The Interview Class 12: Summary, Themes, Umberto Eco and Board Answers
Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked
The Interview, from Flamingo, has two parts. Part I, by Christopher Silvester, presents the different views celebrities and writers hold about interviews. Part II is Mukund Padmanabhan's interview with Umberto Eco, who explains his use of 'empty spaces', his storytelling style and the success of The Name of the Rose. The board tests extracts and answers.
What The Interview is about
The Interview has two parts:
1. Part I is from Christopher Silvester's introduction to *The Penguin Book of Interviews*. It traces the interview from its invention over 130 years ago and sets out the mixed opinions about it: some see it as a source of truth and an art; others, especially celebrities, see it as an intrusion. It quotes V.S. Naipaul, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, Saul Bellow and Denis Brian.
2. Part II is an extract from an interview of the Italian scholar and novelist Umberto Eco by Mukund Padmanabhan of *The Hindu*. Eco talks about how he finds time to write so much, why his academic writing is personal and narrative, why he sees himself as a professor first, and why *The Name of the Rose* became a bestseller.
NCERT gives the theme as the interview as a communication genre, with an excerpt from an interview with an author as the sub-theme.
What the board asks: extracts (Q9), 40-50 word answers on positive and negative views of interviews, 'thumbprints on his windpipe', interstices, Eco's style, and whether he saw himself as a novelist or academic, and 120-150 word answers on the interview as a medium or the success of *The Name of the Rose*.
Weightage: Section C (Literature) carries 40 of the 80 theory marks; Flamingo is tested through a Flamingo prose extract (6 x 1), five of six short answers from Flamingo (5 x 2) and one of two long answers (5).Source: CBSE English Core (301) syllabus and sample paper 2026-27
In real board papers: asked in 1 of the 2 board papers we hold (2026 to 2026), on average 3 marks per paper. See the questions
The Interview: summary
In our own words, in the order of the text. Read the NCERT text itself too: the board quotes from it.
Part I. The interview has become a common part of journalism in little over 130 years. Almost every literate person has read one, and thousands of celebrities have given them, so opinions differ. Some claim that at its best an interview is a source of truth and an art. Many celebrities, however, see it as an unwanted intrusion that diminishes them, much as some primitive cultures believe a photograph steals a person's soul. V.S. Naipaul believes interviews can hurt people and take away a piece of them. Lewis Carroll had a horror of interviewers and never agreed to be interviewed. Rudyard Kipling called interviewing immoral, a crime like an assault, though he had himself interviewed Mark Twain. H.G. Wells spoke of the 'interviewing ordeal' but later interviewed Stalin. Saul Bellow compared interviews to thumbprints on his windpipe. Yet the interview remains an extremely useful medium: as Denis Brian says, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries come through interviews, which gives the interviewer great power and influence.
Part II. Umberto Eco, a professor at the University of Bologna known for his work on semiotics, became world-famous with his novel The Name of the Rose. Asked how he does so much, Eco says he is always doing the same thing: pursuing his philosophical and ethical interests through academic work, novels and even children's books. His secret is using 'interstices', the empty spaces in life; he can write an article while waiting for a lift.
His academic writing is personal because, at 22, a professor noticed that his dissertation told the story of his research, trials and errors included, and published it. Eco believes scholarly books should be written this way, which is why his essays are narrative and why he started writing novels late, at about 50, by accident.
Eco considers himself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays and identifies with the academic community, though novels reach a larger audience. He is not puzzled that a serious novel sold so well; journalists and publishers wrongly think people want only easy reading. His American publisher expected 3,000 sales, but it sold two or three million in the US. He calls its success a mystery that nobody can predict.
Themes and message
The interview as a medium of communication
Despite its drawbacks, the interview is a powerful way of learning about public figures; the interviewer therefore holds great power.
From the text: Silvester calls it 'a supremely serviceable medium of communication'.
Privacy versus public curiosity
Celebrities like Kipling and Carroll felt interviews intruded on their privacy and diminished them, raising questions about how far interviewers should go.
From the text: Kipling called interviewing 'cowardly and vile'.
Productive use of time
Eco's 'interstices' show how small empty moments can be used for creative work.
From the text: Eco says, 'I work in empty spaces.'
Learning as a story
Eco believes scholarship should tell the story of the research, including mistakes, which makes it personal and readable.
