1. When Icicles Hang By The Walls (Poem) by William Shakespeare (British
dramatist and poet)
Summary:
The
poem is about winter season. It presents the realistic picture of winter
season. The poet shows how human beings as well as animals are affected due to
cold.
During
the extreme cold of winter, icicles (ice) hang by the wall. Shepherds drive
their sheep back to home early. People rub their hand and blow their nails to
keep them warm. They bring logs in the hall to burn fire. And make the house
warm. The milk in the pail (bucket) gets frozen. The blood in the body is about
to freeze and is very painful. The roads are muddy, dirty, slippery and wet due
to snowfall and rain. The owl sings song "T-whoo, To-whoo, To-whit,
T-whit" at night. It is not affected by cold. The cold wind blows outside.
The priest starts coughing while preaching. He is affected by cold. People have
runny nose. The birds cover their nestlings (babybirds) and eggs with their
feathers in the snow. People roast crabs and eat. Though the world is affected
by cold, the owl does not care it. It keeps on singing and making the night
atmosphere delightful.
The
poet has been able to draw the lively picture of winter season without using
the words 'cold' and 'winter'.
2. Buffalo Bill's (Poem) by e.e. cummings (American
non-conformist poet)
Summary:
Buffalo
Bill was a handsome blue-eyed cowboy. He used to ride a silver-coloured
stallion(male horse). He was very famous. He was perfect at shooting the birds(pigeons).
Though he was famous, handsome and perfect at shooting; he was taken by death.
The
poem has ironical/satirical tone. How powerful, famous and handsome we are does
not matter. Death does not discriminate anyone. Everyone has to surrender in
front of death. Death is the final destination of human beings. No one can
escape death. Death loves everyone.
The
poet has violated grammatical rules in the poem. He has written onetwothreethreefourfive
together without space in order to show the rapid speed of Buffalo Bill while
shooting the pigeons.
3. A Mongoloid Child Handling Sea Shells on
the Beach
(Poem) by Richard Snider(American poet)
*Mongoloid child
means a child with down's syndrome or mental disability
Summary:
The
poem is about a mentally disabled child. She is playing on the seashore(beach).
She holds the shells and keeps them in the water slowly again and again. Shells
are the broken pieces of covers of sea-animals. She is calm (silent) like the
sea. Those shells come from the deep and blue mysterious ocean and she also
comes from some mysterious womb of her mother. The poet compares her with
"sea" and "shells". On the other hand, unbroken
children(healthy children) are shouting, splashing and playing. They are very
happy like their new towels. They are like surf (sea-wave). The poet compares
the healthy children with "surf" and "towel".
The poet's attitude towards the
mongoloid girl is sympathetic. He has composed this poem in order to show his
kindness towards mentally and physically handicapped children.
4. Dream Variation (Poem) by Langston Hughes(Black
American poet)
Summary:
The
poem is about racial discrimination in America. The poet's grandparents were
brought to America from Africa as slaves. The blacks had miserable life in
America. They had to work long even in rainy, snowy or sunny days.
The
poet's dream is to live care-free life away from racial discrimination. He
wants to live the life of liberty (freedom) and equality in America. He wants
to dance, sing and enjoy personal freedom. He wants to revolt(rebel) against
the white domination. He wants to have racial harmony in America. He wants to
rest under the tall tree in the evening. But, his reality is quite different
from his dream. He has to tolerate the suppression(domination), hatred and
misbehaviour of the whites in the white society.
He compares
himself with the "darkness" and the white people with
"sun". The title of the poem is very suitable because his dream
varies (is different) from his real life.
5. Oh ! My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose (poem) by Robert Burns(Scottish poet
and farmer)
It is a lyrical
poem about love. The speaker of the poem is a lover and an addressee (listener)
is a beloved. The lover is in deep love with his young and slim beloved. She is
so beautiful in his eyes. He compares
her with "red rose " and "tune of music". He promises that
he will love her until the seas become dry due to the heat of the sun and rocks
melt. He will love her as long as human life runs on this earth. He again
promises that he will come to meet her even if she is thousand miles away. The
distance cannot separate them. His love for her is eternal/immortal.
