the notes of physics, chemistry, computer and biology of class 11 and 12 are coming soon!!!!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
magic of words notes and synopsis
here is the best notes of english of 11 i have ever found...check this out
and thanks for the writer of this book...
LOOK AT A TEACUP
- Patricia Hampl
SYNOPSIS AND UNDERSTANDING OF ESSAY
Look at a Teacup, written by Patricia Hampl, is a complicated and quite motivating essay which shows the distinction between the traditional norms, notions and dogmas with the new ideology of modern world. There is generation gap between the old and new.
The writer is the speaker of the essay who says that her mother had bought a teacup in 1939. The highly decorated but plain looking cup is the major concern of the essay. Numerous ideas are connected and concerned with the tea cup, so it is the memento of entire events of the past. The speaker gives the specific emphasis to the teacup and its elation to art and architecture of the Mid-Twentieth century. The writer further associates the tea cups with the historic events, esp. in the time of Hitler and during the Second World War. Then, the speaker praises the tea cup, its charm and pictures of flowers that are painted in the teacup. The every discussion between the speaker and her mother are concerned around the teacup, it is the focal point of their discussion. As the writer’s mother was from Czechoslovakia, she bought the teacup in 1939, the same year she got married and the Second World War also began. The teacup reminds the mother as her own native country and the history of her native land. The outer and inner descriptions of teacup are highly praised by the writer. The teacup is considered as the golden one with its pale water-green colour. There is also a band of gold on the inner circle of the saucer (plate), It is shiny and there are thin bands of gold around the edges of the saucer and cup on the borders of the cup and its saucer light sides of gold are outlines. The combination of colour and flower inside and outside the teacup are very attractive. The flowers inside the teacup are seemed as if it is live and animated.
The essay gives the minute details about the tragedy caused by the war. When she describes the destructive war, she becomes sad and upset. They both have the contrasting opinion and ideas about the world and war. Apart from that they have also different opinion about the family and work. The daughter gives emphasis on work whereas the mother insists that the family is the most important thing in the world.
The major subject they discuss in the essay is the issue of marriage. The mother has the conventional opinion about the marriage but the speaker disagrees from her opinion. The mother often worries about the marriage of her daughter but the daughter shows reluctance about the marriage and stand firmly in the statement. The speaker might have detested the marriage as she had seen the forceful love attempts between her father and mother. The speaker once found her father pulled her mother’s back and hugged her and kissed her forcefully in the kitchen. The event detests her from the marriage. She wants the mutual understanding in marriage, but such type of unusual, self-centered and inappropriate steps form strong hate on the tradition form of marriage.
When the mother got married, the condition of the entire Europe was devastating. Firing, bombing and mass killing made her fearful that she would die. She escaped from her home country as it was destroyed by the war; likewise the factory of teacup was also destroyed. Everything destroyed by the Second World War but the tiny teacup she bought in the year of her marriage was remained unbroken. The sky becomes cloudy from smoke of fire of bombs. So the teacup is the unchared (not burned) finger from the mid-century bonfire.
The essay also shows the relation between the men and women. The women during the Second World War were maltreated and highly dominated. The writer said that the roses were fallen from the sky to destroy the life of women. Roses were thrown as bomb to women; it means the condition and plight of women were very low and miserable. The essay here shows the contradiction between the old traditions as represented by mother and the modern value and thinking as represented by the speaker (daughter). The opinion and beliefs on women have been drastically (radically, severely) changed nowadays and they are treated as equal to men in most part of the world.
This essay even claims that the writing can be the way of finding various details and perspective of people, discovering implication in apparently minor events, and of making associations between seemingly disparate (unequal) elements. The mother has escaped the magnitude of history by retreating (withdrawing, moving back) into pragmatism (practicality, common sense, way of thinking result and way of evaluating theories). But Hampl has the positive ideas to escape history by fighting it. She slightly refuses to carry on old traditions like marrying and bearing children. There is the contrast between the old tradition and the new generation.
SPEAKING OF CHILDREN
- BARBARA HOLLAND
OUTLINE OF ESSAY
Q Problems of having more than a child in a family. One child is outnumbered and easy to manage.
Q Plural children weaken the pleasure and peace in the family. The family life can be disturbed by the plural children and the situation can be very worst.
Q Mutual understanding, co-operation, love and harmony are almost impossible.
Q The parents become tired and they can unable to control the family and destructive situation comes in final. The children make the house untidy and dirty, break things and produce unwanted noise.
Q The consequences of having plural children cause the adverse impact in the family. The family status decrease day by day regarding social, economic and cultural factors.
Q One child is appendage (addition, attachment) in a family. But more than one is the way of life or the adverse way of life.
Q The peace and privacy in family is possible when the parents have one child, likewise the joy and jovial family life is there. The parents do not get an hour to talk separately.
Q One child leads the parents to live in easy way but more than one makes them difficult to live with all their problems and difficulties.
Q One child is easy for upbringing, educating and feeding. The child grows up in the perfect environment and gets all the facilities or can live by his all child-right.
Q The writer also addresses the child-spacing; at least two children are manageable in the family. But her serious concern is for a single child. The writer faces the serious problems in the family because of the plural children.
Q The family expenditure rises highly if the parents have more than one child and the parents should face the economic crisis.
UNDERSTANDING AND SYNOPSIS OF ESSAY
‘Speaking of Children’ is an essay written by Barbara Holland which shows the numerous problems of those parents who have got more than one child. One child is inevitable for all parents but more than one is a headache in various way and the essayist tires to address such kind of problems in this essay. The precious moment, happiness and the family bliss are somewhere lost when the parents have more than one child.
Having plural children are not only problematic to the parents only but for the children themselves because they are deprived from the fundamental and natural right and some are even deprived from the balance diet. For the sole desires, interest and happiness as well as privacy and peacefulness, many parents are facing critical problems. The parents should have to fulfill the each and every demands of the children and these all are almost impossible if thy have the plural children. Apart from that, having more than one child creates social, economic problems. The parents can manage good environment in the house if they have one child. You can brainwash the mind of the children. It may not create problem for you. But plural children nourish a counter-culture trend in the family.
According to the essayist’s opinion, it’s very essential to a healthy marriage that the wife should manage some quiet private time to chat with the husband, preferably when he gets home from work. They need peace and privacy just for half an hour. But in such a private and peaceful moment also your children are disturbing you. Sometimes they quarrel, sometimes they break off something and sometimes they interrupt the peaceful conversation between the couple.
A WORN PATH
- EUDORA WELTY
A black old woman named as Phoenix Jackson is the central character of the story. It was the month of December and she was walking slowly with a cane (stick). She covered her head with a red rag (torn-out cloth). She was speaking to herself as she was tapping her way; it is a kind of soliloquy (speaking oneself) in the story. She talked and addressed the wild animals, insects, birds, trees and bushes. She even addressed the fearful wild animal to go out from her way. As she crossed the pinewoods, she reached in the stream (river) and crossed the bridge and became over-confident that she had not become so much old and had plenty of energy inside her.
After that she had taken a short rest. But in the same time, she visualized a flash of dream when a small boy offered her a cake. She moved her hand in the air. She crossed the way by creeping under the barbed (cutting and pointed) wire. On the way she considered the scarecrow as a ghost and she shouted due to fear and drank water in the spout (tap). Meanwhile, a dog came to attack her and she started to run away but fell into the ditch and unable to come out from it. A white hunter came there and rescued her. She was so much thankful to him because of his unselfish help. She was excited and appreciated him. He had two dogs. They were began to fight and the man went to separate them, but at the same time, a nickel (five cent coin) fell on the ground from his pocket. She silently grabbed it. The white man requested the woman to go back to the home and dominated her as Granny, but the woman was constant in her determination. She did not like that man and his suggestion at all.
Finally, she arrived on the street of the city where she saw lights flashing everywhere and people were walking in the street with attractive gifts in their hands. On the meantime, her shoelace untied so she requested a lady to tie her shoelaces. The lady was a charming lady who helped her in a pleasant way and honored her as Grandma. Ultimately, she reached in a large building which was the big hospital. The nurse and the attendant started to talk with the woman, it seemed that they knew the woman very well. The nurse asked her about her grandson and his illness. But the mother didn’t know anything and forgot everything. She was looked like a wanderer. Finally the woman recalled that she had the grandson who was very sick. The nurse gave her a bottle of medicine. It was the cheerful time of Christmas, so the attendant gave her a nickel. The old woman was thinking to buy a paper wind-mill for her grandson.
