English Made Easy with Royal Zenith

Set in rural background, this poem deals with environment degradation in the modern world. It is an outcome of people’s quest for material heaven. It is nostalgic in tone. William Cowper feels like crying over the loss of favorite poplar field because it was a place for him to pass hi leisure and was a source of joy in the past. The loss of trees pokes his mind; he thinks that he too will die like the poplar trees, and be buried with earth and stone. Such a day is very near. Therefore, he concludes that human life is short and his pleasure is far shorter. Summary             The poplar trees on the bank of Ouse River are cut down; the shade is all gone. The sound of the cool trees is heard no more because the wind does not play with trees anymore; neither leaves sing any songs. You cannot see the reflection of the trees on Ouse River water either.             The sp...

The essay sheds the lights on the fuel crisis in the USA in 1997. Asimov says that the life of the Americans will become like a nightmare. It will suffer a lot and will be changed into the world of primitive days.             The scene is The United States of America in the future, at a time when fuel (gases, petrol, diesel, kerosene etc.) is running out. People no longer drive cars, but rides bicycles, instead, and old buildings are torn down so their materials can be reused. The alternative sources of fuel like solar power, atomic energy and coal will not cope with the problem.             However, the fuel shortage will bring us some advantages. The air is cleaner, fewer people have colds, there is less crime, and people will have learnt to live life without facilities such as electric lights, indoor heating and showers with hot water.     ...

“The Three Day Blow ’’ is a story of unpleasant recollections, of mental ordeal and disturbance. As a dramatic story, it takes us into the mental agony of Nick. Nick suffers the blow given by Marge which has been compared with a storm that blows on outside of his home for three days. When the three day blow stops, his ordeal too comes to an end. In consequence both the surrounding and Nick fell relaxed, and cheerful. It is a well written story because the plot moves from conflict, to suffering and separation, and finally comes to reconciliation. It conveys that every conflict or grief passes through several stages before coming to reconciliation or compromise like a violent storm. In the same manner, no matter how deep the grief is it lasts for some time.  “The Three Days Blow" is a plot less story in a dramatic way. Two friends Nick and Bill meet at Bill's cottage. The weather is shown violent. There is rain and storm. So, this is an ideal situation to stay inside h...

“Keeping Things Whole”, a three stanza poem, composed by Mark Strand. This poem highlights identity crisis, a smoldering problem of the present time. The poet asks earnestly for unity or completeness (whole) against alienation and fragmentation ever prevalent in our life.             The poet goes to a field; he finds himself absence in the field. He is missing his identity. When he walks forward, he parts the air. But the air immediately fills up the space behind him. Unlike human beings, the air maintains unity. People keep on moving, for they have reasons. However, the reasons are all false, and carry no essence for the poet. Unlike these people, the poet moves on for the unity among the fragments. He seems a bit idiosyncratic because modern people are material oriented and selfish.             Mark Strand has brilliantly shed lights on the life of a modern m...

William Wordsworth, an English poet, worshiper of nature. “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” is a poem which is related to the natural beauty (rainbow), time and nature.             Wordsworth says his heart leaps up with joy when he sees a beautiful rainbow in the sky. The joy was similar in his childhood (past), is alike in degree now (present), and will be the same when he becomes old (future). Otherwise, he will prefer dearth to life because life away from nature will be listless for him. The experiences of the childhood are delightful; they shape our mind, which in turns shapes the course of future life. Thus the Child is father of the Man. Since nature is God for the poet, he wishes to pass life (his days) respecting and worshiping nature until he dies. “The Child is the father of the Man”             A paradox is a word or sentence which is self-contradictory, i...

            A single child is a boon of God for the parents and plural children a curse; they destroy the personal life and privacy of the parents by keeping them under their control. Therefore, Holland suggests that one should beget one child.             This essay is set in America; it deals with the American culture. For the Americans personal freedom and privacy are the most important of all aspects in life. A wife is expected to have some private time with her husband when he returns home from work.             One child is an inseparable part of parents’ body whereas many children a way of strange life. A single child is controlled easily, and parents can shape him/her as their wish. They can take him/her to parties, on their journeys and teach him/her any lesson like morality. Unlike it, plural children ...

Hampl’s mother bought the teacup in 1939; it was made in Czechoslovakia; she was married in the same year. It was the year when the Second World War started. Czechoslovakia was taken over and destroyed by the armies of Adolph Hitler. After a lapse of time, her mom gave the teacup to Hampl as a souvenir. Hampl takes it in a metonymical way as a page of history book, and makes many associations, and exploration. It shows that a seemingly insignificant object like a teacup can be a great source of information for artistic creativity.             The major themes of the essay are the relationship between a mother and her daughter; their opinion on marriage, family life and career development and connection between the past and the present. These themes are represented by this essay.             The essay was written in the background of the Second World War. The whol...