6. Velvet Hangover (Essay) by Vaclav Havel (the first
Czech president)
Summary:
Velvet
revolution refers to the revolution of people without violence. There was the
velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1990 against the totalitarian (autocratic)
government. After the success of revolution, Havel was elected as the first
president of Czechoslovakia. Hangover is the feeling of illness caused by
drinking too much alcohol. But, hangover here means his (Havel's) feeling and
fear after the velvet revolution.
This
essay is the speech delivered by Havel in Austria at the opening ceremony of a
festival. It was an exciting time for the people in the beginning because they
were going to make a new government. However, when Havel was elected as the
president, he did not know what to do. He got confused. He was tired and lost. He
had some unknown fear. He was afraid that he would not be good enough in
rebuilding the nation and fulfilling the people's dreams. He has three fears:
i) Fear of new totalitarian government
ii) Fear of losing the social welfare
iii)
Fear of national conflict
He
compares the situation before the revolution with poetry (poem) and the
situation after the revolution with prose (essay). People had romantic dream of
having an ideal nation before the revolution. They had beautiful and pleasant imagination
like the pleasant feeling of reading poetry. But, after the success of
revolution, they had to face the bitter reality. They could do nothing as they
had expected. So, it was difficult and boring like reading prose/essay.
7. A Small Place (essay) by Jamaica Kinciad
Summary:
Antigua
is a small island which was previously ruled by the British colonizers. The
government of Antigua has created an artificial impression on the foreigners.
The
airport is named after the prime
minister. When the tourists arrive at the airport, they have to go through the
custom office. Foreign tourists can easily go through the custom office. Custom
officials have discriminatory behaviour towards Antiguan people. When the
tourists come out of the airport, they find new Japanese cabs (taxis). After
they ride the taxi, they feel awful(unpleasant) sound produced by the taxi. It
is because they use leaded (low quality) diesel. The condition of the road is
dilapidated (very bad). The buildings and houses are covered with dust. The
tourists see the hospital which is in pitiable (deplorable) condition. There
are only three doctors. Antiguans do not believe them. The health minister
flies to New York when he is ill.
The government has neglected the
places of public concern like hospitals, schools, libraries etc. The drivers
drive those expensive taxis but live the miserable life in hut. Only foreigners
are respected, welcomed and valued. Local people live under the poverty. They
hate and envy the tourists. Native people have to face drought, famine and
poverty. The government values only the foreigners as if they lay the golden
eggs.
8. The Letter A (Essay) by Christy Brown
Summary:
It is an autobiographical essay.
The writer was the tenth child in a family of twenty-two children. He was
physically defective by birth. Even at the age of five, he could not speak, sit
and hold nipple of a bottle. He could sit only with the help of pillow. His
mother tried her best to cure him but doctors and relatives suggested her not
to waste time and money on his treatment. They said that he was both mentally
and physically defective.
His mother believed that though
he was physically handicapped but not mentally. She wanted to prove it. One
cold December afternoon, all family members were gathering around the fire.
Christy's brother and sister were solving some maths questions on a slate with
a chalk. Christy was observing it. He held the chalk with his left toes. His
mother had seen it. She encouraged him to copy the letter "A". Christy drew two zigzag(crooked) lines at
first and the chalk broke. Again his mother gave him another chalk. Finally, he
wrote the letter "A". He was trembling and sweating. His mother burst
into tears of happiness. Christy overcame is physical disability due to his
mother's inspiration.
9. Of Cocks and Men (Essay) by Clifford Geertz (Indonesian
writer)
Summary:
This
essay presents the masculine (male) role of the men played in Balinese culture.
Bali is an island in Indonesia and the people
of Bali are called Balinese. The Balinese love dances, music, sculpture and
cock fighting. Cock fighting is connected with Balinese male identity. They
devote a lot of time and money for the diet, caring, rearing and treatment and
outfits(clothes) of cocks. During the cock fighting, the owner of the winner
cock is regarded as the most prestigious and Godlike figure. But, the owner of
the loser cock is regarded as the unluckiest person in the society. The loser
cock's carcass(skin) is taken by the owner of the winner cock and eaten. The
bloodshed during the fight is believed to pacify the demon and
eradicate(remove) the pains and badlucks.
The
Balinese hate animal-like behaviours of children. They are not allowed to
crawl, produce animal's sound and so on. If the children have the
tags(animal-like teeth), they are filled and treated in time. Even eating and
defecating (doing toilet) are done hurriedly and privately. These activities
are taken as taboos. These taboos are more serious than incest.
