NEB Grade:12 (English) The Heritage of Words- All Chapters (Summary, Questions & Answers)

 NEB Grade:12 (English)The Heritage of Words- All (Summary, Questions  & Answers)

1. Grandmother- Ray Young Bear      

Summary,
· Ray Young Bear’s “Grandmother” is about a grandson’s love dipped in reverence for his grandmother. The speaker draws a realistic picture of his grandmother by using sensual images and figurative language & searches for his identity of Mesquaki tribe.
·  He remembers his grandmother wearing purple scarf, carrying plastic shopping bag, caressing him on his head with her warm and damp hands with the smell of roots, and inspiring and guiding him. His memory of her is very fresh and lively. If he were to see her, he would recognize her even from a mile away. If he felt the hands on his head, he would know her warm and damp hands with the smell of roots. If he heard a voice coming from the gravestone, he would know her voice and her words would follow inside him like the flashing of the sleeping fire stirred in the dark winter night. 
·  In his description “purple scarf” and “plastic shopping bag” refer to visual image, “warm” and “damp” to tactile image (touch), “smell of roots” to olfactory image (smell), and “voice” to auditory image. Similarly, metaphor of “rock” and “flow” refers to grandmother’s gravestone and continuous flow of her words and simile of “like the light……” refers to motion of her words in his recollection. Such use of sensual images and figurative language makes the description intense and appealing to readers’ senses as well.   
· To sum up, the speaker successfully draws a simple, hardworking, all-loving and all-inspiring portrait of his grandmother, who has a symbolic connection to his ancestral part. His memory of her becomes a perennial source of inspiration and guidance for him.

Questions for  Practice

1. What is the central / main idea of the poem ‘The Grandmother’?

→The central idea of the poem ‘Grandmother’ is the speaker’s search for American Indian identity. By talking about his grandmother he is searching his root so as to establish his identity as a member of Mesquaki tribal people. He draws the picture of his grandmother as all-loving and all-inspiring. Though she is dead now, she is still the source of inspiration for him. Furthermore, he also shows his deep rooted love for his grandmother.

2. How does the speaker feel toward his grandmother?  In what words or phrases does he make his feelings clear? 

→ The speaker has positive feelings or impressions towards his grandmother as he says that she was all-loving and all-inspiring.

She was so loving and caring to him that he would feel her hands both warm and damp at the same time.

Here, the words “warm and damp” make his feelings clear. Similarly, when he remembers his grandmother, she becomes a source of inspiration for him even after her death.

3. What are the four things that RY Bear remembers about his grandmother?

→Ray Young Bear remembers four things four things about his grandmother though she is dead now. These four things are listed below:

her body shape                                                                        

her purple scarf and plastic shopping bag   

her warm and damp hands 

her voice  from the grave

4. What kind of life style does the poet describe of his grandmother?

→ The poet describes his grandmother’s simple life style in the poem ‘Grandmother’. The details such as plastic shopping bag, purple scarf, and smell of roots, warm and damp hands justify that she was a lady from a middle class family.

If she was from a sophisticated or advanced family, she would have used vehicles and suits and she would have perfuming body.

Her loving and caring nature to the speaker also indicates her life style.

5. What images do you find in the poem “Grandmother”?  To what senses do these images appeal? 

→ In the poem “The Grandmother”, the speaker connects his feelings toward his grandmother through four senses and their related images.

                   I.   Visual images: Such as her shape, her plastic shopping bag and purple scarf appeal to our eyes.

                 II.  Thermal images:  Such as her hands which feel warm and damp appeal to our skin. 

        III.  Olfactory (nasal) images: her hands which posses smell of roots appeal to our nose.

                IV.   Auditory images: her voice which inspire him from inside appeal to our ears.

2. ABOUT LOVE,  ANTON CHEKHOV

Summary:

• “About Love” is an interesting story depicted by a famous story-writer, Anton Chekhov where he  presents the difference between three love stories and tries to prove that “Love” is something that is not  bound by conjugal relations rather it can be at any period of life.
• Alyohin is the narrator as well as the main character in this story. The story begins when the narrator and his two friends-Burkin and Ivan were having breakfast in a country house. Alyohin told them about the violent love affair between his two servants Nikanor and Pelageya. According to the narrator, Pelageya didn’t want to marry Nikanor but she was ready to live with him just so. On the other hand, Nikanor couldn’t stay with her before marriage for his religious reasons. As per to Alyohin, love is a matter of dissatisfaction, hindrance and irritation.
•  Then, he told another love affair of himself to a university girl when his father had spent a lot of money on his education by mortgaging the land and how he was cheated by the girl who loved his money more than him.
• After that, he mentioned his own position as a son of farmer and his affair with a beautiful and married lady. As his father had gone into a heavy debt. To free his father he had to work hard on the farm with his servants. Meanwhile, he had been elected honorary justice for peace and sometimes he had to go to the town to participate in the court session. Unexpectedly, one day, one of his friends, Luganovich invited him for dinner. There, he had encounter and got much attracted by the young and beautiful married lady Ana Alexeyevna, the wife of Luganovich. In the latter days, he frequently visited her and they spent much time together gossiping  for hours and going to the theatre and staying in the parks. But they couldn’t express their desires, love and feedings to each others. They concealed their feelings fearing that it would ruin both of their lives and mistrust his companionship..
• Consequently, as a result of unexpressed feelings, Anna had got mental sickness and she had to go to Crimea for treatment as advised by the doctor. Many people gathered at the railway station to say goodbye to Anna. When the train was ready to depart, Alyohin ran to Anna with her basket which she had forgotten at home. Their emotional eyes and hidden desires and love couldn’t stop them falling in each other’s arms and kissing to each other. This was one of the way to express their love. However, they parted to each for forever and Alyohin returned to his village flowing tears from his eyes and being sad.

1. What kinds of love experiences are suggested by Alyohin in “About Love”?  
 → Alyohin suggests three kinds of love experiences in the story.
The first is the  violent love affair between Nikanor, the cook and Pelageya, the servant girl.
The second is the  selfish love affair between Alyohin himself and a girl while he was studying at a university in Moscow. 
The third is the secret and pure love between Alyohin himself and Anna, the wife of a famous judge.

2. How did Alyohin define love ? Or, What according to Alyohin, was the definition of love?
→  Alyohin defined love as a mysterious and complex feeling.  It is an individual matter. It is related to personal satisfaction. It can not be limited in marital relation rather it can be at any period of life. For example, Anna is married woman who has a six month child, too but she falls in love of Alyohin. He said that nobody knows how love is born and that each case of love has its own unique feature. The explanation of one love doesn’t fit another love.

3. Sketch the character of Luganovich briefly. 
→ Luganovich is a famous judge from Russia. He is a man of over forty but his wife is a beautiful young lady of about twenty two.   Luganovich visits parties and dances and keeps himself near the rich and famous people. He is happy to have a young, beautiful and an intelligent wife and to have children by her. He is a kind and simple-hearted person who welcomes Alyohin as a friend and believes him as a guest. He is so simple-minded.

4. Alyohin compares himself to a village cat driven by hunger to eat a cucumber. What do you mean by this?
→ Normally, a cat does not eat a cucumber. However, when he gets too hungry, almost dying of hunger, he will be compelled to eat a cucumber for survival. Similarly, a man like Alyohin with an academic degree in a normal situation does not like to work hard in the farm. But  as he came to know that his poor father had heavily got into debts and his land might have been auctioned/lilaam. So, Alyohin decided to work very hard in his father’s farm to pay off the debts. Thus, Alyohin and the village cat are similar.

5. Why is Alyohin compared with squirrel in a cage?  What is the significance of this comparison?  
→ A squirrel is a free moving animal of the jungle. He always wants freedom and open space. If he is kept in a cage, he feels restless and too unhappy. Similarly, Alyohin’s desire was to live a fulfilled life in the town with his academic degree. However, he could never come out of the cage of poverty.  He worked hard but always remained penniless. He could never be free from the heavy loan. His desire was to become a free man but his poverty put him into a cage. As such, he became a squirrel in a cage.

6.  Who is Nikanor? Who was he in love with?
Nikanor is a cook. He works in a restaurant. He is religious by nature. He was in love with Pelageya who worked in the same restaurant. He wanted to stay with her only after marriage for religious cause but Pelageya as being a modern girl wanted to have physical relationship without marriage.

7. Sketch the character of Anna.
→ Anna is a young lady of about twenty two. She is married to a judge, a man of over forty. Alyohin describes her as a young woman, beautiful, kind, intelligent and fascinating. Her gaze, her beautiful and delicate hands, her way of walking, her voice, and her hairstyle are all impressive to anybody. As the story opens, she has a six month’s baby and later she has another baby. She has been living with her husband in peace and harmony.  So it is a mystery about how she came to love another man. Ultimately, she had a neurotic problem and she had to leave Alyohin.

8. Sketch the character of Alyohin.  
→ Alyohin is both the narrator and the principal character in the story “About Love” written by Anton Chekhov. He is the son of a poor and unsuccessful Russian farmer. As such, he represents the ordinary people whose desires and aspirations always remain unfulfilled. As a lover he got involved with two women but was unsuccessful as a lover too.
Alyohin is a responsible, hardworking and ethical personality. After his graduation from university, he returns to Sofyino and works like a peasant. He is a bookish fellow. In order to pay off the debt his father borrows for his education, he dedicates himself completely in the field instead of searching his career in some kind of scholarly activities. Though he hates such manual work, he has to continue working in the field. He does not even leave an inch of field unturned. He has to sleep on his feet due to tiredness. In such condition, he compares himself with a village cat driven by hunger to eat cucumber in the kitchen garden. He comes to a state where nothing is left from his former luxury. Similarly, he is one of the pathetic characters in his affair with Anna. Though like Anna he too intensely loves her, he cannot express his love to her. At the final hour, he expresses his love but it is too late and returns Sofyino with heavy heart.