From the text: His professor noted that Eco 'told the story' of his research.
Readers can handle serious books
Eco challenges the belief that people want only trash; the success of a difficult novel proves some readers want challenging experiences.
From the text: The Name of the Rose sold between 10 and 15 million copies.
Characters
Umberto Eco
Italian professor, semiotician and novelist interviewed in Part II.
- Hugely productive
- Witty and relaxed: laughs and tells stories
- Modest about his success
- Identifies as an academic first
- Confident about readers' intelligence
'I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays.'
Mukund Padmanabhan
Journalist from The Hindu who interviews Eco.
- Well prepared
- Asks probing, linked questions
- Uses signallers to shift topics smoothly
'Which brings me to my next question.'
Christopher Silvester
Author of Part I; editor of The Penguin Book of Interviews.
- Balanced: presents both sides
- Well informed about writers' views
He sets the critics' views against Denis Brian's praise of the interview.
How it is written
| Device | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Simile | Interviews were 'like thumbprints on his windpipe' (Bellow). | Shows how suffocating some writers found interviews. |
| Analogy | If the empty spaces in atoms were removed, the universe would be as big as Eco's fist. | Explains interstices vividly. |
| Discourse linkers and signallers | 'Which brings me to my next question'; 'But let me tell you another story'. | Keep the conversation smooth and coherent. |
| Irony | Kipling condemned interviews but had interviewed Mark Twain; Wells later interviewed Stalin. | Shows the contradictions in writers' attitudes. |
Key quotations
Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.
like thumbprints on his windpipe
Saul Bellow (reported): Bellow's description of interviews.
Interviews felt suffocating to him.
a supremely serviceable medium of communication
Christopher Silvester: After listing the drawbacks.
The interview's usefulness outweighs its faults.
I work in empty spaces.
Umberto Eco: Explaining how he does so much.
Sums up his use of interstices.
I consider myself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays.
Umberto Eco: When told people know him as a novelist.
He identifies with academics first.
I think the success of the book is a mystery.
Umberto Eco: On The Name of the Rose.
Success cannot be predicted or planned.
The Interview in real life
Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.
Using interstices
Suppose you spend 40 minutes every day on a school bus with nothing to do.
How could you use Eco's idea of interstices? Answer in 40-50 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Identify the empty space.
- Fill it with small useful tasks.
- Small tasks add up.
Answer: Like Eco, I can treat the bus ride as an interstice, an empty space. I could revise formulas, read a chapter summary or learn new words. Forty minutes a day adds up to many hours a month of useful work without losing any free time.
Memory hook: Small gaps, big gains.
Learning from mistakes
Imagine you write a science project report that describes not only your results but also your failed experiments and how you fixed them.
How is this like Eco's academic style?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Eco told the story of his research, including trials and errors.
- His professor valued it.
Answer: Like Eco's dissertation, your report tells the story of the research, including trials and errors, making it honest and interesting.
Memory hook: Tell the journey, not just the destination.
Interviewer's power
Suppose a news channel edits a sportsperson's interview so that one angry remark becomes the headline.
Which idea from Part I does this illustrate?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- The interviewer holds great power and influence.
- That power can shape public opinion unfairly.
Answer: It shows Denis Brian's point that interviewers hold unprecedented power; how they present an interview shapes our impression of the person.
Memory hook: Who asks, shapes the answer we see.
Topics in this chapter
How the board asks The Interview
The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.
| Question type | How it is asked | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Prose extract (Q9, 6 x 1) | Passages from Part I (views on interviews) or Part II (interstices, style, success of the novel). | Identify the speaker and the view expressed; explain figurative phrases like 'thumbprints on his windpipe'. |
| Short answer (Q10, 40-50 words) | Positive views of interviews; why celebrities dislike them; Eco's secret; his style; novelist or academic? | Give two points with names or examples from the text. |
| Long answer (Q12, 120-150 words) | Interview as a medium (merits and demerits); success of The Name of the Rose; privacy of celebrities. | Present both sides with names from Part I or Eco's reasons; add your view. |
Tricks to remember The Interview
Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.
Critics of interviews: 'N C K W B'
Naipaul (wounded), Carroll (horror), Kipling (crime), Wells (ordeal), Bellow (thumbprints).
Use it when: Part I views.
