CLASS – XI
QUESTION BANK – TALE OF MELON CITY
LITERARY DEVICES
Following figures of speech/poetic devices have been used in the poem The Tale of Melon
City:
1. Irony: It is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality.
e.g., in the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But in real, he becomes
angry at petty matter. There are many ironical situations in the poem. e.g., the king
ishanged over a petty matter. The people choose a melon as their king etc.
2. Alliteration: It is the use of the same sound at the beginning of words that are close
together. e.g., “long live the king”, “the workmen went” etc.
3. Repetition: It is the repetition of words and phrases of poetic effect. e.g., “Long live
the king”.
4. Inversion: It is the reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a sentence
for poetic effect. e.g., “Truly, the arch it was that”.
1. Onomatopoeia: It is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is
named. E.g., “Muttering”, “Quivering” etc.
RHYME SCHEME
The poet Vikram Seth has written a narrative poem of an ancient tale. It is written in a verse
form where every second line rhymes with the first line, as known as rhyming couplets. This
writing style gives the poem the impression of prose in a form of narrative style story- telling.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
1. What impression is formed of a state where the King was ‘just and placid’?
The words just and placid give the impression of a King who knows how to provide justice
and how to stay calm in any given situation. He must have intellect and must know how to
make the right decision. This would make a state the greatest of all other states. The scenario
in The Tale of Melon City written by Vikram Seth was quite different though. The poet
described the Melon City’s King as just and placid but in reality, he was the opposite of it.
The poet has used these two words in a satirical sense to mock the judgement of the King. He
kept ordering the execution of common people without any reason just to keep his face value.
This in reality brought great chaos to the state.
2. How, according to you, can peace and liberty be maintained in a state?
The poet here describes a picture that how peace and liberty cannot be maintained. The poet
has shown here various instances where the King kept ordering useless executions just for his
1
, mere ego. It did not matter to him if his order was justified or not. The poet wanted to suggest
through this instance that to have peace and liberty in a state the leader of the state needs to
have a fair sense of justice. He also wants to suggest that a leader needs to have a great deal of
intelligence, unlike the King of this poem who gets easily manipulated by other people.
3. List a few instances from the poem which highlight humour and irony.
The Tale of the Melon City is completely written in a satirical sense where the author kept
using irony to mean the opposite. The poet started his poem by mentioning the King as just
and placid. However, later it is realised that he was the exact opposite. His crown fell off his
head while he was passing under the arch and he felt embarrassed about that. He simply
decided to execute the builder, then the workman, then the architect and finally the arch. An
arch is an object, and nobody could execute it, but the way the author used this line created
humour.
The next humour that came In the poem was when the King hung himself because of his
stupid law. It showed that, although the head of any state needed to have a great deal of
intelligence, he was a stupid King. The stupidity of the King got complimented by the
stupidity of the man who chose a melon to be the next King. The poet here created the final
humour with this incident. He portrayed that it did not matter to the common people who the
King was as they crowned the melon as their new King.
4. ‘The Tale of Melon City’ has been narrated in a verse form. This is a unique style
which lends extra charm to an ancient tale. Find similar examples.
The poet Vikram Seth has written a narrative poem of an ancient tale by writing The Tale of
Melon City. It is written in a verse form where every second line rhymes with the first line, as
known as rhyming couplets. This writing style gives the poem the impression of prose in a
form of narrative style story-telling. The name of the poem is The Tale of Melon City that in
A literal sense means the story of Melon City. The poet here purposefully used the word tale
during its naming to make it similar to the verse-like structure of the poem.
EXTRA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q1. Why the city was called the melon city?
Ans. An idiot man chose a melon to be the King of the City after their old King’s death. The
melon became the new king and the city became the melon city.
Q2. What are the two qualities the King actually had?
Ans. The King seemed to have the qualities such as gentle and fair. He was gentle because he
thought about the welfare of his people and decided to build the arch. He was fair because he
gave the builder, workmen and architects a chance to speak before ordering them to execute.
Q3. Who killed the King?
