ACADEMIC YEAR: 2015-2016
REGULATION CBCS-2012
UEN – GENERAL ENGLISH III
Unit I Prose
Type:100% Theory
Question Bank
Part-B QUESTIONS
1. What are the APJ Abdul Kalam’s visions for India?
Abdul Kalam has three visions for India, namely freedom, development and
stature. Since India respects the freedom of others, we must protect and build on it.
Next, we must recognize that we are a development nation. Similarly, he wants that
India must stand up and show our strength.
2. Who are the people Kalam feels fortunate to have worked with?
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Department of Space, Prof. SathishDhawan, the
successor of the former and Professor Dr. Brahm Prakash are the three great men Dr.
Kalam has worked with. He feels that he was fortunate in this regard.
3. What is Dr. Sudharshan’s achievement?
Dr. Sudarshan reformed a whole village and made it self-sustaining and selfdriving. Even though it was a tribal village, Dr. Sudershan made it a point to develop
this village as a developed one.
4. How can social evils like dowry be done away with?
Social evils like dowry can be done away with only by doing it at our home
first. Then only we can expect others to fall in line. They say one thing in public and
do another at home. This is the problem. No one wants his son to lose the money as
dowry.
5. What comparison does Kalam make between the media in Israel and in India?
The media in Israel talks about the development and all the good things
happening there. It reports about deserts becoming orchards. But the media in India
supplies people only with negative matters-death, sickness and terrorism. It does not
show the positive achievements of our country.
6. What comparison does Kalam make between the media in Israel and in India?
The author dispenses the myth that there is nothing magical about computers
or the users. They are after all normal human beings.
7. Write a short note on computer culture as mentioned in the Computeracy?
The computer culture is rich and complicated. This is because in order to understand
today’s micro computers one need some prior knowledge of what happened earlier.
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8. What changes are being seen in the computer industry?
In the computer industry, the hardware is becoming cheaper but more
powerful. The other change is that computers are being used as everyday tools by
every man woman and even child.
9. What comparison does the Peter Lurie make between motor cars and
Computers?
Computers are compared to cars which were like toys earlier. But in those
days you had to rebuild the car several times and once the mass market opened up
they had to be standardized. The same happened with regard to computers.
10. What forces draw people to the computer industry?
The computer industry thrives because of the availability of new hands and
new ideas. It demands performance.
11. How is the computing industry like the world of high fashion?
The Computer industry is like the world of high fashion. It has its share of
fads, fanatics, stalwarts who come up with new things and push the world a little
forward.
12. Are the rich really cramped?
The rich are not really cramped because they already have enough. But they
want more money to catch up with the rich. Very often, what the rich say is not true.
They imagine things and complain about everything. For example, they even say that
wealth is a burden.
13. What are the differences between the rich and the poor with regard to money?
With regard to money, the rich consider wealth as a burden. But the poor do
not complain of their poverty. The rich always want more but become bitter. The
poor, on the other hand, lead a contented life. They do not bother even if the share
markets crash. But the rich complain even if the servants don’t turn up for work.
14. How is Mr. Spugg’s life important to Leacock’s ideas?
Leacock assumes that the rich are not happy. They are really hard up. They
are trouble by money. Mr.Spugg is a rich man but he considers wealth as a
BURDEN. He overdrew form his band account and the bank called his attention to it.
As a result, he was forced to sell the bonds. It was indeed a bitter experience for
Mr.Spugg. Mr. Spugg’s life as a rich man is important for Leacock because it served
as s case in point. It helped the author to get a glimpse of the rich.
PART-C QUESTIONS
1. Do you agree with Kalam’s view that India’s react differently to rules in India
and abroad? Support your answer with Examples.
Yes, I agree with Dr. Kalam’s view that Indians react differently to rules in
India compared to those in countries like Singapore or elsewhere. When they are
abroad they obey rules because they will be punished or fined. They pretend that they
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are law-abiding citizens before the eyes of the foreigners. But once they return to
India, they throw rules to the wind. They spit on the road, throw cigarette burrs or
even urinate on the street. This is because the rules are not very strict. Moreover,
they think that everybody does it and so they behave irresponsibly.
2. What does Kalam expect from each Indian to make his vision for India become a
reality?
Kalam expects every Indian to be responsible and self-reliant. We should
realize that ours is already a developed country. He wants every India to contribute
and improve the system. For example, we want the government or the other service
providers to do everything for us. We must change the way we see things and the
negative attitude. We should take responsibility to stand up and do everything by
ourselves. We cannot expect miracles unless all of us are involved in social, political
and economic matters.
