A Legend of the Northland Summary in English by Phoebe Cary

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A Legend of the Northland Summary in English by Phoebe Cary

A Legend of the Northland by Phoebe Cary About the Poet

Poet NamePhoebe Cary
Born4 September 1822, Mount Healthy, Ohio, United States
Died31 July 1871, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
NationalityAmerican
Genreprose
SiblingsAlice Cary
A Legend of the Northland Summary by Phoebe Cary
A Legend of the Northland Summary by Phoebe Cary

A Legend of the Northland Introduction to the Chapter

A Legend of the Northland is based on a story from the Old Testament in the Bible. In the ballad, Phoebe Cary reminds us what happens when we cannot bring ourselves to share with those in need. The legend, which is set in the snow-covered polar region of is quite famous and has been passed on through generations. The poet doesn’t believe in the authenticity of the story but yet is tempted to share the story because of the moral it teaches. Mythological stories may not relate to reality but they always carry a good message and that is why the poet is narrating the story.

A Legend of the Northland is a ballad. A ballad is a song narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballads are a part of folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next.

A Legend of the Northland Summary in English

The poem A Legend of the Northland is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed.

This is a legend of Northland where the days are short and the nights so long and chilly and it is difficult to sleep through them. In this part of the world reindeers are used to pull sledges on snows and the children have to be kept warm in fur clothes. In this region people tell of a strange story which I don’t believe can be true but one must listen to it as it has a moral to teach us all.

Once, when St. Peter was living in the world, and he went about preaching from place to place, he reached the door of a cottage. He saw a woman making cakes and baking them. He was tired and hungry as he had fasted the whole day. So, he asked her for one of her cakes.

The woman, who was miserly, felt the cake that she was baking was too big to be given away in charity, so she kneaded the dough again and made a still smaller one but did not have the heart to give it away either. She finally took a very small ball of dough and made a cake which was as thin as wafer but decided not to give that away as well.

She said that the cakes that seemed too small to fill her own stomach, appeared too large to be given away. So she stored them on the shelf. St. Peter, who was fainting with hunger, became angry with the old woman. He told her that she was too selfish to not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker who has to bore in hard and dry wood to get its scanty food. Because she was wearing a red cap on her head, the colour of the woodpecker’s head is also red. Since the rest of the clothes were burnt in the chimney, the rest of the body is black. She can be seen boring in the trees for food all day.

A Legend of the Northland Theme

The theme of A Legend of the Northland is that greed and selfishness can annoy even a saint.

Long long ago, there lived an old lady in Northland. One day Saint Peter, while preaching round the world, reached her door. She was baking cakes on her hearth. St. Peter, who was fainting with hunger, asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. The selfish lady tried to make a tiny cake for him. But as it was baking, she found it too large to be given away. She tried baking two more times but even the smallest of cakes seemed too large to her. Such greedy behaviour of the lady annoyed the hungry saint. He cursed her saying that she was far too selfish to be a human, to have food, shelter and fire to keep her warm. Thus, she was transformed into a woodpecker. All her clothes except her scarlet cap were burnt black as she went up the chimney and flew out of the top. The old woman can still be seen in the forest, boring into the wood for food.

A Legend of the Northland Tone

The poet, though she declines all responsibility about the truth of the story, yet narrates it because she wishes to convey the message of generosity and kindness. Her tone is preachy and sanctimonious as she narrates the story. Though she claims she does not believe in the authenticity of the story, she ends on a warning note when she says the old woman may still be seen boring into wood for food.

A Legend of the Northland Message

The poem A Legend of the Northland is a legend, or an old traditional and popular story that is told to the children of the Northland. Though it is considered to be historical, but its authenticity is not attested. It is a “curious” and conventional story with a supernatural element present at the end of the tale. The main objective of such poems or folktales is to convey a message or teach some values. In A Legend of the Northland the poet tells us that we should not be greedy or selfish and must always be ready to help those in need. The poet seems to be warning people who are selfish that they may be punished, and that the punishment may be very severe, for the old woman is still seen boring into wood for food.