9. Describe the circumstances which compelled Alyohin, the narrator to quit the position of the judge.

When Alyohin was elected as an honorary judge in the city, he frequently visited there and he fell in love with Anna, the wife of Luganovich. She had a good relationship with her husband and he was a good companion of him. His wife, Anna was young, beautiful, simple, catchy, attractive, loving and kindhearted. Both Alyohin and Anna loved but they couldn’t express their love. When Anna left the city as per the suggestions of the doctor, Alyohin also quitted up his job position of judge and started working in the his village as a farmer.

3.THE LAMENTATION OF THE  OLD PENSIONER,  WB Yeats

Summary,

• W.B. Yeats’s “The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner” deals with the poet’s love for the bygone youthful days and feeling of loss at the present.
• The poet has become old, ugly, weak, lonely, and retired. He is taking shelter under a broken tree. There is none to love and care him in his present helpless condition. When he was a young man, he used to sit near the fire and enjoy the company of friends talking about love and politics. A lot of beautiful ladies used to accompany him but now  no lady turns her face to see him. His condition has been like that of broken tree, and the memory of beautiful ladies is only consolation for him.
• Unlike other people who are engaged in making conspiracy and showing their anger at human cruelty, he has only complaints against the time. He thinks the time is solely responsible for his present painful state. It is the time that has transfigured him from blissful stage of youth to the agonizing stage of old age. So he abuses time and expresses his strong hatred and anger by spitting into the face of time.
• To wrap up, the old pensioner remembers his romantic and adventurous moments of youth and laments over the loss of the youth, power and company of the people.

1. What is the central idea or main idea of the poem ‘ The lamentation of the old Pensioner’ ?
- This poem expresses the speaker’s nostalgic feelings. Every person is unhappy with his present life which is imperfect, full of tension and restrictions. This is called nostaligia. In the poem the speaker is a retired old man who remembers his happy and romantic times in his youth and feels sad with his present state of old age. His reminiscences of his young life become very painful to him when he looks at his present state. . 

2. Why does the old man want to spit into the face of Time?  
3. Why does the poet show anger / hatred against Time? 
4. How and why does the old pensioner lament? Or, Why does the old pensioner condemn the time?
→ The old man in the poem is a retired person who laments his lost youth. His young life was active, energetic and romantic.
He would enjoy sitting near the fire with his friends and talking about love or politics. However the powerful Time changed him into an old and ugly person without his knowledge. It is very painful for him now in his old age to sit, to look at what the young people are doing. Now he can neither join politics nor does a single woman look at him. He laments his lost youth. That is why he shows his anger at Time by spitting into its face for making him old and ugly so early.

5. Mention the three things the old man laments about. Why is he sad about them? 
→ The three things the old man laments are his glorious youth, his political activities, and his number of girlfriends. His young life was very active, energetic and romantic. But now he is old, energy less and passive. He had a lot of friends with whom he used to sit by the fire and talk about love or politics. Similarly, as a handsome youth, a number of young ladies were attracted to him but now not a single woman looks at him now in his old age. This gives him too much pain in his heart and he is sad about them.  

6. Explain the title of the poem ‘ The lamentation of the old Pensioner’?.      
→ ‘Lamentation’ means ‘regret’ or ‘sadness’ over something lost for ever. The phrase ‘the old pensioner’ means that the speaker in the poem is a retired old man. So the title ‘The Lamentation of the Old Pensioner’ means that the speaker is regretting over his lost youth. The powerful Time has changed him from the young and energetic youth into an ugly and energy less old man. He is also sad perhaps because he has been neglected in his old age.

7. Write an essay on ‘Youth and Age’
→ Youth and age are the two contrasting stages of human life that everyone must go through. Both these stages have their own merits and demerits
Youth is bold, confident and energetic. It has a long future ahead, so young people’s thoughts are mostly directed to the future plans and aims.  It is said that youth is the moulding period of life. It means this is the period when a youth makes a choice of his / her career to be a person of a particular occupation or profession. If a youth properly utilizes this precious moment of life, he / she can live a meaningful life. But if a youth wastes this precious moment, his / her life will be ruined and the he / she will have live in regret.
 Age has so many difficulties and hardships. An old person lacks both physical and mental energies. He/she suffers from various physical problems and diseases. He / She has no future ahead, but a long past behind. However, there are some valuable positive aspects of the age. The old people are rich in experience, wisdom and ability to make judgment. They are the source of inspiration and guide-liners for the young people. They are fit for inventing plans, giving advice and suggestion for the young.       
In conclusion, it is very important that there should be unity the young generation and the old generation. It means the energy and activity of the young should be combined with the wisdom and experience of the old people for better human life.         

4. TWO LONG –TERM PROBLEMS: TOO MANY PEOPLE

 AND TOO FEW TREES,  MOTI NISSANi

Moti Nissani: About the author

Ø He is known as a versatile writer.

Ø He holds degree in genetics, philosophy and psychology.

Ø He is also known as a conservationist.

Ø He published books on genetics, ecology, politics, and science and language instruction.

TWO LONG –TERM PROBLEMS: About the Essay (Main Points)

Ø The essay un-veils/discloses the recent two burning problems: Overpopulation and Deforestation in the world. They are twin problems: too many people and too few trees in the context of Nepal.

Ø It further awares people about the threats of too many people but too few trees. According to the writer the world population will bring so many problems if remedies are not taken timely. Over population causes damage on bio-sphere and both plant and animal kingdom.

Ø Pollution increasing day by day resulting human suffering from different fatal diseases like cancer, asthma etc. Deafness is caused due to noise pollution. Deforestation has invited the problems of food, health, global warming, drought, soil erosion, land slides etc.

Ø Nissani says that the world can’t bear the upcoming disaster if such condition persists any longer. Data shows, America alone loses 60,000 people per yr.  due to respiratory problem. Over population causes unemployment, murder, rape, suicide etc. Due to over population forest is destroyed and reduced to 20% from 40%.Most of the natural calamities are caused by over-population and environmental degradation.

Essence of the Essay:

Ø Through the essay the writer appeals us to be serious about the problem of deforestation and over population. The time has come to save the world.So, population must be controlled.

Ø People should be encouraged to love, protect and save the forest. The government should launch awareness programmes about the value of forest. People should be taught about the effects and hazards of deforestation. The earth will be worth living only when people are aware and educated.

Ø Hence, let’s start afforestation from today and stop giving birth to more children to sustain the balance between the nature and human population. We have to use our wisdom, knowledge, courage etc. to maintain a sound ecosystem.

Questions:

1.  What is the main idea of the essay ‘Two long Term Problems….’?
 This essay is about the two problems that are going to make our earth an ugly and unsafe place to live in. It is possible that all life on the earth will be destroyed. These problems are that there are too many people in the world (overpopulation) and that there are too few trees (deforestation). These problems are linked to each other because the growing population destroys the forests for farming, housing, fuel, cattle farming, and for wood and paper products.

2. How can we save our forests?  
-  Save our forests, we must control the growth in population and limit our wants. Public awareness about the importance of forests to human life is equally necessary. The maximum utilization of hydro electricity is very useful to save our forests. The alternative fuel or energy sources like cooking gas, bio-gas, and solar energy should be easily available to the common people.
The forest laws must be very strict. Media campaign about the preservation of forests will be very effective. Finally, rapid afforestation and reforestation programs should be launched.              

3. What leads Moti Nissani to the belief that the world is facing an overpopulation crisis? 
→  In the past when the world population was very small we had more than 40% of the earth’s surface covered with forests, but today this figure has come down to less than 25%. With the progress in medical science, sanitation, nutrition and health awareness, the birth rate has gone much higher than the death rate. As a result, every hour more than 10,000 babies are being born. Annually, the world’s population is growing by more than 80 million. This leads Moti Nissani to believe that the world is overpopulated.   

4. According to Nissani, what is wrong with treeless Nepal? 
→ Deforestation is a serious problem in Nepal and Moti Nissani fears Nepal will be treeless in future. If that happens, Nepal will have to face a great number of ecological and national problems. When there are no trees, our top soil will be lost due to soil-erosion and landslide. As a result, soil fertility will be no more. This will cause famine and starvation. The other frightening problems are desertification, loss of wild lives, emptying of natural resources, greenhouse effects, drought, climate change, etc. Nepal will turn into an ugly and unsafe place and the lives of Nepali people will be almost impossible.

5. Are most living Novel prize winner optimistic about the future of humanity?

          Yes, most of the Novel prize winners are optimistic about the future of the humanity but at the same time they are worried about present condition of biosphere. They have warned us about our ill-treatment of the nature. They say that we are destroying our planet ourselves. If we go on like this, the world will be worse and ugly place to live. If we stop such wrong doings, there is still hope to make the world a good place to live.

6. What are the key elements in environmental change?
          According to the United Nations 1993 document, population size and rates of growth are key elements in environmental change. At any level of development increased populations increase energy use, resource consumption and environmental stress. The more people the world has the more severe the problems become. So large and rapidly growing populations make decisive contributions to all environmental problems.

7. Explain the link between overpopulation and deforestation. 
  → Overpopulation and deforestation are interrelated problems. In the past the world population was very small, but we had more forests and clean environment. Today, we have too many people, but too few trees. It means as the population grows, more trees get cut down.
        Human population is always in a state of change because every day some people die and some people are born. Today with the progress in modern medicines, sanitation, nutrition, etc, the world population is growing much faster than ever. This growth in population causes pressure on our forests. To fulfill the demands of growing population, more forests lands get destroyed. The growing population destroys forests for cultivation, housing, cattle farming, fuel, etc. Besides, growing population needs more wood and paper products
         Deforestation and overpopulation are both responsible for the pollution of land, air, water, and sound. Today the world is facing the environmental problems like floods, landslides, soil-erosion, desertification, loss of soil fertility, drought, acid rain, reduction of oxygen in the air, climate change, depletion of ozone layer, greenhouse effect, disappearance of plants and animals, emptying of natural resources, etc. 
To ensure the long-term survival of life on this planet, both overpopulation and deforestation must be controlled. In this way overpopulation and deforestation are linked to each other.
 
