PLUS TWO ENGLISH TEXT NOTES LITERACY MISSION PREPARED BY JOY PETER C 2019/2020

PLUS TWO LITERACY MISSION NOTES  2019/2020

CHARACTER SKETCH:

Mr.Pearson

Mr.George Pearson is Mrs.Pearson’s spoilt husband, in the play “Mother’s Day”  . He is about fifty years old. He is fundamentally decent, self-important, pompous, heavy and slow-moving type man. He is an indifferent husband. He is focused on his own comfort and happiness. He is like his spoilt daughter, Doris and son Cyril. He spends most of his time at the club with his friends playing snooker. His friends call him ‘Pompy-Ompy Pearson’ because of his slow natureand pompous behaviour. Mrs. Fitzgerald’s soul in Mrs.Pearson’s body succeeds in bringing him back. At the end we find him a changed husband who cares for his wife.

Character sketch of Grand mother in “How I taught my Grandmother to Read” .

The story “How I taught my Grandmother to read” written by Sudha Murthy teaches us many valuable things. The story teaches us that if one has confidence in oneself, if one is determined, he will achieve success in life. Grandmother was very determined. She made a firm decision to learn Kannada at a big age. She didn’t care about her age. She had confidence in herself. Grandmother was very hardworking. She even burnt midnight. She was very particular with her lessons. She used to read, write, speak and repeat her lessons. She used to do her homework. Grandmother was a multi tasker. She used to do her kitchen work as well as her studies. She didn’t compromise with anything.  She planned everything. She had enough energy to study. Grandmother was very respectful. On the day of Dussehra festival she completed her education and learnt Kannada. She gave the credit to her granddaughter for teaching her. She gave her granddaughter a beautiful frock and also touched her feet to show her gratitude towards her granddaughter. Grandmother was very intelligent. She even used to repeat the last episode of ‘Kashi yatra’ to her friends.

Q1. Why does the narrator in the story “The Gift” compare the cemetery to a stage on which the light and the shade play of life’s mysteries was being enacted?

A)        Sri S K Pottekkatt in his story “The Gift” compares the cemetery to a stage. The writer had a desire to visit the tomb of the famous English poet Shelly. He bought one bouquet to place it at the tomb of Shelley. He could see endless rows of tomb stones. There were simple tomb stones near marble ones. Dukes and Lords, ordinary workers and labourers were buried side by side. The various honours and titles were listed on a marble tomb. The shadow of the wooden cross was there at the tomb of an unknown person. The tomb of a virgin lie close to that of a butcher. So the narrator compares the cemetery to a stage.

Q 2. Prepare a write-up on the need for behaving properly in a society in the light of the article Good Manners”.

It is said that “A man’s manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait”. Hence, it is necessary to have good manners to be respectful in public. We think that intelligence and money are the only ways to gain respect among people and in society, but this is a very wrong notion. Even if one is intelligent or rich or both at the same time he won’t be treated with respect if he lacks good manners and treats others well.

The way one behaves in public sets a standard for other people also to behave with him accordingly. The need of adopting good manners in public is not only to gain respect, but also to show people that you are considerate about their feelings and their dignity. Moreover, good manners lead to good habits and good habits eventually lead to individual growth as well as overall development of a country.

It is very important to understand the importance of the magical words such as “thank you,” “sorry,” “please,” “excuse me” and gestures such as holding the door for others, not using phone while we are with someone, listening, offering your seat to someone in need, smiling at strangers while having an eye contact and many such small actions which can make someone feel a bit more happy and comfortable with you. These actions and words will also induce positivity in our mind and soul.

Q3. You have read the thrilling story of Michael Stone, who bagged a great success in pole vault fighting the odds in his life. No doubt the support of his parents and well-wishers helped him considerably in his pursuit. Prepare a speech on the necessity of consideration, representation and recognition to the differently-abled in the society. 

Michael stone's achievement was simply special as he was blind. Michael stone's mother always used to tell him stories of flying which made him dream about flying. His father was a hard core realist. He believed in sweat.

We're living in a world which often changes very quickly. Technology and advances in science have made us more  strong . Differently abled children are able differently. This statement is perfectly correct.

Some might be born with abnormal physical conditions and some might get disabled through artificial calamities like accidents and fire broke outs etc.

They are often depressed and think that their life is over, Their future got spoiled. But they fail to understand that they have different abilities.

Consider a man who lost his sight, but his power of hearing, touch eventually increases. So We can say, Differently abled children are abled differently . We need to encourage, empower them and we should support them and discover their special abilities.

If Sudha chandran had stopped, India wouldn't be having such a special dancer. Everyone possesses talent and knowledge and expertise at something. We gotta discover it and encourage them.

