A PHOTOGRAPH by Shirley Toulson

Summary

The cardboard; here it refers to the photo frame; showed the speaker how life was when the two
cousin sisters went paddling; to propel or travel in a canoe or the like by using a paddle: to row lightly
or gently with oars: to move by means of paddle wheels, as a steamer: to propel with a paddle: to
spank or beat with or as with a paddle: to stir, mix, or beat with or as with a paddle: to convey by
paddling, as a canoe: here it means walked barefoot in shallow water; with each one of them holding
the speakers mothers hands. The bigger girl of the cousin sisters must be about twelve years old. All
three of them stood still shoulder to shoulder to smile through their long hair at the camera whose
picture was taken by the uncle holding it. The mother had a sweet and pleasant smile before her child
was born into this world. The sea in which they were paddling; which seemed to not have been
changed; washed their terribly transient; not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory: lasting only
a short time; existing briefly; temporary: staying only a short time: here it means short lived; wet feet.
After twenty to thirty years later, the mother took out the photograph and laughed at the snapshot.
The two cousin sisters were Betty and Dolly. She found it so hilarious at the manner that they dressed
up for the beach. The sea holiday was her past for the mother while it was laughter for the speaker.
Both mother and daughter wry; produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features:
abnormally bent or turned to one side; twisted; crooked: devious in course or purpose; misdirected;
contrary; perverse: distorted or perverted, as in meaning: bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing; at
the labored ease of loss. But now the mother has been dead for the past few years just as one of
those cousin sisters lives. Out of all these circumstances, there is nothing else left to say. The matter
is closed and silence has sealed its fate.

UNDERSTANDING THE LESSON THROUGH KEY SENTENCES:

1. The poet looks at the cardboard on which there is a childhood photograph of her mother.

2. She had gone for a sea holiday with two her cousins Betty and Dolly

3. While they were paddling, their uncle took a photograph of them.

4. Both the cousins were holding the hands of her mother who was the eldest among the girls.

5. This was before the poet was born

6. Time fled past since and all those who are in the photograph under went changes while the sea
remained the same.

7. Her mother would look at the photograph after about twenty to thirty years and laugh
nostalgically. 8. Now for the poet her mothers laughter and her sea holiday is a thing of the past.

9. Her mother died about 12 years ago.

11. She experiences great loss.

USE OF OXYMORON IN THE POEM A PHOTOGRAPH

An oxymoron is a term or statement that contradicts itself, or seems to. Examples often given are
"giant shrimp" or "controlled chaos". Some are literary effects designed to create a paradox, while
others are done for humor. The poem "A Photograph" contains the oxymoron "laboured ease", which
in the context of loss may mean avoiding the public display of grief.

Read the stanza given below very carefully an answer the questions that follow: 1X4=4

STANZA 1

The cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling,

Each one holding one of my mothers hands,

And she the big girl some twelve years or so.

a. What does the cardboard show the poet?

Ans: The cardboard shows the poet the scene on the sea beach with three girls.

b. Why did the two girl cousins hold one of the poets mothers hands?

Ans: As the poets mother was the big girl i. e. elder in age so the two girl cousins hold one of her
hands.

c. How old was the oldest girl among the three cousins?

Ans: The oldest among the three cousins was some twelve years old.

d. How did the girls go to the sea beach?

Ans: The girls went to the sea beach paddling means barefooted.

STANZA 2

Now shes been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance T

here is nothing to say at all. Its silence silences.

a. How long has the poets mother been dead?

b. What is the meaning of the word circumstance in the poem?

Ans: The word circumstance in the poem means the death of the poets mother.

c. Why is there nothing to say at all?

Ans: There is nothing to say at all because the poet has lost her mother and her beautiful smile
forever. d. What silences the silence?

Ans: The silence of the death silences the silence.

Q. Write answers of the following questions in about 40 words each: (2 marks each)

a. Describe the three girls as they pose for the photograph?

Ans: The three girls went to the sea beach to be photographed by their uncle. The younger cousins
were holding hands of the elder cousin. They smiled through their hair as they stood still for a
photograph.

b. Why would the poets mother laugh at the snapshot?

Ans: The poets mother would laugh at the snapshot as it would revive her memories of the old happy
days on the sea beach and the strange way in which they were dressed for the beach.

c. What are the losses of the poets mother and the poet?

