Category: English Summary

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Mirror Summary in English by Sylvia Plath

Mirror Summary in English

This poem explores the relationship that we have with truth, particularly the truth about ourselves.

In the first verse, Plath imagines the thoughts of a mirror, chosen because it is an object we all turn to in search of a kind of truth. It is presented as objective—’exact’ and without ‘preconceptions’, swallowing whatever it sees without a second thought, ‘unmisted by love or dislike’. The mirror is, it is at pains to point out that it is, ‘not cruel, only truthful’—but truth itself is cruel for human beings, and we turn away from it, presenting our backs to those mirrors that offer to show us the unbiased truth.

In the second verse, the mirror is replaced by the lake, something else into which humans have traditionally gazed into, in search of their own reflection. Plath presents us with a woman ‘searching the mirror’s reaches for what she really is’, but the figure cannot bear the truth she finds, and turns her back on it in favour of ‘those liars, the candles or the moon’, both images traditionally associated with romance. Yet we cannot live without knowing the reality about ourselves, even if what we find upsets us. So each morning the woman is back, even though it is only to cry and wring her hands at what she sees. To know the truth is torture, and yet we continue to torture ourselves.

What makes the poem particularly striking is the viewpoint Plath adopts—she writes as the mirror itself. This brings an added poignancy to this poem about isolation, the only person more lonely than the receiver of bad news is its bearer, perhaps. The mirror’s life is an unfulfilled one, it can do no more than ‘meditate on the opposite wall’, and even the dignity of the word ‘meditate’ is undermined by its object, a wall painted ‘pink, with speckles’. Throughout the poem, it is the mirror which meditates, which has hidden reaches, which has a heart and behaves ‘faithfully’.

But the woman ‘comes and goes . . . day after day’. She merely ‘rewards (it) with tears and an agitation of hands’, turning her back on it and yet unable to stay away, returning every morning to replace the darkness. The relationship between the mirror and the woman is evidently a complex one—they need each other, and yet cause each other pain, too.

In this poem, Plath—who committed suicide less than 18 months later—adopts the mirror’s viewpoint in order to explore her ambivalent feelings about herself. ‘Mirror’ juxtaposes images of love and cruelty, truth and dislike, flickering light and darkness. One minute the mirror is ‘a little god’, the next it is needy and alone. It longs to be loved and yet it is in the woman’s suffering, her ‘tears’ and ‘agitation’, that it receives what it calls a ‘reward’. Ahead lies a terrible future for the woman. The description of herself as a ‘terrible fish’—a cold and emotionless woman—rises to torture Sylvia Plath.

Mirror Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice

a. When the mirror is being described as being ‘unmisted by love or dislike ’ we understand that the mirror is
(i) not misted
(ii) not prejudiced
(iii) has four angles
(iv) is silver in colour
Answer:
(ii) not prejudiced

b. The other word for‘contemplation’is ………….
(i) contempt
(ii) meditation
(iii) mediation
(iv) Thoughtful

c When the mirror says ‘it has no preconceptions ’ it means that:
(i) it reflects back an image objectively
(ii) it modifies an image as it reflects it
(iii) it beautifies an image as it reflects it
(iv) it gives a biased view of a person/object

d. The mirror has been called ‘a four-cornered god’ because:
(i) it is square shaped
(ii) like God it watches you unbiased andfair from all four angles
(iii) it reflects back all that it sees
(iv) it never stops reflecting

e. The ‘speckles’ refer to:
(i) a pink object
(ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it
(iii) a person with pink pimples
(iv) pink spots in general
Answer:
(ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it

f. The phrase ‘agitation of the hand’ suggests that the person is:
(i) very ill
(ii) very upset
(iii) very angry
(iv) very happy
Answer:
(ii) very upset

g. By saying ‘Now I am a lake ’ the narrator wants to show that:
(i) the poem is not only about external beauty but also the inside of a person
(ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces
(iii) the depth of the lake is important
(iv) the lake does not show as exact an image as a mirror *
Answer:
(ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces

Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly

a. What is the poetic device used when the mirror says ‘I swallow ’?
Answer:
The poetic device used is personification. Like a person swallows food and chews upon it, the mirror takes in the image of a person and thinks about it.

b. How does the mirror usually pass its time?
Answer:
The one-dimensional mirror spends the entire day gazing at the wall on the opposite side and faithfully reproduces its colours and design until darkness supervenes or faces intrude.

c. What disturbs the mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall?
Answer:
The mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall is disturbed by the darkness that makes it impossible for the mirror to gaze at the opposite wall. Sometimes a person comes and stands in front of the mirror and the mirror cannot gaze at the opposite wall.

d. Why does the mirror appear to be a lake in the second stanza? What aspect of the mirror do you think is being referred to here?
Answer:
In the second stanza the mirror appears to be a lake. The difference between a lake and a mirror is that the lake is not ‘silver and exact’ like a mirror and it has more depth. The lake is a symbol for the private, hidden self. It shows that which society cannot see.

e. What is the woman searching for in the depths of the lake?
Answer:
The woman is looking into herself to see what she really is. She is searching for her private, hidden self. It is a side of her which society cannot see, but it is the truth which she knows about herself.

f. How does the narrator convey the fact that the woman looking at her reflection in the lake is deeply distressed?
Answer:
The woman is agitated. She wrings her hands in distress and then when she cannot bear the truth, she turns her back on it in favour of ‘those liars, the candles or the moon’, who soften the harsh edges.

g. What makes the woman start crying?
Answer:
The woman looks into the lake and sees she is ageing. She looks at her own reflection with loathing as she sees less and less of the young girl and more of the old woman. The rising of the ‘terrible fish’ refers to the aged woman whose skin is turning ugly. It also refers to the woman’s self-loathing as she considers herself unworthy of being loved. This makes her cry.

h. What do you think the ‘terrible fish ’ in the last line symbolizes? What is the poetic device used here?
Answer:
The terribly ugly fish rising towards her is the fear of aging that rises from the depths of her repressed mind. It is a sad, angered and emotionless woman at the end who comes to the realisation that one day, she will grow terribly old and die. It also symbolises the woman’s self-loathing and perception of herself as being incapable of loving and as cold as a fish. The poetic device used here is symbolism.

Question 3.
Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow by ticking the correct choice:

A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

a. What is the woman bending over?
(i) the mirror
(ii) the lake
(iii) the opposite wall
(iv) the moon and the candles
Answer:
(ii) the lake

b. Why have the candles and the moon been called ‘liars ’?
(i) because they make people beautiful
(ii) they hide the blemishes of people with their soft light
(iii) they hide the blemishes and make people look beautiful in their soft glow
(iv) they can’t talk
Answer:
(ii) they hide the blemishes of people with their soft light

c. Why does she turn to them in spite of calling them ‘liars ’?
(i) the reality is too harsh for her to bear
(ii) she is desperately looking for someone to comfort her
(iii) she wants to be told that she is still beautiful
(iv) she can hide her signs of graying in their light
Answer:
(i) the reality is too harsh for her to bear

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.

Virtually True Summary in English by Paul Stewart

Virtually True Summary in English

The story is about the world inside psycho-drive computer games which are played by the power of the mind and can be quite dangerous if someone gets trapped inside one of the games. The memory of Sebastian Shultz gets trapped inside his laptop when his head bangs against his laptop during an accident. He slips into a coma with little hope of survival. Another boy, Michael stumbles upon Sebastian while playing one of the games called Wildwest.

Sebastian appears dressed as a sheriff and tries to escape from the game but is shot at by one of the men and the game ends. Michael finds himself outside the game and receives a plea of help from Sebastian to help him by playing another game—Dragonquest.

Michael responds by entering the game and finds that the game entails that he save a princess called Aurora who is trapped in a tower guarded by a dragon. But before he can save the princess he once again meets Sebastian dressed as a knight who calls out to him to help him escape from the game. The game ends before he is able to save Sebastian, who is eaten up by the dragon. The next day he again receives a message from Sebastian asking for help. He now asks him to try and save him through the game, Jailbreak. Michael responds by entering the game but once again fails to rescue him.

Finally Sebastian sends him a message to try for the last time and play the game, Warzone. This time Michael is able to rescue Sebastian at the last moment. Simultaneously, he gets to read the news of the miraculous recovery of Sebastian in the hospital. This leaves Michael wondering how real the virtual world of computer games is.

Virtually True Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
According to the newspaper, what had happened to Sebastian Shultz?
Answer:
Sebastian Shultz had been in a coma from which the doctors feared he would never recover but he had come out of the coma. .

Question 2.
‘Dad’s nutty about computers.’ What evidence is there to support this statement?
Answer:
The narrator says so because his father had all the latest computer accessories as well as a computer which could do a variety of things. Also, he couldn’t resist the new gadgets and gizmos that came on the market.

Question 3.
In what way did the second game seem very real?
Answer:
The narrator enjoyed it because the big screen with the loud volume made him feel like he was inside the game, battling it out.

Question 4.
The last game has tanks, jeeps, helicopters, guns and headings would you put this and the other games under?
Answer:
The games can be categorised as psycho-drive.

Question 5.
What was Michael’s theory about how Sebastian had entered the games?
Answer:
According to the narrator, Sebastian’s memory had somehow got stored in the disk containing the games. These disks had been stolen from the Shultz’ house and they had found their way to the Computer Fair from where the narrator’s father had bought them for him.

Question 6.
Read these lines from the story, then answer the questions.

(a) ‘That was my idea ’ said Sebastian excitedly. ’ If only it would go a big faster.
(i) Where was Sebastian when he spoke these word?
He was in the game, ‘Jailbreak’.

(ii) What was his idea, and what was he referring to ?
His idea was to rescue Sebastian using a helicopter.

(iii) Was the idea a good one, and did it eventually succeed? How?
The idea turned out to be a good one. They used it in the game, ‘Warzone’ and Sebastian tumbled into the helicopter when the tank crashed into the jeep; the narrator then pulled him up.