The Three Day Blow
- Ernest Hemingway
‘The Three Day Blow’ is a dramatic story by the most influential author Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961). He had won the Nobel Prize in 1954 for his book “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952). Nick is the main character of the story. There is the other character named as Bill who was the sincere friend of Nick.
The rain stopped as Nick walked into the road that went up through the orchard. But the fall wind was blowing. The road came to the orchard on to the top of the hill. There was a cottage which belongs to Bill and his father. Nick went to the cottage. Bill came out and welcomed him and let him inside the room.
Bill and Nick viewed the natural beauty. They talked about the weather and the blowing wind. Bill said that the wind would blow like that for three days. They went inside the cottage. They drank wine sitting by the fire. They talked about the games especially the baseball game, books, swimming, and their fathers. Once Nick fell in love with girl named Marge (Marjorie). They had planned to marry also but unfortunately their relationship broke down because of the bad attitude of her woman who disliked Nick and spread rumors that Nick had already got engaged. Perhaps they would never see each other again. Nostalgias made Nick sad and upset and felt isolated.
But again he thought that what had happened in the past might have been good. This feeling made him happy. Bill and Nick started to talk as previously. Carrying guns they went out for hunting delightfully.
THE THREE DAY BLOWS
Summary and Analysis
Nick walks through an orchard on his way to Bill’s house, picking up a fallen apple. When Nick arrives, the two boys stand together on the porch, discussing the weather. They predict that the wind will blow hard for three days. Bill says that his father is out with the gun. The two go inside. They decide to drink whiskey and water. Nick takes off his boots to dry them by the fire. He puts on a pair of Bill’s socks. The two talk about baseball and their team, the Cardinals. Then, they talk about books. Nick does not like books whose symbols are impractical. The two agree that they love Chesterton and Walpole but cannot decide which of the two is a better person. They talk about their fathers’ drinking habits–Bill’s drinks regularly, Nick’s never. The two are getting fairly drunk but do not want to admit it. Nick goes outside to get another log for the fire. The boys start drinking Scotch because they do not want to open another bottle of whiskey.They drink to fishing and decide it is better than baseball. Bill tells Nick that he is glad that Marjorie is gone. He did not want to see Nick married. Yet, this conversation makes Nick sad. But, as Nick says, it was suddenly over, like the three-day blow taking the leaves off the trees. Still, they had planned to do many things together, like travel. Marjorie’s mother had even told people they were engaged. Bill says that Nick might always get back into the relationship. This idea comforts Nick somewhat, because he had not realized that nothing is irreversible. Cheered somewhat, the boys decide to go outside and find Bill’s father. Nick reminds himself that he can always go into town on Saturday night and find Marjorie again.
Commentary and Analysis
Despite all the male bonding in this story, it reveals that Nick does have a soft spot for the feminine. Bill does not want to see Nick married, but Nick is unsure that he has made the right decision regarding Marjorie. Perhaps he does want marriage, love, and domesticity. Nick is not entirely masculine, therefore. He is constantly deciding whether to be a man’s man or a family man.The three-day blow is also symbolic of this stage in Nick’s life. As a young man, he is in a flurry trying to decide what kind of person to become. Further, the early twentieth century is a moment of massive change from rusticity to modernity. The three-day blow, then, represents this time of change and chaos in the world as well as in the life of a young man. This term, three-day blow, is also infused with a biblical connotation, summoning the idea of the forty-day flood, for example. Such a radical weather phenomenon seems invoked, then, not only by life and societal changes but by spiritual decree as well.
MALINI
Rabindranath Tagore
Malini is two-act play by Rabindranath Tagore and it is all about love and hatred; religion and dogma of the contemporary Asian society. Malini is the central figure of the play and she is the princess of the palace and lovely daughter of King and Queen. Malini is very different from her early age, who thinks differently. She is different in her thinking as well as attitude than the rest of the members of the royal palace. She opines differently and everyone including King and Queen are surprised due to her feelings. The kingdom is basically rooted on Hindu ideology and doctrine but the princess Malini promotes Buddhism and its ideology. There is the clash between Hinduism and Buddhism in the play. The Brahmins are the Hindu extremist and the Princess Malini is the promoter of Buddhism and its ideology.
Malini is isolated from Royal pleasure and happiness and wants to share the pity, sorrows, pain and sufferings of ordinary people as her own. These ideas principally promotes Buddhism doctrine and because of that Hindu extremists such as Brahmins, Kemankar, Supriya are irritated from Malini. The Brahmins strongly suggests the King to banish Malini from the Royal Palace so that the stain in Hindu Religion can be erased, she is labeled and compared as the poisonous snake in the palace. The King and the Queen worry much as they find that their daughter wants to walk in the perilous path in her life. Despite the great request and pleas; Malini decides to banish from the Palace. The Brahmins are always giving the pressure to the King to banish Malini to save the religion and Hindu ideology, so they protest and march against the King in the street. Eventually Malini is banished from the Palace.
The circumstances is reversed when Malini has returned from the banishment. King and Queen are happy from the arrival of Malini who are much anxious before and they follows the footstep of Malini who has brought outer world into the palace. The Brahmins who has raised their hand against Malini are now enchanted and attracted by her mercy, pity and tenderness. They have thought that Malini has understood the essence of Hindu doctrine and gained the divine spirit. They blindly suppose her as the form of Goddess who has descended from the heaven. According to the Brahmins, the divine spirit is existed in the heart of Malini. People are gathering in front of Palace to take the blessing of Malini who understand the real virtue, pity and love of human being. Love, virtue, mercy, pity are the pure source of divine spirit and knowledge and it makes one enlightened.
On the other hand, Supriya and Kemankar are much critical to the King who finally accepts the norms and notions as well as doctrine of Buddhism. They try to revolt against the King, so they secretly plan to make the plot against the King. They blame that the King rejects the Hindu doctrine and turns to Buddhism. On the course of time, all are become the follower of Malini, but Supriya and Kemankar has stayed aloof. Kemankar has fled to another country so that he can assemble armies to fight against the King to protect the religion as the King has deviated from his original religion. Kemankar and Supriya are the true friends from their childhood. Supriya has remained in the country and informed Kemakar about happening in the Kingdom and acted the role of spy. Kemankar tries to control the kingdom by doing armful revolution.
The fame and chram of Malini has been spreading rapidly. Supriya who was very critical to Malini, now influenced and enchanted by the divine spirit of Malini. Supriya then reveals the plan and shows the letter of Kemankar to the King and won the mercy of King. Supriya makes treachery to his friend. Thought, Supriaya urges to the King to forgive Kemankar who has been arrested by the King’s army in the frontier of the Kingdom. Finally Kemankar has been presented in front of King. The King has asked him for his last wish before he faces the death penalty.
In the last scene of the play, Kemankar and Supriya are talking and condemning each other. Kemankar does not tolerate the betray of Supriay, so he gives the big strike (blow) to Supriya who falls down on the ground and dies immediately. The King is enraged by this and stands out to look for his sword to attack Kemankar but Malini urges her father to forgive Kemanakar. This is the ideology of Buddhism. In every sin and mislead, forgive is the best solution to make our lives peaceful.
CONCRETE CAT
by Dorthi Charles
“Concrete Cat” is an example of a “concrete poem,” a poem made for the eye. The chief concern of such a poem is with the physical appearance of poetry – not primarily with ideas or emotions, not with language as we ordinarily use it, but with the “reduced language” of the word itself as it appears on the page or elsewhere.
The pet may be telling us about a cat, but may be showing its “catness” in action – as far as this can be done by black and white letters on a page. We see that the cat’s tongue is a U, and so on. The pun in the cat’s middle stripe (tripes) is the only place where language aspires toward poetry and become figurative.
“Concrete Cat” is implied poem that indicates the concrete ideas about something. This type of poem is meant to see rather than to read. is a concrete poem by which we mean a poem for the eye not for the ear. However, this type of poem reveals the pun through of words and it is good fun to read and see the concrete poem. The poet here experiences his sight of cat through the letters and he organizes the words in a very skillful way that represent a shape of a cat and different organs of the cat. The letter “A” indicates or creates the shape of pointed ears and U makes the mouth. The white backdrop and black letters here show the real stripe of the cat. This cat concentrates here in front of the readers after killing the mouse. The upside down letter of mouse indicates that the mouse is killed by the cat. The selections of words such as stripe, whisker, paw, tail etc characterize the real cat like a picture but if the poet would use sentences instead of words, his concrete poem would never come to a form of cat.