A Legend of the Northland Title

The poem has an apt title. A legend is an old traditional and popular story that is told to convey a message or teach some values. This legend, which is a foltale from Northland, teaches the lesson of kindness and generosity.

A Legend of the Northland Setting

The poem is set in Northland or the cold polar region of the North, including Greenland, northern Europe and Siberia. She says that in this region the days are short, and nights are long. When the snow falls, the people heretie reindeer to their sledges and go sledging. Because of the cold, children are made to wear heavy woollen clothes that cover them up fully and make them look like bear cubs.

A Legend of the Northland Literary Devices

Enjambment is when a sentence, phrase, or thought does not end with the line of poetry. Rather, it carries over to the next line.

Example: He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;

Imagery

Imagery is a poetic device wherein the author uses words or phrases that appeal to any of the senses or any combination of senses to create “mental images” for the reader. Imagery helps the reader to visualize more realistically the author’s writings. Imagery is not limited to only visual sensations, but also refers to igniting kinesthetic, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, thermal and auditory sensations as well.

In A Legend of the Northland we find sensory imagery that includes vision, taste, and sound as Saint Peter approaches the cottage and sees the old woman baking the cakes, then turns the woman into a woodpecker that can be heard tapping tapping on a tree.

Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme scheme refers to the order in which particular words at the end of each line rhyme. The first end sound is represented as the letter “a”, the second is “b”, and so on. If the alternate words rhyme, it is an “a-b-a-b” rhyme scheme, which means “a” is the rhyme for the lines 1 and 3 and “b” is the rhyme affected in the lines 2 and 4.
Example: “Away, away in the Northland, (a)
Where the hours of the day are few, (b)
And the nights are so long in winter (c)
That they cannot sleep them through.” (b)

Imperfect Rhyme, also known as ‘partial’, ‘near’ or ‘slant rhyme’, occurs when a: poet deliberately changes the spelling or pronunciation of word so that it rhymes with the last word of another line in the stanza. Use of imperfect rhyme is fairly common in folk poetry.

Example: Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:

A Legend of the Northland Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
What is a legend? Why is this is called a legend?
Answer:
A legend is a very old story from ancient times, which may not always be true, and one that people tell about a famous event or person. A legend often teaches a lesson. This poem is called a legend because it tells an old story of Northland. This is the story of an old greedy woman who angered St. Peter and was turned into a woodpecker because of her greed, and the poet herself says, ‘I don’t believe it is true’.

Question 2.
Where does this legend belong to and what kind of country is it?
Answer:
The legend belongs to the “Northland”, an area that could refer to any of the extremely cold countries in the Earth’s north polar region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia—Siberia, or the Scandinavian countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. It is a cold place where days are short and the nights are long.

Question 3.
Why does the poet say that the hours of the day are few?
Answer:
In the poem, the poet says the legend is told Northland. The Northland is a cold snow-covered region near the North Pole. Here the days are shorter and the nights are longer. As a result there are very few hours in a day.

Question 4.
Why are the People unable to sleep through the night?
Answer:
The people are unable to sleep through the night because the nights are very long and very cold.

Question 5.
‘And the children look like bear’s cubs.’ What have the children been compared to? Why?
Answer:
Northland is a cold place so the children have to wear funny furry dresses to protect themselves from cold. These dresses make them look like bear cubs.

Question 6.
What does the poet tell us about the story she is about to narrate? Why does she want to tell the tale?
Answer:
The poet says that she is going to tell a strange tale told by the people of Northlands. She admits that thoughthe story may not be true, still she wants to tell the story because it contains an lesson in generosity and philanthropy. She wants the readers to learn a lesson from the poem.

Question 7.
Who came to the woman’s house and what did he ask for?
Answer:
Saint Peter, while preaching round the world, reached the woman’s door. He had been travelling the whole day and was tired and hungry. When Saint Peter saw the woman making cakes, he asked her for one of her large store of cakes.

