Rots them

14. According to the poet, what does television kill?

A. Memory

B. Imagination

C. Courage

D. Friendship

Answer: B. Imagination

15. What does television do to the child's mind according to the poet?

A. Clears it

B. Clogs and clutters it

C. Strengthens it

D. Makes it creative

Answer: B. Clogs and clutters it

16. What does “tot” mean?

A. A teenager

B. A teacher

C. A small child

D. An adult

Answer: C. A small child

17. What is the child's brain compared to?

A. A stone

B. Soft cheese

C. A computer

D. A book

Answer: B. Soft cheese

18. What happens to the child's powers of thinking?

A. They become stronger

B. They become faster

C. They “rust and freeze”

D. They become creative

Answer: C. They “rust and freeze”

19. What does the poet mean by “He cannot think—he only sees”?

A. The child watches TV instead of thinking and imagining

B. The child becomes blind

C. The child studies through television

D. The child cannot see the television

Answer: A. The child watches TV instead of thinking and imagining

20. What is the main message of the poem?

A. Children should watch television all day

B. Television is the best teacher

C. Excessive television can harm children's imagination and thinking

D. Parents should buy bigger televisions

Answer: C. Excessive television can harm children's imagination and thinking