Question 7.
Answer the following questions briefly.

a. Why did the news of the ‘miracle recovery ’ shock Michael?
Answer:
It shocked Michael because according to the report, Sebastian had been in coma for the past six weeks, yet during this time had appeared in Michael’s games and asked him for his help in escaping from one game or the other that were stored inside the CD.

b. Michael’s meeting with Sebastian Shultz had been a chance meeting. Where had it taken place and how?
Answer:
The meeting took place inside the game ‘Wildwest’ when Sebastian had entered the game as the second Sheriff and asked Michael to follow him.

c. What kind of computers fascinated Michael and his dad? Why?
Answer:
They were fascinated by the Pentium Mhz processor with 256 RAM, a 1.2 GB hard drive and 167 speed CD Rom. It could do anything—play, paint, play music, create displays, etc.

d. Describe the first place where Michael was virtually transported.
Answer:
Michael was transported into a dusty town in the Wild West, into a saloon filled with hostile looking men.

e. What help did Sebastian Shultz ask Michael for? How did he convey this message?
Answer:
Sebastian told Michael that he was stuck inside the computer and asked him to rescue him by trying to play the game ‘Dragonquest’. He sent the message through the printer.

f. Why did Michael fail in rescuing Sebastian Shultz the first time?
Answer:
Michael failed because the game ended and Shultz appeared to have been shot by the men following them in the game ‘Wildwest’.

g. The second attempt to rescue Sebastian Shultz too was disastrous. Give reasons.
Answer:
In the second attempt, Michael found himself having to rescue Aurora the fair princess from a fire-breathing dragon. Though Sebastian once again tried, he was not quick enough to escape from the clutches of the dragon.

h. How had Sebastian Shultz entered the games?
Answer:
Michael felt that Sebastian’s memory had been saved in the computer when he had banged his head on it during the accident and had entered the games.

i. How was Sebastian Shultz’s memory stored on Michael’s disk? Did Michael discover that?
Answer:
Michael discovered it. According to the narrator, Sebastian’s memory had somehow got stored in the disk containing the games. These disks had been stolen from the Shultz’ house and they had found their way to the Computer Fair from where the narrator’s father had bought them for him.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary in English by Adrienne Rich

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Poem by Adrienne Rich About the Poet

Adrienne C. Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was born in Baltimore. She was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was known as “one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century”, and was credited with bringing “the oppression of women to the forefront of poetic discourse.” She published twenty-five volumes of poetry, three collections of essays and more than half a dozen other writings.

Rich’s prose collections are widely acclaimed for their erudite, lucid, and poetic treatment of politics, feminism, history, racism and many other topics.

Poet Name	Adrienne Rich
Born	16 May 1929, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Died	27 March 2012, Santa Cruz, California, United States
Education	Radcliffe College a women’s liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Awards	National Book Award for Poetry, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Introduction to the Poem

The poem, Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ addresses the constraints of married life that a woman experiences. The protagonist of the poem, Aunt Jennifer represents women all over the world, particularly the women in America, during the 1950s. She represents the kind of women who were caught under the oppressive hand of a patriarchal society. The poet, Adrienne Rich through the simple lines of the poem, delineates a woman’s struggles with expression and rebellion. The three quatrains (four lined stanza) expose the desolating effects of patriarchy.

In the first stanza, the poet first introduces us to Aunt Jennifer’s dreams. In the second stanza, we are introduced to the reality of Aunt Jennifer’s world. The third stanza is a narrative of the future.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Theme

The poem revolves around the desires and the depressingly harsh realities of Aunt Jennifer’s existence, using sharp contrasts between the tigers and herself. The tigers appear to be in sharp contrast to her personality. The tiger’s actions are smooth, uninhibited and robust. Aunt Jennifer, on the other hand, has great trouble even to embroider because her movements are so weak. Aunt Jennifer is evidently a lonely, pained old woman plagued by anxiety. The reason for her miserable plight is the oppressive patriarchal family system, wherein the whole soul of the family is the male and it is he, who dominates the scene. She creates an alternative world of freedom—a world that she longs for.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary in English

In this feminist poem, which is critical of the male world, Aunt Jennifer creates an alternate world of freedom in her art. The tigers of Aunt Jennifer’s stitchings are representative of her desire of a free spirit, emphasising the fact that she pines for freedom from her burdensome husband.

The first stanza opens with Aunt Jennifer’s visual tapestry of tigers who are fearless of their environment. “Bright topaz denizens of a world of green” – evoke an image that these tigers are unafraid of other beings in the jungle. Here, ‘bright’ signifies their powerful and radiant persona. There is a sense of certainty and confidence in the way these tigers move as can be seen in the line – “They pace in sleek chivalric certainty”.

In the second stanza, the reality of Aunt Jennifer is revealed as she is feeble, weak and enslaved, very much the opposite of the tigers she was knitting. Her physical and mental trauma is depicted in the line – “find even the ivory needle hard to pull”. Even though a wedding ring doesn’t weigh much, “the massive weight of uncle’s wedding band, sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand” signifies the amount of dominance her husband has exercised over her. This also means that her inner free spirit has been jailed by the patriarchal society.

The last stanza starts on a creepy note about Aunt Jennifer’s death. Even her death wouldn’t free her from the ordeals she went through which can be seen in “When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by”. But her art work which was her escape route or in a way, her inner sense of freedom, will stay forever, proud and unafraid.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

a. How are Aunt Jennifer’s tigers described?
Answer:
They are chivalric, brave and fearless. They have self-confidence.

b. Why are they described as denizens of a world of green?
Answer:
It means the tigers are in their habitat and they are known for their strength and attitude.

c. Why are they not afraid of the men?
Answer:
They are not afraid of the men because they are strong, brave and fearless.

d. Mention the poetic device used in the last line.
Answer:
Alliteration e.g., ‘chivalric certainty’

2. Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

a. What does the first line of this extract tell us about Aunt Jennifer?
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer feels so nervous, fearful and terrified of her male counterpart that even while weaving the tapestry, her hands shake and flutter. She is a victim of gender oppression at the hands of her husband.

b. Why is it so hard for her to pull the ivory needle?
Answer:
She finds it very hard to pull a light-weight ivory needle because while she is creating her work of art, which is a creation of her desires and feelings, she feels fearful of the uncle. She finds it more hard to pull because of the mental suppression and not because of physical weakness.

c. Explain, ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’?
Answer:
This expression is symbolic of male authority and power. Matrimony seems to bind the woman physically as well as mentally. The wedding band was a burden for her as she was not getting enough freedom to express herself because of the domestic responsibilities . and restrictions put on her as a woman.

d. What is suggested in the third line of the extract?
Answer:
It suggests the weight of the relationship. The image is suggestive and the wedding band is symbolic of an unbreakable bond that weighs her down.

3. When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

a. Why are Aunt Jennifer’s hands ‘terrified’?
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer has been enslaved by the wedding ring. After undergoing the harsh and bitter experiences of her married life, she feels weak and shaken.

b. What is Aunt Jennifer’s death symbolic of? Is the society anyway affected by her death?
Answer:
Her death is symbolic of her complete submission to the suppression. The male-dominated society seems to show no concern for Aunt Jennifer’s suffering, or even her death. The society seems in no way affected by it.

c. What does ‘ringed with ordeals’ imply?
Answer:
‘Ringed with ordeals’ refers to the wedding band. Ring here symbolises handcuff which enslaves her all her life and makes her a frightened and scared soul.

d. How will the tigers behave after her death?
Answer:
The tigers will go on prancing proud and unafraid.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding. In this article, we are explaining a roadside stand summary.

A Roadside Stand Summary in English by Robert Frost

A Roadside Stand Poem by Robert Frost About the Poet

One of the America’s foremost poets of the twentieth century, Robert Frost was born in San Francisco and lived there till the age of eleven. When he was just eleven, he moved to England. In 1911, due to some circumstances, he sold his farm in Derry, New Hampshire and moved with his family to England. Here, he met and received the support of Ezra Pound.

Frost received four Pulitzer prizes and Prizes like Bollinger Poetry Prize (1963). Robert Frost’s (1874¬1963) best works include ‘Birches’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘Mending Walls’, and ‘The Road Not Taken’.

Poet Name	Robert Frost
Born	26 March 1874, San Francisco, California, United States
Died	29 January 1963, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Poems	The Road Not Taken
Awards	Robert Frost Medal, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

A Roadside Stand Introduction to the Poem

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet who lived from 1874 to 1963. His simple style of writing, I realistic depiction of rural life and constant reference to nature made him one of the most influential : poets in American history. His most famous poems include ‘Mending Wall’, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘Birches’.He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times.

A Roadside Stand Theme

The poem, ‘The Roadside Stand’ is Robert Frost’s scathing criticism of an unequal society where there is a huge division between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots, owing to the inequitous distribution of wealth. The poem depicts, with clarity, the plight of the poor and the complex dynamics of their existence. It also focuses on the unfortunate fact that the unequal progress and development between cities and villages have led to the feelings of distress and unhappiness in the rural people.

A Roadside Stand Summary in English

The poem “A Roadside Stand”, composed by Robert Frost is about a farmer who puts a little new shed in front of his house on the edge of a road. Several thousands of cars speed past it. He desires to sell wild berries, squash and other products. He does not like charity. He tries to sell his products for money. He believes that money can give him a better lifestyle as he saw in the movies. However, his hopes are never fulfilled. People in cars go past without even giving a cursory look at his stall. And if few of them happen to look at it, they see how the letters N and S had been turned wrong. They believe that such badly painted signs spoil the beauty of the countryside.

Nevertheless, a few cars did stop. One of them desired to take a U-turn. It came into the farmer’s yard and spoiled the grass. Another car stopped to know the way. And one of them stopped as it needed petrol, though it was quite evident that the farmer did not sell petrol.