3. Do you agree with Peter Lurie’s statement that computing is merely one more
step in the human race’s continuous drive to master its environment?
No, I do not agree with his statement. It is not just one more step. It is a giant
leap for mankind. The computer industry has entered all walks of life. It has given
millions of jobs to our youth across the world. It has revolutionized the field of
information and communication technology.
Sitting at home with an Internet
connectivity, we can sent, receive, download and upload all kinds of information. It is
not correct ot wish away such a great revolution that easily Moreover, the salaries of
computer professions have gone very high and lifestyles have changed. The computer
revolution has also paved the way for the growth of big industrial hubs of activity.
Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai have expanded enormously. Above all,
the mobile phones, internet cafes and call centers have mushroomed and they have
certainly made value additions to the regional and national economies ultimately
leading to an overall growth across the globe. So computing is not one mere step. It
means a seachange has come everywhere. In fact, the world has become a global
village.
4. Write a paragraph on your views about the computer industry as it stands today.
There is no argument about the rapid development the computer industry has
brought about. But there are concerns among the members of our society as to the
culture the Information age is heading for. Our young and competent engineers and
technologists have found the means of making easy money by working for multinational companies. But the culture of these youngsters with a lot of money in their
hands is going to the dogs. With the new-found wealth, the become drug addicts or
alcoholics in order to relieve the stress of overwork. By working overnight and for
completing the projects on time, they are taxed to the maximum and end up with
health-related problems. The plight of girls working in call centers at night shifts is
even worse. A lot of girls are abducted, raped or killed, especially in the metros.
Moreover, the software employees are considered as cyber coolies by multinational
companies because labour in India is cheaper. So a large number of our boys and
girls, with multi-skills in computing are exploited by those greedy outsourcing
companies. They make enormous profits without any social responsibility. With
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brain drain on the rise, there are no professional ethics among the people, who run
suchprofit-making IT and IT enabled companies. Lastly, they cook up expenditure,
evade income tax and cheat governments. This is indeed the sordid state of affairs in the
computer industry.
5. How does Leacock prove that the rich are not rich and the poor are not poor?
Leacock proves that the rich are not really rich. The reason is they are not
satisfied with what they have. They always want more money. Even if they get more
money, they will not be happy. They own homes, drive in expensive cars, drink and
spend a lot of money lavishly. Yet they think that they are not rich enough to catch up
with the wealthy society. Carnegie would not be able to keep up with Rockefeller. There
will always be an ambition to overtake the other. Conversely, the poor are not really
poor. Even though they may not have enough money to buy a car or own a house, they
are happier. The economic setbacks do not affect them. Even if there is a crash in the
share market, they sit quietly and watch movies. In sum, the rich and the poor do not
know how the other lives.
6. Based on the essay ‘Are the Rich Happy’ do you think that the are really happy?
Give reasons.
In my opinion, the rich are, in fact, not happy. They have money but not
contentment. Nevertheless, they are always in need of money because they want to be
richer than the other person in the town. Just because they keep fifteen servants or
just because a woman rides downtown in a limousine to buy a fifty-dollar hat, it does not
mean that they are well-to-do. Actually, they are cramped. A friend of the author who
had ten thousand dollars a year told him that he found it quite impossible to keep up with
the rich. A man that the author respected very much who had an income of fifty
thousand dollars a year form his law practice also told him the same thing. He said that
it was better to face the brutal fact of being poor. Ironically the rich undergo trial and
bitter lessons in their life of which the poor know nothing.
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ULE 30 - GENERAL ENGLISH III
Unit II - POETRY
Type: 100% Theory
Question and Answers
Part-B ANSWERS
1. How does the poet use the sky as a metaphor for freedom?
For the caged bird, the gracious flight in the boundless sky is denied. In the case of the
free bird, it is blessed with that freedom. So the poet hints at the oppressed and naturally the sky
stands for freedom. This is not the case with the caged one.
2. Describe the plight of the Afro- Americans in a predominantly white state.
Racial discrimination is the restrictive aspect of Afro- Americans. In a predominantly
white state, they are treated like animals. So they long to be equals with the whites.
3. Give your observation on Maya Angelou's comparison technique utilized in
the
Poem, " I know why The Caged Bird Sings".
