Class 11 opt english 2079-12-5

 

FAQ No. 1. Briefly explain the contribution of Christopher Marlowe for the development of Elizabethan drama.

Christopher Marlowe is one of the pioneer dramatists of Elizabethan drama. He contributed a lot for the development of tragedy in English literature. Bloodshed, revenge, violence, hunger for power and thirst for knowledge are the main themes of his dramas. His first tragedy ‘Tamburlaine the Great’ is in two parts. It is written in the splendid blank verse that he brought to the stage. The first part deals with the rise to power of Tamburlaine, a shepherd and a robber. In the second part, Tamburlaine is pulled to Babylon in a carriage drawn by two kings defeated with him.

In his next drama, ‘The Jew of Malta’, the governor of Malta taxes the Jews there, but a rich Jew, Barabas, refuses to pay. His money and house are taken from him and in revenge he begins a life of violence but meets with a terrible death at last.

Another play Dr. Faustus deals with the uncontrolled thirst for knowledge and power. Even he sells his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles, for 24 years of splendid life. In the end, he gets a tragic and terrible death. Christopher Marlowe also influenced other Elizabethan dramatists through his powerful blank verse and the development of characters.

FAQ No. 2. Briefly explain the contribution of William Shakespeare for the development of Elizabethan drama.

William Shakespeare was the greatest Elizabethan playwright. The main glory of Elizabethan period was its drama and especially the dramas of William Shakespeare. No other English authors has equaled his brilliant verse and characterizations. He wrote 37 dramas, many sonnets, lyrics and poems. He introduced English sonnet in literature. His dramas can be divided into three main categories; historical plays, tragedies and comedies. (Write other detail about his dramas)

 The Piece of String                                                                  

FAQ Is Hauchecome more of an ignorant or an innocent man? Why?

In my opinion, Hauchecome is more of an innocent man. He just went to Goderville without knowing that he was going to meet his misfortune there. He had just picked up the piece of string as of his habit of collecting things that may be helpful in future. He was a simple villager. He was unknown of the fact that someone was looking at him so carefully and he was his enemy. He was also ignorant in the case he was suspected even though he was not the one who stole the pocketbook. Moreover, it was his ill fate that the pocketbook was lost the same day at the same place. He was unaware of the fact that his enemy already disgraced him. Although he told that it was just a piece of string that he picked up from the floor, no one on the earth could believe that a man can just pick up a piece of string in such a crowded place. And by the time the pocketbook was returned, people in his surrounding still talked behind his back negatively.

FAQ. Who do you think should be blamed for the death of Hauchecome? He, himself or the society? Why?

For me both he and the society should be blamed for his death. He, himself should be blamed since he let the people around him affect him. He should have ignored them for he knew to himself that he was innocent. He wasn’t able to remain strong when people tried to accuse him. He should have understood that there would be many enemies in the society who would try to laugh at someone else’s sufferings. He should have tried to make other people convince from his good deeds in the society like helping others in their need, going with them and talking face to face and trying to make them clear about his habit of picking up a piece of string. Moreover when the pocketbook was returned, he should have visited each and every family in the village and told them about the truth and his innocence.

Moreover, the society should be responsible for his death as they were the reason for the weakness of Hauchecome. They kept on saying bad ideas to him which made him feebler and made him feel not to fight anymore. The society should be structured to help the innocent and punish the guilty one. Moreover, the society shouldn’t have treated him badly unless and until he was found guilty. They should have stood in favour of the weak one and make him comfortable.

How does the story mirror the problem of social injustice?

Appending to the story, Hauchecome was blamed for the crime he did not commit. People easily judged him even though they did not know the truth. Towards the end of the story, he was still not given any justice. This shows the problem of the society where injustice is not being reasonable. Some criminals are away from penalties, while innocent people are being punished and are becoming the victims. People easily believe in rumours and give accusations immediately without asking for the real story.

