Telephone Conversation Class 11 NCERT Solutions 2026-27

Concept used. Central issue means the main social problem around which the poem is built. Here, the issue is racial prejudice in an ordinary housing call.

1. The speaker phones a landlady because the rent and location seem suitable.
2. Before visiting, he honestly says that he is African.
3. The landlady does not ask about rent, references or arrival time.
4. Instead, she asks whether he is light or very dark.
5. This question reduces the speaker to skin colour and exposes racial discrimination.
6. The poem criticises the absurd cruelty of judging a tenant by complexion.

The central issue is racial prejudice. The landlady's question about darkness exposes how racism enters even a simple conversation about renting a room.

Concept used. Silence in the poem is not empty. Each pause shows shock, embarrassment, calculation or moral discomfort.

1. The first silence follows the speaker's statement that he is African.
2. The landlady pauses because the information has triggered racial judgement.
3. The speaker is then silenced by her blunt question about how dark he is.
4. He is shocked because the question is rude, unexpected and humiliating.
5. There is another silence after he says West African sepia.
6. The landlady pauses because she does not understand his satirical colour vocabulary.

The silences come from prejudice, shock and confusion. The landlady pauses to judge colour, while the speaker pauses because her racism leaves him stunned.

Concept used. Colour imagery means words that make the reader see shades and surfaces. Soyinka uses colour to expose the absurdity of racial classification.

1. Colour is highlighted through the landlady's repeated question about whether the speaker is light or very dark.
2. The public setting is also filled with red images: booth, pillar-box and omnibus.
3. The speaker answers with comic precision through plain or milk chocolate, sepia and brunette.
4. He extends the satire through peroxide blonde and raven black.
5. These words make racial labelling sound artificial and ridiculous.
6. Colour words in the poem include dark, light, red, gold-rolled, plain or milk chocolate, sepia, brunette, peroxide blonde and raven black.

Colour is highlighted to expose racism as absurd. The main colour words are dark, light, red, gold-rolled, plain or milk chocolate, sepia, brunette, peroxide blonde and raven black.

Concept used. This is a personal-response question, but the answer must still use textual evidence and explain the effect of the chosen lines.

1. One striking set of lines is: I hate a wasted journey, I am African.
2. These lines impress because the speaker is honest and dignified before the prejudice begins.
3. Another powerful line is: HOW DARK? because it exposes racism in a blunt, shocking form.
4. The final line, would not you rather see for yourself, is also memorable.
5. It turns humiliation into witty resistance.
6. Together, these lines show Soyinka's mix of pain, satire and control.

The most impressive lines are the speaker's self-confession, the landlady's HOW DARK question and the final invitation to see for yourself. They capture honesty, racism and witty resistance.

Concept used. Wordplay creates meaning by altering a familiar expression. Hide-and-speak changes hide-and-seek into an image of anonymous public speech.

1. Hide-and-seek is a game in which one person hides while another searches.
2. In the poem, hide-and-speak suggests speaking while hidden from view.
3. The speaker is inside a public telephone booth, so his body is unseen by the landlady.
4. The landlady can hear his voice but cannot see his race or complexion.
5. This hiddenness makes her ask intrusive questions about colour.
6. The phrase also suggests the cowardice of prejudice expressed from a distance.

Hide-and-speak means speaking while hidden, as in a telephone booth. The phrase also hints at the hidden, indirect nature of racial prejudice.

Concept used. Capital letters in poetry can show loudness, emphasis and emotional force. Here, they dramatise the landlady's racist questioning.

1. The capital letters mark the landlady's words: HOW DARK, ARE YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK and similar questions.
2. They make her voice sound loud, sharp and intrusive.
3. The typography shows how the question strikes the speaker.
4. It also separates her blunt prejudice from the speaker's controlled, ironic voice.
5. The capitals create dramatic effect because the reader hears the social violence in the words.
6. They show that the polite conversation has become aggressive and humiliating.

The capital letters emphasise the landlady's racist questions. They make her voice sound harsh and show how violently the words hit the speaker.

Concept used. A title frames how the reader enters the poem. This title sounds ordinary, but the conversation reveals a serious social conflict.

1. The poet chooses Telephone Conversation because the whole poem unfolds through a phone call.
2. The title sounds plain and everyday, which prepares the reader for an ordinary exchange.
3. This plainness makes the landlady's racist question more shocking.
4. The telephone also matters because the speakers cannot see each other.
5. That unseen distance exposes the absurdity of judging a person by skin shade.
6. An alternative title could be Colour Line, A Room to Rent or How Dark.

The title is apt because a simple telephone call reveals racism, shame and resistance. A suitable alternative title could be Colour Line or How Dark.

Concept used. Suggestion means implying more than is directly said. Understatement means expressing a serious matter in a controlled, restrained way.

1. The poem never gives a long speech against racism.
2. Instead, it lets a short phone call reveal the prejudice clearly.
3. The landlady's questions suggest a whole social system of racial exclusion.
4. The speaker's calm, witty answers understate his anger and pain.
5. Images such as the red booth and public hide-and-speak suggest isolation and exposure.
6. Because the poem says less directly, the insult feels sharper and more memorable.

The poem uses suggestion and understatement by presenting racism through one controlled phone call. Its humour hides pain, which makes the social criticism stronger.