 8. What are the causes, effects, and cures of overpopulation and deforestation?  
  →   The major causes of overpopulation 
One of the most important causes of overpopulation is the increase in the birth rate and average life span  because of the progress in medical science, sanitation, nutrition, and health awareness.. Poverty, lack of education, ignorance and superstition are other causes of overpopulation. Most people in the poor and developing countries still think that children are the gifts of God. They still follow the custom of child marriage and early marriage. 
 The major  causes of deforestation      → As population grows, more people will need more food. To grow more food, people must cut down forests. It means the growing population is forced to convert forests into farmlands. People also destroy forests for housing, fuel, cattle farming, and for wood and paper products. The rich people’s demands for expensive furniture causing the forests to disappear. In the past when the world population was very small, more than 40% of the earth’s surface was covered with forests. However, today we have less than 25% of the earth’s surface covered with forests. This indicates that the world today faces the deforestation crisis.
 Effects of overpopulation and deforestation   The problem of overpopulation is causing both the town and country more crowded. It is increasing pollution and deforestation. The other ill-effects overpopulation are poverty, unemployment, the loss of quality of human life, loss of human values, growing crimes, conflicts and wars. Similarly the bad effects of deforestation are landslides, soil-erosion, flooding, loss of soil fertility, desertification, emptying of natural resources, loss of wild lives, reduction of oxygen in the air, drought, acid rain, climate change, depletion of ozone layer, global warming, etc. If timely steps are not taken, the future of humanity will be very dark..
 Cures of overpopulation  → There are ways to control the growth in population. General public should be made aware of the importance of a small family. The government should effectively implement the family planning programs. Late marriage should be encouraged. Equal treatment between a son and a daughter by parents is another factor to limit the number of children. Modernization of life, education of all people, especially of women, men-women equality in all fields, media campaigns, etc are other factors to control the growth in population.
Cures of deforestation → To save our forests, we must control the growth in population and limit our wants. This will reduce the population pressure on our forests. Public awareness about the importance of forests to human life is equally necessary. The maximum utilization of hydro electricity is very useful to save our forests. The alternative fuel or energy sources like cooking gas, bio-gas, and solar energy should be easily available to the common people. Finally, rapid afforestation and reforestation programs should be launched.       

5. FULL  FATHOM  FIVE  THY  FATHER  LIES, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare: About the author

Ø Born in: 1564 in England

Ø Died in: 1616 in England

Ø Greatest Dramatist in English Literature also a poet.

Ø Known as the person of having extraordinary mind of composing poems.

Full Fathom Five Father Lies: About the Poem

•      This poem is taken from Shakespeare’s poetic play The Tempest.

•      The poem expresses the value of death.

•      The poet gives an account that death is a great change.

1. Write the central idea of the poem ‘Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies’. (2067)

The central idea of William Shakespeare’s ‘Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies’ is meaningfulness of death. According to the poem, even after death one exists but in different form just as Ferdinand’s father, enters into the world of nymphs. His bones change into corals and eyes into pearls. No part of his father’s body gets decayed and destroyed, rather changes into something valuable. Even the sea nymphs welcome his death by ringing death bell ‘Ding-dong’.

2. Is death meaningful in the poem?

→ Shakespeare tries to present the meaningfulness of death in the poem. If we believe what Ariel says to Ferdinand, it seems that the death of Ferdinand’s father is meaningful. As the dead body usually decays or changes into ashes but   his father’s body doesn’t  decay; rather changes into something precious. For example, his bones have been changed into coral and eyes into pearls. The sea-nymphs are at his service, ringing death-bell for him every hour.

3. Give your own ideas about the meaningfulness of death.    

 → I believe that the death of a person becomes meaningful if he/she does something for the sake of humanity. A real human is the one who tries to live for the sake of others. Each and every person has a particular talent and ability which he/she can use for the good of human society. Then only death becomes meaningful. Therefore, I have also decided to make my life meaningful as far as possible through social service.

4. What is the significance of ‘Ding-dong’ in the poem?

In the poem, Ding-dong is an onomatopoeic word which imitates the sound of the bell rung by the sea nymphs to welcome the death of Ferdinand’s father. The Sea nymphs ring the death bell at every hour which justifies that the death is meaningful in the poem. The sound of the death bell indicates that a king is recently dead whose death is praiseworthy.

5. Write an essay on Life and Art.

Life and art are inseparable from each other and both are equally important. Without life there is no art and art is for life. Life without art is meaningless. Art supports life and gives it immortality.  

In a broad sense, art means creation of something expressive and beautiful. Sometimes, art is used to refer to the activities like painting, drawing, playing music, singing, dancing, and writing literary works, and so on. Art does not exist naturally; rather it is something specially made, essentially for pleasure. Art is one thing that gives a meaning to the human experiences.

Life creates art and art provides pleasure for life. Art helps us to express ourselves in different forms. Music and dance provide us entertainment. Literary works like poem, story, essay, drama and films provide us with intellectual diet nd pleasure. Some people may make art as their profession. On the top of all, art immortalizes life. For example, the artists like Araniko, Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinchi, Devota etc. died many years ago but we still remember them because of their work of art. Thus there is a strong bond between life and art.

6. How does Shakespeare present the meaningfulness of death in the poem? Give your own ideas about the meaningfulness of death in your life?   

(See questions 1 & 2 above)                               

6.  A  HURRIED  TRIP  TO  AVOID  A  BAD  STAR,  Lilla  and  Barry

Gist of the Essay…

Ø “Hurried Trip To Avoid A Bad Star” was jointly written by two American geographers, M. Lilla and C. Bishop Barry. Based on the writer’s first-hand experience of traveling on the hills of Western Nepal, this essay depicts the social and economic life of Karnali region. This essay is written by two American geographers, Lilla and Barry, who had spent 15 months in Karnali zone by visiting different parts of the hills of Karnali zone and studying how the poor and ignorant people of Karnali lived.

Ø The writers started their trekking from Jumla to Nepalgunj after Christmas. The writers were accompanied by a group of local travelers who were carrying some local products like hashish, medicinal herbs, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets to trade them in the market of Nepalgunj.

Ø While climbing a 11350 feet high mountain, Hari Lekh, the writers meet a handsome woman of about 30. She asked them the usual questions they had been asked on the way. She also requested them to send her husband back home if he had moved to their village. The way, the woman talked and behaved and behaved with the writers revealed that the people of the Karnali region were imprisoned in the narrow universe of their own.

Ø While climbing up another mountain, the writer met a group of 8 or 9 people who were processing Shilajit on the way. When asked why they have not processed it before they left their homes, they replied to the writer that they have to start their journey in order to avoid the influence of the bad star. After descending to a lower elevation, the writer passed through the forest of skeletal-looking sal trees.

Ø They could hear the local people cutting down the branches of trees to feed their cattle. When the writer pointed out the possibility of deforestation due to ruthless exploitation of nature, they replied to the writer that they could do nothing as they have to feed their cattle at any cost.

Ø Spending a night in a tent, the writers arrived at the market of Nepalgunj. The fellow travelers sold the goods, they have brought and bought daily needs like cotton cloth, aluminum, Iron wares, spice, jewelry, and even distillery equipment. The writers return to the Jumla to complete their project.

Ø During their 15 months of wandering through Western Nepal, they learned, that the people of this region are devoted to farming, but farming alone doesn’t sustain them all the year round. So, they have to look for alternative means of earning besides agriculture.

Lilla & Barry

1.     How is Karnali linked economically with the lowland regions to the South? 

→ Karnali is linked economically with the lowland regions to the South. The people of Karnali collect medicinal herbs, hashish, Shilajit, blankets, hand-knit sweaters, ghee, honey, cereals and bring them to sell in the Terai cities. When they return they buy daily use things, clothes, foot wears, metal wares, etc, are supplied to Karnali from the Terai cities. The people of Karnali come down to Terai and to Indian cities to find jobs.  Terai to find jobs in the Indian cities.  Even  they grow fruits like apples  in large quantity but for market, they visit to the Terai, too. available.

2. What did the two writers learn about the life and culture of the people of the Karnali region during their journey on foot?   or,
Give a short account of the life of the Karnali people as you find in “Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star”.   
→ The life of the people of Karnali is very hard. Karnali is the remotest zone of Nepal, so the people here are backward and  poor. Most of them are deprived of medical, educational, transport and other developments. Cultivation is not good here, so they have to depend on the Terai cities for food supply. They sell apples, medicinal herbs, Silajit, blankets, ghee, honey, etc, in the Terai cities and buy food and other necessary goods. A large number of them go across the border through the Terai to find jobs in the Indian cities. Due to lack of education, they are ignorant and superstitious. They try to see if there is a good star or a bad star when they visit places. Sometimes, they make a hurried trip to avoid a bad star.     

3.  What does the skeletal looking Sal trees indicate about the exploitation of nature? What does the reply, “What can we do? The animals must eat today” signify? 
→ The skeletal looking Sal trees that Lilla and Barry saw on their way to Nepalgunj from Jumla indicate the rapid deforestation going on in the hills. It indicates the careless use of nature for personal benefit. If this continues, one day the hills of Nepal will be bare, Nepal will lose wild lives and natural beauty. The reply of the local people to Lilla and Barry signifies that the people of Karnali are ignorant about the importance of forests in their life. They only go on chopping down trees but do not care for protection of forests.

4. What is Shilajit? What are its medicinal uses?
 Shilajit is tarlike substance that is naturally found in mountains around the globe. It has following benefits:
-It supports fertility.                          
-It improves energy production.                  
- It protects heart.
-It protects memory power.               
- It encourages healthy ageing.  

5.  Why did Karma buy only distillery equipment?
Karma bought only distillery things in Nepalgunj as he returned so that he could make liquors and sell them to make money in Jumla. He wanted to earn large amount of money by doing something different in Jumla. After earning money, he wanted to buy his daily requirements easily in Jumla.

6. Write a paragraph or two to show how Karnali is linked economically with the lowland regions of the south.
•      Karnali region is one of the troublesome lands of Nepal where there is neither enough cultivating Land nor alternative sources of income of its own.
•      The people of this Karnali region are wedded to farming, but it doesn’t yield enough to keep them alive throughout the year.
•      So the people of this region have to depend on the Terai region for their livelihood. They carry the local product like hashish, medicinal herbs, hand-knitted sweaters, and blankets to sell them in the market of Nepalgunj. With the money they earn selling the goods, they purchase the goods of daily needs like cotton clothes, spice, ironware, aluminum, jewelry, distillery equipment, etc.
•      Some people go to Nepalgunj and other cities of Nepal as well as India looking for alternative sources of income. Thus, the Karnali region depends economically on the lowland reasons in the south.