 The cactus summarySummary 

The Story Cactus by O. Henry is a story of a boy named Trysdale who was in love with a girl. Later on, the boy had to separate with her. The reason why Trysdale had a break up with his beloved remains in suspense till the end of the story.

At the beginning of the story he was seen drinking alone at an apartment and his friend, the girl's brother came there and asked the reason of drinking alone. Then he tells him the story how he happened to broke up with his beloved.

Trysdale, actually had told her a lie that he knows Spanish well to impress her. However, when he proposed she did not give the answer immediately to him and asked him to wait till next day.

Trysdale waited impatiently for the answer of the girl. But the next day, the girl sent him a red vessels with a cactus plant. There was a tag which he thought that was the vernacular name of the plant. There was no note at all.

His friends asked him if he knew English well. He said no. Neither he knew what was written on the vessel. Actually the word written on the vessel was VENTOMARME, which means come and take me.

Trysdale did not get what was it until the girl's brother or his friend told him about this. Just because of his white lie, he had to be apart from his love. If he had not told the lie, the girl would have sent the message in some common language. But due to his one mistake he lost her.

Even if the lie is insignificant and small it sometimes can create a big and undesirable result.

1. What had happened israel in the past? 

Trysdale had a love affair in the past which could not last longer. His girlfriend had broken up with him and had married someone else.

2. Does Chris Dale blame himself for the misfortune instead of blaming the girl?

Trysdale blames himself for the misfortune because he thinks that whatever happened,  happened because of him. He thinks that he is not worthy to get someone's love. He thinks that the girl left him because she knew that he doesn't deserve it. She could not spend her whole life with such a man. He thinks that he is an average, unworthy and undeserving man to be loved by a girl.

3. How does the coincidence of the Spanish language bring a counterproductive move in the story? discuss.

Trysdale had once told his girlfriend a lie that he knew Spanish language. Thinking that her boyfriend knew Spanish, the girl send him a cactus with a message written in Spanish language. The message actually was the acceptance of the marriage proposal made by Trysdale but Trysdale could not understand the message written in Spanish due to which he lost her.

He had told himself that her paleness was from thoughts of another then the man to whom she was about to give herself. It means that Trysdale thinks that she rejected and broke up with him because she liked someone else. She had feelings towards someone else to whom she married later.  But it was just his thought before knowing the truth that the girl had actually accepted his marriage proposal.

One and only person who is guilty in this entire incident is Trysdale.Had he not told lie to his girlfriend that he knew Spanish they would have married each other and their life would be different. Lies will always be bitter at the end no matter how sweet we made it in the beginning.

Trysdale had hidden the matter even with his close friend. The reason behind this maybe he wanted to tell him later as his girlfriend once accepts his marriage proposal.  But she broke up with him and he becomes sad. He in tragedy, may have decided to deal with his sorrow by himself. He may have thought why would he be involving anyone in his sorrow. So he didn't tell even with his close friend.

Summary of Half a Day

The story opens in an unnamed city early in the morning. The narrator, a young boy, is struggling to keep up with his father, who is walking him to school for the first time. Although his father is cheerful and reassuring, remarking that the day represents an important step forward in life, the narrator is nervous; he feels he’s being punished: “I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from the intimacy of my home” (Paragraph 5). His anxiety only increases when he arrives at school, where he and the other children are divided into groups and welcomed by a woman who advises them to accept the school as their new home.

 

The narrator and the other students do so and find themselves enjoying their new environment; they attend classes, play games, nap, and make new friends. As time goes on, however, they realize that their new lives also involve a great deal of hard work and frustration: “And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often scowl and scold” (Paragraph 14).

