12thenglish
+2 ENGLISH
for +2 English textUNIT 1
FLIGHTS OF FREEDOM
profile of Smita Patile
The 3Ls of empowerment is a speech
Read the speech on textbook page no 9
click here to play the video of the speech
chapter 2
Any woman is a poem byKatharine Tynan
Any Woman by Katharine Tynan: Summary and Analysis Katharine Tynan’s ‘Any Woman’ is a deeply touching poem that celebrates the self-effacing love of mothers. It tells us about the cares, worries and burdens that mothers bear everywhere to hold their homes in order. The poem also reflects Tynan’s view of motherhood as the supreme gift for the sake of which she could accept gallantly even a lessening of her literary position.Summary of Any Woman: The poem opens by introducing the central metaphor of the house. The mother says that she is the pillars of the house. She is the keystone of the arch without which the roof and wall would fall and the house would be ruined.A mother is not only the foundation of the household; she is the ‘vita lux et amor’ – the life, light, and love that fill a house. Like the sun which warms the earth, she is the fire upon the hearth. The children warm their hands at her. Without her the house would be cold and lifeless and the children would not thrive.The mother is also like a twist or a knot in the ring that holds the different strands together. She holds the children together in the sacred ring of love. Without the knot of love many a child could go a-wandering and get lost.Finally, the poet describes the countless chores a mother performs every day in the house which may make her children wonder whether she has a thousand hands. She decorates the house, gets the table ready for dinner, spins the curtains, and makes their bed. Here she is also compared to a mother bird who builds the nest, feeds the nestlings and makes their bed with her own soft feathers. She walls out the wind and snow and protects them from all danger. The poem ends with the mother’s prayer to Jesus to keep her alive till the children grow.Analysis of the poem: All the metaphorical images in the poem revolve around the central metaphor of a house and underline the proposition that a house and a mother are synonymous. A house is a house only when there is a mother. But her value is often not understood until she is lost.Images of pain and suffering abound in ‘Any Woman’ and point to the hardships and burdens that a mother has to bear for her children. The pillars that bear the weight, the keystone that bears the tension, the fire that burns itself, the knot of the ring that is twisted by force, and the mother bird that sheds its soft feathers underline the selfless suffering that motherhood involves.W.B Yeats has always voiced his opinion that Katharine Tynan is at her best when she expresses her own affectionate nature, or her religious feeling, either directly or indirectly. Both these feelings find expression in ‘Any Woman’.Even though the poem reflects Katharine Tynan’s belief that the woman is the central figure in a family, it has nothing to do with her view of her own mother. Tynan was essentially a father’s child and ‘Any Woman’ shows the great affection that the poet had for her children. As her own daughter remembers, “she had, as mother, that rare and indefinable and most precious of all gifts, that lights a fire on the hearth, a lamp in the window, for the children coming home to her… lifting her eyes from the writing pad to meet those of a child coming for comfort to where it was never refused.”So it is a true mother speaking out for every single mother who has rocked and crooned her little ones to sleep. And the same prayer moves any woman’s lips; be it in the civilized west, in the torrid Africa, or in the remote villages of India as we see in Nissim Ezekiel’s ‘Night of the Scorpion’.
Read the poem The Toys byCoventry Patmore
CHAPTER 3
Ashapurna Debi
“Matchbox” written by Ashapurna Debi tells the story of a married couple. It unveils the unhealthy man-woman relationship existing in most Indian families. She compares women to matchboxes. Matchboxes have the potential to light up everything into fire. But in appearance, they are meek and harmless. It is the same with women in their outlook. They also appear to be meek and harmless, but they can set everything into fire within no time.The central character of the story is Nomita. Her married life really reveals the above truth in a simple and touching manner. Her husband Ajit has the habit of opening his wife’s mail and reading it. He argues that it his right to screen her mail to confirm any case of lovers. He doesn’t pay any attention to Nomita’s protest. Whenever she protests him, she is treated badly. Besides her poor family background makes her suffer everything in silence.The readers become very much empathetic with Nomita as they understand the poverty and other miserable conditions of her mother. Her mother has the habit of begging money from her daughter and son-in-law. The other members of the family too pinch her with sharp words. Really the letters she received were from her loving mother. Mother used to write about her misfortunes and the miserable conditions of their house. She asks for money to find a solution. She is afraid of dying under the weight of a collapsed roof.When we come to the climax of the story we see a woman who gets angry and goes out of control. She even threatens him that she would teach him a lesson. But he is making humorous comments at her raging phrases. In the end she frightens him by setting fire the anchol of her own sari. This story really describes the consequences of her rage at the misbehavior of her husband. It is really interesting to see the husband’s efforts to make her calm and normal.
