All the summary on English Class 11
1. The
Recurring Dream
The
“Recurring Dream” is a supernatural story that particularly centers round a
strange dream, which Kim was frequently haunted by. Kimberly Clark, the
protagonist, has undergone a serious problem which she had the same sort of
dream time and again. She is a young and beautiful woman of twenty-five who
used to live in London London
The recurring dream troubles her badly. So, she shares
her problem with her roommate Janet Wilson. One day Janet went to her parents’
farm for a few days with Kim to keep Kim free from her problem. On the way Kim
falls asleep and has the same dream. She was surprised to see the same place in
front of her that she usually sees in her dream. She asks Janet to stop the car
and she gets out of it. She sees the same lane, hill and cottage of her dream.
As in the dream, she goes towards the house. There she sees assign of “FOR
SALE” in front of the door.
As in the dream she knocks at the door and the same
old man with white hair and white beard opens the door but he is afraid to see
her. So, he immediately closes the door. Kim again requests him to open the
door and when he opens it she asks him if the house is on sale. The man replied
positively and says that a ghost has haunted the house every night. Then Kim
asks him who the ghost is? The old man replies “It is you” then he closes the
door.
2. Summary
of The Lost Doll
Carmen was the only child of
Roberto and Rosa Soto. She was beautiful, bright and loving child. However she
was sick from the day of her birth. When she was four, she fell sick seriously
and died. A few days after the funeral ceremony, Rosa
gave away Carmen’s playthings and clothes to a priest of another village so
that she couldn’t see them time and again. She thought that she wouldn’t have
another child as she was told at the time of Carmen’s birth. When Roberto knew
about it, he became very unhappy because he was hopeful that they would have
another child. He asked about her the little dolly which Carmen always carried
with her. Rosa said that she didn’t give it
away. Then they searched everywhere in the house as well asked the villagers
too but they couldn’t find it.
However they soon forgot about
the lost doll because Rosa became pregnant. On
the first anniversary of the death of Carmen, Rosa
gave birth to another child. Roberto and Rosa became very happy. She was named
Evangelina, which meant “good news”. When Evangelina grew she looked very much
similar to her sister Carmen. But she was healthy girl. When she was about
four, she told her mother that she had been sick a long time ago. She also told
her aunt that she had a little, beautiful doll with blue eyes and red dress.
She had buried it under a tree in the yard. She requested her mother to dig up
the doll. When Rosa dug up the ground, she
found the lost doll. She looked surprised, shocked and sick because it was
difficult for her to believe. Evangelina also said that when she was sick, the
nice man came and helped her to bury that doll under the tree.
The story accounts the supernatural
significance regarding its particular focus on the concept of reincarnation.
When Evangelina was born and grown up, she looked very much similar to that of
Carmen’s actions, characters, behaviors and other many things were very much
similar. The priest said that God healed Carmen and sent her back in the form
of healthy Evangelina. Though Rosa did not
believe that her newly born child as the reincarnation of Carmen but she could
not reject the mysterious fact towards the end of the story. When Evangelina
reported everything about past and about her doll, Rosa
could say nothing anymore.
3. The House
Call
“The House Call” is a story from Germany
The doctor checked her up and found
that she was suffering from pneumonia. He provided her some medicine that
comforted the woman because she was the same woman who once worked in the same
hospital as the maintenance staff. The doctor knew that Elda Elda
4. FEAR
Armando Gonzalez was a very
hard-working man. After he and his wife worked for twenty years, they were able
to save 50,000 pesos in a large bank of Mexico
City
The people in the bank began to look at
Armando because he had won his hat on backward. But he thought that they were
looking at him for his money. A fat man persistently stared at him on account
of the way he had worn the hat. When Armando came to the street to wait for the
bus, he saw the fat man next to him. He suspected that the fat man was going to
rob him, consequently his body began to shake and his heart started beating faster.
Armando was waiting for the bus. When the fat man looked at his pocket, Armando
thought that he was checking his pistol. In this way the situation made him
quite nervous.
When the bus came, Armando got on the
bus and sat on the seat behind the driver he found the same man sitting behind
him. Armando’s whole dream of buying the new house was in his pocket. He was
not happy because he thought that someone would easily cease his dream.
Moreover, he saw three boys talking to the fat man that made him truly skeptic,
whether they were the helpers of the fat man. Armando got up the bus at the
next station from the front door but after sometime the boys also got off from
the back door. Armando was sure that they were going to rob him. So, he cried
begging help from the bystanders. Then he ran as fast as he could. The boys
simply thought that he might have undergone some serious problem so they ran
after him for his help. Armando fell in the ground many ground many times.
Eventually, the boys meet him, who was weeping like a child and requested not
to rob him. He said that he was honest and he had earned that money in fair way
through hard work. However when he knew that they were not robbers, he felt
shamed. He returned to the bus stop with the boys feeling easy and happy.
5. The
Loving Mother
‘The Loving Mother’ is a story
that reveals the everlasting love of a mother to her baby even after her death.
It particularly gives central focus round the mysterious arrival of a woman at
a pharmacist’s usually at midnight. Shoji Sakota, the protagonist of this story
undergoes an unseen fear when he received the frequent visit in the same time
almost every night. Sakota was a Japanese pharmacist who lived a lonely life
since his wife had died many years before. One stormy winter night, when he was
preparing the annual business report, someone knocked at the door. At first he
didn’t pay much attention towards the knock thinking that whoever came there
would see the drugstore closed and return back. Second time also he heard the
knock at the door and thought that the wind was making the sound. The frequency
of knock grew that compelled him to think whether he might have some urgent
house call. He looked outside from the window quietly and saw there a woman
standing and speaking in a trembling voice. He suspected her and thought
whether it might be her trick to rob him. But her continuous pleads made him
open the door. The woman looked not like a normal woman. She was wearing a torn
out gown and her hair was not arranged. She asked Sakota for an ame on a stick
stick. Sakota was surprised when he knew about her request because he thought
that she would ask for the medicine.