The poor village people had little earning. They have not seen much money. They lead a life of poverty. It is known that some good-doers plan to remove their poverty. They aimed to buy their property on the roadside to build theatres and stores. They plan to shift the villagers into the village huddled together. They wished to teach them the ways that could change their good and healthy habits. They even aimed to teach them to sleep during day time. The ‘greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ desired to force the benefits on the poor village people and befool them.

The poet feels quite miserable at the pitiable sufferings of the poor village folk. He even had a childish desire for all the poor to be done away with at one stroke to end their pain. But he knew that it is childish and vain. So, he desires that someone relieves him of his pain by killing him.

A Roadside Stand Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,

a. Where had the little new shed been put up and why ?
Answer:
A poor farmer had put up the shed at the edge of the road.

b. What imagery does the first line create?
Answer:
It creates the imagery of an impoverished farmer’s home and a roadside stand that he has set up.

c. Where is the shed set up?
Answer:
“file little new shed is set up in front of his house which is on the edge of the road.

d. What is the poetic device used in the third line?
Answer:
Personification has been used in the third line. The shed has been personified. It pleads pathetically for some extra cash flow.

2. It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.

a. Why does the peasant not want bread?
Answer:
The poet stresses that the peasant does not want bread or the basic amenities of life but a source of alternate income, apart from his trade.

b. What does the peasant yearn for?
Answer:
The peasant yearns for some of the city money to sustain him better, and liberate him from his hand-to-mouth existence.

c. How does money sustain cities?
Answer:
Money in the cities, always in excess, brings luxurious benefits.

d. Explain: ‘flower of cities’.
Answer:
This is a metaphor. Just as flowers are kept from withering with extra care and nurturing, similarly, extra cash flow helps cities to bloom and flourish.

3. The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint

a. Explain the poetic device in ‘The polished traffic’.
Answer:
‘The polished traffic’ is a transferred epithet that depicts the sophisticated, urban city- dwellers.

b. Why are their minds ahead?
Answer:
The urban rich have their minds preoccupied with their own lives and its related problems.

c. How do they react to the presence of the stand?
Answer:
They are indifferent to the presence of the roadside stand, if ever they chance to look at it.

d. Why do they feel out of sorts?
Answer:
The presence of the roadside stand annoys them as they feel that it mars the beauty of the landscape.

4. Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,

a. What do N and S turned wrong symbolise?
Answer:
These inelegantly painted signposts and other rustic signs are a source of annoyance to the urban rich.

b. What does the stand sell?
Answer:
It sells some home-grown produce like wild berries, crook-necked golden squash with silver warts and amateur paintings of the mountain scene.

c. Explain: ‘beauty rest in a mountain scene’.
Answer:
This probably refers to a scenic painting made by the inhabitants of the roadside stand, to sell to the rich people.

d. What qualities of the offered articles make them unfit for sale?
Answer:
The articles for sale at the roadside stand are wild and lack the polish of similar articles available in the cities. Thus, they hold no appeal for the urban rich who drive past.

5. You have the money, but if you want to be mean,
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:

a. How do the rich behave meanly with the poor?
Answer:
When the rich city people refuse to buy anything from the roadside stand, the poor peasant feel dejected and angry. They ask the city men to keep all their money with themselves and leave.

b. Explain, ‘trusting sorrow’.
Answer:
‘Trusting sorrow’ is a metaphor that refers to the fact that the peasants set up their shed trusting that their wares will attract the city folks to buy their products and thus, provide additional income. However, they are filled with sorrow when no one shows interest.

c. What is the poet’s complaint?
Answer:
The rich have hollow complaints such as hurt to the scenery. They are unable to understand the concerns of the poor and their core level struggles.

d. What is ‘left unsaid’?
Answer:
The poor wait in hope expecting the rich to fulfill their promises. Gradually, their hopes give way to the bitter realisation that the promises of the rich are not meant to be fulfilled.

6. Here far from the city we make our roadside stand
And ask for some city money to feel in hand
To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving-pictures’ promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.

a. What is ‘city money’?
Answer:
Using light satire, Robert Frost criticises the political party in power for preventing the peasants from enjoying the lifestyle like that of the city-dwellers.

b. What do the peasants want from the rich?
Answer:
The poet stresses that the peasants want the generosity of the rich. They want promises fulfilled in order to have some extra cash to alleviate their suffering as promised by movies and political parties.

C. Why is feeling money in hand important?
Answer:
it is important for the farmers to have the promised money in hand, instead of the empty and false promises of the politicians.

d. Explain: ‘our being expand’.
Answer:
The extra inflow of cash would help improve the quality of the lives of the poor peasants.

7. It is in the news that all these pitiful kin
Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore,

a. Who are the ‘pitiful kin’?
Answer:
Pitiful kin refers to the poor farmers living in rustic farmlands.

b. Who is buying them out and why?
Answer:
Real estate agents buy them out and force farmers from villages to cities, promising riches. It benefits them temporarily, but the bulk of the benefit goes to these unscrupulous agents.

c. What is the good news for the poor?
Answer:
The good news for the poor is that the government is planning to relocate them, as part of a welfare scheme for the poor.

d. Why are they to be placed next to the theatre and the stores?
Answer:
Cunning and manipulative politicians relocate them next to the theatre and the stores to make them dependent and unable to think for themselves.

8. While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.

a. Explain: ‘greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey’.
Answer:
Greedy good-doers are apparent benefactors but actually ‘beasts of prey’ exploit the innocent village folk by giving them a short term sense of security

b. Who are these people?
Answer:
The greedy good-doers and beneficient beasts are the civic authorities, real estate agents who make the poor complacent and lull them into a false sense of security.

c. Name the poetic devices used in the first line.
Answer:
‘Greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ are both oxymorons. Alliteration has also been used in the first line.

d. How do ‘they’ destroy the poor?
Answer:
The brokers and estate agents promise farmers’ benefits, so that the farmers will not have to think for themselves as they will not be needy. Now sluggish, farmers will sleep all day, thereby losing their sleep by night.

9. Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,

a. What can the poet not bear?
Answer:
The interminable wait of the farmer for prospective customers, distresses the poet.

b. What is ‘childish longing’? Why is it in vain?
Answer:
The poor people’s futile expectation for city money has been compared to children longing for things beyond their reach. It is in vain as the rich are too self-absorbed and hard-hearted to help them.

c. Explain the poetic device used in the third line.
Answer:
Sadness has been personified, as it lies in wait, near the open window, desperately praying for a customer to appear.

d. What does it pray for?
Answer:
The personification is sustained as sadness prays for a city-dweller to stop by, and at least, enquire about the prices of the farmer’s wares.

10. Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Just one to enquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;
And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas
They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?

a. Explain: ‘selfish cars’.
Answer:
This is a transferred epithet. The people sitting in the cars are selfish as no one has charity as motive as they stop by.

b. Name the reasons for which the cars stop occasionally.
Answer:
The cars stop either to reverse, or to ask for directions or to ask if they could buy a gallon of gas.

c. What is the queer demand of the city folk?
Answer:
The insensitive city people ask if the roadside stand sold a gallon of gas, knowing fully well that gas was well beyond their means.

d. What makes the people at the roadside stand ‘cross’?
Answer:
With every passing car that stops, the farmer’s hope rises, only to be disappointed. None of them seem to want what he has to offer. This makes the people at the roadside stand cross.

11. No, in country money, the country scale of gain
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,

a. What is country money?
Answer:
Country money is the meagre income and the meagre profit that the poor farmers make. In no way does it compare with the affluence of the rich in cities.

b. How has the country scale of gain helped the farmers?
Answer:
It has not freed them from their poverty. It has not provided them with the extra cash that is required to improve the quality of their lives.

c. How does money provide ‘the requisite lift of spirit’?
Answer:
Money is a very important factor in modern living. It provides confidence and gives an additional lift to one’s spirit.

d. What is the complaint of the villagers?
Answer:
No matter how hard the villagers try, they can never make as much money as their counterparts in the city. Thus, they never have the money to enjoy the luxuries that the city people have.

12. I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.

a. What kind of relief does the poet visualise for the poor?
Answer:
Frustrated by the helplessness of the villagers, Frost offers to end the lives of the poor at one stroke and liberate them from their grief and pain.

b. What makes him change his mind?
Answer:
Thankfully, common sense prevails before he has taken the thought too far. Sanity returns to him the day after he has had this thought.

c. What is the truth that he realises?
Answer:
When Frost wonders how he might feel when someone found him in pain and decided that death was the best option for him, he realises the futility of his earlier thought.

d. What is the poet’s pain?
Answer:
The poet’s pain is the iniquitous divide between the rich and the poor, the interminable wait that the poor must endure for their misery to be addressed and their suffering to end.

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Patol Babu Summary in English by Satyajit Ray

Patol Babu Summary in English

Sitalakanto Ray, or Patol Babu, had lost his clerical post with Hudson and Kimberley in Calcutta due to the cost-cutting measures during the war more than ten years ago. Since then, he had tried a number of different jobs, from running a store, to becoming an insurance salesman. However, he was not able to settle into any of these endeavours and was in great need of money.

One day, his neighbour, Nishikanto Babu, introduced him to Naresh Dutt. Naresh was part of the Production department of a new movie and asked Patol Babu to do a small role in the movie. This offer made Patol Babu recall his younger days, when he had a settled job at Kanchrapara. In those days, he was a regular actor in the Jatras, amateur theatricals and plays put up by the club in his neighbourhood. His talent was appreciated and his name often appeared on the handbills advertising the performances. In fact, people often watched the plays just for his performance. In recent years, however, he was too busy trying to earn a living and had to give up his love for the stage.

When Patol Babu reached the scene of the shooting outside Faraday House, he observed all the activity on the sets, but was anxious about his role and wanted to know what his lines would be.