CHAPTER4
horegallu is a anecdote bySudha Murty
summary
In every tiresome journey, we need a place to rest and regain our energy. This is necessary if we want to continue our journey successfully. Everyone is carrying heavy burdens of problems and worries. They need a place to unburden themselves. Sudha Murty in her anecdote “Horegallu” talks about a stone bench under the village banyan tree. People used to sit there and refresh themselves during their long walks. They blessed the horegallu for being there. Like the physical horegallus people need emotional horegallus as well. The author’s grandfather was doing just that. The grandfather used to sit on the stone bench and listen to the worries of the villagers. This gave them strength to carry on with their journey. In the modern times the author found Ratna, a clerk in her office doing the same service. She used to listen to the problems shared by her colleagues.People sometimes need to share their worries and problems with someone else. In the modern times everyone is busy and no one has time to listen to others. Talking itself can release a lot of pressure. It is not necessary to suggest solutions to their problems. Actually solutions should come from the people themselves. It is enough to be a good listener. A good listener should be patient and sympathetic. Also he should not be judgmental. It is not necessary to be immensely intelligent or professionally trained. No one can solve another person’s problems. The process of sharing itself can give the person some clarity about the problem. Most of all a good listener should be trustworthy. They should not betray the other person’s trust. The modern times need more and more horegallus. In a world where people become increasingly selfish, this has great relevance. Sudha Murty concludes her anecdote with the hope that there were many more living horegallus like the grandfather and Ratna in this world
UNIT 2
HEIGHTS OF HARMONY
CHAPTER 5
Mending Wall is a poem by Robert Frost
summary
Written in 1914, Mending Wall is a poem in blank verse that remains relevant for these uncertain times. It involves two rural neighbors who one spring day meet to walk along the wall that separates their properties and repair it where needed.The speaker in the poem is a progressive individual who starts to question the need for such a wall in the first place. The neighbor beyond the hill is a traditionalist and has, it seems, little time for such nonsense.'Good fences make good neighbors,' is all he will say.We all have neighbors, we all know that walls eventually need repairing. Walls separate and keep people apart, walls deny right of passage and yet provide security. Despite the need for such a barrier, the opening line - Something there is that doesn't love a wall, - implies that the idea of a wall isn't that straightforward.Robert Frost, in his own inimitable way, invites the reader into controversy by introducing mischief into the poem. The speaker wants to put a notion into the head of his neighbor, to ask him to explain why is it good walls make good neighbors, but in the end says nothing.A wall may seem useful in the countryside as it could help keep livestock safe and secure and mark a definite boundary. But a wall that separates village from village, city from city, country from country, people from people, family from family - that's a completely different scenario.Robert Frost's poem can help pinpoint such issues and bring them out into the open
CHAPTER6
Amigo brother is a story by Piri Thomas
summary
The story is about two Seventeen-year-olds named Antonio Cruz and Felix Varga they are best friends who both dream of being lightweight boxing champions. There was an upcoming final boxing event with their boys club, Antonio and Felix were pair together in the match. Since the boys knew they were to fight each other they decided to go their separate ways until the fight. On the day of the match, they square off in the ring, each not knowing quite what to expect. But when the bell sounds, they give their all. Antonio who has graceful movement and hard jabs, and there's Felix who delivers his powerful punches. After two rounds the fight was even. In the third round the boys fought non- stop with each other. Once the bell rang the boys left before the referee could say who had won
CHAPTER7
THE HOUR OF TRUTH IS a one act play byPrecival Wilde
summary