The woman came to the shop in the
following nights regularly with same request at the same time. With a view to
have detail study about a woman, he called his friend who was a photographer by
profession. They managed to take photos of that woman secretly. But, when the
film was developed, there was no sign of the woman except the things in the
drugstore. The mystery remained so intense that ultimately forced them to
follow her up to her bedroom. They followed on her way back to her home and
they became able to find the same woman lying beside her child who was enjoying
the ame on a stick, which she brought from Shoji Sakota. When Mr. Sakota saw
her sleeping instantly, he thought it was merely a kind of pretension. The
moment he touched her with his fingers he became sure that she had been dead
for many days.
In this story, the spirit of a
loving mother visited Mr. Sakota’s pharmacy in order to buy ame on a stick
mostly preferred by her child. Though the mother is dead, her spirit shows an
infinite love to her child who is reported to have been sick for many days. Her
death was quite unknown to others. Moreover, there was nobody to look after
her.
6. My hearts
Leaps Up When I Behold
‘My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold’ is a beautiful poem
composed by a famous English romantic poet William Wordsworth. The poet is a
great lover of nature as well as true worshiper of God and nature. In this
poem, the poet recollects (remembers) the experiences of his childhood days and
gives his emotion and feeling a meaning that the poet wants continuity of life
and nature. For him, nature is both God and religion. In this poem, he not only
presents the reality of human life but also shows a deep respect to God and
religion wishing his days to be bound each to each by natural piety.
The poet says that he becomes very happy to see the nature
going on in the same way. So, he says that his heart leaps up with great
happiness or joy when he sees a beautiful rainbow in the sky. The colourful
rainbow symbolizes the continuity of the nature and colourful human life. The
rainbow was there in the sky when the poet was born and he has now become a
matured man. He also wants the rainbow to be in the sky when he has become a
matured man. He also wants the rainbow to be the same in future. He says that
present is the result of the past and future will be the result of the present.
In this way the poet shows that time and nature are ongoing phenomena of
universe. If there is any break in this continuation the poet wants to die. The
poet also says that both are inevitable.
The poet presents his main idea of the poem through the
paradoxical line “The Child (past) is the father (present) of the future.” The
poet means to say that human life begins from childhood. A man can’t be a
father without being a child. According to the poet, father means from whom the
creation of new generation takes place. It is the child from whom the manhood
begins. Thus the child is really the father of man. Yesterday’s child is
today’s man (father) and today’s child is tomorrow’s father. The poet also says
that nature is God, religion and source of life and inspiration. He worships,
loves and respects the nature. He also wishes the continuation of time (past,
present and future) in the nature in the same way.
7. Speaking
of Children
‘Speaking
of Children’ is an essay by Barbara Holland in which she delightfully and critically
examines the idea of having more than one child and the consequent expenses of
parents. The entire essay centers round the issue of having a single child is
far better than to have money. The essayist goes on arguing the possible
difficulties and disasters which the parents have it bear if a house is filled
with many children. She has raised the most burning issue of overpopulation
that has further generated series of challenges and risks to the living beings
of the present world.
She
begins this essay with a humble statement ‘one child is an appendage and more
than one is a way of life’. The statement genuinely implies that single child
like our body and we can attach him or her in our body and we can carry
wherever we go or whatever our circumstances may be. But having many children
in the house is certainly a matter of burden. It is obvious that it is quite
hard for the parents to provide proper care and affection equally for their all
children. Consequently the children are abided from good education, proper
health care and other facilities, which are the key components for the overall
development of children’s personality. Moreover they disturb the privacy
between husband and wife without letting them chances of private talk related
to their job, income, business and their experiences of their duty and so on.
In a sense they need to be worried all the time for their future prospects as
well as to satisfy their unsuitable demands of hunger and enjoyment. The
essayist minutely examines some other dark sides in this regard like they make
their house dirty, create unnecessary noise, and make wounds in their body,
which ultimately goes in the hands of parents.
Eventually,
the essayist makes an appeal to the readers so as to make us aware of in time
from committing such blunder. She strongly suggests us to have a single child
for the happiness and prosperity of family life. Every details and
illustrations are quite prescriptive in nature that intends us to be aware of
such mistakes. The essay is quite funny, humorous, informative in quality and
filled with various fragments.
8. Look At
TeaCup
The essay ‘Look At A Teacup’,
written by Patricia Hampel, shows how a simple writing helps in finding out
great events. It is about the history of writer’s mother in a delicate teacup.
The two major themes of this essay are relationship between a mother and her
daughter and a connection between the past generation and present generation.
Both these things are represented by a teacup.
The writer’s mother was married
in the year 1939, the beginning of the Second World War. The same year she
bought the teacups as gifts that were later given to the daughter. Hampel sees
a connection between herself and her mother. The teacup reminds her of her
mother’s history because her mother bought it in 1939. Through the cup the
mother transfers the culture and history of her time to the daughter. So, the
cup is historical memory only. It was made in Czechoslovakia
The essay associates and removes
the objective description and subjective feeling of author and teacup. The
author can express lots of feeling and ideas making the teacup as a medium. She
tries to compare the falling of flower in the teacup as destruction of beauty
due to falling bombs. There was also cultural and social degradation. The style
of this essay is stream of consciousness. So, the reader feels somehow puzzled
to track down the plot of the essay. She expresses all her feelings try to
compete each other. So, some sentences are fragmented. Logically they do not
follow each other. The writing is beautifully decorated but the meanings are
deviated.
