Unit 1 CHARACTER SKETCH OF NOMITA

THE 3Ls OF EMPOWERMENT  Nomita is the main character in the story

CHRISTINE LAGARDE ‘Matchbox’.
POINTS  She represents a simple Indian housewife.
 She has many tensions in life.
o LEARNING: foundation for everything  She is married to Ajit who is from a wealthy
o LABOUR: Economical independence and financial security family.
o LEADERSHIP: More confidence to achieve dreams in life  She wants to live with confidence and self-respect.
 Her mother is a poor widow, who seeks help from
A woman is a strong personality with the power of Nomita.
truthfulness and tolerance. She is as intelligent as man. But  Nomita wants to help her mother but she has no
she is not given equal status in society. She is discriminated income of her own so depends on Ajit. This creates
and marginalized at every level in the society. Women face issues in their life.
a lot of violence in life like dowry system, sati, female  Nomita finds that Ajit reads her letters.
infanticide etc. Empowerment of women is the need of the  When she asks about it Ajit insults her.
hour. An educated woman is an empowered woman. If she  Ajit’s attitude towards her and her mother hurts
is educated she can take the lead in building a good family, Nomita deeply.
a compassionate society and an understanding world.  In her anger she sets her sari on fire...
Therefore, the 3Ls of empowerment; Learning, Labour,  She could have shown the world Ajit’s true nature
Leadership are important. The 3Ls can give women but like a typical Indian housewife she doesn’t. so
freedom from oppression. A Nation with educated and Ajit escapes from trouble.
empowered women can develop faster and better. We must  Her strength, willpower and virtue is clearly shown
make sure that women are empowered at the following in the story.
levels; economic, social, political, psychological and
familial level.
HOREGALLU
ANY WOMAN SUDHA MURTY
KATHARINE TYNAN POINTS
POINTS Horegallu= a stone that can bear weight
In the past every village had a large flat stone
 First person point of view
placed horizontally over two vertical ones, making
 About any woman (mother/ wife) a stone bench, under a tree, where travellers
 Central Metaphor: House could rest for some time and even cool water was
 “sacred ring” – circle of love and care from dangers kept in pots so they could drink and relax before
and unhappiness continuing their journey.
 MANGER: A trough that holds food for animals  A horegallu is important in every journey
 Thou: God/ Jesus  We can carry our burdens( tensions, problems etc)
 Ending of the poem: A prayer to God that she can according to our capacity
 Every once ina while we must put our burdens down to
watch them grow up safely under her wings.
relax and horegallu gives us the opportunity
Description of woman: She is the pillars and keystone that
 No one can solve our problems, we have to face them but
holds the whole weight of the house. Without her the house
horegallu gives a temporary relief or comfort
will be destroyed completely. She gives light, love and life to
SERVICE OF GRANDFATHER AND RATNA
her children. She protects the family from all kinds of dangers.
Grandfather was a retired school master of Sudha
She takes up all responsibilities of the family and the house.
Murty. He used to sit under the banyan tree and
MATCHBOX
listen to the travelers resting there. They told him
ASHAPURNA DEBI
about their problems in life. Murty saw this as a
POINTS
young girl. She never understood the service he
 IDEA: Gender Inequality (Cultural Dimensions of Gender was doing at that time. Years later she meets
Inequality). Ratna, a senior clerk in her office, who was a very
jolly person. She too listened to the coworker’s
 Comparison of woman to a matchbox. Enough gun powder to
problems. But never gave any suggestions or told
burn a hundred Lankas.
opinions. In her own way just like grandfather she
 Allusions to fire..flame etc.
was doing great service by giving a temporary
 A woman has no identity, respect in a household.
relief
 She is treated like an object or possession.
 Her voice is not heard. QUALITIES OF A GOOD LISTENER
 Her opinions are not considered.  Doesn’t judge
 Women are strong, she has the power to destroy the masks of  Is sympathetic
men, but she doesn’t do it.  Understans that the other person is in a lot of
 Men take advantage of this. tension
 Men know women will help maintain their fake identity in  Does not give advice
society.  Will not tell others the secrets heard.