  “A Worn Path” is a story of unconscious heroism, firm dignity and innocent humour, shown by an old African American woman Phoenix Jackson. The story decides Jackson’s journey from her house to the town. She had a grandson, who had been suffering from a throat pain ever since he swallowed lye. They lived in a village behind the hill. Their house was a long way from the town Natchez. It was the month of December and an occasion of Christmas, so she had to go the town to get some medicine and Christmas gifts for her grandson.             On her way, she had to face several obstacles and hardships. She climbed up a hill and got down it first. But before she got down the hill her dress was caught in a thorn bush. However, with care and struggle, she stood free. Then she came to a stream, having no bridge over it. Only a log was put over it. Having lifted her skirt up and shutting her eyes she marched across it safety. Wh...

Characters: Helen Turrell, Michael Turrell, the Gardener, Mrs. Searsworth and George Turrell “The Gardener” is a beautifully written story. Kipling contempts/despises the so-called civilized society for its shallowness of feeling, dead habits and lack of respect for the individual emotions and feelings. The story presents the fact that an individual is caught between two fires: world of emotion and the world of social rules or norms and values. If he engrossed in things pleasant to the senses and sensuality, they may lead him to doom. And life cannot be lived in the absence of a true friend, and one cannot get delight unless one confesses one’s guilt /grief. Last but not least, life without telling lies cannot be imagined. Let alone living happily. Summary:             While living at her home at Lancashire in England, 35 year old Helen Turrell became pregnant; she was ashamed because she was not formally married...

It is a thought provoking essay. It is partially humorous because like an object a human body has been valued in money. The chemical value of a human body is six million dollars. It is also partly philosophical because it is an instrument to create art in the life of human soul. It is more precious than what the biochemists have assumed it to be.             One year the essayist received a birthday card from his married daughter. It bore a caption that read according to biochemists the materials that make up human body are worth 97 cents. He found the price very insignificant, and decided to make a thorough study of it. He brought a catalogue of chemicals with their prices and started to read the prices of chemicals that make up a human body. He studied 14 chemicals and worked out the average value of all the components of the body. He calculated that the average value of a dry gram weight of body to be $245.54. Then he rush...

Setting : A Hindu kingdom in India. Characters: Malini, King, Queen, Supriya, Kemankar, some Brahmins, Prince                 Malini has been taught by Buddhist monks, although she is the daughter of a Hindu king. She wants to leave the palace and go out into the outside world because she believes wealth does not cling to those whose destiny is to find riches in poverty. The Brahmins want the king to throw Malini out of kingdom because they feel threatened by her ideas on religion. Malini wants to be banished but the queen does not understand this. Malini wants to help the people outside the palace to solve their problems.                 A crowd of Brahmins appears in front of palace. They ask for Malini to be banished. They are led by Kemankar. They take Malini as poisonous snake aiming at the heart of the Hinduism. But Supri...

“In Bed” is a personal essay; however, there are some traces of public concern. Didion describes migraine headache in general and her own in particular. Thus the essay hints us that ordinary/personal feelings are fit for artistic creation. She has talked about migraine in such an effective way that both the sufferers and non-sufferers can know something on migraine. Migraine headache is a part of her life.             Didion suffers from migraine 4-5 times every month. When it is on its way, she feels irritated and flush of blood on her. In the past, she would take drugs to avoid it. Else she would not perform any jobs.             When she was young she was afraid to reveal that she had migraine. She thought that she would miss opportunities of jobs and scholarship. She took migraine as a disease of imagination and was caused by her bad attitudes, unpleasant tempers a...

This is a typographical poem of a cat. It is meant for eyes, not for mind and heart as it conveys no ideas. The poet has told about cat and its activity. Dorthi Charles has drawn a picture of the cat on the paper. The picture is drawn with words, but not sentences. The word cat does not appear, but the other words are the names of the body of a cat. For example – they are eyes, ears, mouth, paw and whisker. Other words are added to put the cat in a place. For example – dish and litter box. The long word of stripe and tripe indicate the colorful bands on the cat’s body, and the tissues of the mouse in the stomach of the cat respectively. The mouse is upside down. It is killed and eaten by the cat. These tell us the cat is a pet and not a wild cat. Would you consider “The Concrete Cat” a poem?                 Yes, it is a work of art or a poem. Conventionally a piece of poem is written in lines follow...