Maya Angelou's poem "I know Why The Caged Bird Sings" is a very inspiring and
motivational poem when she compares two birds. One is trapped in the cage with its wings
clipped, while the other runs free. The poet rings a sad note at the first glance. However, it
symbolizes hope. It shows that the caged bird still has the will to carry on with its powerful
determination. The poem conveys the struggle that the black people faced during the years of
slavery. The lines, " And he claimed the sky his own", and "But a caged bird stands on a grave of
dreams", show a contrast between the free bird and the restrained bird. The poem also
continually talks about the search for freedom. In closing, this poem is an allegory showing how
the black slaves were segregated. Still they kept up the search for freedom.
4. Attempt an appreciation of Nissim Ezekiel's poem " Night of the Scorpion"
In this poem Nissim Ezekiel makes vivid poetry out of an ordinary incident, namely, a
women being stung by a scorpion. The sting of the scorpion is in its tail. Likewise the significant
point of the poem is presented at its tail end. One rainy night the poet's mother was stung by a
scorpion. The neighbors came in large members to console her. They also tried to search for the
scorpion but in vain. They chanted God's name a hundred times to make the scorpion's sting
ineffective. They believed that with every movement of the scorpion.
The poison would move up in her body. They said that her suffering would purify her body and
soul. The poet's father was a rationalist. He gave his wife powder, mixture and herbs. He even
poured a little paraffin on the bitten toe and burnt it. The lady bore her sufferings silently. She
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was relieved of her suffering only after twenty hours. She thanked God that the Scorpion had
stung her only and not her children. The villagers are ignorant and superstitious. We are deeply
moved by the mother's self-effacing love for her children.
5. Bring out the philosophy glorified in the poem "If".
Kipling gives sound advice and useful ideas in his famous poem "If" which explains his
philosophy of life. According to him, a perfect man must remain calm when others blame him.
He should trust himself when all men doubt him. He should have patience. People may tell lies
about him, but he must not tell lies. Others may hate him, but he must not hate others. At the
same time, he should not look too good or talk too wisely. A perfect man must have dreams
about future but he should not be led by mere dreams. He should be a man of action. He should
treat success and failure alike. A perfect man must not be upset when his words are twisted by
dishonest persons to deceive others. If he loses all, he should start afresh. He must move in high
circles without losing touch with the common people. He should have the will to go on and on. If
neither his foes nor his loving friends can hurt him and if he does not waste his time, then he will
become the master of the earth and he will be able to achieve anything in this world. He will
become an ideal man.
PART-C ANSWERS
1. What is the significance of the poem "I Know Why the Caged- Bird Sings"?
Angelou’s title alludes to the poem ―Sympathy‖ by the African American writer Paul
Laurence Dunbar, in which a bird hurls itself repeatedly against the bars of its cage even as it
sings its longing for freedom. The poem’s title implies that Dunbar himself understands the bird
since he too felt trapped by the success of his dialect poems. Angelou’s title, a line repeated in
the poem, establishes her tone of compassionate protest and provides her central theme and
metaphor. It leads prospective readers to wonder what such an unnatural life as that of an
imprisoned bird would be like for humans, what forms such a ―cage‖ might take in human life,
how such a life could produce song, whether freedom would be possible, and what Angelou can
tell, from her experience and sympathetic imagination, about the answers to these questions.
Angelou identifies the bars of the ―cage‖ as racism, sexism, and the powerlessness of
their victims, whose disabling responses of ―fear, guilt, and self-revulsion‖ merely become
additional bars. Whole communities and classes of humans are thus restricted from being fully
themselves. Angelou shows how this imprisonment, exactly because it is so unnatural, also
naturally produces the response of ―song,‖ in the form of struggle, survival, self-affirmation, and
at last freedom.
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Like Dunbar, Angelou suggests that, by nature, humans are freely expressive. However,
she illustrates many restrictions that are placed on expressive selfhood by acts of injustice
committed because of self-centeredness and prejudice. When these injustices are experienced
during childhood, Angelou explains, persons internalize patterns of understanding that may last
for life. For example, because African Americans in Stamps were ―people whose history and
future were threatened each day by extinction,‖ they lived lives of resignation (with occasional
exceptions such as revival meetings, where the theme would be God’s system of justice).
Angelou remarks on her own tendency, even as an adult, to feel rage, paranoia, and dread of
futility.
