Open Books

The gardener -By Rudyard Kipling Description of the poem:- When Helen Turrell became pregnant she was ashamed because she was not married. She left her home in England to have the baby in the south of France. When she returned to England. She pretended the baby was really her brother’s child. The brother, George, lived in India but he had died falling off his horse. This meant Helen had to look after the child. Helen told other lies, she had to go to the south of France because she was ill. She said the child had been born in India, but had been brought to the south of France by a nurse who had been dismissed when the child become ill and she said she had given the child’s mother some money for the child. The was called Michael. Helen didn’t tell him that she was his real mother. She said she was his aunt, and that he was her nephew. Michael was sent to a private school. At school he was told he was born outside marriage. When the First World War began, Michael joined the army. He didn...

In Bed - Joan Didion “In bed” is a subjective essay written by an American writer Joan Didion. In this essay writer describes her personal experiences of having a migraine headache. The writer has migraine 3-5 times a month. In the beginning, she hesitated to share her problem thinking that it would reveal her bad attitudes, unpleasant tempers, and wrong thinking. She used to continue her everyday activities, ignoring the pain. When the pain was unbearable, she would try to lessen her pain by putting ice on the right temple. She even wished to have an operation of her brain to get rid of the pain. Both males, as well as females and the aged, as well as young, can have a migraine headache. The writer first had it when she was eight years old. It is a hereditary disease. She has it because her grandmother’s and parents had it too. Fall in the level of serotonin causes a migraine headache. Some medicines like methyser-guide can be taken as a preventive but they have quite a lot of s...

On The Vanity Of Earthly Greatness - Arthur Guiterman The poem “On The Vanity of Earthly Greatness” was composed by American poet and journalist Arthur Guiterman. In this poem, the poet shows how the greatness of the world is valueless. The tusk of an elephant which we used as a weapon in a battle has become billiard balls. The sword of Charle Magne just has become useless after his death and is rusted. The grizzly bear that used to terrify everyone with its powerful embrace has become a rug. Julius Caesar, the greatest statesman and army general of Rome has been reduced to a bust and is on the shelf. The poet himself doesn’t feel very well after his death and is also going to meet the fate of Julius Caesar. In this poem, the poet is trying to say that every living being and nonliving things lose its value, power, and greatness. Therefore the greatness we want to have in this world is also valueless because it too passes away sooner or later.

The six million dollar man By Harold J. Morowitz This essay looks at how much it would cost to make a human being. One answer is 97 cents. This is what it was said in a birthday card sent to the author. The author decided decided to check this statement. He looked up the cost 36 dollar per gram, another cost 12,000 dollar per gram and 175,500,000 dollar per gram. The author tries to explain the difference between the 97 cents figure in the birthday card and his calculation that the cost of human being is six million dollar. One reason for the difference is the chemicals cost much more than unpurified blocks of chemicals. However, even if the author bought all the chemicals, he knows he would not have a human make up the human body. Even if he could do this, the result would not act, make love or complain likes a human being. It becomes clears to the author that human being does not have a cost they are priceless. An important idea in this essay is that some t things are worth more than...

Malini *Rabindranath Tagore This play takes place in a Hindu Kingdom. Buddhist monks have taught Malini, the King’s daughter. She wants to leave the palace and help people to solve their problems outside. The Brahmins are worried because they think that the Buddhism in the King’s palace has polluted their religion. Brahmins are threatening to rebel against the King and they are demanding Malini’s banishment. Malini leaves the palace. Many Brahmins take her as a goddess and begin to follow her. However, Kemankar leaves the Kingdom to find soildess to fight against the King. He leaves his close friend Supriya behind to watch and report the movements in the palace. Act Ⅱ begins with Supriya and Malini talking to each other in the King’s garden. Malini is tired and perplexed. She has found that it is too difficult to solve people’s problems outside the palace. Supriya believes that he has betrayed his friend Kemankar by reporting the King about the rebellion. Very soon, Kemankar is arreste...

Oops, how is that again? *Roger Rosenblatt This essay describes the mistakes people make while speaking and the reasons why they make these mistakes. The mistakes are divided into categories: Slips of the tongue, faux pas, mistranslations and spoonerisms. Slips of the tongue are common mistakes where the speaker says one thing when they mean to say another. It is a slip of the tongue when someone says, “Who are you?” instead of saying, “How are you?” Usually a faux pas occurs when a person says something that he/she thinks harmless but it actually has a critical meaning that will upset some people. For example, when a nun said to a bishop, “How many lords my lumps?” instead of saying “How many lumps, my lord?” it was a faux pas. Mistranslations are mistakes made when words in one language are translated badly into another language. For example, “Come alive with Pepsi” was translated as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from grave” into another language. Spoonerisms are utterly differen...

The concrete cat -Dorthi Charles Description of the poem:- This is the poem of a cat. The poem draws the picture of the cat on the paper. The picture is drawn with words, but not sentences. The word cat doesn’t appear, but the other words are the names of the body of a cat, for example: - eye, mouth, paw and whisker. Other words are added to put the cat in a place, for example: - dish and letterbox. These tell us the cat is a pet and not a wild cat. This is a new style of representing something with the help of words not sentences and its description.