Pharmacist Shoji Sakota lived alone in Sapporo of Hokkaido, in Japan. He was a widower. His pharmacy was at the front part and the living apartment was at the rear of the same building. He sometimes would work in the pharmacy late after it had been closed.             A stormy night in 1994, he was working on his annual business report. At about midnight, he heard a knock at the door. He did not response it for two times. After the third knock, he thought it might be an emergency case and thus went near the door. He saw through the glass a woman standing nervously. At first, he thought it to be a trick to rob him off. So, he asked her to come in the morning. But the woman pleaded him to help for her baby. Feeling confident that it was indeed an emergency case. Shoji opened the door. The woman looked lanky; her skin abnormally light; disheveled hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. Her kimono was completely worn out. Shoj...

The story is set in a village of Colombia. The main characters are Rosa Soto, her two daughters Maria Del Carmen and Evangelina. Other characters are Rosa’s husband Roberto and sister from Bogota.             The story is about reincarnation. Little Carmen was the Soto’s first child. Carmen was beautiful, bright and loving, but with frail health. She died shortly after she turned to her fourth spring. Everyone in the village participated in her funeral. At her birth, a doctor told Rosa that she would not bear other children. She believed him truly. So she gave Carmen’s playthings including clothes to a priest from another village. But she could not find a lost doll that Carmen had always carried around with her. The doll was beautiful with blue eyes and a red dress.             They searched for the doll in the house, and also asked the priest if it was gone with he...

“The House Call” is a story of appearance-after-death. It occurred in the city of Germany in 1903. The main character of the story is an old German doctor named Dr. Emil Braun. While he was trying to have his dinner at 9:30, a little girl came to his house for call. She told him that her mother was very sick. Despite his wife’s unwillingness and his overtiredness, Dr. Braun decided to help the child’s mother and followed the child. He thought it was an order to him by God.             It was raining. The child led him past the hospital where Braun was the head surgeon, to an old house in the tenement area of the outskirts of the city. The doctor tries his best of his age to catch up the girl but could not do so. She finally led him at the top of the fifth floor of an old house.             The girl took the doctor to a room where a woman was very sick, and lying in th...

Kim is a pretty girl of 25. She lives in London and works in a reputed company in high post. She is very unhappy because she has the same dream almost every night. According to her, she dreams about a house in a village where she sees an old man asleep in bed. The old man is small with white hair and a white beard. In the dream, she goes onto a narrow lane, reaches the top of hill and enters the house of the little man. She moves around the house and finally arrives in the room where the old man is asleep. The old man wakes up. When she tries to speak to him, she wakes up herself in her apartment in London. She does not know at all who the old man is. She cannot avoid this dream either.             In order to help her forget the dream and get relief from it, her roommate Janet takes Kim to her parents’ farm in the countryside. Kim sits in Janet’s car. They soon leave London city behind and drive through countryside. All of s...

The story is set in England. The main character of the story is Kimberly Clark who is usually shortened to Kim. Kim lives and work on London. She has a good position in the office but she has got a problem. The problem is that she has a mysterious dream. It is mysterious in the sense. It is about the place and the person which is strange to her. In her dream she stands on the country side road and sees a lane with a white fence and hedge on each side. At the end of the lane, on the top of the little hill, she sees a white cottage with green shutter. In the dream, she walks on the land and goes inside the cottage. There she sees a man asleep in a bed who is little old with white hair and beard. She sees a same dream almost every night, when she tries to speak to that man in her dream; she wakes up in her bed in London. The dream bothers her a lot; she shares her dream to her roommate Janet who advised her to visit to her parent’s farm for a few days. According to her advice, they ...

The poem, “THE POPLAR FIELD” composed by Willam Cupper compares the disappearing poplar tree with perishing pleasure of human being. This poem is remarkable for its celebration of the rural and its nostalgic tone. This poem can be taken as defense on nature conservation. Through this poem the poet delivers important message that for our personal benefit. We should not cut down trees as it invites a number of problems in the days to come. The poet tells that poplar trees have been cut down as a result the shade and the whispering sound has been told goodbye. The wind no more plays with the leaves and no more sings having gentle touch with the leaves of the popular tress. Moreover, the river Ouse no more reflects the beautiful image of the popular trees on its bosom. The poet talks about the time of 12 years back. In the past, the poet use to go to the popular field where he could see a number of popular trees and take rest. But at present all the popular trees have been turned ...

Periods of British English Literature 1.       The Old English/ Anglo-Saxon/Anglo- Norman Period (450 AD-1066/1100 AD) 2.       The Middle English Period (1066/1100AD-1485/1500 AD) 3.       The Renaissance Period (1558 AD-1660 AD)                                                               i.       The Elizabethan Period (1558 AD-1603 AD)                                     ...