What is a Good Book? Summary and Explanation
CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 5 – What is a Good Book? Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Woven Words Book
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CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 5 – What is a Good Book?
John Ruskin
The lesson “What is a Good Book? ” by John Ruskin is a thoughtful essay that helps readers understand the difference between books that are only meant for short-term enjoyment and those that give true knowledge and wisdom. Ruskin explains that some books are written just to pass time, while others are written by great thinkers and are valuable for life. He encourages readers to choose books that help them grow, think deeply, and improve their character. The lesson teaches us how reading the right books can shape our mind and make us better human beings.
- What is a Good Book? Summary
- What is a Good Book? Summary in Hindi
- What is a Good Book? Theme
- What is a Good Book? Explanation
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What is a Good Book? Summary
The lesson “What is a Good Book? ” by John Ruskin talks about the importance of reading and choosing the right kind of books. Ruskin tells us that not all books are valuable in the same way. He divides books into two main types: “books of the hour” and “books of all time.” Books of the hour are those that are written for temporary use. These books may be enjoyable or useful at the moment, like a casual talk or a magazine article. People read them for entertainment or light knowledge, but they don’t stay important for a long time. We forget them easily, and they are not remembered through the years. Books of all time, on the other hand, are very special. These are the books written by great writers, thinkers, poets, scientists, and philosophers. They contain deep knowledge, important life lessons, and wise ideas. Ruskin says reading such books is like having a conversation with the greatest minds of the past. These books continue to guide people, inspire them, and help them grow mentally and morally even after many generations.
Ruskin also says that reading is not just for fun. It should be done with seriousness and purpose. We should read to improve our thoughts, character, and understanding of life. He believes real education comes not just from schools or teachers, but from reading the best and most meaningful books. He compares good books to kings, saying that we are lucky to sit in their presence. But we should also be careful, just because something is printed does not mean it is good. We must learn to choose wisely. Good books teach us how to live, how to think clearly, and how to become better people. In the end, Ruskin encourages us to read not just to pass time, but to gain wisdom, truth, and real knowledge.
Summary of the Lesson What is a Good Book? in Hindi
जॉन रस्किन द्वारा लिखित पाठ “एक अच्छी किताब क्या है?” पढ़ने और सही तरह की किताबें चुनने के महत्व के बारे में बात करता है। रस्किन हमें बताते हैं कि सभी किताबें एक ही तरह से मूल्यवान नहीं होती हैं। वह किताबों को दो मुख्य प्रकारों में विभाजित करता है: “समय की किताबें” और “सभी समय की किताबें।” समय की किताबें वे हैं जो अस्थायी उपयोग के लिए लिखी जाती हैं। ये किताबें उस समय आनंददायक या उपयोगी हो सकती हैं, जैसे कि कोई आकस्मिक बातचीत या कोई पत्रिका लेख। लोग इन्हें मनोरंजन या हल्के ज्ञान के लिए पढ़ते हैं, लेकिन ये लंबे समय तक महत्वपूर्ण नहीं रहती हैं। हम उन्हें आसानी से भूल जाते हैं, और वे सालों तक याद नहीं रहती हैं। दूसरी ओर, सभी समय की किताबें बहुत खास होती हैं। ये महान लेखकों, विचारकों, कवियों, वैज्ञानिकों और दार्शनिकों द्वारा लिखी गई किताबें हैं। इनमें गहन ज्ञान, महत्वपूर्ण जीवन सबक और बुद्धिमान विचार होते हैं। रस्किन कहते हैं कि ऐसी किताबें पढ़ना अतीत के महानतम दिमागों से बातचीत करने जैसा है। ये किताबें कई पीढ़ियों के बाद भी लोगों का मार्गदर्शन करती हैं, उन्हें प्रेरित करती हैं और उन्हें मानसिक और नैतिक रूप से विकसित होने में मदद करती हैं।
रस्किन यह भी कहते हैं कि पढ़ना सिर्फ़ मनोरंजन के लिए नहीं है। इसे गंभीरता और उद्देश्य के साथ करना चाहिए। हमें अपने विचारों, चरित्र और जीवन की समझ को बेहतर बनाने के लिए पढ़ना चाहिए। उनका मानना है कि असली शिक्षा सिर्फ़ स्कूलों या शिक्षकों से नहीं मिलती, बल्कि सबसे अच्छी और सबसे सार्थक किताबें पढ़ने से मिलती है। वे अच्छी किताबों की तुलना राजाओं से करते हुए कहते हैं कि हम उनके सामने बैठने के लिए भाग्यशाली हैं। लेकिन हमें सावधान भी रहना चाहिए, सिर्फ़ इसलिए कि कुछ छपा है इसका मतलब यह नहीं है कि वह अच्छा है। हमें समझदारी से चुनाव करना सीखना चाहिए। अच्छी किताबें हमें जीना, स्पष्ट रूप से सोचना और बेहतर इंसान बनना सिखाती हैं। अंत में, रस्किन हमें सिर्फ़ समय बिताने के लिए नहीं, बल्कि ज्ञान, सच्चाई और वास्तविक ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के लिए पढ़ने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करते हैं।
Theme of the Lesson What is a Good Book?