Percival Wilde's novel The Hour of Truth is indeed an intense psychological study of the corrupting influence of money on people. The reason for this is that the plot explores greed from a myriad of different points of view and, although all individuals are tempted by greed at one point or another in life, this particular story shows how easily people forget their morals and upbringings when money is close by.This story is positive in that the bad get punished, and the good get rewarded. However, the battle between self and society are intensified in the character of Mr. Robert Baldwin, the secretary of a powerful bank president, Mr. John Gresham. Mr. Baldwin represents an everyday American man who works for a living and whose salary may not be as good as he wished to support his family. His family, in turn, also represents the typical American family with its views on morality, and a hope for the American Dream.Everything changes when we find out that Mr. Gresham, Robert's boss, is accused of appropriating the bank's money, which in turn, hurts the clients of the bank. As Mr. Gresham is arrested we immediately lose confidence in his character. Mr. Gresham was a good boss to Mr. Baldwin, and seems to have been the type of person nobody would suspect. To see him as a thief leaves a bad taste in the reader's rapport with him, making the reader realize how badly money can influence people.As a result of the arrest, Gresham begs Mr. Baldwin to simply say three words during his examination on trial regarding Mr. Gresham's transactions "I don't remember". As a reward, he offered him one hundred thousand dollars: An amazing amount of money at the time of the story.Once again, money changed everything, only not with Mr. Baldwin. It is his family who suddenly changes from being virtuous, respectable, and incapable to allow Robert to tell a lie. When they hear about the bribe (which Gresham calls a payment), they insist that maybe Robert should consider saying "just those three words". This is another instance where we may find it shocking how money can overturn family values.Yet, it is Robert what brings the hope back into the story. He simply cannot accept a bribe but, most importantly, he cannot bear telling a lie. For this reason, he respectfully rejects the offer. This action left Mr. Gresham ashamed of himself, which led him to confess his own crime.The end of the story is positive because Robert Baldwin's honesty and integrity landed him a job in another bank. His reputation as a decent and dignified man was spread out by Mr. Gresham, who realizes what a good man Robert is.However, with the exception of Baldwin, we do not find any other positive dynamics in the story. Money only brings with it isolation, punishment, deception, frustration, and the possibility of endless shame
UNIT 3
CHALLENGES OF LIFE
CHAPTER8
A three wheeled revolution is a interview with Irfan Alam
Summary
A Three Wheeled Revolution is the text of an interview with Irfan Alam, conducted by Sujatha Ramprasad for India Currents in May 2010. He was interviewed after he participated in the Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington. In this interview, Irfan Alam talks about his interests and activities, especially about his foundation, Sammaan, a social enterprise. He motivates the youth to step into the world of social enterprise and make a change in the society
CHAPTER 9
DIDI is alife writing ofShaheen Mistri
Summary
‘Didi’ is an edited version of the first chapter of “Redrawing India – The Teach for India Story” written by Shaheen Mistri and Kovid Gupta. The book tells us about a movement that aims to bring young Indians under the collective vision that one day, all children in India will receive an excellent education. In ‘Didi’, Shaheen speaks about her experiences in the Mumbai slums and her motivation to educate the kids in those slums. The last passage of this text has been added from Rasmi Bansal’s “I have a dream
CHAPTER 10
STAMMER is a poem by Satchidanandan
Summary
K. Satchidanandan’s ‘Stammer’ is a beautiful poem that amazes the readers with its delightful ease of expression. The poem is presented as a series of half-humorous musings on stammering. With wonderful facility, the poet makes stammer the key to an exploration of the imperfections that mark the mettle of the human kind.The poem opens with a paradoxical assertion that challenges all our notions of stammer. The poet says that stammer is not a handicap. It is only a mode of speech. Then he moves on to justify this statement.There is a well-known story about the late Indian Communist leader EMS Namboodiripad, who was prone to stuttering. A reporter once asked EMS if he always stammered. “No, only when I speak, ” replied EMS, leaving the reporter dumbstruck.Well, those who knew EMS will always remember him as a man who never stammered in action. As the poem progresses, the readers are reminded that stammering may not be confined to speech alone. It can also be in action. Here the poet compares stammering in speech to lameness in walking. Lameness is a stammering in action and stammering is a lameness in speech. Both