magic of words class 11 NEB notes / a complete notes class 11 / class 11 english summary
The Gardener
‘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 the southern part of
France. She had told lies about her trip that she had long troubles. Because of
the fear of social stigma she had told another lie that she had arranged for
the passage of the child and a nurse from Bombay. She was thirty-five when she
gave birth to the child. She showed much fondness to the child despite the fact
that she was not the child lover.
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 a 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, he took war as his career. The First
World War was going on. Many soldiers were killed during the war. Michael was
killed by the shell-splinter explosion. After getting full proof about his
death, Helen, being a next of –kin, prepared to go and see his grave in
Hazenzeelein the third Military Cemetery with perfect information.
In a teashop, three kilometers away from the
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 a 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 meantime 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.
In Bed
‘In Bed’, an essay by Joan Didion depicts her
personal experiences with a 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 a migraine headache. She knows that she is going to be
attacked by a 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 the case of migraine, especially when the attack begins. Some
people may have a hallucination, blinding effect, stomach problem, tiredness
and pain in all the senses along with a 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 a 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 housekeeping 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.
On The Vanity of Earthly Greatness
“On the
Vanity of Worldly Greatness” is a poem written by Arthur Guiterman, an American
poet and journalist, is best known for his humorous verse. Through humor, 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 the 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 don'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
the victory. Nature has given us limited time to live and exercise our power.
Beyond that time, we cannot move according to our desire. Only in a favorable
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 a 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 possess 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 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 a 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.
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 catalog, 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 a thorough study of the entire matter. He started by
sitting down with his catalog 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 the human soul.
Morowitz shifts his subject. He starts out
talking about the human body and ends up talking about the human being. The
human body and human being different from each other. The human body is made up
of the chemical organism but a man becomes a human being because of
consciousness, rationality and some indispensable human qualities.
Malini
Rabindranath Tagore is a Bengali Indian poet,
writer, and philosopher. He was born is 1861 and died in Calcutta (now
Kolkata). He is famous for his poetic works, philosophical plays, novels, and
short stories. The poetic play, Malini, is a story of love and hatred. It also
deals with topics such as religion, faith, friendship, devotion, sacrifice,
forgiveness, loyalty, betrayal, etc.
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 Malini's belief that the love and truth as the 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 honor 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 great honor.
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 the 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 the faith. He blames
Supriya being faithless. Supriya replies that true faith is there is love,
where there is the man. He says he got the knowledge from Malini, which he
could not get from any sacred books. Supriya wants to make a 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.
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 the speech. While delivering the speech, they don’t
actually care for the grammatical mistakes or vocabulary mistakes. These
mistakes are especially 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 a message from one
view but the different audience may take it in the 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 a misunderstanding
between the speaker and the listener. The person with weak psychology, if,
wrongly interprets the words of the speaker, it may bring a 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 a
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, the thought is placed by the brain into a grammatical
framework. Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist, presents his theory about the verbal
error in a 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.
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 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 poems, the words are arranged in
such a way that emotions are kept in a shadow and the 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 the cat immediately after we read the poem. Outer appearances seem
to be important than emotions and thoughts. Different parts of the 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 an
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.
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 a 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 nature if they separate the parts of
nature. The poet indirectly pleads human beings to keep nature whole by
conserving its very small part in every small part in every nook and corner.
The poem deals with two separate things of
anything, which are part and whole. 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 the field, air, etc as a part, not as a complete. Our
lives are also parted but it is the 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 about the
protection of the environment.
The poet suggests that if human being involves
encouraging the existence of nature, nature also gives the reaction. For
example, if we cut down the forest, land erosion, flood, landslides occur.
Then, men get knowledge from the nature that nature itself is powerful rather
from human beings. Even if the man tries to challenge the existence of nature,
he can’t get victory over it. So, the poet becomes very much sensitive for the
delicate balance of nature. –
The last stanza suggests that we all move to
make a whole, not part. The poet moves forward and the 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.