10. Child Care in China (Essay) by Bruce Dollar
Summary:
In this essay, the writer
describes how children are nurtured(cared) in China. There are child care
centres in city areas of China. Children are taken care by the Child Care
Centres. Children are encouraged to participate in group activities. They are
given heavy blocks to lift in order to develop the feeling of co-operation,
brotherhood, altruism (selfless service), co-ordination, sharing and respect
for labour. They are given real life toys like army, peasant (farmer), and
worker etc. to develop the feeling of respect towards labour. Teachers also
play with the children so that the children share their problems and feelings openly
and frankly. Good behaviours of the children are awarded. Bad children are not
punished physically rather they are psychologically treated. In some rural
parts of China, there are no child care centres. In such places, children are
taken care by their grandparents and relatives when their mothers are at work. There is multiple mothering system in China. Hence,
children become good citizens in future and contribute for the development of
nation.
11. I am a Cat (Essay) by Natsume Soseki (Japanese
writer)
Characters:
*A
cat
*A
school teacher
Summary:
In
this story, the writer reveals the internal reality of the Japanese family from
the point of view of a cat.
The cat remembers that he was
born in a dark and wet place. He was tortured by the school children. He took
the shelter in the house of a nameless school teacher. The housemaid; Osan
behaved the cat very rudely and bit him as well. But, the school teacher let
the cat to live in his study room. The cat observed the activities of the
teacher inside the room.
The teacher looked very studious
in front of others. When he came from school, he immediately used to go to his study
room. He pretended to study but he used to doze while reading and the saliva of
his mouth fell on the book. He tried to do many things but was poor at
everything. He sang, painted pictures, played the violin but could none of them
properly. One day, the cat entered the room of teacher's daughters. The teacher
bit cat badly. The cat had two friends
Mike and Shiro. Shiro told that her kittens were thrown into the pond by the
school children.
One day, the teacher started
painting the picture of the cat. He held the cat very tightly. The cat wanted
to urinate but the teacher didn't let him move. Finally, the teacher drew the
picture but without eyes and proper colour. The cat describes the teacher as
the selfish, inconsiderate, insensitive and unkind person.One day, the cat was
very hungry and went to the kitchen when there was no one. The cat stole a fish
and satisfied his hunger. The cat justifies that the act of stealing the fish
was right because he was hungry. It is his right to get food and shelter.
12. Paper
(Story) by Colherine Lim (Singaporean writer)
Characters:
*Tay Soon-
husband of Yee Lian, he is an over-ambitious man who dreams of having a
magnificent house
*Yee Lian- wife
of Tay Soon
*Tay Soon's
mother
Summary:
This
story shows the pathetic(pitiable/deplorable) condition of a man who runs after
the dream which is beyond his reach.
Tay Soon lived with his children
and wife in his mother's house. He had a dream of buying a beautiful and magnificent
house. It was more beautiful than the house he had seen in magazine. His dream
house had aluminium sliding door, kidney shaped swimming pool, expensive
carpet, timbered ceiling, marble flooring, circular sitting room and so on. He
shared his dream with his wife. She also supported him. They decided to spend
their all money in share market. They bought shares even by taking loan.
In
the beginning, the price of the share was rising. They told Yee Lian's sister
and Tay Soon's mother to invest money in share market but they did not care. They
were quite happy but later on, share market declined day by day. Tay Soon asked
his wife to sell the shares but his wife; Yee Lian said it was due to some
technical problems and it would rise again. She did not allow him to sell the
share. Finally, they went down dramatically and turned bankrupt (loss). Due to
disaster, Tay Soon became mad and started screaming and beating children. At
last, he died.
During
the funeral of son, Tay Soon's mother ordered to make a miniature (small) paper
house with fine paper. It was burnt on his grave. It turned into the heap of
ash in three minutes. The story suggests that if our dreams are beyond our
reach and if we run after them blindly, they bring just destruction, death and
disaster.