Keeping things whole -Mark Strand Summary:- The poet wants to keep things whole. He does not want anything to be broken. He thinks when he is in a field; he breaks the field because he takes up space in it. The only way to make sure the field remains unbroken and whole is to keep moving. “Keeping things whole” pleads for the wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life. The world and the people in it have been divided into many fragmentations due to politics, religion, economy, caste system and geography. The fragmentation has given rise to the sense of alienation, exile and identity crisis. The poet in the poem “Keeping Things Whole” feels the same; when he goes he finds himself missing. As he walks, he causes fragmentation in the air. The fragmented air moves back to fill the space where his body has been. All the people in this world have different reasons for moving but the poet moves to keep things whole. In the poem “Keeping Things Whole” the poet might be try...

Unchopping a tree *W. S. Marwin In this essay, W. S. Marwin gives instructions for repairing a tree that has been chopped down. It means unchopping is impossible. W. S. Marwin instructs us to beginning unchopping by joining leaves to their respective twigs to their respective branches. If the tree has a hollow trunk, the nests of birds, hives of bees and insects, and their hoards of nuts and food must be reassembled, spider webs must be weaved again. Any damage done to the neighbowring trees must also be repaired. Now the tree is ready on the ground. In the second step, the tree must be erected on its stump without grinding its base into the ground. While putting the tackle into the place, no damage to other trees should be corrected later. The tree trunk should be fixed up by using fabricated glues. Sawdust and small bits of broken wood should be put back into the respective places. After giving instructions, the essayist asks us, “Is beauty a natural thing or man-made?” The tree, whi...

The nightmare life without fuel By Isaac Asimov Theme: What will life be like when fuel has almost run out? This essay was written in1997 and the scene is “1997”. In other words, the scene is 20 years in the future. If the essay is read in 1999, then you can change 1997 to 2019. Summery #setting the scene The scene is the United States of America in the future, at a time when fuel is running out. People no longer drive cars, but ride bicycles instead, and old buildings are being torn down so their mater can be reused. #the advantage of having enough fuel There are advantages to the fuel shortage. The air is cleamer, fewer people have colds, there is less crime, and people have learnt to live without facilities such as electric lights, indoor heating and showers with water. #the problem caused by the shortage of fuel People who live in suburbs, at the edge of large cities, have many problems. They live a long distance from shops and find it difficult to buy and store enough food. Becaus...

The poplar field *by William Cowper This poem compares chopping down of trees to a man life and death. The poem is the result of the poet’s second visit to the same landscape, which he had visited twelve years before. It was the bank of River Ourse, which was filled with tall poplar trees. It provided shade to the poet and the pleasure of the reflection of the trees. There used to blow cool breeze and the melodious songs of blackbirds had charmed the poet. However, now the trees are cut down and lying on the ground. The poet feels the absence of shade, nature, songs of birds, reflection of trees and cool breeze. By observing the degraded situation of the same landscape, the poet becomes rather sad and disappointed. The poet thinks that the limited years of his life are passing away very quickly. Very soon, he will be dead and buried in a grave. But he regrets that he will not be able to see such poplar grow on the bank of river ouse again in his life. He not only regrets for himself bu...

A worn path By Eudora Welty “A worn path” is a story of unconscious heroism in which Phoenix Jackson is the protagonist. She is an old and poor African Negro woman. She wears a red rag in her hair and long apron made of sugar sacks. She makes a long trip to the town every year in order to fetch medicine for her grandson. The story opens on a chilly December morning with panoramic sights. Phoenix is making her way to town slowly but surely, through pinewoods and oak trees tapping her umbrella came on the way. She moves on talking to animals, birds and trees in the course of her journey. While coming down the hills, due to her poor eyesight, she catches her skirt in a thorny bush and very patiently, she frees her clothes from the bush. After that, she crosses the stream by walking a narrow log. As she advances her way, she crawls like a baby. In the purple stalks of the withered cotton field, she talks to a buzzard (big bird). Her journey continuous as she walks through the old cott...

Look at a teacup By Patricia Hampl “Look at a teacup” is an extraordinary piece of work by Hampl. The teacup is the symbol of art and culture and the witness of the Second World War. According to Hampl it is the representation of daughter-mother relation, the relation between past and presented many other events as well. The teacup was bought by the mother in 1939. It was the same year when she became a bride and married an American who had been born in Czechoslovakia. The country was invaded and destroyed by the armies of Adolf Hitler in the Second World War. This essay traces (searches) differences between the mother’s and daughter’s attitudes and life experiences. They disagree about many things. According to Hampl work is the most important thing in the world whereas, her mother accepts marriage and children in a very traditional role. Her mother wants Hampl to get married but she condemns marriage with bondage. Hampl makes unique connection between the past and the present. Sh...