There is
symbolic meaning of the things. ‘Falling flowers’ implies the degrading
situation and ‘teacups’ were human rituals and arts. Certainly the essayist
refers the fall and break of culture. ‘Falling bodies’ were dying people in the
war and ‘beds’ have meaning of the battlefield where the falling bodies lay.
‘The falling of bombs onto women’ means the tragic fate of these women. They
had the disturbed married life. Fates of women were accursed by the war and
their destiny was darkened by the war and their destiny. ‘Falling countries’
refers to the degradation of humanity, peace, progress, brotherhood, culture,
etc. of the countries involved in the war. This essay presents the reality of
war and shows the real picture of the world caused by the destruction due to
war.
9. A Worn
Path
‘A Worn Path’ is a story about an
old black woman named Phoenix
This story is the live
description of the journey of the old Negro woman. The writer presents live
description of the real character so that the events of that story seem
convincing. Phoenix
It is quite strange to the reader
that she keeps talking to herself because she is alone on the way. Also, she is
very old and talking alone has because her habit. By talking to herself, she
tries to forget hardships and troubles that come on her way. Monologues add a
lot to the total portrait of her habits, nature and attitude. Through the
monologue we can read her mind. From her monologue she seems weak, kind-hearted
and loving woman. She is the woman who is afraid of even small things. But, she
finds way to remove her obstacles. She is uneducated and knows very little
about the outside world. She has lots of love for her grandson but despite of
her weakness she is determined woman who frees all the challenges of the life.
Her monologues add a lot to the total portrait of her.
She is a very poor woman. When
she sees the nickel dropped from a white man, she thinks she can do something
with that money. Her poverty drives her to pick up that nickel. She does this
theft jus for good reason. She wants to buy paper windmill for her grandson as
a surprise gift on the occasion of Christmas Day.
At last,
she is able to get success in her aim. In spite of her old age, she proves
herself to be a courageous and determined woman. Being simple and uneducated
lady also, she overpowers all the obstacles on her way due to her deep love for
her grandson.
10. The
Three Day Blow
“ The Three Days Blow” is a plot
less story in a dramatic way. Two friends Nick and Bill meet at Bill’s cottage.
The weather is shown violent. There is rain and storm. So, this is an ideal
situation to stay inside home. They make fire, burn lots of logs and make
themselves warm. They drink different alcohol and go on talking about different
topics such as books, fishing, girlfriend, hunting, etc. without any plot, the
story ends. The topics of the talk change suddenly from one subject to another.
There is no third character. We know a lot about the subject, which go through
their conversation only. Bill and Nick have no specific purpose of meetings or
talking. The weather creates situation for them. This keeps them inside when
they talk about different topics. Hemingway creates situation of drinking so
that they can reveal their feelings. The scene moves forward excluding the
opening exposition. He talks about the weather- rainfall, storm, wind, surf,
etc. suddenly, he begins to have different sorts of drinks and talk about games
of baseball. The topic of their talk shifts to books and writer. They slowly
get drunk and talk about their habits. Then, they talk about nick’s girlfriend.
This is the climax of the story. The theme of this scene lastly talks about
hunting and go to.
When we read the drama, this
scene opens one by one. The title of the story says something symbolically.
Weather doesn’t remain same always. Even a single day we can experience the
fluctuation of weather. This is the principle of nature. Weather is dynamic; it
doesn’t remain constant all the time. Just like weather, mental conflict of
tension of suffering is presented in several scenes or sequence of events. In
the beginning scene, nick looks calm but with the movement of different scenes,
his calm face changes.
The setting of this story goes to
be open with a nice scene. Nick is presented in the beginning on the way. He is
going up to the village. Natural presentation is also seen. There is an orchard
and we see the blowing of air, breeze that is the first autumn storm. Nick
picks up an apple and keeps it in his pocket. The two characters Nick and Bill
are presented inside the house. They have their personal talk. The story begins
with the scene of woods, lakes, kitchen, sitting room, dining room etc. In the
beginning Nick is seen and the story ends with guns. They go down where Bill’s
father was hunting. There are similar events between the whether and sequence
of events of “The Three Days Blow”. There is conflict in the character Nick. He
is getting confused about his girl friend Marjorie. He wants to meet her again
but Bill makes him leave her. He wants to marry her although her mother is bad.
So the conflicts are similar. There is union in both weather hand love of Nick
with Marjorie. Weather becomes fair and love also becomes negotiable.
The story is dramatic because
there are characters and dialogues and unity of time and place. There are two
characters Nick and Bill who have continuous dialogues like in the drama. The
setting of the story is also like a drama. There is internal and external
scene. These scenes can be converted into the drama. They just talk about some
little subject that is the subject matter of both drama and story. These story
deals with love. Marjorie’s mother can be presented as an antagonist, Nick as a
protagonist and Bill as an inciting force. So the story is dramatic.
The three-day blow and Nick’s
mental condition are related. Marjorie’s business is fundamental subject of the
story. Nick, though he is not enjoyed with her, is going to get married.
Because of her mother, he breaks relation from Marjorie, his beloved. After
different kinds of talks Bill and Nick’s conversations is concentrated.