Using herself as illustration, Angelou shows how resignation and rage are produced by
all-encompassing racist oppression, by omnipresent sexist stereotyping that diminishes the value
of any female who does not meet its standards of feminine beauty, and by neglect or violence
within families. Describing her sense of temporariness and homelessness (felt even in church,
where the congregation often expressed the same feelings about themselves in this world),
Angelou tells of having fantasized that her beauty in a white woman’s throwaway dress would
evoke understanding and appreciation of her worth, thereby awakening her from her ―black ugly
dream‖; instead, she experienced only frustration, humiliation, and fear that she would die. Her
early chapters suggest the fairy tale of the ugly duckling; and although it seems that Maya
intuited that she was a swan, she nevertheless suffered a crippling loss of self-esteem. Her
frequent suspicions that she might be a changeling made her so emotively vulnerable that, for
example, she at first thought that a sexual abuser might be her real father, because his attentions
gave her a sense of having a real home. Though her dream became a nightmare, again she was
misplaced and displaced, and again she was imprisoned in misunderstanding, fear of death, and
guilt-ridden silence. Throughout her childhood, Angelou blamed herself for life’s injustices.
If Angelou’s girlhood odyssey through deathlike psychological depths took her into an
underworld (sometimes literal as well as figurative) of race, gender, and family
disempowerment, it was in these same areas that she was empowered to seek self-affirmation.
The black community of Stamps, although oppressed, gave her a rich culture of language, story,
song, religious vision, and faith and brought her together with individuals whose unselfishness
and wisdom ensured her survival and growth. Although she was damaged by family experiences
of abandonment, neglect, and violence, her family life with Momma, Uncle Willie, and Bailey in
Stamps and with her mother in San Francisco also provided the love that sustained her quest.
Although her mother and grandmothers sometimes acted in ways that reinforced Maya’s
confusion and ambivalence toward life, these same women, and Bertha Flowers, provided not
only daily support but also the role models of competent and effective womanhood that Angelou
celebrated in her book and emulated in her life.
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Angelou’s effectiveness as a writer is based on her ability to tell stories well. The story of
her girlhood is composed of many vignettes; her memory when writing them was so vivid and
complete that she fills her reader’s imagination with sensory details, images, character sketches,
poignant remarks, revealing conversations, typical gatherings and goings-on, and many people’s
points of view (especially Bailey’s, with its special relation to her own). Meanwhile, readers may
gather meaning from the double perspective of the child whose immediate survival is at stake
and the adult who can interpret and evaluate with compassion, moral outrage, self-criticism, or
humor because of her greater safety as well as greater wisdom. Because the adult’s viewpoint
dominates, Angelou’s artistry graces her telling with a lyrical style that often transforms her
prose into a song—whether sorrow song or praise song—of her faith in the beauty and resilience
of the human spirit.
2. Give a brief summary of Nissim
explain the Indianness about it.
Ezekiel's poem "Night of the Scorpion" and
Nissim Ezekiel’s Night of the Scorpion is a strong yet simple statement on the power of
self-effacing love. Full to the brim with Indianness, it captures a well-detached black and
white snapshot of Indian village life with all its superstitious simplicity. The poet dramatizes a
battle of ideas fought at night in lamplight between good and evil; between darkness and light;
between rationalism and blind faith. And out of this confusion, there arises an unexpected winner
– the selfless love of a mother.
The poem opens with the poet’s reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night his
mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven the scorpion to hiding
beneath a sack of rice. After inflicting unbearable pain upon the mother with a flash of its
diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain again.
The peasant-folk of the village came like swarms of flies and expressed their sympathy.
They believed that with every movement the scorpion made, the poison would move in mother’s
blood. So, with lighted candles and lanterns they began to search for him, but in vain.
To console the mother they opened the bundle of their superstitions. They told mother
that the suffering and pain will burn away the sins of her previous birth. ―May the suffering
decrease the misfortunes of your next birth too‖, they said.
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Mother twisted and groaned in mortifying pain. Her husband, who was sceptic and
rationalist, tried every curse and blessing; powder, herb and hybrid. As a last resort he even
poured a little paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to it.
The painful night was long and the holy man came and played his part. He performed his
rites and tried to tame the poison with an incantation. After twenty hours the poison lost its sting.
The ironic twist in the poem comes when in the end the mother who suffered in silence
opens her mouth. She says, ―Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.
3. The summary and analysis of Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’?
The poet in his poem is providing an inspirational insight for the readers to remain
humble, soft, and tender and avoid the extremes and live up to all the opportunities of life
wherever one can muster any joys of life. It is important to remain humble and live with pride.
As per the poet, it is important to live with your head up when you are winning no matter
others are losing. It is important to maintain the calm and cool if the losers who are unable to
keep their heads up blames upon you for their loss. One should also keep no place for doubts in
our endeavors no matter others are pointing the fingers of doubt.