Question 8.
Why was Saint Peter tired and hungry?
Answer:
Saint Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He travelled around the land, preaching the message of Christ. During the course of his journey, sometimes, he did not get food and water. Besides, he had to observe fasts also. This often left him tired and hungry.

Question 9.
What did Saint Peter ask the woman for? What was the woman’s reaction?
Answer:
Saint Peter asked the old lady for a cake from her store of cakes. The woman, who was very greedy, did not wish to part with her cakes as she felt they were too large to be given away. So she made a small cake for him, but, that too, seemed to her too big to be given away. In the end, she made a very small and thin cake. But she did not give even that cake to St. Peter and she put it away on the shelf.

Question 10.
Why did the woman bake a little cake?
Answer:
The woman in the poem has been shown as being highly stingy, miserly, greedy and mean by nature. Whenever she picked up a cake to give it away, it appeared to be too large to give away. Hence, she baked a ‘ very small cake for Saint Peter that was as thin as a wafer.

Mirror Summary in English by Sylvia Plath

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Mirror Summary in English by Sylvia Plath

Mirror Summary in English

This poem explores the relationship that we have with truth, particularly the truth about ourselves.

In the first verse, Plath imagines the thoughts of a mirror, chosen because it is an object we all turn to in search of a kind of truth. It is presented as objective—’exact’ and without ‘preconceptions’, swallowing whatever it sees without a second thought, ‘unmisted by love or dislike’. The mirror is, it is at pains to point out that it is, ‘not cruel, only truthful’—but truth itself is cruel for human beings, and we turn away from it, presenting our backs to those mirrors that offer to show us the unbiased truth.

In the second verse, the mirror is replaced by the lake, something else into which humans have traditionally gazed into, in search of their own reflection. Plath presents us with a woman ‘searching the mirror’s reaches for what she really is’, but the figure cannot bear the truth she finds, and turns her back on it in favour of ‘those liars, the candles or the moon’, both images traditionally associated with romance. Yet we cannot live without knowing the reality about ourselves, even if what we find upsets us. So each morning the woman is back, even though it is only to cry and wring her hands at what she sees. To know the truth is torture, and yet we continue to torture ourselves.

What makes the poem particularly striking is the viewpoint Plath adopts—she writes as the mirror itself. This brings an added poignancy to this poem about isolation, the only person more lonely than the receiver of bad news is its bearer, perhaps. The mirror’s life is an unfulfilled one, it can do no more than ‘meditate on the opposite wall’, and even the dignity of the word ‘meditate’ is undermined by its object, a wall painted ‘pink, with speckles’. Throughout the poem, it is the mirror which meditates, which has hidden reaches, which has a heart and behaves ‘faithfully’.

But the woman ‘comes and goes . . . day after day’. She merely ‘rewards (it) with tears and an agitation of hands’, turning her back on it and yet unable to stay away, returning every morning to replace the darkness. The relationship between the mirror and the woman is evidently a complex one—they need each other, and yet cause each other pain, too.

In this poem, Plath—who committed suicide less than 18 months later—adopts the mirror’s viewpoint in order to explore her ambivalent feelings about herself. ‘Mirror’ juxtaposes images of love and cruelty, truth and dislike, flickering light and darkness. One minute the mirror is ‘a little god’, the next it is needy and alone. It longs to be loved and yet it is in the woman’s suffering, her ‘tears’ and ‘agitation’, that it receives what it calls a ‘reward’. Ahead lies a terrible future for the woman. The description of herself as a ‘terrible fish’—a cold and emotionless woman—rises to torture Sylvia Plath.