Marjorie’s business has broken his relation with her easily. So moment from
Nick’s conflicts of love affairs, through suffering and separation to
reconciliation ends. Thus Marjorie’s business is like a three day below that
comes and disappears itself. Three-day blow comes, threatens and finally goes
away. In the same way, conflict of love appears and disappears with despair and
again with hope.
The Marjorie’s business is
fundamental subject of this story. Nick, though he was not engaged with her,
was going to get married. Because of her mother he broke relation from
Marjorie, his beloved. His mother was very terrible. To marry her meant he would
have married the whole family her mother.
Though the character Bill, the
writer seems to be giving practical message. Nick seems to be emotional but
Bill is practical. Nick is ready to accept Marjorie although her mother was
bad. He really loves her and ready to accept her. His life can be compared with
the storm. The moment when he met Marjorie and he left her due to unfavorable
situation that moment is just like a violent storm, which doesn’t last for long
time in the nature. Bill is practical. He says Nick to forget all the events
related with Marjorie and lead his wife towards new direction. Human life is a
mixture of sorrow and happiness. If any disastrous event comes in our life
also, we should control our emotion and lead our life towards new phase and
time happily. We should have capacity to adjust with all the fluctuations that
come in our life.
11. The Polar Field
Hemingway
is a romantic poet. Like his other literary works, this is also a romantic poem
representing nature. He describes the difference in the environment and natural
beauty before and after the poplar trees are fallen down. With example of
poplar trees, the poet wants to show the real phase of human life according to
rule of nature.
The
poplars are cut down which used to grow along the Ouse
River . The river doesn’t reflect the beautiful shadows of these
trees. The musical environment has been ruined now. The leaves don’t blow the
air and sing a song in happy mood. There are also no shades. These trees were
once in the field but now they have become seats. Not only the environment has
been ruined but there is also destruction of the blackbird’s habitat. The bird
used to add charm in that beautiful environment by its different types of
melodious songs. It has transferred its nest to the hazel trees to get shelter
and shade.
The poet
thinks that his days too are passing away fast and should be lying down like
those poplars. He thinks that he will be in the tomb before such grove will
grow again. Such scenes make him think deeply about human lives. He understands
that trees are perishable like the woods. Such events inspire him to think
about the perishable nature of human joys and our enjoyment is short when our
lives are so short. Man is the most perishable thing in the world and will live
shorter than now in the future.
The poem
deals with the personal feeling according to the principle of romanticism.
Romantic writers don’t write care the common interest so they express their
personal emotions using singular pronoun ‘I’. So, in this poem we see the first
person instead of others. Personal approach makes the expression stronger and
powerful.
The poem
compares the life cycle of poplar and the human life. Poplar grows up; it
produces branches, leaves, etc. it makes shades and pillars. It lies down and
perishes in the ground. Our lives also grow and perish. Human life is also
similar to the natural life. However, the life of nature or tree passes through
time. The human life is also the same. So, our enjoyment goes away from the
life. As human life is not certain, we should live our life, every moment of
life enjoying a lot and with great happiness. We cannot take these enjoyable
moments with us after our death. We can take only the physical body, which we
get from the nature. Our pleasures and enjoyments all die before our death.
The poem
is remarkable for its celebration of the rural and its nostalgic tone.
(Nostalgic poems are reminiscences of past life of a writer, is also part of
autobiography). The poet recollects the scene of the poplar trees, which he
used to enjoy the whispering sound of the tree columns. Winds used to play and
sing in the leaves. Rivers reflect the image of the trees beautifully. Birds
have shifted to other places. Melody has disappeared. Now he has no pleasures
in these poplar trees. After 12 years he sees the field and feels everything
dead by depletion.
The poet
has given indirect suggestion to the readers to protect the natural vegetation.
He warns us that if we won’t protect the green forests now only, we will die
before age. We should understand that we are living in this world just due to
nature. We are just the products of nature and one day we have to surrender
ourselves in the lap of nature. The poet has written this poem in defense of
natural conservation because he thinks that we get some important human aspects
from the trees. The poplars represent the forest. When we preserve the trees we
can get shades and pillars for houses. Birds live there and they sing some
melodious songs, which make our lives joyful. The poet compares the tree with
human life and says our lives are more perishable than the trees. We are
destroyed by the nature. So we should defend the nature.
12. The
Nightmare Life Without Fuel
“The
Nightmare Life Without Fuel” is an essay, which depicts the life of this world
in coming future when the fuel resources will have reduced from their source.
The main thrust of this essay is: what is going to happen if we do not conserve
the world’s natural resources. Asimov focuses on a specific problem that will
arise by the lack of fuels. This whole world is run by different resources such
as petrol, diesel, water, wood, etc. We cannot imagine this world without the
use of fuel. In comparison to the past days, we are now facing the problem of scarcity
of fuel resources. Earlier these resources were found in large quantity and
life style was easier.
As the
fuel resources were abundantly found, every sector was found running
successfully and easily. Factories, industries, transportation, great organizations,
etc. were in proper condition. People didn’t have problem of scarcity of fuel
resources. But slowly and gradually population growth increased and brought bad
consequences. Agricultural lands occupied by huge buildings and industries.
Also, the number of vehicles also increased. Due to the maximum use of the
resources, human life has been in discomfort. Human beings feel that their
lives are really unsecured. They always have fear that they will lose work and
food. They think that they are themselves responsible for causing scarcity of
resources. As they are less conscious of their future, they suffer because of
the destruction of the resources. Most of them claim that they will have new
resources invented. Of course, new resources such as nuclear energy and solar
power have been discovered but they are very dangerous and also expensive in
use. People know that their pleasures are in danger and also their future is
dark. Coming generations will suffer more than us.