Eco in four ideas: 'Same, Spaces, Story, Sundays'
Always doing the same thing; works in empty spaces; writes scholarship as a story; a professor who writes novels on Sundays.
Use it when: Part II summary.
Numbers
Interview invented 130+ years ago; Eco's dissertation at 22, novels at 50; over 40 non-fiction works; Name of the Rose 10-15 million copies; US publisher expected 3,000.
Use it when: Factual MCQs.
The Interview: extract-based questions
Read the extract, answer every part on paper, then open the answers.
Extract 1: Power of the interviewer
“Almost everything of moment reaches us through one man asking questions of another. Because of this, the interviewer holds a position of unprecedented power and influence.”
(1) · 1 mark · MCQ
The passage opens by saying that, despite its drawbacks, the interview is 'a supremely serviceable medium of communication'. The word 'serviceable' means:
(a) useful (b) expensive (c) harmful (d) old-fashioned(2) · 1 mark · Very short answer
Denis Brian writes that these days our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries reach us through one particular medium. According to Denis Brian, how do we get our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries?
(3) · 1 mark · Very short answer
Why does the interviewer hold 'unprecedented power'?
(4) · 1 mark · Very short answer
(See the context given in the first question.) The passage opens with the word 'Yet'. What does it signal?
(5) · 1 mark · MCQ
'Of moment' in the extract means:
(a) brief (b) important (c) recent (d) secret(6) · 1 mark · Assertion-reason
Assertion (A): The interview remains useful despite its drawbacks.
Reason (R): Celebrities always enjoy giving interviews.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A. (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A. (c) A is true but R is false. (d) A is false but R is true.
Show the answersAnswers
- (a) useful
- Through interviews.
- Because almost everything important reaches the public through one person questioning another.
- A contrast: after the criticisms of interviews, the writer now presents their value.
- (b) important
- (c)
Extract 2: Interstices
Mukund: Not everyone can do that of course. Your non-fictional writing, your scholarly work has a certain playful and personal quality about it. It is a marked departure from a regular academic style — which is invariably depersonalised and often dry and boring.
(1) · 1 mark · Very short answer
Just before this, Eco says he works in 'empty spaces': while waiting for a lift to come up from the first to the third floor, he has already written an article (he laughs). Who says this about working in empty spaces, and who replies in the extract?
(2) · 1 mark · Very short answer
(See the context given in the first question.) What does Eco mean by 'empty spaces'?
(3) · 1 mark · MCQ
(See the context given in the first question.) What does the speaker claim to do while the lift comes up?
(a) read a book (b) write an article (c) sleep (d) make a phone call(4) · 1 mark · Very short answer
How, according to Mukund, is Eco's scholarly writing different from regular academic writing?
(5) · 1 mark · Very short answer
(See the context given in the first question.) What does '(Laughs)' tell us about the tone of the conversation?
(6) · 1 mark · MCQ
What quality of Eco does the extract highlight?
(a) laziness (b) productive use of time (c) impatience (d) shyness
Show the answersAnswers
- Umberto Eco speaks first; Mukund Padmanabhan replies.
- Short idle moments in daily life, which he calls interstices.
- (b) write an article
- It is playful and personal, while regular academic writing is depersonalised, dry and boring.
- It is relaxed and humorous; Eco is exaggerating playfully.
- (b) productive use of time
The Interview: board-level solved questions
Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.
Example 1: Positive views · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level
What are some of the positive views on interviews expressed in Part I? Answer in 40-50 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Source of truth; an art.
- Serviceable medium.
- Vivid impressions; interviewer's power.
Answer: Some claim that at its best the interview is a source of truth and, in practice, an art. Silvester calls it a supremely serviceable medium of communication, and Denis Brian says our most vivid impressions of contemporaries come through interviews, giving interviewers great influence.
Example 2: Thumbprints on his windpipe · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level
What do you understand by the expression 'thumbprints on his windpipe'? Answer in 40-50 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Bellow's view.
- Feeling of being choked.
- Interviews felt suffocating, intrusive.
Answer: Saul Bellow, though he agreed to interviews several times, felt they were like someone pressing a thumb on his throat. The phrase suggests a choking, suffocating feeling: the interview put pressure on him and invaded his space, leaving marks, as if it were a kind of attack.