13. An Insolvable Problem of Genetics (Story) by Josef Skvorecky (Czech
writer)
Characters:
*Narrator(story-teller)
*Adolf-
narrator's brother who loved a television actress and wrote more than 200
letters dedicating to her but she ignored him, he loved Freddie later to forget
the actress
*Freddie-
Adolf's beloved; a white girl; daughter black American farmer
*Adolf's
father
Summary:
This story deals with insolvable
problem of genetics and criticizes the theories of genetics. It is the story
based on a real event that happened to writer's brother; Adolf. Adolf loved a television actress. He wrote
more than two hundred letters to her but she did not care him. He had one-sided
love. He started to love another girl; Freddie. She was a beautiful girl with
dark eyes and skinny body. Adolf's father was happy to know their love affair
because she was a beautiful girl and had a prestigious background. When she
sang a song supporting black Americans, Adolf's father praised her because he
himself was communist and he was against racial discrimination. He was happy to
get Freddie as his future daughter-in-law.
When Adolf's father knew that
Freddie was the daughter of black American, he was shocked. His behaviour
towards her changed. He read various books on genetics and concluded that
Freddie could give birth to a black child. He ordered his son to break the
relationship with Freddie. He proved that he wanted Freddie as his
daughter-in-law for her social status and prestige not for her true self.
Adolf's father feared that if she gave birth to the black child they had to
face the scandal that it was the child of African student who was living in the
same locality.
After a few months, it was heard
that Freddie gave birth to twins. They were neither back nor white. They were
pink in colour. Mendel's theory said nothing about this case.
14. The Elephant (Story) by Slawmir Morzek(Polish
writer)
Character:
*The
director of the zoo
Summary:
The story satirizes the
Polish(Poland's) bureaucracy which keeps the general people in illusion.
The
Polish government decided to keep an elephant in a zoo. The director of the zoo
was a powerful, foolish, selfish and irresponsible person. He proposed a
foolish plan to reduce the expense of the government by keeping a rubber
elephant. The government also approved his plan blindly. According to his plan,
the rubber elephant was made, filled with air, painted with proper colour and
kept behind the railing. It was also written that the elephant was
sluggish/lazy and did not move. Other animals of the zoo also seemed unnatural.
The giraffes had short neck. Badger did not have burrow and whistler hesitated
to whistle.
One day, school children came to
visit the zoo. They were taught by their teacher that the elephant is the
largest land animal. It can uproot the trees and eat leaves. To their surprise,
the rubber elephant was blown by the air and landed on the nearby cactus plant
and got punctured. After that incident, students stopped believing on natural
animals.
In
this way, polish bureaucrats were cheating ordinary people. This shows the
hollowness of the zoo director as well as whole bureaucracy of the zoo.
15. Wet Saturday (Saturday) John Collier (British
writer)
Characters:
*Mr.
Princey- Father of Millicent and George, he is a pompous (showy) man who loves
is prestige more than his family members
*Millicent-
Mr. Princey's daughter, she killed her boyfriend Mr. Withers
*George-
Mr. Princey's son
*Mr.
Withers- Millicent's boyfriend, he was killed by her
*Captain
Smollett- an innocent person who is accused of murdering(killing) Withers by
Princey
Summary:
This
story shows how human beings can be inhuman for the sake of pomposity. It is
the psychological story. Mr. Princey
was a selfish and cruel man. He had a big but ugly and unattractive house. He
lived with his son; George, daughter; Millicent and wife in a village. He used
to walk along the village keeping his hand upon his hat not smiling. He was
afraid that his family members could threaten his prestige. He did not love his
family members rather he loved his prestige.
It
was a Saturday in the month of July. It was raining. Millicent murdered her lover Mr. Withers by
hitting him on the head when he said that he was going to marry with another
girl; Ella. When Princey knew about the murder, he was worried. He thought that
either his daughter will be hung(killed) or sent to a mad house. At any cost,
he wanted to save his daughter for the sake of his prestige. Princey, his wife,
son and daughter were planning to hide the crime committed by Millicent. During
their secret discussion, Captain Smollett arrived suddenly. Mr. Princey was
afraid that Smollett heard everything and decided to accuse/blame for the
murder.
He
asked Smollett to go to the stable where Withers was killed. George punched on
Smollett's face to make as if Smollett was fighting with Withers. Princey
pointed a gun at Smollett and forced him to touch the stick used by Millicent
to kill Withers to keep his finger-prints. As soon as Withers left the place,
Princey called the police.
Is the story
comic or tragic?
The
story is comic as well as tragic. It is comic in the sense that Mr. Princey
does not love his family members but loves his prestige, social status and
position. It is tragic in the sense that Millicent killed her boyfriend and
innocent person Smollett has been blamed for the murder.
