Welcome to Advice To Youth Workbook Answers: ISC Prism (Evergreen), your ultimate guide to Mark Twain’s witty and satirical essay, Advice To Youth, included in the ISC Class 11 & 12 English Literature syllabus. This blog offers detailed workbook solutions based on the Evergreen Publications (Prism) workbook, ensuring you grasp Twain’s humorous yet thought-provoking advice with clarity. Whether you’re preparing for exams or simply appreciating Twain’s clever take on morality and societal norms, our step-by-step answers, thematic breakdowns, and expert insights will help you navigate the text with ease. Let’s dive into Twain’s timeless wisdom and unpack the irony and brilliance of Advice To Youth—one workbook question at a time!
Table of Contents
About The Story :
Introduction
This essay is Twain’s address to the young people who are standing at the crucial point of their life. Twain is expected to share his wisdom with the young people who generally need true guidance to start their life. Stalwarts like Mark Twain have a great influence on the young minds.
Obedience to parents
Twain lays a great stress on the virtue of obedience to parents. He calls it the “best policy in the long run.” If they are not obedient, parents will make them so. It is better for the young people to make the most of the knowledge and experience of the parents.
Respectful to superiors
The young people should be respectful to their superiors. Strangers also deserve respect. If some one hurts or insults, do not react instaneously. They should wait for a suitable opportunity to “hit him with a brick”. But if the offence is unintentional, the young people should frankly confess. Violence must be avoided. In this age of charity and kindliness, belligerent attitude is unwanted and unwarranted.
Punctuality
Going to bed early and getting up early is a wise step. It would be better fi they train a bird to give a wake up call as late as possible. In this way they will sleep more and still be considered disciplined.
Be careful about lying
Twain wants the young people to be very careful about lying. Once one is caught, one can never regain the same old status. He calls lying as an art. The young people should be “temperate” in the use of this “great art.”
Three great virtues
Patience, diligence and painstaking attention to detail are the main requirements to make the students perfect; these are the foundation for “future eminence.”
Ammunition
Twain warns the young people to never handle firearms carelessly. These weapons in the hands of the untrained and careless people can bring more havoc than caused in wars. He quotes some examples where the old, rusty but unloaded guns created fear in the minds of the people. The youth have to be careful about such old rusty weapons.
Recommends good books
He advises the young people to read good books. He calls books as “great, inestimable and unspeakable means of improvement. He strongly recommends Robertson’s Sermons, Baxter’s Saint’s Rest, The Innocents Abroad and other books of this kind.
Conclusion
Twain concludes his essay in a sarcastic way. He hopes that the young people will treasure up his instructions. They should build their personalities and characters following his advice. But they will be shocked he see they will be similar to the rest of the people.
Workbook MCQs :
(I) Mark Twain gave this advice :
(a) Of his own
(b) He was asked by the press
(c) He delivered this lecture
(d) He addressed club members
Answer :- (c) He addressed club members
(II) Twain thinks about the young age :
(a) It is not a crucial point
(b) It is usually misguided
(c) It is a crucial point
(d) None of the above
Answer :- (c) none of the above
(III) The young people should obey their parents
(a) always
(b) never
(c) when they are present
(d) when they love them
Answer :- (c) when they love them
(IV) The young people avoid violence :
(a) sometimes
(b) as per the situation
(c) if the opponent is weak
(d) Always
Answer :- (d) Always
(V) The best thing to wake up the youth is a (an) :
(a) lark
(b) alarm clock
(c) family member
(d) none of the above
Ans : (a) None of the above
(VI) The author calls telling a lie :
(a) a useless activity
(b) dangerous
(c) an art
(d) a foolish activity
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(VII) The author says that the monument in Boston shows :
(a) a truth
(b) a great achievement
(c) a rare monument
(d) a stolen discovery
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(VIII) The firearms are, many times, handled by :
(a) children
(b) young people
(c) careless people
(d) none of the above
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(IX) Which are the “most deadly and unerring things” ?
(a) guns
(b) heedless youth
(c) old unloaded firearms
(d) loaded firearms
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(X) What types of books does the author recommended ?
(a) romantic
(b) historical
(c) novels
(d) religious
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Logic Based Questions :
(I) The young people should obey their parents because it will help them in learning many things from their parents.
(II) If a person offends the young people, their reaction should vary because the intention of the offender is not known sometimes.
(III) The young people should “always avoid violence” because the time for such things has gone.
(IV) …… a lark is really the best thing to get up” because it gives you a splendid reputation.