Unchopping a Tree
In the essay “Unchopping a Tree”, the writer
presents an 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 every part of nature
whether they are small or big. Each and every part of nature is important. As
we are also the creation of nature, it is our duty to maintain the balance in
nature. We don’t have rights to destroy nature. Actually, we are not destroying
nature but we are destroying ourselves. Our lives totally depend upon 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 nature.
Unchopping a tree is impossible. It is only a
kind of feeling but certainly, it has meaning. The writer emphasizes the
preservation of nature. 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 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.
The Nightmare Life Without Fuel
“The
Nightmare Life Without Fuel” is an essay, which depicts the life of this world
in the 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 lifestyle 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 a 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 a 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 a
scarcity of electricity. Even luxurious provisions and equipment 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 the lack of a properly
balanced diet, there will be a problem in human brains. The child death rate
will increase, as children will be deprived of proper nutritious and
bodybuilding food. Especially, 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 operated 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
to it. People will be cooperative, as all of them will be facing the 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 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. The major
population of the world should be engaged to plant the trees to make a better
world in the 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.
The Poplar Field
William 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 the example of poplar trees, the poet
wants to show the real phase of human life according to the 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 a 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 a 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 the singular
pronoun ‘I’. So, in this poem, we see the first person instead of others. The
personal approach makes the expression stronger and powerful.
The poem compares the life cycle of poplar and
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 natural life. However, the life of nature
or tree passes through time. Human life is also the same. So, our enjoyment
goes away from 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 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 the
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
three 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 nature. So we should defend
nature.
The Three Day Blow
“The
Three Days Blow” is a plotless story in a dramatic way. Two friends Nick and
Bill meet at Bill’s cottage. The weather is shown violent. There are rain and
storm. So, this is an ideal situation to stay inside the 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 goes through their conversation only. Bill and Nick
have no specific purpose of meetings or talking. The weather creates a
situation for them. This keeps them inside when they talk about different
topics. Hemingway creates the 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 writing. 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 the 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 the weather, mental conflict of the 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. The 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 weather and sequence
of events of “The Three Days Blow”. There is conflict in the character Nick. He
is getting confused about his girlfriend 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 a 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. This 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 the 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.
The 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 the 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 a 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 an unfavorable
situation that moment is just like a violent storm, which doesn’t last for a
long time in nature. Bill is practical. He says Nick to forget all the events
related with Marjorie and lead his wife towards a 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 a new phase and
time happily. We should have the capacity to adjust with all the fluctuations
that come into our life.
A Worn Path
The story “A Worn Path” is about an old black
woman called Phoenix Jackson. She used to live in a village far away from the
town. She had no one except a grandson. He was very sick so she had to go to
the town at regular intervals to bring medicine for her grandson. The town was
very far from her village and the journey was really very difficult. This
story describes one of her such journeys to the town. On the way, she has to
face many obstacles. But, every time she faces the obstacles very boldly and at
last, reaches the town. Her journey starts through the hill. It being December,
it was very cold and the pathway was covered with snow. She tapped her stick on
the snow and continued her journey. She used to talk to herself most of the
time and she also talked with all the animals that she met on the way.
After climbing the hill with great difficulty,
now she had to climb down but by then she got caught by thorny bush with great
labor she freed herself and again continued her journey. After sometimes, she
came by a creek. She had to cross it. It was not an easy job. She had to cross
it through a log. She took it to be a trial. Very carefully, she crossed the
creek. She crossed it through a log even with her eyes closed. She again continued
her journey but there was another obstacle waiting for her. Now, she had to
cross through a barbed wire fence. She crept and crawled through the wire
saving herself and her gown. Again, she faced the trouble successfully. Now,
she was passing through a cornfield. There she saw a scarecrow. At first, she
thought it to be a ghost but very boldly, she talked with it. Finally, when she
knew that it was the scarecrow, she even danced with it. After crossing the
cornfield as she was going on her way from somewhere, a black dog came before
her all of a sudden. She lost her balance and fell down in a ditch there. She
raised her hand for help. But, as there was nobody around, she silently
remained there.
