Summaries of 40 Literary Text for Reading

Refund Fritz Karinthy - Summary

Fritz Karinthy is a well-known short story writer who wrote the one-act play “Refund” in 1938. This is the story of a former student Wasserkopf, who demands that his tuition be refunded because he feels his education was worthless. But he loses his fight when he is tricked by the mathematics master.  The play “Refund” is full of humor and deals with an extraordinarily absurd situation.

Wasserkopf is forty years old. He could not get any job and wherever he goes people tell him that he is fit for nothing. One day he meets Leaderer and asks him about his business. When Leaderer tells him about foreign exchange and Hungarian money, he is not able to understand anything and starts asking questions about foreign exchange. Leaderer says when Wasserkopf does not know the silly thing then what had he studied? He better go to the school and get his tuition fees back. Wasserkopf, who is jobless and does not have any finance, thought of this idea as something beneficial. So he went to the school where he studied once.

Wasserkopf wanted the refund of his tuition fees which were paid eighteen years ago because he was taught badly. When he asks for it, the principal is shocked. The principal is in a peculiar situation now and he calls for an urgent meeting with all other staff members. The masters realized that Wasserkopf’s real intention was to fail in the exam and claim the refund. Therefore, they decided to outsmart the old student by proving all his answers right. The Mathematics Master said that they had to be united and ought to help each other in implementing their plan. The exam was an oral one as of Wasserkopf's refusal to write. They decide that whatever answers he gives whether it is right or wrong they will prove him right.

The first question was from the History Master. The Master asked him how many years the ‘Thirty Years’ war lasted. The answer was in the question itself. But Wasserkopf, who was keen on giving wrong answers, said that the ‘Thirty Years war’, lasted seven meters. The History Master did not know how to prove this answer right. Fortunately for him, the Mathematics master aided him by proving that the answer was right on the basis of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The Master argued that time and space are relative terms and therefore years can be represented in terms of meter. The war took place during half of each day, three hours a day to eat, hours given up to noon, so a total of seven years.  The actual time spent in fighting was seven years and it has been by Einstein’s equivalent of seven meters. Wasserkopf called the History Master a numskull.

 The Physics Master asked Wasserkopf whether clocks in church become smaller if one walks away from it or is it because of optical illusion.  He was called The Physics master as an ass.  The master says that the answer is correct because ass does not have any illusion of vision. Therefore, Wasserkopf has given a metaphorical explanation. Wasserkopf called him a cannibal.

The Geography Master asks Wasserkopf for the name of a city which has the same name as the capital of Germany Province of Brunswick.  He replied as ‘Same’.  Master said it as the correct answer.  There was a legend that once as the emperor Barbarossa was riding in the city, he met a young peasant (farmer) girl, who was munching a bun mouthful.  He called out to her God Bless you and asked her the name of the city, she answered the same to you sir for his wishes, and the Emperor mistook the city name as ‘Same’.

One by one each teacher justified his wrong answer to be the correct one and they marked him excellent. Though Wasserkopf gives wrong answers and uses abusive words to each teacher, they don't show their anger because they have to prove him as an excellent student.

At last the mathematics master asks him a difficult question and an easy question. For the easy question he gives the wrong answer and the master gets angry and says that he has failed in his examination so he should be given his tuition fees back. The master says that they have decided to give him his tuition fees back and asks for the exact amount which he has to get. Wasserkopf, without knowing that he is going to fall into their trap, gives them the list of exact amounts. The mathematics master says that was his difficult question and he gave the right answer. Now he has proved excellent in the entire subject and they throw him out without allowing him to say anything further. It shows the ability of the teachers to manage the situation and how they tackle Wasserkopf without spoiling the reputation of their school.

The Boy Comes Home A.A.Milne - Summary

“The Boy Comes Home” is a comedy that discusses many serious issues in a light manner. The title refers to a boy who has come back to his home after some years. The first theme is the conflict between generations. Uncle James who thinks highly of discipline is disappointed when Philip does not follow it. Philip, the representative of the young, wishes to enjoy his freedom after four years of strict discipline at the war front.

Philip is a young man of 23. He lives with Uncle James who is his patron. He has returned home after four years of war. Philip gets up late in the morning because he has just come home the previous night. He calls the maid Marry and asks her to bring breakfast for him. Uncle James keeps a strict discipline in the house. According to his orders, breakfast is served at eight. Philip has a problem with Mary because of this. Philip handles her very cleverly.

Aunt Emily is very much impressed and tells Uncle James that Philip is mature and responsible. The war has greatly affected Philip’s personality. Before going to the war, Philip was just like an inexperienced boy. Now he is like a grown up man. Before going to the war, he used to do what he was asked to do. Now he makes his own decisions and nobody can dictate him. The Army has taught him something. He is different now.

Uncle James comes to see Philip. He wants to ask him to join his jam business. But just before Philip’s entry into the room, he goes to sleep. In his dream, he meets Philip. He orders him to join the jam business. However, Philip wants to learn some profession. Uncle James thinks that Philip is just like a schoolboy and he cannot choose a career for himself. To prove that he is mature, Philip relates his experience at Somme during the war.

It happened that Philip’s company was in a trench. The German knew about them. The Germans killed the company commander. After his death, now Philip was the company commander. They had lost about half the company by that time. It was a very difficult situation and he had great responsibility on his shoulders. Lives of many soldiers depended on him. He took a very mature and responsible decision. He moved the company to the other trench. Then he went back to the C.O. and told him that he had moved. That incident and being responsible for many lives changed him as a matured man aged 25 or 35 or even 45.However, Uncle James still insists on his own decision. He threatens to use the power of the purse. At this, Philip takes out a revolver and a bomb out of his pocket and frightens Uncle James to death. He agrees to do what Philip wants.

Meanwhile, Uncle James wakes up. He is now a changed man. When Philip actually comes to talk to him, he is rather confused and repeats the same things that Philip has said in his dream. He behaves in a very appropriate and considerate way to Philip. He asks him if wants to be an architect but Philip is not interested in it. Later Philip agrees to join the jam business. Uncle James is not sure about his dream.

Summary of A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning by John Donne

John Donne is famous for his metaphysical poetry. The poem “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" was written in 1611. When Donne was about to travel to France and Germany, he wrote this poem for his wife Ann as a valediction, or farewell speech. This poem is famously claimed as a metaphysical poem. The term “metaphysical” means preoccupation with philosophy. Metaphysical poetry is famous for its startling images and conceits (an imaginative or fanciful comparison or metaphor).  Metaphysical poets see resemblances in things which are unlike. They often use complex and concrete metaphors to look at complicated metaphysical ideas—such as love, death. For example in “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” Donne brings out the metaphysical elements thus 1) Spiritual love is compared to the death of a holy man. 2) Love is compared to pure gold. 3)  parallel the relationship of his and his lady’s soul to the coordinated movements of the compasses.

Throughout the poem the speaker describes the nature of love he and his wife share. He states that real love cannot be defeated by distance and it does not end at the thought of being separated. The poem concludes with the belief that real love is powerful and unbeatable. It proves that love is the central theme of the poem.

The poem is in 9 stanzas using many poetic devices. The first stanza begins with a metaphysical conceit. It is an extended simile that compares the death of virtuous men to the separation of the lovers. The poem begins with describing how virtuous men die. As they lived with good qualities they are not afraid of death. They encourage their souls to leave their bodies and die "mildly". They die so quietly that their friends gathered around the deathbed argue on whether they are still alive or not. The poet tells his lady love that like the wise men they too should accept their separation silently with no tears or sighs. If they weep or sigh, it would be disrespectful to their divine love. True lovers are like high priests of the church (clergy) while ordinary lovers are compared with the members of the congregation (laity). (Hyperbole is a hallmark of metaphysical poetry that means exaggerated statements. Here tear is compared to flood and sigh is to tempests).

Donne contrasts disturbances on Earth with those in heaven. The earthquakes destroy buildings; and create natural calamities, killing thousands of people. But the movement of the trepidation of the spheres is so great and powerful compared with the earthquake. It is so silent and does not create any destruction. Similarly, the spiritual love between the narrator and his ladylove is very strong compared with the earthly love of ordinary people. The ordinary lovers love in their senses and not in their spirit. So they need physical touch for their love. The word ‘absence’ is used as ‘not being present’. It means that ordinary lovers do not get sensual pleasures and therefore their life is very dull. Therefore when such lovers get separated, their love decreases and fades like the moon. On the other hand, the spiritual lovers do not need the presence of each other. The poet says that their love is not based on sensual satisfaction. As it is a pure love that even they cannot define it. As they feel confident in their love, their physical separation—the absence of eyes, lips, and hands—causes them less worry.

The speaker of the poem tells his lady love that their souls are one in the spirit and inseparable. Their true love is compared to pure gold (simile). When gold is hammered, it does not break but it expands to thin air and becomes invisible. The comparison of true love to pure gold is quite unlike subjects. Similarly, their love will not break but expand by keeping them together during their separation.

The lover tells his ladylove that they are physically two and they are compared to a pair of compasses. The one remains fixed while the other revolves around. It always bends inward to the center. It is the firmness of one foot that holds the other in its circle.  Similarly, it is the firmness of one’s love for the other that makes the circle of life complete and loyal to each other.

Ozymandias by P. B. Shelley. summary

P.B. Shelly’s “Ozymandias” is a sonnet. Though the poem is written in the style of sonnet, it does not follow the traditional structure of sonnet. Ozymandias was the name by which Ramses II was known to the Greeks. He was famous for the number of architectural structures and his statue he created during his ruling period. Shelly by knowing the shattered condition of the statue wrote this poem to convey a moral that powerful people and their power is only temporary. The poem is written in first-person narration.

The poet begins the poem in a story-like manner about his meeting with a traveler from an antique land. It is understood that the traveler is from Egypt and he narrates his travel experiences to the poet. The traveler tells the speaker a story about an old, fragmented statue in the middle of the desert. He describes seeing two vast legs of a statue without the upper part of the body. Near those legs the face of the statue, half destroyed, was lying half sunk in the sand. Though the face is shattered, one can read the expressions of the face. The face looks stern and powerful, like a ruler. The traveler appreciated the sculptor who portrayed the expressions of the king well. He imitated the expressions of the king by absorbing it in his heart. Here the writer indicates the immortality and superiority of art.

The traveler tells about an inscription at the foot of the statue. The inscription reveals it as Ozymandias, king of Kings. He proudly asks the people who pass by to look at his work to know his superiority and to feel sad as no one can create such wonderful monuments like Ozymandias. Contrary to the proud statement the next line reveals the reality of life. Nothing was remaining in the desert. The vast area was covered with destruction and decay. Bareness and the loneliness of the area indicate the powerless condition of humans.

The Ballad of Father Gilligan by W.B Yeats summary

W.B Yeats’ “The Ballad of Father Gilligan” is written in the style of ballad with twelve stanzas of four lines. Ballad is a simple narrative poem written in a simple language. The theme of the poem is about the presence of God everywhere and his love for all. The poem is about a miracle that happened in the life of Father Gilligan, an old priest.

The poem begins with the introduction of Peter Gilligan, an old priest.  He helps his people, who are under his church. Half of his people are in death bed or buried under the ground due to sickness. He treats the sick people and conducts funerals for the dead. He treats them day and night and thus becomes very tired. One day due to his tiredness he is about to sleep on his chair. The presence of insects indicates it is evening.  At that time someone calls for the priest’s help. The priest feels upset about being called. His continuous help to the needy people and his tiredness makes him get upset. Because of his tiredness he says that he does not have rest, happiness or peace as people under his parish die continuously. Immediately he feels sorry for saying such words. He begs God to forgive him because those words are spoken by his body and not by him.

Father Gilligan kneels down on the floor to get forgiveness from God. He leans on the chair and prays and due to his tiredness he sleeps. Now the insects have gone and the stars begin to appear. As night starts the sky is filled with stars. Due to the flow of wind, leaves are falling from the trees. God covers the world with darkness and speaks slowly to mankind.

Chirping of sparrows indicates the early hours of morning time. The insects come once again. At that time Father Gillian wakes up from his sleep. He is shocked to know that he slept for a long time. He blames himself by saying that the person who needed his help might have died. He wakes his horse and rides very fast. He rides rashly over narrow roads and wetlands and reaches the sick man’s house. By seeing the Father, the sick man’s wife wonders that he has come again.

Father Gilligan asks whether the man died and the wife replies that he died an hour ago. In sadness the priest walks to and fro. The woman replies that after the priest leaves he dies in a peaceful manner. Hearing such words Father Gilligan kneels on the floor. He says that God has made the stars at night to comfort the souls. God might have sent one of His angels to help him. God is a king in purple-colored robes and takes care of all the planets. It shows that God has many big responsibilities. Even with such responsibility God had pity on a simple person like Father Gilligan when he slept. Father Gilligan feels grateful to God for being kind and merciful to him. The poem shows the love and care of God for whom all the lives are equal and important. 

Summary of The Village Schoolmaster by Oliver Goldsmith

The poem "The Village Schoolmaster" by Oliver Goldsmith is an extract from his famous poem The Deserted Village. The word "village" in the title clearly suggests that the poem is set in a rural area, probably where the speaker lived. The poem portrays a realistic picture and the speaker's sentiments about a teacher. The Schoolmaster presented in the poem might be the poet’s teacher Thomas Byrne. The poem is about the characteristics of the Schoolmaster who is respected by all the villagers due to his knowledge and interest in reading. It also talks about how things could change in the course of time, a kind of looking back at the past.