The lesson “What is a Good Book? ” by John Ruskin revolves around the following themes:-
Wisdom and Lifelong Learning
Ruskin believes that truly good books contain the wisdom of great minds. These books are not just for passing time, they help readers grow intellectually and morally. They offer timeless lessons that stay relevant across generations, encouraging deep reflection and self-improvement.
Temporary vs. Timeless Literature
The essay contrasts “books of the hour” with “books of all time.” While the former are popular and short-lived, the latter hold permanent value and deserve careful study. Ruskin urges readers to seek books that stand the test of time and enrich the soul.
Reading as a Moral Responsibility
For Ruskin, reading is not a light or casual task, it is a moral responsibility. Choosing the right books can shape one’s character and influence society. He warns against wasting time on shallow literature that offers no lasting benefit.
Connection with Great Thinkers
Ruskin sees reading as a way of speaking directly with the wisest people of history. Through good books, readers can engage with ideas and values from different times and cultures. This mental companionship helps in expanding one’s worldview and becoming more thoughtful.
What is a Good Book? Explanation
Passage: The good book of the hour, then—I do not speak of the bad ones—is simply the useful or pleasant talk of some person whom you cannot otherwise converse with, printed for you. Very useful often, telling you what you need to know; very pleasant often, as a sensible friend’s present talk would be. These bright accounts of travels; good-humoured and witty discussions of question; lively or pathetic story-telling in the form of novel; firm fact-telling by the real agents concerned in the events of passing history—all these books of the hour, multiplying among us as education becomes more general, are a peculiar characteristic and possession of the present age: we ought to be entirely thankful for them, and entirely ashamed of ourselves if we make no good use of them. But we make the worst possible use if we allow them to usurp the place of true books: for, strictly speaking, they are not books at all but merely letters or newspapers in good print. Our friend’s letter may be delightful, or necessary, today: whether worth keeping or not, is to be considered. The newspaper may be entirely proper at breakfast time but, assuredly, it is not reading for all day. So, though bound up in a volume, the long letter which gives you so pleasant an account of the inns, and roads, and weather last year at such a place, or which tells you that amusing story or gives you the real circumstances of such and such events, however valuable for occasional reference, may not be, in the real sense of the word, a ‘book’ at all, nor, in the real sense, to be ‘read’.
Word Meanings:
converse (v): to have a conversation with someone
good-humoured (adj.): friendly or in a good mood
witty (adj.): using words in a clever and funny way
pathetic (adj.): unsuccessful, useless, or worthless
peculiar (adj.): unusual and strange, sometimes in an unpleasant way
usurp (v): to take control of a position of power, especially without having the right to
delightful (adj.): very pleasant, attractive, or enjoyable
amusing (v): to keep someone happy, especially for a short time
occasional (adj.): not happening or done often or regularly
Explanation of the passage: Ruskin begins by talking about what he calls a “good book of the hour.” These are books that share useful or enjoyable information from someone you might like to talk to but can not. They can be helpful, like telling you things you need to know, or fun, like a friendly conversation. Examples are travel stories, interesting discussions, novels, or real-life history reports. These kinds of books have become common because more people are educated now, and we should be grateful for that. But Ruskin warns that we should not let these “books of the hour” take the place of true books. They are more like letters or newspapers printed nicely. A letter from a friend or a newspaper might be interesting for a short time, but they are not meant to be read all day or kept forever. Even if these letters or stories are printed as books, they do not have the lasting value that a “true book” has. So, while these short and timely writings are useful sometimes, they are not the kind of books you should focus on reading deeply or keeping forever.