After some time, a hunter came there. He took
her out from the ditch. While talking, a nickel (five-cent coin) dropped down
from the man’s pocket. She stole it with a trick. After some time, she reached
the town. There she asked a lady to tie her shoelaces. The whole town was
decorated with colorful bulbs. But, her eyes were not working properly because
it wasn’t a broad daylight. But, depending on her senses, she finally reached
the medical clinic. There she even forgot why she had been there. She didn’t
remember for a short time. However, while talking with the nurse, she remembers
her grandson and her purpose of visit. She took the medicine. While she was
going from there, she got a nickel as a gift. She said that she would buy a
paper toy for her grandson. After that, she left the clinic.
Look At Teacup
The essay ‘Look At A Teacup’, written by
Patricia Hampel, shows how simple writing helps in finding out great events. It
is about the history of the writer’s mother in a delicate teacup. The two major
themes of this essay are the 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, which was taken
over and destroyed by the armies of Adolf Hitler.
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 the destruction of beauty due to falling
bombs. There was also cultural and social degradation. The style of this essay
is the 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 for
each other. So, some sentences are fragmented. Logically they do not follow
each other. The writing is beautifully decorated but the meanings deviate.
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 the meaning of
the battlefield where the falling bodies lay. ‘The falling of bombs onto women’
means the tragic fate of these women. They had a disturbed married life. Fates
of women were accused 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.
Speaking of Children
The essay “Speaking of Children” is an extract
from Barbara Holland’s renowned volume Mother’s Day or the View from In Here.
In this essay, Holland examines the idea of having more than one child and its
effect on the parents. She believes that one child is an appendage but more
than one is a way of life. One child is outnumbered and parents can brainwash
it, carry it to parties, toss it on the bed with the coats and make it whatever
they want. It is usually easy to look after one child. It is a part of their
lives.
But, plural children are a counter-culture in
the house. Parents are outnumbered by the children. In other words, parents
must accept or do something they do not want but they are compelled to do
certain undesired things. They have to buy many toy sets and they can not go to
the weekend where they like. They have to move to better schools for their
children. They have to be involved in many social converse/talk/discussion.
They are pushed backward. Above all, they have to lose peace and privacy
because they are frequently interrupted by their children. Then, there is a
bitter look in everyone. When there is secrecy, they have to talk on the phone
from their office. In this way, the children will not let the parents talk
peacefully and privately. Even the plural children can become a real danger for
a family because many marriages break up in America just due to the children.
As a whole, mothers of plural children have no peace in their life. They have
to sleep with startling suddenness and finality or determination. So, this
essay is about having many children.
My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold
“My Heart Leaps Up When I
Behold” is a poem written by a famous nature poet William Wordsworth. In this
poem, the poet recollects/remembers an experience of his childhood days and
gives his emotion and feelings a meaning. The poet also expresses his love
towards nature. He feels great joy when he sees a rainbow in the sky. He used
to enjoy a lot when he saw the rainbow in the sky in his childhood. He hopes he
will still get pleasure at seeing the rainbow when he becomes old and if such
feeling stops in the future he wishes to die.
According to the poet, the child is the father of man because
childhood is the beginning of the manhood. In other words, the qualities of the
grown-up men are all derived from childhood. At last, the poet wishes that his
remaining days would be bound by his love to nature.
A paradox is a statement containing opposite
ideas that make it unlikely although it may be true. The above statement is
paradoxical in the sense that it contains opposite ideas for normal people. The
child cannot be the father; he is the man who can be the father. But, the poet
through his statement “The Child is the Father of the Man”, wants to say that
childhood is the beginning of manhood. The thing we do and feel as children
affect the way we feel when we are adults. The poet also wants to say that the
present is the result of the past.