Some of the letters are capitalized by the poet, such as A to show the pointed ends of the ear; U to show the curved position of its tongue and mouth and Y to show the nose that separates two eyes. The letters of the word “tail” is written by giving more space to show the length of the tail, which is long and slightly bending.
The poet sets the letters of the word “mouse” upside down to indicate that the mouse is dead and it is lying behind the cat. In front of the cat, a mouse can not stand upright. We can assume that the cat is playing with the dead cat by turning it upside down.
The pun can be created by the middle stripe of the cat. As the letters are repeated, each word can create different meaning. It is the play of the words. When we separate the letters from “stripe”, the two words are created, “tripe” and “stripe”. Tripe means the belly of animal to carry the food stuffs and “stripes” means a relatively long band of colour or texture. The cat as the poet describes here are consisted of two basic words stripes and tripe and other letters and words as necessary.
The Gardener
Rudyard Kipling
There are two main characters in this story, they are Helen and Michael. Apart from them, the other minor characters are Mrs. Scarworth and the Gardener.
This story is set against the background of the First World War that killed thousands of the British people. This story discloses the fate of the child born out of an unmarried woman. The woman who bore such an illegitimate child should have to face the social scorn and hate, thus she had to live the hateful life. Because of that, the woman had planned various ways to make her sin as real and truthful. It is the worthlessness of the crooked and dishonest society.
According to the story, there was Miss Helen Turrell who told the long and terrible story in her life. She said that she had a lung problem and suffered from it badly; but in fact, she had not such a problem, she said so to save herself from her sin in the society. She exiled into France because in England it was a big problem to sustain herself, sooner or later, the villagers would find the reality. She was pregnant from her illegal and unauthorized relation, so she wanted to give birth to a baby secretly.
She had given the birth to a baby in France, though his father had remained unknown and the baby was named as Michael in a baptism in a local church. In England, Helen had made a truthful story that she had gone to France to care for her Brother’s son. To escape from social criticism and disrespect, she said that Michael was not her son, he was the son of her Brother George. George had served in Indian Army and engaged with the daughter of non-commissioned officer. They gave the birth to a baby but George had died of a fall from the horse. Unfortunately, both George’s father and mother had died. The small baby was taken care by a nurse but her services to the baby is negligence and careless, as a result, the baby had suffered from dysentery (a kind of disease). Helen had brought the baby back to England and mother the baby.
In his school level, Michael was said that Helen was not his mother, instead, she was his aunty. She instructed Michael that he could only call her “mummy” at the bed time. Michael was troubled by the other boys about asking his father and he was unanswered. Michael grew up and finished his secondary level school and joined the University for the training of arms affairs. He applied in armed force and enlisted, but during his bravery in the battle in Belgium, he was killed by an opponent army. Miss Helen was notified about the death of her nephew by the certain authorities and she wished to visit the grave of her nephew.
Helen had decided to visit the grave, and left for the graveyard. On the way she met another woman named as Mrs. Scarworth. Initially she pretended that she wanted to visit the grave of her relatives, but in fact, she lied that she wanted to visit the grave of her dearest person. It was her secret lover. Helen and Mrs. Scarworth were the same kind of women who rushed from the reality and lived in the illusion.
Helen finally reached in the cemetery and confused by seeing the thousand of graves. She could not find the grave of her nephew or son. The officer and the gardener helped in search of her son and nephew’s grave. The gardener said that he knew the grave of her son, that is most wonderful fact. How did the gardener know that she was searching her son’s grave instead of her nephew? We may assume that there might be illegal relation between Helen and the gardener, but it was not confirmed.
THE SIX MILLION DOLLARMAN
by Harold J. Morowz
The American author Harold J. Morowitz is a renown writer who has perfected and accustomed himself on comic, humorous persuasive essays and stories. This is humorous as well as fascinating essay taken from his poplar collection book, “The Wine of Life and Other Essays on Societies, Energy and Living Things” (1979) that is originally appeared in medical magazine “Hospital Practice”. In the essay, the writer talks about the existing price of the chemicals that comprise the human body. The writer tries to revaluate the human body on the recent market price. One day the writer has received a birthday card bearing the message in the caption that the total price of human body is only 97 cents. The writer feels upset and distressed. It is really humorous and ridiculous. He tries to find the real value of human body. Then he began to calculate the price of each and every chemicals of human body according to the current market price that is provided by the bio-chemicals companies. The writer has calculated the price of the dry weight and its ingredients of human body and the chemicals in the following way:
- Hemoglobin - $ 2.95 per gram
- NADP - $ 245.00 per gram
- Purified Tryspin - $ 36.00 per gram - Hyaluronic Acid - $175.00 per gram
- Crystalline Insuline $47.50 per gram - Bilirubin - $ 12.00 per gram
- Acetate Kinase - $ 8,860.00 per gram - Human DNA - $ 798.00 per gram
- Alkaline Phosphatase - $ 225.00 per gram - Collagen - $ 15.00 per gram
- Human Albumin - $ 13.00 per gram - Brradykinin - $ 12,000.00 per gram
- Follicle-Stimulating Harmone - $ 4,800,000 per gram
- Prolactin - $ 157,500,00.00 per gram
- Average value of every gram of dry weight of human body is $ 254.54
- Dry weight of the human body is 168 pounds (76,364 grams with 60% water and 24,436
grams without water)
He became very happy and excited about the fact that human body is worth as six-dollar. Nevertheless, when he calculated every possibility of being a perfect man with the power of thought, speech, reasoning and soul, he felt defeated before the nature. Only God can give humanity, and soul, so science and technology can create only man or human body, but not humanity.
Posted by Ramesh Prateek at 12:51 AM 0 comments
Unchopping a Tree
Summary
“Unchopping a Tree” is an essay written by W.S. Merwin, he has used the work “Unchopping” for the process of reversing the action of “Chopping” or chopping a tree means cutting a tree whereas unchopping a tree means joining the same tree.
The essay shows the fact beautifully that unchopping a tree is not as easy as chopping the trees. A man can chop a tree within a few minutes but the tree takes at least ten years’ time to be grown up. To unchop or join all the parts of a tree, one has to collect the leaves, twigs, sawdust and put them again in their own places. To join all the parts properly one should work very hard like the ants. One should put everything in the original order. Let’s suppose that tree can be joined, but nobody can give its life. The writer says the chopping a tree is very easy but unchopping is out of our imagination. One can use scaffolding and tackle very carefully to be free from the future trouble.
The nuts inside the hollow may not be in right place. As such, one has to lift the trunk vertically above the stump. After fixing the splinters of the both parts properly, one has to use the fixative or any sticky materials. Three different types of fixatives should be used for the core to the trunk. By following all this process very properly, one can erect the tree. But when the tree stands on its own, the first breeze or the motion of the clouds might push the tree over. At this time one can do nothing except watching and waiting.
Thus, the process of unchopping trees is impossible. Though a man tries his best, he cannot give the life for the fallen or chopped trees. The essay had a different meaning from its apparent meaning. It is persuasive essay.
The Nightmare Life Without Fuel
Synopsis of the Essay
The present essay written by the Russian writer Isaac Asimov basically concerns about the fuel shortage in the present world. He has given us the instances from America about how the fuel shortage directly or indirectly relates to human life and its adverse impacts. The writer kindly advices us to preserve the existing natural resources that gives us the enormous fuel to sustain life. The essay “The Nightmare Life Without Fuel,” originally published in the Time Magazine in 1977, portrays America in the late 1990s, where the existing fuel resources have reduced this developed and rich nation to miserable condition of dark and dirty replica of the pre-industrial 1800s. America is just a small example to show how dwindling fuel resources have been reducing. The central essence of this essay is considerable that the worst condition will be happened if we do not preserve the natural resources of the world.
The writer describes the terrific situation in the urban areas of America where people are wandering here and there for the fuel and energy. People gather in the subways where the bus is already left and bicycles are splashed on the muddy water, which indicates difficulties in life due to shortage of fuel. Coal is difficult to get by digging and nuclear fusion is very risky and then the solar batteries are very costly. The stuff of the decaying city should be the mineral mines to use again.
