1. The Summer of the Beautiful white Horse (William Saroyan)
Main
Points of the Chapter
· This
is the story of two poor boys-Aram and Mourad of Armenian tribe.
· Their
tribe was famous for its trust and honesty.
· They
were cousins. Aram was nine years old and Mourad was thirteen years old.
· They
never stole or did anything wrong
· Their
uncle, Khosrove, was a crazy person
· He
would say only ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it’.
· One
day when he was in barber’s shop, his son Arak came and told their house was on
fire
· At
this Khosrove roared, ‘It is no harm; pay no attention to it.’
· One
day when Aram looked out of the window, he saw Mourad was riding a beautiful
white horse.
· Aram
at once understood that Mourad had
stolen the horse
· The
two boys went for a ride every morning and then hid the horse in a deserted
vineyard.
· Mourad
had already been doing it for a month.
· The
horse belonged to a farmer named John Byro
· One
morning, Byro, the owner of the horse, saw the two boys with the horse
· He
recognized his horse by counting his teeth.
· But
I knew the fame of your family for honesty. Yet the horse is as mine.
· Early
next morning, the boys took the horse to Byro’s vineyard and it there.
· Byro
told Khosrove in the afternoon that his
stolen horse had been returned.
· At
this, Khosrove became irritated and shouted, ‘Your horse has been returned. Pay
no attention to it.’
2. The Address (Marga Minco)
Main
Points of the Chapter
· The
narrator of the story is the daughter herself.
· Her
family had to move out of their country because of the war.
· Her
mother left all her things with a woman known to her.
· Her
mother has given her the address of the woman.
· It
was No. 46, Marconi Street.
· After
some time, her mother died.
· The
narrator came back to Holland in search of her mother’s belongings.
· But
the woman refused to recognize her because she didn’t want to return the
things.
· After
her first visit in vain to Mrs. Dorling, the narrator decided to try second
time.
· This
time a girl of fifteen opened the door and her mother was not at home.
· The
narrator saw many familiar things in the room.
· Now
she did not want to look these things any longer.
· Because
these would only bring painful memories back.
3. Ranga’s Marriage (Masti Venkatesha Iyengar)
Main
points of the Chapter:
· This
story is about Ranga (Ranganathan) who belongs to the village Hosahalli
(Mysore)
· The
writer says that ten years ago English was not so widespread in the village.
· The
village accountant was the first who sent his son, Ranga, to the city to study.
· When
he returns to the village from city after his study, he has different views
about marriage.
· When
the writer asks him about marriage, he says that he does not want to get
married.
· But
the writer wanted him to marriage Ratna, his friend Rama Rao’s niece who was a
pretty girl of eleven.
· She
knows how to play the veena and the harmonium.
· One
day while she was singing a song, Ranga came and listened her sweet song.
· He
fell in love with her at first sight. He wanted to make marry with her.
· After
a few days Ratna and Ranga were married.
· Soon
Ratna gave birth to a son ‘Shyama’.
4. Albert Einstein at School (Patrick Pringle)
Main
points of the Chapter:
· Albert
Einstein was a great scientist.
· He
is known for his theory of relativity.
· During
his school days, he was considered a dull student.
· He
did not like his school and the subjects taught there.
· He
considered it useless to study subjects other Science.
· Only
the math teacher, Mr. Koch liked him.
· One
his history, Mr. Braun asked him, in which year the Prussians defeated the
French at Waterloo.
· He
told the teacher that the ideas were more important than facts.
· Albert
lived in a small room in a poor locality of Munich.
· Albert’s
cousin Elsha lived in Berlin. She often came to Munich.
· He
was also interested in music. He played his violin regularly.
· Albert
became fed up with his school.
· With
the help of his friend, Yuri, he managed to get a fake medical certificate from
Dr. Weil.
· That
he was suffering from nervous breakdown.
· He
told his future plant to Dr. Weil. He would go to Milan to get admission into
an Italian college.
· At
last, the school authorities expelled him from school.
5. Mother’s Day (J.B. Priestley)
Main
points of the Chapter:
· Mother’s
Day is a famous play written by J.B. Priestley.
· It
gives the idea that the mother is most neglected person in a family.
· She
works all the day for her husband George, and children Doris and Cyril.
· But
nobody cared for her feelings.
· Mrs.
Annie Pearson in this play is such a mother.
· She
looks after the needs of her husband, son and daughter.
· But
they do not care for her feelings.
· In
the end, her neighbour, Mrs. Fitzgerald comes to her help.
· Mrs.
Fitzgerald knows magic.
· They
exchange their personalities (souls) with each other and her family members are
reformed.
6. The Ghat of the Only World (Amitov Ghosh)
Main
points of the Chapter:
· This
play is about Agha Shahid, a close friend of the writer.
· He
was a famous poet also. But he was suffering from cancer.
· He
knew that he was not going to live long.
· He
asked the writer to write something about him after his death.
· In
this chapter, he writes about Agha Shahid.
· Both
the writer and Shahid had studied at Delhi University.
· Shahid
belonged to Kashmir and in 1975, he migrated to America.
· His
brother was already settled there.
· Later,
Shahid’s two sisters also joined them.
· Shahid
spoke first time to the writer about his suffering on 25th April
2001.
· The
writer had known him long before he actually met him.
· Shahid’s
book of poems ‘The Country without a Post Office’ had made a great impression
on the writer.
· Both
of them had similar tastes.
· They
were fond of Rogan Josh, Roshanara Begum, Kishore Kumar and old Bombay films.
· Shahid
was admitted to hospital on 21 May, 2001.
· The
writer met him last on 27 October, 2001.
· Shahid
died peacefully in his sleep at 2 a.m. on 8th December, 2001.
7. Birth (A.J. Cronin)
Main
points of the Chapter:
· This
chapter is an extract from A.J. Cronin’s book, The Citadel.
· Andrew
Manson is a young doctor.
· He
has just begun his medical practice in the small Welsh mining town of
Blaenelly.
· He
is an assistant to Dr. Edward Page.
· Joe
Morgan and his wife, who have been married for twenty years ago, are expecting
their first child.
· They
ask Andrew Manson for his help in the delivery of the child.
· It
is about midnight when Andrew Manson reaches Bryngower.
· Morgan’s
mother, who is a woman of seventy years, is sitting beside the patient.
· Andrew
Manson has spent a disappointing evening with his girl friend, Christine. She
quarreled with him at Cardiff station.
· He
also remembers that his friend Bramwell was devoted to a woman but she deceived
him.
· Edward
Page loves Blodwen who is a shrewish woman.
· Denny
is living unhappily apart from his wife.
· When
he was thinking all these, the old man tells him that the time for delivery has
come.
· After
an hour of labour, the child is born but stillborn.
· He
gave the child to the nurse and attended the mother first.
· The
nurse places the baby under the bed among dirty newspaper.
· After
half an hour’s terrible effort, Andrew Manson is at last success to revive the
child.
· While
going in the street, he keeps thinking, ‘I have done something; oh God! I have
done something real at last.’