However, just ignoring their notion of doubt is not the solution. One should also think
and analyze the causes of those disbelieves which others pin point. One should also have
patience in life and know how to wait since patience is the virtue of success.
One should be truthful and not indulge in the game of blames and lies. No matter one is
welcomed with hatred, but one should try not to give hate in return, and even be good to others
so that others should not get any opportunity to hate. It is important to be humble, doubt free,
keep patience, truthful and shower love, but in order to achieve these attributes, do not do show
off. Do not try to look too good or too wise, means do not force upon yourself what you are not.
Just be yourself and be humble.
The poet then explains that it is important for one to dream in life, since life is
meaningless without dreams, but do not get governed by them. One should work towards
achieving and fulfill your dreams but do not become a slave of your dreams.
Moreover, it is good to think, one should think before doing anything since it is wise to
be thoughtful. But do not make those thoughts your only goals or objectives since they can lead
you to wrong paths. The goals and objectives should be aimed after considering other vital
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factors along with one’s thoughts. Both success and failure are the part and parcel of life, but
one should not become too happy with success and too sad with failures. One should treat
both these extreme situations with a moderate emotion.
The poet details the audiences that one should not be led by the extremities. One
should not just be truthful, but if any dishonest person twists those words in order to
fool you, you should have the ability to listen to those bitter truths. It is also important not to
forget one’s past, the way one travels the journey from ground and sky, since it involves lots
of hardships and lessons learnt.
The poem then talks about being daring, where you risk all your achievements in life
for a single calculated move. In life, the events of losses and profits do come. If in that one
game, you lose all your money, all your achievements, and you have to start from the very
beginning. All the struggles which you did in order to undertake those earnings, you
land up at the beginning of that struggle. But still, you should become humble enough not
to cry about the big loss you suffered. One should have self control and patience so that one
builds stamina and will power. It is the will power which can derive your success.
In the last stanza, the poet inspires to maintain the virtue in oneself. No matter you talk
with lots of people, but not try to goof up with them to build a false value or to impress
someone. You should maintain the good quality in you, and not led by others when you
interact with them. You should also maintain your simplicity, no matter you are surrounded
by the company of hi-fi people. You should be modest and not influenced by anyone, neither
by your friends nor by your enemies. Be yourself even if you are among the crowd. You
should keep forgiving nature and if you keep all imbibe all these attributes in your life, you
will be the king of yourself, untouched by any harms. You will be the winner of all the
powers on this mother earth. You will become a real man of virtue.
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ULE 33 – GENERAL ENGLISH III
Unit III: SHORT STORY
Type: 100% Theory
Questions & Answers
Part-B QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. What were the three remarkable aspects of the story told by the gentleman?
The patch on the wall of a house in London looked like the fine features of a
man’s face is the first remarkable aspect. The second aspect related to the similarity
between the man, by name, Mr. Ormond wall and the name of the house in London,
namely Great Ormond Street. The third aspect involves the fact that the story was
unreal. It was faked. Anyone who listened to the story should have realized that a mere
patch on the wall could not look the same as the face of the man, a millionaire. Next,
how could the face disappear just at the same time the imaginary character met with a
road accident. The narrator cleverly adds these details in order to create the strange
story. The story was well-thought out, but only to fool the audience.
2. Describe the narrator’s encounter with the man whose face appeared on the wall.
The narrator met the man with the face on the was on the street. He was heading
for Piccadilly in a taxi. There were two ladies and a little girl with him. The narrator
tried to talk to him. But he got into the ship with his friends. The man was rich. The
narrator took his seat opposite to the elusive man presumed to be an American
millionaire during the voyage, the narrator met the man whose face appeared on the
wall. He also found out from his business card that his name was Mr. Ormond Wall.
Even though the meeting occurred, the narrator could not get any vital information about
Mr. Ormond was.
3. What do you think of the narrator of the story?
The narrator at first started telling that he was going to tell a true story. He also
said that truth is not only stranger than fiction but also more interesting. He kindled the
excitement of the listeners by going to tell about a personal incident. Then he said that
he made up the story only half an hour before narrating the story. The narrator is very
skilful and proves to be a good story teller like Lucas himself.
4. How did the face on the wall disappear?
The patch on the wall looking like the face of a man remained the same for some
time. Then it looked brighter on the day, when the narrator met the man on the street
going in a taxi with his friends. Then the face on the wall became dimmer and thinner.
