Read the extract and answer the following questions.
Extract:
Mukund: Could the huge success of the novel have anything to do with the fact that it dealt with a period of medieval history that...
Umberto Eco: That’s possible. But let me tell you another story, because I often tell stories like a Chinese wise man. My American publisher said while she loved my book, she didn’t expect to sell more than 3,000 copies in a country where nobody has seen a cathedral or studies Latin. So I was given an advance for 3,000 copies, but in the end it sold two or three million in the U.S. A lot of books have been written about the medieval past far before mine. I think the success of the book is a mystery. Nobody can predict it. I think if I had written The Name of the Rose ten years earlier or ten years later, it wouldn’t have been the same. Why it worked at that time is a mystery.
(The Interview)
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Question (i)
What is the name of the novel that is being discussed in this extract?
- The Name of the Rose
- Foucault's Pendulum
- The Island of the Day Before
- Baudolino
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
(a) The Name of the Rose
Step-by-step explanation:
- To answer this question, we need to use our background knowledge or do some research to find out what novels Eco has written and which one deals with a period of medieval history.
- According to some sources (such as https://www.britannica.com/biography/UmbertoEco), Eco has written several novels, including Foucault's Pendulum (1988), The Island of the Day Before (1994), and Baudolino (2000). However , his first and most famous novel is The Name of the Rose (1980), which is set in a 14thcentury Italian monastery and involves a series of murders and a mystery involving a lost book.
- Therefore, based on these sources, we can infer that the name of the novel that is being discussed in this extract is The Name of the Rose.😊
Question (ii)
What does the word 'advance' mean in this context?
- A payment made before a service or work is completed
- A movement forward or ahead
- A development or improvement
- A proposal or suggestion
Answer:
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