Passage: A book is essentially not a talked thing but a written thing; and written, not with the view of more communication, but of permanence. The book of talk is printed only because its author cannot speak to thousands of people at once; if he could, he would—the volume is mere ‘multiplication’ of his voice. You cannot talk to your friend in India; if you could, you would; you would write instead: that is mere ‘conveyance’ of voice. But a book is written, not to multiply the voice merely, not to carry it merely, but to preserve it. The author has something to say which he perceives to be true and useful, or helpfully beautiful. So far as he knows no one has yet said it; so far as he knows, no one else can say it. He is bound to say it, clearly and melodiously if he may; clearly, at all events. In the sum of his life he finds this to be the thing or group of things, manifest to him— this is the piece of true knowledge, or sight, which his share of sunshine and earth has permitted him to seize. He would fain set it down forever, engrave it on a rock, if he could, saying, ‘This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate, and drank, and slept, loved, and hated, like another; my life was as the vapour, and is not; but this I saw and knew; this, if anything, of mine, is worth your memory.’ That his ‘writing’, it is, in his small human way, and with whatever degree of true inspiration is in him, his inscription, or scripture.That is a ‘Book’.
Word Meanings:
permanence (n): staying the same or continuing for a long time
conveyance (n): the process of moving something or someone from one place to another
perceives (v): to think of something in a particular way
melodiously (adv): in a way that is very pleasant to listen to
fain (adv): willingly or happily
inscription (n): words that are written or cut in something
scripture (n): the holy writings of a religion
Explanation of the passage: In this passage, John Ruskin explains the true meaning of a “book.” He says a real book is not just someone talking to us in writing. It is not made simply to share information like a letter or a speech. A real book is written to last forever, to preserve deep thoughts, truths, or beauty that the writer has discovered in their life. He gives examples: when someone writes a letter, it is just to communicate when they can’t speak directly. But when someone writes a book, it is because they have something very important to say, something no one else has said before, and something they believe is valuable for future generations.
Ruskin says that the writer tries to say this truth clearly and beautifully, because it is the best part of themselves, the most meaningful thing they can leave behind. Everything else in life (eating, drinking, sleeping, loving, etc.) passes away, but the truth they have seen and understood is what they want others to remember. He compares the book to a mark on a rock, something permanent. So, in simple words, a real book is the author’s best and most valuable thoughts, written to be remembered forever. That is what Ruskin calls a true “Book.”
Passage: Perhaps you think no books were ever so written?
But, again, I ask you; do you at all believe in honesty or, at all, in kindness? Or do you think there is never any honesty or benevolence in wise people? None of us, I hope, are so unhappy as to think that. Well, whatever bit of a wise man’s work is honestly and benevolently done, that bit is his book, or his piece of art. It is mixed always with evil fragments—ill-done, redundant, affected work. But if you read rightly, you will easily discover the true bits, and those are the book.
Word Meanings:
benevolence (n): the quality of being kind and helpful
redundant (adj.): unnecessary because it is more than is needed
Explanation of the passage: Ruskin says that you might wonder if any books are ever truly written with deep honesty or goodness. He then asks the reader if they believe in honesty and kindness or if they think that wise people can also be honest and kind. He believes that they can. So, any part of a wise person’s work that is done honestly and with good intentions, that part is what Ruskin calls a real book or a true piece of art. It might not all be perfect. The work may have flaws, mistakes, or unnecessary parts, but if you read carefully, you will be able to spot the meaningful, truthful parts. According to Ruskin, those honest and valuable parts are the real “book”, the part worth reading and remembering.