There are several adverse impacts on human life due to fuel shortage; but the writer says that this kind of shortage would be beneficial to some extent. Automobiles are vanished and become the metal resources; likewise the ration system also be decreased. According to the writer, there is the reports from the newspapers in 1997 that the environment becomes cleaner, crime rates are reduced and the policemen are returned to their beats. The streets are deserted and the legs of the people become superior in the street. People do not consume the expensive electricity; they are deprived from modern facilities. For them open air is the air condition and home made sweaters are popular indoor wear.
The people in the city feel comfort rather than the people in suburbs. Energy crisis is the vital problem for the city dwellers. The nation should find the alternative source of energy to soothe the growing population. The condition outside USA and Europe is even worst and the people do not have sufficient food stuff to eat; only more than one in five has enough food to eat. Rest of people would die of starvation. But the writer states that starvation reduces the world’s population and more than two billion people suffer from brain damage due to less nutritious food. The fuel resources are limited, so it has the great impact on human life. The energy crisis is continued and as a result, the world’s countries would not afford their cost, keep their soldiers for the long time and unable to feed their people properly. Because of fuel shortage, the electricity is not possible, the people will deprive from watching TV, movie and reading books and they will ultimately return to the age of 1800. Then the existing fossil fuel (natural fuel produced by decomposition of organic) will work out.
The agricultural system will be also destroyed, the new technologies will be halted due to fuel crisis and farmer can not produce enough crops to sustain people’s life. As a result more people will die of starvation. The situation will be havoc, to cope with such situation, we had to take step to improve the situation 50 years ago, and then it would have been quite better to cope with fuel crisis.
It is indeed a serious issue to preserve the dwindling natural resources and if we do not think positively, it will devastate our society, and nation which are completely depended on fuel. The general people on the outskirt of the city (suburbs) will die untimely because of fuel shortage. The condition of poor nation will be perilous and the women and children’s mortality rate will increase and those who remain alive also suffer from bad health. But in the case of rich nation, it won’t be serious problem, they can afford their necessities and there will be the wider distinction between poor and rich people.
Finally the writer recommends us the possible solution of the current fuel crisis in the world. He strongly suggests to preserve the natural resources though it is very late. The remaining natural resources will also make us relieve if we seriously ponder about it and do something for the sake of natural resources to tackle the fuel crisis.
Keeping Things Whole
- Mark Strand
Mark Strand is a Canadian-bon poet, educated in the US. He has taught at various universities. His poems of alienation1, treating darkness and doubleness in man, are minimalist2 in style and affected by surrealism. “Keeping Things Whole,” taken from his Selected Poems (1980), pleads for wholeness against the usual fragmentation6 that goes on in life.
* The poet here in the poem elaborates the various objects to make things whole.
* To keep things whole is to keep something absolute and complete from the possibility of division and fragmentation.
* Fragmentation is necessary to keep something whole. Wholeness is formed due to the unification of fragmentation.
* The poet here claims that fragmentation and movement are interrelated to create the absolute object.
* The poet in the poem moves despite the fragmentation in his life to maintain the journey of life and keep things whole.
* When the poet is in the field, he considers that he is absence of the field. On the other hand, the presence of the poet marks some space on the field and that is missing. But as the poet walks on the field, his bodily movement divides the air and then the air again fill the space to make things whole (here air is whole) that is made by the body of the poet. The poet says that every one has the reason to move, and he has the reason to move to keep things whole.
* As we move the particular space is in the process of being fragmented and whole.
* To keep things whole, the three major things happen. Movement, fragmentation and unification for wholeness.
* The poet walks in field moving so as to make the field and fragmented air whole, thus the entire backdrop will be whole.
Interpretation and the and central idea of the poem
The poem, “Keeping Things Whole” talks about the wholeness against the usual fragmentation which goes on in life. The course of actions; incidents and happenings of our life are often fragmented. Nothing is absolute in fragmentation and division. So the poet stresses on wholeness. The poet claims that movement in the course of action is the key to keeping things whole or undivided. The poet gives example of field, he says if one presents or stays in the field; he takes some of the space of field, thus the field is fragmented. But as he moves from there, the filed will be whole. Movement is thus necessary to keep things whole. The poet has a distinguished (remarkable, eminent, notable) notion regarding the term “wholeness” and it is essential, according to the poet, to think about the perception of wholeness.
Joan Didion: In Bed
Summary
The main concern of this powerful personal essay is the migraine headache. The writer Joan Didion describes it in general and her own in particular. She has described’ her physical tension aroused by the pain of migraine in her right temple. She often felt ashamed to check frequently in application form. She had fear of the respect of mankind. In the same time she turns to the human concept toward migraines. She says that people often have misconception about this disease. She comes to the objective point of medical knowledge. It happens not by brain tumor, eyestrain, high blood pressure. Migraine headaches are not imaginary. Migraine is something more than the fancy of a neurotic imagination. It is an essentially hereditary complex of symptoms. Almost any thing can trigger a specific attack of migraine: stress, allergy, fatigue, a flashing light, a fire drill etc. She again talks about personal experience at the point of heredity. She says that her grandmothers’ had migraine. Her father and mother had migraine. From heredity, she turns tq the chemistry of migraine. In thE1 time of severe pain she is fully upset. Physically and mentally she suffers. She says that her husband has this migraine, too. Sufferer hardly can pass days easily.
The writer comes to conclusion by asserting an intellectual response of confronting this disease with tolerance and concentration on the pain for some time like in yoga. The pain dies and she has relief afterwards. We may concentrate our daily household jobs and other activities to divert from the pain of migraine.
My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold: William Shakespeare
Summary
The poet says that his heart leaps up when he sees a rainbow in the sky. It was the beginning of his life, and now he’s well grown up. He knows that he will grow old and finally die, too. As the child (past) is father (future) of the man (present), the poet wishes his days to be bound to each period (past, present and future) by natural piety, that is, natural blessing of divinely power.
The distinction of Wordsworth lies in the fact that to him Nature was not mere physical loneliness, but a revelation of God. He worshiped nature. He saw in all natural objects the indwelling spirit of Supreme Being. To him he varied forms and phenomena were nothing but manifestation of the divine. He realized that to love nature is to Man who is part and parcel of the nature. Nature is the great teacher and healer. In the first two line of the poem, the poet feels his heart leaps up at the sight of a rainbow in the sky. The nature has produced a good effect on the poetic mind of Wordsworth. The poet has been turned to the skepticism of life because of the spectrum of the rainbow.
In the third, fourth and fifth lines, he has found natural continuation of life – child, man and old man. In the fifth line, there is speculation (guess) of the break in the continuation. Death is inevitable to end the beautiful period of life.
The seventh line is basically the main theme of the poem. The widely accepted proverb, “The Child is the Father of Man” has to tell us a lot. It says that the present is the outcome of the past. So naturally the future will be the outcome of the past. The last two lines conclude the argument. The poet, therefore, concludes wishing that his days should be bound to each period of life by natural way with divinely pleasure.
The Poplar Field: William Cowper
Summary
The poet strongly protests the sinful deeds against the natural resources in the poem. Basically, deforestation is really the great challenge in the world to sustain ecological balance. The poet sentimentally recalls that the cutting down poplar trees cause the adverse impact in human life.
The poem is all about deforestation and destruction of the poplar fields in the bank of the Ouse River in England. That shows that human civilization is the curse for the protection of natural resources. The result of cutting down of the poplar trees, as poet recalls, the shade and the whispering sound of the row of trees are disappeared. The winds no longer play with the leaves of the trees and no reflection of the trees in the river water is seen. He says that he has missed everything in his twelve years of running life. He recalls that it was his favourite place to stay which gave him shade; but regrets that they are laid.
The poet has deep-rooted sympathy upon other creatures in the trees such as blackbird that gets relieve from the hazel in the heat. As the trees are cut, the blackbird has fled to another shelter. Likewise their melodious chirping tone and sweet booming (echoing) song that charmed the poet most has also be gone.
The poet again laments (regrets) that his fleeing (running) years are all in hurry that he couldn’t understand the value of trees and environment in his life. Now he is more conscious about the value of trees and says that he’ll soon die like the trees and the grass will grow on his chest and stone at his head in his grave and says that other trees will arise in that place.