The village school master runs his little school in a small village. The poem starts with a description of the location of the school. The school is situated next to an irregular fence which is dilapidated and also leaning over. The road leading towards the school is lined with flowers, which are not being admired or appreciated by the people. The school is mentioned as a ‘noisy mansion’ following the rules of the school master. The village teacher is equipped to manage a class and teaches his lessons there. He is a very strict disciplinarian and also a stern person to observe. The speaker says that he and all other truants know him well because they have undergone the master’s rage. The students have learnt to sense the mood of the teacher by observing his face. The day’s trouble is noticed from his forehead.

The school master is a contradiction. Although he is strict, he is kind and good-humored. He tells many jokes. Whenever he tells some jokes, the children laugh with pretended joy.  If they notice any sign of anger on his face they will spread the news throughout the classroom. But basically the schoolmaster is a kind man. If at all he has any fault, it is because of his intense love for learning.

The schoolmaster is admired and respected by the villagers. Everyone in the village praised him for his great knowledge. He can write, do mathematics, and predict weather patterns and tides. It is also assumed that he can do accurate surveys and determine borders easily. He can also debate intelligently and have discussions with the village parson, a person who was greatly respected by his parishioners. The master uses difficult words and emotional language to convince and impress the poorly educated village people. The person also accepts the master’s skill in debate. Sometimes even after being defeated in arguments, the schoolmaster continues to speak. The village people wonder how his small head could contain so much knowledge.

Though the poem presents the pleasant remembrances of the poet about the schoolmaster, the poem ends in a sad tone. The last two lines tell the present condition. The great fame of the schoolteacher has become a thing of the past. At present the school where he faced many successes is forgotten.

My Days by R.K. Narayan- summary

R.K Narayan is one of the leading writers of Indian English Literature. The prose piece ‘My Days’ is an extract from his autobiography My Days. In this part he talks about his infatuation over several girls and his love for a woman and finally how it has ended up in marriage in a humoristic manner.

The beginning of the prose shows him as an immature one who falls in love with all the girls whom he comes across. He begins in a funny way about his love sickness and his longing for love. In 1920’s the society in which he was brought up was a strict one where boys and girls were segregated.  The books he read prepared his mind to fall in love with someone, whereas his society restricted it. Due to this he suffered with impossible love sickness. He fell in love with many but everything was one sided. Any girl who looked at him immediately became his lady love. Thus he fell in love with a girl in green sari who lived in the next street of the narrator. She was the sister- in –law of an engineer. He followed her everyday and wished to do some engineering business. It might help him to have contact with her brother-in –law and thus he could propose to her. But suddenly the girl was not seen anywhere. Before falling in sadness, the narrator found another lady love who used to stand on the terrace to dry her hair. She was not a beautiful girl but he loved her. Later he realized that she was looking at all who passed by the street. This made him lose interest in her. Soon he found another girl who got his attention. She was going to Maharani College and this too was a one-sided love. Though one-sided, such interest made him feel purposeful.

Among his friends, they discussed girls and this created an urge for him to fall in love. This took him to an extent of falling in love with a lady doctor, a British lady, who attended his mother. Later he describes his infatuation for a pen friend, who lived in England. Every week they wrote letters. She wrote impersonal letters about her hobby and other things. Whereas, he wrote personal letters filled with his emotions towards her. She objected to receiving such letters from him but continued to write, which encouraged him to write.

The narrator finally experiences real love. In July 1933, he went to Coimbatore to drop his sister. As he did not have any urgency to return, he stayed in his sister’s house for some time. There he got a glimpse of a girl and was attracted towards her. She used to come out of her house only to fetch water from the street pipes and return home immediately. He loved her and longed to get full vision of her. Her father, a school headmaster, was a friend of his sister’s family. The narrator became friendly with the girl’s father. As they both loved books and literary matters, they became close. Every day he met the girl’s father on the school campus and discussed worldly affairs.

One day when the girl’s father was chatting politics with him, the narrator finally announced his love for the girl. Due to his societal constraints he could not express his love to the girl so he expressed his desire to the girl’s father about marriage. The girl’s father was shocked and did not know how to react. In his society, only parents decide about marriages but here the narrator spoke directly to the girl’s father about his interest towards the girl. Diplomatically the father said that this has to be consulted with the family members and then the horoscope should be matched. Another day the girl’s father asked him what he would do for a living. This question has made the narrator understand the headmaster’s interest in him. As his work “How to write Indian Novel” got published recently in a famous magazine ‘Punch’, he confidently boosted up about his promising career as a freelance writer. When the girl’s father asked him to get some work in Bangalore with his father’s influence, the narrator rejected this idea by explaining his economical principle. Neither his economic principle nor his expression of interest for the girl in modern ways damaged his marriage proposal. His horoscope played a villain role in his life. As they are from the conservative family, they bothered much about the matching of the horoscope. So the headmaster rejected his proposal for the marriage. The narrator suffered with a feeling of love failure. He could not eat food, and stayed alone by rejecting other’s company. He used to go for a walk in the evening without looking at others and by avoiding the direction of the street tap. He even self-dramatized the situation which was viewed with sympathy by others. His sister tried to cheer him up in many ways. He wrote a play named “The Home of Thunder” during that time which was a tragedy where all the characters die. That drama reflected his sad mood.

The headmaster was moved by the narrator’s pensive mood. The headmaster discussed the horoscope with his colleagues. Finally he sent the narrator to meet an old man Chellappa-Sir regarding the horoscope match. The old man was shouting with anger that he is not Brahma to change the horoscope. If they want to proceed with the marriage by leaving the matching horoscope, they could continue with that. But the position of the stars could not be altered by humans. Finally the marriage was conducted grandly in spite of all the difficulties.

Srinivasa Ramanujan by C.P. Snow- summary

C.P.Snow’s “Srinivasa Ramanujan” is an extract of his book "Variety of Men". This particular prose on Ramanujan is taken from the biography of the mathematician Hardy, who is known as a person of ‘discovering’ Ramanujan. This prose describes Hardy's interest in Ramanujan, his invitation of Ramanujan to London and their contribution to math. Though it talks about Ramanujan, every detail was given from the perception of Hardy.

Hardy was a world famous mathematician working as a professor at Cambridge University. As he was a famous mathematician he used to receive manuscripts from people all over the world. Mostly they dealt with the wisdom of the pyramid, Revelation of Jews protocols and insertion of Shakespeare’s work in Bacons. In 1913 January he received an untidy envelope from India. The sheets inside were not clean and written mathematical theories in non-English script. He looked at those signs with no interest and soon felt bored by it. Most of the theorems were wild without any proof and some already known. Hardy got irritated by it and left it aside to start his routine work.

Every day he used to read the Times newspaper while having his breakfast. Then from 9a.m. to 1p.m. he might give lectures to the students or work on his own findings in Maths. He used to have a light lunch and then play tennis in the University court. That day he could not concentrate on anything. The wild theorems of the Indian started disturbing him. He doubted the Indian either a fraud or a genius. He could not come to a conclusion so he called for his friend Littlewood. They discussed the theorems in Hardy’s room. The narrator calls it as an ocean one would like to present about the response and discussion of Hardy and Littlewood about the works of Ramanujan. They understood that those letters were from a genius mathematician. Then Hardy decided to invite Ramanujan to London. Before sending the manuscript to Hardy, Ramanujan has sent it to two more Math professors in London. But they could not evaluate the knowledge of Ramanujan which was judged correctly by Hardy. Hardy decided to invite Ramanujan to England with the help of Trinity College which funded many geniuses earlier. Though it was easy to bring Ramanujan to London, they actually needed the support of a super human. The super human is Goddess Namakkal. Ramanujan was born in a Brahmin family who considered crossing the ocean as forbidden. He was working as a clerk in Madras. His mother was a conservative who followed Brahmin tradition strictly. Surprisingly she allowed him to travel to London by describing her dream in which she saw Ramanujan seated in a big hall among the Europeans. She also stated that it was the command of Namakkal.

In 1914 Ramanujan reached London. Though Ramanujan did not believe much in Theological Doctrine, he believed the rituals (like wearing Pyjamas and eating vegetarian food cooked by him). They both had a close relationship. Hardy thought that Ramanujan was an untrained genius. Due to his poor knowledge in English, he could not pass his degree in Madras University. So when Hardy talked about general things in English, Ramanujan looked confused. Even in math Ramanujan was self-taught. Hardy once thought that if Ramanujan had got education he would be lesser in knowledge. Later he corrected himself by thinking that Ramanujan would be wonderful if had a better education. Hardy taught Ramanujan some formal math. They both produced five papers of the highest knowledge. The Royal society of England elected Ramnujan as a Fellow at the age of thirty and also received a Fellow from Trinity. Ramanujan was the first Indian to receive such honor in England.

The climate of London soon made him ill. He was admitted to a hospital in Putney, London. The famous taxi-cab number incident took place in the hospital. Hardy went to meet Ramanujan in the hospital by taxi. He started the conversation by stating that the taxi number in which he traveled was a dull number 1729, which activated Ramanujan. He replied immediately that it was a very interesting number by stating “smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways”. This showed the intelligence and interest of Ramanujan in math. Ramanujan died of tuberculosis in Madras at the age of thirty three. In his apology Hardy mentions the list of great mathematicians who all died at young ages.

Stanley Finds Livingstone by Lawrence Wilson- Summary

David Livingstone is a Scottish medical missionary and explorer. He was more interested in exploring places. For an assignment he traveled to Africa to explore places in 1865. After some time no one knew the whereabouts of Livingstone. The New York Herald newspaper assigned Stanley to find Livingstone in Africa. The title of the prose piece tells the situation of the incident. This particular chapter is an extract from the book with the same title.

In 1869, October James Gordon Bennett, a son of the owner of the New York Herald, met Stanley in Paris. He was there on a mission to collect information regarding the civil war in Spain. Mr. Bennett assigned the task of finding Livingstone to Stanley. For nearly four years there was no communication from Livingstone and no white had reported seeing him in Africa. Thus no one knew whether he was alive or dead. Mr. Bennett thought that the writing of the search for Livingstone would increase the circulation of his newspaper. So he assigned the task to Stanley. He was ready to spend thousands of pounds for the assigned work.

Stanley was born in North Wales, U.K as an illegitimate son. He was seen as an unwanted child and suffered under his sadist employer. Later he escaped from there by sailing to New Orleans. He met an affectionate person named Henry Morton Stanley whose name he had adapted later. He considered himself as an American Citizen and fought for America in civil wars and later worked for New York Herald. As he wanted to prove himself with great achievement he immediately accepted the task to find Livingstone in Africa.

In January 1871 Stanley started his voyage. He decided to reach Ujiji, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, which was 750 miles from the coast. It was from this place people received information about Livingstone finally. Mr. Bennett did not send money to Stanley as he promised. Yet through his persuasion he borrows money from the American consul. He decided on his budget and bought supplies for two years. His luggage contained weapons, bullets, clothing, tent, medicines, utensils for cooking, food and native money. This luggage was around seventy pounds.

Stanley employed 200 Zanzibaris as porters. Two white men were appointed to supervise them. They started their sail from the mainland in the month of March. On the way, he hired some more porters. They joined with their family and cattle and started the journey cheerfully. Though various routes existed to reach Ujiji, out of ignorance Stanley selected a tougher route. The hot climate affected the sailor and due to the insects people suffered with fevers. Stanley started to face many problems. The native porters after getting money for the assigned work escaped from the place and some others stole the things that they were carrying. The next eight months were the tough period for Stanley as he kept the supporters either by force or by affection.

They reached a regular route used by the Arab traders. They traveled from one village to another and got food and necessary things from there. Later Stanley too suffered with high fever. Later he joined with the Arab traders for safety. When an African Chief Mirabo blocked his voyage his troops along with the Arabs’ fought with him.

Stanley, by deciding to avoid battle, traveled through unknown countries. The sailors suffered with various diseases and when they tried to escape, Stanley chained them and put them under his control. When it was sixty miles from Ujiji, he received information from people that a white man was living there. Stanley was excited to receive such information by considering him as Livingstone. To reach Ujiji they had to cross Waha territory but the head of the Waha tribe was demanding a huge amount to cross the area. He had to cross five such villages to reach Ujiji and each place demanded a huge amount to cross the border. So he decided to take another route which was obviously a longer one. When they reached the destination, Stanley became nervous regarding Livingstone’s reaction. He pleasantly dressed himself to meet Livingstone.

Ujiji people gathered to welcome Stanley. Livingstone’s servant welcomed him and directed him to the house. Stanley was uncertain about the reception of Livingstone. As Stanley suffered from an inferiority complex about his birth and childhood life in the U.K, he had doubts about Livingstone’s reaction. But his braveness and talent to cross many troubles in the voyage gave him confidence. Livingstone, a kind person, invited him with love. Soon Stanley understood the greatness of Livingstone and started admiring him. This Voyage brought great fame for Stanley.

Albert Schweitzer by Norman Wymer- Summary

The prose piece “Albert Schweitzer” is an extract from the book The hospital in the Forest by Norman Wymer. As the title indicates the prose piece is about the life of Schweitzer. He is a 30 year old French citizen working as a principal of theological college at Strasbourg University. In the autumn of 1905, Schweitzer came across an article in the Journal of a French Missionary Society. It described the miserable condition of Africans in West Africa due to diseases and poverty. The article invited volunteers for the medical missionary to help people in West Africa. Due to poverty people hardly had something to eat; sometimes they stayed without eating for two or three days. Most of them suffered from leprosy and dysentery.  So there was an urgent need to help them.