Passage: Now books of this kind have been written in all ages by their greatest men—by great leaders, great statesmen and great thinkers. These are all at your choice; and life is short. You have heard as much before; yet have you measured and mapped out this short life and its possibilities? Do you know, if you read this, that you cannot read that—that what you lose today you cannot gain tomorrow? Will you go and gossip with your housemaid, or your stable-boy, when you may talk with queens and kings; or flatter yourselves that it is with any worthy consciousness of your own claims to respect that you jostle with the common crowd for entrée here, an audience there, when all the while this eternal court is open to you, with its society wide as the world, multitudinous as its days, the chosen and the mighty, of every place and time? Into that you may enter always; in that you may take fellowship and rank according to your wish; from that, once entered into it, you can never be outcast but by your own fault; by your aristocracy of companionship there, your own inherent aristocracy will be assuredly tested and the motives with which you strive to take high place in the society of the living, measured, as to all the truth and sincerity that are in them, by the place you desire to take in this company of the Dead.
Word Meanings:
statesmen (n): an experienced politician, especially one who is respected for making good judgments
mapped out (v): to plan something in detail
housemaid (n): a woman servant whose job is to clean a large house, and who often lives there
stable-boy (n): a young man who works in a stable and takes care of the horses
consciousness (n): the state of understanding and realizing something
jostle (v): to compete with each other in order to get what they want
entrée (n): the right to join a group of people or enter a place
multitudinous (adj.): consisting of many things or parts
fellowship (n): a group of people or an organization with the same purpose
aristocracy (n): a class of people who hold high social rank
companionship (n): the enjoyment of spending time with other people
inherent (adj.): existing as a natural or basic part of something
Explanation of the passage: Ruskin explains the value of good books and encourages readers to choose their reading material wisely. He starts by telling us that many of the greatest books in the world were written by wise and noble people, kings, philosophers, scientists, and thinkers who wanted to share their best thoughts with others. These people wrote not for entertainment or money, but because they had something important, truthful, or beautiful to say. These books, according to Ruskin, are still available for us to read today. They are always there, on our shelves or in libraries, ready to teach, inspire, and guide us. But because our life is short, we must be careful about how we spend our time. Ruskin reminds us that every moment we waste in unimportant or meaningless talk cannot be recovered. Once a day is gone, it is gone forever. So instead of wasting time on things that do not matter, we should spend our time reading these important books. Ruskin compares reading great books to being part of a royal court, not one of kings or queens, but a court of the greatest minds in the world. These minds invite us into their world through the pages of books. This “court” is open to everyone, regardless of age, class, or background. The only requirement is the desire to read and learn. Once you accept this invitation, you are part of something noble and powerful. You leave only if you choose to walk away. Ruskin ends this part of the essay by saying that the books we choose to read reveal our true selves. A person’s character is not shown by how they dress or speak, but by what they read and how they think. Choosing to read great books means you respect knowledge, truth, and wisdom.
Passage: ‘The place you desire’, and the place you ‘fit yourself for’, I must also say; because, observe, this court of the past differs from all living aristocracy in this—it is open to labour and to merit but to nothing else. No wealth will bribe, no name will overawe, no artifice will deceive the guardian of those Elysian gates. In the deep sense, no vile or vulgar person ever enters there. At the portieres of that silent Faubourg St. Germain, there is but brief question, ‘Do you deserve to enter? Pass. Do you ask to be the companion of nobles? Do you long for the conversation of the wise? Learn to understand it, and you shall hear it. But on other terms? No. If you will not rise to us, we cannot stoop to you. The living lord may assume courtesy, the living philosopher explain his thought to you with considerable pain; but here we neither feign nor interpret; you must rise to the level of our thoughts if you would be gladdened by them, and share our feelings, if you would recognise our presence.’