7. TRAVELLING  THROUGH  THE  DARK , William  Stafford

William Stafford: About the Poet

—  William is a great personality in the field of English literature.

—  Born in 1914.

—  Born in the USA.

—  Fast forward in composing poems.

—  His poems mostly have a non-urban locale.

Travelling Through the Dark: Main Points

Ø The poem presents a great conflict between emotion and realities while making decisions and he gives justice to both sides of conflict.

Ø Once when the poet was travelling through the Wilson river road he saw a doe (female deer). He stopped the car to push her into the river. Suddenly he felt warmth on the side of her belly. There was a fawn inside and was alive. He felt pity upon the fate of the fawn. However he was unable to do anything and remained in dilemma. He could not decide what to do.

Ø The place was silent and lonely. He even couldn’t drive further and stayed there till fall of night.  As he heard the wild sounds, he got terrified.

Ø He resolved to throw the dead doe with her alive baby into the river. Then he left  the place. This irony of life is vividly presented in this poem.

Ø The poet was emotionally guided so felt pity but he also knew the reality that the fawn (baby deer) will not take birth. The poem also puts a satire that the so called nature lovers destroy the nature. People show the pity as well as kill the animals exploiting animal rights. Hence it is difficult to balance emotion and reality.    

 

                  

1. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem, “Traveling Through the Dark”.
The poem has interrelated stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker is driving his car along the narrow Wilson river road on a dark night. He finds a dead deer on his way and he thinks of pushing the deer off the road. In the second stanza, he gets off the car and examines the dead body closely. It is cold and stiff. He finds that it is a recently killed pregnant doe. In the third stanza, he touches the doe’s warm side and he becomes emotional thinking about never-to-be-born fate of the fawn. In the fourth stanza, he moves his attention from the fawn to the continuous sound of the car’s engine in the isolated place. Finally in the fifth stanza, he thinks hard and pushes the doe into the river.

2. Do you think the reference to the alive but never-to-be-born fawn sentimental?
Yes, of course. The reference to the alive but never-to-be-born fawn is sentimental. When the speaker touches the warm side of the recently killed doe’s belly, he feels sorry for the fawn and becomes sentimental thinking about the never-be-born fate of the fawn. The fawn is dead before its birth on earth though it doesn’t have any fault.
 
3. What is the central idea of the poem “Traveling Through the Dark”? 
The central idea of William Stafford’s ‘Traveling Through the Dark’ is the complex decision making process that involves a great tension between sense of responsibility and emotional feelings. The speaker finds himself in great dilemma both as rational and emotional human being when he touches the recently killed doe’s warm side. However, he does justice to the both sides of the conflict. He shows his deep sympathy for the unborn fawn. He also feels a great responsibility for his fellow travelers. Finally, he solves the conflict by pushing the doe off the road into the river.
 
4. Do you agree with what the narrator did? Why?
Yes, I completely agree with what the narrator did when he saw a recently killed pregnant doe. The speaker finds himself in great dilemma when he touches the warm side of recently killed pregnant doe. He takes time and thinks seriously. It is not practical to leave the dead body on the road as it can cause more accidents and it can pollute the environment. After thinking hard he concludes that the fawn cannot be born at any cost. So he simply pushes the doe into the river.

The Speaker is in dilemma - ?

 
5. Explain the significance of the title “Traveling Through the Dark”. Who are all those travelling through the dark?
The title “Traveling Through the Dark” shows that the poem is about a drive at night. The speaker is the motorist and nature lover. He is travelling through the jungle at night. All those travelling through the dark are nature lovers and naturalists. ‘That the road is narrow’ indicates that the speaker is in the jungle by the side of river, not in the highway.
 
6. At what point does the physical action cease, to be replaced by another kind?
In stanza third the physical action ceases and it is replaced by mental action. The speaker drags the doe aside and touches its side. When he finds the belly of dead doe warm, he starts contemplating about the never-to-be-born fate of the fawn..
 
7. What is the tone of the poem: ironical, sympathetic and indifferent?
The tone of the poem is ironical because the speaker shows his deep sympathy for the fawn but he does not show any pity for its mother. So-called nature lover motorists drive carelessly and become the cause of death of innocent wild animals like doe.
 
8. What does the traveller feel when he touches the dead deer?
→ When the traveller touches the dead deer feels her belly large and warm. He comes to know that she is a pregnant deer with a live fawn inside. At this, he feels sympathy and pity for the inborn baby deer. He becomes sentimental and says that the baby deer is waiting never to be born.  But he feels sorry for the fawn as he can’t do anything for it.
 
9. Write an essay on “Travelling in the dark through the dense forest”.  
→ Travelling in  the dark through the dense forest has both fun and risk. It has some advantages and some disadvantages. There are comparatively fewer vehicles rolling along the road or highway at night than at day time. This allows a rider to drive faster, feeling free and safe. The weather condition is also more pleasant at night and this adds to your fun. At night, nature looks more beautiful and more attractive than at day, so you can enjoy the beauty of nature. On the other hand, travelling at night is not good for health though it gives you fun. Actually, night is given to us for rest, sleep and enjoyment. This we miss by travelling in the night. The chances of collision and slide are greater at night because the drivers generally get drunk at night. Similarly, the dazzling light of the vehicles may confuse the drivers and cause slide or collision. Therefore, I think traveling in the dark through the dense forest should be done only in times of emergencies.
 

8.  A  STORY.  Dylan Thomas  

Dylan Thomas: About the author

Ø Son of a schoolmaster.

Ø Married to Caitlin in 1937.

Ø Has published a number of plays and other works.

Ø A good sense of humour is one of the basic elements of his texts.

Ø The adults’ world is humorously presented by the writer.                                 

A Story: About the Story

Ø The story is written through the perspective of a young boy. The world and activities of grown up drunkard people are described.

Ø The boy lives with his uncle and aunt who are drunkard, funny and romantic couple. They quarrel as he has the habit of going for outing with his drunkard friends. The boy compares their characters and says his uncle a buffalo as he is very fat & dirty. The uncle often drops food while eating. His aunt is small, slim and quiet. She dislikes drinking and outing. At the time of his outing, she visits her mother’s house. Like uncle, his friends are also the same.

Ø One day they planned for an outing. The boy too joins them because he is alone at home. They drink too much alcohol stopping their car in every public house however the boy has to stay outside as children are not allowed. In last year’s journey Bob misused the money so this year Franklin has kept the money and Will Sentry is following him everywhere to watch if he does misuse.

Ø Near Porthcawl they enjoy swimming in the river. They cook food in the evening using kerosene stove, sit in a circle and eat. They couldn't continue their journey so return back to home late night. Through the story the writer intends to show the careless life of drunkards. The drunkards always make plans and promise to do so many things but never meet their goals.

Ø They remain indifferent to their duty, morality, value of time and chances. They leave bad impression in the minds of innocent children. This story is but a gathering of drunkards and their nonsense activities. Such activities are destructive to small children and the civilized society.

 

1.  What is the reason for which Will Sentry always followed Mr. Franklyn? 
→In the last year’s outing, there was Bob the Fiddle who stole the money collected for the outing. This year the group decided to go to Porthcawl for their annual outing. Therefore, the group decided to keep an eye on the person who collected money for the outing. This year Mr. Franklyn was collecting money for the outing and Will Sentry was asked to follow wherever Mr. Franklyn went so that the outing fund wouldn’t be misused.    
 
2.  How does the boy, the narrator, look at his uncle and his aunt? 
OR  How does the boy describe his uncle and aunt?    
  → The boy describes his Uncle and Aunt in a humorous way. His uncle was big, noisy and red hairy. He was so big for his small house that he looked like an old buffalo forcefully put into an open cupboard. He was so tall that his head nearly touched the ceiling. He was so dirty that he waistcoat was covered with food. He ate a big meal like a hungry animal. He breathed as loudly as the brass band. However, his wife was small and quiet like a mouse and a cat. She spent a lot of time cleaning the small house.
 
3. Describe the relation between Thomas and his wife.
→ The writer describes the relation between Thomas and his wife through a small boy in funny way. They are both physically and mentally an unmatched pair. Thomas is tall, heavy, noisy and ugly person but his wife is very short, small, light, and quiet. Whenever they have a hot discussion, Thomas lifts her up on a chair so that she could hit on his head with a china dog. However, when not drunk, they love each other very well. She feeds him eggs and asks him to take his boots off before he goes to sleep. 
 
 4. The plan was to go to Porthcawl for the outing. Did they ever reach there? why?  
→ Thomas and his friends went to Porthcawl for their outing by bus. However, they stopped at every public house or pub and enjoyed drinking. They went swimming in a river near and said that it was better than going to Porthcawl. By this time the sun had already set and no time was left to go to Porthcawl and they decided not to go there. In this way, they returned from the midway and didn't reach Porthcawl.
 
5. Explain the preparation of the trip to Porthcawl.   
 →Mr. Thomas and his friends made preparation for their annual outing. They elected Mr. Franklyn as the treasurer and asked Will Sentry to follow him to make sure the money would not be stolen as was the case last year. Franklyn told Thomas that he had collected enough money for beer and for the bus. On Sunday evening Franklyn and Will Sentry came to Thomas again with a list of those who had paid fully for the outing. Thomas checked the list and approved it.
 
6. Give a description of the outing as Thomas would describe it.
→ I’m Mr. Thomas. I have a group of friends who are all fond of eating, drinking, and making merry. Every year we go on an outing. One year we decided to go to Porthcawl for the outing and I was the head of the group. Our treasurer last year had misused the outing fund, so this year we elected Mr. Franklyn as the treasurer and we asked Will Sentry to watch over him so that the fund would not be misused. Franklyn collected money for 20 cases of beer and for the bus and made the list of the participants. I checked his list and approved it. Seeing this, my wife argued with me, hit me, and went to her mother’s house. I had to take my nephew too on the outing despite my friends’ objection. As we got on the bus, we had to drive the bus back to pick up old O Jones. Then Mr. Weazely cried to stop the bus saying that he had left his teeth at home, but he couldn’t go back home. On the way to Porthcawl we stopped at every public house and enjoyed eating and drinking and forgot about our outing spot. We enjoyed swimming in a river, cooked our dinner in a field and finally got back home late night without reaching Porthcawl.
 