 UNIT 2
MENDING WALL Plot: Two teenagers who treat each other like brothers
ROBERT FROST Antonio and Felix. Both wanted to become light
weight champions. Both wanted to win the Golden
Form: Written in blank verse form Glove Tournament. When they find out that they have
Style: Narrative style (like telling a story)/ fight each other they decide to train separately. But
Conversational style during the fight they realized that friendship is most
Season: spring season important in life. They fight very hard but in the end they
Refrain: hug each other and the audience applauds their
 “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” friendship. They walk away together before the winner is
 “Good fences make good neighbours” announced.
Symbols: Wall
 Emotional boundary THE HOUR OF TRUTH
 Separation between people(physical) PERCIVAL THOMAS
 Following rituals and routine PONITS:
 clash between tradition and modernity A DEEP EMOTIONAL STUDY ON THE CORRUPTING
 clash between youth and old POWER OF MONEY ON PEOPLE
 Unity between neighbours( meeting to build wall)
Irony: mending the wall builds friendship Main Characters: Robert Baldwin and Mr. John Gresham
Simile: “like an old – stone savage”
Setting: Rural England LIE: “I don’t remember”
Savage: neighbour (the farmer) Themes:
Assonance in ending lines: wall, hill, balls etc  Honesty is the best policy.
Theme: Walls and fences can maintain and restore human  It is not easy to be truthful always.
relationships, a clash between modernity and traditions  Truth wins in the end.
Metaphor: two kinds of walls (emotional and physical)  Money can make people corrupt.
Stone blocks compared to balls and loaves  Only brave people can be honest in life.
Personification: Nature is personified  Values are more important than money.
Summary: A stone wall separates the speaker’s  People can become greedy when they see money; this
property from his neighbour’s. During spring, the two can make them forget their values.
neighbours meet to check for damages and repair the
wall. The poet/ speaker doesn’t think that a wall is  A positive story -the bad get punished
important- (there are no cows). “He is all pine and I -the good get rewarded.
am apple orchard.” But the neighbor keeps saying
“Good fences make good neighbours”. The poet Money brings loneliness, punishment, dishonesty,
wants to make the neighbor understand but he is not disappointment, and possibility of endless shame.
able to understand. The poet tries saying that even
Nature doesn’t like walls so she pulls it down. But the  Greed observed from various angles.
neighbor only keeps repeating that to maintain good
relationships we need walls. This poem is a sad ROBERT BALDWIN: An everyday American man who works
reflection of our society. for a living. His income is low. He is an honest man. He wished
to support his family. All through the play he shows that it is
AMIGO BROTHERS best to be honest in life. He never falls for money and lives
PIRI THOMAS according to his values. He does not lie even when Mr. Gresham
POINTS: tells him to. A positive character who stands for truth and is
Theme: rewarded for being honest in life. He keeps his goodwill. And
o Friendship is more important than winning gets a good job in a bank.
o Two sided conflict- external and internal
o External: Friends fighting each other Mr. JOHN GRESHAM: He was the bank president. A
o Internal: Brothers/ friends realizing they have to fight character who stands for all men. He was a good boss to Mr.
o Brotherly love Baldwin. He appropriated money from the bank. But does not
Characters/ Protagonists: ANTONIO and FELIX realize the seriousness until he gets jailed. He asks his dear
Setting: Tompkins Square Park, New York, Boys Club, East friend Baldwin to help him by telling a lie. But Baldwin’s
River’s Edge honesty makes him realize his mistake. He confesses his crime.
Mood: Shock, Wonder
Symbolism: Boxing made the brothers ANTONIO and FELIX MARTHA: Robert Baldwin’s wife. An honest woman like her
understand that friendship is more important than winning husband. She stands by her husband in the whole play. But at
Tone: Tension, Pressure one point she tells Baldwin to lie to save Mr. Gresham his
Climax: The fight is about to begin and the bell goes “ding ding friend. Not because she doesn’t want to be truthful but to save he
ding” for the first round to start- both boys show no mercy husband’s friend. But in the end she listens to Baldwin and
Conflict: the two friends realize they have to fight each other to stands by his decision.
win the GOLDEN GLOVE TOURNAMENT.