The Loving Mother
Mr Shoji Sakota was a pharmacist in the city
of Sappora on Hokkaido Island in northern Japan. He used to have his own drug
store in the same building, where he used to live. He used to live alone in the
rear part of the building because his wife had died several years
earlier. One stormy winter night in 1964, he was working in his room at
about midnight. As it was the end of the fiscal/financial year, he was very
busy with the profit, loss and the accounts of the whole year. At that time,
there was a knock at his door. At first, he avoided it. But the knocking persisted
or repeated. At last, he opened the door thinking that somebody might have come
for some very important medicine. It was a woman who wanted an ame (Japanese
candy used for pacifying young children) on a stick for her baby. Mr. Sakota
was quite surprised at it because the lady was buying sweet at that time of
night. He was very much moved or surprised by the appearance of the lady. She
was so strange that her hair was disheveled/messy/uncombed/ untidy and her eyes
were quite strange.
In short, she looked a lady from another
world. The lady went from there but somehow or other Mr. Sakota could not
forget her appearance and at last he left working and went to the bed. On the
next night, the same woman came and both the times she asked for an ame. Mr. Sakota
was all the more worried. He had a friend with whom he shared his worries. The
friend was a photographer. So, they planned to snap the lady if she came the
next time or next night.
The next night also, the lady came at the same
time and with the same demand. The photographer friend was hiding in the shop
and he snapped the lady from different angles. But, when the photographs came,
they were quite surprised to find that all articles were present in the
photograph but not the lady. Then the two friends decided to follow her the
next time if she came.
The next night also, the lady arrived at the
same time and asked for an ame. When she left the shop, the two friends
followed her quietly. Finally, they reached a room in an old building. In the
room, they found a baby sucking or licking an ame and the woman appeared to be
sleeping there in the bed. When they tried to wake up the lady, they realized
that she was dead and they felt that she had been dead for several days.
The conclusion is that after her death the
lady’s soul was worried about the child. She not only wanted to arrange for
food for her child but she also wanted someone to come and know that she had
been dead and her child was in a helpless situation. She had selected Mr.
Sakota for this.
Fear
Though the story Fear is from the unit of the
supernatural stories, it is not a supernatural story. In fact, it is a
psychological story. It’s a thriller / suspenseful story based on human fear of
a nervous man. This story also shows how a man behaves in a state of panic and
nervousness.
The main character of the story is Armando
Gonzalez. He was a man who had to look after a big family of nine members.
However, he had a dream. It was a common dream to have a house of his own. With
this aim, he had saved 50,000 pesos for the last many years (20 years).
On that very day, he went to the bank to
withdraw 50,000 pesos because he had seen a house within that limit. The deal
was finalized and he had to do the payment. He was very careful from the
beginning. The bank was slightly crowded that day and he did not like it. In
his turn, the bank accountant started to count the money loudly which Armando
did not like. He feared other people would know that he was carrying a heavy
amount and anybody could loot him.
He caught a bus to go home. There he met a man
whom he had already seen in the bank. Not only that he had dashed against him
and he had given a double look at Armando Gonzalez. Here, he found the same man
getting on the same bus. Now, there was no doubt to Armando that man intended
to rob him. Everybody on the bus was looking at him only because he was putting
his hat backward. But, what Armando thought was that they were looking at him
because they had the knowledge that he was carrying 50,000 pesos. He started to
see a thief on each face. This increased his nervousness all the more.
After some time, he found that the man was
talking to three other boys. He thought that they were making secret plans to
loot him. This heightened his nervousness and he made a plan to get off the bus
at the next stop and to take another bus from there and he did accordingly.
Suddenly, he also saw that the same three boys
had got off there. Now, it was sure to Armando that it was a part of the
robbery. Now, he was panic-stricken. He started to run shouting for help. The
three boys also started to run after him only with the intention to help him.
But, there was no limit to Armando’s fear and he was running as fast as he
could. Suddenly, his feet got entangled with something and he fell down. Before
he got up, the three boys came up to him. Armando started to implore / beg /
plead them not to rob him. They were also surprised at it and they said that
they were not intending to loot him. Rather they were students and they were
there for a football tournament and that they were running after him because he
was shouting for help.