Mirror Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice

a. When the mirror is being described as being ‘unmisted by love or dislike ’ we understand that the mirror is
(i) not misted
(ii) not prejudiced
(iii) has four angles
(iv) is silver in colour
Answer:
(ii) not prejudiced

b. The other word for‘contemplation’is ………….
(i) contempt
(ii) meditation
(iii) mediation
(iv) Thoughtful

c When the mirror says ‘it has no preconceptions ’ it means that:
(i) it reflects back an image objectively
(ii) it modifies an image as it reflects it
(iii) it beautifies an image as it reflects it
(iv) it gives a biased view of a person/object

d. The mirror has been called ‘a four-cornered god’ because:
(i) it is square shaped
(ii) like God it watches you unbiased andfair from all four angles
(iii) it reflects back all that it sees
(iv) it never stops reflecting

e. The ‘speckles’ refer to:
(i) a pink object
(ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it
(iii) a person with pink pimples
(iv) pink spots in general
Answer:
(ii) the opposite wall which has spots on it

f. The phrase ‘agitation of the hand’ suggests that the person is:
(i) very ill
(ii) very upset
(iii) very angry
(iv) very happy
Answer:
(ii) very upset

g. By saying ‘Now I am a lake ’ the narrator wants to show that:
(i) the poem is not only about external beauty but also the inside of a person
(ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces
(iii) the depth of the lake is important
(iv) the lake does not show as exact an image as a mirror *
Answer:
(ii) the lake can also reflect surfaces

Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly

a. What is the poetic device used when the mirror says ‘I swallow ’?
Answer:
The poetic device used is personification. Like a person swallows food and chews upon it, the mirror takes in the image of a person and thinks about it.

b. How does the mirror usually pass its time?
Answer:
The one-dimensional mirror spends the entire day gazing at the wall on the opposite side and faithfully reproduces its colours and design until darkness supervenes or faces intrude.

c. What disturbs the mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall?
Answer:
The mirror’s contemplation of the opposite wall is disturbed by the darkness that makes it impossible for the mirror to gaze at the opposite wall. Sometimes a person comes and stands in front of the mirror and the mirror cannot gaze at the opposite wall.

d. Why does the mirror appear to be a lake in the second stanza? What aspect of the mirror do you think is being referred to here?
Answer:
In the second stanza the mirror appears to be a lake. The difference between a lake and a mirror is that the lake is not ‘silver and exact’ like a mirror and it has more depth. The lake is a symbol for the private, hidden self. It shows that which society cannot see.

e. What is the woman searching for in the depths of the lake?
Answer:
The woman is looking into herself to see what she really is. She is searching for her private, hidden self. It is a side of her which society cannot see, but it is the truth which she knows about herself.

f. How does the narrator convey the fact that the woman looking at her reflection in the lake is deeply distressed?
Answer:
The woman is agitated. She wrings her hands in distress and then when she cannot bear the truth, she turns her back on it in favour of ‘those liars, the candles or the moon’, who soften the harsh edges.

g. What makes the woman start crying?
Answer:
The woman looks into the lake and sees she is ageing. She looks at her own reflection with loathing as she sees less and less of the young girl and more of the old woman. The rising of the ‘terrible fish’ refers to the aged woman whose skin is turning ugly. It also refers to the woman’s self-loathing as she considers herself unworthy of being loved. This makes her cry.

h. What do you think the ‘terrible fish ’ in the last line symbolizes? What is the poetic device used here?
Answer:
The terribly ugly fish rising towards her is the fear of aging that rises from the depths of her repressed mind. It is a sad, angered and emotionless woman at the end who comes to the realisation that one day, she will grow terribly old and die. It also symbolises the woman’s self-loathing and perception of herself as being incapable of loving and as cold as a fish. The poetic device used here is symbolism.

Question 3.
Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow by ticking the correct choice:

A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

a. What is the woman bending over?
(i) the mirror
(ii) the lake
(iii) the opposite wall
(iv) the moon and the candles
Answer:
(ii) the lake

b. Why have the candles and the moon been called ‘liars ’?
(i) because they make people beautiful
(ii) they hide the blemishes of people with their soft light
(iii) they hide the blemishes and make people look beautiful in their soft glow
(iv) they can’t talk
Answer:
(ii) they hide the blemishes of people with their soft light

c. Why does she turn to them in spite of calling them ‘liars ’?
(i) the reality is too harsh for her to bear
(ii) she is desperately looking for someone to comfort her
(iii) she wants to be told that she is still beautiful
(iv) she can hide her signs of graying in their light
Answer:
(i) the reality is too harsh for her to bear

The Frog and the Nightingale Summary in English by Vikram Seth

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The Frog and the Nightingale Summary in English by Vikram Seth

The Frog and the Nightingale Summary in English

Once upon a time there was a presumptuous frog who lived in a place called Bingle Bog. This frog croaked from night to morning in his unpleasant voice. Though the other creatures did not like his voice, they had no choice but to listen to him as all complaints, pleas and protests fell on deaf ears.