When Naresh Dutt told him that he had to walk to a certain point, bump into the hero Chanchal Kumar and say a single word, ‘Oh,’ Patol Babu was initially disappointed. But he recalled his mentor Mr Pakrashi telling him that it was not the size of the role, but what you give to it that matters. So he started practicing various ways of saying the word, trying to mix 60 parts of irritation with 40 of surprise.

When the time came for the shot, he suggested that he should hold a newspaper, which the director agreed to. He was also given a moustache for the role. Finally, he performed a most impressive shot which did not require any retakes. However, while waiting for Naresh Dutt to pay him for his role, Patol Babu realised that the creative satisfaction that he had got from this small performance was far more important than the money that he would have earned. He quietly went away from there.

Patol Babu Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Answer the following questions briefly

a. What was the news that Nishikanto Ghosh gave Patol Babu?
Answer:
Nishikanto Babu’s youngest brother-in-law was in the film industry and he was looking for an actor for a film they were shooting. He had described the character to Nishikanto Babu who had felt that Patol Babu was just right for the role. So he had given him Patol Babu’s address.

b. How did Patol Babu react? Why?
Answer:
It shocked and excited Patol Babu because it was most unexpected.

c. Why had Patol Babu lost his first job in Calcutta?
Answer:
Patol Babu had lost his first job in Calcutta as a result of retrenchment during the War.

d. How does Patol Babu reconcile to the dialogue given to him?
Answer:
No, Patol Babu was not impressed with his dialogue because he felt the people were pulling his leg when he looked at his dialogue. But, then he was reminded of his mentor’s words who sai never to take any role lightly.

e. Who was Mr. Pakrashi? How do his words help Patol Babu in enacting his role?
Answer:
Patol Babu was reminded of the advice given to him by his mentor Gogon Pakrashi who had told him never to consider any role below his dignity and to give it his best, whatever the length of his role might be. He had also said that each word spoken in a play was like a fruit in a tree. Not everyone in the audience could access it but it is up to the actor to know how to deliver the essence of those lines to his audience.

f. How do we know that Patol Babu was a meticulous man?
Answer:
Even though he had got only one word to say in the role of a pedestrian, Patol Babu spent his time waiting for his shot in a quiet little side street rehearsing how he would react and how he would portray the expressions of pain and surprise on his face. In order to check his performance, he rehearsed in front of a large glass window.

g. Why did Mr. Mullick turn down Patol Babu’s request for a rehearsal?
Answer:
Probably because it was not a very important or difficult a scene and most importantly because there was a cloud approaching the sun and he wanted to shoot the scene in sunlight.

h. What were the special touches that Patol Babu gave to his role to make it more authentic?
Answer:
Patol Babu asked the director if he could act as if he was reading a newspaper when the collision took place. He also had planned to express 60 percent irritation and 40 percent surprise through his one-word dialogue.

Question 2.
Discuss the following questions in detail and write the answers in your notebooks:

a. ‘I hope the part calls for some dialogue? ’ Who says this? Why does he /she ask this question?
Answer:
Patol Babu says this to Naresh Dutt. He asks this question to find out more about his role and if it is a significant one. Of course, only a role with some dialogue would count as a meaty role which is why he wanted to know. Naresh tells him that he obviously has dialogue or if it were some part of a passer-by, he would have just picked someone off the road.

b. ‘Were these people pulling his legs? Was the whole thing a gigantic hoax? A meek, harmless man like him, and they had to drag him into the middle of the city to make a laughing stock out of him. How could anyone be so cruel? ’ Why does Patol Babu have these thoughts?
Answer:
Patol Babu has these thoughts after Sosonko gave him his lines which consisted of only one word, ‘Oh’. He believes it to be humiliating to have been asked to come here all the way from his home simply to utter one dialogue. He feels that it isn’t a significant role at all and that the crowd that has gathered would simply laugh at him.

He feels belittled and that the crew including Naresh were cruel to have done this. This is majorly because he feels massive disappointment

Question 3.
Here are some lines from the lesson. What do they tell us about Patol Babu’s character? You may take help from the words given in the table below or find some of your own from the dictionary. The first one has been done for you.

a. That an offer to act in a film could come to a 52-year-old nonentity like him was beyond his wildest dreams. ……………….
Answer:
unassuming; modest

b. Indeed, there was a time when people bought tickets especially to see him ……………
Answer:
Talented; actor

c. ‘I was with Hudson and Kimberley for nine years and wasn’t late for a single day.’ ………………..
Answer:
diligent

d. It didn 7 matter if the part was small, but, if he had to make the most of it, he had to learn his lines beforehand. How small he wouldfeel if he muffed in the presence of so many people ………………..
Answer:
Hard-working; proud

e. Patol Babu cleared his throat and started enunciating the syllable in various ways. Along with that he worked out how he would react physically when the collision took place—How his features would be twisted in pain, how he would fling out his arms, how his body would crouch to express pain and surprise—all these he performed in various ways in front of a large glass window ……………..
Answer:
Passionate; meticulous

f. It is true that he needed money very badly, but what was twenty rupees when measured against the intense satisfaction of a small job done with perfection and dedication? ………………….
Answer:
Integrity; passionate

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On The Face of It Summary in English by Susan Hill

On The Face of It by Susan Hill About the Author

Susan Hill (born on 5 February 1942-) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I’m the King of the Castle. She received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971 for her novel I’m the King of the Castle. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 Birthday Honours for her services to literature. She is known to explore the inner fears and loneliness. Her works reflect honest suffering and optimism.

Author Name	Susan Hill
Born	5 February 1942 (age 78 years), Scarborough, United Kingdom
Education	King’s College London, Barr’s Hill School & Community College, Scarborough Convent School
Awards	Somerset Maugham Award, Nestle Smarties Book Prize for 6 to 8 years, John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Costa Novel Award
Movies	The Woman in Black, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, Je Suis le seigneur du chateau

On The Face of It Introduction to the Chapter

The play is about the friendship between an old man and a young boy who is withdrawn and defiant. Both of them had some physical impairment, but the outlook of each of them towards life in general and people in particular was very different. The old man had a positive outlook towards life, whereas the young boy with the scarred face had become withdrawn and pessimistic.

On The Face of It Theme

The play, “On the Face of It” brings out the idea that the people who have any handicap/ physical impairment of some kind, generally suffer from a sense of loneliness and mental pain. It also talks about how appearances are deceptive and most often, we go on dealing with impressions and prejudices about others without caring to know about them actually.

On The Face of It Summary in English

The play entitled, “On the Face of It” written by Susan Hill deals with the issue of the disabled people. It does not deal with actual pain or inconvenience due to a physical impairment which distresses a disabled person. It rather deals with the behaviour of the people all around him. People discard the disabled person as a useless limb and refuse to accept him as a part and parcel of society. It makes him feel alienated from the human society and he wants to live in seclusion.

The play has two disabled persons, Derry, a young lad of fourteen who bears a burnt face, and Mr Lamb, an old man with a tin leg. Derry is quite withdrawn and defiant. He, by chance meets Mr Lamb in his garden. The old man devises ways and means to overcome his feelings

of isolation and disappointment. He even helps the boy to come out of his seclusion and infuses in him the courage and determination to live on successfully in this world without bothering about what others say or feel about him.

On The Face of It Main Characters in the Chapter

Derry

Withdrawn and defiant; bitter towards the world; lonely and pessimistic; cares too much about his disability and hates it when people stare or pity him.

Mr Lamb

Optimistic; lonely but happy; does not care too much about his disability and has learnt to accept it.

On The Face of It Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
How does Mr Lamb keep himself busy when it is a bit cool?
Answer:
Mr Lamb collects crab apples and makes jelly out of them, when it is cooler. He leaves his gates open to welcome whoever wishes to come into the garden.

Question 2.
Why does Derry tell Mr Lamb that he is afraid of seeing himself in the mirror in the story, ‘On the Face of It’?
Answer:
Derry’s face had become scarred due to acid burns. This terrified him and brought in bad memories of the incident. In order to avoid them, he avoided seeing himself in the mirror.

Question 3.
Mr Lamb’s advice to Derry was the product of his goodness of heart or to befriend him to overcome his loneliness. Give reason.
Answer:
Mr Lamb genuinely liked Derry and wanted him to overcome his inhibitions towards life. He did not want the boy to suffer and have a poor self-esteem because he had a burnt face. He gave his example only for him to understand what can be done to overcome loneliness and to make him understand that a disability should not stop one from enjoying life.

Question 4.
People are insensitive to those who have disabilities. Give instances from the story, ‘On the Face of It’.
Answer:
People generally pity the handicapped or react with disgust when they see them. For instance, people would stare at the burnt face of Derry and comment on it. He even heard two women commenting, looking at his face that only a mother could love a person with such a face. Even his own family was worried about his future. Similarly, Mr Lamb was also stared at by people, and children even called him Lamey-Lamb.

Question 5.
How does Mr Lamb try to remove the baseless fears of Derry?
Answer:
Mr Lamb gave confidence and courage to Derry. He suggested that Derry should get over his physical impairment instead of brooding over his burnt face. He told Derry that he still has two hands, legs, eyes, a tongue and a brain, and if he puts them to right use by setting his mind to it, he can get on better than all the rest.

Question 6.
What did Derry’s mother think of Mr Lamb?
Answer:
Derry’s mother did not have a good impression of Mr Lamb. She thought he was not a good man. She did not want Derry to associate with him in any way.

Question 7.
What consolation did people give when they saw his acid burnt face?
Answer:
Derry’s face was burnt by acid on one side. When people looked at his face, they drew back in horror. They pretended to show sympathy as if he was an object.

Question 8.
Mr Lamb told Derry the story of a man who hid himself in his room. Why did the man do so and with what result?
Answer:
The man was afraid of everything. He felt that he would die if he went out and so he hid himself in a room. In the end, a picture fell off the wall on his head and killed him.