involve a gap or a silence in between. It seems very clear which one is more serious: if stammering is the silence that falls between the word and its meaning, lameness is the silence that falls between the word and the deed. When there is a disparity between the word and the deed, it becomes stammering in action.Now that stammer has become a synonym for all the imperfections in speech and action, the poet moves on to the nature and cause of stammer. He wonders whether stammer preceded language or succeeded it. Another question is whether stammer is a language or a dialect only. These are paradoxical questions that may confuse even linguists. But if stammer stands for imperfections, it is built into the fabric of human beings. Thus it becomes a language rather than a dialect. And it should have preceded language.Having given stammer a universal dimension, the poet now proceeds to look into the cause of human imperfections. Here Satchidanandan rolls out his world view that we are living in an imperfect world created by an imperfect God. There are two notions that are basic to almost every religion on this earth. One is that God is perfect; and the other is that God created man in His likeness. These notions taken together lead to a pertinent question: ‘Then why are human beings imperfect?’ If we think the other way round, God too must be imperfect. We don’t sacrifice any defective things to God because He is the perfect one. If God Himself is imperfect, what can be a better sacrifice to God than our imperfections? Each time we stammer, we prove that we are the children of God and offer sacrifice to him. It is rather these imperfections that prove again and again that we are human beings.Now, there is no doubt as to whether stammer is a language or a dialect. When a whole people stammer it becomes more than a language. It becomes a mother tongue, just as it is with us now. The tongue-in-cheek satire here is unmistakable. While he underlines the universal nature of imperfections, the poet also pokes fun at our reactions to burning social issues. Why do we hesitate? Why do we stammer when it needs action on our part? Why this dangerous silence and inaction? Still we consider mere stammering in speech a handicap!When do we stammer? We stammer in speech when we do not know if we are going to say the right thing. We stammer in action if we are not sure that we are going to do the right thing. So God too must have stammered when He created man. What else could He do while creating an imperfect creature and entrusting this world with him? The stammer of the Creator has got into his creation and that is why we all stammer today. That is why we do not have convictions. That is why we speak one thing and mean another thing. That is why all our commands and prayers suffer from a lack of conviction. That is why we stammer. Where stammer is the rule rather than the exception, and where there are graver stammers than the stammering in speech, is stammer really a handicap?The story of stammer doesn’t end here. The story of stammer is the story of creation. God created man. Man too became a creator when he created language. The poet too is a creator. Imperfection runs through life, language, and poetry. If language were perfect there would be a definite meaning to words, just as there would be a definite meaning to life if human beings were perfect. Poetry too suffers from this imperfection, and meanings differ with each reader and each reading. That is why the poem ends, ‘like poetry’.But these different meanings of a word, or the different meanings of a poem, cannot be treated as handicaps. They add charm to language and poetry. And in life, can you imagine a world where everyone is perfect? A world with a definite single meaning to life? Without these little imperfections, life would suffer from a great monotony. These imperfections, these differences, are actually the spice of life
UNIT 4
LIVE AND LET LIVE
CHAPTER 11
when a sapling is planted is a speech byWANGARI MAATHAI
Summary
When a Sapling is Planted’ is the Nobel acceptance speech of Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who began the Green Belt Movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees. She is the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.In her speech she strikes at the dangers of commercial farming and mentions her holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women’s rights in particular. Dr. Maathai also tells us how the inspiration for her work came from her upbringing in rural Kenya
CHAPTER 12
RICE is a poem by Chemmanam chackoand translated by Ayyappa paniker
Summary