(V) The author advises the youngsters to be very careful about lying because lies get exposed in the long run and it causes insult.
(VI) There are certain qualities which can make the students perfect because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(VII) The author mentions the monument in Boston because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(VIII) The author calls lying an art because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(IX) “Never handle fire arms carelessly” because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(X) The author recommends certain books to the young people to study because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
Short Answer Questions :
1. Why has the author to give an advice to the youth ?
Answer :- The author had been asked to talk to the youngsters. He is expected to say something didactic or something that offers good advice. The writer believes that the young people should be given advice and good ideas in their youth. At this tender age these teachings have a lasting impact on them. All these factors inspire him to give some advice to the youth.
2. What are the two different reactions to an offence faced by the youth ?
Answer :- The writer discusses two types of reactions while facing some offence. He says that one reaction should not be extremely violent when there are doubts about the intentions of the one who commits an offence. He amusingly suggests that youth should simply wait for the proper time to get a chance to react. In case you hit someone without knowing his or her intentions and find him innocent, you should seek his or her forgiveness. In fact, he wants violence to be shunned.
3. What are the author’s ideas on telling a lie? Is he justified ? How ?
Answer :- Twain considers telling lies a kind of art. It needs training and practice. He advises the youth to be careful in telling lies. He believes that not telling lies is almost impossible. Here again, he expresses his views in an amusing and sarcastic way. He says that youth should not tell lies unless they have acquired confidence, elegance and precision in this art.
4. Which qualities are required to make the student perfect?
Answer :- The author says that telling lies is an art and it is very difficult to avoid telling lies. But he advises the youth to use this art moderately. He rather wants the young people to pay attention to details, have patience and diligence. These qualities can make them perfect students. They should depend on these qualities only.
5. “A truth is not hard to kill and that a lie well told is immortal.” How ?
Answer :- Mark Twain points out that people often accept and believe that ultimately truth prevails and the lies disappear. But he rejects this view with the help of an example. He says that a monument has been dedicated to a man for discovering anaesthesia. He reveals that this man, in fact, had stolen the discovery. But the monument built in Boston to honour that man shows that truth is not a strong and powerful as a lie sometimes can be.
6. Why does the author mention the monument in Boston ?
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7. What are the author’s views on handling firearms ?
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8. For what purpose does the author mention the grandmother’s incident ?
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9. Towards the end of the essay the author gives a moral advice, which advice does he give ? Why ?
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10. Is the essay an advice or a satire ? Justify your answer.
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Long Answer Questions :
1. Which are the main virtues about which the author advises the young people ?
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2. Discuss the main literary devices used by the author in this essay. (These devices are irony, satire, parallelism etc.)
Answer :- Twains essay, ‘Advice to Youth’ aims at providing instructions and teaching virtues to the youth. He does this by discussing and advising different things to the youth. But the way he expresses his views is quite amusing and interesting due to his use of irony and satire. In the beginning of the essay, he asks the youth to be obedient to their parents and the words, ‘when they are present ! In fact, he extends this to say that they should be always obedient and not only in their presence only. This gap between what he says and what he means brings out the effective use of irony. In the same way, he tells the youth that if they do not show obedience towards their parents, they will force the youth to be obedient. It forms a satirical comment on the parents who force their children into obedience. Twain’s views about lies is also an example of the use of irony. He calls the act of telling lies an art and advises the youth to tell lies in a way that the lies do not get exposed. In this case again, the writer does not want the youth to indulge in telling lies. He rather satirizes the people who tell lies in a clever way. The way he asks the youth to react in case of facing offence is also ironical. He seems to propagate violence, but at the end one realizes that the writer is totally against violence. Throughout the essay, his use of irony and satire make it pleasing and delightful but it also makes the ideas complex and the reader has to be careful in understanding the real meaning of his words.
3. Which are the main qualities which are required to be a perfect student ?
Answer :-In the essay, ‘Advice to Youth’, Mark Twain offers ideas to young people. He uses humorous style to express his ideas. But his advice to students to achieve perfection is quite serious and genuine. The writer says that the qualities like patience, diligence and giving attention to things carefully are the first requirement for the students to become perfect. These virtues will certainly reward them in the long run. Their personality developed on the basis of these qualities will bring them great name and fame. Hard work, regular studies and experience are the tools that make someone matchless and unique. The writer wants to youngsters to work with patience and self-confidence to achieve success. These things will certainly make young students perfect.
4. The author was asked to say something, “didactic, instructive or something in the nature of god advice.” Do you think the author follows the advice ?
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5. Which are the habits the author urges the youth do avoid? Why ?
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