Short Summary of all 10 Essays || Grade 12 || Optional English

1.      Sir Roger at the Assizes by Richard Steele

‘Sir Roger at the Assizes’ is a narrative essay written by Richard Steele. It is about one day’s journey of the narrator with an old knight named Sir Roger. Sir Roger is an esteemed person. He is a kind, gentle, humble and mild man with peace of mind. He is loved and esteemed/respected in his neighbourhood. He is a good old Knight. He is a benevolent person. He avoids being criticized for the sake of mental peace. As a result, he doesn't even tell the truth and give fair opinion or verdict when people require it. He doesn't displease anyone. He wants to impress others and maintain his fame in the society. In fact, he is the person who doesn't hurt anyone.

 The narrator made his journey to the court along with Sir Roger and three other men. Sir Roger was given a special seat at the court. He delivered a short but insignificant speech in the middle of the court to impress others. While returning home, He wanted to alter/change the painting kept by his former servant. He did not use the words that could hurt the inn-keeper(his former servant). He used the diplomatic language and so did the narrator.

 

2.      An Eastern Journey by William Somerset Maugham

‘An Eastern Journey’ is a travelogue written by William Somerset Maugham. The essayist writes about his experience of visiting eastern Asian countries. He describes the beauty and greatness of classical architecture of Angkor Wat, an eastern Buddhist temple located in Northern Cambodia and Cambodian dances. He describes people, place, lifestyle, cultural heritages. According to the essayist, Angkor was a big city and capital of the powerful empire(साम्राज्य). It was one of the great cities of the East in the thirteenth century but became home to wild beasts after two hundred years. It was a thriving and populated place. No one knows why it was suddenly abandoned. When the Westerners found the city, it was in less ruined condition. Now, it has attracted the attentions of the archeologist(पुरातत्वविद), travellers and restorers. He finds the Angkor temple the most impressive thing in the world. The writer feels strange kind of attachment with the temples of Angkor Wat. Most of all, he loves the life style of the people which has not changed even after thousand years.

 

3.      The Case for Xanthippe by Robert Graves

‘The Case for Xanthippe’ is an argumentative essay written by Robert Graves. He talks about philosophy including Socrates, the husband of Xanthippe, rationality, science, myth, intuition and poetry. The essayist differentiates between reason and rationality.  According to him, poets use intuition in their writings but they are reasonable. Poetry, painting, composition of music, etc. cannot give taste if we use reason in them. Philosophy is antipoetic(against poetry) because it doesn't care and value individual uniqueness. Poets mistrust philosophy. Women and poets are natural allies(friends) because they share intuition. Religion dominated science in the past but there is unspoken agreement between them now. Even the priests give blessing to scientific technology now.

Socratates was a Greek philosopher. His wife Xanthippe scolded and nagged (किचकिच गर्यो) her husband publicly for failing to fulfill his familial responsibility because he was all the time philosophizing (talking philosophically) with others. She didn't understand her husband's spiritual greatness. Her husband's homosexual leanings, his absent-minded behaviour, his idleness, and his love of proving everyone wrong made his wife Xanthappe angry at him. Moreover, she was aware that her husband's theories would bring family into public disgraceSocrates' homosexual leanings, his absent-minded behaviour, his idleness made his wife Xanthippe angry.

Nowadays, there is loss of intuition in every field. Scientific inventions are turning against us. Not for us.

 

4.      Once More to the Lake by EB White

‘Once More to the Lake’ is a memoir written by an American writer EB White. The essayist describes his experiences of revisit to the lake in Maine in East America. He had visited the lake several times during his childhood with his family. He is visiting again with his son in his old age. He describes the lake as a holy spot/place because it provides him solace/peace. It is the reminder of his childhood. It makes him forget the worldly worries and takes him to his beautiful past. It reminds him of his beautiful childhood. It makes him forget his mortality. Hence, it is a sacred place to him. While spending time at the lake, White feels dual existence of himself. Memories of the past haunt him. He finds himself in his son and himself as his father. He is at the same time his father in imagination and his son's father in reality. He sees himself in his son because when he came to the lake with his father, he(White) was also young like his son.

The essay deals with the themes such as nostalgia, power of memory, transitoriness of life, inevitability of mortality/death, father and son relationship, past and present, man vs himself, greatness of nature, old technology vs. new technology.