Wall: The event that creates a wall between them is when they
were jogging and they start to talk about the fight.
 UNIT 3 Didi is an extract from” Redrawing India”
A THREE WHEELED REVOLUTION Ever since Shaheen Mistri was a young girl she
IRFAN ALAM wanted to do something for the society. While
Points: visiting India she came across the slums of India.
IRFAN ALAM IS A SAVIOUR FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN
Theme: She saw that many of the young children were
 The value of commitment to the society. illiterate. She wanted to do something about it.
 Entrepreneurship if taken as a career can bring down These children were the future of the nation. It was
unemployment. important to educate them. She came up with a
 Making a difference in the society through new solution, AKANKSHA, a foundation that tried to
enterprises. bridge educational gaps in the society. To provide
 Dignity of labour.
good education to poor children. AKANKSHA
 Taking risks to realize dreams.
ensured service from college students in low income
SammaaN Foundation and Irfan Alam: schools to teach the poor children Math, English,
 Irfan Alam organized the rickshaw sector and made it a values, and self- confidence. Later in 2008, she took
profitable venture. up a leadership role with TEACH FOR INDIA. A
 He wanted to bring the marginalized to the main stream. fresh venture that aims to give equal educational
 Created a revolution in the rickshaw sector. opportunities to every child.
 SammaaN means respect and Dignity to all
 SammaaN Foundation formed in 2007 by Alam. STAMMER
 SammaaN empowers rickshaw pulling industry. SATCHIDANANDAN
 SammaaN improves the lives of rickshaw pullers.
PERSPECTIVES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Facilities of SammaaN foundation: POINTS:
 Loans to buy own rickshaws.
 Training on traffic rules.  Stammer is an alternate mode of speech.
 Providing insurance.  Stammer is not a disability but an alternate
 Giving ID cards and Uniforms to Rickshaw pullers.
ability.
 Redesigned rickshaws.
 Created advertising opportunities through rickshaws.  Stammer is a language itself.
 Lameness: Silence between word and action.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD ENTREPRENEUR:  Stammer: Silence between word and meaning.
 Adaptability  Poet is unsure whether stammer or language
 Persistence came first.
 Work ethics  Linguists/ Language experts are confused if
 Visualizing successful goals
stammer is a dialect or a complete language.
 Effective communication
 Every time we stammer we are offering a sacrifice
DIDI to the God of meanings
SHAHEEN MISTRI  When stammer becomes common it becomes the
mother tongue of people.
Points:  The poet thinks that Even God must have
She is an Indian social activist and educator. She is the founder
of the Akanksha Foundation, an Indian educational initiative stammered when he created man.
in  Mumbai  and  Pune, and is also the CEO of Teach for  This is why human speech has multiple
India  since 2008. meanings.
 For the same reason our prayers, commands and
Theme:
 All are equal poems are confusing.
 Equal opportunities for equal justice.  Multiple levels of meaning create poetry.
 Success is not making money
 Create positive difference in society through service.
Theme:
TEACH FOR INDIA: Non- profit Organization
AIM:  Hesitation of people towards social needs.
o To remove educational inequality in India.  We are unwilling and lazy to help our society.
o Teach For India follows a fellowship programme.  We forget our public duties and responsibilities.
o Recruiting eligible Indian college graduates and working  We don’t help the needy e.g., accident cases, etc
professionals to serve as full- time teachers in low income  This attitude is common to society so stammer is
schools for two years.
our language.
o To bridge educational gaps.
o A revolutionary programme.  The poem tells us who we are.