7. Do you think “A Story” is not a story proper, but a jumble (crowd) of various people? Give reasons for your answer.
→ I think “A Story” is not a story proper because it has no real beginning, middle and end. It has no hero or the principal character around which the whole story moves. It is only a humorous description of a day’s outing participated by a group of adults who are fond of eating, drinking, and making merry. Nothing significant happens in the story. It only presents us descriptions of various people, their preparations of the outing and their activities during the outing.                                              

 

 

                 9.   THE  LAST  VOYAGE  OF  A  GHOST  SHIP,   G.G. Marquez

1. Narrate the story of the boy’s growth from an ordinary boy to an assertive young man.
The Last Voyage of the Ghost Story: Summary
   -‘The Last Voyage of the Ghost Story’ is story about the growth of an ordinary boy into an assertive young man.
As the story begins, the boy is immature and dependent, but at the end of the story, he becomes mature, self-dependent, and useful to society.
One night in March the boy saw a huge and strange ship in the sea. Next day, the boy did not see the ship, so he thought he might have been dreaming about it. Exactly one year later during a March night he saw the ship again.  Now he thought it was a real ship. He told his mother about it, but she didn’t believe him and called him crazy instead.
The boy’s mother used to spend most of her time sitting on a chair and thinking about her dead husband. One day she went to town with the boy to buy a new chair. However, unfortunately, she died the same evening while she was sitting on the new chair and remembering her dead husband. After her, four other women died sitting on the same chair. The villagers sank the bad chair into the sea. Now as a parentless child, his life became much harder. He had to steal fish for his living. The next March came and he saw the same ship in the sea and started shouting to wake up the villagers so that he could show them the ship. However, nobody could see anything in the sea. They got angry with him for disturbing their sleep and beat him. The boy was upset for being beaten. However, he made a resolution to show the ship to the disbelievers one day.
 A year later at a night in March, the boy stole a boat to go near the ship. He controlled the ship and led it close to the village and the ship blew its loud  horn. All he villagers were awoken by the sound and got out of their houses to see the ship. They saw the huge ship and the boy beside it. Now they believed the boy and thanked him. The boy felt happy to see the disbelievers watching the ship in wonder. Now the boy realized himself as an assertive young man.
 
2. Describe the ship the boy saw in the sea. What is the strangest thing about the ship?   or, 
Describe the ship.
The ship the boy saw in the sea was a very strange ship. It was very huge - ninety times longer than the whole village and twenty times taller than the church tower. It always appeared at night in March with the passing of the greenhouse light and disappeared with the falling of the greenhouse light. He describes it as, ‘The largest ocean liner in this world and the other.’ The ship didn’t have light and sound. It was moving towards the village in the dark like a sleep-walker. It means something was wrong with it.                                                                                                                                         

3. What does the refrain  of the boy “Now they are going to see who I am” mean?  
→ The statement “Now they are going to see who I am “is repeated by the boy several times in the story. He encounters the ghost ship every year at night in March, but nobody believes him. After the death of his mother the villagers beat him for disturbing their sleep by shouting about the appearance of the ship in the sea. He doesn’t lose his faith in the existence of the ship and makes a strong determination to show the ship to the disbelievers one day. He keeps on repeating the statement until he is successful in his mission.
 
4. Why did the boy have to prove who he was? 
→ The boy’s life had become harder after the death of his mother. He had already lost his father. Villagers beat him when he talked of the ship. So, he made a determination to show the ship to the disbelievers one day.  He wanted to prove that he was right about the existence of the ship. Consequently, he proved his saying at the end.
 
5. Why does no one else know of the ship’s existence?
No one else knows the ship’s existence because it was a ghost ship which only appears in the  boy’s thought and imagination. After conformation, the tells the existence of the peculiar ship to his mother but when the mother send the boatman to see whether it was such a strange ship there in the sea, they found no single sign of the ship but only the dish and its hairs. Anyway, it was a imaginative ship seen by the boy in the month of March.            

 

 

10.  GOD’S  GRANDEUR, G. M. Hopkins

1. What is the central idea of the poem ‘Grandmother’?  How is the glory of god praised in the poem?
→ In this poem ‘Grandmother’,  the poet praises the glory and greatness of god in the world. He is unhappy that modern people are losing their faith in god. They are unsatisfying in their desires for power, wealth, and luxury. This selfishness gives them no rest from money hunting. They fail to understand that this universe is the expression of god’s power. God’s presence in the earth is invisible but he is watching the earth from above. He is our saviour, rescuer and the regulator of the universe. Therefore everyone must keep faith in him and obey him.                                                                         
 
2. Give reasons why men are unaware of the greatness of god ?
→ According to the poet, men are unaware of the greatness of the god for two reasons. One is that god’s presence in the earth is invisible. God’s greatness is like the light flashing on and off from a thin shiny metallic that is shaken in the sunlight. Similarly, it is like the ooze of oil that is getting collected in a container. Another reason is that modern men are being too selfish and unsatisfying in their desire for power, wealth and luxury. This keeps them so busy that they have no time even to think of god and are born and die without ever realizing the greatness of god. 
 
3.  Can human being destroy nature? If not, why?
No, human being can not destroy nature permanently, though the natural world has been ugly because of modern people’s commercial activities. However, the nature is never spent because glory of God lies every minute particle of the world. So the nature renews itself just like after every sunset the Sun rises with the bright rays of morning. The God is so generous that he protects every creature as a dove does for its nestlings.  
 
4. What do the words scared, bleared, smeared suggest? 
In the poem ‘God’s Grandeur’,    the words scared, bleared and smeared suggest that modern people are busy in profit making transactions. They are tired of doing complicated  works. They don’t have time to have faith in God and pray the god. They never care the almighty god and its grandeur. Everything that they  conduct in this world is only for monetary purposes.  
 
5. What is the significance of the repetition of the words, “have trod…” in the poem?
The repetition of the words, “have trod…” is significant in the poem in the sense it indicates about selfish nature of human beings for  their self benefits by destroying the nature and environment.  It also states about exploitation of nature through commercialization and industrialization and ignorance of modern people towards supreme god. 

 

 

11. I HAVE  A DREAM, Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Martin Luther King, Jr.: About the Author
•      Born in the US
•      Leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
•   Opposed discrimination against blacks organizing non-violent resistance and peaceful mass demonstration.
•      Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
•      Assassinated in 1968
• This speech is delivered in 1963 before 200000 people in front of Lincoln Memorial.

I Have a Dream: About the Speech
•      The essay is a political speech made by Martin Luther King Jr.
•      The purpose of this speech is
•               To eradicate racial discrimination, and
•          To provide freedom, justice and equality to all Americans as promised in the constitution.

In the speech he says:
Ø The US constitution promises equal rights and freedom to all men but the Negros are suppressed and deprived of equal rights as whites are enjoying.
o   The condition of black is still miserable.
o   They are not given any opportunity.
o   Their freedom is snatched.
o   They are behaved as second class citizens in their own country.
Ø His dream is closely connected with American dream. There must be mutual understanding and co-operation between Black and Whites. Prosperity is possible only if such type is established. He believes in peaceful movement for getting equal rights.
Ø He believes that his dream of equal rights for Negros will come true one day. The blacks and the whites will be treated equally. They will be judged by the Content of their character but not by the colour of their skin.
Ø He hopes that one day all the people of America will be able to join their hands as brothers and sisters. They will be able to sing together “we are free at last”.
 
                                                             
1. What is Martin Luther King complaining about ? 
→ Martin Luther is complaining about the racial discrimination that has existed in the USA for years. He is saying that the American leaders promised to ensure equal rights to the blacks with the whites in the historical documents like the Constitution of the USA, 1787, and the Emancipation Proclamation, 1862. However, the American leaders turned these documents into a blank check.
 
 2. To what extent does King’s personal authority lend (give) power to words ? 
→ King’s personal authority lends power to his words to a great extent. He was a leader of the black civil rights movement. He had great power to impress people with his speech. Each and every sentence he spoke in his speech are powerful, Weighty, and impressive.  That is why he was able to persuade his fellows to give up violence and take up peaceful means to get their justice and equality. 
 
3. What is the historical significance of Martin Luther’s speech ?
→ Martin Luther’s speech has a long historical background. From about 1600 A.D, the white people in North America brought the Negroes from Africa to be slaves. In 1776, the American leaders issued the ‘Declaration of Independence’ ending all connections from British king. The main theory of this document was based on all people’s right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ When America became free from British rule, the American politicians issued ‘The Constitution of the USA, 1787, which stated that all men in America had equal right and that all people were equal as the children of the same god. Then in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery through his ‘Emancipation Declaration’. However, the worst position of the Negroes didn’t get any better in many parts of the USA. When the promises made in these historical documents were not fulfilled for a long time, Martin Luther gave this speech to a large gathering of the Negroes in Washington.
 What Martin Luther said that time was followed by the Negroes. As urged by him, the black people gave up violence and started their peaceful struggle for justice, equality and freedom. They got their demands fulfilled at last as dreamed by Luther. Today, both the black and white people are joining hands in hands for America’s progress. Thus, Martin Luther’s speech has a great historical significance.  
 
4. What is the that dream Martin Luther King ,Jr has ? How is he going to achieve it ?
→ Martin Luther’s dream is deeply rooted in the American dream which promises material success for every individual. Martin Luther has a dream that one day American leaders will fulfill the promises written in the American Declaration of Independence. He has a dream that both the blacks and whites will one day sit down together in at the table of brotherhood. One day all forms of injustice and oppression will give way to freedom and justice. He has further dreams that one day in America all people will e judged from their action and character, but not from their skin colour, that one day both whites and blacks will be able to join hands in hands like brothers and sisters. One day all people from all places in America will be free and equal as the children of the same god.
Martin Luther is going to achieve his dream through non-violence movement. Violence will only breed permanent hostility between the white and blacks. This will not be in the favour of the blacks because they have no other alternative but to stay in America with the whites. He urges his fellows to give up all kinds of bitterness and conduct their struggle with high dignity and discipline to win the sympathy of those whites who are supporting their struggle.
 