Question 9.
Why does Mr Lamb leave his gate always open?
Answer:
Mr Lamb leaves his gate always open to welcome children. He did not have his own children. He has an apple orchard. He offered them apples and its jelly.

Question 10.
What peculiar things does Derry notice about the old man, Lamb?
Answer:
Unlike the other people, who were horrified on looking at Derry, Mr Lamb did not show any dislike or horror at the way Derry looked. This surprised him. He also found it strange that even though the man himself was handicapped, he lived happily. He had a zest for life and encouraged him in ways no one had. He made him aware of his strengths and the importance of not pitying oneself.

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Lost Spring Summary in English by Anees Jung

Lost Spring by Anees Jung About the Author

Anees Jung (born 1944-) is an Indian woman writer, journalist and columnist for major newspapers in India and abroad. She was born at Hyderabad and received education in Hyderabad and in the United States. Her parents were renowned poets. She has written several books such as Unveiling India, Night of the New Moon, Seven Sisters and Breaking the Silence.

Author Name	Anees Jung
Born	1944 (age 76 years), Rourkela
Education	Osmania University, University of Michigan
Occupation	Writer, journalist, columnist
Nationality	Indian

Lost Spring Introduction to the Chapter

‘The Last Lesson’ is set in the days of the Franco-Prussian War, led by Bismarck. Prussia defeated France and the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine passed into Prussian hands.

The two protagonists of the story, M. Hamel and Franz are from Alsace. M. Hamel is a French teacher and Franz is one of his students. The story revolves around how the war plays a pivotal role in their lives.

Lost Spring Theme

The chapter, ‘The Last Lesson’ covers the themes of patriotism, freedom of language and love for one’s mother tongue. The story stresses on the importance of education and the necessity to respect and learn one’s own language. It also reflects to the unfair practice of linguistic chauvinism – refers to an unreasonable pride in one’s own language while disregarding other languages and considering it to be inferior.

Lost Spring Summary in English

Franz was a student in Mr Hamel’s class at a school in Alsace. The country was now controlled by the Prussians. One day, a notice came from Berlin informing that French would no longer be used in classrooms. All classes would now be taught in German. Mr Hamel told his class that this was his last day of teaching. Everyone was surprised and sad.

Mr Hamel told the students that they had to study hard and keep their French language alive. He said that if a country kept its language, only then it could never be enslaved by another country. Franz felt bad that he had not studied harder. After that, Mr Hamel had his final lessons in the class. All the students studied very diligently. They suddenly understood how important learning was. As the class came to an end, Mr Hamel looked very sad. Before he dismissed the class, he wrote on the blackboard in very large letters, “Vive La Francel” Long live France!

Lost Spring Main Characters in the Chapter

Mr Hamel
A sincere French teacher

• Knew his subject well.

Is passionate about the French language

• Considers French the clearest, the most beautiful and the most logical language in the world.
• Feels that language is the key to a person’s sense of freedom.
• Advises villagers to hold on to French, despite the ban on using the language.

Is proud of being French

• Upset and distressed by the occupation of Alsace by the Germans.
• Attached to his town, school and people.

Is a hard task master

• Particular about discipline.
• Emphasises proper, learning of the subjects.
• The students are scared of him.

An honest and sensitive man

• Shattered by the news of the occupation of Alsace.
• At the arrival of Prussian soldiers, becomes overwhelmed with emotions and his voice chokes.

Blames himself for being selfish at times

• Blames himself for not being sincere and taking holiday or going for fishing.
• Also for making his students run errands for him during class time.

Characteristics of M. Hamel: Emotional, hardworking, patriotic, loyal, honest and sensitive.

Franz

Sensitive and innocent

• Blames himself for ignoring his lessons.
• Worries about the German takeover.

Loves nature

• Enjoys sunshine, bird watching, chasing butterflies.

Is conscious of his student duties

• Wishes that he had prepared for the class.
• Doesn’t like being scolded in the class.

Observant

• Notices every little detail on his way to school.
• Quick to observe the changes in his surroundings.
• Observes M. Hamel’s efforts to control his emotions.

Characteristics of Franz: Observant, sensitive, nature-lover, sincere and empathetic.

Lost Spring Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school.

a. What did Franz think for a moment?
Answer:
Franz thought to run away and spend his day out.

b. Why did he think so?
Answer:
He thought so because he was very late to the school, and he did not prepare anything for the test. So, he was afraid of M. Hamel’s scolding.

c. What were the Prussian soldiers doing?
Answer:
The Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open field back of the sawmill.

d. What were more tempting than the rule for participles?
Answer:
The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods, the Prussian soldiers were drilling, and the warm and bright day were more tempting than the rule for participles.

2. Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, Watcher, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!”

a. Who is ‘I’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘I’ is Franz.

b. Why was ‘I’ in a hurry?
Answer:
Franz was in a hurry because he was getting late to school.

c. Who was reading the bulletin?
Answer:
The blacksmith with his apprentice was reading the bulletin.

Question d.
Why did the blacksmith call after him?
Answer:
The blacksmith was making fun of him because he was getting late to school. He commented in a sarcastic way to not go too fast as he has plenty of time to reach the school.

3. While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”

a. Who is ‘I’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘I’ is Franz.

b. What was ‘I’ wondering?
Answer:
Franz has been wondering about the presence of village people, sitting quietly on the back benches which used to be always empty.

c. How was the tone of M. Hamel?
Answer:
M. Hamel’s tone was grave and gentle.

d. Why did M. Hamel want everyone to be attentive?
Answer:
M. Hamel wanted everyone to be attentive because this was the last lesson he would give to the class.

4. Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on is fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.

a. Who is referred as ‘poor man’ here?
Answer:
Here, the ‘poor man’ refers to M. Hamel.

b. Why had he put on fine Sunday clothes?
Answer:
He had put on fine Sunday clothes in honour of the last lesson.

c. Why were the village people sitting at the back of the room?
Answer:
The village people were feeling sorry for not attending school during their time. This was their way to thank the master for his service.

d. For how many years did M. Hamel teach French in the school?
Answer:
He taught French for forty years.

5. Whenever I looked up from my writing I saw M. Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and gazing first at one thing, then at another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how everything looked in that little school room. Fancy! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his garden outside the window and his class in front of him, just like that.

a. What was the speaker doing?
Answer:
The speaker was doing his lesson in writing.

b. What does M. Hamel’s motionless posture reflect?
Answer:
M. Hamel’s motionless posture reflects his feeling of nostalgia.

c. What was he doing while sitting motionless in his chair?
Answer:
He was gazing at everything that was present in the room.

d. What had been same for the past forty years?
Answer:
For the past forty years, the garden outside the window and the class in front of him had been the same.

6. How it must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave the country next day.

a. Who are ‘they’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘they’ are M. Hamel and his sister.

b. Why is M. Hamel’s heart broken?
Answer:
M. Hamel’s heart has been broken because he has to leave the country the next day.

c. Why do they have to leave the country?
Answer:
They have to leave the country because the Prussian soldiers had announced that in the districts of Alsace and Lorraine, German would be taught instead of French.

d. Who is packing the trunks?
Answer:
M. Hamel’s sister is packing the trunks.

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A Shady Plot Summary in English by Elsie Brown

A Shady Plot Summary in English

‘A Shady Plot’ is a story within a story. The narrator is an author of short stories about ghosts. In this story he reveals how he gets the plot for his latest ghost story.

The narrator had been told by the editor of the magazine that frequently published his stories to write a ghost story as his ghost stories were well-liked by the readers. As he sat thinking of an idea for a plot, the narrator was confronted by a ghost. She slowly materialised in a dark comer of the room like a moving picture cartoons being put together.

First an arm came out, then a bit of sleeve of a stiff white shirtwaist, then a leg and a plaid skirt, until at last, there she was, complete. The ghost was angry at being called to help. In fact, she informed the narrator that it was she who had been supplying him with plots for his ghost stories. She claimed she had been a writer in her other life. Now she, and some other ghosts who had been writers earlier, had organised ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’. They put ideas into the mind of a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impressions. Though initially they had done this willingly, but lately they had been called out too often and so they wanted to put an end to the practice. The ghost wanted the narrator to get all his friends and acquaintances to stop using the Ouija board.

Just then the narrator’s wife, Lavinia, came in. Much to his dismay, she informed the narrator that she had bought an Ouija board. Nothing the narrator said dissuaded her from using it.

The next evening, when the narrator returned, their maid Gladolia met him in the hall. She informed him that his wife had organised an Ouija board party that evening. By the time he changed into his second best suit and a fresh shirt and collar, the guests had arrived. They were mostly elderly people belonging to Lavinia’s Book Club. They were sitting in couples and between each couple was an Ouija board! He looked around for the ghost but could not see her. His wife told him to partner with Laura Hinkle.

When the Ouija board began to move, the narrator at first thought that Laura Hinkle was cheating with that board. But then the board spelt out aloud the word ‘T-r-a-i-t-o-r’. It also told Laura Hinkle to ask the narrator what it meant. The spirit identified herself as Helen. Other couples with Ouija boards also claimed they had received communications from Helen for the narrator. The narrator’s wife looked at him suspiciously. The writer left the room. Angry and suspicious, Lavinia slept in the guest room that night. The next morning she threatened she would be going back to her grandmother and that her lawyer would communicate with the narrator.

John sat in the study, upset with the turn of events. The ghost of Helen arrived again. She said she had been sent to ask when his wife was going to get rid of that Ouija board. At that moment Gladolia called to say she was quitting her job. Lavinia came in then wearing the brown hat and coat she usually travelled in, carrying a suitcase which she set down on the floor.

Since Helen was there in the room, the narrator tried to get her to leave. Just then the door opened and Gladolia announced she was leaving because she would not stay in a place where there were Ouija boards. Lavinia told her to bum the Ouija board. She then suspiciously asked him who was hiding in the room. Helen spoke to Lavinia. She introduced herself as Helen of Troy, New York. And saying so, she left, waving a hand in farewell. Lavinia forgave her husband who declared he had the best plot for a ghost story.