Then one night a nightingale came to the Bog. She sang her melodious song and all the creatures of the Bog listened to her, mesmerised. They asked her to sing again and again. The nightingale continued to sing because she was unused to such applause.

The next night when the nightingale was about to sing, the possessive frog told her that he owned the tree she sang on. He claimed to be a music critic with a noted baritone. Impressed by the frog’s credentials, and unsure of her own ability, the nightingale asked the frog to comment upon her song.

The arrogant frog told her that she lacked training and offered to teach her for a fee. The nightingale, excited and pleased, began training under the frog. He began to charge an admission fee from those who came to hear the nightingale. The frog made her practise in all kinds of weather for long hours.

Soon the nightingale’s voice began to lose its melodious quality. The creatures of the Bog lost interest in her. The bird became more and more sorrowful as her popularity decreased. The frog rebuked her sharply, adding to her misery. When the frog told her to puff up her lungs and sing, the bird tried to follow his advice, puffed up her lungs, burst a vein and died.

The frog once again became the unrivalled singer of the Bog.

The Frog and the Nightingale Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, complete the sentences given below by choosing the appropriate option.

1. The frog’s aim was to
(a) make the nightingale a sensation
(b) make the nightingale as good a singer as him
(c) maintain his supremacy) in the bog
(d) make a lot of money
Answer:
(d) make a lot of money

2. The animals reacted to the nightingale’s song with
(a) hatred
(b) admiration
(c) indifference
(d) suggestions for improvement
Answer:
(b) admiration

3. The nightingale accepted the frog’s tutelage as she
(a) was not confident of herself
(b) wanted to become as good a singer as the frog
(c) wanted to become a professional singer
(d) was not a resident of Bingle Bog
Answer:
(c) wanted to become a professional singer

Question 2.
Read the stanza given below and complete the sentences by choosing the appropriate option.

Day by day the nightingale
Grew more sorrowful and pale.
Night on night her tired song
Zipped and trilled and bounced along,
Till the birds and beasts grew tired
At a voice so uninspired
And the ticket office gross
Crashed, and she grew more morose
For her ears were now addicted
To applause quite unrestricted,
And to sing into the night
All alone gave no delight.

i. The nightingale was sorrowful and pale because
(1) she had been practicing in the rain
(2) she had been performing all night
(3) she was losing confidence in herself
(4) she was falling ill
Answer:
(2) she had been performing all night

ii. The audience was tired of her song because
(1) they had heard it many times
(2) it had become mechanical
(3) she looked tired
(4) she had added trill to her song
Answer:
(2) it had become mechanical

iii. She no longer enjoyed singing alone as
(1) she wanted to sing only for titled crowd
(2) she was now used to the appreciation she got
(3) the frog was no longer with her
(4) she had become proud of herself
Answer:
(2) she was now used to the appreciation she got

Question 3.
Answer the following questions briefly.

a. How did the creatures of Bingle bog react to the nightingale’s singing?
Answer:
The creatures hated his voice, they threw sticks and stones at him, insulted him, complained about him but he continued to sing undeterred.

b. Which are the different ways in which the frog asserts his importance?
Answer:
The frog claims to be the owner of the sumac tree on which the nightingale was perched.