Q.4. One of the most dangerous threats that we are facing today is the deterioration of the environment. No doubt it is the result of unscrupulous exploitation of nature and its resources for personal material gains. We have to change our attitude to conserve the environment for the coming generation. Prepare an editorial highlighting the need for protecting our Mother Earth and living harmoniously with the nature in the light of the story ‘My Eccentric Guests” by Ruskin Bond.

SAVE OUR MOTHER EARTH

A)        Our Earth is the most beautiful planet in our solar system. As far as we know, Earth is the only planet that has life. Before 500 A.D., man had a good relationship with Mother Earth. But since humans developed cities and industries, the modern lifestyle has changed. Man has been using and misusing natural resources up to the limit. Now we are tearing up remote corners of the planet looking for crude oil and coal, and our forests and wild animals are disappearing. Our environment is totally polluted: we drink polluted water, inhale air full of dust, and eat food with traces of pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Hence we are suffering from diseases. As a result of human activities, the ozone layer has a hole, the sea is rising, and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland are melting. Now global warming is warning us that climate change is not a hoax and it is coming. Mother Earth is in danger; life on Earth is in danger. Let us come together to save our life-giving and life-saving Mother Earth

The evolution of people and animals was only possible because of plants. Plants are the base of the food chain and the source of energy for almost all life on Earth. Forests are ancient, mature communities of plants and animals, with homes and places for thousands of species. Forests give us oxygen, food, shelter, medicines, fuel, and furniture. Forests protect us from the heat of the sun, and from wind, cold, and rain. Forests maintain the balance of nature, the environment, the climate, the weather, and the composition of the atmosphere. As a matter of fact, forests are our life. But what are we doing? We are destroying the forests, meaning we are destroying our life and our future. All the problems we face today are made worse by deforestation. If we are thinking beings, we must save plants and forests, because they save us. We can’t say the Earth belongs to humans; living things were using it for billions of years, before our own species showed up just some five million years ago. Our Earth belongs to all living things, if it belongs to any of them. But we overpowered many species and killed them for our use. Now thousands of species are extinct because their habitat is gone. As a matter of fact, these animals, birds, and insects have actually built a better environment for us, provided us with so many things: they are not just creatures, but the real creators of nature. We are here on Earth because they are here on Earth. If they are gone, we will also be gone. So the only wise thing to do is to save wildlife and its habitat

The world of today belongs to humans. What are the rights of animals, birds, insects and other living things? NONE: they have no rights. But why? They are the original residents of this Earth. We have built cities and forced the animals to leave their homes. Then we made our cities dirty, overpopulated, and polluted. Industrialisation gave us air pollution, dust, tainted water, noise, and garbage. Cities have changed into heat islands, changing the weather patterns around them. All these changes have upset the physical and mental balance of the cities’ inhabitants. If we do not do something to change this, not even humans will be able to live in cities, let alone other creatures. So here I suggest an "Eco-Cities Project.”

            Q 1. Write a Critical appreciation of the poem “Remember Me”

A)         The poem “Remember Me” ignites the Poet’s passions. She hopes for an era of progress for women. The poem represents the healing of a black woman.

This poem “Remember Me” is written in first person and it analyses the Poetess Alice Walker’s own childhood. The girl in the poem is actually the personification of many black women. The life of black women is darkened by the injustice of being black. Only white women are best liked by the world. Walker wants the readers to comprehend this truth. Such black women are marginalized. Female duties are not found in the fourth Stanza. The figure in the poem is the girl holding their babies, cooking their meals, sweeping their yards and washing their clothes. Walker expresses the hope that women will no longer be condemned to perform these duties. She is hopeful to say that women have a choice about their familial duties. She speaks of women’s rights in the work place and birth control.

Her last two stanzas tell humanity what women are hoping for. It is “Justice and Hope” and “Hope and Justice”. 

The Poet makes use of the figure of speech metaphor.  “I am the woman offering flowers”.  They are twin flowers. Hope and Justice.

Thus the poem invites us for a struggle. It makes hope and justice a reality.

Q.2 WRITE A CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE POEM “THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN”

A) Shakespeare’s “The Seven Ages of Man” is a part of the comedy  “As You Like It”. It is a speech of a philosopher. The poem is one of the most famous works of Shakespeare. The author compares the world with a stage and every living being is described as  an actor who plays seven different plays on that stage.  We can see the description of every stage in this poem.

Shakespeare uses seven examples that man does during his life. The first one is an infant, who cries in the arms of his nurse. Then he grows to a school boy trying to skip the school. The third stage is of a young man, love-sick and composing a ballad to his love. Next one is a grown-up soldier, ambitious, devoted to his vows and short-tempered. Later a soldier retires and becomes a judge, using all the wisdom of his age. The sixth actor is an old man  in his home clothes, losing the sharpness of mind and strength of body. The last age of man is returning to the infant state, losing one’s sight, ability to taste and hear.