The poet finally says that the trees in the bank is the sight to engage him and considers that human pleasures and ecstasies are decaying. He states that we’re short-lived like the poplar trees but our enjoyments and happiness are less durable than our own lives.
and thanks for the writer of this book...
LOOK AT A TEACUP
- Patricia Hampl
SYNOPSIS AND UNDERSTANDING OF ESSAY
Look at a Teacup, written by Patricia Hampl, is a complicated and quite motivating essay which shows the distinction between the traditional norms, notions and dogmas with the new ideology of modern world. There is generation gap between the old and new.
The writer is the speaker of the essay who says that her mother had bought a teacup in 1939. The highly decorated but plain looking cup is the major concern of the essay. Numerous ideas are connected and concerned with the tea cup, so it is the memento of entire events of the past. The speaker gives the specific emphasis to the teacup and its elation to art and architecture of the Mid-Twentieth century. The writer further associates the tea cups with the historic events, esp. in the time of Hitler and during the Second World War. Then, the speaker praises the tea cup, its charm and pictures of flowers that are painted in the teacup. The every discussion between the speaker and her mother are concerned around the teacup, it is the focal point of their discussion. As the writer’s mother was from Czechoslovakia, she bought the teacup in 1939, the same year she got married and the Second World War also began. The teacup reminds the mother as her own native country and the history of her native land. The outer and inner descriptions of teacup are highly praised by the writer. The teacup is considered as the golden one with its pale water-green colour. There is also a band of gold on the inner circle of the saucer (plate), It is shiny and there are thin bands of gold around the edges of the saucer and cup on the borders of the cup and its saucer light sides of gold are outlines. The combination of colour and flower inside and outside the teacup are very attractive. The flowers inside the teacup are seemed as if it is live and animated.
The essay gives the minute details about the tragedy caused by the war. When she describes the destructive war, she becomes sad and upset. They both have the contrasting opinion and ideas about the world and war. Apart from that they have also different opinion about the family and work. The daughter gives emphasis on work whereas the mother insists that the family is the most important thing in the world.
The major subject they discuss in the essay is the issue of marriage. The mother has the conventional opinion about the marriage but the speaker disagrees from her opinion. The mother often worries about the marriage of her daughter but the daughter shows reluctance about the marriage and stand firmly in the statement. The speaker might have detested the marriage as she had seen the forceful love attempts between her father and mother. The speaker once found her father pulled her mother’s back and hugged her and kissed her forcefully in the kitchen. The event detests her from the marriage. She wants the mutual understanding in marriage, but such type of unusual, self-centered and inappropriate steps form strong hate on the tradition form of marriage.
When the mother got married, the condition of the entire Europe was devastating. Firing, bombing and mass killing made her fearful that she would die. She escaped from her home country as it was destroyed by the war; likewise the factory of teacup was also destroyed. Everything destroyed by the Second World War but the tiny teacup she bought in the year of her marriage was remained unbroken. The sky becomes cloudy from smoke of fire of bombs. So the teacup is the unchared (not burned) finger from the mid-century bonfire.
The essay also shows the relation between the men and women. The women during the Second World War were maltreated and highly dominated. The writer said that the roses were fallen from the sky to destroy the life of women. Roses were thrown as bomb to women; it means the condition and plight of women were very low and miserable. The essay here shows the contradiction between the old traditions as represented by mother and the modern value and thinking as represented by the speaker (daughter). The opinion and beliefs on women have been drastically (radically, severely) changed nowadays and they are treated as equal to men in most part of the world.
This essay even claims that the writing can be the way of finding various details and perspective of people, discovering implication in apparently minor events, and of making associations between seemingly disparate (unequal) elements. The mother has escaped the magnitude of history by retreating (withdrawing, moving back) into pragmatism (practicality, common sense, way of thinking result and way of evaluating theories). But Hampl has the positive ideas to escape history by fighting it. She slightly refuses to carry on old traditions like marrying and bearing children. There is the contrast between the old tradition and the new generation.
SPEAKING OF CHILDREN
- BARBARA HOLLAND
OUTLINE OF ESSAY
Q Problems of having more than a child in a family. One child is outnumbered and easy to manage.
Q Plural children weaken the pleasure and peace in the family. The family life can be disturbed by the plural children and the situation can be very worst.
Q Mutual understanding, co-operation, love and harmony are almost impossible.
Q The parents become tired and they can unable to control the family and destructive situation comes in final. The children make the house untidy and dirty, break things and produce unwanted noise.
Q The consequences of having plural children cause the adverse impact in the family. The family status decrease day by day regarding social, economic and cultural factors.
Q One child is appendage (addition, attachment) in a family. But more than one is the way of life or the adverse way of life.
Q The peace and privacy in family is possible when the parents have one child, likewise the joy and jovial family life is there. The parents do not get an hour to talk separately.
Q One child leads the parents to live in easy way but more than one makes them difficult to live with all their problems and difficulties.
Q One child is easy for upbringing, educating and feeding. The child grows up in the perfect environment and gets all the facilities or can live by his all child-right.
Q The writer also addresses the child-spacing; at least two children are manageable in the family. But her serious concern is for a single child. The writer faces the serious problems in the family because of the plural children.
Q The family expenditure rises highly if the parents have more than one child and the parents should face the economic crisis.
UNDERSTANDING AND SYNOPSIS OF ESSAY
‘Speaking of Children’ is an essay written by Barbara Holland which shows the numerous problems of those parents who have got more than one child. One child is inevitable for all parents but more than one is a headache in various way and the essayist tires to address such kind of problems in this essay. The precious moment, happiness and the family bliss are somewhere lost when the parents have more than one child.
Having plural children are not only problematic to the parents only but for the children themselves because they are deprived from the fundamental and natural right and some are even deprived from the balance diet. For the sole desires, interest and happiness as well as privacy and peacefulness, many parents are facing critical problems. The parents should have to fulfill the each and every demands of the children and these all are almost impossible if thy have the plural children. Apart from that, having more than one child creates social, economic problems. The parents can manage good environment in the house if they have one child. You can brainwash the mind of the children. It may not create problem for you. But plural children nourish a counter-culture trend in the family.
According to the essayist’s opinion, it’s very essential to a healthy marriage that the wife should manage some quiet private time to chat with the husband, preferably when he gets home from work. They need peace and privacy just for half an hour. But in such a private and peaceful moment also your children are disturbing you. Sometimes they quarrel, sometimes they break off something and sometimes they interrupt the peaceful conversation between the couple.
A WORN PATH
- EUDORA WELTY
A black old woman named as Phoenix Jackson is the central character of the story. It was the month of December and she was walking slowly with a cane (stick). She covered her head with a red rag (torn-out cloth). She was speaking to herself as she was tapping her way; it is a kind of soliloquy (speaking oneself) in the story. She talked and addressed the wild animals, insects, birds, trees and bushes. She even addressed the fearful wild animal to go out from her way. As she crossed the pinewoods, she reached in the stream (river) and crossed the bridge and became over-confident that she had not become so much old and had plenty of energy inside her.
After that she had taken a short rest. But in the same time, she visualized a flash of dream when a small boy offered her a cake. She moved her hand in the air. She crossed the way by creeping under the barbed (cutting and pointed) wire. On the way she considered the scarecrow as a ghost and she shouted due to fear and drank water in the spout (tap). Meanwhile, a dog came to attack her and she started to run away but fell into the ditch and unable to come out from it. A white hunter came there and rescued her. She was so much thankful to him because of his unselfish help. She was excited and appreciated him. He had two dogs. They were began to fight and the man went to separate them, but at the same time, a nickel (five cent coin) fell on the ground from his pocket. She silently grabbed it. The white man requested the woman to go back to the home and dominated her as Granny, but the woman was constant in her determination. She did not like that man and his suggestion at all.
Finally, she arrived on the street of the city where she saw lights flashing everywhere and people were walking in the street with attractive gifts in their hands. On the meantime, her shoelace untied so she requested a lady to tie her shoelaces. The lady was a charming lady who helped her in a pleasant way and honored her as Grandma. Ultimately, she reached in a large building which was the big hospital. The nurse and the attendant started to talk with the woman, it seemed that they knew the woman very well. The nurse asked her about her grandson and his illness. But the mother didn’t know anything and forgot everything. She was looked like a wanderer. Finally the woman recalled that she had the grandson who was very sick. The nurse gave her a bottle of medicine. It was the cheerful time of Christmas, so the attendant gave her a nickel. The old woman was thinking to buy a paper wind-mill for her grandson.