Ans: The poets mothers loss is of her old happy days on the sea beach while the loss of the poet is
the beautiful smile of her mother as she is now dead.

d. The entire poem runs through the lament of loss of something near and dear. Which feeling is
presented prominently here?

Ans: The nostalgic feeling is presented prominently the poem.

The Portrait of a Lady -By Khushwant Singh

The story is written in first person and is in biographical mode. It is a perception of Khushwant Singh
of his grandmother through his own eyes. Khushwant Singh recalls his grandmother as an eternally
old person. She was an extremely religious person. It was difficult for him to believe that once she too
was young and pretty like other women. The stories about her childhood games were like fairy tales
to him. She was short, fat and slightly stooped in stature. Her silvery white hair used to scatter on her
wrinkled face. Khushwant Singh remembers her hobbling around the house in spotless white clothes
with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other busy in telling the beads of her
rosary. Her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayers. Possibly she was not beautiful in worldly sense
but she looked extremely beautiful with the peacefulness, serenity and the contentment her
countenance displayed. Khushwants relationship with his grandmother went through several changes
when he was a small boy.

In the first stage Khushwant lived in a village with her as his parents were looking for the opportunity
to settle down in the city. In village grandmother took care of all the needs of the child. She was quite
active and agile. She woke him up in the morning, got him ready for the school, plastered his wooden
slate, prepared his breakfast, and escorted him to the school. They fed street dogs with stale chapattis
on their way to school which was a great fun for them. She helped him in his lessons also .It was her
domain and she was the queen of her kingdom. In this period she was the sole unchallenged guardian,
mentor, and creator of the child Khushwant. The turning point came in their relationship when they
came to city to stay with Khushwants parents. In city Khushwant joined an English School and started
to go to school in a motor bus. Here the role of his grandmother in his bringing up was curtailed a little
bit. Now she could not accompany him to the school. Despite taking lot of interest in his studies she
could not help him in his lessons because he was learning English, law of gravity, Archimedes
principle and many more such things which she could not understand and this made her unhappy. She
found herself at loss. One more thing which disturbed her a lot was that the kids were not learning
about God and scriptures in the school instead they were given music lessons which was not an
honourable thing in her opinion. To her music was not meant for gentlefolk. It was meant for beggars
and prostitutes only. She highly disapproved this and as she could not change it she was dismayed and
withdrew herself to some extent. Perhaps she had realized that in the makeover of the child her role
was finished and this very thought saddened her most.

After finishing school Khushwant went to university. He was given a separate room. The common link
of their friendship was snapped. His grandmother confined herself to a selfimposed seclusion. She
spent most of her time in reciting prayers and by sitting beside her spinning wheel. She rarely talked
to anyone. The only recreation for her was in the afternoon when she relaxed for a while to feed the
sparrows. A kind hearted person, in village she used to feed street dogs, here in city she focused on
birds and they too became very friendly with her. This was the phase when she found herself totally
isolated and aloof but she braved this isolation with grace and dignity. Khushwants grandmother was
a strong person. Whatever she went through in her heart she always restrained herself from
demonstrating her emotions.He recalls that when he went abroad for further studies his grandmother
was there to see him off on railway station quite calm busy telling the beads of her rosary and reciting
prayers as always. When he came back after five years he found her more and more religious and
more and more self-contained. She spent still more time in prayers and spinning the wheel. Feeding
the birds was her only happy pastime.

But just the day before her death for the first time she broke this routine and gave up her prayers.
That day she sang the songs of the home coming of the warriors on a withered drum along with the
ladies of neighbourhood in order to celebrate her grandsons return from abroad. Next morning she
got ill. Although the doctor said it was a mild fever and would go away she could foresee that her end
was near. She was upset that she omitted her prayers just before the final departure from the world.
She did not want to waste any more time talking to anybody. She lay peacefully in bed praying and
telling the beads till her lips stopped moving and rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. To mourn her
death thousands of sparrows flew in and sat scattered around her body in utter silence. They even
ignored the breadcrumbs thrown for them by Khushwants mother. They only flew away after the
corpse was carried away for last rites.

Short-Answer Questions:

a. How did Khushwant Singh portray his grandfather in the lesson?

