NCERT Class 12 Chapter 18 Question Answer। The Argumentative Indian। English Medium।

Understanding the Text

1. What is Sen’s interpretation of the positions taken by Krishna

and Arjuna in the debate between them?

[Note Sen’s comment: ‘Arjuna’s contrary arguments are not

really vanquished… There remains a powerful case for ‘faring

well’ and not just ‘faring forward’.]

Answer:

2. What are the three major issues Sen discusses here in relation

to India’s dialogic tradition?

Answer:

3. Sen has sought here to dispel some misconceptions about

democracy in India. What are these misconceptions?

Answer:

4. How, according to Sen, has the tradition of public discussion

and interactive reasoning helped the success of democracy in

India?

Answer:

Talking about the Text

1. Does Amartya Sen see argumentation as a positive or a negative

value?

Answer:

2. How is the message of the Gita generally understood and

portrayed? What change in interpretation does Sen suggest?

Answer:

Appreciation

This essay is an example of argumentative writing. Supporting

statements with evidence is a feature of this kind of writing.

For each of the statements given below state the supportive

evidence provided in the essay

(i) Prolixity is not alien to India.

(ii) The arguments are also, often enough, substantive.

(iii) This admiration for the Gita, and Krishna’s arguments in

particular, has been a lasting phenomenon in parts of

European culture.

(iv) There remains a powerful case for ‘faring well’, and not

just ‘forward’.