A Shady Plot Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Based on your reading of the story above, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

a. The narrator earns his living by …………………
(i) writing ghost stories
(ii) working as a reader for a magazine
(iii) working as a stenographer
(iv) working as an accountant in a lumber company
Answer:
(i) Writing ghost stories.

b. The writer was overconfident about his ability to write ghost stories because …………………
(i) whenever magazines wanted a ghost story, they got in touch with him
(ii) he was always able to write a ghost story whenever he had to write one
(iii) the readers appreciated his ghost stories
(iv) he knew the ghost lady would help him write a good ghost story
Answer:
(iii) the readers appreciated his ghost stories

c. The sight of the ghost materialising in his room filled the narrator with …………………
(i) fear
(ii) excitement
(iii) joy
(iv) anticipation
Answer:
(i) fear

d. The ghost wanted John to …………………
(i) stop his wife from using the Ouija board
(ii) stop using the Ouija board himself
(iii) stop his guests from using the Ouija board
(iv) stop people from using the Ouija board
Answer:
(iii) stop his guests from using the Ouija board

e. John wants the ghost to disappear before his wife enters the room and waves his arms at the ghost with something of the motion of a beginner when learning to swim. His movement shows his …………………
(i) fear
(ii) amusement
(iii) desperation
(iv) anxiety
Answer:
(iii) desperation

f. When the narrator says his wife is never so pretty as when she’s doing something she knows he disapproves of his tone is …………………
(i) amused
(ii) ironic
(iii) angry
(iv) irritated
Answer:
(ii) ironic

g. The ghost says “It’s all your fault. ‘It’here refers to …………….
(i) the narrator’s wife’s anger
(ii) the ghost’s anger
(iii) the narrator’s wife leaving him
(iv) the ghost materialising in sections.
Answer:
(iv) the ghost materialising in sections.

h. Gladolia wishes to leave the narrator’s house as …………………
(i) she does not like the Ouija boards .
(ii) she is afraid of the ghost
(iii) she is afraid of magic and hoodoo
(iv) she likes Ouija boards and hoodoo
Answer:
(iii) she is afraid of magic and hoodoo

Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly.

a. What genre of stories does Jenkins want the narrator to write? Why?
Answer:
Jenkins wants the narrator to write a ghost story because readers want to read his ghost stories, and his ghosts are well-defined characters like living beings.

b. Does the narrator like writing ghost stories? Support your answer with evidence from the story.
Answer:
The narrator did not particularly like to write ghost stories. He does feel that the editor is exploiting him as he says, ‘Well, I was in no position to contradict Jenkins, for, as yet, his magazine had been the only one to print my stuff.’

c. What makes Helen, the ghost, and her other co-ghosts organize The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau?

d. Why had Helen, the ghost been helping the narrator write ghost stories? Why was she going on strike? What condition did she place for providing continued help?
Answer:
Helen had been a writer before she died. So she and other writers who were ghosts now, had formed ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’. They scouted around until they found a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impressions. The case was brought to the attention of the main office, and one of the ghosts was assigned to it. Helen had been assigned to the narrator. She had come to tell him that they were going on strike.

e. How does the ghost undermine the narrator’s faith in his ability to write ghost stories?

f. Why does John want the ghost to disappear before his wife appears on the scene? What impression of his wife’s character do you form from his words?
Answer:
John says that his wife is very sensitive. The sight of the ghost in her house may drive her to hysterics. Also she may not like the presence of a woman in the house, even if the woman was a ghost. Lavinia leaves the impression of a self-centred and flighty woman, given to jealousy and hysteria.

g. Why does the narrator hesitate to be a partner to Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board Party?
Answer:
The narrator’s wife had told him to partner Laura Hinkle as her partner, Mrs William Augustus Wainright had not come. When the narrator approached, Laura looked at him with a flirtatious smile that implied danger for him as she was untrustworthy.

h. What message does the ghost convey to the group that had assembled in the narrator’s house? What is their reaction to the message?
Answer:
The ghost called John a traitor and asked the Ouija board users to ask him why she was calling him that. The people using the Ouija boards all reported that they had received a similar message and began talking about it.

i. Why is John’s wife angry? What does she decide to do?
Answer:
The narrator’s wife was angry because she felt her husband had been trying to flirt with Laura Hinkle who had partnered him at the Ouija board. She decides to go to her grandmother’s house and communicate with him through a lawyer. The narrator is upset and is angry with the ghost, Helen.

j. Why does John wish he were dead?
Answer:
John wished he were dead so that he didn’t have to face Lavinia’s reactions to the incidents that happened at the Ouija board party.

k. John’s apprehensions about his wife’s reaction to her encounter with the ghost are unfounded. Justify.
Answer:
John felt that his wife was so sensitive that she could not bear to have a mouse say ‘boo’ to her. Seeing a ghost in her own living-room would drive her to hysterics. His fears were unfounded as she smiled at the ghost, relieved she was not Helen of Troy.

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The Last Lesson Summary in English by Alphonse Daudet

The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet About the Author

Alphonse Daudet (13 May 1840 – 16 December 1897) was a French short story writer and novelist. He is remembered chiefly as the author of sentimental tales of provincial life in the south of France. All his life he recorded his observations of other people in little notebooks, which he used as a reservoir of inspiration.

Daudet represents a synthesis of conflicting elements and his actual experience of life, at every social level and in the course of travels, helped to develop his natural gifts. His major works include ‘Tastain’, ‘Le Petit Chose’, ‘In the land of Pain’ and ‘The Last Lesson’.

Author Name	Alphonse Daudet
Born	13 May 1840, Nimes, France
Died	16 December 1897, Paris, France
Movies	Letters from My Windmill, L’Arlésienne
Nationality	French

The Last Lesson Introduction to the Chapter

The story, ‘Lost Spring’.written by Anees Jung revolves around the pitiable condition of poor children who are forced to live in slums and work hard in very dirty conditions. The story is divided into two parts. The first part tells the writer’s impressions about the life of poor ragpickers, who have migrated from Bangladesh but are now settled in the Seemapuri area of Delhi. The second part narrates the miserable life of the bangle-makers in the town of Firozabad. The story talks about the miserable life of the two children whose spring/childhood is lost in misery and poverty.

The Last Lesson Theme

The chapter, ‘Lost Spring’ is divided into two parts, and both the parts depict the plight of street children, who are forced into labour in their early childhood. The theme of the chapter is poverty, and how the poor children are condemned to a life of exploitation, which results in the loss of childhood, innocence, education and play.

The Last Lesson Summary in English

‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’

The author watches a ragpicker named Saheb who scrounges the garbage heaps for some coins and other things to sustain his living. Saheb and his family were Bangladeshi migrants. He is unable to study due to lack of schools in his neighbourhood.

There were a number of ragpickers like Saheb and all of them were barefoot. It was more of a tradition for ragpickers to remain barefoot. They used it as an excuse to conceal their poverty. They have no means to wear paper shoes, though they yearn to possess a pair.

Seemapuri in Delhi is a haven for ragpickers. The author feels that for children, garbage is a mysterious gift, whereas for the elders it is just a means of survival.

The author then comments on the discrepancy between Saheb’s desire and the reality. He yearns to be comfortably off, enjoy pleasures of childhood, play tennis and wear shoes. Later, Saheb starts working at a tea stall. He is paid 800 rupees and all the meals. But now, he is no longer a free bird and a master of his own self.

‘I want to drive a car’

In the second part, the author met a boy called Mukesh. Mukesh stays in Firozabad and belongs to a family of bangle-makers. Most of the families in Firozabad are engaged in making bangles. About 20,000 children work in the glass furnaces of Firozabad. They have to work in very unhealthy conditions. Mukesh takes the author to his dilapidated house, located in stinking lanes. Though Mukesh’s father works hard, he has been unable to change the deplorable condition of his family. Mukesh’s grandmother regards it as their destiny.

She says that they were born in the caste of bangle-makers and have seen nothing but bangles in their life. The author feels that the life of bangle-makers is a vicious cycle of pain and misery, of which there is no end.

The author sees a girl named Savita in another hutment. She says that she has not enjoyed even one full meal all her life. The author says that the cry of poverty rings in every home in Firozabad. These poor people are exploited by sahukars, policemen, middlemen, bureaucrats and politicians. The author feels happy that Mukesh had decided to go to a garage and learn the job of a motor mechanic. Dreaming of flying airplanes seems too distant and too big a dream for him. At least, being a mechanic will help him to be a master of his own. He would be able to remain independent unlike Saheb.

The Last Lesson Main Characters in the Chapter

Saheb

• Saheb-e-Alam is a young boy from Seemapuri (Delhi-UP Border).
• He is a ragpicker.
• His parents came from Bangladesh during a famine there. In Seemapuri, they became ragpickers.
• Saheb and many other children like him in Seemapuri, help their parents earn for a living.
• These children do not wear chappals or shoes. Their parents do not encourage them to be hygienic.
• Saheb loves to attend school, watch tennis, wear shoes and do better work and earn more money.
• Suddenly, one day Saheb chose another job—he abandoned ragpicking and started working for a tea stall owner.
• He was paid ₹ 800 and all his meals were provided. Though he lost his freedom, he gained a better salary and security.

Mukesh

• Mukesh is from Firozabad (UP, near Agra).
• Everyone in Firozabad is a bangle-maker. People here believe that they have been asked to make bangles for the entire nation.
• They believe that bangles are associated with marriage (suhag), so bangle-making is a divine work.
• The elders do not allow their children to look for any work other than bangle-making.
• On the other hand, these blessed bangle-makers are not happy in their lives. They starve. They become blind due to exposure to welding flames.
• They want to do more profitable and less hazardous work, but they are discouraged from all sides.
• The police do not allow them to organise their own trade unions. If Firozabad boys dare to do anything, they are beaten and dragged to prisons.
• Mukesh wants to become a motor mechanic. Fie is determined and focussed.

