♦=How did vanka Reach Moscow?
When vanka’s mother pelageya died,the orphaned vanka was sent down to the back kitchen to his grandfather and from there to Moscow ,to alyakhin the Shoemaker

♦ Who was vanka’s favourite ?
Miss Olga lgnatyevna
♦ What type of person were vanka’s master and mistress
Master and mistress were Very cruel .They had a total inhuman attitude towards him.
♦ What kind of woman did the doctor want to marry ?
A woman doctor who had plenty of money and a good medical practice
♦ What happened when the doctor was sitting on his chair ?
When the was sitting on his chair suddenly a fat snake wriggled over the back of the chair and landed on his shoulder
♦ Who shared the room with the doctor
Rats
♦ What was the girl’s request to her father?
The girl requested her father to give her a garden plot of her own.

A Girl’s Garden

In “A Girl’s Garden” by Robert Frost, the theme expressed is the unique pleasure of a rural childhood, as well as the girl’s youthful exuberance about the garden she grew. The speaker is a neighbor of the girl, who is now an adult woman living in town. The speaker tells the story, attempting to convey the importance of the garden to the adult woman because of the joy she still takes in reminiscing about her experiences, regardless of the perceived success of her efforts. This is achieved by excellent use of tone, rhythm, and imagery. The tone of the poem is consistently light and pleasant. The poem is very rhythmic and melodic. Each section is further divided into four line stanzas, with a similar amount of syllables in each line. The poem is mild mannered and seeks to take the reader away from their daily life.

♦ What does the expression “no crystal stair” mean?
The expression simply means that life has not been a stair case made of crystal. Ratherit had been quite rough and devoid of all luxuries
♦ What message does the poem “Mother to Son” end?
The poem ends with a message that life is difficult and one has to work hard and has to be persistent to face the challenges of life.
♦ Mother to Son – Langston Hughes
“Mother to Son” is a dramatic monologue, spoken by the persona of a black mother to her son. Using the metaphor of a stairway, the mother tells her son that the journey of life more closely resembles a long, trying walk up the dark, decrepit stairways of a tenement than a glide down a “crystal stair.” The “crystal stair” is a metaphor for the American dream and its promise that all Americans shall have equal opportunities. The mother warns her son not to expect an easy climb or a tangible reward. Through the metaphor of ascent, however, the speaker suggests that her endurance and struggle are necessary to progress toward racial justice and to maintain spiritual hope and faith. In this poem, Hughes represents the personal, collective, and spiritual importance of struggle, endurance, and faith.

♦ How did ray manage to get a tiger?
Ray looked for a circus and then took an appointment with its Tamil Manager. The Manager, called Mr.Thorat.the ring master, Who finally arranged for a tiger

♦ What was the magic performed by the tiger?
As soon as the tiger came out of the cage, it charged straight at the villagers who were about a hundred and fifty people. They dispersed away as if it were a magic

 

♦ What type of attitude did the two brothers possess ?
The elder brother had a pessimistic attitude whereas the younger brother was an optimist

♦ What was the purpose of the visit of the voyager and his wife to America?
The voyager and his wife visited America to inspect many of the summer recreational camps for young people there.

♦ The Ballad of Father Gilligan Summary and Analysis
This is a narrative poem written by W.B. Yeats. As most of his flock is dying, an old and devout priest gets to be weary and melancholy. Though he is sent for by a dying man, he falls asleep in his chair and fails to answer the call while the stars multiply and God keeps on talking to mankind as ever. The morning witnesses Father Gilligan awaking with a start and he repents at not having his duty. On riding to the sick man’s hut, he learns from the wife of the man of the death of the person. “Mavrone!” cries out the priest in horror but is surprised when the woman thanks him for coming the night before. Falling to his knees, Father Gilligan expresses his gratitude to God for sending an angel to do his work when his weariness prevented him from doing his duty.
Yeats tells a story in verse. This poem takes a ballad form - a traditional form, usually sung, with regular, short stanzas that tell a story. It has a more overtly religious content than most of Yeats’s poems. As a protestant who turned to theosophy and mysticism, Yeats usually stays away from Catholic themes. Yeats also usually stays away from the Irish language. The priest is horrified by the fact that he did not make it to the bedside of the sick man before he died because no one performed the rites of extreme unction, meaning in the Catholic tradition that the man did not die in a state of grace, and therefore cannot go to heaven.
The tone of this poem is mainly sympathetic. He Father Gilligan tells us how tired he is, we can feel his weariness. When he falls asleep, we cannot blame him. When he rides to the sick man’s house, we root for that man to still be alive. When he finally learns how God has sent an angel in his place, we heave a sigh of relief along with him. “The Balled of Father Gilligan” is an atypical poem when seen next to the rest of Yeats’ oeuvre. However, it is still a delightful poem. It gives us the message that god has mercy for everyone, and this is a message for all epochs.