Then it began to fade out and completely disappeared on the day the man met with an
accident and died. Thus the face on the wall vanished all on a sudden. After all, the
face on the wall was only a fake device the narrator invented in the story.
5. What isYEAR:
the significance
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The spider’s web represents the vicious circle in which the Mayor carried out his
wicked plans. The Mayor resembled the spider_ that caught the insects in the web_ he
caught the twenty dead men. In the same way, the Mayor got rid of the twenty men of
the town who opposed his plans. He tortured them to death. The dentist who knew it
punished him by pulling his tooth out without giving anesthesia. The dentist waned to
teach him a lesson. He made it painful for the Mayor. Compared to the pain the men
suffered, the Mayor’s was not so painful. But the dentist put him through the treatment
and made him feel guilty for the crime.
6. Create a short character sketch of Aurelio Escovar.
Escovar was a poor dentist without a degree. He looked erect and skinny. He
had a look that smacked the seriousness of a situation. He worked steadily in his clinic
and seemed not to bother about anything.
7. What did the dentist mean by “Now you’ll pay for our twenty men.”?
The dentist meant, by these words, that the Mayor who caused the death of
twenty men should know what pin was like. To teach him a lesson he pulled out his
tooth without giving him anesthesia.
8. Why did the dentist pull out the tooth without anesthesia?
The dentist pulled out the Mayor’s tooth without giving him anesthesia because
he wanted the Mayor to understand how pin was like. He deserved to be taught a lesson
for his crime.
PART C QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. How is the title “The face on the Wall” suggestive of supernatural elements?
E.V. Lucas, essayist and novelist, weaves a strange story that never happened. A
man was staying in a house in Great Ormond Street, London. The walls of the room
were painted but were damp and patchy. A patch on the painted wall resembled the face
of a man. The man was convinced that this face on the wall existed in real life. He
wanted to find him among the crowd. Surprisingly, the narrator of this story found him
going in a taxi with two ladies and a girl. He wanted to meet him and chased him as he
moved from the train to the boat going to France.
On board the ship, the narrator found that he was a millionaire from USA by
name Mr. Ormond Wall. He met him and received his business card. It remained a
mystery that a patch on the wall of a house a London could resemble a face of a man
who lived in USA! Back in his room, one fine morning, the man woke up. All on a
sudden, the face on the wall had faded. It was clear the previous evening. Becoming
curious, he read in the newspapers that Mr. Ormond Wall met with an accident and died
of injuries.
The story is strange because a patch on the wall resembled the exact features of
an American businessman. How was it possible? In the end, the narrator told his
listeners that the story was cooked. The listeners were fooled. But they enjoyed the
story because all of us, at some point or other, come across such strange experiences in
life.
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2. Bring out the significance of the story, ‘one of These Days’.
One warm and rainless Monday morning, Aurelio Escovar, a poor dentist, is seen
polishing false teeth in his clinic. At about eight, he hears his 11__year old son
announcing the arrival of the local Mayor. The Mayor wanted his too the to be pulled
out. At first, Escovar didn’t want to meet him. But on hearing that the Mayor would
shoot him if he refused, he let him in. He also had a revolver just in case it was needed.
Shortly, the Mayor appeared at the door. The Mayor’s right side looked woollen and he
was visibly in pain. The dentist saw many nights of desperation in the Mayor’s dull
eyes.
After inspecting Mayor’s teeth, the dentist told him that an infected tooth had to
be removed without anesthesia. The dentist did so not because the Mayor had a
swelling in his face. He wanted to teach him a lesson, i.e. if pulling a tooth should give
him so much pin, how much pain one would have when tortured to death. So making
use of his tools, the dentist pulled out the Mayor’s lower wisdom tooth. At that time, the
Mayor seized the arms of the chair and braced his feet with all his strength. His eyes
were filled with tears. As the dentist was pulling out the Mayor’s wisdom tooth he said,
“now you’ll pay for our twenty dead men.” These key words imply in the story that the
Mayor had been responsible for the death of twenty men whom he tortured during the
last five nights.
As the Mayor’s tooth was being pulled out, he realized the guilt of the murder
and saw through the suffering of the twenty dead men. Compared to the torture and the
death of those men, his pain of the decayed tooth now seemed nothing. It showed
through his trembling and sweating. Marquez dramatically conveys the suffering of the
men through the pain the Mayor himself experienced After all, pain and suffering can be
realized only when one undergoes them oneself.
11. Write the summary of ‘The Face on the Wall’
The narrator and a group of people were talking about unusual events that
seemed to have no natural explanation. There was a stranger among those speakers.He
was a little man with a pale face. He was watching them carefully, but didn't say a word.