Schweitzer was affected by the news and decided to do something for the poor Africans. As he studied in a village school where many poor students studied, he understood the pain of poverty. He already had a desire to do something for the needy people. When he got this opportunity he decided to render his service to the Africans. Thus he decided to join the medical missionary. He shared his decision to Helen Breslau, a nurse, with whom he was in love. He expressed his desire to go to West Africa and to build a hospital with his own expenditure at Lambarene in Congo. Shocked, Helen replied that a qualified doctor could only join as a medical missionary. Though Schweitzer already had three degrees, in Philosophy, theology and music he energetically replied that he was planning to do medicine. Helen explained about the difficulty of studying at that age, but he was ready to face everything. By understanding his interest Helen supported him by stating that she too would accompany him to West Africa.

Soon Schweitzer started his medical training. Meanwhile he faced depression and pain but due to his hard work he got his medical degree in six years. Then he planned expenditure for the construction of the hospital. His friends and relatives after knowing his plan tried to stop him but later understood his desire in it. They too helped him with gifts of money. When everything was ready he married Helen in 1913.

After marriage, they both sailed to West Africa with medical supplies and gold. They reached Port Gentil after traveling for two months. From there they traveled towards Lambarene in streamers in the dirty yellow river around the tangled forest for two hundred miles. The missionaries welcomed them and arranged for them to stay in a broken bungalow. Schweitzer and Helen cleaned the bungalow and converted a part of it as a dispensary. They changed the boat house as a sick bay and the chicken house as a consulting room. Due to space constraints operations were done in the open space. The news about the arrival of the doctor reached the Africans. They called him Oganga- the African name for witch doctor. Many people with hope of getting cured with various diseases visited him.

The problem of place for treatment was sorted out. Later he had a problem with the language. As he did not know the African dialect he could not talk to the patients. The ignorant people without understanding the treatment brought complications to him. Often they drank the ointments which were meant to apply and applied the powders which were to swallow. That problem also was sorted out by Joseph, an African who spoke both French and the African dialect. He joined as an interpreter. The doctor used to write the complaints of the patients on cardboard and hang them around the patient’s neck. Joseph explained the instructions to the patients. Joseph’s efficiency enabled him to learn elementary training in first aid and medicine and later worked as a male nurse. Later he acted as an assistant at operations.

The Africans were ignorant about anesthesia and they thought it as a miracle. Once an African girl was amazed about anesthesia and considered Schweitzer as a magician or a god. She explained the process of using anesthesia and operation as first the patients were killed and cured them and later gave life to them. As he became very famous people started coming from faraway places. He used to treat several hundred patients every day. Due to it he worked from early morning till midnight. Meanwhile he was working on the construction of a hospital. He did not receive anything as a fee from the sick people. Regarding fees he said that when they get cured, they could help him later.

Schweitzer and Joseph toiled hard with treating patients and with the construction of hospitals. Later the cured patients helped him with the construction of the hospital. By the end of his first year in Lambarene, the hospital was ready with a ward for in-patients, a dispensary, surgery, waiting-room, a room for Joseph and an operation theater. He trained many Africans and employed them as his assistants. As the hospital space was huge, more patients started coming. He continued his service for the poor. After his stay in Africa for three years, he received an order from the French Government to serve in the First World War in 1917. Though he decided to return soon, his stay was prolonged due to various reasons. Finally he reached Africa after five years to find his hospital in a ruined condition. The Africans recognised him and shouted happily about his return. Soon all the sick people came in search of him. Once again he restored the damaged buildings and soon he constructed a larger hospital in a different place. Schweitzer received nobel prize for peace for his service to people in 1952. He continued to serve the people till his death in 1965. The prose projects the humanitarian concern of a person named Schweitzer, who dedicated his life for the welfare of the people.     

Martin Luther King, by Jr. Coretta S. King- Summary

The prose piece “Martin Luther King, Jr.” is an extract from My Life with Martin Luther King Junior by his wife Coretta S. King. The prose piece presents the segregation the black community experienced in American society. It also shows the emergence of MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association) and the leadership of Martin Luther King as its president.

The locale of the prose is Montgomery, Alabama and the year is 1955. All over America the blacks were discriminated against by the white. Everywhere segregation was followed, that is the blacks and the whites were separated. They had different parks, schools, public places, etc.

The prose talks about the segregation followed by the Montgomery government in bus services. It is mentioned that segregation followed in buses was the worst.  Most of the blacks , about 70% of them, used the bus services. Even then they were treated worse than cattle. The first seats of the buses were reserved for the whites and the blacks should not occupy those seats even if the seats were free. On the other hand if the white seats were full and some white boarded the bus the blacks had to give up their seats for the white. They had to sit backwards. Worst of this was they were ill treated by the drivers. The drivers of those buses humiliated the blacks in front of their children by calling names as black cow, black apes. The passengers paid the fare first and then got on the bus. Sometimes the drivers played a cheap joke that after collecting ticket fare, they started the bus by leaving the passengers. The poor people after paying the money underwent this trouble. Mostly elderly people and pregnant women faced such discrimination. 

For many years the blacks accepted such ill treatment without reacting to it. But an incident that took place on Dec.1st 1955 changed the history of the blacks in America, especially in Montgomery. 

Mrs. Rosa Parks, a forty-two-year old black woman, was returning home after tiring work on Dec 1, 1955. As she was feeling tired she boarded a bus and sat in a seat at the beginning of the black people’s row. More whites got into the bus and the driver ordered her to get up to give a seat for the white. Due to her tiredness she refused to get up and it was considered as an unlawful incident. Due to it she was arrested and produced in the court. Later she was fined ten dollars and her lawyer filed for an appeal. This was the first case filed against a black for disobeying the law.

The news of Mrs. Rosa Parks arrest had spread around the city. Every black thought that they had suffered a lot under white discrimination and that was the time to end segregation. All the black ministers and civil leaders had a meeting regarding this issue at Martin Luther King’s church. In the meeting they decided to boycott the bus services on 5th Dec.1955. Leaflets were circulated to convey about the boycott to the black people. On Dec. 5th Martin Luther was very anxious to know the response for the boycott from his own people.  He along with his wife and friend Ralph Abernathy traveled around the city to check the response of the people for the boycott. Almost all the buses were empty except a few whites and one or two blacks. The blacks by boycotting the bus services traveled by various modes: most of the men and women were walking to their work and students were going by walk or many were gathered together and traveled by taxi, some were riding mules and horses. An old lady said that her heart felt tired due to discrimination but now though her legs are paining she feels happy.

On the same day Martin Luther King was elected as a president of Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). That night Martin was to make a main speech. That evening Martin with his friend Ralph Abernathy went for the meeting. He was overwhelmed with the black people’s response for the meeting. The church where the meeting was organized was crowded and the entire road was blocked with traffic jams. More than five thousand people gathered for the meeting and as there was no space for Martin to enter he was lifted and passed to the stage by the crowd. This shows the people’s trust upon Martin. He addressed the people that they were tired of being discriminated against. This segregation had to be stopped somehow. He requested them to continue with the boycott and not to force others to take part in it. They should act by following the Christian faith.

The blacks had three demands to withdraw the boycott. They were: 1. the bus operators should treat the passengers with respect, 2. Reservation of seats should be removed, who comes first can occupy a seat, 3. Negro route buses should be operated by the negro bus drivers. Regarding the demands, Martin met the Mayor of Montgomery, the city Commissioners and the bus company officers. But no decision was taken in the meeting. The blacks were strong with their demands and they continued to boycott the buses for several months. To maintain unity among the blacks’ mass meetings were arranged weekly twice and the orators motivated the public. Martin was in particular that they should follow the Gandhian technique of non-violence. This silent way of protest against segregation has spread around the country.

Martin’s leadership quality was seen by his way of thinking and action. Once he said that the protest was not only for the black people’s sake but it was for the white people too. Because the white people are suffering with a superiority complex and through the protest they can free the white as well from this. Due to the intensity of the boycott, Martin started receiving threat calls. He was arrested on false charges. On 30th Jan. 1956, when Martin was addressing the public in the Church, his house was bombed. The white police were nervous by thinking of the reaction of the blacks. But Martin said that his family was safe. Violence should not be met with non-violence. He quoted Jesus’ words and followed Gandhian principles. These incidents showed Martin as a potential leader.

Later in the month of Feb. 1956, when Martin went out of the town with his wife, a case was filed against Martin and ninety other leaders of his movement. His lawyer appealed in the Federal court and the court dismissed the case as segregation as unlawful on 6th May 1956. The whites filed an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many months the boycott was continuing. The people had a tough life during bad weather. On Nov.13 When Martin was in court for the judgment, the court announced the judgment of the Supreme Court that segregation was an unlawful act. The court order that stated ‘segregation as an unlawful act’ reached them on 20th Dec. 1956. It was considered as a great Christmas present for the blacks. The next morning a group of members gathered at Martin’s house. They all traveled in the first desegregated bus and the whole day Martin traveled in different buses to check the rights of the black. Thus desegregation in Montgomery was achieved without losing a single life.

Summary of 'Tonight I can Write the Saddest Lines' by Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda is a much acclaimed writer from Chile. This poem was written in Spanish in 1924 and later translated into English in 1969. This poem is celebrated for its imagery and symbols to present the pain of a jilted lover. It is about memories of a lost love and the pain they can cause. Throughout the poem the speaker recalls the details of his love that is now broken. He continually juxtaposes the past with his ladylove with the loneliness he experiences in the present. It is written in the style of a monologue with the repetition of the line “Tonight I can write the saddest lines” three times to emphasize his sorrow.

The first line of the poem leaves the readers with a curiosity to know the reason for the poet’s sadness. The images like shattered night and shivering of the blue stars in the distance indicate his melancholic mood. He decides to write a poem at night which brings a dark imagery and his sad mood. The shattered night and the shivering stars project the turmoil the poet experiences in his life. The night wind becomes his companion as it revolves in the sky and sings. Moreover the night enables him to write which he could not write till then. He confesses that he loved her and the unnamed woman also loved him for some time. His memory takes him back to a similar night when he held her in his arms. He admits that he was in love with her deeply and says that her great still eyes will make anyone fall in love with her.

The writer feels that he can write the saddest lines that night as he knows that she is no longer with him. Without her the night seems to be immensely lonely. But his writing replenishes his soul like dew drops to the pasture. He feels upset that in spite of everything, his love could not have her and without her his soul is lost. The night is traumatized as she is not with him. He hears someone singing in the distance, which also indicates that he is alone as he could hear it from the distance. Now he mentions his longing to get reunited with his ladylove as; his sight searches for her, to go to her and his heart too looks for her. Again he mentions that night is similar to the other night when they were together. Suddenly he declares that he doesn't love her but he loved her greatly earlier. He even tried to send the wind to touch her hearing. But she is another’s now and to express his pain of losing her, the poet states it that her voice, body and infinite eyes will be another’s. Again he declares that he no longer loves her but contradicts himself by stating that he may love her. His words, love is short but forgetting is long, reveals his love for her. The night leaves him with the memory of his ladylove and her loss leaves his soul disturbed. He concludes the poem with a determination that this is the last pain she gives him and this is the last poem he writes for her. He hopes that with this painful attempt of writing he wishes to get out of her memory.

How to Escape from the Intellectual Rubbish? by Russell

This piece is a part of Russell’s essay “An Outline to Intellectual Rubbish”. It begins with the statement that no superhuman ability is needed to avoid foolish opinions. He asserts that there are simple rules to save one not from all the errors but from silly errors. He cites the example of Aristotle who declared that women had fewer teeth than men. Russell says that if Aristotle had asked Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open until he finished counting, he would have saved himself from making a very serious mistake. He did not do so because he thought he knew. This according to Russell is the greatest mistake. He further illustrates this situation stating his own beliefs about hedgehogs and beliefs of the ancient and medieval authors about unicorns and salamanders. Russell says that one’s opinions are to be brought to the test of experience.

There are also many ways by which one can become aware of one’s bias. If an opinion contrary to one’s own makes him/her angry, then they must understand that they themselves are doubtful on the subconscious level. He explains the difference between arithmetic and theology. Arithmetic is about knowledge, but Theology is only about opinions. Knowledge is the result of observations but opinion need not be so. So whenever one gets angry about another person’s opinion, the person should be on his/her guard and make observations to ascertain their idea.

Russell talks about dogmatism and suggests ways to get rid of it as well. They are

1. To become aware of the opinions held in social circles different from one’s own. Travel is a good way of reducing the intensity of insular prejudice. Here Russell sights his personal experiences of traveling. When he was young he lived much outside his own country especially in France, Germany, Italy and U.S.

2. If one cannot afford to travel, they can communicate with people who have different opinions. This will help one to think from the others’ perspective.

3. Otherwise one can read a newspaper belonging to the opposite party. If such people and newspapers seem to be mad or mean one has to caution oneself that they will be seen in the same situation by others.

Russell gives another interesting observation that knowing the customs of other countries will not always help. When the Manchus conquered China, it was the custom among the Chinese, the women to have small feet, and for the Manchus, the men to wear pigtails. Instead of these two people dropping their foolish customs, each adopted the custom of the other. The Chinese continued wearing pigtails until the Manchus dominion ended in 1911. One must, however, learn to judge and accept only what is good in other people and cultures. Blind conformity to another faith or practice will not do any good.

Another method to avoid dogmatism is to imagine arguments with a person having a different bias. The one and only advantage of the method is it is not subject to the limitations of time and space. Russell says that he had changed his mind several times as a result of such kind of imaginary dialogues.