 

5.      Man and the Battle of Life by Siri Aurobindo

‘Man and the Battle of Life’ is a reflective/philosophical essay written by an Indian writer Siri Aurobindo. This essay glorifies the teachings of Hindu holy book The Gita in this essay. It explains the gist of The Gita. It tells us that life is a battle and struggle which exists on constant changes, struggles, conflicts, suffering, pain and ultimate death. Wars and battles are the struggle of human beings. Battles took place in the history of humanity for the sake of good cause. There is always conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness because there is always clash between violent forces during the transitional periods. There is battle between antagonistic forces and self-affirming law of Good. But, such conflict is necessary for destruction and reconstruction. It brings intellectual, social, moral, religious, political changes in the world.

According to the essayist, the Lord is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. He is the Creator, the Destroyer and the Harmonizer. There is always battle in the man’s mind. There is always struggle between righteousness and unrighteousness. According to Sankhya philospophy, three gunas are: Tama, Raja and Sattva. Sannyasa is the renunciation of life and action and of the threefold Nature, but it has to be approached through one or other of the three qualities. According to the writer, Sannyasa is the ultimate goal of life.

 

6.      Not Nothing by Stephen Cave

‘Not Nothing’ is an ethical essay written by a British writer Stephen Cave. It deals with the themes of non-violence, animal caring and inevitability of death. It talks about life, death and immortality. The essayist talks about how killing of a small fly can result killing of thousands of organisms attached in its body. It took multi-million years history for the creatures to come to this stage. So, we should not kill insects including a tiny fly. According to the essayist, the death of any creature is catastrophe (बिपत्ती). Caring and campaigning about animal welfare is noble and worthwhile. Life and death are two sides of a coin. We wouldn't come to this stage without the death of our ancestors (ape men). It took multi-million years to come to this stage. We are a guest at the party of life and death. Death of a man and a fly is equal in the eyes of God.

 

7.      How Lean Production Can Change The World by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos

This article (argumentative essay) is a comparative study of car production, dealership and marketing strategies in two developed countries, Japan and America. The writers found that the Japanese car production system was far better than American system. The writers distinguish between lean production and mass production. ‘Lean production’ is the technique of using less human resource, less investment, less space, less number of tools/machines for production of goods. Japanese car company ‘Toyota’ applied this technique first. On the other hand, American car company ‘Ford’ applied ‘mass production’ technique first.

            Lean production technique of Japan is more successful and beneficial than mass production of American company. There is immediate delivery of goods according to the demand of the customers in Japan. It produces goods in less quantity. So, it does not occupy large space for the dealers. As a result, the rent of the dealers can be reduced. It believes in principle of zero-error or quality product. So, it is not necessary to invest much on repair and maintenance of cars/goods. It believes in ‘no stock’ principle. So, goods won’t be wasted if not sold. Japanese customers are more satisfied than American customers.

 

8.      A Black Grandmother by Sally Morgan

"A Black Grandmother" is an autobiographical essay written by an Australian writer Sally Morgan. This essay is about a young Aboriginal (आदिवासी) girl of Australia who grows up to false heritage (family history) and not knowing where she is from. She is too curious to discover about her family's indigenous roots. Her mother tells her a lie about their origin. She tells the narrator that they are Indians by origin but she lied to avoid the social stigma(बदनामी/बेइज्ज) of being an Aboriginal person. Finally, the narrator comes to know that her grandmother was a black (Aboriginal) woman of Australia, not an Indian by birth. Sally Morgan wanted to be an artist but everyone discouraged her.   She gave it up later because of her mother. Her mother insisted her on studying further instead of being an artist. She said that there was no earning in art. Later, she did well in her study too.

9.      Speech on Release from Jail by Nelson Mandela

“Speech on Release from Jail” is a speech delivered by a South African leader, Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his release from the prison after 27 years in 1990. Mandela expresses his gratitude to his fellow citizens and international communities for demanding his release from the prison and intensifying(increasing) the anti-apartheid struggle. Millions of people have become homeless, unemployed, shattered and ruined due to apartheid. Women suffered more from apartheid. The future of South Africa will be determined by the democratically elected and racially non-biased government.  Unity of the people is required for liberty/freedom and democracy. Mandela's dream is having equal opportunities, racial harmony, democracy and peace in his country.

 

10.  What is Metalanguage? By Lisa Tran

Meta-language is a language that describes language. It is the language used to talk about a language. It refers to the words, phrases or sentences used to describe and talk about a particular language. For example, we can use English language as a meta-language to talk about English grammar. We can say "He felt sorrowful." instead of "He is sad." According to the essayist, students are not taught about meta-language in schools. Meta-language helps to make our writing more effective and persuasive. Some examples of meta-language are: symbols, imagery, personification, motifs, tone, characterization, monologue(मनोबाद), soliloquy(आत्मसंवाद), tone, foreshadowing, etc. in literature.