Rice is a satirical poem by Chemmanam Chacko, originally written in Malayalam and translated into English by Ayyappa Panicker. The poet recounts the changes in the attitude of farmers in Kerala who shifted gradually from food crops to cash crops. The poem is divided in to two sections. The first one is the wishful thinking of the poet before reaching back in his village after a long time and the second is the the painful reality of the present.After four years of research in North India, the poet eager to reach his village. He knows that it is planting season there. He imagines the bustle on the fields where farmers are ploughing with several oxen. He expects to reach home in time for a long cherished meal of athikira rice. He is fed up by eating chapaties.But the reality is surprisingly different. The place has changed drastically. In the place of paddy fields there are rubber, arecanut and dealwood trees. Instead of planting paddy, his father is fixing a new machine for making rubber sheets. He says that only fools turn to rice farming for profit. His brother comes with the wheat bought from the ration shop. Probably he has to take chapaties here too.Meanwhile they hear the sound of an airplane above. It carries the chief minister who goes to the centre to clamour for more grains. It flies above the cash crops because no one promotes farming of rice. The poet wonders that even for some husk we may have to go to the centre and beg for it. One cannot miss the social criticism raised in the poem about a people who are not reluctant to discard their age old traditions and customs
CHAPTER 13
Dangers of drug abuse is a essay by Hardin B Jones
Summary
Hardin B. Jones, Professor of Medical Physics in “Dangers of Drug Abuse” describes the evils of drug abuse and gives a warning against it. Nowadays people believe that any illness can be relieved by taking a pill. This has led to wide spread drug abuse. At the first sign of nervousness people use stimulant drugs. They use drugs not only when they are depressed but when they feel great already. They depend on drugs not to solve their problems but to forget them. But medicine should be distinguished from sensual drugs. As said by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, a remedy must take into account not only the disease but also the constitution of the patient. He adds that persons in good health quickly lose their strength by taking purgative medicines. The sensual drugs give the users a strong sense of pleasure. These drugs stimulate the brain’s pleasure centers. The brain governs the sensations, moods, thoughts and actions. These are easily upset by drugs. But only naturally attained pleasure can give total satisfaction. Drug-related health disorders are many and varied. Dirty needles and solution used for injecting drugs can cause liver disease, venereal disease and infection of the kidneys and brain. The chemistry of the brain cells is complex. Toxic drugs can easily destroy this complex system. Finally drug addition ends in physical discomfort. The addict feels depressed and ‘dead inside’. He fails to respond either to his environment or other people. The dangers of drug abuse lie between the degeneration of health and the depletion of brain function. But the damage to the brain is the most subtle but the lease understood consequence of drug abuse
UNIT 5
THE LIGHTER SIDE
CHAPTER 14
Post early for Christmas is a one act play by R H WOOD
‘Post Early for Christmas’ by R. H. Woodis a hilarious play that brims with funny characters, humorous situations and witty dialogues. The title seems to be a warning to the people who hurry at the last minute to send Christmas presents to their dear and near ones. Through an interesting series of events that take place in a post office, the play shows how the last-minute hustle and bustle creates commotion everywhere and finally ends in spoiling a present.The play opens with the assistant’s description of the utter senselessness of people who come to the post office. Soon funny people begin to pour in. But she never loses temper even with arrogant customers. The first customer, Mrs. Smith, has rheumatism and doesn’t seem to like her comment on the weather. Then Mrs. Jones, a rude woman, comes and responds harshly to the assistant’s advice to post early for Christmas. Then a fussy old lady who comes seeking medical advice for her cat thinking that it is a veterinary hospital creates a roar of laughter.Then an old gentleman comes to the post office for his old-age pension. He is a very funny character who doesn’t recognise that he is partially deaf. He mishears everything that the poor assistant says and shouts at her, thinking that she is pulling his legs. The audience cannot but laugh when he dares to tell the assistant that she is a bit deaf. But the assistant responds in a polite, well-mannered way.The conversation between Mrs. Higgins and