“Seven Ages of Man” is written in free verse and using the narrative style. The poem is rich in metaphors. The world is compared to a stage and people to actors on it. The author also uses simile to enhance his message and make the description more vivid. The examples are “creeping like snail” or “sighing like furnace”.

            The last phrases of the poem emphasize the point that life makes a full circle. The author deliberately names it “second childishness”.

Q3. Write a critical appreciation to the poem “Success is counted Sweetest”.

A)         “Success is counted Sweetest” is a lyric poem written by Emily Dickinson. It is a homely poem. It describes the complicated mnoral and psychological truths.  It has the theme of success and failure. The poem speaks about the value of success. Those who have tasted failure, can truly feel the real essence of success.

Dickinson says that success can be very well enjoyed by those who experienced defeat in their life. Once a person has lost or defeated, he can enjoy success well.

The first stanza tells us that success is considered sweetest for those who never succeed. To understand the value of nectar, one must feel ‘sorest need’. She says that the members of the victorious army are not able to define victory.  In the same way, the defeated dying man can’t enjoy the music of the victors. The defeated dying man understands victory more clearly than the victorious army. Success can be best enjoyed by someone who needs it.

The Poet uses great images of a ‘winning army’ and a ‘dying soldier’. It is to describe that the real value of success can be enjoyed by those who have experienced defeat.

The Poet has employed different poetic devices like metaphor. In the third line, nectar is compared to the sweetness of victory.  Paradox is used in the line “Success is counted sweetest” by those who never succeed. We can see ‘assonance’ in the repetition of vowel sounds. The sound /o/ in the line “who took the flag today”.

Thus this poem communicates the idea that failure is a motivation to succeed. This poem has a contemporary relevance. When people get failure, they are often depressed. This poem gives a positive outlook of life about success.

Q 4 Write a critical appreciation of the Poem “Travel “ by R L Stevenson

The Poem,  "Travel" is written in the voice of a child, probably a boy. In this poem, the boy imagines being able to travel to faraway places, some real, some fictional. The land where golden apples grow may refer to the myth in which Hercules was tasked with obtaining the golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Another fictional land the boy would like to visit is the desert island where Robinson Crusoe, hero of Defoe's novel, lived. The boy then mentions a Muslim city, perhaps Constantinople, and China's great wall. Scenes from Egypt and Africa are envisioned. The last sixteen lines of the poem discuss finding an archaeological site of an ancient city, now empty, lying in the desert sands of Egypt.

The boy describes the lonely city, all of whose boys, whether chimney sweeps or princes, have grown to manhood years ago. During the day, no footstep is heard in the city, and at night no lamps are lit. The boy imagines that he will visit this site when he is a man. He will hire a caravan of camels and journey there. Upon his arrival, he will sit down in one of the homes and light a fire in its dining room. He will observe the paintings on the walls and find in a corner a collection of toys that the Egyptian boys left behind.

The poem captures the delight young children have in learning about faraway places filled with people whose lives and homes are quite different from their own. Children often have a hard time separating fiction from non-fiction, but since the boy is only daydreaming about visiting these places he has learned about in books, it doesn't really matter. Reading books, or listening to books being read, is an important way for children to develop "theory of mind," that is, the ability to put themselves in other people's shoes. This poem captures a delightful experience of a boy's childhood: the process of developing his theory of mind and his imagination by reflecting on books that have been read to him.

Q 5. Write a comparative study on the poem ‘Travel’  written by R L Stevenson and  the poem “Foggy Dew” written by Katherine

A) Travel written by R L Stevenson is narrated by a young boy who would like to visit places where there are apples of gold, where Crusoe had built his boat.  Then he would like to visit places where there a mosques, deserts etc. He would also like to visit China, England, Africa, jungles etc. All these show that the child has the habit of reading and has read far and wide.  It also shows that the child is happily day-dreaming.

The Foggy by Katherine states the longing of the poet to go to Ireland.  She is living in London and she describes the city to be beautiful with sun shining all day and the sky is clear.  She describes Ireland as a place filled with fog and the sun is not bright.  In fact, the colour of the sky seems to be green and at dawn it seems to be in golden.  The corn has become yellow because of less sunlight. When compared to London, Ireland is a place where only few would like to go, one among them is she.  She says that she would give away all her wealth if only she could go to her birthplace, Ireland, just to feel the foggy dew and the blowing of the wind.

Travel seems to be a plan which the boy makes for future and The Foggy Due seems to be nostalgic memory and the yearning of the poet to go back to her birthplace.  Travel seems to be talking about different places whereas The Foggy Due is talking about one place and that is Ireland.

Both the poems talk about travel but of different age group.  Travel is narrated by a young boy and The Foggy Dew is narrated by a lady who has probably got married and settled in London.

Q 6 Write a critical appreciation of the poem “My Heart Will Go On”.

PREPARED BY JOY PETER C