Example 3: Professor or novelist · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Did Umberto Eco consider himself a novelist first or an academic scholar? Answer in 40-50 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Professor who writes novels on Sundays.
- Attends academic conferences.
- Accepts novels reach a larger audience.
Answer: Eco saw himself first as an academic scholar, 'a university professor who writes novels on Sundays'. He attended academic conferences rather than writers' meetings and identified with the academic community, though he accepted that his novels reached far more readers than his work on semiotics.
Example 4: Eco's writing style · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
What was distinctive about Eco's academic writing style, and how did it develop? Answer in 40-50 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Playful, personal, narrative.
- Dissertation told the story of research.
- Professor published it.
Answer: Eco's academic writing was playful, personal and narrative rather than dry. At 22, his doctoral dissertation told the story of his research, including trials and errors. His professor, though surprised, published it as a book, convincing Eco that scholarly books should be written this way.
Example 5: Interviews: boon or intrusion · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Celebrities hold sharply different views about interviews. Discuss the merits and drawbacks of the interview with reference to Part I, and give your own view. Answer in 120-150 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Drawbacks: Naipaul, Carroll, Kipling, Bellow.
- Merits: truth, art, serviceable, Denis Brian.
- Own view: balance with privacy.
Answer: Part I shows how divided opinion is. Many writers see the interview as an intrusion. V.S. Naipaul believes interviews can hurt people and take away a piece of them. Lewis Carroll never agreed to be interviewed, and Rudyard Kipling called it immoral, a crime like an assault. Saul Bellow felt interviews were like thumbprints on his windpipe.
On the other side, some regard the interview as a source of truth and even an art. Silvester calls it a supremely serviceable medium, and Denis Brian notes that our most vivid impressions of famous people come through interviews, giving the interviewer great power.
In my view, interviews are valuable because they let the public understand the people who shape their world. But that power must be used responsibly. Interviewers should respect privacy and avoid embarrassing personal questions, so that the interview informs without wounding.
Example 6: Success of The Name of the Rose · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
How does Umberto Eco explain the huge success of 'The Name of the Rose'? Do you agree with him? Answer in 120-150 words.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Serious novel, mass audience.
- Readers want difficult experiences sometimes.
- Publisher expected 3,000; sold millions.
- Success a mystery; timing.
- Own view.
Answer: The Name of the Rose is a serious novel: a detective story that also explores metaphysics, theology and medieval history. Yet it sold between 10 and 15 million copies. Eco was not puzzled. He says journalists and publishers wrongly believe people like only trash. Some readers want difficult experiences, at least some of the time, just as Eco himself enjoys light television after dinner but not all day.
He also tells how his American publisher expected to sell only 3,000 copies in a country where few people had seen a cathedral or studied Latin, yet it sold two or three million there. Many books on the medieval past had appeared before, so Eco calls the success a mystery that nobody can predict, perhaps a matter of timing.
I agree. Readers' tastes are wider than publishers assume, and success depends on many unpredictable factors.
Where the marks are
How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.
How does Eco find the time to write so much? (40-50 words, 2 marks) (2 marks)
| Step | Marks |
|---|---|
| He uses interstices, the empty spaces of daily life. | 1 |
| Example of writing an article while waiting for a lift; within word limit. | 1 |
Long answer on the interview as a medium (120-150 words, 5 marks) (5 marks)
| Step | Marks |
|---|---|
| Views against and for, with names from the text. | 2 |
| Own reasoned view. | 1 |
| Organisation. | 1 |
| Accuracy. | 1 |
Where students lose marks in The Interview
The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.
Mistake: Mixing up the two authors
Do this: Part I is by Christopher Silvester; Part II is Mukund Padmanabhan interviewing Umberto Eco.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Saying Eco sees himself as a novelist first
Do this: He sees himself as a university professor who writes novels on Sundays.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Giving only negative views of interviews
Do this: Include the positive views: source of truth, an art, serviceable medium, vivid impressions.
Usually costs: Balance and content in long answers.
Mistake: Misreading 'interstices' as long holidays
Do this: Interstices are tiny gaps, like waiting for a lift.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
The Interview: previous year questions
- Asked in 1 of the 2 board papers we hold (2026 to 2026), on average 3 marks per paper; 1 questions in all, counting OR alternatives. In 1 of 3 sample papers.