The Three Day Blow
- Ernest Hemingway
‘The Three Day Blow’ is a dramatic story by the most influential author Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961). He had won the Nobel Prize in 1954 for his book “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952). Nick is the main character of the story. There is the other character named as Bill who was the sincere friend of Nick.
The rain stopped as Nick walked into the road that went up through the orchard. But the fall wind was blowing. The road came to the orchard on to the top of the hill. There was a cottage which belongs to Bill and his father. Nick went to the cottage. Bill came out and welcomed him and let him inside the room.
Bill and Nick viewed the natural beauty. They talked about the weather and the blowing wind. Bill said that the wind would blow like that for three days. They went inside the cottage. They drank wine sitting by the fire. They talked about the games especially the baseball game, books, swimming, and their fathers. Once Nick fell in love with girl named Marge (Marjorie). They had planned to marry also but unfortunately their relationship broke down because of the bad attitude of her woman who disliked Nick and spread rumors that Nick had already got engaged. Perhaps they would never see each other again. Nostalgias made Nick sad and upset and felt isolated.
But again he thought that what had happened in the past might have been good. This feeling made him happy. Bill and Nick started to talk as previously. Carrying guns they went out for hunting delightfully.
THE THREE DAY BLOWS
Summary and Analysis
Nick walks through an orchard on his way to Bill’s house, picking up a fallen apple. When Nick arrives, the two boys stand together on the porch, discussing the weather. They predict that the wind will blow hard for three days. Bill says that his father is out with the gun. The two go inside. They decide to drink whiskey and water. Nick takes off his boots to dry them by the fire. He puts on a pair of Bill’s socks. The two talk about baseball and their team, the Cardinals. Then, they talk about books. Nick does not like books whose symbols are impractical. The two agree that they love Chesterton and Walpole but cannot decide which of the two is a better person. They talk about their fathers’ drinking habits–Bill’s drinks regularly, Nick’s never. The two are getting fairly drunk but do not want to admit it. Nick goes outside to get another log for the fire. The boys start drinking Scotch because they do not want to open another bottle of whiskey.They drink to fishing and decide it is better than baseball. Bill tells Nick that he is glad that Marjorie is gone. He did not want to see Nick married. Yet, this conversation makes Nick sad. But, as Nick says, it was suddenly over, like the three-day blow taking the leaves off the trees. Still, they had planned to do many things together, like travel. Marjorie’s mother had even told people they were engaged. Bill says that Nick might always get back into the relationship. This idea comforts Nick somewhat, because he had not realized that nothing is irreversible. Cheered somewhat, the boys decide to go outside and find Bill’s father. Nick reminds himself that he can always go into town on Saturday night and find Marjorie again.
Commentary and Analysis
Despite all the male bonding in this story, it reveals that Nick does have a soft spot for the feminine. Bill does not want to see Nick married, but Nick is unsure that he has made the right decision regarding Marjorie. Perhaps he does want marriage, love, and domesticity. Nick is not entirely masculine, therefore. He is constantly deciding whether to be a man’s man or a family man.The three-day blow is also symbolic of this stage in Nick’s life. As a young man, he is in a flurry trying to decide what kind of person to become. Further, the early twentieth century is a moment of massive change from rusticity to modernity. The three-day blow, then, represents this time of change and chaos in the world as well as in the life of a young man. This term, three-day blow, is also infused with a biblical connotation, summoning the idea of the forty-day flood, for example. Such a radical weather phenomenon seems invoked, then, not only by life and societal changes but by spiritual decree as well.
MALINI
Rabindranath Tagore
Malini is two-act play by Rabindranath Tagore and it is all about love and hatred; religion and dogma of the contemporary Asian society. Malini is the central figure of the play and she is the princess of the palace and lovely daughter of King and Queen. Malini is very different from her early age, who thinks differently. She is different in her thinking as well as attitude than the rest of the members of the royal palace. She opines differently and everyone including King and Queen are surprised due to her feelings. The kingdom is basically rooted on Hindu ideology and doctrine but the princess Malini promotes Buddhism and its ideology. There is the clash between Hinduism and Buddhism in the play. The Brahmins are the Hindu extremist and the Princess Malini is the promoter of Buddhism and its ideology.
Malini is isolated from Royal pleasure and happiness and wants to share the pity, sorrows, pain and sufferings of ordinary people as her own. These ideas principally promotes Buddhism doctrine and because of that Hindu extremists such as Brahmins, Kemankar, Supriya are irritated from Malini. The Brahmins strongly suggests the King to banish Malini from the Royal Palace so that the stain in Hindu Religion can be erased, she is labeled and compared as the poisonous snake in the palace. The King and the Queen worry much as they find that their daughter wants to walk in the perilous path in her life. Despite the great request and pleas; Malini decides to banish from the Palace. The Brahmins are always giving the pressure to the King to banish Malini to save the religion and Hindu ideology, so they protest and march against the King in the street. Eventually Malini is banished from the Palace.
The circumstances is reversed when Malini has returned from the banishment. King and Queen are happy from the arrival of Malini who are much anxious before and they follows the footstep of Malini who has brought outer world into the palace. The Brahmins who has raised their hand against Malini are now enchanted and attracted by her mercy, pity and tenderness. They have thought that Malini has understood the essence of Hindu doctrine and gained the divine spirit. They blindly suppose her as the form of Goddess who has descended from the heaven. According to the Brahmins, the divine spirit is existed in the heart of Malini. People are gathering in front of Palace to take the blessing of Malini who understand the real virtue, pity and love of human being. Love, virtue, mercy, pity are the pure source of divine spirit and knowledge and it makes one enlightened.
On the other hand, Supriya and Kemankar are much critical to the King who finally accepts the norms and notions as well as doctrine of Buddhism. They try to revolt against the King, so they secretly plan to make the plot against the King. They blame that the King rejects the Hindu doctrine and turns to Buddhism. On the course of time, all are become the follower of Malini, but Supriya and Kemankar has stayed aloof. Kemankar has fled to another country so that he can assemble armies to fight against the King to protect the religion as the King has deviated from his original religion. Kemankar and Supriya are the true friends from their childhood. Supriya has remained in the country and informed Kemakar about happening in the Kingdom and acted the role of spy. Kemankar tries to control the kingdom by doing armful revolution.
The fame and chram of Malini has been spreading rapidly. Supriya who was very critical to Malini, now influenced and enchanted by the divine spirit of Malini. Supriya then reveals the plan and shows the letter of Kemankar to the King and won the mercy of King. Supriya makes treachery to his friend. Thought, Supriaya urges to the King to forgive Kemankar who has been arrested by the King’s army in the frontier of the Kingdom. Finally Kemankar has been presented in front of King. The King has asked him for his last wish before he faces the death penalty.
In the last scene of the play, Kemankar and Supriya are talking and condemning each other. Kemankar does not tolerate the betray of Supriay, so he gives the big strike (blow) to Supriya who falls down on the ground and dies immediately. The King is enraged by this and stands out to look for his sword to attack Kemankar but Malini urges her father to forgive Kemanakar. This is the ideology of Buddhism. In every sin and mislead, forgive is the best solution to make our lives peaceful.
CONCRETE CAT
by Dorthi Charles
“Concrete Cat” is an example of a “concrete poem,” a poem made for the eye. The chief concern of such a poem is with the physical appearance of poetry – not primarily with ideas or emotions, not with language as we ordinarily use it, but with the “reduced language” of the word itself as it appears on the page or elsewhere.
The pet may be telling us about a cat, but may be showing its “catness” in action – as far as this can be done by black and white letters on a page. We see that the cat’s tongue is a U, and so on. The pun in the cat’s middle stripe (tripes) is the only place where language aspires toward poetry and become figurative.
“Concrete Cat” is implied poem that indicates the concrete ideas about something. This type of poem is meant to see rather than to read. is a concrete poem by which we mean a poem for the eye not for the ear. However, this type of poem reveals the pun through of words and it is good fun to read and see the concrete poem. The poet here experiences his sight of cat through the letters and he organizes the words in a very skillful way that represent a shape of a cat and different organs of the cat. The letter “A” indicates or creates the shape of pointed ears and U makes the mouth. The white backdrop and black letters here show the real stripe of the cat. This cat concentrates here in front of the readers after killing the mouse. The upside down letter of mouse indicates that the mouse is killed by the cat. The selections of words such as stripe, whisker, paw, tail etc characterize the real cat like a picture but if the poet would use sentences instead of words, his concrete poem would never come to a form of cat.