Asimov
focuses on the decreasing resources of fuel in the world. The life will be full
of struggle without fuel resources. This world will slowly go dark, as less
lighting bulbs will be there in the streets. Electrical appliances will be used
less as there will also be scarcity of electricity. Even luxurious provisions
and equipments will be impossible. More time will be taken to do simple work
also as there won’t be any vehicle running in the streets. There will be
difficulty in transportation and accumulation of required foodstuffs. Due to
the shortage of food, people will die due to starvation and malnutrition. Due
to lack of proper balanced diet, there will be problem in human brains. Child
death rate will increase, as children will be deprived of proper nutritious and
body building food. Specially, simple towns, suburbs will be affected much.
These areas depend upon transportation for all kinds of things. They will be in
danger of extinction. Every human activity will be minimized due to less light,
heat, and less comfort.
Security
forces will also be affected badly. Without the use of weapons, military forces
will be purposeless. Their work will end because they can’t work without fuel.
They use scientific weapons, which are operate with fuel and are very
expensive. Only the technically strong countries will be able to exercise their
military power if fuel is saved in time. Factory workers will be jobless as
industries and factories will be closed. So, it will be very difficult for them
to provide basic needs to their family also.
Only small
benefits will be there due to lack of fuel. The environment will be fresh, cool
and pure. Crime rates will decrease. People will understand the importance of
nature and will go attached with it. People will be cooperative, as all of them
will be facing same problem. They will keep themselves warm using sweaters and
other thick clothes only.
The
writer tries to warn us from the devastating situation of this world in the
coming future. If we are not serious at present only, we have to suffer a lot
in the future. We must t understand the importance of the nature and try to
conserve it. The world is depending upon the trade and because of trade the
environment is being neglected. People are living in the cities and the
environment of the cities is polluted. Major population of world should be
engaged to plant the trees to make a better world in future. We cannot use the
solar easily and even if we use, it cannot naturally help us. But if we
preserve the jungle, our environment and energy will be improved.
13.
Unchopping A Tree
In the
essay “Unchopping a Tree”, the writer presents impossible example to convey
deep meaning. Joining the chopped parts of trees refers to the new plantation
of more trees in the open fields, which are full of stumps. Every part of trees
refers to the every parts of the nature whether they are small or big. Each and
every parts of nature is important. As we are also the creation of the nature,
it is our duty to maintain the balance in the nature. We don’t have rights to
destroy the nature. Actually we are not destroying the nature but we are
destroying ourselves. Our lives totally depend upon the nature. Through the
writer’s appeal to join the parts of the chopped trees, he wants to remind
human beings about their important works to be done to conserve the greenery of
the nature.
Unchopping
a tree is impossible. It is only a kind of feeling but certainly it has
meaning. The writer emphasizes on the preservation of the nature. The nature
should be preserved and those persons who cur the trees must plant some more in
replacement. When they save and plant the trees, it is unchopping a tree. The
writer warns that it is easy to destroy but very hard to create. He further
says that life of a tree and human life are the same so they should be
preserved with equal emphasis. Not only the trees we should save but also
should protect the habitats of some animals who live in trees.
The
writer tries to persuade us how to work hard to bring the chopped tree into the
original situation, which is not really possible. When a tree is felled down,
there is no way to bring it into its original condition. But its place can be
replaced with more trees, which we plant. Trees are also the important parts of
the ecosystem as other living creatures. We should think of conservation of
such trees instead of deforestation for the protection of the ecosystem.
14. Keeping
Things Whole
The poem
Keeping Things Whole is taken from Selected Poems (1980). The poet pleads for
wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life. The poet
believes in whole part and not in partial. He knows the value of each and every
part of nature to present nature as whole. He tries to know the value of each
and every small and small constituents of nature to continue the wholeness of
nature. The poet indirectly pleads human beings to fill the gaps in the nature
if they separate the parts of nature. The poet indirectly pleads human beings
to keep nature whole by conserving its every small parts in every small part in
every nook and corner.
The poem deals with two separate things of
anything, which are part and whole. The nature has small parts small parts. It
is divided into the separate elements. He has lost himself in the field. He is
losing himself everywhere. The poet parts the air forward but it becomes whole
behind him. He only makes the air whole, not a part. But everything becomes
whole itself. We see field, air, etc as a part not as a complete. Our lives are
also parted but it is only illusion. If we try to make separate parts, that is
only hollowness of concept.
The poet has presented himself in the field
missing and parting in the air and he is whole not part in the bank drop. He
wants to be whole, not part. He is not happy with himself because he is an
intruder in the natural environment. He feels that he is fragmenting,
disturbing and damaging the natural wholeness that is why air moves to fill the
spaces occupied by his body while he walks. He becomes careful not to disturb
the wholeness of things in the environment. This shows his concern to the
protection of environment.
The poet suggests that if human being involves
to encourage the existence of the nature, the nature also gives reaction. For
example, if we cut down the forest, land erosion, flood, landslides occur.
Then, men get knowledge from the nature that the nature itself is powerful
rather from human beings. Even if man tries to challenge the existence of the
nature, he can’t get victory over it. So, the poet becomes very much sensitive
for the delicate balance of the nature. –
The last stanza suggests that we all move to
make a whole, not part. The poet moves forward and he parts the air but it
becomes whole again. So, what we think of being parted i.e; that is wrong.