Counted from the real papers on our previous year papers page, not estimated. Average marks are over every board paper we hold, with an OR pair counted once. Chapter tags are ours.
Every The Interview question, by year
- For 2027
Sample paper 2026-27: Q10 (10 marks)
- 2026
Set 301/5/1: Q9(b) (6 marks)
Practice questions on The Interview
Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.
Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
In some primitive cultures, what is believed to happen when someone is photographed?
(a) They become famous (b) Their soul is stolen (c) They fall ill (d) They become richHint
Compared to how celebrities feel.
Answer
(b) Their soul is stolen
Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerBoard level
Which writer interviewed Mark Twain though he condemned interviews?
Hint
Diary of his wife Caroline.
Answer
Rudyard Kipling.
Q3 · 2 marks · Short answerBoard level
Why do most celebrity writers despise being interviewed? Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
Intrusion and loss of self.
Answer
They see the interview as an unwanted intrusion into their private lives that diminishes them. Naipaul feels people lose a part of themselves; Kipling called it immoral, like an assault; Carroll dreaded being lionised; Bellow felt it like thumbprints on his windpipe.
Q4 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Do you think Umberto Eco likes being interviewed? Give reasons. Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
Tone, laughter, stories.
Answer
Yes, he seems to enjoy it. He answers openly and in detail, laughs, jokes about writing articles while waiting for a lift, and tells stories 'like a Chinese wise man'. He is relaxed and frank, showing none of the hostility of Kipling or Carroll.
Q5 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Why did Eco start writing novels so late? Answer in 40-50 words.
Hint
Narrative already in essays.
Answer
Eco's taste for narration was already satisfied by his scholarly essays, which told the story of his research. He felt no frustration like his friend Roland Barthes. He began writing novels by accident, at about fifty, one day when he had nothing to do.
Q6 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
'Every famous person has a right to privacy.' Write a short article-style answer on how interviewers can respect privacy while informing the public. Answer in 120-150 words.
Hint
Use Part I as a starting point.
Answer
Interviews give the public a window into the lives of people who shape their world. As Denis Brian says, our most vivid impressions of our contemporaries come through interviews. But many celebrities, from Kipling to Naipaul, have felt that interviews intrude and wound. The challenge is to inform without harming.
First, interviewers should prepare well and focus on the person's work and public role, as Mukund Padmanabhan does with Umberto Eco, asking about his writing, style and novels rather than his private life. Second, personal questions should be asked only with consent, and an interviewee's refusal should be respected. Third, quotes must be reported accurately and fairly, without twisting words for sensation.
When interviewers follow these principles, the interview can remain a serviceable medium of communication rather than becoming 'thumbprints on the windpipe'.
Test your recall
Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.
1.Who wrote Part I?Show answer
Christopher Silvester.
2.Who interviewed Umberto Eco?Show answer
Mukund Padmanabhan of The Hindu.
3.Where did Eco teach?Show answer
The University of Bologna, Italy.
4.What are interstices?Show answer
Empty spaces or short idle moments in life.
5.At what age did Eco start writing novels?Show answer
About 50.
6.How many non-fiction works had Eco written?Show answer
Over 40.
7.Whom did H.G. Wells later interview?Show answer
Joseph Stalin.
8.Which friend of Eco wanted to be a novelist but died first?Show answer
Roland Barthes.
Quick revision checklist
The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?
- Can you list the critics of interviews and what each said?
- Can you state the positive views of interviews?
- Can you explain 'thumbprints on his windpipe'?
- Can you explain Eco's interstices?
- Can you describe Eco's academic style and how it began?
- Can you explain why Eco called himself a professor first?
- Can you explain the success of The Name of the Rose in Eco's words?
The Interview: frequently asked questions
What is the theme of The Interview?
The interview as a communication genre; the sub-theme is an excerpt from an interview with an author.
What is semiotics?
The study of signs; Eco was a leading scholar of semiotics.
Why did Kipling dislike interviews?
He considered them immoral and as much a crime as an assault, though he had himself interviewed Mark Twain.
What does the chapter teach about discourse linkers?
Linkers like 'which' and 'that', and signallers like 'Which brings me to my next question', keep a conversation such as an interview smooth and coherent.
Based on: CBSE English Core (301) syllabus 2026-27; NCERT Flamingo, Textbook in English for Class XII (Reprint 2026-27)