Now, his fear is gone and he got up and put
his cap on and this time he put it rightly. At this time, all the four walked
up slowly back to the street.
The House Call
The story took place on 26th December 1903 in
Berlin, Germany. The famous German surgeon, Dr. Emil Braun, was sitting alone
in the dining room of his apartment trying to write notes about the surgery
while having his dinner. Soon he dozed off but woke up when he heard the
doorbell ring. He heard a child talking about her sick mother to Mrs. Braun. He
went to the door and saw in the semi-darkness a little girl of perhaps six or
seven who was wearing a cotton dress and shabby shoes. Over her head, she had a
ragged shawl which she was holding together at the neck. The doctor felt
sympathy for the child and her sick mother and became ready to go with her.
It was raining lightly outside as the doctor
walked down the steps to the street but the girl was already almost a block up
the street, waiting for him. She walked too fast, however. Stopping only for a
moment at each corner to make sure he saw where she was going. The girl led the
doctor through the poorest part of Berlin, the section of the city around the
hospital where Dr. Braun was the head surgeon. Finally, they reached an old
tenement house where the girl’s mother was living. The doctor climbed upstairs
up to the fifth story. As the doctor entered the room, he heard the door close
softly behind him.
The woman was lying in the bed. The doctor
recognized her as a person who at one time worked as the maintenance staff at
the hospital. She was suffering from pneumonia. When the doctor talked about
the girl, daughter of the woman, Elda said that her daughter, Adelheid, had
died of the flu in September just three days after her seventh birthday.
The doctor was surprised. The little girl was
not there. Elda told that she had kept Heide’s shoes and shawl to remind her of
Heide. The doctor got up and looked. He saw the same ragged shawl on a hook and
a pair of shabby shoes on the floor. As he looked closely he found them wet.
Elda said that she had been thinking about him earlier that night hoping and
praying for him. As she was talking, she fell asleep. Then, touching her
feverish head once more, he took his black bag, stepped out into the dark
hallway, and closed the door.
The Lost Doll
Carmen was the only child of Roberto and Rosa
Soto. She was a 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 a 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 a
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 the past and
about her doll, Rosa could say nothing anymore.
The Recurring Dream
The story starts with a description of
Kimberly Clark, the protagonist of the story, who is twenty-five years old with
all qualities of a normal young woman. She is pretty, she loves to dance, and
she has many friends and a good position in the office of a large company.
Despite these all, she has a problem. She has been troubled by a strange and
mysterious dream that haunts her every night.
The strange dream always begins on a country
road. Kim stands on this road and sees a lane with a white fence and a hedge on
each side. At the end of the lane, on the top of a little hill, she sees a
small white cottage with green shutters. Then she walks up the lane to the
house, goes in and looks around. In one of the rooms, she finds a man asleep in
bed. He is a little old man with white hair and a white beard. When she comes
near his bed, the man wakes up. Then he sits up and looks at her. When she
tries to speak to him, she wakes up. She is very surprised troubled by the
dream because she has never known any little old man like that and neither the
place.
Kim’s roommate knows everything. So, one day
she proposes Kim to visit her (Janet’s) parents’ farmhouse to feel peace in
mind. As they pass through a country road, Kim sees the similar scene which she
sees in her dream. They stop there. Janet does not want Kim to go and see the
small cottage but Kim goes.
The house was exactly the same, except for a
sign in front of the house which said ‘FOR SALE’. Unlike her dream, Kim goes to
the door of the house and knocks and to her surprise, the same old man answers
the door who immediately closes the door. After Kim’s request, he opens the
door. Kim again asks why the house is for sale. The old man reveals that the
house is haunted by a ghost. Kim tries hard to think to say something instead
asks who the ghost is. The old man gets surprised and shocks her by replying
that she herself is the ghost.
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