2
QUESTION BANK – TALE OF MELON CITY
LITERARY DEVICES
Following figures of speech/poetic devices have been used in the poem The Tale of Melon
City:
1. Irony: It is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality.
e.g., in the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But in real, he becomes
angry at petty matter. There are many ironical situations in the poem. e.g., the king
ishanged over a petty matter. The people choose a melon as their king etc.
2. Alliteration: It is the use of the same sound at the beginning of words that are close
together. e.g., “long live the king”, “the workmen went” etc.
3. Repetition: It is the repetition of words and phrases of poetic effect. e.g., “Long live
the king”.
4. Inversion: It is the reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a sentence
for poetic effect. e.g., “Truly, the arch it was that”.
1. Onomatopoeia: It is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is
named. E.g., “Muttering”, “Quivering” etc.
RHYME SCHEME
The poet Vikram Seth has written a narrative poem of an ancient tale. It is written in a verse
form where every second line rhymes with the first line, as known as rhyming couplets. This
writing style gives the poem the impression of prose in a form of narrative style story- telling.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
1. What impression is formed of a state where the King was ‘just and placid’?
The words just and placid give the impression of a King who knows how to provide justice
and how to stay calm in any given situation. He must have intellect and must know how to
make the right decision. This would make a state the greatest of all other states. The scenario
in The Tale of Melon City written by Vikram Seth was quite different though. The poet
described the Melon City’s King as just and placid but in reality, he was the opposite of it.
The poet has used these two words in a satirical sense to mock the judgement of the King. He
kept ordering the execution of common people without any reason just to keep his face value.
This in reality brought great chaos to the state.
2. How, according to you, can peace and liberty be maintained in a state?
The poet here describes a picture that how peace and liberty cannot be maintained. The poet
has shown here various instances where the King kept ordering useless executions just for his
1
, mere ego. It did not matter to him if his order was justified or not. The poet wanted to suggest
through this instance that to have peace and liberty in a state the leader of the state needs to
have a fair sense of justice. He also wants to suggest that a leader needs to have a great deal of
intelligence, unlike the King of this poem who gets easily manipulated by other people.
3. List a few instances from the poem which highlight humour and irony.
The Tale of the Melon City is completely written in a satirical sense where the author kept
using irony to mean the opposite. The poet started his poem by mentioning the King as just
and placid. However, later it is realised that he was the exact opposite. His crown fell off his
head while he was passing under the arch and he felt embarrassed about that. He simply
decided to execute the builder, then the workman, then the architect and finally the arch. An
arch is an object, and nobody could execute it, but the way the author used this line created
humour.
The next humour that came In the poem was when the King hung himself because of his
stupid law. It showed that, although the head of any state needed to have a great deal of
intelligence, he was a stupid King. The stupidity of the King got complimented by the
stupidity of the man who chose a melon to be the next King. The poet here created the final
humour with this incident. He portrayed that it did not matter to the common people who the
King was as they crowned the melon as their new King.
4. ‘The Tale of Melon City’ has been narrated in a verse form. This is a unique style
which lends extra charm to an ancient tale. Find similar examples.
The poet Vikram Seth has written a narrative poem of an ancient tale by writing The Tale of
Melon City. It is written in a verse form where every second line rhymes with the first line, as
known as rhyming couplets. This writing style gives the poem the impression of prose in a
form of narrative style story-telling. The name of the poem is The Tale of Melon City that in
A literal sense means the story of Melon City. The poet here purposefully used the word tale
during its naming to make it similar to the verse-like structure of the poem.
EXTRA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q1. Why the city was called the melon city?
Ans. An idiot man chose a melon to be the King of the City after their old King’s death. The
melon became the new king and the city became the melon city.
Q2. What are the two qualities the King actually had?
Ans. The King seemed to have the qualities such as gentle and fair. He was gentle because he
thought about the welfare of his people and decided to build the arch. He was fair because he
gave the builder, workmen and architects a chance to speak before ordering them to execute.
Q3. Who killed the King?
2