 

As sunset approaches, the narrator emerges from school expecting to find his father waiting for him as he promised. When his father doesn’t show up, he begins walking home by himself and runs into a middle-aged man who greets him familiarly. They exchange pleasantries, and the narrator continues walking, only to find that the city has changed dramatically since the morning; he’s now surrounded not by gardens, but by crowds of people, cars, and tall buildings. Increasingly alarmed and more desperate to reach home than ever, the narrator is trying to cross a busy street when a young boy approaches to help him, addressing him as “Grandpa.”

Summary of 'Boys and Girls'

The narrator of 'Boys and Girls,' a coming of age story, tells us about her life as a child on a fox farm and how she discovered that her role in this place changes once she learns to become a 'girl.'

She begins the story by announcing that her father was a fox farmer. She describes the gruesome work of skinning the foxes for pelts and notes that it disgusted her mother. The narrator, however, found the smell of blood and flesh reassuring. She and her brother, Laird, are both close to the work that her father and his hired man Henry Bailey do.

Bedtime Stories and Early Ties

While the children enjoy the outdoors, they're uneasy in their upstairs room at night, where Laird sings himself to sleep and the narrator tells herself stories. These stories combine the world that the narrator lives in with fantasies about opportunities not available in that world. For example, she saves people from a building, shoots rabid wolves, and rides into town heroically on horseback.

Both the narrator and Laird assist their father with his duties. The narrator is proud to be part of her father's world, and she prefers his reserved manner and his focus on work to her mother's ramblings about boys she used to date and dresses she used to wear.

The narrator's mother tries to find things for her to do in the house, but she finds the kitchen depressing and rushes out as soon as she can to do her father's work, which she considers more important. Her mother complains that it's like not having a girl at all, and that once Laird gets older her father will have 'real' help and she can retain her daughter in the kitchen.

 

Bloody Deeds

The narrator tells us that the foxes eat horse meat and that the family sometimes kept horses in the stables to be butchered. She tells of two such horses, Mack and Flora, that the family has when she is eleven years old. She has also become conscious of the fact that she is expected to become a 'girl' and that this is an identity that implies inferiority.

The narrator and Laird hide to watch their father and Henry shoot Mack. This seems to disturb Laird, so the narrator takes him into town to see a show. When it comes time to shoot Flora two weeks later, she realizes that she is now ashamed of her father's work and has started paying more attention to how she looks and whether or not she will be pretty.

Flora breaks away from the narrator's father as he leads her out of the stable to be killed. Flora heads for the gate on the other side of the stable, which has been left open. The men yell for her to shut it, but she opens it wider instead. Henry and her father don't see her do it, but Laird does. The men take Laird with them to chase down Flora.

Becoming Girls and Boys

Meanwhile, the narrator tells us that she has sectioned off the room she shares with Laird, and the stories she tells herself at night have changed. Now she's more concerned about what she looks like and instead of rescuing others, she's being rescued.

Gender Roles In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls”, the story is focused on a working class family who lives on a farm. A man’s role on the farm or in general is to work for the family and do the heavy work that a woman wouldn’t be able to do. The daughter in the story is very much inspired by the father and wishes to pursue in the activities that are being performed around the farm. The mother needs help around the house and that was the role many females took over for many centuries and generations. Throughout the existence of society gender roles are often exchanged and unfairly distributed. The point of view Alice Munro wants to establish is that women are capable of doing a fair share of the things men can do. There is a diversity among males and females both for the obvious and not so obvious reasons. The characteristics society defined as a man was someone who was strong and able to care for the land. Society defined a female as the complete opposite. “She’s just a girl” occurs in this short story twice, and yet each time it is presented it has a different meaning. The first occurrence was the comment made from a salesman. The salesman said it in admiration to the young girl, praising her for being a girl however, the second occurrence was by her father negatively belittling her at the dinner table for letting the horse out of the gate. The protagonist’s father belittles the girl in accordance to the male feeling superior and degrading the women due to the secondary objects.

Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” was first published as an individual story in 1964 and was also included in Munro’s 1968 collection, Dance of the Happy Shades. The story takes place at one home in rural Canada, and the narrator, a soon to be 11-year-old girl, carefully describes her father’s work as a fox farmer. The work is seasonal, but the narrator begins in the “several weeks before Christmas” when her father would begin the task of removing fox pelts from the “small, mean, and rat-like” bodies in the basement. Her mother, the narrator notes, “disliked the whole pelting operation” (Paragraph 2). The family’s “hired man,” Henry Bailey, helps the narrator’s father and teases the children.

 

At that time of year, the narrator and her younger brother, Laird, “were afraid at night.” They sleep upstairs in an unfinished room where, she imagines, “bats and skeletons” live. The children have “rules to keep [them] safe,” which define which parts of the room they can enter with or without the lights on (Paragraph 4). Both children sing themselves to sleep. Once Laird falls asleep, the narrator starts to tell herself stories that continue “from night to night.” These stories are about her, “when [she] had grown a little older; they took place in a world that was recognizably [hers], yet one that presented opportunities for courage, boldness, and self-sacrifice” (Paragraph 7).

 

Like the narrator and her brother, the foxes also live in an enclosed space. Their pen is “surrounded by a high guard fence, like a medieval town, with a gate that was padlocked at night” (Paragraph 8). All of the foxes have names, given by the narrator, her father, and Laird. The narrator’s job is to provide the foxes with water every day. But despite everyone’s familiarity with the foxes, “naming them did not make pets out of them, or anything like it” (Paragraph 10).

 

The narrator notices that, when she helps her father with the foxes, he is quiet, which is “different from [her] mother” who often told her stories (Paragraph 11). He refers to her as a “hired hand” to a visitor, which she considers a compliment. The visitor, though, remarks: “I thought it was only a girl” (Paragraph 11).

 

One night, the narrator overhears her father and mother discussing her. They meet in front of the barn, which is an “odd thing” because her mother “did not often come out of the house” (Paragraph 13). The narrator overhears her mother comfort her father, encouraging him to “wait till Laird gets a little bigger,” because then he’ll “have a real help” (Paragraph 14). Her mother longs to have help in the house; at the moment, she says how “it’s not like [she] had a girl in the family at all” (Paragraph 16).

 

The narrator recognizes that her mother loves her but is also her “enemy.” She recognizes a plot to “get [her] to stay in the house more,” though she notes that, in retrospect, “it did not occur to [her] that [her mother] could be lonely, or jealous” (Paragraph 17).

 

Things change the winter that the narrator is 11 years old. Her grandmother visits, and she begins “to hear a great deal more on the theme [her] mother had sounded when she had been talking in front of the barn” (Paragraph 21). The family’s foxes eat horsemeat from old local horses who are put down. As more farmers purchase tractors at the end of World War II, the narrator’s family has more horses to buy. That year, they purchase two, Mack and Flora, who the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey will shoot in the spring.

 

Laird and the narrator sneak into the barn to watch from the loft, and they see their father and Henry shoot the horse. The narrator notices how Laird “had drawn a long, groaning breath of surprise” after their father shoots the horse, and she hurries him out of the barn. As Laird becomes “young and obedient again,” she remembers a time, years before, when she endangered him on the top beam of the barn (Paragraph 32). She makes Laird promise not to tell that she brought him to watch the horse killing, and then she takes him into town to watch a movie.

 

Two weeks later, when she knows that they will kill Flora, she “[doesn’t] think of watching it.” She is “a little ashamed” and has “a new wariness, a sense of holding-off,” in the way she thinks about her father (Paragraph 36).

 

But when the men take Flora out of the barn, she breaks free and runs through the backyard. It is “exciting” to the narrator “to see her running, whinnying, going up on her hind legs, prancing and threatening like a horse in a Western movie” (Paragraph 38). When Flora runs to the gate, the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey shout to her to run and close the gate. But “instead of shutting the gate,” she “[opens] it as wide as [she can]” (Paragraph 41).