her son Bertie adds flavour to the play. Bertie is as curious as a monkey and stares at everyone and everything. His terrible grammar and pronunciation are high spots of humour in the play. When his mother asks him about it, he mistakes ‘grammar’ for ‘grandma’ and tells her that she’s at home watching TV.The farmer, a customer in the post office, gives news about a time bomb that has been discovered in a post office in London. He has only half-baked knowledge about the time bomb, but he creates terror in the minds of everyone. When they hear a ticking sound from the parcel given by a tourist, the farmer diagnoses that it is a time bomb. They call a policeman for help.Meanwhile, people try to deactivate the bomb and the policeman is about to throw the parcel into a bucket of water. The tourist, who re-enters the scene to take his forgotten glows back, begs not to do so as it a special parcel. This makes them all the more suspicious and the policeman throws it into water. The tourist then discloses that it is a special dock for his friend. He gets angry with the employees in the post office for ruining his parcel and decides to inform the post master general.The sight of the sinister looking tourist lifting the damaged clock from the bucket and revealing that it was only a present is funny and pathetic at the same time. In the end, the assistant leaves the post office for good to take up a job in the animal dispensary. When she says that animals don’t do such silly things, we cannot but agree with her
CHAPTER 15
This is going to hurt just a little bit is a poem by Ogden Nash
SUMMARY
This is Going to Hurt Just a Little Bit’ by Ogden Nash is a humorous poem filled with exaggerations, puns and metaphors. It is a hilarious description of the whole experience of sitting in a dental chair which causes the poet great agony.The poet considers sitting in the dentist’s chair the worst torture a man can undergo. Some tortures are physical and some are mental. But the only torture that combines both is dental. Whoever you are, you lose all your calm, cheerfulness and dignity when you sit in the dentist’s chair with your mouth wide open and your jaw digging into your chest.To bring out the horror of dental treatment, the poet makes a few comparisons that are outrageously hilarious and exaggerated. He compares his mouth being worked on to a road being repaired. All his nerves are being irked on by the noise and he feels that the dentist is using stone crushers, concrete mixers, drills, and steam rollers. He also compares a dentist to a bear, because the dentist mauls and suffocates him like a bear suffocating its prey. Moreover, he feels that the dentist is approaching him with a crowbar.According to the poet the use of mirrors for dental treatment is the most terrifying thing about it. He fears that the lateral inversion in the mirror may cause the doctor to confuse the right side for the left.After the treatment the patient sighs in relief to hear that it was all. But then, the dentist coats the mouth with something that resembles the polish used on a horse’s hoof. The last nail on the coffin is when the dentist tells him to come back in three months.In the end, the poet feels that having to visit the dentist again and again is the most vicious circle that fate sends him. He feels that he can never get out of it. The paradox is that he wants his teeth in good condition only to keep the dentist away. He hopes it is only for once, but it becomes a cyclical process.The comic effect of the poem is achieved through exaggerations. Sitting in the dentist’s chair is viewed as something that may change the course of one’s life. The tension makes you scratch your palm with your fingernails so hard that even your lifeline may get altered. Puns and wordplay abound in the poem. It is evident in word pairs such as mental-dental, polished-demolished, hope-hopen, etc.Doctors always say, “This is going to hurt just a little bit” to soothe their patients before some painful treatment. Nevertheless, the patient knows that it is going to be painful. The title of the poem takes a humorous turn when the readers realize that Nash may be actually telling the same to the dentist. He warns the dentist that the poem may hurt him a little bit, but when the ‘treatment’ is finished, the dentist realizes that he has been delivered a fatal blow
CHAPTER 16
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT is a story by K R Narayan
Summary
Crime and punishment is a thought provoking short story which keeps its suspense and twist from the beginning to the end. In this story, R. K. Narayan describes humorously how the surroundings, the parent’s mentality and the teacher’s attitude influence the personality of a child
Usefull
മറുപടിഇല്ലാതാക്കൂ