Notes and Explainers

The white man, leaning with both arms over the roof of the little house in the stern of the boat, said to the steersman— “We will pass the night in Arsat’s clearing. It is late. ” The Malay only grunted, and went on looking fixedly at the river. The white man rested his chin on his crossed arms and gazed at the wake of the boat. At the end of the straight avenue of forests cut by the intense glitter of the river, the sun appeared unclouded and dazzling, poised low over the water that shone smoothly like a band of metal. The forests, sombre and dull, stood motionless and silent on each side of the broad stream. At the foot of big, towering trees, trunkless nipa palms rose from the mud of the bank, in bunches of leaves enormous and heavy, that hung unstirring over the brown swirl of eddies. In the stillness of the air every tree, every leaf, every bough, every tendril of creeper and every petal of minute blossoms seemed to have been bewitched into an immobility perfect and final. Nothing...

CHILDREN love to listen to stories about their elders, when they were children; to stretch their imagination to the conception of a traditionary great-uncle, or grandame, whom they never saw. It was in this spirit that my little ones crept about, me the other evening to hear about their great-grandmother Field, who lived in a great house in Norfolk (a hundred times bigger than that in which they and papa lived) which had been the scene -- so at least it was generally believed in that part of the country -- of the tragic incidents which they had lately become familiar with from the ballad of the Children in the Wood. Certain it is that the whole story of the children and their cruel uncle was to be seen fairly carved out in wood upon the chimney-piece of the great hall, the whole story down to the Robin Redbreasts, till a foolish rich Person pulled it down to set up a marble one of modern invention in its stead, with no story upon it. Here Alice put out one of her dear mother's look...

  POETRY Sonnet and Sonneteering – an introduction Loving in Truth – Sydney One day I wrote her name – Sydney Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day – Shakespeare the Good Morrow – John Donne Virtue – George Herbert The Rape of the Lock (Cantos 1 and 2) – Alexander Pope The Tyger – Blake The Lamb – Blake Tintern Abbey – William Wordsworth Christabel – Coleridge Kubla Khan – Coleridge Ode to the West Wind – P.B.Shelly To a skylark – P.B.Shelly Ode to a Nightingale – John Keats To Autumn – John Keats Ulysses – Alfred Tennyson My Last Duchess – Robert Browning Modern Poetry – A Brief Introduction The Wild Swans at Coole – W.B.Yeats Strange Meeting – Wilfred Owen The Hollow Men – T. S. Eliot About the Poets  DRAMA  ● Macbeth ● She Stoops to Conquer ● Arms And The Man ● Riders to the Sea  NOVEL  ● Pride and Prejudice ● David Copperfield  SHORT STORY  ● The Lagoon ● Araby ● The Lotus eater ● The Fly  ESSAY:  ● Dream Children : a Riverie ● The Super...

  Poetry William Wordsworth : Lucy Poems; The world is too much with us P.B. Shelley : Ode to the West Wind; To a Skylark John Keats : Ode to a Nightingale; The Autumn Alfred Tennyson : Ulysses Robert Browning : The Last Ride Together Thomas Hardy : The Darkling Thrush W.B. Yeats : The Wild Swans at Coole Wilfred Owen : Strange Meeting Walter de la Mare : The Listeners Drama Goldsmith : She Stoops to Conquer George Bernard Shaw : Arms and the Man John. Galworthy : Justice Short Story Joseph Conard : Lagoon Somerest Maughan : The Lotos Eater Henry : The Gift of the Magi E. Bates : The Ox Essay Charles Lamb : Dream Children: A Reverie L.A. Hill : Principles of Good Writing Grammar and Usage Common Errors Number, Gender, Tense, Voice, Mood Agreement of Verbs, Use of Articles and Prepositions Sentence Forms Simple, Compound, Complex, Relative Clauses Joining and Splitting of Sentences Narration Direct Speech and Indirect Speech Composition **A single paragraph of about 50-60 words to b...

  According to the passage, what is the first prerequisite for writing clearly and logically? A) Mastery of grammar B) A rich vocabulary C) Logical thinking D) Reading newspapers regularly The example of exploring the idea of being a "free person" demonstrates: A) Political philosophy B) The role of metaphors in writing C) The importance of step-by-step reasoning D) How to use rhetorical devices What is the author's stance on the concept of “inspiration” in writing? A) It is essential and should be waited for B) It should be artificially created C) It plays a minimal role compared to disciplined effort D) It arises mostly from personal suffering The term “delicious indolence” in the vocabulary example suggests: A) A strong sense of guilt B) Productive laziness C) Pleasurable inactivity D) Confused excitement Why does the author advis...

To Autumn By John Keats   1.      What is described as a "close bosom-friend" in the stanza? A) The moon B) The wind C) The maturing sun D) The rain 2.      What is the main activity described in the stanza? A) Harvesting crops B) Planting seeds C) Making wine D) Ripening fruit 3.      Which of the following is NOT mentioned as being filled with ripeness? A) Apples B) Hazelnuts C) Gourds D) Berries 4.      What do the bees think will never cease because of the warm days? A) Gathering nectar B) Building hives C) Producing honey D) Collecting pollen 5.      What is described as being over-brimm'd in the first stanza of Ode to the Autumn ? A) Rivers B) Hills C) Fields D) Clammy cells 6.      What does the sun conspire with in the stanza? A)    The clouds B) The rain C) The moon D) The speaker 7.      What i...