Dabney included the stranger in the talk
Dabney asked the stranger if he had any experience to describe a story which
couldn’t be explained to include him in the talk.The stranger began to talk
He said that he had a true story which happened to him personally and completed itself
only that afternoon. The stranger said that truth may be so much stranger than
imagination.
The storyteller said that he rented a room in Ormond Street a year or two years
ago. There were a lot of patches on the wall because of the dampness. There was a patch
which looked like the face of a real man. All the patches began to change, but the face
never changed its shape.
The face began to control him
The storyteller used to watch the face and began to think of it as real as his
fellow lodger. The face got firmer hold of him and grew more and more remarkable. The
nose hadYEAR:
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It was the face
of a very
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unusual man, a man in a thousand.
The storyteller began to search for the real man
He began to look for someone who looked like the face on the wall. He looked
for him in busy and crowded places like political meetings, football matches, and
railway stations, but in vain.He believed that he was connected with the face by fate.
People thought he was mad because he was watching the people and looking at their
faces. The police suspected him also.
Seeing the real man
Suddenly, he saw the man in a taxi and took another taxi and followed him. At
Caring Cross railway station, he saw the man standing with a little girl and other two
ladies. He tried to talk to the man, but he couldn't because they took the train to
Folkestone to go to France. So, he booked a ticket to Folkestone to catch the man before
he sailed to France. Also, he failed to talk to the man and he had to ride the boat with
him.
The storyteller got shocked
After half an hour of the voyage, the storyteller met the man when he got out of
his room. He asked him to give him his card because he had a very important reason to
communicate with him. The man thought that he was a mad man and gave him the card
at once.When he read the card and knew that the man's name was "Ormond Wall" from
Pittsburg-U.S.A. , he fainted and was taken to the hospital at Boulogne for some weeks.
After a month, the storyteller went back home and collected as much information
as possible about Mr. Ormond Wall. He knew that he was a millionaire with English
parents who had lived in London. He knew this information from some Americans and
some American newspaper men.
The face on the wall became faint
A day before, he discovered that the face on the wall was faint. When he bought
the paper and read about an accident that took place to Mr. Ormond Wall and a party.
The car was overturned and Mr. Ormond Wall was badly injured.
The face on the wall disappeared
When he returned to his room, he was greatly shocked because he found that the face
had completely disappeared. Later, he knew that Mr. Ormond Wall had died at that
moment.
The three extraordinary things
The storyteller said that there were three extraordinary things about this story.
First, the face on the wall in the room looked like the face of a true American gentleman
and the man's name had a relation to the place Ormond Street. Second, the face on the
wall was faint when Mr. Ormond had an accident and disappeared when he died.He
finished talking and when he was at the door, the people in the room reminded him of
the third thing. The stranger said that the third thing was that he made the story up about
half an hour ago.
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13.ACADEMIC
Write the Summary
and analysis of One of These Days By Gabriel
Garcia Marquez.
Aurelio Escovar is introduced like a poor dentist who doesn’t have too much experience
in the ambit of dental practice. He has a very old office and he is not an especial man.
One morning, He was polishing a false teeth. In that moment the Mayor of the town
arrives suffering.He had an intensive pain because of a wisdomtooth.First the dentist refuses too
see him, he was too busy polishing the false teeth but after a few minutes the Mayor threatens to
shoot the him. This man was suffering for more than 5 days and he was desperate. The dental
practitioner accept to pull out the wisdom tooth of the Mayor but he has to be without
anesthesia. When everything was ready the dentist ask the Mayor if he has to send the bill to
him or to the town and the Mayor answers “It’s the same damn thing”.
In this short story you can see how a normal man like a dentist can have power over a politician
and important person in a town and make him pay for all the injustice he has done. The dentist
wanted the Mayor to suffer and that’s why he didn’t want to welcome him in 5 days.
In Gabriel Marquez's story "One of These Days ," the author portrays a dentist and a
mayor in a corrupt South America (circa 1960). Aurelio Escavar, a clean, humble, and
experienced dentist yet without a professional diploma. The Mayor, however, is a very
aggressive, oppressive, and power abusive person. The story begins with the Dentist refusing to
let the Mayor enter his office, then the Mayor threatening to shoot him, and lastly the Dentist
pulling out the Mayor's tooth without anesthesia due to the fact that he hates the Mayor with a
passion. During the debut of the story, the reader would think that the theme of the story is the
power of hate, but through analysis they would realize that the true theme is the contribution
that the mood, setting, and structure play in creating tension in all aspects of the story.