Russell asks one to be careful in taking opinions that flatter one’s self-esteem. It is very difficult to handle this problem because everybody is conscious of his/her sense of superiority. According to Russell this should be tempered with a little modesty and reasonableness. Our standard of values should not be absolute because there are other people and other cultures. Their standards and systems of values are equally respectable and valued for in their lives. He further states that it is more difficult to deal with the self esteem of man as man, because we cannot argue out the matter with some non-human mind. The only way to solve this general human superiority problem is to remember the episodic human life on a small planet. Moreover humans should know that the other parts of the cosmos may contain lives superior to themselves. 

Fear, Russell says, is another common source of error. Imagination works negatively and harmfully when one invents certain kinds of fear (disastrous war, ghosts) or entertains illusory gains (eternal life, heaven) etc. one must learn to admit, at least to themselves, these fears. When one overcomes fear he/she becomes less superstitious and more rational. Russell gives some examples to show how magic, sorcery and witchcraft only create illusions of freedom. One becomes really free only when they conquer fear rationally.

Russell, citing the example of Socrates on the day of his death, specifies that people speculate about future life (life after death) because they are unhappy with today’s world. Such thoughts are also signs of fear.

Two marks:

Russell suggests five ways of avoiding dogmatism. One is by making oneself aware of opinions that are in opposition to his own. This can be achieved by traveling and also by mingling and conversing with people having different opinions. The second method is avoiding blind imitation or conformity. The third is by indulging in arguments with an imaginary character that holds a different opinion. The fourth way is by dealing with self-esteem or one’s sense of superiority which is the most difficult one. The last one is overcoming fear, rationally. It is fear that leads to disastrous wars and unhappiness. So it has to be overcome consciously.

Rite of Spring by Arthur Miller - Summary

Arthur Miller in his short essay “Rite of Spring” talks about his love and reluctance for gardening. Miller uses the title from a musical ballad of a Russian composer. The Russian composer Stravinsky’s ballad’s English title, “The Rite of Spring”, is about a pagan ritual in which a girl dances before being sacrificed. The wise elders of that pagan society are seated in a circle and are observing the dance. Later they are offering the girl as a sacrifice to the god of spring in order to gain his blessings. The word rite means sad ceremony or act; here Miller may call gardening as ceremony that is done in the spring season.

The writer begins the essay by stating that in spite of knowing the reason for gardening, he has been cultivating vegetables in his garden for the past 36 years. He knew well that buying vegetables is a comparatively cheap and easy task than cultivating it in the garden. It requires complete attention as well. On the other hand he does not like eating vegetables, instead he prefers to have hot dogs. If the present day tasty foods could be cultivated in the garden, he would do that without a second thought. But cultivating vegetables in the garden was a boring task for him, despite the fact that he loves gardening.

In the month of April he is firm about not planting anything but soon nature’s signs call him for gardening. Firstly a scent of earth tempts him. Secondly the sun’s brightness and the birds screaming and finally the worms in the melting soil invite him to the task of gardening. He stares at the soil of his garden not only with pleasure but with conflict as well. The pleasure is about cultivating something in the garden and the conflict is about choice making, that is which method to be followed.

In the past years he had been using 36 inch wide black plastic between rows to keep the soil moist in dry times and to keep the garden weed-free.  Though it is useful, it looks unromantic. The writer feels the black plastic in the garden gives an industrial look. Hence this time he prefers hay mulch rather than plastic as it improves the soil’s composition. Gardening also enables one to be knowledgeable about the various types of soil in a small landscape and how sensitive it is. The use of chemical fertilizers will reduce the richness of the soil.  He claims that he will not use fertilizers more and he is not sure about the reason for it. He does not know why he uses very little fertilizer. Maybe he does not want to spend too much on fertilizer, or maybe he does not want the weeds to thrive on fertilizer. But certainly it helped him in learning about nature.

He calls the attraction of gardening as neurotic for some and moral for others. It saves one from feeling pointlessness about life and difficulty to grasp something. Gardening also brings out one’s parental care as the plant's lives completely depend upon the gardener. In other cases the plants like squash and cucumbers may endanger their lives by turning up in massive numbers. Miller calls gardening a moral occupation as it makes one ambitious. By April one will be ambitious to keep a neat garden like the one in the catalogs. But by July the unthinned plants bring chaos. That time his wife comes as a redeemer. Now as the mistress of the garden, she decides which plant to live by moving through row wise.

By this time his mother-in-law makes her first visit to the garden. She used to be a woman who spoke her mind and who was always straightforward in her speech, but now she has learned from experiences that it is not wise to do so. Now she has changed that instead of giving suggestions about planting by then she would wait till October when she makes her annual trip to her home. Her advice by October is of no use that upsets the narrator to decide not to plant anything next time. In spite of such a decision, the thought of emptiness of the garden motivates him to plant again. The sight of dozens of green shade leaves glittering in the sun, beautiful vegetables are lovelier to admire than the hot dogs. Here the writer changes his mind by preferring pants over hot dogs. This healthy growth reflects orderliness in one’s own spirit as well. Thus the writer changes his mind by accepting that April is for gardening.      

Now the writer changes his opinion once again by claiming that gardening is a pointless, time-consuming hobby. He further states that he does not understand why people love gardening. Because gardening is not a simple hobby or a habit to love, but it is about character building. A garden can be seen as an extension of oneself. It is a place where determination will continue; it also allows one to accept one’s mistake. It helps in character building.  Gardening is not a simple task but it means more that is why Adam is a gardener.  The gardener can become hopeful after repeated failures. He believes that this year will have a good harvest, even though there might be disasters like drought, flood, and typhoon. God has done His job properly and chosen the right occupation for mankind, because only man can regain hope after repeated failures, believing in new and better possibilities. He concludes the essay by stating that he wrote it in the coldest days of December. He might want his readers to justify his lack of interest in gardening as the result of the climate; yet he pointed out the role of gardening as character building.

I know why the caged Bird Sings (a chapter) by Maya Angelou - Summary

Maya Angelou is a great Afro-American writer, whose original name is Marguerite. This prose is an extract of her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which explores the themes of economical, racial and sexual oppression. This piece describes her life as a black girl in Arkansas, the way she comes out of her silence and her empowerment. As her parents divorced, Marguerite and her brother Bailey lived with their maternal grandmother’s house with their mother. She was raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of eight. She shared this with her brother and later that culprit was killed by her uncle. The traumatic incident silenced the small innocent girl. Maya considered herself especially her speech as responsible for his death and withdrew herself to silence. This extract tells the readers how she comes out of the guilty feel and gains her speech after five years with the influence of her neighbor Mrs. Flowers.

Maya, the narrator begins this part by stating about the influential person of her life Mrs. Bertha Flowers, who was the reason to develop Maya’s love for language and speaking skill. Mrs. Flower is an aristocrat among the black community. Maya describes Mrs. Flowers’ superior position through her elegant appearance and dressing style.  Maya goes to the extent of describing Mrs. Flowers' smile and simple actions. The gentleness and care of Mrs. Flowers enabled Maya to understand what a human being can be. Maya feels attracted to Mrs. Flowers and compares her with the women characters in English movies who live with individuality. To Maya Mrs. Flowers looked more beautiful than the white heroines. Maya feels relieved as Mrs. Flowers does not talk to white people. She believes that the white people may have superiority complex over the black and due to it they may call Mrs. Flower as Bertha which may shatter the image of Mrs. Flower.  The fact of Mrs. Flower a black enables Maya to feel proud to be a black. This indicates Mrs. Flowers' appeal to the young narrator.

The narrator’s grandmother Mrs. Henderson has a strange relationship with Mrs. Flowers. Her grandmother calls Mrs. Flowers as sister though they both belong to different churches. Mrs. Flower is an educated upper class lady who lives in the hillside, away from Maya’s locality. She speaks formal English and her grandmother responds in informal language with grammatical errors. Such communication between them, especially her grandmother’s grammatical error irked the girl and at times she longs for the ground to open and swallow her.

She narrates a life changing incident that is still fresh in her memory. One day Mrs. Flowers buys provisions from her grandmother’s shop. When the grandmother offers someone to carry the luggage, Mrs. Flowers calls Maya to help by stating that she wants to talk to her. Maya feels excited about this chance and changes her household dress to a formal one. Mrs. Flowers appreciates the dress and extends her compliments to the grandmother for stitching. As that is the first compliment the old lady receives for her work, her excitement makes her take off the dress from Maya. Maya feels ashamed of standing half naked in front of her favorite person. Again she feels like getting sunstroke and dying than to face Mrs. Flowers.

Later they both start walking towards Mrs. Flowers’ house. On the way Mrs. Flowers tells her that she got good feedback about Mayans writing from school and the only trouble with Maya is her silence. She advises Maya that language is a powerful tool for communication and it separates man from the rest of the living. Mrs. Flowers asks Maya to read books aloud initially. When they entered the house the sweet smell of vanilla invited them. Mrs. Flowers says that she prepared tea cookies for Maya and asks her to eat it. Maya feels overwhelmed with the thought of her favorite lady preparing something special for her. She compares the special moment of drinking lemonade and eating cookies with Mrs. Flowers while having mead (an alcoholic drink of the medieval period) with Beowulf. Beowulf is a famous Anglo-Saxon hero of an epic titled Beowulf. He is known for his bravery and considered to be a savior of people. Next Maya compares the special moment with having a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist is the protagonist of Charles Dickens’ famous novel Oliver Twist. Comparing the event of having cookies with Mrs. Flowers with Beowulf and Oliver Twist tells the importance of the moment in her life as well as her interest in reading literature.

Mrs. Flowers reads a poem for Maya and that listening melts her stiffness. Maya says that it was the best thing that she has done in her life and speaks for the first time with Mrs. Flowers.  Mrs. Flowers gives her some books to read aloud and some cookies for Bailey, Maya’s brother. Maya is excited about her visit and returns home happily. Her grandmother and Bailey wait to receive Maya. Maya imagines the happy expression of her brother receiving cookies and says ‘by the way’ Mrs. Flowers gave cookies for Bailey. Something upsets her grandmother and asks Maya to take off her dress and be ready to get beat. Initially Maya thought it as a joke but soon realized the seriousness. They three kneel down and pray to god to forgive her mistakes and she even gets some beating from her grandmother. Now she understands that she has committed some unforgivable mistake. That evening the grandmother tells the reason as Maya has used the word ‘by the way’. The word way means Jesus and one cannot use God's name in a useless way. Bailey tells her that the white people, whose god is Jesus as well, use the word ‘by the way’ casually in their conversation. Grandmother rejects his argument by stating that white people use hateful words before God and no need to consider them seriously. This indicates the Afro-Americans faith in religion.

This prose piece enables one to understand the socio- economic condition of the black community in America.  Most of them live in poverty driven conditions and have great faith in Christianity though they are converted. It also presents the transformation in the life of Marguerite from silent phase to active phase. The title is apt for her autobiography as one can understand that Maya Angelou is the caged bird.  The title of the book is taken from her favorite poet Dunbar's poem "Sympathy". For Angelou, the image of a caged bird serves as a metaphor for her own life. She compares her personal struggles including racism, abuse, oppression, and poverty with a cage. As a caged bird she tries to get the attention of the public regarding the injustice she and her community faced through her poetry.

Joseph Blanco White’s “Night and Death” -Summary

Joseph Blanco White’s “Night and Death” is a sonnet dedicated to Coleridge. The title of the poem indicates a connection between night and death as both are perceived negatively by humans. Through the poem, the poet tries to give a different perspective to them.  

The poet begins the poem with an exclamation by calling the night as a mysterious one. By the word ‘first parent’ he means Adam and he says that Adam hears the word night from the divine.  He feels terrified by knowing that the night will soon replace the lovely sky of brightness. When the sun sets, its light passes beautifully as if passing through a curtain and the evening star Hesperus comes with other bright stars. The emergence of the evening star is a beautiful vision and it made the humans feel excited. The sight which made him feel afraid initially excited him later. It has widened man’s view about the creation of the world.

The poet questions who could have thought that such a beautiful night is hidden under the brightness of the sun. He continues that because of the sunlight people could know about fly, leaf and insects but did not know about the uncountable stars. The poet again raises a question as to why people try to avoid death in an angry manner. He concludes the poem by asking if light can hide the beauty of night and stars, why life cannot hide about death. The poet compares Night and Death. Initially Adam was afraid of night but later he enjoyed the beauty of night with bright stars. Similarly people are afraid of death and they do not want to talk about it. Like night, death also might be a wonderful one. The ‘Octave’ of the poem brings the darker side of night and humans dislike it. The ‘Sestet’ solves the problem by stating that even the darkness has its beauty with stars which are hidden by the sun. Similarly life also might be hiding the beauty of death.  He concludes the poem with a positive note that no need to worry about death.

William Wordsworth’s “The Daffodils” - Summary

William Wordsworth’s “The Daffodils” is a famous poem of the Romantic age. He believes that nature is superior to everything. He thinks that nature has a solution to all the problems of humans. The poem is written in simple language in four stanza six line format. It is in first person narration where he remembers his encounter with thousands of Daffodils.

The speaker is walking alone like a cloud which moves over high hills and valleys according to the movement of the wind. It indicates the writer is alone and he is wandering without any purpose. Suddenly he sees thousands of yellow daffodils dancing in the breeze beside the lake and under the trees. Now the poet has his attention on the flowers.

The Poet compares the view of the daffodils with the shiny stars on the Milky Way. The enormous numbers of daffodils are spreading along the margin of a bay of the lake.  He sees more than ten thousands of flowers dancing to the movement of the wind.