Word Meanings:
overawe (v): to cause someone to feel a mixture of respect and fear
artifice (n): a clever trick or something intended to deceive
Elysian (adj.): relating to heaven
vile (adj.): unpleasant, immoral, and unacceptable
vulgar (adj.): not polite or socially acceptable; not suitable or acceptable in style
portieres (n): a curtain hung over a door or doorway
Faubourg St. Germain (n): a historic district in Paris, known for its aristocratic residences and association with French nobility
courtesy (n): polite behaviour, or a polite action or remark
feign (v): to pretend to have a particular feeling, problem, etc.
gladdened (v): to make someone or something glad
Explanation of the passage: John Ruskin explains that entering the world of great books and ideas, the “court of the past” is not about status, wealth, or reputation. This world is not like real-life nobility, where people may gain entry through money or family name. Instead, this court only allows those who have truly worked hard. No amount of wealth can get entry, no famous name can impress, and no trick or fake appearance can fool the guardians of this world. Ruskin says that only those who honestly deserve to be there can enter. If someone wants to talk with the nobles of thought, the wise and great minds of the past they must be willing to rise to that level of understanding. These thinkers, now silent and present only through their books, will not change their language or meaning to make things easier. They will not simplify or lower their ideas for anyone. Unlike living people who may explain their ideas with effort and kindness, the thinkers in books speak only once and clearly. If you want to truly be in their company, you must make the effort to understand their thoughts and feel what they felt. Only then can you enjoy their wisdom. Ruskin stresses that this kind of reading requires growth, learning, and sincere effort. It is not for those who expect the books to adjust to them, it is for those willing to improve themselves.
Passage: This, then, is what you have to do and I admit that it is much. You must, in a word, love these people if you are to be among them. No ambition is of any use. They scorn your ambition. You must love them and show your love by a true desire to be taught by them, and to enter their thoughts. To enter into theirs, observe; not to find your own expressed by them. If the person who wrote the book is not wiser than you, you need not read it; if he be, he will think differently from you in many respects.
Word Meanings:
ambition (n): a strong wish to achieve something
scorn (n): a very strong feeling of no respect for someone or something that you think is stupid or has no value
Explanation of the passage: In this passage, Ruskin explains what you need to do if you want to be part of the world of great writers and thinkers. He says it is not easy and takes effort. The most important thing is to love these people, the authors, and their ideas. Being ambitious or proud will not help because these great minds do not care about your personal goals. You must truly want to learn from them and understand their thoughts, not just look for your own ideas in their books. If the author is not wiser than you, there is no point in reading their book. But if they are wiser, they will think differently from you in many ways. You should be open to these differences and try to understand their ideas, instead of only looking for ideas that match your own.
Passage: Very ready we are to say of a book, ‘How good this is— that’s exactly what I think!’ But the right feeling is, ‘How strange that is! I never thought of that before and yet I see it is true; or if I do not now, I hope I shall, some day.’ But whether thus submissively or not, at least be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours. Judge it afterwards, if you think yourself qualified to do so; but ascertain it first. And be sure also, if the author is worth anything, that you will get at his meaning all at once; nay, that at his whole meaning you will not for a long time arrive in any wise. Not that he does not say what he means, and in strong words too; but he cannot say it all; and what is more strange, will not, but in a hidden way and in parables, in order that he may be sure you want it. I cannot quite see the reason of this, nor analyse that cruel reticence in the breasts of wise men which makes them always hide their deeper thoughts. They do not give it to you by way of help, but of reward, and will make themselves sure that you deserve it before they allow you to reach it. But it is the same with the physical type of wisdom, gold. There seems, to you and me, no reason why the electric forces of the earth should not carry whatever there is of gold within it at once to the mountain tops, so that kings and people might know that all the gold they could get was there; and without any trouble of digging, or anxiety, or chance, or waste of time, cut it away, and coin as much as they needed. But nature does not manage it so. She puts it in little fissures in the earth, nobody knows where: you may dig long and find none; you must dig painfully to find any.