Firstly, the mood creates tension in the story. In fact, a negative mood is created at the
beginning of the story. Imagine the Mayor of your town in front of some dentist's office
shouting, " If you don't take out my tooth, I'll shoot you!
(Page 108) It might seem like a
typical joke, but in reality it is not. The author intensified this negative mood by using a serious
and morbid style of writing which lacked humor and irony.
Secondly, the structure also creates tension in the story. By the use of small precise sentences,
the author gives the reader limited information. This is a good technique because it can even
create tension inside the reader's mind that is trying to reflect on what is happening. Gabriel
Marquez did not give the Mayor any name, just a title! There is no need to name the Mayor
since he is recognized by his title and his attitude, he is the superior man with power and
ammunition and he could be any Latin American in the 1960's with power and superiority.
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ULE 33 – GENERAL ENGLISH III
Unit IV: SHORT STORY
Type: 100% Theory
Questions & Answers
Part-B QUESTIONS
Paragraph Answers.
1. Describe how the enemies put the Prince in a death trap.
Dimitri was the reigning prince of Kedaria. He was only seventeen years old. He was
the last of his dynasty. Prince karl was his enemy. He wanted to become the ruler of Kedaria.
He was supported by the Kranitzki Regiment. Three officers of the Kranitzki Regiment were
plotting to murder Prince Dimitri. They took away all his weapons under some pretext or other.
They removed his loyal guards.They were only waiting for the loyal Andrieff Regiment to
march off.
2. How did Dr. Stronetz save the Prince from his murderers?
The three plotters entered the prince's room as soon as the Andrieff Regiment had
marched off. They had come there to murder the prince. At once the physician hit upon
an idea. He made the prince lie on his bed. He pretended to examine him. He told the
plotters that the prince had some fatal illness and would die in six days. The plotters left
the room feeling quite happy because the prince would die a natural death and that there
was no need for them to murder him.
3. How did the Prince out wit the guards?
The prince thanked his physician for saving him from the murderers. But the
physician said that what he said about him was true. The prince did not like to wait for
death to come to him. He took the poison bottle from his physician. When he was getting
ready to drink the poison, he had a sudden idea. He wanted to take revenge on his
plotters. He mixed the poison in the wine and invited the plotters to drink along with
him. They drank the wine quite unsuspectingly and died.
PART C
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Essay Answer
1. Justify the title ‘The Death Trap’ by Hector Hugh Munro.
Introduction
Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) assumed the pen name 'Saki'. As a journalist,
he published political satires in many leading British journals. He wrote short stories and
plays. His play 'The Miracle Merchant' is a dramatised version of his short story.
Reginald in Russia and Beasts and Superbeasts are the collections of his short stories.
'The Square Egg' is a collection of short stories and play
The Death Trap
Dimitri was the reigning prince of Kedaria. He was only seventeen years old. He was the
last of his dynasty. Prince karl was his enemy. He wanted to become the ruler of Kedaria. He
was supported by the Kranitzki Regiment.
Three officers of the Kranitzki Regiment were plotting to murder Prince Dimitri. They
took away all his weapons under some pretext or other. They removed his loyal guards. They
were only waiting for the loyal Andrieff Regiment to march off.
Prince Dimitri knew all their plans. But he was quite helpless. He sent for his physician.
He told the physician about the plot against his life. He was not a coward but he wanted to
enjoy life. The physician did not want the prince to be cruelly murdered. So he offered the
prince a bottle of poison. but the Prince wanted to live.
The three plotters entered the prince's room as soon as the Andrieff Regiment had
marched off. They had come there to murder the prince. At once the physician hit upon
an idea. He made the prince lie on his bed. He pretended to examine him. He told the
plotters that the prince had some fatal illness and would die in six days. The plotters left
the room feeling quite happy because the prince would die a natural death and that there
was no need for them to murder him.
The prince thanked his physician for saving him from the murderers. But the
physician said that what he said about him was true. The prince did not like to wait for
death to come to him. He took the poison bottle from his physician. When he was getting
ready to drink the poison, he had a sudden idea. He wanted to take revenge on his
plotters.
He mixed
the poison
in the wine and invited the plotters to drink
along with CBCS-2012
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2015-2016
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him. They drank the wine quite unsuspectingly and died.
Conclusion
Thus the prince escaped the death trap set for him by the plotters and at the same
time caught them in a death trap. Hence the title.