The waves in the lake also danced along with the flowers. But the movement of waves is not attractive.  Wordsworth says a poet will definitely feel happy in such a cheerful company. The lonely poet now finds companions of daffodils and waves. He keeps on looking at those flowers.  That thought of looking at those beautiful flowers brought him great happiness.

The poet often lies on his couch in an empty or deep thinking mood. During such times the images of daffodils flash on his mind. The images of the flowers fill his heart with happiness. This leads his heart to dance with the daffodils.   

The Blue Bouquet By Octavia Paz - Summary

Octavia Paz is a famous Mexican writer. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1990. This story takes place in an unnamed village or town which presents how the harmonious world turns suddenly into a world of violence and terror. The narrator, whose name is not given, is staying in a hotel room and wakes up from his sleep fully drenched in sweat. As the room is very hot, he decides to go out for a walk. 

He gets dressed first making sure that no bugs get into his clothes. When he reaches downstairs, he notices one eyed hotelkeeper sitting at the door.Hotel keeper warns him that he better stay in as there are no street lights. The narrator, without bothering about the warning, moves away from that place.

While walking the narrator enjoys nature: mild moonlight,colorful twinkling of stars, the vocals of crickets and with the accompaniment of sounds of leaves and insects. He thinks that the whole universe is a grand system of signals where he was only a part of that macrocosm. With nature’s presence everywhere, he feels safe and free though he is alone in that street.

All of a sudden, the narrator senses that he is being followed by someone. Though he tried to run,he could not. Before he tries to defend himself, he hears a voice asking him not to move otherwise he will be dead. He feels a knife point against his back. The stranger does not want money from him whereas he demands the narrator’s blue eyes to make a blue bouquet for his beloved. The stranger appears to be a short and slight man. Though the narrator tells him that his eyes are not blue, the stranger is not moved by his request. He asks the narrator to light a match to check the color of the eyes. After several attempts the stranger realizes that the eyes are not blue. Throwing the narrator into terror, he disappears into the darkness.

After this horrible experience the narrator runs through the deserted street and reaches the hotel. The hotel keeper is still sitting there. Without uttering anything he goes inside.The next day he flies away from that mysterious town. This story beautifully captures the trouble that pervades in our everyday life.

Real Time by Amit Chaudhuri - Summary

Amit Chaudhuri is a well-known Indian writer in English. Most of his stories are situated in Kolkata in the 1980's. He presents the lifestyle of upper middle class families in Kolkata. This particular short story portrays how even death of a person is seen in a light hearted manner. Even though the name of the city is not mentioned in the story it is understood from reading it as Kolkata.

The story revolves around a memorial service for a young woman, Anjali Poddar, who committed suicide by jumping off the third-story balcony of her parents’ apartment building. The story is narrated in the third-person from the point of view of the main character, MrMitra, a middle-aged, professional man who, with his wife, is attending the shradh ceremony for Anjali. The story opens with Mr and MrsMitra in their Ambassador car on their way to the shraddh – the memorial ceremony for Anjali. His botheration about his white cotton dress and sandals on the way to buy flowers indicate his visit as a formal one. They reach the apartment building and MrMitra hands over the tuberoses without saying anything that is no words of condolence are given. Then he walks around the rooms aimlessly, his mind resting on one object or another briefly. Mrs. Mitra sits with Anjali’s mother quietly. Later men discuss business and women discuss dress shops and so on. Everyone’s presence indicated it as a formal visit and no one bothered much about Anjali.

The pain of loss and grief remain completely avoided and every one becomes conscious to avoid discussion regarding Anjali. MrMitra eats a sandesh, drinks a Fanta, and has a chat with an acquaintance. At the end he catches his wife’s eye to indicate that it was time to leave and felt that it had all been a waste of time. No sympathy, no condolences, no real concern about the tragic loss suffered by the Taluktars is portrayed in the story. In the case of Mr. MItra, he comes there as a duty and he does not feel any sympathy for what the family is going through. He is keen that this duty to be over soon so that he can return home, back to the routines (going to the club, buying cookies for tea on the way home, visiting New Market, lunch of daal, rice and fish).The story satirizes the society which looks at everything in a mechanical manner.

Browning’s “Meeting at Night” - Summary

Browning’s “Meeting at Night” is a brief poem about a lover’s desperate struggle to meet his beloved and his reunion with her. The entire poem has a sense of movement to it that reflects the speaker's desire to reunite with his love.

The speaker is at sea at night, heading towards the black land in the distance. He briefly gives an image of night at sea instead of describing it. The three lines in the first stanza beginning with "And," suggest the speaker's urge to meet his beloved. The speaker is uninterested in the beauty of "the yellow half-moon large and low." Instead, his focus is on to bypass such elements so as to meet her. He moves forward until he pulls his vessel up onto the sand. He walks a mile along the beach and then crosses three fields to approach his goal, a farm. He taps at the window, sees the lighting of a match, and then is overwhelmed by the beating of his and his lover's hearts as they reunite. Due to the excitement and fear their heart beat is louder than their voice. Here the poem ends abruptly. Maybe we can believe that once he has attained his happiness, he has no further need for writing.

The Unicorn in the Garden by James Thurber - Summary

James Thurber (1894-1961) is an American author. His short story “The Unicorn in the Garden” presents the story of a couple who lives two separate lives in the same house. This story is a fable and it has some fairy-tale features. The first and the last sentence are typical sentences of fairy tales. It is a fable, because the story has a moral at the end. 

The story opens with a man sitting at home eating breakfast and his wife sleeping in the upstairs. The husband sees a unicorn in the family garden eating flowers and tells his wife about it. He wants to wake up his wife, but she is angry about disturbing her.  Without getting up to look out the window, she tells him that it cannot be there in the garden because it is a mythical beast. He goes back into the garden, returns again to the bedroom, by telling that it has a golden horn in the middle of its forehead. His wife, still not getting up, warns him that he is a booby and she is going to have to put you in the mental institution.

After the man returns to the garden, the wife calls the police and a psychiatrist with a hope that he will be arrested. She immediately sees how her husband's behaviour can be used to get rid of him. When they arrive, she tells them what her husband told, assuming that they will take him to the mental institution. The police and the psychiatrist ask her husband whether he saw a unicorn in the garden. He says no and the unicorn is a mythical beast. Thus they take the wife away instead, and the husband lived happily ever after.

Until the last two paragraphs the readers have no indication that the husband too feels the same way. The writer does not give any indication whether the husband has planned this outcome. He leaves with a question of whether there was ever a unicorn in the garden at all. But the conclusion of the story that the husband lived happily ever after, indicated it was pre planned by the husband.

The moral of the story is "Don´t count your boobies until they are hatched!” The man in the story is very clever and the woman is an unfriendly person with bad intentions against the man. He could see how the woman will react to the story about the unicorn and got rid of her. The moral fits the woman because she counts the booby (the man) before it has emerged. Without understanding his intention she herself got into his trap. 

The Chimney-Sweeper’s Complaint

Mary Alcock is a British poet, who belongs to the period of Industrial revolution. In her works, she has recorded the impacts of industrial revolution, especially upon children. During the industrial revolution, which started around 1760’s in Briton had a high demand for labour. Due to it many families migrated from rural areas to the industrial towns with a hope of better life. But it required hard work of the entire family member. Thus the children of the poor parents/orphans worked hard for a little pay or no pay.

A chimney sweeper is a one who cleans ash and dust from the chimneys in the factories. The chimneys are built with a particular height and size. A chimney sweeper is a grown up man who is large to enter into the chimney. So he sends his apprentice, a boy or a girl from the age of 6 to 12. Most of the chimney cleaners do not get money instead live with the master. They are poorly fed and lived a pitiable life.

This poem by Mary Alcock portrays the pitiable condition of a chimney sweeper boy under the control of his master. The poem is in the first person narration. The boy is addressing to unknown listeners about his sufferable life. The boy introduces himself as a chimney sweeper’s boy and he begs the listener to pity his fate. He states that knowing his helpless condition will draw tears to the listeners. He stays far away from his home and nor fortunate to see his parents; may be his parents live in a distant place or he is an orphan. His master will remove the skin from his body by beating if he appeals to him. It indicates the cruel treatment received by the chimney sweeping boys from their masters.

A chimney Sweeper

He begs the listeners to have pity on him. Even though he looks black in colour and many are passing comment on him, he tells only the truth. This information indicated the belief of the white community that the black people lie. The boy continues to address the listeners with the physical discomfort he faces. Chillness makes him to be numbered and due to it he walks in a shaky way. The chimneys are always hot which leaves the boy’s legs to be burnt and injured by stones. Due to lack of food his body looks like a skeleton. Even with such a bad health condition, the boy was forced to work day and night. The master claims that the boy is his apprentice and he has the rights to make him work. By stating so the master sends the boy to the highest top of the chimney to sweep. The boy with his panting heart and crying eyes climbs to the chimney.

The boy suddenly stops his narration by saying that his master is coming. He requests the listener to remember him. He does not expect anything from the listener except to share his suffering to someone.  He concludes it by wishing to hide under the ground. It indicates that he might want to be invisible or to die. The poem tries to portray the pitiable condition of the children during the industrial revolution period, which did not have any law towards children.

Graphic Novels: Summary - C.L.N.Prakash

The essay graphic novels by C.L.N. Prakash gives basic information about the emerging genre of writing named graphic novels. Graphic novels are sometimes seen as long comic books, yet it differs. The basic differences between Graphic and Comic novels are (i) Graphic novels are longer (ii) they cover a story from the beginning till the end (iii) uses sequential illustrations. First graphic novel published in the U.S. in 1940’s was The Three Musketeers. It was written in the traditional method of comic book.

At present Graphic novels are read by all age group people. Frank Miller’s, a famous graphic novelist from America, novels are known its violence. His famous work Sin City was later adopted into a film.

Japanese Graphic novel form ‘Manga’ has influenced many graphic novelists and genres like comics and cartoons. Sometimes the term Manga is confused with the term Anime, which means animated. Disney’s work influenced Manga and its style was developed during World War II. This from can be used to constitute complex political and social satire.

Manga characters have distinctive features: They have very large eyes, small nose and lined mouth. As Manga forms of Graphic novels are inappropriate for young children, they are not rated with the U.S. graphic novels. They often attract children due to illustrations and various themes like morals, history etc., are communicated. The first Indian Graphic Novel is Saranth Banerjee’s Corridor which is commercially successful. The novel portrays Indiabn lifestyle through four confused urban youngsters Jehangir Rangoon walla, owner of second hand book store, digital dutta, who confuses between Karl Marx and H1-B visa, Brighu, an explorer, Shintu, a newly married, D.V.D. Murthy, a pen chant of Keats.

Success of Corridor paved way for many comic novels in the Indian market. Virgin comics with Gotham Chopra published many comic novels like Sadhu, Snake woman and so on. The common theme in all these novels is they all are based on Indian culture. Graphic novels by the way of telling stories and addressing issues make the readers to come back to them. In a multimedia world, graphic novels enable the young minds to focus upon reading. It also helps the students to improve the reading skills.

Now the writers of graphic novels in India have the challenge to create their own ideas instead of simply following the Western mythology or their super heroes. The writer concludes the essay with the hope that the graphic novels will become a leading literary genre in future.

A Speech by N.R. Narayana Murthy - Summary

Narayana Murthy, the chief mentor of Infosys technologies, has delivered a lecture at New York University. In his motivating speech to the students, Narayana Murthy talks about his life and career in order to help the students to know how chance and encounter with influential persons shaped his life. He shares his life experiences like his career struggles, unplanned events which shaped his life.

The first influential event took place when he was a graduate at IIT Kanpur. One day he had an opportunity to meet a famous computer scientist from U.S.  University. His discussion on the new developments in computer science motivated the speaker to opt for it. That valuable advice opened a new door in his life.

The second event occurred when he was returning to India from Serbia. Due to some unfavorable circumstances he could not have food for a day. In the train he was having conversation with a boy and a girl about the tough life in Nis. Suddenly some policemen arrested Narayana Murthy by thinking that he criticized the Communist Government of Bulgaria. For the next 72 hours he was kept in a small room without food or water. Unexpectedly he was released by mentioning that he was from India, which is a friendly country. That long and cold journey has changed him from a Communist to a Capitalist with the founding of INFOSYS in 1981. These two unplanned events tuned out to be a turning point in his life.

The next two events in his life which are related to INFOSYS were more planned. In 1990’s five of the seven founders of INFOSYS were taking decision upon selling the INFOSYS for the sum of $ one million. Some were in favor of selling it whereas Narayana Murthy decided to continue with it. His strong decision changed his friends mind too. After seven years its value was more than $ 3 billion.

In 1995, a Fortune 10 corporation had called Indian software vendors. The customers made all the vendors to be in different rooms in a hotel. So that others will be ignorant about the negotiations. Their method of dealing was aggressive and it went for several rounds. When it was the crucial time to take a decision to accept or deny, Narayana Murthy rejected it. Later they have created a Risk Mitigation Council which will not allow INFOSYS to depend upon anyone client, technology, country or a key employee.

He shares these events from which he has learned some life lessons. He says that it is easy to learn from failure because we will know where we went wrong, whereas in success, one should be more careful. Secondly power of chance is incredible in his life. How one responds to chance is important. One should not waste it. Thirdly he talks about the difference between fixed mindset and growth mindset. People with fixed mindset will avoid challenges and not achieve their full potential whereas people with growth mindset will learn from criticism and will achieve higher level. Fourthly he talks about the basic of Indian Spiritual Tradition that helps one to have belief in oneself and courage. He concludes his speech by telling that future will be shaped by several turning points. And also we are all the temporary custodians of wealth. So we should share it others.