5. What is the real dream of Martin Luther King about the future of America ?   (See answer Question No.4 Italicized sentences.)
 
6.  What is the apparent purpose of Martin Luther King’s speech?
 Martin Luther King delivered this speech in memorial of  Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on August 28, 1963. The apparent purpose of King’s speech is to implement black people’s rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness into practice and to remove inequality, injustice, partiality and discrimination and establish prosperity, cooperation, justice, equality and the feelings of brotherhood among blacks and whites in America .   
 
7. Explain the analogy of ‘Bad Check’.  
The term ‘Bad Check’ refers to the 'cheque' having insufficient amount of money in the bank account. Here, the king uses the phrase ‘Bad Check’ to indicate facilities, rights, freedom, justice, equality etc. given to the blacks in the American Constitution but infact not in their practical life. It means lack of rights to the blacks given in the real life in America.   

 

                 12.  WOMEN’S  BUSINESS ,  Illene  Kantrov.                                                                       

1. Why did Lydia Pinkham first began to sell her products?  
→ Pinkham first began to sell her product out of the need to support her family economically as her husband’s real state business failed. Before taking up the business, she collected herbs to make a home remedy and gave it to her family in case someone fell ill. She wanted to earn name, fame, money and serve to the society people through her business.
 
2.How did the women start and flourish (develop quickly) their business in America?   
→ The women in America developed the new way of doing business by combining business activities with social service, especially of women. It means they were not just businesswomen. They did things to make people better educated about the issues and problems faced by women. Their methods of serving their customers were a clever technique to attract more customers and earn more money. As such, their business flourished and they were able to earn both fame and wealth in a short time.
 
3. What is the main idea of the essay ?
This essay is about some American businesswomen who were very successful in earning both wealth and fame by combining their business activities with social service, especially for women. They did things to make women aware of their rights and of the problems faced by them in the male-dominated society. It means their method of doing business through social service was motivated by their desire to attract more customers and earn more money.
 
4. How did Pinkham act as savior of her sex ?
Write a short description of Lydia E Pinkham and her life as a businesswoman.
 → Lydia E. Pinkham was one of the successful American business women of the time. She prepared a herbal product named Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound and advertised it as ‘the greatest remedy in the world’ for falling of womb and all other female complications. She established Department of Advice and cleverly encouraged women to bypass male physicians. She also gave practical suggestions about diet, exercise and hygiene along with recommendation of her own product.
 
 5.  How did the American business women resemble and differ from male counterparts?
          The American businesswomen were different from their male counterparts. They combined their profit motive with social service motive. They gave practical suggestions on diet, hygiene, exercise, childrearing and female empowerment. They consciously exploited their images as women to promote their business. They were more sex-conscious. Pinkham advised her customers to avoid male physicians.
 
6. How did the women start and flourish their business in America?
Which of Lydia E. Pinkham’s business methods did latter women capitalists adopt for their own enterprises? In what ways did they depart from Pinkham’s model?
Illene Kantrov’s ‘Women’s Business’ is a portrait of Lydia E. Pinkham and other American business women who followed Pinkham’s footsteps.
Lydia E. Pinkham was one of the successful American business women of the time. She prepared a herbal product named Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound and advertised it as ‘the greatest remedy in the world’ for falling of womb and all other female complications. She established Department of Advice and cleverly encouraged women to bypass male physicians. She also gave practical suggestions about diet, exercise and hygiene along with recommendation of her own product. Pinkham’s success set pattern for women entrepreneurs in the following centuries.
later women capitalists like Helena, Arden, Rudkin, Muller, Grossinger, and a black woman adopted Pinkham’s method of selling and serving. It means, like Pinkham, they also combined their business activities with serving their customers. Like Pinkham, they also directed their business and social service mainly of women. For example, Arden helped women with nutrition, exercise and yoga while she was selling her products. Following Pinkham’s model, Margaret Rudkin sold health foods for sick people. Like Pinkham’s Department of Advice, a black businesswoman began a school to train her sales agents and later used this school for the upliftment of black people. Grossinger and a black businesswoman contributed a lot of money for schools, hospitals, and cultural organizations. Pinkham’s followers consciously too advantage of their images as women. Like Pinkham, they started their business out of their need to support their families.
 
7. What strategy/ methods did Lydia Pinkham use to grow her business?
The strategy or methods Lydia Pinkham used to grow her in business in America are:
Ø She advertised her medicinal products with her kind face on the pages of papers.
Ø She combined her business to social service.
Ø She suggested women to contact only female doctors by bypassing male doctors.
Ø She advertised her Vegetable Compound as ‘the greatest remedy in the world’ for falling of womb and all other female complications.
Ø She also gave practical suggestions about diet, exercise and hygiene along with her own products.

 

 

13. THE  CHILDREN  WHO  WAIT, Marsha  Traugot  

1. According to Traugot, what changes are transforming American adoption scene? What factors are responsible for the changes? 
In ‘The Children Who Wait’ Marsha Traugot presents reasons for new trends in American adoption scene. Now a wider variety of families can easily adopt the children who in the past would have been labeled as unadoptable.
 Before 1960s,  Black, mixed racial and minority, over-aged and handicapped children were not adopted in America. Handicapped children were regarded as damaged goods. Such children were compelled to live longer in foster care and Traugot calls these children ‘the children who wait’. However, after 1960s the field of adoption has undergone a radical change.
The concept of ideal adoption  has been changed. The responsible factors include black civil right movement, women’s right movement, legalization of abortion, birth control, change in public attitude toward sexual behavior and marriage, change in government’s policy, and social science research.  Black civil right movement inspired white people to adopt nonwhite children. Women’s movement enabled women to decide on the matter of childbirth. They could abort unwanted babies and unwed mothers could keep their babies themselves with due social respect. This scarcity turned attention toward waiting children. Child welfare activists’ campaign changed public attitude and behavior. To sum up, all sort of children are adopted by different types of families. The child welfare specialists play a significant role to conduct matching process.                                                                                    
 
2. Whom does Marsha Traugot refer to as the children who wait ? 
→ In the past in America the handicapped, black, mixed racial and over five children were not adopted by any body. Such children were considered “unadoptable” like damaged goods and they had to wait in the foster homes for a long time to find adoptive families. Marsha Traugot refers to such children as the children who wait.
 
3. Why was it difficult for the handicapped and black children to find foster family ?
What had happened to the handicapped children in the past ?   
→ The handicapped and black children in the past in America were not accepted for adoption. The rich white families would consider these children as damaged goods and hence unadoptable. The adoptive parents would choose only the healthy, white and under five children for adoption. This made the black and handicapped children difficult to find foster family.
 
4. According to Traugot, what changes are transforming American adoption scene ? What factors are responsible for the change ? 
→ The changes transforming American adoption scene are that today no child has to wait in the foster home to find foster family. The black, mixed-racial, handicapped, and over- five children are all acceptable today. The factors responsible for the change are the various civil rights movements, black civil rights movements, women’s movements, readily available means of birth control, changing mores about love, marriage and sex, legalized abortion, media campaign, etc. 
 
5. What kinds of parent were considered suitable for adopting children ? What kinds of children were considered “unadoptable” ? 
→ In the past in America, only the childless rich white parents were considered suitable for adopting parentless children.  Parents with children and non-white parents did not adopt homeless children. Similarly, the adoptive families would only choose the healthy, white infants for adoption. They would consider the black, mixed-racial, handicapped, and over-five children as damaged goods, and hence “unadoptable”.
 
6. How do the adoption agencies find the potential parents ? 
→ The child welfare specialists in the adoption agencies organize meetings and seminars to foster parents for them. Sometimes, the child welfare organizations from different parts of the USA meet together to try to find homes for the homeless children waiting in the foster homes. They also put profile of children as  advertisements on television and newspapers to help such children.
 
7. What is fetal alcohol syndrome?
→ Fetal alcohol syndrome is a medical condition in which the babies suffer from slow mental progress and very low level of intelligence, caused by excessive alcohol intake by the pregnant mothers. Such children have slow mental and physical growth. They are even mentally retired. Such children were unadoptable in the past in the USA.  

                  

 

 

14.   A CHILD  IS  BORN,  Germaine  Greer

 

1. What differences does Germaine Greer show between a traditional society and a modern society in matters of pregnancy, childbirth, and childbearing? 
Germaine Greer’s ‘A Child Is Born’ presents the differences between traditional society and modern society in matters of pregnancy, childbirth and childbearing.
Pregnancy(Before birth):
Traditional society is full of customs, rituals and superstitions. All these rites are followed by the pregnant woman and these provide her with the sense of security and freedom from the psychic burden of managing childbirth. Pregnant woman is taken care by all members, and all her desires for food are fulfilled. But in western modern societies pregnant woman has to think everything for herself. She is culturally free but she has mental and physical burden and no support from her kins.
Childbirth ( While birth)
 The birth is always attended in traditional societies, whereas in modern societies a mother suffers alone both at home and hospital. All the time she is encouraged by family members and relatives in traditional society. In modern societies the only companions are doctors, nurses and machines. Mother and child are welcomed and given presents. There is feasting, singing and dancing. In modern society, there is no one at home to welcome the child and to praise the courage of the mother. But the death rate of mother and child is higher in traditional society than modern society.
Childbearing (After birth):
In  a traditional society, A woman, after marriage, does not become the member of the new family until she gives birth to a baby. She loses her own name and become known as the mother of the first-born child. The children are born not at the choice of the parents but at the family pressure. Modern people criticize such practices as cruel, backward and wrong ones. Child bearing and rearing is far easier in traditional societies. The whole family helps her to rear the child. The grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other family members feel equal responsibility to look after the children. The children, in traditional societies, play with natural objects.  But in modern society, the child grows up in child care center and Happy Home with market products and toys.
          To sum up, Germaine Greer seems to prefer traditional ways of childbirth to modern ones. She subtly suggests that the experience of delivery of a child is a natural blessing for a woman.                                                                      
 
2.What kind of treatment does a woman in Bangladesh receive during her pregnancy and after her childbirth?
In Bangladesh a pregnant woman is attended well. She is loved and cared by all family members. Pregnant woman is cared by all members and all her desires for food are fulfilled. She goes to her mother’s home for the last few months of her pregnancy and about the first three months of the baby’s life. She has to follow some rituals, too.     
 