He showed off his prowess as a singer by boasting about his splendid baritone for which he was acknowledged in Bingle Bog. He also claimed knowledge of music and said he was a critic with the Bog Trumpet.

c. Why is the frog’s joy both sweet and bitter?
Answer:
The frog’s joy was sweet as he was earning a lot of money by charging the nightingale for training and it was bitter as the creatures who hated his voice and threw sticks and stones at him when he sang, paid to listen to the nightingale’s song.

d. Why was the frog angry?
Answer:
As the creatures of the Bog lost interest in the nightingale’s song, the ticket money began to dip. Morose and depressed, the bird refused to sing, but the angry frog told her to puff out her lungs and sing louder.

e. How did the frog become the unrivalled king of the bog again?
Answer:
When the nightingale tried to puff out her lungs and sing louder, she burst a vein, and died. Once again, the frog sang in the Bog without any competition.

Virtually True Summary in English by Paul Stewart

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Virtually True Summary in English by Paul Stewart

Virtually True Summary in English

The story is about the world inside psycho-drive computer games which are played by the power of the mind and can be quite dangerous if someone gets trapped inside one of the games. The memory of Sebastian Shultz gets trapped inside his laptop when his head bangs against his laptop during an accident. He slips into a coma with little hope of survival. Another boy, Michael stumbles upon Sebastian while playing one of the games called Wildwest.

Sebastian appears dressed as a sheriff and tries to escape from the game but is shot at by one of the men and the game ends. Michael finds himself outside the game and receives a plea of help from Sebastian to help him by playing another game—Dragonquest.

Michael responds by entering the game and finds that the game entails that he save a princess called Aurora who is trapped in a tower guarded by a dragon. But before he can save the princess he once again meets Sebastian dressed as a knight who calls out to him to help him escape from the game. The game ends before he is able to save Sebastian, who is eaten up by the dragon. The next day he again receives a message from Sebastian asking for help. He now asks him to try and save him through the game, Jailbreak. Michael responds by entering the game but once again fails to rescue him.

Finally Sebastian sends him a message to try for the last time and play the game, Warzone. This time Michael is able to rescue Sebastian at the last moment. Simultaneously, he gets to read the news of the miraculous recovery of Sebastian in the hospital. This leaves Michael wondering how real the virtual world of computer games is.

Virtually True Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
According to the newspaper, what had happened to Sebastian Shultz?
Answer:
Sebastian Shultz had been in a coma from which the doctors feared he would never recover but he had come out of the coma. .

Question 2.
‘Dad’s nutty about computers.’ What evidence is there to support this statement?
Answer:
The narrator says so because his father had all the latest computer accessories as well as a computer which could do a variety of things. Also, he couldn’t resist the new gadgets and gizmos that came on the market.

Question 3.
In what way did the second game seem very real?
Answer:
The narrator enjoyed it because the big screen with the loud volume made him feel like he was inside the game, battling it out.

Question 4.
The last game has tanks, jeeps, helicopters, guns and headings would you put this and the other games under?
Answer:
The games can be categorised as psycho-drive.

Question 5.
What was Michael’s theory about how Sebastian had entered the games?
Answer:
According to the narrator, Sebastian’s memory had somehow got stored in the disk containing the games. These disks had been stolen from the Shultz’ house and they had found their way to the Computer Fair from where the narrator’s father had bought them for him.

Question 6.
Read these lines from the story, then answer the questions.

(a) ‘That was my idea ’ said Sebastian excitedly. ’ If only it would go a big faster.
(i) Where was Sebastian when he spoke these word?
He was in the game, ‘Jailbreak’.

(ii) What was his idea, and what was he referring to ?
His idea was to rescue Sebastian using a helicopter.

(iii) Was the idea a good one, and did it eventually succeed? How?
The idea turned out to be a good one. They used it in the game, ‘Warzone’ and Sebastian tumbled into the helicopter when the tank crashed into the jeep; the narrator then pulled him up.