"The Cockroach" by Kevin Halligen - Summary

'The Cockroach' by Kevin Halligen is a poem about reflection on life through watching the movement of a cockroach. The central idea of the poem is the distress and suffering felt by a person, when he is without a goal or aim.  The poem is an example of an allegory, and a sonnet. It is an allegory because it personifies a cockroach as a human being. Halligen repeatedly personifies the cockroach in many ways and he prefers to address the cockroach as 'he' rather than 'it'.

It is written in the format of a sonnet which runs in fourteen lines. The first four lines of the sonnet show that the cockroach is certain of his movement. It has started to move fast and it is satisfied with its movement. The cockroach is content to take a safe route by avoiding the dust ball. In the same way the poet is sure of himself in the early stage of his life.

The next 4 lines convey that the cockroach’s movements show uncertainty just as the poet’s.  His uncertainty of movement is shown by its action of scratching its wings. When the cockroach stops, it looks as if he is tired of being still.  He wants to move on and not remain in the same place all the time.

In the last 6 lines the poet becomes thoughtful.  The last three lines tell us that the poet recognized himself in the cockroach in a number of ways.  First he wanted safety, much like the cockroach keeping to a safe path along the wainscot.  Later he became more willing to seek new places and new activities.  Finally just like the cockroach he was ‘uncertain where to go’.  He questions whether just like the cockroach he is being punished for something wrong in his ‘former life’.  The word ‘due payment’ tells us that the poet is suffering and agonized over uncertainty and indecision.  In the last line of the poem he confesses that he recognizes himself in the Cockroach.

                                         

Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” - Summary

Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” begins by introducing the statue of the Happy Prince. People of the place admire at the statue of the Happy Prince and decide to live happily like the statue. A swallow crosses the place where the statue is, in order to meet his friends in Egypt to spend the winter season.

When the swallow is about to sleep, between the feet of the statue, tears of the Happy Prince fall on the swallow. It mistook it as a raindrop but when it knows it as tears of the statue, it talks to the statue. The Happy Prince says that he weeps because he cannot bear the sufferings of the poor and the needy. When he was the prince, he did not understand the pain of the people. But after death, as he stands as a statue, he could see the misery of the people.  The Happy Prince requests the swallow to help him by giving his eyes, which is precious stones, to the needy people.

When the Happy Prince gave away his sapphire eyes, he could not see any more. Then the swallow decides to stay and help out the requests made by the Happy Prince. Therefore, he asked the Swallow to fly over his city and told him what he saw there. The Swallow flew over the great city and told the Happy Prince about the condition of the rich and the poor. The poor were hungry and homeless. When the Happy Prince listened to this, he asked the Swallow to give his gold covering to the poor and the needy.

As the weather gets colder and colder, and the swallow could not resist the climate and it dies On the other hand, the Happy Prince’s loss of all of his ornaments stands as an unattractive statue.  Once, the mayor and the town councilors pass by the stature of the happy prince. They are shocked to see it without ruby, sapphires, and gold covering. It looks ugly without them. They pull it down and decide to make another statue. The heart of the happy prince does not melt in the furnace and the workers throw it on the dust heap where the dead swallow is already lying. An angel comes and takes both the heart and the dead Swallow to God as two precious things.

A Day's Wait by Ernest Hemingway - Summary                                       

“A Day’s Wait” short story is written by Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway belongs to America and he has received the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature. "A Day's Wait" (1936) is a brief story that portrays a tragic outcome of miscommunication between a boy and his father. Schatz is a nine-year-old boy who becomes sick one winter night. A doctor is called, the doctor diagnosis that Schatz has flu and a high fever. The doctor leaves medicine for the boy and tells the father that the boy's temperature is 102 degrees. Schatz overhears it and that causes conflict and misunderstanding between the boy and his father.

The father reads stories to Schatz from Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates. While doing it the father observes that the boy does not follow the story; instead he stares at the book and feels detached. Schatz asks his father to leave if sitting with him bothers the father. He again and again pesters his father to leave. Thinking that the boy feels dizzy due to medication, the father leaves for a walk along with an Irish settler on the frozen creek. The dog flushes a covey of quail, and the father kills two. He returns happily from hunting and knows that his son does not allow anyone to enter into the room.

When the father enters, Schatz stops him by telling that the father may get what he was having. The father leaves the son’s comment unnoticed and takes his temperature. The boy demanded his father to reveal the temperature. When the father tells it is around 100 and nothing to worry about it, the boy replies that he does not bother. At the same time he cannot keep himself free from thinking about it. While advising the son to take it easy, the father observes that the boy is trying to withhold something. Finally Schatz asks his father that at what time is he going to die? Now the father understands what has bothered his son till then. He calls him silly and tells that people will not die with a fever of 102. The boy replies that the boys in a school in France told him that one cannot live with 44 degrees. The exasperated father quickly explains to his son about the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometers. He compares them to miles and kilometers. The boy slowly relaxes, and by the next day he cries very easily at little things. This open ending leaves the readers with an assumption that the shock of the previous day’s experiences resulted in short temper.

The Justice of the Peace by Hilaire Belloc - Summary

The poem “The Justice of the Peace” is written by a French- Anglican poet Hilaire Belloc. He is a famous writer and historian. In many of his poems he satirises his society. This poem in particular talks about the economical inequalities and injustices of his society. The poem is written in the form of dramatic monologue: that is dramatic in quality and a speaker is addressing listener/listeners. Here the speaker is trying to convince someone of something by not telling the whole truth. In spite of it what the speaker does not say is revealed to the readers.

The title of the poem refers to a magistrate who hears to minor cases. Ironically in front of the magistrate the speaker justifies economical inequalities and social injustices of his society.

The speaker distinguishes between two things; which he and the addressee possess. The addressee has a shirt, a brimless hat, a shoe and half a coat. It shows that expect his outfit, the addressee does not possess anything more; Whereas the speaker, who calls himself as lord benign, has fifty hundred acres of fat land. The division of their possessions indicates the inequality they face in the society.  Having such a vast land is sited as his rights by the speaker.

When the speaker tries to justify his rights for the property, he fails to do so. It forces him to leave it as simply as his rights. He orders the addressee to be calm and good; may be not to complain about the division of the things. He comments him to obey the laws, which might be in favour of the rich. He again warns the addressee to remember his lower position and not to fight against him because he may get hurt.  Through this the speaker exposes his economical power which made him to be a hypocrite.

The speaker states that he does not feel jealous of the addressee’s possessions such as his coat, hat and shoe. Then why should the addressee feels jealous of the speaker’s property. Further he threatens that it is illogical to fight with economical power. If his fate is to live in poverty, why should he fight against it? Finally he reveals his cruel nature by indicating that he has got the upper hand. Through this he tries to mean that the addressee should accept his position without fighting; otherwise he has to face the worst result.

Even though the title of the poem “The Justice of the Peace” gives hope for justice, the whole poem depicts injustice faced by the poor. Hilaire Belloc as he wanted to resist the economical and social inequality, he satirises his society through this poem.

When Lincoln Came To Pittsburgh by Dorothy Calhoun - Summary

“When Lincoln Came to Pittsburgh” is a radio drama written by Dorothy Calhoun. Radio dramas have the challenge to convey something in a short span of time by means of sound effects and dialogue. It replaces the visual presentation by sound effects and dialogue. The major features of a radio drama are music and occasional interventions by the narrator. This radio drama is an episode of ‘American Yesterdays’. It is about the historical visit of Abraham Lincoln, the elect President of the U.S. to Pittsburgh in February 1861 for a short while and based on the short stay this play is written.

This play presents one day incident in Pittsburgh. It aims to project the American historical heroes in their own times and whether the others of the same period recognize such great men as historical figures in future. By stating the aim through the narrative the play tires to present the views/impressions of the American citizens around 1860’s about the then President Abraham Lincoln.

Dr. John Goucher is a very committed doctor who concerns more about his patients. Mrs. Goucher is an ideal mate of Dr. Goucher, who helps her husband in the treatment of patients. The visit of Mr. Lincoln to Pittsburgh creates excitement among the children of Mr & Mrs. Goucher. Tom and Mark the grown up boys, decide to see Mr. Lincoln. Dr. Goucher states that he saw him the previous day and describes Mr. Lincoln personality as six feet three inches tall and his features are friendly, kind and determined. By listening to his father’s description of Mr. Lincoln’s personality, John, the youngest son becomes curious to meet Mr. Lincoln and to talk to him. When the children share their desire to meet Mr. Lincoln, Dr. Goucher leaves for his duty. Before leaving he asks his wife to meet one of his patience Mrs. Moore as she needs hope than medicine.

Mark and Tom leave home in a hurry to see Mr. Mr. Lincoln. John’s pleaded his elder brothers to take him as well to see Mr. Lincoln. They reject his request by stating that he is young and it is difficult to manage him in the crowd. Even when their mother asked them to take him, they rejected by cautioning that he may get lost in the crowd and they have to see the President. It leaves John in tears. Spike, another young boy and friend of John, comes to meet John. John goes with Spike to meet the President with his mother’s approval. Mark and Tom get struck in the middle of the crowd and they could not see the President fully. They saw only his legs and head and they could not listen to the President’s speech completely. Meanwhile John and Spike enters through the crowd and see Mr. Mr. Lincoln and listen to his speech fully. 

Mr. Lincoln shapes his happiness to be in Pittsburgh and states that the people of Pittsburgh are privileged to live in a place which is surrounded by beautiful hills. In less than a month he is about to be inaugurated President of the U.S. He has a great responsibility as he could see unrest, which may lead to war in the south. He calls the development of tension towards South as clouds. He concludes his speech with a confidence note that in spite of the threat the nation will see a rainbow above the clouds of war. Spike, a small boy understood the President’s speech literally by pointing out the black cloud in the sky. When Mr. Lincoln finishes his speech John in an urge to shake hands with Mr. Lincoln, crawls under the legs of the crowd and goes near him. He introduces himself to Mr. Lincoln and says that he has many questions to ask. The impressed President appreciates his braveness. John tells Mr. Lincoln that he wants to be a great man like him in future. Mr. Lincoln encourages and advises John to do good deeds and to serve others which is the golden rule to be followed. If he follows that he will be a successful person in future. John promises to follow his advice and leaves the place, to meet his friend. He shares his happiness with spike. 

The night falls, Mrs. Allen, Goucher’s neighbors comes to meet Mrs. Goucher. She comes to return a cup of flour which she borrowed the previous week. They both discuss about Mr. Lincoln’s talk.  Mrs. Allen says that she saw a small boy who remembered John shaking hands with Mr. Lincoln and praises Mr. Lincoln’s speech as inspiring. Dr. Goucher and the elder boys return home. They worry about John as he was not seen around and around that time John returns home. Tom and Mark convinces John by stating that they only saw the President’s leg and hat and could not even listen his speech fully. John repeats Mr. Lincoln’s talk and narrates about his meeting with the President. Tom and Mark feel upset about their mistake of leaving John. John questions his father whether he could be a great man as Mr. Lincoln said. His father replies John that if he puts his full effect, he would succeed. The play ends with a promise to listen to another delightful episode in the next week.

Summary Of John Keats' "Ode On A Grecian Urn"

John Keats is a great English poet of the Romantic age. The poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” presents the complexity between art and reality.  This poem is written in the pattern of Ode, means a type of lyrical poem usually gives the writer’s personal emotions about a person or an object. This poem is written in five stanzas each containing ten lines. Keats observation and his personal emotion towards the Greek Urn are depicted in this poem.

Keats looks at a Greek Urn which is decorated with many images in a museum or in his imagination. The following five stanzas are his imagination or his personal feel towards the urn. He calls the urn as an untouched bride of quietness. The urn is seen as a female whose foster parents are silence and time, as it is not destroyed by time and represent the past silently. The pictures on the urn give more sweet tales than the writers could and thus he calls the urn as ‘sylvan historian’. As the urn presents the Greek rustic life of the past, it is seen as a historian. By calling the urn as historian Keats looks at the urn closely and he could see the borders by a line of leaves around the pictures. Each picture has its own tale. It has the shapes of gods, humans or both of them present in the valley Tempe or in the region of Arcady. He could see some images and speculates whether they are god or men, some girls are being chased by some wild boys, musical instruments are being played and humans or god becomes wild due to the music. 

Now the poet looks at the specific picture where a piper plays some music. Keats states that heard melodies are sweet and the melodies in the urn could not be heard whereas one could imagine the song.  Thus the songs of the piper will remain sweeter in fantasy or imagination and that music is not for the physical ear whereas for the spiritual ear. He then describes about a young man who is playing a song by sitting under a tree. As the urn is immortal the young man will sing forever under the tree which will be full with leaves forever. There is a bold lover who could not kiss his ladylove though he is near her as the picture standstill. The poet asks him not to worry about it as his ladylove will always be beautiful and he will love her forever.  Through these lines Keats tries to imply that the imagined world on the vase is superior to the real world of experience.

Keats feel jealous about the urn as it keeps everything immortal. He says that the tree in the picture remains happy as it does not shed its leaves and also enjoys the spring season forever. The pipers in the picture also are happy as they sing new songs ever. Keats imagines that the lovers are happier as they will love and enjoy forever. Their love is above all the human passion. Human love leaves one with passion or with sorrow.

The other part of the urn with different scenery is presented to the readers by Keats.  He sports a scene on the urn where a group of people coming for sacrifice. He sees a place to sacrifice a heifer which is dressed with garlands by a mysterious priest. The little town by the river side or by the sea shore is built among the peaceful surrounding. As all the people of the town have gone for the sacrifice on a pious day, the town is empty without people. Thus the little town will always be empty and the streets will be silent forever.