3. What differences does the writer show between a traditional society and a modern society in matters of child bearing ? ( See above Childbearing)
 
4. Sketch the differences of childbearing in a traditional and a modern Western society. ( See Q. No. 1)
 
5. Write an essay on the position of a Nepali mother in the family.
→ Nepali society is still mostly traditional and superstitious. It is also a male-dominated society.  Although the position of a mother is very important, there are both good bad sides to it. Culture places mother in the high position near to goddess, but in practice there is discrimination against them
      A Nepali mother has much more things to do than a father has. Father is expected to be the bread-winner, while mother is expected to be a housewife. Generally, a mother is expected to cook meals, clean dishes, wash clothes and keep the house neat and clean. She has to rear children. In addition to this, she has to help her husband in the farm work. She has to go to cut grass and work in the vegetable garden. The father does not help the mother in the house work; he has a singular duty of outdoor work. 
       The children are mostly in the company of their mother. So they are closer to the mother than to the father. There are many mothers who become the victims of domestic violence because of the husbands who are drunk. Many mothers are maltreated or even killed just because they could not give their husband a son. In short, A family can not be happy unless mother has a dignified position in the family. 
 

 

 

15.  THE  TELL-TALE  HEART,  E. A. Poe

1. What made the narrator confess his crime? Why does the narrator confess his guilt ?
How does the acute sense of hearing become unbearable and lead the narrator to confess his guilt ?
→ It is said that pride must have a fall. The narrator was proud of his acute sense of hearing. He claimed he could hear what other people couldn’t hear. After murdering the old man, he was able to make the police believe that he was innocent.  However, soon after that he got nervous and supposed that the tick-tick sound was coming from the old man’s heart beat and he confessed the crime.
 
2. Describe the scene when the narrator killed the old man.
→ The narrator opened the old man’s door quietly. The narrator tried to open the lantern, it made a noise. The old man cried and sat on the bed, while the narrator stood still for a while. Then, the narrator opened a little dim ray of light in the lantern and directed it into the vulture eyes of the old man. He immediately dragged the old man down on the floor and pressed him with the heavy bed until he breathed his last. Finally, he cut the dead body into pieces and hid them under the wooden floor. 
 
3. Would you call the narrator of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ mad ? Give reasons for your answer
→  Yes, I all the narrator of Poe’s story mad because of following reasons:
The narrator murders an innocent old man just because of his ugly eyes. He supposes the tick-tick sound as his  heart beat. He confesses his guilt without any pressure or torture from the police. He loves the old man but he hates his vulture eye. He murders the old man and cuts his body into small pieces and buries under the wooden floor. He says what others can’t hear, he can hear.
 
4. Why does the narrator develop intense hatred against the old man ? Would you call the narrator mad ?  
See the Question No. 1 & 3 above

5. Write the summary of the story in one paragraph.
→ This story is about a narrator who murders an innocent old man and vainly tries to keep his actions a secret.  He lived with an old man. One day he suddenly developed an intense hatred toward the old man whose eyes looked to him like a vulture’s eyes. The only way for him to get rid of those damned eyes was to finish off the old man. His attempt to murder the old man failed for seven successive nights. Every night at midnight he would secretly open the door, turn on the lantern, see the old man falling asleep, and then moved back. He hated only the eyes, but not the old man. However, every next day he would behave normally with the old man. Then, on the 8^th night his plan worked. He opened the door quietly; but made a sound while trying to light the lantern. The old man woke up horrified, and sat on the bed for an hour, while the narrator stood still in dead silence. After that the narrator directed a small thread like ray of lantern light onto the vulture eyes. The sight of the vulture eyes increased his wrath. Meanwhile, he heard a tick-tick sound which he supposed to have been coming from the old man’s heart and getting louder and quicker. This added fuel to his wrath. He yelled loudly and the old man also yelled back. He instantly dragged the old man down, and killed him pressing with the heavy bed. At about four the police came for investigation, but the narrator’s normal behaviour and his clever disposal of the dead body befooled the police. Meanwhile, he once again happened to hear the same tick-tick sound getting louder and quicker. He got nervous thinking that the police would also hear it. This led him to confess his guilt.      
 
5. Justify the title ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
→ The title of the story means a heart that reveals something secret. In the story the heart plays a very important role of telling the secret about a murder case. The story begins with the narrator’s claim to hear even the heart beat of humans. Finally he once more hears the same tick-tick sound getting louder and quicker. Therefore, he is compelled to confess his guilt before the police. In this way, the supposed heart beat made the narrator confess his crime and this justifies the title. 
 
6. Draw a character sketch of the narrator.
→ The narrator is a strange person. It is difficult to characterize the personality of the narrator. Some of his behaviours suggest his madness, while some of his other activities suggest he is in normal mentality.. He begins his story admitting that he is a nervous person but denies that he is mad.
 The narrator lived with an old man with whom he had good friendship. However, one day he suddenly developed an intense hatred toward the old man because the old man’s eyes looked to him like a vulture’s eyes. He decides to get rid of those damned eyes for ever by killing the old man.  A normal human can not go to the extent of killing an old man just because his eyes are ugly ?           
The narrator showed his normal mentality in planning the murder of the old man and in cleverly disposing the dead body. He displays extreme precaution and patience for eight days until he finished off the old man. On the eighth night he could wait for an hour at the door of the old man’s room. The way he turned on the lantern and directed a tiny ray of light onto the old man’s eyes could not have been possible if he was mad. Similarly, he was able to befool the police who were compelled to think that there had not been a murder. However, he was a man of nervous mentality. That is the reason the tick-tick sound sounded to him like the sound coming from the old man’s heart beat. This led him to confess his guilt without any pressure or torture by the police.                                                                            
 

16.   PURGATORY ,  W. B. Yeats

1. Why did the old man kill his own son ?
→.Once, the Boy threatened to kill the old man for the bag full of money. At the time, the old man realized that an endless cycle of violence had been created in his family line. He had already killed his father and his son might kill him. Therefore, the old man killed his own son hoping to stop the cycle of violence and sins forever. 
 
2. Explain how “Purgatory” explores the relation of human life to supernatural forces.
‘Purgatory’ is the relation of human life to supernatural forces. We are always punished by supernatural force for our sins. The play shows that a virtuous person’s soul goes directly to heaven, while the soul of a person who has committed unpardonable sins goes directly to hell and suffers there permanently. However, the soul of a person whose sins are pardonable goes to purgatory where his sins are washed away through sufferings, and then his soul will enter heaven. In the play, the old man’s mother’s soul is suffering in Purgatory for her sin of marrying below her status and is expected to get entry to heaven when her sin has been washed away.                                                                                                    
3. Sketch the character of the Old Man. 
→ The old man was born to be a groom with an upper class lady. He couldn’t see his mother because she died during her process of giving birth. After the death of his mother, his father squandered all of the property on wine, gambling and women. The old man got nothing from his father. Nor was he sent to school. When he was 16 years old, his father in his drunken state set fire on his wife’s beautiful house. In his fury he stabbed his father to death. Then he ran away from there and started earning his living as a pedlar. Like his father he also involved in wine and women. He begot an illegitimate child whom he denied both education and property.
One day, the old man told the story of his parents to the boy. On the other hand, the Boy learnt that every son must kill his bad father as his father did. One day, the boy threatened to kill the old man. At this point, the old man realized that an endless cycle of violence and killed the Boy with the same knife that he had used to kill his father. Finally, he prayed for his mother’s soul sothat it could pass away to the heaven.
 
4. ‘We are always punished for our sins’. Elaborate this statement.   
 → One of the themes of the play ‘Purgatory’ is that human life is influenced by supernatural forces. The play tries to show that whatever we do, good or bad, here in this earthly life is recorded by the supernatural powers and we are rewarded or punished accordingly. However, the souls of people whose sins are pardonable are sent to purgatory where their souls are purified through suffering. After their souls have been purified, they are allowed to enter heaven.
In the play, the old man’s mother sinned against herself by marrying below her status. She was an upper class lady with lots of wealth and fame. However, she fell in love with her own servant who looked after her racing horse. For this sinful act, she was punished by making her die during her first labour and then by sending her soul to suffer in purgatory. On the other hand, the old man’s father committed unpardonable sins like gambling, drinking, visiting prostitutes, burning down the house, etc. He was punished by making him die from the hand of his own son and his soul is supposed to be permanently suffering in the hell.
Thus, the play tries to justify the saying ‘As you sow, so you reap’. This means whatever good or bad action you have done here in this earthly life, you will receive similar results. That is why the old man in the play says, ‘We are always punished for our sins.’   
 
5. Interpret the play ‘Purgatory’ from any perspective you like.
One of the themes of the play ‘Purgatory’ is that human life is influenced by supernatural forces. The play tries to show that whatever we do, good or bad, here in this earthly life is recorded by the supernatural powers and we are rewarded or punished accordingly.   (See Q. No.3)
 
6. Discuss the kind of relationship between father and son in the play ‘Purgatory’?
The father and the son have no cordial relationship. The son wants to kill his father for the sake of the money as his property right. On the other hand, the father is afraid of and he wants to kill his son sothat he can be free and end the cycle of evil killing. Consequently, he kills his son at the end of the story by the same knife he had killed his father before.
 
7. Why did the old man kill his own father?
The old man killed his own father because of his following reasons:
-His father did not educate him.                  
-His father spent all the property in wine, women and gambling.
-His father kept him away (disinherited) from the parental property.
-Once, he came home heavily drunk and brunt the house and then the old man was angry and he killed his father.

