Long Answer Type Questions for The Book that Saved the Earth
Answer the following questions in 100-150 words:
Question 1: 'Pride has a fall'. Justify this statement giving relevant points from how Think-Tank reacted to the
readings from Mother Goose.
Answer - Martians invaded the earth and reached in a library. Think-Tank was their boss. He was very proud of his
wisdom, as he was having a big balloon like head. He thought that he was the wisest person on Mars. Nobody could
disobey him, or even dare to speak against him. He claimed that he had a quick mind. He had no respect for anyone
and regarded other's views as trifling. He was also fickle-minded.
He misinterpreted the rhymes in a complete verbal manner. The rhyme mistress Mar made him ponder over the
discovery of the earth. From the poem diddle-diddle he got alarmed and from the poem Humpty Dumpty, he was so
frightened that he decided to leave his kingdom and run away to Alpha Centauri. Thus his great wisdom was defeated
and had a great fall.
Question 2: Attempt a character-sketch of Noodle highlighting the values projected by him.
Answer - Noodle is one of the crew members of the invasion team that came to invade earth. He is known as
Apprentice Noodle. He is the co-coordinator between Think-Tank and the invasion team. He echoes Think-Tank in
every manner. He is a very clever creature. He knows that Think-Tank being the commander-in-chief has to be obeyed.
So he keeps on praising Think-Tank and also passing sarcastic remarks. It is only Noodles who think practically and
differently about the books which were considered as sandwiches to eat. But Think-Tank took over the idea as his
own. But Noodle is not sad at all. He is a blind and true follower of Think-Tank.
Question 3: Historian speaks highly about books. How can books help in averting a catastrophic situation?
Answer - The Historian is placed in the twenty-fifth century. He is trying to clear of the twentieth century. He calls it
as the Era of the Book and speaks highly about the books, According to him books control all life. Books teach
children. Books teach people how to and when to and where to and why to. They illustrate, educate, punctuate and
even decorate the life of the people. According to the Historian, only the books saved the earth from Martian
invasion, for the Martians had misunderstood the meaning of the poems and got frightened of them. So they left
the earth in a hurry and even evacuated the Mars and headed over to Alpha Centauri. Even in our day to days life,
we get all our solutions from books whether-it is health related or anything else. So we can say that books help us
in preventing a catastrophe.
Question 4: How did one old book of nursery rhymes save the earth from a Martian invasion?
Answer - The old, dusty book of nursery rhymes was 'Mother Goose'. Think-Tank wanted to invade the earth. He
had sent Probe One to get more information about the Earthlings. The crew enters a library. There, after taking
vitamins, they take out 'Mother Goose' and decipher the rhymes. The rhymes are misinterpreted as threats by
Think-Tank. After listening to the first rhyme, 'Mistress Mary, he concluded that Earthlings had discovered how to
combine agriculture and mining. The second rhyme, 'Hey Diddle, Diddle', seemed to suggest to him that the
Earthlings might be launching an interplanetary attack on millions of cows. The third rhyme, 'Humpty Dumpty
wherein Humpty had a great fall and its picture that resembled him threatened him and his planet Mars. He got so
scared that he dropped the idea of invading Earth, and escaped to Alpha Centauri. Thus a book of nursery rhymes
saved the earth from Martian invasion.
Question 5: Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the play The Book that Saved the Earth'.
Answer - A good title should reflect the theme, idea or the traits of a character. It gives us a peep into the story. It
should revolve around any of the above. The story or the play should be woven around any one of them. In the play
- The Book that Saved The Earth', a book of nursery rhymes of 'Mother Goose' is responsible for stopping the
Martian invasion on the earth. Think-Tank, the ruler of Mars plans to invade Earth before lunch and sends Probe
One to get more information about the Earthlings. They enter a library but can't figure out what items the books
are. They take vitamins, increase their intelligence then read the rhymes from 'Mother Goose'. Think-Tank
misinterprets the rhymes, takes them as threats to him and the Mars. Scared, he calls back Probe One, drops the
idea of invading and escapes with his subjects to Alpha Centauri, a hundred million miles away from Mars. Thus, the
book 'Mother Goose' was responsible for stopping the Martian invasion of Earth. The title The Book That Saved the
Earth', reflects the theme of the play, so it is an apt title.