Everything in the world is whole.
15. Concrete Cat
“Concrete
Cat” is an example of a concrete poem, a poem just giving focus to the physical
picture and not the imagination, emotion and language. This type of poem is
written for eyes and not for mind and heart. It does not appeal to the heart
because it doesn’t emphasize on emotion and thought. It is written in the short
form, which is also called “reduced language”. Words do not follow the regular
pattern of the poems. Words are scattered in such a way that they form the real
portrait of the thing to be expressed by the poem. The chief concern of such a
poem is with the physical appearance of poetry- not primarily with ideas or
emotions and also not with language as we ordinarily use.
This poem
says something about a cat and its “catness” in action. Ear, eye, mouth,
whisker, tail, etc. all sketched on the page denote both physical and abstract
meanings. The middle stripe is the only place where language aspires toward
poetry and becomes figurative. This middle stripe shows stomach part which says
much about the human world and human activities.
Unlike
other poem, the words are arranged in such a way that emotions are kept in a
shadow and real portrait is highlighted. From the words written in different
shapes and styles we understand the poem. The poem creates such a situation
that we can see the real picture of cat immediately after we read the poem.
Outer appearances seem to be important than emotions and thoughts. Different
parts of cat’s body are presented by the use of words in their respective
places.
Generally
poems are written in certain stanza and generally follow the traditional
pattern. Many poems are written in ornamental language. But, this poem doesn’t
follow that pattern. This poem is made for our eyes rather than our ear. The
meaning of the poem is nothing other than the portrait of the cat. The poet has
used craftsmanship.
16. Oops !
How’s That Again ?
“Oops!
How’s That Again” is an essay written by Rosenblatt and this essay has a
humorous tone. Through the humorous tone also, the essayist has tried to
reflect the bitter reality of human beings when they make mistake when they
speak. He enriches his discussion with remarkable examples; although, as befits
its subject. He is much concerned with the psychological causes of bloopers.
Human
beings often make mistake knowingly and unknowingly when they speak. After
making mistake they also apologize for it. From the uneducated person to highly
intellectual and educated, scholar, different mistakes are made according to
their level. This essay describes the mistake the people make while speaking
and the reasons behind it are divided into four categories. They are as
follows: i. Public Blunders ii. Memorable Translations iii. Bloopers iv.
Spoonerisms.
Public
Blunders are the mistakes made by the people when they give speech. While
delivering the speech, they don’t actually care for the grammatical mistakes or
vocabulary mistakes. These mistakes are specially committed by especially by
the political leaders when they deliver their speech. They try to give emphasis
by giving different examples but their sentences are not totally complete. This
happens due to their tongue slip. Here the speaker may be trying to give
message from one view but the different audience may take it in wrong way.
Memorable
translations are the mistakes generally done by the people who speak very fast.
This is also related to the psychological condition of the listener. The words
spoken by the fast speaker may not be easily understood the real words. There
may be misunderstanding between the speaker and listener. The person with weak
psychology, if, wrongly interprets the words of the speaker, it may bring
violent situation.
Bloopers
are the mistakes done foolishly and not tried to correct. These mistakes are
very simple types of mistakes, which are not given much importance by the
speaker. This may be the habit of some people. Spoonerisms are the mistakes,
which are done by the use of incorrect words due to tongues slips. Here, wrong
words are not known by the listener as the speaker immediately tries to replace
the wrong word when he comes to know the mistake. While the replacement of
words the speaker should be conscious as wrong replacement can misinterpret the
actual meaning.
There are
different views about the verbal errors according to different people. Victoria
Fromkin, a linguist, says that the verbal errors happen due to tongue slips
concerned with the brain. Before the words are expressed, thought is placed by
the brain into a grammatical framework. Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist, presents
his theory about the verbal error in different way. According to him, a tongue
slips are caused by the network of id (unconscious mind), ego (subconscious
mind) and superego (conscious mind). When people make mistakes, it has become
the trend to laugh at them. Why do we laugh at them we don’t know. According to
the philosopher Henri Bergson, the act of laughter is caused by any
interruption of normal human fluidity or momentum. So, tongue slips are like slips
of banana peels. We simply make fun and hoot at the errors simply to break the
monotonies.
17. MALINI
Rabindranath
Tagore is a Bengali Indian poet, writer and philosopher. He was born is 1861
and died in Calcutta
The play opens with the agitation of the Hindu
Brahmins for the banishment of Malini, the princess of Kashi. A Hindu kingdom.
Malini has been charged for her acceptance of a new creed, i.e. Buddhism.
Having been taught by Buddhist Monks, she was influenced by Buddhism. She does
not find any attachment with the worldly beauty and the material world. She
thinks that wealth does not cling to whose destiny it is to find riches in
poverty. Her mother, the Queen opines that for a woman, husband and children
are the objects of worship.
The king and the Queen are worried about her
acceptance of Buddhism and request her to give up her new creed. The Queen
believes Malini to be a pure flame of fire and thinks some divine spirit has
taken birth in her but the king does not want her to take the burden of the
world on her shoulders.
Kemankar, a firm and determined youth, is the
leader of agitators. Supriya, the childhood friend of Kemankar is also an
agitator. Malini is charged as a poisonous snake who is aiming at the heart of Hindu
religion. Supriya does not approve the idea to banish Malini in the name of
religion. He knows that the truth cannot be determined by the force of numbers.