Word Meanings:
ascertain (v): to discover something
parables (n): a short, simple story that teaches or explains an idea, especially a moral or religious idea
reticence (n): an unwillingness to do something or talk about something
fissures (n): a deep, narrow crack, especially in rock or the earth
Explanation of the passage: Ruskin continues by talking about how people often enjoy reading books that just tell them what they already think or believe. For example, if a book says something that matches your own opinion, you might say, “This is exactly what I think, so it’s a good book.” But Ruskin says this is not the right way to read a book. Instead, when you read a good book, you should be open to new ideas that might seem strange or different from what you thought before. You should try to understand the author’s point of view, even if it feels difficult or confusing at first.Ruskin also explains that a wise author does not simply give you all their ideas in an easy way. Instead, they sometimes hide the deeper or more important ideas in stories, examples, or puzzles. This is like a test, the author wants to make sure that only readers who really want to learn and understand will find these deeper thoughts. It is not that the author is trying to be secretive for no reason, but rather that this “hidden” way helps the reader grow and think more deeply. To explain this idea, Ruskin compares it to gold hidden underground. If gold was lying around on the surface for everyone to pick up easily, it would not be valuable. Instead, nature hides gold in small cracks and deep places, so people have to dig carefully and patiently to find it. In the same way, true wisdom and deep ideas in a book are not always easy to find.
Passage: And it is just the same with men’s best wisdom. When you come to a good book, you must ask yourself, ‘Am I inclined to work as an Australian miner would? Are my pickaxes and shovels in good order and am I in good trim myself, my sleeves well up to the elbow, and my breath good, and my temper?’ And, keeping the figure a little longer, even at the cost of tiresomeness, for it is a thoroughly useful one, the metal you are in search of being the author’s mind or meaning, his words are as the rock which you have to crush and smelt in order to get at it. And your pickaxes are your own care, wit and learning; your smelting furnace is your own thoughtful soul. Do not hope to get at any good author’s meaning without these tools and that fire; often you will need sharpest, finest chiselling, and patientest fusing, before you can gather one grain of metal.
Word Meanings:
miner (n): a person who works in a mine
pickaxes (n): a tool for breaking hard surfaces, with a long wooden handle and a curved metal bar with a sharp point
shovels (n): a tool consisting of a wide, square metal or plastic blade, usually with slightly raised sides, attached to a handle, for moving loose material such as sand, coal, or snow
trim (adj.): tidy and well ordered
tiresomeness (adj.): annoying and making you lose patience
smelting (n): the act or process of getting a metal from rock by heating it to a very high temperature, or of melting objects made from metal in order to use the metal to make something new
furnace (n): a container that is heated to a very high temperature, so that substances that are put inside it, such as metal, will melt or burn
chiselling (v): to use a chisel, a tool with a long metal blade that has a sharp edge for cutting wood, stone, etc.
fusing (v): to melt or make two things melt together, especially at a high temperature
Explanation of the passage: John goes on to say that understanding a good book is like mining for gold. When you read a good book, you have to be ready to work hard, just like a miner who digs deep into the earth to find precious metal. You need to be prepared and have the right tools, but these tools are not actual pickaxes and shovels. Instead, they are your own intelligence, attention, and knowledge. Your mind must be ready and active, like a miner rolling up his sleeves, working carefully and patiently. The author’s ideas are like gold hidden inside hard rock. You have to “break” and “melt” the words, meaning you have to think deeply and carefully about what the author is saying to find the real meaning. This takes time and effort. Sometimes, you need to study hard and be patient, like a miner who chips away at the rock and then melts the metal to purify it before finding even a small amount of gold.
Passage: And, therefore, first of all, I tell you, earnestly and authoritatively (I know I am right in this), you must get into the habit of looking intensely at words and assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable—nay, letter by letter. For, though it is only by reason of the opposition of letters in the function of signs, to sounds in the function of signs, that the study of books is called ‘literature’, and that a man versed in it is called, by the consent of nations, a man of letters instead of a man of books, or of words, you may yet connect with that accidental nomenclature this real principle: that you might read all the books in the British Museum (if you could live long enough), and remain an utterly ‘illiterate’, uneducated person; but that if you read ten pages of a good book, letter by letter—that is to say, with real accuracy—you are forever more in some measure with an educated person. The entire difference between education and non-education (as regards the merely intellectual part of it), consists in this accuracy.