Some of the letters are capitalized by the poet, such as A to show the pointed ends of the ear; U to show the curved position of its tongue and mouth and Y to show the nose that separates two eyes. The letters of the word “tail” is written by giving more space to show the length of the tail, which is long and slightly bending.
The poet sets the letters of the word “mouse” upside down to indicate that the mouse is dead and it is lying behind the cat. In front of the cat, a mouse can not stand upright. We can assume that the cat is playing with the dead cat by turning it upside down.
The pun can be created by the middle stripe of the cat. As the letters are repeated, each word can create different meaning. It is the play of the words. When we separate the letters from “stripe”, the two words are created, “tripe” and “stripe”. Tripe means the belly of animal to carry the food stuffs and “stripes” means a relatively long band of colour or texture. The cat as the poet describes here are consisted of two basic words stripes and tripe and other letters and words as necessary.
The Gardener
Rudyard Kipling
There are two main characters in this story, they are Helen and Michael. Apart from them, the other minor characters are Mrs. Scarworth and the Gardener.
This story is set against the background of the First World War that killed thousands of the British people. This story discloses the fate of the child born out of an unmarried woman. The woman who bore such an illegitimate child should have to face the social scorn and hate, thus she had to live the hateful life. Because of that, the woman had planned various ways to make her sin as real and truthful. It is the worthlessness of the crooked and dishonest society.
According to the story, there was Miss Helen Turrell who told the long and terrible story in her life. She said that she had a lung problem and suffered from it badly; but in fact, she had not such a problem, she said so to save herself from her sin in the society. She exiled into France because in England it was a big problem to sustain herself, sooner or later, the villagers would find the reality. She was pregnant from her illegal and unauthorized relation, so she wanted to give birth to a baby secretly.
She had given the birth to a baby in France, though his father had remained unknown and the baby was named as Michael in a baptism in a local church. In England, Helen had made a truthful story that she had gone to France to care for her Brother’s son. To escape from social criticism and disrespect, she said that Michael was not her son, he was the son of her Brother George. George had served in Indian Army and engaged with the daughter of non-commissioned officer. They gave the birth to a baby but George had died of a fall from the horse. Unfortunately, both George’s father and mother had died. The small baby was taken care by a nurse but her services to the baby is negligence and careless, as a result, the baby had suffered from dysentery (a kind of disease). Helen had brought the baby back to England and mother the baby.
In his school level, Michael was said that Helen was not his mother, instead, she was his aunty. She instructed Michael that he could only call her “mummy” at the bed time. Michael was troubled by the other boys about asking his father and he was unanswered. Michael grew up and finished his secondary level school and joined the University for the training of arms affairs. He applied in armed force and enlisted, but during his bravery in the battle in Belgium, he was killed by an opponent army. Miss Helen was notified about the death of her nephew by the certain authorities and she wished to visit the grave of her nephew.
Helen had decided to visit the grave, and left for the graveyard. On the way she met another woman named as Mrs. Scarworth. Initially she pretended that she wanted to visit the grave of her relatives, but in fact, she lied that she wanted to visit the grave of her dearest person. It was her secret lover. Helen and Mrs. Scarworth were the same kind of women who rushed from the reality and lived in the illusion.
Helen finally reached in the cemetery and confused by seeing the thousand of graves. She could not find the grave of her nephew or son. The officer and the gardener helped in search of her son and nephew’s grave. The gardener said that he knew the grave of her son, that is most wonderful fact. How did the gardener know that she was searching her son’s grave instead of her nephew? We may assume that there might be illegal relation between Helen and the gardener, but it was not confirmed.
THE SIX MILLION DOLLARMAN
by Harold J. Morowz
The American author Harold J. Morowitz is a renown writer who has perfected and accustomed himself on comic, humorous persuasive essays and stories. This is humorous as well as fascinating essay taken from his poplar collection book, “The Wine of Life and Other Essays on Societies, Energy and Living Things” (1979) that is originally appeared in medical magazine “Hospital Practice”. In the essay, the writer talks about the existing price of the chemicals that comprise the human body. The writer tries to revaluate the human body on the recent market price. One day the writer has received a birthday card bearing the message in the caption that the total price of human body is only 97 cents. The writer feels upset and distressed. It is really humorous and ridiculous. He tries to find the real value of human body. Then he began to calculate the price of each and every chemicals of human body according to the current market price that is provided by the bio-chemicals companies. The writer has calculated the price of the dry weight and its ingredients of human body and the chemicals in the following way:
- Hemoglobin - $ 2.95 per gram
- NADP - $ 245.00 per gram
- Purified Tryspin - $ 36.00 per gram - Hyaluronic Acid - $175.00 per gram
- Crystalline Insuline $47.50 per gram - Bilirubin - $ 12.00 per gram
- Acetate Kinase - $ 8,860.00 per gram - Human DNA - $ 798.00 per gram
- Alkaline Phosphatase - $ 225.00 per gram - Collagen - $ 15.00 per gram
- Human Albumin - $ 13.00 per gram - Brradykinin - $ 12,000.00 per gram
- Follicle-Stimulating Harmone - $ 4,800,000 per gram
- Prolactin - $ 157,500,00.00 per gram
- Average value of every gram of dry weight of human body is $ 254.54
- Dry weight of the human body is 168 pounds (76,364 grams with 60% water and 24,436
grams without water)
He became very happy and excited about the fact that human body is worth as six-dollar. Nevertheless, when he calculated every possibility of being a perfect man with the power of thought, speech, reasoning and soul, he felt defeated before the nature. Only God can give humanity, and soul, so science and technology can create only man or human body, but not humanity.
Posted by Ramesh Prateek at 12:51 AM 0 comments
Unchopping a Tree
Summary
“Unchopping a Tree” is an essay written by W.S. Merwin, he has used the work “Unchopping” for the process of reversing the action of “Chopping” or chopping a tree means cutting a tree whereas unchopping a tree means joining the same tree.
The essay shows the fact beautifully that unchopping a tree is not as easy as chopping the trees. A man can chop a tree within a few minutes but the tree takes at least ten years’ time to be grown up. To unchop or join all the parts of a tree, one has to collect the leaves, twigs, sawdust and put them again in their own places. To join all the parts properly one should work very hard like the ants. One should put everything in the original order. Let’s suppose that tree can be joined, but nobody can give its life. The writer says the chopping a tree is very easy but unchopping is out of our imagination. One can use scaffolding and tackle very carefully to be free from the future trouble.
The nuts inside the hollow may not be in right place. As such, one has to lift the trunk vertically above the stump. After fixing the splinters of the both parts properly, one has to use the fixative or any sticky materials. Three different types of fixatives should be used for the core to the trunk. By following all this process very properly, one can erect the tree. But when the tree stands on its own, the first breeze or the motion of the clouds might push the tree over. At this time one can do nothing except watching and waiting.
Thus, the process of unchopping trees is impossible. Though a man tries his best, he cannot give the life for the fallen or chopped trees. The essay had a different meaning from its apparent meaning. It is persuasive essay.
The Nightmare Life Without Fuel
Synopsis of the Essay
The present essay written by the Russian writer Isaac Asimov basically concerns about the fuel shortage in the present world. He has given us the instances from America about how the fuel shortage directly or indirectly relates to human life and its adverse impacts. The writer kindly advices us to preserve the existing natural resources that gives us the enormous fuel to sustain life. The essay “The Nightmare Life Without Fuel,” originally published in the Time Magazine in 1977, portrays America in the late 1990s, where the existing fuel resources have reduced this developed and rich nation to miserable condition of dark and dirty replica of the pre-industrial 1800s. America is just a small example to show how dwindling fuel resources have been reducing. The central essence of this essay is considerable that the worst condition will be happened if we do not preserve the natural resources of the world.
The writer describes the terrific situation in the urban areas of America where people are wandering here and there for the fuel and energy. People gather in the subways where the bus is already left and bicycles are splashed on the muddy water, which indicates difficulties in life due to shortage of fuel. Coal is difficult to get by digging and nuclear fusion is very risky and then the solar batteries are very costly. The stuff of the decaying city should be the mineral mines to use again.