He supports Malimi’s belief that the love and truth as soul and body of all
religions. Though the essence of all religions is same, Kemankar believes in
their different forms. Supriya leaves the assembly assuring Kemankar about
their friendship.
All the agitators step back when they come to
know that the army is in support of the agitation. They think it as a rebellion
and extreme measure. They believe that their faith, not the arms, will give
them victory. So make penance and invoke the goddess to descend from heaven to
less and give power to them. Malini enters with all in the palace, and receives
the honour of the ordinary citizens except Kemankar and Supriya. They ask for
forgiveness, Malini announces her self exile and wants to make home renouncing
the royal palace. Kemankar becomes alone in the agitation. So he makes a plan
to go to the foreign land to bring soldiers to fight. Though Supriya does not
like this plan, he wants to go with him for their friendship’s sake. Kemankar
orders him to remain there to watch and keep him informed.
The first part of the play ends with the
conversation about Malini. The king shows the determination to banish Malini as
the demand persisted but he immediately changes his mood when he learns about
Malini’s missing. But Malini is brought back by the Brahmins and the soldiers
with a great honour.
The second part of the play opens in the
garden where Malini and Supriya are talking. Supriya wants to be led by Malini
but she does not think herself so great to lead him. During conversation Malini
wants to learn about Kemankar from Supriya. He said that Kemankar’s mind has
always been firm and determined while his mind or thoughts are always
flickering with doubts. Supriya suddenly reveals that he has deceived his
friend by informing his plan to the king.
The king enters. He is very much happy with
Supriya and so he proposes Supriya to ask for anything even the princess Malini
along with provinces worthy to tempt a king. But he refuses all. He thinks
these as rewards for his treachery. He only wants love from Malini, which she
has for every creature in the world.
Kemankar has been captured by the king’s
soldiers and the king is going to execute him for his treason. Both Malini and
Supriya plead the king to pardon him. He is brought before the king who wishes
to meet Supriya. Since he wants to know why Supriya has done that or why he
betrayed his own friend. Supriya replies he did to keep faith. He blames
Supriya being a faithless. Supriya replies that true faith is there is love,
where there is man. He says he got the knowledge from malini, which he could
not get from any sacred books. Supriya wants to make compromise but Kemankar
says falsehood and truth cannot live side by side in friendship.
Supriya assures Kemnakar that he is paying his
life for his love as Kemankar knows for the faith. At this Kemankar wants them
to be judged in front of the death. Then Kemankar strikes Supriya with his
chains and Supriya falls and he dies. Kemankar calls for his executioner but
Malini requests the king to forgive him. Character sketch of Malini.
Princess
of Kashi, a Hindu kingdom.
Innocent
young girl.
Influenced
by Buddhism.
Does not
find any attachment with the worldly beauty and material world.
Thinks
that wealth does not cling to those whose destiny it is to find riches in
poverty.
She is a
Pure flame of fire and seems as if some divine spirit has taken birth in her.
Maintains
that love and truth to be the soul and body of a religion.
Has love
for all the creatures in the world.
Has
infinite compassion to everyone, even to the sinner as Kemankar.
Like a
lamp in the darkness.
Has forgive
to everyone, etc.
18. The Six
Million Dollar Man
Dr.
Harold J Morowita is a professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He
is a scientist, teacher, and author. ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ is a popular
essay in which Morowitz examines the statistical statement that the chemical
value of the human body is only 97 cents. He spends his essay in refining and
improving the statement and tries to arrive at a more accurate definition at
the end.
From a biochemical catalogue he collects the
information about the price of ingredients that the human body is made of. Then
he calculates the average value of a gram dry weight of human being and his own
dry weight. When he multiplies both, he finds his price, i.e. Six million
dollar. But soon he realizes that each human being is priceless and infinitely
precious. He concludes his essay with Alfred North Whiteheads conclusion that “
the human body is an instrument for the production at art in the life of the
human soul.”
The author received a humorous birthday and
from his daughter and son-in-law with a caption “ According to BIOCHEMISTS the
materials that make up the HUMAN BODY are only worth 190 cents.” The definition
compelled him to make thorough study of the entire matter. He started by
sitting down with his catalogue from a biochemical company and began to list
the ingredients and their prices. His biochemical value was 97c when he was
paying for the informally poorest form of cool, air, water, lime, bulk iron,
etc. but in the six million dollar figure he was paying for his atoms in the
highest informational state in which they are commercially available.
It can be done for less than six thousand
trillion dollars. But we cannot evaluate the human life in biochemical point of
view. An incubator can develop micro-organisms artificially but it cannot
assemble the cells into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into a person,
fill it with life and make a human being.
Thus, each human being is priceless and
infinitely precious. We cannot evaluate a person’s life in terms of money. The
rationality and humanity are the characteristics of human being. It can produce
anything. Alfred North Whitehead is true that “ The human body is an instrument
for the production of art in the life of human soul.”
Morowitz shifts his subject. He starts out
talking about the human body and ends up talking about the human being. Human
body and human being differ from each other. Human body is made up of chemical
organism but a man becomes human being because of consciousness, rationality
and some indispensable human qualities.
19. On The
Vanity Of Earthly Greatness
“On the
Vanity of Worldly Things” is a poem written by Arthur Guiterman, an American
poet and journalist, is best known for his humorous verse. Through humour, he
has tried to depict the reality of human beings and animals caused by the
change in time. It shows the bitter reality that the power of animals or human
beings doesn’t remain same when time and situation change. We always run after
reputation and prestige. We become or want to be great and we think it will
remain the same forever. We earn reputation and prestige and we think it will
remain the same forever. We earn reputation and we think that the credit won’t
be lost but actually we won’t think that is destroyed in due course of time.