 

The men, including Laird, pass through the gate to catch Flora, and the narrator “[shuts] the gate” (Paragraph 42). She returns inside to her mother, knowing that they would catch Flora but also fearing what would happen, because she “had never disobeyed [her] father before.” The narrator recognizes the she is “on Flora’s side” (Paragraph 43).

 

The narrator sits upstairs on her bed, in the room which she had begun to decorate, and reflects on her and Laird’s nighttime routine. They “did not sing at night any more.” In her nighttime stories, “something different was happening,” and instead of rescuing others, “somebody would be rescuing [her]” (Paragraph 45).

 

When the men return, Laird boasts that “[they] shot old Flora” and holds up “a streak of blood” on his arm as proof (Paragraph 46). Over a meal, Laird tells the group that it was the narrator’s fault that Flora escaped. At her father’s disbelief, and “to [her] shame,” the narrator feels herself start to cry. She has no answer when he asks her why, but, “with resignation,” he dismisses her with the phrase, “she’s only a girl.” The story ends with the narrator wondering: “Maybe it was true” (Paragraph 48).

 Summary Boys and Girls 

The story is set in a rural Canadian home, and the narrator, a soon-to-be 11-year-old girl, describes her father’s work as a fox farmer with care. The work is seasonal and the narrator begins removing fox pelts from the small, mean, and rat-like bodies in the basement a few weeks before Christmas. The narrator mentions that her mother despised the whole pelting operation. Henry Bailey, the family’s hired man, assists the narrator’s father and teases the children. The narrator and her younger brother, Laird, were afraid of the dark. They sleep upstairs in an unfinished room where bats and skeletons, she imagines, live. To keep them safe, the children have rules that specify which parts of the room they can enter with or without the lights turned on. Both children fall asleep singing to themselves. When Laird falls asleep, the narrator begins telling herself stories, which she continues to tell herself night after night. These stories are about her when she was a little older, and they took place in a world that was recognizable as hers and offers opportunities for courage, boldness, and self-sacrifice.

The foxes, like the narrator and her brother, live in a small space. Their pen is encircled by a high guard fence, reminiscent of a mediaeval town, with a padlocked gate at night. The narrator, her father, and Laird give each of the foxes a name. Every day, the narrator’s job is to bring water to the foxes. Although everyone was familiar with the foxes, naming them did not turn them into pets or anything similar. When the narrator assists her father with the foxes, she notices that he is quiet, in contrast to her mother, who used to tell her stories. To a visitor, he refers to her as a hired hand, which she takes as a compliment. The narrator overhears her father and mother talking about her one night. They meet in front of the barn, which is unusual because her mother didn’t leave the house very often. The narrator overhears her mother console her father, telling him to wait until Laird is a little bigger so he can get some real help. Her mother longs to have help in the house; at the moment, she says how it’s not like she had a girl in the family at all.

Her mother loves her but is also her adversary. She recognizes a scheme to persuade her to spend more time at home, though she admits that it never occurred to her that her mother might be lonely or jealous. Things change the winter that the narrator is 11 years old. When her grandmother comes to visit, she starts to hear a lot more of the same theme that her mother had sounded when she was talking in front of the barn. The foxes in the family eat horsemeat from retired local horses. The narrator’s family has more horses to buy as more farmers buy tractors at the end of WWII. That year, they buy two, Mack and Flora, who will be shot in the park by the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey. The narrator and Laird sneak into the barn to watch from the loft, where they witness their father and Henry shooting the horse. After their father shoots the horse, the narrator notices that Laird has drawn a long, groaning breath of surprise, and she rushes him out of the barn. 