Keats address the urn directly as a symbol of Athenian art, beautiful in shape, carved on the embroidered space with the images of men and women. With the beautiful pictures the silent urn confuses and teases humans about eternity. The poet calls the urn as ‘cold pastoral’ to mean either its marble texture or as it remains still in time. The mortals get aged whereas the urn will remain the same amidst the problems of humans as a friend to them. The urn advises humans about what they need to know on earth. The message is “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” that is beauty and truth are one and the same. It in turn consoles humans.

Summary of "Women Writing the Nation" by Susie Tharu & K.Lalitha

The essay “Women Writing the Nation” is an extract from the introduction of the book titled The Twentieth Century: Women Writing the Nation written by Susie Tharu & K.Lalitha. They talk about the Indian women writing, its theme and style especially after independence. The introduction part advises the readers to read women writing against the conventional methods in order to understand the challenges undergone by the women writers.

The essay begins by stating the decades 1940s and 1950s concluded the long and unhappy period of imperial domination. Moreover those decades presented the initiation of new authorities and hence new skills were circulated among the Indians. It resulted in the establishment of imaginative geography of India. Such established notions/ skills were extended and reworked in the second half of the twentieth century. At present people expect a feminist literary history to project the forces/struggles the women writers underwent to read and write literary texts during their hard times instead of giving it as repetition of rebellious act or as a dream to win. They expect the feminist literary history to present a different approach by highlighting the women writers’ conflicts in the then determined world and about women’s position. Such history should read literary texts to point out the real world’s task, rather focusing upon the aesthetic effects. In addition the writers want the feminist literary history to present schemes of the nation by reading such texts in unconventional way. Thus women’s writing enables the readers to know a history of feminist initiatives, its situations.  Such reading will reveal a literary text as a source of information about the debate, protest and negotiation which are closely connected to women in each historical moment.

The narratives of women across the nation contribute powerful articulation through which the world is recreated. The book The Twentieth Century: Women Writing the Nation focuses on three major themes:  

1. Questions the emergence of caste and communalism during Swadeshi Strand                  of the Nationalist Movement

2. Raises the issue of gender and class in the context of the Progressive Writer’s Associations

3. Women’s movement of the 1920’s and 1930’s which is shaped by the liberal electoralism.

By dwelling on these three major themes, the work attempts to understand gender and nation –in process, to provide the narrative and analytical context especially to the works from the 1970’s, the third phase of the modern women’s movement. The authors believe that such reading will illustrate the construction of gender. Moreover they aim to bring out the transformation of themes and languages of the women writing in the cultural politics of each period. It enables the readers to understand the difficulties and challenges inherited by the women writers of the 1970's.

"Decolonising The Mind" By Ngugi Wa Thiong’o - Summary

The essay “Decolonising the Mind” is written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, an African writer. Many countries were colonized by the Europeans in the past. They introduced their culture and language in the colonized countries as part of their own development. English was forced into the colonized countries as an official language by the British, which also colonized the mind of the natives. Even after decolonization of such countries by the British, people of those countries are still colonized mentally. They celebrate the British language and try to mimic the British. This essay talks about the implementation of  English as the official language by the British in the colonized countries, impact of such act upon the native languages and its present condition. This essay also tries to give suggestion to decolonize the mind. Thiong’o uses a suitable title by providing suggestions to decolonize the mind.

Thiong’o talks about his personal experience with his mother tongue and the English language. He was born in a larger family with around 35 members. Their mother tongue was Gikuyu and it was used for communication. He remembers the evenings of storytelling around the fireside with his family members. The grownups narrated stories to the children and the following day the children would retell the stories while working in the fields. The stories were narrated in Gikuyu and most of them had animals as main characters, especially hare, though small, it was full of wit and cunning. The children identified themselves with hare as it struggled against big animals like lion, leopard or hyena. The children personified the victory of hare as their victories and it developed their confidence as the weak could outwit the strong. The children were also interested to observe the hostile natural elements which confront for animals cooperation and sometimes their struggles amongst themselves. The children compared the animals struggle against nature and other animals with the real life struggles of the human.

Stories with humans as the lead role had the central theme: togetherness is ultimate for a community. Those stories had two sets of characters (1) humans with all positive characterization and (2) humans with all negative characters, who could eat other humans. Such stories cultivated moral values among the children. Thiong’o talks about good and bad storytelling. The good storytellers could narrate the same story interestingly many times with rich usage of different words and images with varying tones of voices. This kind of effective storytelling enabled the children to understand the value of words. He believes that language is not a mere connection of words but it is a powerful one. They enriched that power though language games like riddles, proverbs. It enabled them to understand the music of the language and also they could view the world with its images and symbols. The language they used in their house and the community was the same.

Thiong’o joined school and during the first four years of schooling teaching was in his mother tongue. He had a pleasant school experience. Later he joined a colonial school which broke the harmony of the language usage. The language used for education was not his cultural language. After the declaration of a State of Emergency over Kenya in 1952 all the schools were under the guidance of District Education. Thiong’o states that since then English became more than a language in Kenya.

Thiong’o shares incidents of humiliating experiences undergone by the Gikuyu speaking children in school. Different types of punishments were given (1) five strokes of a cane on their buttocks (2) made to carry a metal plate around the neck with inscriptions of ‘I AM STUPID’ or ‘I AM DONKEY’ (3) fined with unaffordable money. Every day teachers handed over a button to particular students to give it to a student who speaks in mother tongue. At the end of the day the students would give the list of students who had the button that day. This practice transformed the students as traitors to their own community. Moreover attitude towards English language also got changed. Slowly English language was seen as intelligence and ability. People started believing English as the main source for a child’s progress.

Apart from the racial demarcation, the colonial education system followed a pyramid structure to reduce the number of educators in Africa. The primary system was a broader one and when it goes to the college level the structure becomes very narrow. The students should clear 10 papers from Maths to Science in English. The student who failed in a single paper though very brilliant, could not continue his/her education. Thiong’o remembers a boy who scored distinctions in all subjects except English, later became a turn boy in a bus company. On the other hand Thiong’o who passed with low marks got placed in one of the elitist institutions in colonial Kenya. Students in spite of their brilliancy were denied admission in University colleges due to failure in English language. Hence English was seen as the magic formula for higher education. Consequently Orature (Oral literature) in Kenyan languages has stopped. Moreover, in primary schools they had British and American classics. This increased gap between the usage of mother tongue and English.

 Thiong’o has started writing his works in Gikuyu since 1977. In his  native language he wrote 2 plays, 1 novel and 3 books for children. Since then he was confronted with a question particularly in Europe about the reason for his writing in Gikuyu language. His writing in mother tongue was perceived as an abnormal act. The common practice in other culture, i.e., writing in mother tongue was criticized and questioned that indicate the imperialistic attitude. As a result abnormal was perceived as normal and vice-versa. In reality Africa enriches Europe whereas Africans were made to believe that Europe rescues them from poverty. Africa’s resources like natural and humans developed Europe and America but in reality it is projected in the reverse manner.

Thiong’o believes that his writing in Gikuyu is a part of the anti-imperialistic struggles of African especially Kenyan people. In educational institutes the Kenyan languages were associated with negative aspects such as underdeveloped, humiliation and punishment. He does not want to see the future generation especially school children growing up in the imperialistic tradition. He wants them to surpass the colonial alienation. Thiong’o gives two interlinked forms of colonial alienation, (1) distancing themselves from the reality around (2) identification with what is most external to one’s environment. This colonial alienations starts with disassociation of a language in educational environment but used at home and society. He compares it with separating a society with bodiless heads and headless bodies.

Thiong’o visualizes a future where he could see the restoration of harmony in language which enables the Kenyan child to be restored with his/her environment. He desires to see the Kenyan national languages having a literature which reflect the rhythms of the language as well as the natives’ social nature and their struggle with nature. In such a harmonious situation (understanding harmony himself, language and his environment) one can learn other languages and could enjoy revolutionary elements in the other languages without any complex about his/her mother tongue, environment and him/herself. It will benefit the future generation of Kenya to live in harmony.

The Mosquito by D.H. Lawrence - Summary

The poem ‘The Mosquito’ is taken from D.H. Lawrence’s collection of poem titled Birds, Beasts and Flowers. He is a famous novelist and poet of the 20th century. The poem uses the poetic technique called ‘pathetic fallacy’ ascribes human emotions to animals and objects.   In this poem the poet talks to the mosquito by treating it as fellow companion.

The poem is in a form of assumed conversation between the poet and a mosquito. The poet raises many questions to the mosquito by using the second person narration ‘you’ regarding its trick. The poet calls the mosquito as ‘Monsieur’ and question when did it start its trick? He observes the movements of the mosquito and comments about its high and shredded legs. It lifts its weightless body and stand upon him without his knowledge. He questions whether it is a ‘phantom’ as it comes and goes without others knowledge. The poet heard a woman calling mosquito as ‘the Winged Victory’ symbolizing its action and triumph. The poet exaggerates that the mosquito listens this and smiles at her.

The poet raises his doubt again to the mosquito that how can it put such cruelty in such a half transparent weak body. It is surprising that with its thin wings and legs, it could sail like a heron in water and in air. Though it looks as nothingness, it is surrounded by evil aura. The mosquito’s secret moves in search of prey give a kind of numbness on the poet’s mind. The poet wonders about its trick and magic to be invisible. The mosquito is very tricky; it prowls and circles around the poet to approach him to devour his blood. Due to its greediness for human blood, he calls it as ‘Ghoul on wings’ (an evil spirit who eats dead bodies).

The poet describes the action of the mosquito. It stands on its thin legs, settle on him and looks at him cunningly in sideways and by knowing his awareness of its presence it speck him. Later by understanding his anger it flies quickly from that place. This bluff game continues between man and mosquito.  The poet calls the mosquito as evil and its bulge in the poet’s ears is an advantage for it and it increases his sudden hatred.

The poet calls its activity of biting as a bad policy and asks a reason for such behavior. As others say it as natural for a mosquito, the poet believes in the destiny of protecting the innocent. According to the poet the sound of the mosquito is like a slogan, which the mosquito makes as a yell of triumph for scratching his scalp. For mosquito blood is super magical liquor. It sucks blood and stands for a second in imposed forgetfulness. It is in silence, without any movement, stuffing blood without permission. The poet feels that the weightlessness of the mosquito saves it from getting killed. Such thoughts develop his ego to kill it in order to prove his power. He kills it and it leaves a stain of his sucked blood and the mosquito disappears as a dim smudge. In the beginning of the poem, the poet looks at the mosquito as powerful almost equal to humans. But in the end it becomes nothing.

Summary of Amitav Ghosh's The Iman and I

Amitav Ghosh is an important contemporary writer of Indian English literature. This extract is taken from his autobiographical work In an Antique Land, which is based on Ghosh’s travel to Egypt for his anthropological work. His experience with the local community is narrated in this extract which acts as a combination of history, travelogue, proud of civilisation and fiction.

In Egypt, Ghosh had a friend named Khamees. Of late Khamees was haunted by his childlessness which had an impact on his behaviour. Once on a cold winter day Ghosh visited Khamees’ house and met Khamees and his father. Though the old man was huddled in a blanket, he was shivering due to the cold climate. He invited Ghosh affectionately to sit beside him. The old man worked as a labourer in Alexandria during the World War II and befriended many Indian soldiers that created deep impression in his mind about the Indians. As a result he accepted Ghosh as an intimate member in the family.  The old man by examining the quality of Ghosh’s sweater reminded of the Indian soldiers. The Egyptians were afraid of the Indian soldiers as they were tall and dark. Though the soldiers appeared rough, they were the most generous people. The old man contradicted the generous nature of the Indian soldiers with his children. He complained that his children did not even buy him a better sweater to survive in the winter. Khamees got upset by this complaint and left the room in anger.

The old man happened to be a man of moods. First he complained about his son for not being considerate about the aged father and immediately expressed his concern for his children. He lamented that his daughter was facing hardship in life by taking care of her two sons alone and Khamees suffered due to his childlessness. The old man blames himself for the sufferings of Khamees. Kahmees was married early as the old man wanted to see his grandchildren. This incident enables the writer to know about Khamees trauma due to childlessness.

Later once in a spring season, Ghosh was walking with Khamees across fields and they spotted Imam Ibrahim sitting on the steps of the mosque. Ghosh and Imam used to be friendly earlier but after a feast at Yasir’s house, Imam started neglecting Ghosh’s gesture of friendship. Khamees who was ignorant of the incident requested Ghosh to invite Iman to treat his wife. As Khamees and Iman were not in talking terms, he asked Ghosh to invite Iman. Ghosh was cynical about Iman’s treatment as he used blunt needles and recommending others. But Khamees convinced that Iman would react well as Ghosh was a foreigner.  Iman was talking with an old man. Ghosh greeted Iman and Iman responded for the greeting but turned immediately to the old man. Shocked old man invited Ghosh and introduced Ghosh to Iman as a student of the University of Alexandria from India.

Iman had a difference of opinion about the Indians; due to it he started avoiding Ghosh. He assumed that Indian languages and English were the easiest languages. To express his disapproval of Ghosh being in Egypt, Iman questioned why Ghosh was studying in Egypt without the knowledge of Arabic language. He looked at the cultural practices of Indians as primitive. He expressed his anger by asking why do the Indians worship cow and why do they burn the dead? He states that the Europeans were advanced in science and technology, they did not practice such customs and why the Indians were doing. As Ghosh has travelled Europe, Iman asked him to raise his voice against such primitive practices in his homeland. Ghosh replied that even the Europeans burn the dead in electronic furnaces and like the Europeans the Indians were also advanced in education. Indian had a nuclear explosion too.