16. A Very Special Pet (Story) by Nicholasa Mohr (American
writer)
Characters:
*The
Fernandez family (Mr. Fernandez, Mrs. Fernandez and their eight children)
*Two
pet ani3mals; Marialu (a cat) and Joncrofo (a hen)
Summary:
This
story deals with a family which has moved to New York from the mountainous
village of Puerto Rico and their hardships and struggle.
The
Fernandez had ten family members. They migrated to New York from the village of
Puerto Rico selling their house, land, livestock and fowls( birds like hen,
duck, pigeon). They had beautiful dream of making their future luxurious and
comfortable. They had to face many difficulties in a new city. It was very
difficult for them, to adjust in a new place. Mr. Fernandez got a job as a
porter in a garment(clothes) factory. He was the only one member working hard
for the survival/livelihood of ten members. Though he was sick, he hoped for
his promotion in job.
They
had bought a hen to provide their children with eggs as diet. The hen never
laid eggs. They had not had chicken soup for long time. On day, Mrs. Fernandez
decided to kill Joncrofo and prepare soup for the children. When the children
were playing outside, she blocked the kitchen door with a chair and caught the
hen. At the same time, the younger child saw it and scolded mother. Mrs.
Fernandez pretended that she was curing the sick hen.
17. Friday Morning (Play) by Val Gilgud
Characters:
*Basil-
lover of Shirley
*Shirley-
beloved of Basil
*Mr.
Chapman and Mrs. Chapman (husband and wife)
*Sir
Harwood(businessman)
*McLaurin(businessman)
*An
editor, An announcer, Miss Janet, Miss Hannah and two English tourists
-
This play was written when flying was unusual.
Summary:
In the beginning of the play,
Basil and Shirley are dancing in an expensive restaurant in London. They are
planning to elope(run away and marry). Shirley is worried about sea-sickness.
Finally, they decided to go by aeroplane. Shirley is quite excited to know that
they are flying to France on Friday morning.
On the Friday morning, the plane
takes off. All the passengers are excited. They find train, houses etc. as
small as toys. When they are busy talking, the sound of the plane
diminishes(decreases) and one of the propellers does not work. The passengers
are frightened. The announcer announces that they are returning back to London.
Sir Harwood worries about the young couple (Basil and Shirley). Mr. Chapman
consoles his wife and says not to worry. McLaurin drinks more to forget the
fear of danger. Shirley holds Basil
tightly being afraid. Harwood thinks that a bird might have hit against the
propeller. Finally, the aeroplane is safely landed near Tonbridge. Luckily, no
one is hurt due to the carefulness of the pilot.
What is the role of the males during the
time of emergrncy?
During the time of emergency,
male characters play important role in the play. For example, Basil consoles
his beloved by saying that the pilot will land the plane safely. Mr. Chapman
also consoles his wife no to worry. Harwood guesses the cause of accident and
McLaurin drinks more wine to forget the fear.
18. Pandora's Box (Play) by Rosalind Vallance
Characters:
Zeus-
the king of the Gods
Hermes-
the messenger of Zeus
Prometheus-
the mortal God who stole fire from the heaven
Epimetheus-
brother of Prometheus
Pandora-
a lady created by Zeus filled with curiosity
Summary:
This
play is based on Greek mythology. It deals with the conflict between Gods and
human beings on the one hand and between hope and fear on the other.
According
to Greek mythology, Zeus had given everything to human beings except fire. A mortal being Prometheus stole fire from the
heaven making God angry. Zeus created a woman named Pandora filled with
curiosity in order to take revenge upon human beings. He(Zeus) sent his messenger
Hermes with a box filled with all the evil qualities like pain, suffering,
sorrow, death, disease etc. When Hermes
came to the earth, he gave the box to Pandora. Epimetheus told Pandora no to
open the box but she had already opened it as she was filled with curiosity. No
sooner she had opened the box, all those evils escaped from the box. At last,
HOPE also came out of the box. It is due to HOPE we are living and struggling
despite hardships in this world.
How was the world before Pandora opened
the box?
Before
Pandora opened the box, the world was full of happiness and joys. There were no
troubles. It was the world of perfection and freedom. Children were playing. Flowers
were blooming. Birds were singing songs. Clouds were swirling in the sky like a
ship. The world was lighted by the sun. The river was murmuring. People were
always young.
good job
ReplyDelete