Question

What does Umberto Eco mean when he says he is ‘a professor who writes novels on Sundays’ ? (The Interview)

Hint:

Say that novel writing is his leisure activity and that he identifies mainly with the academic community.

Answer 1

Step 1: Understand the question:
The question asks what Eco means by calling himself a professor who writes novels only on Sundays. The scheme accepts any one point: novel writing is a secondary activity, he is busy with academic work, he identifies with academics and not with writers' clubs, or novel writing began by accident around the age of fifty.

Step 2: Write the answer (about 46 words):
Eco means that writing novels is not his main profession but something he does in his free time. He is an academic, busy with lectures and conferences during the week, and he identifies himself with the academic community, not with Pen Clubs and Writers.

Step 3: Marking points:
Content 1 mark, expression 1 mark.

Final Answer:
He sees himself first as a professor; novel writing is only a Sunday pastime.