Question 7.
Answer the following questions briefly.

a. Why did the news of the ‘miracle recovery ’ shock Michael?
Answer:
It shocked Michael because according to the report, Sebastian had been in coma for the past six weeks, yet during this time had appeared in Michael’s games and asked him for his help in escaping from one game or the other that were stored inside the CD.

b. Michael’s meeting with Sebastian Shultz had been a chance meeting. Where had it taken place and how?
Answer:
The meeting took place inside the game ‘Wildwest’ when Sebastian had entered the game as the second Sheriff and asked Michael to follow him.

c. What kind of computers fascinated Michael and his dad? Why?
Answer:
They were fascinated by the Pentium Mhz processor with 256 RAM, a 1.2 GB hard drive and 167 speed CD Rom. It could do anything—play, paint, play music, create displays, etc.

d. Describe the first place where Michael was virtually transported.
Answer:
Michael was transported into a dusty town in the Wild West, into a saloon filled with hostile looking men.

e. What help did Sebastian Shultz ask Michael for? How did he convey this message?
Answer:
Sebastian told Michael that he was stuck inside the computer and asked him to rescue him by trying to play the game ‘Dragonquest’. He sent the message through the printer.

f. Why did Michael fail in rescuing Sebastian Shultz the first time?
Answer:
Michael failed because the game ended and Shultz appeared to have been shot by the men following them in the game ‘Wildwest’.

g. The second attempt to rescue Sebastian Shultz too was disastrous. Give reasons.
Answer:
In the second attempt, Michael found himself having to rescue Aurora the fair princess from a fire-breathing dragon. Though Sebastian once again tried, he was not quick enough to escape from the clutches of the dragon.

h. How had Sebastian Shultz entered the games?
Answer:
Michael felt that Sebastian’s memory had been saved in the computer when he had banged his head on it during the accident and had entered the games.

i. How was Sebastian Shultz’s memory stored on Michael’s disk? Did Michael discover that?
Answer:
Michael discovered it. According to the narrator, Sebastian’s memory had somehow got stored in the disk containing the games. These disks had been stolen from the Shultz’ house and they had found their way to the Computer Fair from where the narrator’s father had bought them for him.

Patol Babu Summary in English by Satyajit Ray

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Patol Babu Summary in English by Satyajit Ray

Patol Babu Summary in English

Sitalakanto Ray, or Patol Babu, had lost his clerical post with Hudson and Kimberley in Calcutta due to the cost-cutting measures during the war more than ten years ago. Since then, he had tried a number of different jobs, from running a store, to becoming an insurance salesman. However, he was not able to settle into any of these endeavours and was in great need of money.

One day, his neighbour, Nishikanto Babu, introduced him to Naresh Dutt. Naresh was part of the Production department of a new movie and asked Patol Babu to do a small role in the movie. This offer made Patol Babu recall his younger days, when he had a settled job at Kanchrapara. In those days, he was a regular actor in the Jatras, amateur theatricals and plays put up by the club in his neighbourhood. His talent was appreciated and his name often appeared on the handbills advertising the performances. In fact, people often watched the plays just for his performance. In recent years, however, he was too busy trying to earn a living and had to give up his love for the stage.

When Patol Babu reached the scene of the shooting outside Faraday House, he observed all the activity on the sets, but was anxious about his role and wanted to know what his lines would be.

When Naresh Dutt told him that he had to walk to a certain point, bump into the hero Chanchal Kumar and say a single word, ‘Oh,’ Patol Babu was initially disappointed. But he recalled his mentor Mr Pakrashi telling him that it was not the size of the role, but what you give to it that matters. So he started practicing various ways of saying the word, trying to mix 60 parts of irritation with 40 of surprise.

When the time came for the shot, he suggested that he should hold a newspaper, which the director agreed to. He was also given a moustache for the role. Finally, he performed a most impressive shot which did not require any retakes. However, while waiting for Naresh Dutt to pay him for his role, Patol Babu realised that the creative satisfaction that he had got from this small performance was far more important than the money that he would have earned. He quietly went away from there.