There are several adverse impacts on human life due to fuel shortage; but the writer says that this kind of shortage would be beneficial to some extent. Automobiles are vanished and become the metal resources; likewise the ration system also be decreased. According to the writer, there is the reports from the newspapers in 1997 that the environment becomes cleaner, crime rates are reduced and the policemen are returned to their beats. The streets are deserted and the legs of the people become superior in the street. People do not consume the expensive electricity; they are deprived from modern facilities. For them open air is the air condition and home made sweaters are popular indoor wear.
The people in the city feel comfort rather than the people in suburbs. Energy crisis is the vital problem for the city dwellers. The nation should find the alternative source of energy to soothe the growing population. The condition outside USA and Europe is even worst and the people do not have sufficient food stuff to eat; only more than one in five has enough food to eat. Rest of people would die of starvation. But the writer states that starvation reduces the world’s population and more than two billion people suffer from brain damage due to less nutritious food. The fuel resources are limited, so it has the great impact on human life. The energy crisis is continued and as a result, the world’s countries would not afford their cost, keep their soldiers for the long time and unable to feed their people properly. Because of fuel shortage, the electricity is not possible, the people will deprive from watching TV, movie and reading books and they will ultimately return to the age of 1800. Then the existing fossil fuel (natural fuel produced by decomposition of organic) will work out.
The agricultural system will be also destroyed, the new technologies will be halted due to fuel crisis and farmer can not produce enough crops to sustain people’s life. As a result more people will die of starvation. The situation will be havoc, to cope with such situation, we had to take step to improve the situation 50 years ago, and then it would have been quite better to cope with fuel crisis.
It is indeed a serious issue to preserve the dwindling natural resources and if we do not think positively, it will devastate our society, and nation which are completely depended on fuel. The general people on the outskirt of the city (suburbs) will die untimely because of fuel shortage. The condition of poor nation will be perilous and the women and children’s mortality rate will increase and those who remain alive also suffer from bad health. But in the case of rich nation, it won’t be serious problem, they can afford their necessities and there will be the wider distinction between poor and rich people.
Finally the writer recommends us the possible solution of the current fuel crisis in the world. He strongly suggests to preserve the natural resources though it is very late. The remaining natural resources will also make us relieve if we seriously ponder about it and do something for the sake of natural resources to tackle the fuel crisis.
Keeping Things Whole
- Mark Strand
Mark Strand is a Canadian-bon poet, educated in the US. He has taught at various universities. His poems of alienation1, treating darkness and doubleness in man, are minimalist2 in style and affected by surrealism. “Keeping Things Whole,” taken from his Selected Poems (1980), pleads for wholeness against the usual fragmentation6 that goes on in life.
* The poet here in the poem elaborates the various objects to make things whole.
* To keep things whole is to keep something absolute and complete from the possibility of division and fragmentation.
* Fragmentation is necessary to keep something whole. Wholeness is formed due to the unification of fragmentation.
* The poet here claims that fragmentation and movement are interrelated to create the absolute object.
* The poet in the poem moves despite the fragmentation in his life to maintain the journey of life and keep things whole.
* When the poet is in the field, he considers that he is absence of the field. On the other hand, the presence of the poet marks some space on the field and that is missing. But as the poet walks on the field, his bodily movement divides the air and then the air again fill the space to make things whole (here air is whole) that is made by the body of the poet. The poet says that every one has the reason to move, and he has the reason to move to keep things whole.
* As we move the particular space is in the process of being fragmented and whole.
* To keep things whole, the three major things happen. Movement, fragmentation and unification for wholeness.
* The poet walks in field moving so as to make the field and fragmented air whole, thus the entire backdrop will be whole.
Interpretation and the and central idea of the poem
The poem, “Keeping Things Whole” talks about the wholeness against the usual fragmentation which goes on in life. The course of actions; incidents and happenings of our life are often fragmented. Nothing is absolute in fragmentation and division. So the poet stresses on wholeness. The poet claims that movement in the course of action is the key to keeping things whole or undivided. The poet gives example of field, he says if one presents or stays in the field; he takes some of the space of field, thus the field is fragmented. But as he moves from there, the filed will be whole. Movement is thus necessary to keep things whole. The poet has a distinguished (remarkable, eminent, notable) notion regarding the term “wholeness” and it is essential, according to the poet, to think about the perception of wholeness.
Joan Didion: In Bed
Summary
The main concern of this powerful personal essay is the migraine headache. The writer Joan Didion describes it in general and her own in particular. She has described’ her physical tension aroused by the pain of migraine in her right temple. She often felt ashamed to check frequently in application form. She had fear of the respect of mankind. In the same time she turns to the human concept toward migraines. She says that people often have misconception about this disease. She comes to the objective point of medical knowledge. It happens not by brain tumor, eyestrain, high blood pressure. Migraine headaches are not imaginary. Migraine is something more than the fancy of a neurotic imagination. It is an essentially hereditary complex of symptoms. Almost any thing can trigger a specific attack of migraine: stress, allergy, fatigue, a flashing light, a fire drill etc. She again talks about personal experience at the point of heredity. She says that her grandmothers’ had migraine. Her father and mother had migraine. From heredity, she turns tq the chemistry of migraine. In thE1 time of severe pain she is fully upset. Physically and mentally she suffers. She says that her husband has this migraine, too. Sufferer hardly can pass days easily.
The writer comes to conclusion by asserting an intellectual response of confronting this disease with tolerance and concentration on the pain for some time like in yoga. The pain dies and she has relief afterwards. We may concentrate our daily household jobs and other activities to divert from the pain of migraine.
My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold: William Shakespeare
Summary
The poet says that his heart leaps up when he sees a rainbow in the sky. It was the beginning of his life, and now he’s well grown up. He knows that he will grow old and finally die, too. As the child (past) is father (future) of the man (present), the poet wishes his days to be bound to each period (past, present and future) by natural piety, that is, natural blessing of divinely power.
The distinction of Wordsworth lies in the fact that to him Nature was not mere physical loneliness, but a revelation of God. He worshiped nature. He saw in all natural objects the indwelling spirit of Supreme Being. To him he varied forms and phenomena were nothing but manifestation of the divine. He realized that to love nature is to Man who is part and parcel of the nature. Nature is the great teacher and healer. In the first two line of the poem, the poet feels his heart leaps up at the sight of a rainbow in the sky. The nature has produced a good effect on the poetic mind of Wordsworth. The poet has been turned to the skepticism of life because of the spectrum of the rainbow.
In the third, fourth and fifth lines, he has found natural continuation of life – child, man and old man. In the fifth line, there is speculation (guess) of the break in the continuation. Death is inevitable to end the beautiful period of life.
The seventh line is basically the main theme of the poem. The widely accepted proverb, “The Child is the Father of Man” has to tell us a lot. It says that the present is the outcome of the past. So naturally the future will be the outcome of the past. The last two lines conclude the argument. The poet, therefore, concludes wishing that his days should be bound to each period of life by natural way with divinely pleasure.
The Poplar Field: William Cowper
Summary
The poet strongly protests the sinful deeds against the natural resources in the poem. Basically, deforestation is really the great challenge in the world to sustain ecological balance. The poet sentimentally recalls that the cutting down poplar trees cause the adverse impact in human life.
The poem is all about deforestation and destruction of the poplar fields in the bank of the Ouse River in England. That shows that human civilization is the curse for the protection of natural resources. The result of cutting down of the poplar trees, as poet recalls, the shade and the whispering sound of the row of trees are disappeared. The winds no longer play with the leaves of the trees and no reflection of the trees in the river water is seen. He says that he has missed everything in his twelve years of running life. He recalls that it was his favourite place to stay which gave him shade; but regrets that they are laid.
The poet has deep-rooted sympathy upon other creatures in the trees such as blackbird that gets relieve from the hazel in the heat. As the trees are cut, the blackbird has fled to another shelter. Likewise their melodious chirping tone and sweet booming (echoing) song that charmed the poet most has also be gone.
The poet again laments (regrets) that his fleeing (running) years are all in hurry that he couldn’t understand the value of trees and environment in his life. Now he is more conscious about the value of trees and says that he’ll soon die like the trees and the grass will grow on his chest and stone at his head in his grave and says that other trees will arise in that place.
The poet finally says that the trees in the bank is the sight to engage him and considers that human pleasures and ecstasies are decaying. He states that we’re short-lived like the poplar trees but our enjoyments and happiness are less durable than our own lives.
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