♦ What is the problem of a single story according to Adichie ?
The problem of a single story according to Adichie is that it is not untrue, but it is incomplete. when we hear the same story over and over again, it becomes the only story we ever believe.

The Scholarship Jacket
The Scholarship Jacket by Marta Salinas, the author talks about an experience she had herself as a fourteen year old girl. Marta is a shy Mexican girl who is striving for a jacket. In the Texas high school Marta attended, there was a scholarship jacket that was given to the valedictorian of the school, or the student who got the best grades over eight years of school. Marta was sure the jacket was hers as her sister had received and also because she had gotten straight A’s since the first. Then by coincidence when she hears her teachers arguing about her and the scholarship jacket, she feels terrible as she wants and deserves the jacket. The next day she feels nervous and sad as the principal tells her that the jacket is now 15 dollar and not for free. He asks her to bring her the money the next day but her grandfather who is very poor says no. Marta is heartbroken at the sound of the news and with despair tells the principal he could give it to the girl whose father is an influential man in the community, unlike Marta’s grandfather, a farmer. At the sound of this the principal reconsiders and gives her the jacket for free she feels extremely happy and overjoyed.

 

♦ Why did the principal change his mind?
The principal’s guilt forced him to change his mind as he couldn’t face innocent and deserving Martha

Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda - July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet-diplomat and politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Pablo Neruda led a life charged with poetic and political activity. In 1923 he sold all of his possessions to finance the publication of his first book, Crepusculario (“Twilight”). He published the volume under the pseudonym “Pablo Neruda” to avoid conflict with his family, who disapproved of his occupation. He chose his penname after the Czech poet Jan Neruda. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

♦ What is the theme of the poem poetry by Pablo Neruda?
The theme of the poem is there is nothing so fulfilling as creating something beautiful and finding that one thing which reaches so deeply into your soul that you realize it has a hold of you and will never let go.

♦ Why was the twentieth century called the ‘Era of the Book’?

The twentieth century was called the ‘Era of the Book’ because in those days there were books about everything, from anteaters to Zulus. Books taught people ‘how to’, ‘when to’, ‘where to’ and ‘why to’. They illustrated, educated, punctuated and even decorated.

♦ What guesses are made by Think-Tank about the books found on earth?
The first guess that Think-Tank made about the books found on earth was that they were sandwiches. He told Captain Omega that they were standing in a refreshment stand. He also said that sandwiches were the main staple of Earth diet. He then ordered them to eat one of the books. When Sergeant Oop ate it, he told them that it was not delicious, and that it was as dry as Martian dust. Then, Think-Tank suggested that the books were in fact communication sandwiches, and ordered them to listen to them. When they could not hear anything, he suggested that the books were not meant for ear communication, but for eye communication.

Character sketch of father
Father in the story Adolf by D H Lawrence is introduced at the beginning as a dominant figure. He is a miner who works on night shifts. He loves long walks through the dewy fields. His very presence in the family makes the children uneasy. His is a disturbing presence in the house. May be he never gave them freedom. But actually he has a soft feeling towards his children. So he brings them a rabbit . He faces his wife’s irritating comments with a laugh. He seems to be more patient. The father in this story is skillful in finding a solution at the end by sending Adolf to the coppice .

♦ Why did the narrator prohibits his sister and mother from even looking at the rabbit?
The rabbit needed some time to come out of its pain. He suffocated when they put it under arrest.

The school boy
The speaker of poem is a school boy who loves to rise in summer morning, when birds are singing on the trees. The boy gets entertained by the company of the hunter who blows his clarion from a distance field and sweet lullabies of skylark. But the thing he doesn’t like is going to school which pulls all his happiness and joy. He is tired and even puzzled under the strict supervision of his teacher. The child has to spend many tensed hours neither in his school nor in the garden where he can learn many things in interesting way with the nature. A bird can never sing sweet song when he if caged. Similarly, a child if remained under the umbrella of annoying fear and tension, the skepticism of his teacher can never enjoy the natural instincts of joy and playfulness .In last stanzas, he tried to make understand his parents that if a budding child is picked and swept of in the early stage of life, where there is no one to care for then how he could grow in mature plant.

♦ Why child hates going to school?
Child hated school because there he is under strict control of his teacher like he has been caged.

My Childhood Days
My Childhood Days is taken from the Memoir “My Childhood Days”. Tagore wrote this memoir when he was eighty. The sense of wonder and delight in the common place experiences of boyhood helped him to become a great poet. The keen observation of rain and his experience with an old cashier named Kailash and the unforgettable advice of the home tutor are mentioned in a simple way. Tagore tells us how these small deeds of childhood helped him to develop into a matured writer, pet and philosopher. His childhood ideas of the duties of a police man were vague and he says “a person charged with crime once placed in a policeman’s hands would, as sure as the wretch caught in a crocodile’s serrated grip and be seen no more