The Last Lesson Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.

a. Who is ‘his’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘his’ is Saheb.

b. What does his mother tell him?
Answer:
His mother tells him that there were many storms that swept away their fields and homes.

c. Where did he live?
Answer:
He lived amidst the green fields of Dhaka.

d. What is ‘gold’ referred to here?
Answer:
Here, ‘gold’ is referred to the rags.

2. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.

a. Who are ‘they’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘they’ are the children who are rag-pickers.

b. What do they do when they find food?
Answer:
When they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes.

c. What does survival mean in Seemapuri?
Answer:
In Seemapuri, survival means rag-picking.

d. What has acquired the proportions of fine art?
Answer:
Rag-picking has acquired the proportions of fine art, through the years.

3. Saheb, too, is wearing tennis shoes that look strange over his discoloured shirt and shorts. “Someone gave them to me,” he says in the manner of an explanation. The fact that they are discarded shoes of some rich boy, who perhaps refused to wear them because of a hole in one of them, does not bother him.

a. What is Saheh wearing?
Answer:
Saheb is wearing tennis shoes.

b. Why are the shoes looking strange?
Answer:
The shoes are looking strange because he has worn it over his discoloured shirt and shorts.

c. Why were the shoes discarded?
Answer:
The shoes were discarded because it had a hole in one of them.

d. Why is Saheb not bothered about the hole in one of the shoes?
Answer:
He is not bothered because he had been walking barefoot, so even shoes with a hole was a dream come true.

4. “I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.

a. Who is ‘I’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘I’ is Mukesh.

b. Why does he want to drive a car?
Answer:
He wants to drive a car because he wants to be a motor mechanic.

c. What is Firozabad famous for?
Answer:
Firozabad is famous for its bangles.

d. Why is Firozabad the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry?
Answer:
firozabad is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry because families have spent generations working around the furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land.

5. Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being rebuilt. We walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a primeval state. He stops at the door of one such house, bangs a wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open.

a. Whom does Mukesh volunteer?
Answer:
Mukesh volunteers author to take him home.

b. Where are they walking?
Answer:
They are walking down the stinking lanes which are choked with garbage.

c. Describe the condition of homes.
Answer:
The homes have crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows and are crowded with families of humans and animals.

d. Where does Mukesh stop?
Answer:
Mukesh stops at his own house and bangs a wobbly iron door with his foot and pushes it open.

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Should Wizard Hit Mommy Summary in English by John Updike

Should Wizard Hit Mommy by John Updike About the Author

John Hoyer Updike (18 March 1932 – 27 January 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short story writer and art and literary critic. His most famous work is his ‘Rabbit Series’. His fiction is focused on the concerns, passions and sufferings of the average American.

He is considered as one of the greatest American writers of his time. Updike had a style which is rich and unusual and sometimes arcane vocabulary is conveyed through the eyes of “a wry intelligent authorial voice”. He described the physical world in a realist tradition.

Author Name	John Updike
Born	18 March 1932, Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	27 January 2009, Danvers, Massachusetts, United States
Children	Elizabeth Updike Cobblah, Miranda Margaret Updike
Awards	National Book Award for Fiction, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Nationality	‎American

Should Wizard Hit Mommy Introduction to the Chapter

This story deals with a child’s view of the world and the difficult moral questions she raises during f the story session with her father. Jack (Joanne’s father) had become accustomed to, or putting it J more precisely, obligated to telling stories out of his head to his daughter Joanne during the evenings and Saturday afternoons! This tradition itself was now two years old and Joanne had been two when it started.

These stories were almost the same except for some slight variations. It started with a creature usually named Roger (Roger fish, Roger squirrel, Roger chipmunk), who had some problem and went with it to the wise owl. The owl directed him to go to the wizard, who would solve his problem i in exchange for a few pennies more than the creature had and in the same breath would direct the f creature to go to a place where he could find it. Then, the Roger creature would be happy and would l return home just in time to hear the train whistle that brought his daddy home from Boston.

Should Wizard Hit Mommy Theme

The main theme of this story is the relation of children with their parents. Children’s fantasies and the messages of stories they bring with them affect children and sometimes, make them critical.

Should Wizard Hit Mommy Summary in English

The story, “Should Wizard Hit Mommy?” written by John Updike, revolves around the conflicting views of a child and a parent on the child’s future. Parents express their own expectations. They desire that their children should grow up as per their expectations. However, children have their own ambitions and aspirations.

Jack used to tell his little daughter Jo bedtime stories. When she grew a little older, she began to ask a number of questions. For some time, Jack was not able to invent new stories. Thus, the basic story was the same but its hero changed. The hero, a small animal known as Roger meets an owl with its problem. The owl directs Roger to the wizard. The wizard solved the problem with his magic wand. Roger felt good. He played along with animals of the woodland. But when his father used to come back, he went back home to eat supper with him. Jo feels happy with this ending.

Later, her father told the story of a little animal called Roger Skunk. Just like other heroes of his stories, even Skunk has a problem. He used to smell awfully bad. The wizard made him smell like roses, and little animals liked him and played with him. Jo was again happy. However, Skunk’s mother wanted Skunk to get back his original smell. She took him back to the wizard. The wizard again made Skunk smell as awful as ever. Skunk’s mother was happy. However, Jo was not happy. She desired that the wizard should hit the stupid mother. However, Jack defended the mother’s action.

Should Wizard Hit Mommy Main Characters in the Chapter

Jack

He is the protagonist of the story. He is a married man. His wife, Clare is pregnant and they have a four-year-old daughter, Jo and a two-year-old son, Bobby.

Jo

She is Jack and Clare’s four-year-old daughter. She is a growing girl. As she is growing, she has begun to contradict things.

Roger Skunk

Roger Skunk is the protagonist of the story that Jack narrates to Jo. He is bullied for his foul Skunk smell. He wants nothing more than to play with the other animals.

Should Wizard Hit Mommy Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why did Roger Skunk go in search of the wizard?
OR
Why did Roger Skunk go to the wizard?
Answer:
Roger Skunk had no friends to play with, since he smelled very bad. Everybody made fun of him. This upset him. He went to the owl to ask for help, who directed him to the wizard.

Question 2.
How did the Skunk’s mother get Roger Skunk’s old smell back?
Answer:
Roger Skunk’s mother went to the wizard and hit him on his head and asked him to give back Roger Skunk’s smell. The wizard obliged and gave the baby skunk’s smell back.

Question 3.
What help did Roger Skunk get from the wizard?
Answer:
The wizard helped Roger Skunk by casting a spell on him, which made him smell like roses. This helped Roger Skunk get friends to play with and made him happy.

Question 4.
Why did Jo disapprove of Jack’s ending of the story of Roger Skunk? How did she want it to end?
Answer:
In Jack’s story, the protagonist, Roger Skunk, is shown as an obedient child. He meekly goes with his mother to get his previous smell back. This was against his wishes and he would have rather wished the smell of roses, since it would have enabled him to have friends to play with. Jo is a child and from a child’s perspective, playing with friends is very important. Therefore, she wanted it to end it with Roger Skunk smelling like roses and being able to play with his friends. She also wanted the wizard to hit the mother.

Question 5.
What impression do you form of Jack as a father in the story, ‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy?
Answer:
Jack is portrayed as a loving father, who loves telling stories to his four-year-old daughter, Jo. He brings in the dramatic element in his otherwise lame and boring story by using a lot of gestures and dramatic voices. This thrills his daughter, which eventually thrills him. Everything is fine till one day his daughter starts questioning his stories. She views each statement that her father makes with a critical eye and has a lot of questions. Instead of pacifying her by answering her questions, Jack tried to enforce his views on her. Therefore, we can say that Jack is loving and responsible but slightly an immature father.

Question 6.
Why did Jo think Roger Skunk was better off with the new smell?
Answer:
Jo thought about Roger Skunk and his wish to smell better in order to play with his friends from a child’s perspective. For her, it was important that wishes are fulfilled, and a wish of being able to play was foremost.

Question 7.
Why was Roger Skunk’s mummy angry with him? What did she finally tell him?
Answer:
Roger Skunk’s mother was angry with him since he no longer smelled the way all skunks smelled. Though the other animals felt it to be a stink, for her it was an identity. Finally, she asked Roger Skunk to go along with her to the wizard to revoke the spell.

Question 8.
How did Roger Skunk pay the wizard?
Answer:
Roger Skunk only had four shillings to pay the wizard. The wizard wanted seven shillings. On seeing Roger Skunk’s sad face, the wizard takes pity on him and directs him for the remaining three shillings. Roger Skunk goes in search of them and eventually pays the wizard the money.

Question 9.
What did Jo want Roger Skunk’s mother to be punished for?
Answer:
Jo believed that the mother was insensitive, cruel and unfair. Roger Skunk’s mother didn’t let him retain the smell of roses which he had got from the wizard. It would have helped him make friends.

Question 10.
Which do you think is a better ending of Roger Skunk’s story, Jo’s or her father’s? Why?
Answer:
A better ending of Roger Skunk’s story would have been Jo’s—for Roger Skunk to smell like roses forever. The mother need not have interfered in the matter. Roger Skunk would have, over a period of time, understood himself whether it was right or wrong. I believe that Jo’s idea of the wizard hitting the mother is wrong, just like it was wrong on the part of the mother to hit the wizard.

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The Dear Departed Summary in English by Stanley Houghton

The Dear Departed Summary in English

In the play The Dear Departed, Stanley Houghton satirises the degradation of moral values in the British middle-class.

In trying to grab the things belonging to grandfather, the children completely disregard modesty, decency and filial obligation. The materialistic attitudes of Mrs Slater and Mrs Jordan come in for bitter criticism. This story is about a middle-class family in a provincial town. Grandfather Abel Merryweather is presumed to be dead and his daughters Amelia Slater and Elizabeth Jordan try to grab his belongings.