As Laird regains his youth and obedience, she recalls a time when she put him in danger on the barn’s top beam years ago. She makes Laird promise not to tell anyone that she took him to see the horse slaughter, and then she takes him to see a movie in town. She doesn’t think about watching it two weeks later when she knows they’re going to kill Flora. In the way she thinks about her father, she is a little embarrassed and has developed a new wariness, a sense of holding back. Flora, on the other hand, breaks free and runs through the backyard when the men take her out of the barn. Flora is running to the gate when the narrator’s father and Henry Bailey shout at her to hurry up and close the gate. Rather than closing the gate, she swings it open as wide as she can. The men, including Laird, pass through the gate to apprehend Flora, and the narrator closes it. She returns to her mother, knowing that they would apprehend Flora but also fearful of the consequences, as she had never disobeyed her father before. The narrator realizes she is siding with Flora.

The narrator reflects on her and Laird’s nighttime routine as she sits upstairs on her bed in the room she had begun to decorate. They stopped singing in the evenings. Something different was happening in her nighttime stories, and instead of rescuing others, she was being rescued. When the men return, Laird brags about shooting old Flora and shows a streak of blood on his arm to prove it. During a meal, Laird informs the group that Flora’s escape was due to the narrator’s fault. The narrator begins to cry, much to her father’s surprise and embarrassment. When he asks why, she doesn’t have an answer, so he dismisses her with the phrase “she’s only a girl.” Perhaps it was true, the narrator muses at the end of the story.

Boys and Girls | Analysis

In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls,” the protagonist is a young girl growing up in Canada in the mid-twentieth century. She lives on their farm with her family, which consists of her mother, father, and younger brother Laird, and her life is marked by gender roles. Munro doesn’t give the girl a name, and as a result, the protagonist is portrayed as a person without a name. She has no sense of self-identity or power. The existence of a name for the girl’s younger brother indicates that he is more important simply because he is a boy and that he is the one in charge. The protagonist of the story is torn between her “girl” life in the kitchen with her mother and her “boy” life outside the house with her father helping out on the farm.

                         

The story’s conflicts are the differing expectations of a girl and a boy, as well as the protagonist’s feelings about and struggle to find her own identity. The girl’s belief that she can contribute significantly to her father’s work is shattered when she discovers that she can’t. She realizes what society thinks of her and what it expects of her. The protagonist wishes to collaborate with her father on a project. She enjoys the attention she receives from her father while working on their fox farm. When a salesman arrives at the farm while the protagonist is raking the freshly cut grass, her father introduces her as his “new hired man,” to which the salesman replies.

Why I write

Do you think that the images that she creates in her mind help her writing. Does this apply to all writers?

The essay ‘Why I Write’ written by Joan Didion presents her experiences in writing. In this essay, she describes the way she writes by using some images in her mind. In her way writing is the act of saying, of imposing oneself upon other people and changing other’s mind. She says that she creates some mental images before she starts writing, and then she uses these images for her writing process because the concepts of her images tell her what is wrong and what is right. When she writes her novel she doesn’t use the sequence of time or character. She draws something in her mind before she starts writing. She explains that she is not inspired by ideas like she believes other writers are, but that she finds herself fascinated by seemingly trivial details and pictures that inspire her to come up with stories and scenes to explain them. Especially she has two pictures in her mind. The first is empty white space and second is something actual, a young woman with long hair waking in the casino.

I don’t think this applies to all the writers. There are some writers who might focus on the story first. They would think of the story and the details of the novel first and then start writing according to their thought. Some would focus on the characters and the conflict aroused between the characters reaching to a climax. Some writers would completely focus on their imagination and fantasy to create some literary works unlike Joan Didion. Unlike other writers, she focuses on the simple sentences filled with vivid descriptions and detail of scenery and imagery. The purpose of her essay is informative and entertaining. Didion doesn’t seem to care whether the reader thinks her style of writing as superior nor she seems to be interested in a how-to guide for up and coming writers. Her sole purpose in this essay is to get inside her own mind and explain what she finds for anyone who might be interested to know, her conclusion is that the reason she writes and the method by which she writes are one and the same.