As the argument was going on, many people gathered to see the argument.  By understanding the situation Khamees took Ghosh home.

Ghosh looked at their conversation as a claim to the technology of modern violence. He understood that though they both belong to different countries, they both were travelling towards the west and for everyone west meant science and guns and bombs. Both their civilizations are older and they are known for their rich culture and tradition which gave importance for humanity. Contradictorily now they both are fighting to establish their superiority in terms of violence. He felt upset about their controversy as they both broke the harmony people had once in spite of differences. Both of them looked at the west as developed in terms of weapons.

Later at Khamees house, Ghosh considered himself as a conspirator in the betrayal of history. Khamees took him home and comforted him by stating that he would like to visit India later but he concluded with a request of burying him than burning if he dies in India.

This essay presents the transformation of ideology in the course of time. Earlier development meant something related to characteristics and humanity whereas at present advance/development is seen in association with weapons.

Summary Of Bertolt Brecht's General, Your Tank

The poem “General, Your Tank” is an extract from Bertolt Brecht’s anti-war poem A German War Primer. This poem presents his concern for humanity. It is also an anti war poem where the poet ironically presents the horror of war. His works in general project his concern towards soldiers in war. He states that in general the soldiers fight and get killed in a war but it brings glory to the General. The General is celebrated as a hero whereas the soldier is forgotten.

The poem is addressed to the Generals and each stanza begins with the word General. The poet is the speaker and the addressee is the General. It is in second person narration and it looks as if the speaker is talking to the general in the present. The poet states to the General that his tank is a powerful vehicle which can smash down forests and can crush hundreds of men. Though it is a powerful tank, it needs a human to drive. The General’s bomber is also a powerful one as it flies faster than a storm and carries more weight than an elephant. It too has a defect that it needs a mechanic. Both powerful machines need a human to operate it or to make it powerful. The General has humans who are useful. They can fly and kill in the war and they too have a defect that is they can think. The machines’ defect is they need a man to operate but they are powerful. Where as humans’ defect is their ability to think may be about the consequences of the war. Here thinking becomes a defect as it may enable humans to avoid war by understanding its destructive nature. The poem is an ironic one as it celebrates the two machines as powerful in the beginning and later claims that it needs human to be operated. Unless a human operates they are just objects without any use.

Through the repetition of certain terms the writer is trying to create an impression upon the readers. He believes that if the humans know about their power they can stop the horror caused by war. Through this poem the poet tries to activate the defect of humans in the positive way to create a peaceful world.

Bharati Mukherjee's "Two Ways To Belong In America" - Summary

Bharati Mukherjee presents the concept of multiple identities in the immigrant community. This essay presents her personal experience in America and the transformations that America has created on her. The title is significant to the essay as it is about the two ways of belonging by the migrants in America. One is an expatriate, imagining about their home country and second is as an immigrant, accepting the settled land completely.

Bharati along with her sister Mira went to America for education in 1960s. In India they both shared almost identical views on socio-political and cultural issues. They both left India with a decision to return home (India) for marriage after pursuing education in the U.S.

Unexpectedly Mira married an Indian student in America in 1962 and soon they got labour certificate which is necessary for the green card. Mira continues to live in the U.S. for more than 36 years as a legal immigrant with Indian citizenship. She lived with a hope of returning home (India) after her retirement. Bharati married her fellow student who was an American in 1963. By marriage she opted for fluidity, self-invention and renounced caste-observation. Her works are based on these themes and thus they are received as unapologetic texts for cultural and psychological mongrelisation (mixed kind)

Mira and Bharati stayed close over phone conversations. Though they both have differences of opinions, they maintained polite conversation probably that was out of pity. Bharati sympathised her sister Mira for her narrow perception and superficial understanding of the American society. Mira pitied Bharati for the consequences of her marriages like erasure of Indianness and unstructured life style. Later U.S. Vice President Algore’s drive ‘Citizenship USA’ and the increase of illegal immigration changes the tone of the conversation between the sisters. Mira was upset about the implementation of the new immigration policy forced upon the old settlers. She felt that she was manipulated and discarded by the American government. Mira complained that though she invested her knowledge for the development of the American pre-school and obeyed all the rules, America imposed its new rules even upon the legal immigrants. Bharati compares Mira’s interest to stay in America and at the same time her rejection of American citizenship with loveless marriage but which is comfortable and long lasting. Mira is determined to maintain her Indian identity in spite of her long stay in America and she is very particular about not transforming it.

Bharati enquired Mira about her decision (due to the anti-immigration bill of Congress) and her reply was a shock to Bharati. Mira decides to become the U.S. citizen but when she feels like returning India, she will change her citizenship to India. In spite of living for several years in the U.S., still she feels it as a foreign country and she senses a close attachment with India.

In a family, two sisters, who got exposed to the same kind of environment and situations, react in different manner with their immigrant experiences. One is ready to accept the new culture, to move from the expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody willingly, whereas the other one sticks with the old. Mira like the larger number of immigrant communities across the globe attached to her home country. However, there is some considerable differences exist between Mira and those hardworking, silenced documented immigrants due to her English fluency, anger and confidence.

Bharati too has undergone betrayal by the Canadian government some 20 years ago. She along with her husband lived in Canada and placed in a good job. In spite of her superior position in merit and job, she was discriminated by the local Canadian society. The feel of betrayal drove many immigrants out of the country. In spite of the disappointment with the settled society, Bharati feels to be like a part of the community wherever she lives (either in Canada or in America)

Bharati concludes the essay by projecting the difference between Mira and herself. Mira lives happily as an expatriate Indian with a hope of returning  India than as an American immigrant. On the other hand Bharati likes to put down her roots in the settled land. She is willing to undergo the trauma of self-transformation in order to become a part of the settled land. This trauma is experienced by the immigrants whereas the expatriates escape from this.

Summary of Margaret Atwood's "Survival"

The essay title “Survival” is significant to its content as it bothers more about the survival of Canadian literature among the other English literatures. This extract is taken from Margaret Atwood’s introduction to the work titled Survival. It calls for the notice of the Canadians to look at the presence of nativity in the Canadian literature, which enables them to feel associated with it. Atwood, writer of this piece, believes that though works from the other country literatures provide pleasure and knowledge, it always leaves the readers in distance by allowing them to imagine the natural scenery or the specific cultural aspects instead of associating them with that.

Atwood begins the essay by recollecting her choice of reading during her childhood days. At that time Atwood was ignorant about a distinctive literature called Canadian literature. In schools they read English books from the British and the American literature by Walter Scott, Edger Allen Poe, Donald Duck and also Marvel Comics. Once she received Charles G. D. Roberts’ (The father of Canadian Literature) Kings in Exile as a Christmas present. This book fascinated as well as upset her since the stories are about animals that are caged, trapped and tormented. Later she read Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton which had great impact upon her. The story was with real animals in forest and about their deaths in ordinary way that is not always because of tigers but at times even due to rabbits. Along such realistic works, she enjoyed reading sacks of comics on Captain Marvel, Plastic Man (who can reshape his body as he wants), and Batman. She feels such reading is more delightful as it was done with the disapproval of the elders. Reading such work without the knowledge of the elders excited her.

Atwood believes that literature has to be read primarily for entertainment as it provides the delight of excitement and enjoyment. One should experience the pleasure of reading a story. But when one tries to find a message or meaning out of a text, it will be a work but not an entertainment. According to Atwood books provide different levels of entertainment. She considers reading Walter Scott and Marvel Comics as a source of fantasy as they talk more about imaginary places and things. She has never seen such castles and Kryptonite (a place of superheroes) in Canada which distanced the stories from her real life. Though the above mentioned works are more fascinating, she felt Seton and Roberts works as closer to life. The reason for it is her experience of encountering such animals.

Atwood states that those works were close to her not only because of the content but also due to their pattern. She believes that certain characterisations especially books about animals are more real to her than the books with superhuman. It neither gives confidence in blindfolded way nor has happy ending. Such works exposed one to the struggle for survival like danger of getting lost, eating poisonous food by mistake, and angering some animals. Moreover these works are filled with helpful hints to survive out of unexpected struggles. It gives confidence to face any kind of unexpected problems or huddles in life as no superhero will save the needy in reality.

Reading moulded Atwood to develop a right kind of expectations from books. Comics and a book like Alice in the Wonderland or Canon Doyle’s The Lost World leaves one with an expectation to be rescued by someone or to return from the world of danger to a safer place. While in Seton and Roberts works the real world and their depiction are one and the same.

During her high school Atwood received a book as a Christmas present. It was Robert Weaver and Helen James anthology titled Canadian Short Stories. She could find similarities between this anthology and her favourite animal stories. Like those animals, in these stories too she could find humans running, facing or bringing accidents, disasters, experiencing menace not only from a villain character but from anybody. The stories in this collection elated her more as she could connect everything with her location. Hence those stories felt real to her than Charles Dickens works. Charles Dickens is a famous British novelist who presented industrial revolution effectively. Atwood enjoyed reading Dickens works but at the same time she felt that those stories were not realistic as she could not connect it with her locale. 

Atwood bothers that the present generation Canadian kids read very less Canadian literature than her own generation. She believes that her reading of Canadian literature enabled her to feel the difference between the Canadian literature and the other literatures. As she reads more number works from her native literature, she is very clear about the shapes and the terms of her country literature. This essay aims to advise people to read their native literature as it enables them to experience such specific things from their locale.

"On His Blindness" John Milton - Summary

John Milton’s poem “On His Blindness” is a well known autobiographical sonnet. It is written in the style of Petrarchan sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets consist of 14 lines: the first 8 lines (octave) introduce a problem and the remaining 6 lines (sestet) find a solution. The poem differs from the Petrarchan sonnet in its theme. Generally Petrarchan sonnets deal with love where as this poem deals with spiritual/ physical pain of the writer. The poem is written in the first person narration, where the poet laments about his loss of sight. Milton lost his eyesight in 1652 when he was 44 years old. He wrote this poem in 1655 when he completely lost his vision.

The poem begins with a subordinate class ‘When’ which leaves the readers in suspense.  The poet talks about his blindness. He has become blind in the middle of his life. He has to live in the dark and wide world for the rest of his life. He feels that God has gifted him with the greatest talent: writing poetry. He expresses his desire to serve God by using the ability which God has given him. Unfortunately he is unable to fulfill his wish to write because of his blindness. Due to the pain of being blind, Milton starts the poem in bitter tone.

Milton feels that God might scold him for not using his talents. Milton asks whether God needs man’s service. He foolishly questions, If God wants man to serve him, why did God take away the light from his eyes? He wonders whether he will be able to produce great works being blind.

As Milton laments about his blindness and God’s criticism, Patience, a guardian Angel, arrives with the reply that God never need man’s service. Whoever is ready to bear the burden of life will serve the God well. God has servants all over the world who are all the time serving him over the land and the ocean without any rest. The poet realises the fact that God does not need man’s service, and does not take away the talents He has given to man. He is the supreme power and has countless servants. The people who accept all the struggles of life without questioning God serve him the most. Thus the poem ends with a positive note. The Octave of the poem starts with the pain and the problem of blindness. The Sestet concludes with a positive note that accepting the entire struggle without lamenting is serving God. The poem describes Milton’s philosophy of life.

"I Remember I Remember" by Thomas Hood - Summary

The poem “I Remember I Remember” is written by Thomas Hood. The poem is in first person narration and it consists of four stanzas. In each stanza the poet compares his present adulthood life with his past childhood days. The poet thinks that his childhood life was a pleasant one when compared with the painful present one. His longing and desire to regain the childhood days are clearly seen from refrain “I remember I remember”.             

In the first stanza the poet talks about the house where he was born. His remembrances of the sun’s peeping through the window at morning, indicates his childish ignorance. The passing day from morning till night gives pleasure to the child. Hence the day does not either end early or prolong. However at present the poet wishes for the night to take away his breath. His desire to death indicates his painful life. The contrast between the past and the present is clear through the portrayal of sun and daytime which means brighter and happier part of his life. In the present he longs for the night that is darkness which means distress of life.

The poet moves from his house into garden in the second stanza. In the garden as a child the poet looked at the variety of flowers like red and white roses, violets, lilies and lilacs. He believed that those flowers are heavenly blessed flowers. Later he talks about the laburnum which his brother has planted on his birthday. The line “The tree is living yet!” might convey two meanings. The first one is, the person, who has planted it, that is his brother, is no more where as the tree is living.  The second one is, the tree is living and growing but the poet is decaying.       

The third stanza talks about the swinging of the poet in his past. As a child, he was vital and energetic, who swings very fast to feel the rush of the fresh air. He was like feathers which fly quickly but now he is heavy. This stanza contrasts youthful physical feelings of vitality and ease with heaviness of the presence. This stanza also talks about his physical decline. Summer is cherished in the country in which the poet was born. Even such a wonderful summer could not heel his fever which might mean his sadness or physical sickness.             

In the fourth stanza the poet contrasts the child’s close relationship with heaven with the rational knowledge of the grownups who lost faith on spirituality. During his childhood days he imagined that the top of the dark and huge fir tree was close to the heaven. At present he understood it as childish ignorance. With such ignorance he lived happily in the past. Now the rational mind gives him no joy but makes him to feel that the heaven is in a long distance for him to reach.                 

The poet’s looking at the past with nostalgia gives the impression that the present is painful.  The title of the poem signifies the act of remembering. The frequent usage of the word remembering in the poem indicates the dominant motive of the poem that is recollection of his past.