Patol Babu Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Answer the following questions briefly

a. What was the news that Nishikanto Ghosh gave Patol Babu?
Answer:
Nishikanto Babu’s youngest brother-in-law was in the film industry and he was looking for an actor for a film they were shooting. He had described the character to Nishikanto Babu who had felt that Patol Babu was just right for the role. So he had given him Patol Babu’s address.

b. How did Patol Babu react? Why?
Answer:
It shocked and excited Patol Babu because it was most unexpected.

c. Why had Patol Babu lost his first job in Calcutta?
Answer:
Patol Babu had lost his first job in Calcutta as a result of retrenchment during the War.

d. How does Patol Babu reconcile to the dialogue given to him?
Answer:
No, Patol Babu was not impressed with his dialogue because he felt the people were pulling his leg when he looked at his dialogue. But, then he was reminded of his mentor’s words who sai never to take any role lightly.

e. Who was Mr. Pakrashi? How do his words help Patol Babu in enacting his role?
Answer:
Patol Babu was reminded of the advice given to him by his mentor Gogon Pakrashi who had told him never to consider any role below his dignity and to give it his best, whatever the length of his role might be. He had also said that each word spoken in a play was like a fruit in a tree. Not everyone in the audience could access it but it is up to the actor to know how to deliver the essence of those lines to his audience.

f. How do we know that Patol Babu was a meticulous man?
Answer:
Even though he had got only one word to say in the role of a pedestrian, Patol Babu spent his time waiting for his shot in a quiet little side street rehearsing how he would react and how he would portray the expressions of pain and surprise on his face. In order to check his performance, he rehearsed in front of a large glass window.

g. Why did Mr. Mullick turn down Patol Babu’s request for a rehearsal?
Answer:
Probably because it was not a very important or difficult a scene and most importantly because there was a cloud approaching the sun and he wanted to shoot the scene in sunlight.

h. What were the special touches that Patol Babu gave to his role to make it more authentic?
Answer:
Patol Babu asked the director if he could act as if he was reading a newspaper when the collision took place. He also had planned to express 60 percent irritation and 40 percent surprise through his one-word dialogue.

Question 2.
Discuss the following questions in detail and write the answers in your notebooks:

a. ‘I hope the part calls for some dialogue? ’ Who says this? Why does he /she ask this question?
Answer:
Patol Babu says this to Naresh Dutt. He asks this question to find out more about his role and if it is a significant one. Of course, only a role with some dialogue would count as a meaty role which is why he wanted to know. Naresh tells him that he obviously has dialogue or if it were some part of a passer-by, he would have just picked someone off the road.

b. ‘Were these people pulling his legs? Was the whole thing a gigantic hoax? A meek, harmless man like him, and they had to drag him into the middle of the city to make a laughing stock out of him. How could anyone be so cruel? ’ Why does Patol Babu have these thoughts?
Answer:
Patol Babu has these thoughts after Sosonko gave him his lines which consisted of only one word, ‘Oh’. He believes it to be humiliating to have been asked to come here all the way from his home simply to utter one dialogue. He feels that it isn’t a significant role at all and that the crowd that has gathered would simply laugh at him.

He feels belittled and that the crew including Naresh were cruel to have done this. This is majorly because he feels massive disappointment

Question 3.
Here are some lines from the lesson. What do they tell us about Patol Babu’s character? You may take help from the words given in the table below or find some of your own from the dictionary. The first one has been done for you.

Patol Babu Summary in English by Satyajit Ray

a. That an offer to act in a film could come to a 52-year-old nonentity like him was beyond his wildest dreams. ……………….
Answer:
unassuming; modest

b. Indeed, there was a time when people bought tickets especially to see him ……………
Answer:
Talented; actor

c. ‘I was with Hudson and Kimberley for nine years and wasn’t late for a single day.’ ………………..
Answer:
diligent

d. It didn 7 matter if the part was small, but, if he had to make the most of it, he had to learn his lines beforehand. How small he wouldfeel if he muffed in the presence of so many people ………………..
Answer:
Hard-working; proud

e. Patol Babu cleared his throat and started enunciating the syllable in various ways. Along with that he worked out how he would react physically when the collision took place—How his features would be twisted in pain, how he would fling out his arms, how his body would crouch to express pain and surprise—all these he performed in various ways in front of a large glass window ……………..
Answer:
Passionate; meticulous

f. It is true that he needed money very badly, but what was twenty rupees when measured against the intense satisfaction of a small job done with perfection and dedication? ………………….
Answer:
Integrity; passionate