    

      17.  THE  BOARDING  HOUSE , James Joyce 

                            

1. How do think Mrs. Mooney settled with Mr. Doran about Polly? Did Mr. Doran marry Polly or pay out compensation? 
Mrs. Mooney knew that Doran had no intention to marry Polly, so she resolved to settle the matter cleverly. She accused him of abusing her hospitality by taking advantage of Polly’s youth and inexperience. She told him with a strong voice that she would accept no other excuse except her daughter’s marriage. Doran was in a trap. Mrs. Mooney threatened to expose his act in public which would cause him to lose his job. Doran was not ready to face public exposure and dismissal from his job. While Doran and Mooney were talking, Polly sang a beautiful song about her future. This suggests that Doran perhaps accepted Mrs. Mooney’s proposal of marrying Polly. 
 
2. What was the main problem in the relation between Mr. Doran and Polly? 
Or, Why didn’t  Mr. Doran want to marry Polly?
→ Mr. Doran was a regular visitor at Mrs. Mooney’s boarding house. He was of 35 years old while Polly was a 19years daughter of a drunkard butcher. Polly was uneducated and she didn’t speak English well. She had a habit of looking upward glancing eyes. On the other hand, Doran was an educated and employed man from a well civilized and respected family who would accept Polly. This was the main problems in the relation between Doran and Polly.                                                                    
 
3. Briefly sketch the character of Polly Mooney.
          Miss Polly Mooney is the only daughter of Mrs. Mooney. She is a naughty girl of nineteen. She is slim with light soft hair and a small full mouth. She has the habit of glancing upwards when she speaks to anyone. She flirts with young men in her Mother’s boarding house. She likes Mr. Doran, who is just passing time with her taking advantage of her youth and inexperience. She is neither so beautiful nor educated, and she a daughter of a drunkard butcher. Most probably Mr. Doran marries her at the end.
 
4.  Sketch the character of Mrs. Mooney.  
→ Mrs. Mooney is a butcher’s daughter and her husband is also a butcher. She has two children, a son who is a clerk, and a daughter, who works in her boarding house. She is a woman of very strong, imposing and influential personality. She proves herself stronger than men in the story.
Mrs. Mooney is capable of taking right decision in the right time. Her husband tortured her beyond the limit of tolerance. He ruined the business by drinking alcohol and selling bad meat. One day, he tried to cut her with his chopping knife and she had to take a shelter in a neighbour’s house. Right at this time, she takes a bold and wise decision of having a divorce from him on condition that the children and the remaining property would belong only to her.
Mrs. Mooney has good managerial skills. After the divorce, she opened a boarding house and successfully managed it. She knew how to deal with her customers. She knew when to give credit, when to be strict with them, and when to let things happen. She was able to create a personality among her customers so that they would call her “Madam”. Mrs. Mooney is equally responsible as a mother of grown up children. She arranged the job of a clerk for her son and that of a typist for her daughter. However, later she made her daughter, Polly, work in the boarding house. Her intention was to let Polly choose one of the customers as her husband. She was careful enough to watch the intention of the customers. When love affair developed between Polly and Doran, and when they involved in a sexual union, she acted like a clever judge and created such an environment that Doran found no other alternative except marrying Polly. Thus, she is a model woman.
 
5. Briefly narrate the story of ‘The Boarding House’. 
Write an interpretation of the story “The Boarding House”.
James Joyce’s ‘The Boarding House’ is a story of adolescence. It deals with the character sketch of a strong and determined woman named Mrs. Mooney, and her persuasive strategies to settle her daughter’s affair with Mr. Doran. Mrs. Mooney and her husband h    ad a butcher’s shop. Her husband drank a lot of alcohol, sold bad meat and ruined the business. Moreover, he fought her in the presence of the customers. One day he tried to cut her with a big knife. So, she had a divorce from him on condition that the children and the remaining property would belong to her only. She then opened a boarding house. Her son Jack worked as a clerk at a private firm, while her daughter Polly worked at the boarding house. Mr. Doran was one of the regular boarders at the boarding house. He was a mature youth of 35 with a good job. Polly was allowed to flirt with the customers so that she could choose one of them as her husband. And Polly was attracted to Doran. Mrs. Mooney knew about the love affair, but let it grow further. One day Mooney saw them having a sexual relation and was happy with that. Now she decided that it was the right moment to settle Polly’s marriage with Doran before the man could escape. She talked to Polly about the matter and Polly told her everything. Then she planned to talk with Doran. She knew Doran didn’t want to marry Polly. Therefore, she trapped him into marrying Polly. She raised the issue from moral point of view in such a way that he found no other alternative except marrying Polly.

        18. HANSEL and  GRETEL,  The Grimm Brothers

Characters:

1.        The Woodcutter

2.      The Stepmother

3.      Hansel

4.     Gretel

5.      The Witch

•      The bread crumbs eating birds

•      The snow white bird

•      The Duck

1.  Narrate the story of ‘Hansel and Gretel’.
Jacob and Wilheim Grimm’s ‘Hansel and Gretel’ is a story of poor woodcutter’s family and their hardships.
Hansel and Gretel are brother and sister and they are living with father and cruel stepmother nearby forest. Because of the famine they do not have enough bread to eat. The stepmother compels her husband to leave the children into the dense forest so that at least both of them can live. The children know very well about their parents’ plan. Hansel is clever and at night he goes out and fills his pocket with shiny pebbles. In the morning on the way to the jungle he drops the shiny pebbles at regular intervals. The father and stepmother set fire, give them some bread and return home leaving them in deep sleep. When the children wake up, it is night, however they return home following the shiny pebbles. The woodcutter becomes happy but the cruel mother is upset. After some time the parents do the same thing but this time Hansel fails to collect shiny pebbles as the door is locked from outside and he drops the bread crumbs on the way to jungle. As usual they leave the children there and come back home. The children lose the way as birds have eaten the bread crumbs. They follow a snow-white singing bird and walk on and on for three days until they reach a house of cake. The tired and hungry children start eating the cake house in great joy and excitement. At the same time an old witch comes out and welcomes them warmly. She provides them nice bed and good foods. They feel as if they were in heaven. Eventually, the witch locks Hansel into an iron shed and makes Gretel work hard. Actually she wants to roast them as soon as Hansel is fat enough. One day the witch asks Gretel to see if the oven is hot enough but Gretel very cleverly requests the witch to teach her how to enter into the oven. Gretel outsmarts the witch pushing her into the burning oven while she is instructing her. After the witch burns to death, Hansel and Gretel return home with a lot of jewels and riches. When they get home, the mother has already died. Then they live together in pure happiness.
In short, the children win the freedom and prosperity for their family through their struggle and start a new life, however, the stepmother can’t be the part of their happiness.
 
2. How did Hansel and Gretel free themselves from the witch?
When Hansel and Gretel reached a witch’s house of cake they were welcomed and provided nice beds and good foods by the witch. After some time she locked Hansel into an iron shed and made Gretel work hard. Actually, she wanted to roast them as soon as Hansel became fat enough. One day she asked Gretel to see if the oven was hot enough. Gretel had become very clever and she told the witch to teach her how to enter into the oven and then Gretel pushed the witch into the burning oven.  This way, they freed themselves from the witch.
 
3. How did the witch receive the two children in their first night at the witch’s house?
Though Hansel and Gretel got frightened at the sight of old woman, the witch, she received them very lovingly. She told them not to get frightened. She provided them with good foods such as cake, sugar, meal of milk, apples and nuts and nice beds. She convinced that they were safe and led them by their hands into her house. Finally, she imprisoned Hansel and made Gretel work hard.
 
4. What do the bird and the expanse of water symbolize in the fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’?
In the fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’ the bird and the expanse of water have symbolic significance.
•      The birds eating breadcrumbs symbolize the coming obstacle and practical life of the children.
•      It is the snow-white bird that guides Hansel and Gretel to gingerbread house.
•      Similarly, on their way home, they cross a river with the help of a white duck.
The expanse of water symbolizes initiation into the stage of maturity and the end of their worries and troubles. By crossing the river Hansel and Gretel enter into a higher level of existence. They have economic sufficiency and they are no longer the burden of the family. 

 
Q.N.5 What are some striking differences between Grimm Brother’s story ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and Robert Coover’s ‘The Gingerbread House’?
Robert Coover’s ‘The Gingerbread House’ is an adaptation of Grimm Brother’s story ‘Hansel and Gretel’. There are some additions, eliminations and modifications. Both stories deal with poor woodcutter’s family’s hardships of abject poverty. Hardships of poor woodcutter’s family, the children under the influence of witch in the jungle and the description of gingerbread house are the common topics of both stories. However there are remarkable differences between these two stories.
In Grimm’s version, children are given proper names- Hansel and Gretel. The story begins from house and ends in there. There are five main characters- father, mother, children and witch. The step mother compels father to leave the children in jungle. The story is written in past tense. The love between brother and sister is idealistically presented. The story ends happily with death of witch. On the other hand, in Robert Coover’s version, the children are not given any names. The story begins in jungle and ends there. There are only four characters and there is no mention of stepmother. It ends with the mysterious door and the witch beyond it. The case of dove is added i.e. the witch catches a dove and tears its heart. The poverty does not end. The relationship between brother and sister is realistically presented. They fight and love.  

6. Why does Hansel drop shiny pebbles on the way to the forest?
 “Hansel and Gretel” is a fairy tale depicted by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. In the story, a poor woodcutter lives near the forest. He has a second wife and two children.
He runs his life by selling the firewood. Once there was a famine in the village. So, the stepmother forces her husband to leave the children in the forest.
But while going to the forest, Hansel drops pebbles on the way so that he can return successfully with the help of pebbles he has dropped. And he is able to return home by the help  of shiny pebbles for the first time.

7. Describe the character of Hansel.
Hansel is an intelligent boy and one of the prominent characters of the story “Hansel and Gretel”. When his parents decide to take the children to the forest, he collects shining pebbles to drop on the way so that he can return by following the dropped pebbles.
Although he is a child, he acts very wisely. He is a loving brother too. He loves his sister very much. He is tolerant as well because he doesn’t quarrel with his parents although he listens to their plan of taking them to the forest.

 

      

                            (All Images Credit: Google Images)

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