Our greatness is dismissed by time. So, time laughs at our blindness and pride.
Time is
such a thing on which we cannot get victory. The nature has given us limited
time to live and exercise our power. Beyond that time, we cannot move according
to our desire. Only in favourable time and situation we can perform our actions
or activities.
The
“vanity” actually means the degrading value of reputations of any persons and
animals in the world. To clarify this point the writer has presented few
examples. Julius Caesar was a great warrior and a famous general statesman. He
earned a great name and fame in his time through his strength and power. But
that power lost its value with the change in the time and situation. He does not
posses any arm and power to show his power of the past. His head is on the
shelf and weapons and other things belongings are only in the museum in the
form of history.
The roman
emperor Charlemagne was a great in his time by his sword, power. But the power
of his sword also became meaningless due to the change in time. Now that sword
has been rusted and is kept useless in the museum. Not only the great kings and
warriors, but there is also good presentation of powerful animals whose value
has been decreased. Grizzly bear, whose embrace was very dreadful, has become
nothing more than a rug to give warmth. Tusks of mighty brawls of mastodons
have been changed into playing things like billiard balls.
All the
given examples are concerned with the greatness but the greatness has been
turned and reduced to valueless things. The vanity human greatness and animals’
strength have become a good subject to present irony. That irony makes one feel
unwell and quite indifferent to the person.
Everybody
becomes great in his time and situation but later on he becomes helpless and
valueless. All reputation and achievements will be dismissed quickly. So, it is
useless to take pride in one’s power as everything decays and fades away in due
course of time.
20. IN BED
‘In Bed’,
an essay by Joan Didion depicts her personal experiences with migraine
headache, which she inherits from her parents. She presents something unusual
about the disease in a more philosophical and meditative domain of thought.
Joan
spends her day in bed there almost five times a month because of the migraine
headache. She knows that she is going to be attacked by the headache when she
feels some sort of irritation and flow of blood in the vessels of her brain. To
avoid the attack she takes some medicines and starts to work. In her earlier
days, she thought that she would get rid of the disease just by denying it.
Sometimes she even tells lies saying that she did not have the attack
frequently. But the truth was that sometimes the attack was quite violent and
long lasting. However, she feels good that she does not have any other physical
problems, such as brain tumor, eyestrain or high blood pressure. She also tries
to do all her normal work in spite of it. During the attack her right temple
(head) would suffer extreme pain and tears would roll down from her right eyes.
She would also vomit. Generally the headache may also be caused by stress,
allergy, and tiredness, an abrupt change in blood pressure, a flashing light or
a fire drill.
It’s
strange that no medicine works effectively in case of migraine, especially when
the attack begins. Some people may have hallucination, blinding effect, stomach
problem, tiredness and pain in all the senses along with headache. They are
even unable to do their normal work. During the attack Didion can’t see and
speak clearly. She looks as if she has drunk some wine. But the headache never
takes anyone’s life. It is interesting to know what doctors believe about a
migraine sufferer. They said that the individual is ambitious, inward, and
intolerance of unbearable pain But Didion’s untidy hair and carelessness in
house keeping do not point out her migraine quality. However her great effort
to write and rewrite a single paragraph for a week reveals some sort of
perfection. Finally she accepts the diseases and lives with it. When she has it
she simply concentrates on the pain. But after ten or twelve hours she gets
some sort of refreshment and spiritual power. She opens the window and feels
the air, eats gratefully and sleeps well. She feels as if she is blessed by
God. Therefore she is happy.
21. The Gardner
Rudyard
Kipling (1865-1936), a British poet, novelist, and the writer of short stories
was born in India
‘The Gardener’ ends surprisingly revealing the
reality of Helen, the protagonist, and her relationship with Michael. Michael,
whom Helen calls nephew, is in reality, her son whose father is unknown
throughout the story. The gardener is a mysterious character who does not
appear at first and in the middle but only at the last of the story creating
confusions in the readers.
Helen
Turrell conceals (hides) the truth about Michael till the end of the story but
she does not show any reaction when the gardener confidently says he will tell
where her son lies.
The villagers of Hampshire believe Michael to
be an unfortunate son of Helen’s late brother, George Turrell and his beloved
(not wife). Actually it was not so. She had created a false story about
Michael’s parents. Michael was born when Helen was in southern part of France Bombay
Michael
was fearless, Philosophical, and fairly good-looking. At the age of six, he
knew that Helen was not her real mother but his aunt. She did not allow Michael
to say her mummy because she was unmarried. To escape from the society’s
contempt, she made Michael know the false reality.
Michael got maturity in due course of time but
his interest in Helen was constant and increasing throughout. Though Helen
wanted him to go to Oxford
University Military
Cemetery
In a
teashop, three kilometers away from cemetery, she met an English Woman, Mrs.
Scarsworth. They stopped in a hotel where Mrs. Scarsworth revealed that she had
come there to see the grave of someone special to her and also that she was
unmarried. Helen told lie that she had come to see her nephew’s grave.
Next
morning she walked alone towards the grave. As she was searching at the mean
time she saw a man knelt behind a line of headstones-evidently a gardener. He
did not introduce with her neither did he salute her. He asked her who she was
looking for. She said it was Lieutenant Michael Turrell, her nephew. He had
finite compassion in his expression and eyes. He said he would show her where
her ‘son’ lay. She went away, supposing him to be the gardener when she left
the cemetery.
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