Speaking of children *Barbara Holland The essay reflects on arguments against the practice of having many children. Generally, a single child is a boon and plural children are curse. Parents can bring up one child with due attention but plural children can trouble their parents badly. They pile up telephone bills, shout for early dinner, break rules, litter the house and spoil the harmony of life. Parents have to spend a lot of time by feeding, clothing, educating and fulfilling all their demands. According to the essayist (Holland), one child is second to none (unique) like the most necessary part of our body. One child can early be given good training and taught standard principles to achieve higher goal and success. On the other hand, plural children are obstacles to their parent’s peace and progress. Piles of dirty laundry and pots, big bills to pay, silly actions in the house all these things add much trouble to parents responsibilities. One child makes social presti...

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold - William Wordsworth Summary of My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold: The poem “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” was composed by romantic poet William Wordsworth. In this poem, the poet expresses his feelings of joy and happiness seeing a rainbow in the sky. At the depth, it describes the process of poetic creation. The poet is overjoyed when he sees a rainbow in the sky. He used to enjoy looking at the rainbow in his childhood. He wants the natural continuity of this happiness up to his old age. If the natural continuation of happiness is interrupted, he rather wants to die. In the seventh line of the poem, the poet uses a paradox, “The Child Is the Father of the Man”. In this paradox, the poet means to say that every child of the present is the potential father for the future and every father of the present was once a child. It also means that if present is the outcome of the past, so naturally the future will be the outcome of the present. Finally, the ...

The Lost Doll The Lost Doll is a supernatural story taken from Colombia, South America. The story deals with the premature death of a girl and her reincarnation as her younger sister. Maria Del Carmen was only the child of her parents Roberto Soto and Rosa Soto. She was a bright, kind, loving, and beautiful child. However, she had been sick since her birth. When she grew up, her health becomes weaker, and she died at the age of four. All the villagers turn bereaved and attended her funeral ceremony. The dead body of Carmen was buried under the grave on the top of the hill; outside the village. After the death of Carmen, Rosa Soto gave her clothes and playing things to a priest from the neighboring village. When Roberto Soto returned back in the evening, she told him what she has done. Rosa didn’t have any hope for another child; therefore, she didn’t want to save the belongings of Carmen any longer. On the other hand, Roberto still had some hope for another child; consequently, he want...

The three day blow *Ernest Hemingway “The three day blow” is an analogy between Nick’s mental pressure and the blow of winter wind. Nick and Bill are main characters. When the rain stopped, Nick turned into the road, which went through the orchard. Because of the wind’s blow, the fruits had been fallen and base trees looked like skeletons. The road led Nick onto the top of the hill to a cottage with the porch from which smoke was coming out of the chimney. Bill came out to welcome Nick. They went inside and founds that Bill’s father was absent because he had gone hunting. They sat in front of the hearth (fire lace), started drinking Whisky, and continued it until they become intoxicated. When thy started their talks, it seemed as if they were conducting conversation in a high plane. In a funny mood, they talked about baseball and their favorite players. They also talked about books, novels and their favorite writers like Walpole and Chesterson. According to Bill’s father opening ne...

Unchopping a tree Unchopping a tree *W. S. Marwin In this essay, W. S. Marwin gives instructions for repairing a tree that has been chopped down. It means unchopping is impossible. W. S. Marwin instructs us to beginning unchopping by joining leaves to their respective twigs to their respective branches. If the tree has a hollow trunk, the nests of birds, hives of bees and insects, and their hoards of nuts and food must be reassembled, spider webs must be weaved again. Any damage done to the neighbowring trees must also be repaired. Now the tree is ready on the ground. In the second step, the tree must be erected on its stump without grinding its base into the ground. While putting the tackle into the place, no damage to other trees should be corrected later. The tree trunk should be fixed up by using fabricated glues. Sawdust and small bits of broken wood should be put back into the respective places. After giving instructions, the essayist asks us, “Is beauty a natural thi...

The loving mother The plot is set in Japan and the story is about a dead mother who would like to rescue her child. One stormy winter night, Shoji Sakota was preparing his annual business reports in his pharmacy. At around midnight, he heard a knock on the door. Disregarding the knock, he continued his work but when he heard two more knocks, he became conscious. Thinking that someone might be in emergency, he unlocked the door. To his surprise, a thin women appeared in front of him. The women had worn kimono, she had very strange eyes and her skin was abnormally light. When Sakota let her in, she asked for an ame (candy) for her baby and disappeared in the darkness. The next two nights the same women made regular trips at the same time for the same thing. Her strange appearance at night for an ordinary demand surprised Sakota. In order to make further inquiry about the mysterious women, Mr. Sakota invited his photographer friend to take photos of her. After developing the film, the...

Fear *A story from Mexico Armando Gonzalez visited a bank in Mexico City to take out 50,000 pesos. It had taken him 20years to save this money and he was going to buy a new house with it. In the bank Armando became very nervous. He was sure people wanted to rob him. He was so nervous that he put his hat on backwards. Armando caught a bus to go home. A man whom he had seen in the bank also got on the bus. Armando saw this man talking to three boys. Armando panicked. He stopped the bus and jumped out. The three boys also got off the bus. So, Armando began to run. He fell over and the boys came up to him. Armando was very frightened, but soon he found out that the three boys were students. They followed him to see if he needed any help. EXPLANATION OF THE STORY This is not a supernatural story because these are no ghosts or spirits in the story. It is a thriller based on the human fear of a nervous man.