The curtain opens to reveal that Abel Merryweather, father of Mrs Amelia Slater and Mrs Elizabeth Jordan has apparently passed away. Abel Merryweather has been staying with Mrs Slater for the past three years. Mrs Slater has informed her sister about his demise. We learn that the two sisters are estranged. However, she is expected shortly due to the father’s demise. We also learn that Abel Merryweather is a drunkard, who spends a fair amount of time at the nearby pub, Ring- o’-Bells, run by a widow, Mrs John Shorrocks. That day, too, he had returned drunk from the pub and fallen into bed in a daze. A while later when Amelia took some dinner up for him, she found he had ‘gone’.

The Slaters, Amelia, her husband Henry and daughter Victoria, are making arrangements for the arrival of the Jordans. They dress partly in mourning as they do not have mourning clothes and will acquire them soon. Before the Jordans arrive, Mrs Slater takes hold of her father’s new slippers, his new bureau and clock.

Mrs Jordan arrives with her husband, Ben. Both are dressed in new mourning clothes. Ironically, while both the families make a show of grief, the two sisters are more interested in their inheritance. Elizabeth wants to make a list of her father’s belongings. She wants his gold watch and she claims her father had promised it to her son, Jimmy. They then begin quarrelling over their father’s belongings. They are worried about the payment of their father’s insurance premium. When Victoria tells them Abel Merry weather had not paid the premium, the two ladies, Amelia and Elizabeth, express their anger at their father’s irresponsibility.

And then Abel Merry weather, who had had a little too much to drink and was in a drunken stupor, comes round. The family is surprised to see him. He, in turn, is surprised to see them in mourning. They try to hide the fact by saying that Ben has lost his elder brother. But the truth soon comes out and Abel is upset by his daughters’ shameful behaviour. He announces he is going to make a new will leaving all that he has to the person he is staying with at the time of his death. Each sister tries to convince him to live with her. A quarrel ensues where the two reveal secrets about each other. Their earlier fights have been over keeping the old man as neither had wanted him with her.

Disgusted with their behaviour, Abel announces that he is getting married to Mrs John Shorrocks, the owner of the Ring- o’-Bells and moving in with her as she wouldn’t find looking after him a burden. So saying, he leaves the house. The daughters who had their eyes on the inheritance are taught a lesson in filial duty.

The Dear Departed Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Given below are the main incidents in the play. They are in a jumbled order. Arrange them in the sequence in which they occur in the play.
(3) Mrs Slater discovers that grandfather is ‘dead’.
(2) Mrs. Slater instructs Victoria to put her white frock on with a black sash.
(6) Henry wears the new slippers of grandfather’s.
(4) The Slaters fetch the bureau and the clock from upstairs.
(11) The Jordans arrive and learn the details of grandfather’s ‘demise’ from the Slaters.
(10) They discuss the obituary announcement in the papers and the insurance premium payment.
(1) Victoria is asked to fetch the bunch of keys to the bureau to look for the insurance receipt.
(5) The family sits down to have tea.
(9) Grandfather comes down and is surprised to find the Jordans.
(7) Grandfather comes to know how his daughters were in a hurry to divide his things between them.
(8) Grandfather announces his intention to change his will and to marry Mrs. Shorrocks.

Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly.

1. How does Mrs. Slater plan to outshine the Jordans? What does it reveal about her character?
Answer:
Mrs Slater is dressed in black, but is not in complete mourning. She has got her husband to wear a black tailcoat, grey trousers, a black tie and a bowler hat. Victoria, her daughter, is wearing a white frock with a black sash. She feels she will outshine the Jordans as Ben and Elizabeth will not have thought about mourning yet, so they will outshine them there.

2. Why does Mrs. Slater decide to shift the bureau from grandfather’s room before the arrival of the Jordans? How does Henry react to the suggestion?
Answer:
Mrs Slater has always wanted to have the bureau after grandfather died. She feels she can easily take it before her sister arrives as it has been bought recently and her sister doesn’t know of it. She says if she leaves it in grandfather’s room, her sister will drive a hard bargain over that. Henry feels it is not sensitive or becoming to do that.

3. What is the reason for the Jordans taking a long time to get to the house of the Slaters? What does it show about the two sisters ’ attitude towards each other?
Answer:
The Jordans come late because they bought new mourning clothes and dressed up in them before reaching the Slaters’ residence. This shows that both the sisters were trying to get the better of each other all the time.

4. What does Mrs. Jordan describe as ‘a fatal mistake ’? What is the irony in the comment she makes on Mrs. Slater’s defense?
Answer:
Mrs Jordan calls not calling in a doctor to see grandfather ‘a fatal mistake’ as a doctor may have saved Abel Merryweather’s life. Presuming Abel Merryweather was dead and not getting a doctor turns out to be a mistake as he turned out to be alive. He realized his daughters were selfish and money-grubbing and he decides to change his will.

5. Ben appreciates grandfather saying ‘its ’ a good thing he did’. Later he calls him a ‘drunken old beggar’. Why does he change his opinion about grandfather?
Answer:
Ben praises Abel Merryweather when he thinks that the old man has paid his insurance premium that morning and they will inherit his insurance money. But when Victoria Slater tells them that grandfather had not gone to pay the insurance premium that morning but had gone with his friend to the Ring-o’-Bells for drinks, Ben is angry and calls him a drunken old beggar as the insurance policy may have lapsed and there may be no money for them.

6. What change does grandfather make in his new will? What effect does it have on his daughters?
Answer:
Abel Merryweather said that he will change his will to say that his money and his bits of things would go to whomever he was living with when he died. His daughters at once began to fight as each wanted to keep him with . her, while earlier they had fought over not wanting to keep him.

7. What are the three things that grandfather plans to do on Monday next?
Answer:
On Monday next grandfather planned to do three things. He planned to go to the lawyer’s and alter his will leaving all he had to the person he was staying with, at the time of his death. He also planned to go to the insurance office and pay his premium. The third thing was to go to St. Philip’s Church and get married to Mrs John Shorrocks.

Question 3.
Answer the following in detail:

1. Bring out the irony in the title of the play.
Answer:
The title ‘The Dear Departed’ refers to the death of a person who is loved but Abel Merryweather is neither dearly loved nor departed. The daughters do not mourn his death. They wanted to grab whatever they can (bureau, clock, gold watch, insurance premium), after his death. He is not dead but merely drunk.

2. How does the spat between his daughters lead to grandfather discovering the truth?
Answer:
He hears about the spat between his daughters when he gets up. Elizabeth shows him the bureau and the clock grabbed by Amelia. Amelia talks about the gold watch supposedly promised to Jimmy. He realises the truth behind the fight. He knows that Amelia wanted to get rid of him two years ago and Elizabeth didn’t want him either.

3. Compare and contrast Henry’s character with that of his wife. Support your answer with evidence from they play.
Answer:
She is greedy and wants to take some of grandfather’s things she likes before her sister arrives. She is straight talking, while Henry tells Victoria that grandfather had promised the bureau to them, she just tells Victoria to be quiet and not tell her aunt. She is rude and impolite to her sister and lacks feelings. She hurts grandfather by telling him that Elizabeth did not wish to keep him. Henry is sensitive and does not wish to take the slippers or the bureau. He has a weaker character and allows himself to be dominated by Amelia. He is evasive and hides from the ugly truth. He tells Victoria that grandfather had promised them the bureau.

Question 4.
Bring out the traits in Mrs. Slater’s personality quoting evidence from the play.
Answer:

Trait	Evidence from the play
greedy	‘We could put that shabby old chest of drawers upstairs where the bureau is now. Elizabeth could have that and welcome. I’ve always wanted to get rid of it.’
Overpowering/ dominating	‘Pringle attended him when he was alive and Pringle shall attend him when he’s dead. That’s professional etiquette.’
Blunt/ straight talking	‘You want a whole poem. That’ll cost a good lot.’
impolite	‘Promised to your Jimmy! I never heard of that.’
Insensitive	‘After all I’ve done for him, having to put up with him in the house these three years. It’s nothing short of swindling.’

Question 5.
Answer the following with reference to the context.

1. “Are we pinching it before Aunt Elizabeth comes?”

(a) What does‘it’refer to here?
Answer:
It refers to the bureau belonging to Abel Merryweather

b. How does Vicky conclude that her parents are‘pinching it’?
Answer:
Vicky concludes her parents are pinching it because it belongs to grandfather and they are taking it without permission after his death.

c. Mention the two reasons that Mrs. Slater gives for her action.
Answer:
Mrs. Slater says that she has always wanted it and if her sister Elizabeth were to see it, she would drive a hard bargain over it.

d. What does it reveal about the difference between the attitude of the elders and that of Vicky?
Answer:
The elders are out for what they can get while Victoria has more of a sense of what is right.

2. “I don’t call that delicate, stepping into a dead man’s shoes in such haste. ”

a. Who makes this comment?
Answer:
Mrs Jordan makes this comment.

b. What prompts the speaker to say this?
Answer:
The speaker is prompted to say this when she sees Henry Slater wearing Abel Merryweather’s slippers.

c. Bring out the significance of this statement.
Answer:
The Slaters and Jordans have started dividing Abel Merryweather’s things amongst themselves as soon as they presume him to be dead. Herein lies the irony as both of the daughters are acting in the same greedy manner.

3. “Now, Amelia, you mustn ’t give way. We’ve all got to die some time or other. It might have been worse. ”

a. Who is the speaker of these lines?
Answer:
The speaker of these lines is Ben Jordan.

b. What prompts the speaker to say these words?
Answer:
Amelia is giving way to her grief at Abel Merryweather’s death. This prompts Ben to say these words.

c. What does he mean when he says ‘It might have been worse ’?
Answer:
Ben means that it could have been one of them who had died instead of Abel Merryweather.