 UNIT 4 SUMMARY:- The poet returns to Kerala from the North after
spending four years earned his PhD (making toys from husks), with
WHEN A SAPLING IS PLANTED great hope, Tired of eating Chapatis he dreams of eating g a sumptuous
WANGARI MAATHAI meal of Athikira rice. He dreams his home, the paddy fields where his
father, a farmer in his mud- stained dhoti, working in the paddy fields,
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY WANGARI MAATHAI AT
OSLO, NORWAY ON DECEMBER 10, 2004. the oxen, people carrying tender saplings, thrill of the farmers, and the
hustle and bustle of the village. But he is shocked to see that the whole
 She is the first African (Kenya) woman to get the Nobel Prize. village has changed. All food crops have become cash crops. There is
no cultivation of paddy. At his home, the machine for rubber sheets is
 Famous environmentalist and political activist from Kenya.
being fixed. Without any feeling father tells him that only fools grow
 She founded the GREEN BELT MOVEMENT paddy, rubber is more profitable. The government will give rice to those
 To protect environment. not growing paddy. Rice is our staple food; still his father says it is
 To plant seeds. (Seeds of peace.) foolish to cultivate rice. He sees his brother is carrying wheat and
 To uphold democracy. rations for the family. This shatters his dream of eating a plentiful meal.
 Protect human rights. His brother stumbles and spills the wheat. But his cries are drowned by
the sound of the plane carrying the chief minister off to the Centre for
 Making sure men and women have equal rights. grains. The poet wonders if the CM could ask for some husk also.
KEY POINTS
 In Africa women are the main caretakers.
 Women till the land, feed families etc.
 So she is more alert of the shifts in the environment.
 Change in the environment means no wood for fire, no clean
drinking water, no shelter or income, etc.
 Planting trees to balance the environment. DANGERS OF DRUG ABUSE
 Role of women and children in protecting nature. Dr. HARDIN B JONES
 Tree- a symbol of democratic struggle KEY POINTS
 Advice against use and misuse of drugs
BIODIVERSITY  People use drugs to forget their problems.
 Biodiversity maintains environmental balance.  Feelings and moods created by the brain are held back by drugs
 Biodiversity adds variety of life on Earth.  Drug addiction cause physical problems.
 Eco System has a balance.  Drug addiction can cause brain damage.
 Decline of biodiversity means damage of the environment.
 Shortage of water means a GLOBAL CRISIS. DRUGS ARE OF TWO TYPES MEDICINES AND SENSUAL DRUGS
 Biodiversity helps drug discovery and medicinal resources. HIPPOCRATES: GREEK PHYSICIAN, FATHER OF MEDICINE
COMMERCIAL FARMING SENSUAL DRUGS MEDICINES
o Drugs not needed by the o Drugs that reduce a disorder
Advantages Disadvantages. body. or illness
 Commercial farming  Pollution. o Used to get a strong sense of o Has restorative effects
changed agricultural sector  Ground water pollution/ pleasure o Not harmful to body
fully. contamination. o It activates the brain’s o Given and eaten under
 Scientific advancement in  Increased cost of pleasure centres supervision of a medical
agricultural sector. o Activates these centres practitioner
production.
through chemical mimicry or
 Food production increased  Farmers cannot try to win directly
 Positive changes can be with food production.
seen  Life rises and falls with SEVERE ADDICTION SYMPTOMS:
National and International  Drugs fail to give pleasure.
Market  Less satisfactory
 Temporary relief only
RICE Nellu (Paddy) (1968)  Will have to take more amount for pleasure
Prof. CHEMMANAM CHACKO  Depression
Themes:  Failure to respond to surroundings and situations
 A difference between expectations and reality  Personality changes/ Mood changes
 Pressing fingers deep into body to assure own reality
 Plight of farmers moving from food crops to cash crops
 Loses sense of being alive.
 Nostalgia of paddy fields and a sumptuous meal.  Identity crisis
 Strong social message in a humorous manner
 Changing attitudes of people. DISEASES RELATED TO DRUG ABUSE
 Greed of the people.  Abscess in arms and veins
 Thoughtlessness of people.  LIVER/ KIDNEY/ LUNG diseases
 Disadvantages of Modernization  Brain cell damage
TONE/ STYLE: SATIRICAL TONE/ STYLE  Hair falling out
SIMILE: Chief Minister’s off like an arrow  Withdrawal symptoms
LANGUAGE: Simple
HUMOUR CAN TAKE THE MESSAGE MORE EFFECTIVELY TO OVERDOSE OF DRUGS
THE READERS SO USING A SATIRICAL STYLE. Respiratory/ cardiac failure > Death