Word Meanings:
authoritatively (adv): in a way that shows you are confident, in control, and expect to be respected and obeyed
syllable (n): a single unit of speech, either a whole word or one of the parts into which a word can be separated, usually containing a vowel
nomenclature (n): a system for naming things, especially in a particular area of science
Explanation of the passage: In this passage, John explains to us how important it is to pay very close attention to the words we read. He says we should look carefully at every word, even every syllable and letter, to really understand what the author means. This close attention is not just about reading quickly or skipping over parts, but truly focusing on the exact meaning of each part of the text. He explains that the word “literature” comes from the fact that written letters stand for sounds, but this is just a technical detail. The real point is that reading a lot of books quickly without care does not make someone educated. You could read every book in a huge library but still be uneducated if you don’t read carefully. On the other hand, if you read just a few pages of a really good book carefully and thoroughly, paying close attention to each word and its meaning, then you become more educated and thoughtful. This careful reading is what makes the difference between being educated and not educated, it is about how accurately and deeply you understand what you read, not just how many books you have read.
Passage: A well-educated gentleman may not know many languages— may not be able to speak any but his own—may have read very few books. But whatever language he knows, he knows precisely; whatever word he pronounces, he pronounces rightly; above all, he is learned in the peerage of words; knows the words of true descent and ancient blood, at a glance, from words of modern canaille; remembers all their ancestry—their inter-marriages, distantest relationships, and the extent to which they were admitted, and offices they held, among the national noblesse of words at any time, and in any country. But an uneducated person may know by memory any number of languages and talk them all, and yet truly not know a word of any—not a word even of his own. An ordinarily clever and sensible seaman will be able to make his way ashore at most ports; yet he has only to speak a sentence of any language to be known for an illiterate person: so also the accent, or turn of expression of a single sentence will at once mark a scholar. And this so strongly felt, so conclusively admitted, by educated persons, that a false accent or a mistaken syllable is enough, in the parliament of any civilized nation, to assign a man a certain degree of inferior standing forever. And this is right; but it is a pity that the accuracy insisted on is not greater, and required to a serious purpose. It is right that a false Latin quantity should excite a smile in the House of Commons; but it is wrong that a false English meaning should not excite a frown there. Let the accent of words be watched, by all means, but let the meaning be watched more closely still, and fewer will do the work. A few words, well chosen and well distinguished, will do work that a thousand cannot, when everyone is acting, equivocally, in the function of another. Yes; and words, if they are not watched, will do deadly work sometimes.
Word Meanings:
peerage (n): the position of being a peer
canaille (n): the common people, a derogatory term
ancestry (n): your ancestors who lived a long time ago, or the origin of your family
seaman (n): a sailor
illiterate (adj.): unable to read and write
House of Commons (n): one of the two parts of parliament in the UK and Canada, whose members are each elected to represent a particular official area of the country, or its members, or the place where it meets
Explanation of the passage: Ruskin believes that a truly well-educated person does not have to know many languages or speak more than their own. They may have read only a few books, but the important thing is that they understand their own language deeply and accurately. They know the real meaning and history of words, where they came from, how they are related to other words, and their importance or status in the language over time. On the other hand, someone who is not educated might know many languages and be able to speak them all, but they still might not truly understand the real meaning of words, even in their own language. Just like a sailor who can get by in many ports but is immediately recognized as a stranger by the way he speaks, a true scholar can be recognized by their correct pronunciation, use, and understanding of words. In educated circles, even a small mistake, like saying a word with the wrong accent or mispronouncing a syllable, can lower a person’s reputation. Ruskin agrees that this is fair. However, he thinks it is a problem that while people pay attention to how words sound, they do not pay attention to the true meaning of words. He says it is right to laugh at a wrong Latin accent in a formal setting, but it is wrong not to be concerned when someone uses English words incorrectly. Finally, Ruskin believes that choosing the right words carefully and understanding their true meaning is much more important than just speaking correctly. A few well-chosen words that are truly understood can do more than thousands of unclear words. If people do not watch their words carefully, those words can sometimes cause serious harm or confusion.
Conclusion
This post provides the students with a comprehensive understanding of the Essay Chapter 5 – What is a Good Book? By John Ruskin from the CBSE Class 11 English Woven Words Book. It provides the students with the introduction, theme, summary, lesson explanation with word meanings, ensuring that the students comprehend the chapter effectively.