English Notes

Summary This play is the story of an intruder. He breaks into a lonely house. A man named Gerrard lives there. He is a playwright. The intruder is a criminal. He has killed a policeman and is now on the run. This man has some physical resemblance to Gerrard. His plan is to kill Gerrard and live there under his name. But Gerrard is smarter than the criminal. He tells the intruder that he has also killed someone and the police are after him. He offers to take the intruder in his car to safety. He opens a door and tells the intruder that it goes to the garage. As soon as the intruder enters, Gerard pushes him and locks the door. In fact it is not the way to garage but the door of a cupboard. Then he phones the police to come and arrest the intruder. Comprehension Question Reference to Context Thanks a lot. You’ll soon stop being smart. I’ll make you crawl. I want to know a few things, see. 1. Who is the speaker? Why is he thanking the listener? The intruder is the spe...

Summary This short poem deals with the idea that human beings should not be cruel towards snakes. The snakes must be left alone. The poem opens with the image of a snake being chased with a stick and trying to save itself from being struck. The long bodied snake curves and curls its slender, thin body as it makes an attempt to avoid the stick flung at it. The poet finds different shapes of the snake’s curling body to be very elegant and fascinating. The snake moves softly through the water of the pond to hide himself among the reeds, so that he is not hit by the stick. The poet wants the person, who is chasing the snake, to let him go safely to his hide-out among the reeds. The snake is green and small, is non-poisonous and therefore, cannot harm even young children. He was lying comfortably and peacefully on the sandy bank of the pond before being noticed and chased with a stick by someone. But now he has taken shelter in the green, slender reeds in the pond where he cr...

Summary After passing junior high school, the author joined a high school. The author felt awkward during his first year of high school. He missed his old school and often went to meet his old teachers. They encouraged him to get involved in school activities. One Sunday afternoon, not long after he had started high school, he was sitting at home doing his homework. His little cat was sitting on the table. He smelt something strange. Then he noticed smoke pouring in through the seams of the ceiling. The author and his mother came out of the room. The author ran to the neighbours to call the fire brigade. The house was completely burned down. The author realized that his cat was found nowhere. He broke down. The author and his mother went to the author’s grandparent’s house to spend the night. The next day it was Monday and the author went to school wearing the school uniform and shoes borrowed from his aunt but no school bag. He thought that everything had been fini...

Summary The poet says that if we wish to kill a tree it takes a lot of time. A simple jab of the knife can’t kill a tree. A tree grows up by getting water and other nutrition from the earth. It absorbs sunlight, air and water for years and becomes very strong. If we try to hack and chop it, it does not feel much pain. Its bleeding bark heals very soon. Small twigs begin to shoot up from it and soon they become very big and strong. The poet says that the real strength of a tree lies in its roots. If we want to kill a tree forever, its roots should be pulled out completely. They should be left in open to wither in sun and air. They darken, harden and wither. Then we can say that a tree is killed. Figures of Speech 1. Alliteration is the repetition of sounds at close intervals. It is used to lend a lyrical or musical element to the poem. Example 1: The bleeding bark will heal. (Here the poet has repeated ‘b’ and ‘I’ sounds.) Example 2: The source, white and wet. (In...

Summary Kathmandu is a travelogue written by Vikram Seth. It is the description of the two famous temples of Kathmandu. One is the Pashupatinath and the other is the Baudhnath Shrine. The author first visited Pashupatinath Temple where he finds the atmosphere of feverish confusion. Only Hindus are allowed to enter inside the temple. He finds people performing different rituals performing on the bank of the holy river Bagmati. He also knew about the belief related to the end of the Kaliyug. Next he visited Baudhnath Shrine, there is the sense of stillness in contrast to the Pashupatinath temple. Tibetan immigrants selling different things on the side of the road. After this he roams on the streets of Kathmandu and finds it the busiest and more religious city. These streets are crowded with fruit sellers, hawkers of postcards etc. The shops sell western cosmetics, film rolls chocolates. It is the noisiest city because of the honking sound of the cars, bells of bicycle and ...