Ans: Khushwant Singh describes his grandfather as he was painted in the portrait wearing a big turban
and loose-fitting clothes, a long white beard covering the best part of his chest and looking at least a
hundred years old.

b. Describe the happiest half-hour of the day for the grandmother.

Ans: For Khushwant Singhs grandmother there was none other pastime and happy activity than that
of feeding the sparrows in the afternoon for half an hour. The sparrows could be seen perched on her
legs, shoulders and even on her head but were never shooed away by her.

Questions for Practice:

a. Why did Khushwant Singh say that the thought of his grandmother being young and pretty was
almost revolving?

b. Mention the instances from The Portrait of A Lady for Khushwant Singhs grandmother being
called considerate for animals.

c. State any one incident from the lesson which shows that the grandmother accepted changes but
did not impose them in her own life.

Long Answer Questions:

Example: 1. All over the verandah and in her room right up to where she lay dead and stiff wrapped
in the red shroud, thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor. There was no chirruping. ---------- -
-------------------------------- The sparrows took no notice of the bread. When we carried my
grandmothers corpse off, they flew away quietly. Animals do recognize and value a relationship
established with human beings. Write an article pertaining to the above sentence keeping in mind the
relationship established by Khushwant Singhs Grandmother with animals.

Ans: Animals are said to have no brains but they do have hearts for they feel and it is out of feeling,
concern or love for human being that they let themselves domesticated. But do they recognize
relationships too? At least I believe that they do. Numerous examples can be stated to prove the
same. The relationship between Khushwant Singhs grandmother and the dogs and the sparrows can
be just one of them. The need is to revere this lovely bond of emotional attachment with the animals
in one way or the other. And it is but evident that the animals and birds are more compassionate,
more affectionate and more dependable than most of the human beings.

Questions for Practice:

1. Compare and contrast the routine of the grandmother in the village with that of it in the city.

Value Points: -Accompanying the writer to the school, helping in study -Prayers at the temple -Feeding
dogs -Frustrated at the subjects taught in English school -Resolved to prayers -Feeding sparrows

2. Khushwant Singhs grandmother was emotionally attached to him. Support the statement with help
of instances from the story The Portrait of A Lady.

Value Points: -The grandmothers attachment with Khushwant Singh -Her feelings when she could not
help the writer -Her prayers for the writers safe journey -Happiness expressed at the writers arrival -
Continuous chanting of prayers Long Questions

1. Bring out the spiritual elements in the character of the grandmother.

2. What light does the lesson throw on Indian family values?

3. Evaluate the writers attitude towards his grandmother when he was a child.

Short Answer Questions:

1. What poetic words are used by the writer to bring out the physical and spiritual beauty of the
grandmother?

2. Mention some incidents from the lesson that show that the grandmother loved her grandson
intimately.

3. What is the difference between village school education and urban school education brought by the
lesson?

4. What does the sparrows behaviour highlight?

5. Mention some instances to show that the grandmother was highly composed and patient.
The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse -William Saroyan
Short Answer Questions:

1. Why was it difficult for Aram to believe the sight of his cousin Mourad with the beautiful white
horse?

Ans: When Aram looked through the window, he saw his cousin Mourad with a beautiful white horse
and it was a sight which was very difficult for him to believe for two reasons: First, the whole of the
Garoghlonian family to which the two boys belonged were extremely poor and therefore it was not
possible for Mourad to buy that horse. Secondly, in that case, it would mean that Mourad had stolen
that horse. But that was also not possible, because the Garoghlonian family was also very much
famous for their honesty and therefore Mourad could not steal that horse either.

2. Where had Mourad been hiding the horse?

Answer: Mourad had been hiding the horse in the barn of a deserted vineyard which was owned by a
farmer named Fetvajian.

3. What did the farmer John Byro tell the two boys when one day they accidentally met him with his
horse in their custody?

Answer: The farmer examined the horse when one morning he found it with the two boys and he told
them that he could swear that the horse was his very horse which had been stolen from him many
weeks before if he did not know about their parents. He added that the fame of their family for
honesty was very well known to him and therefore he liked to say that the horse could be the twin of
his stolen horse.

4. What did John Byro tell Arams mother and Uncle Khosrove when he got his horse back?

Answer: After John Byro got his horse back mysteriously one day, he came to Arams house and told
Arams mother and Uncle Khosrove that he did not know what to think about the whole matter. It
was because the horse was stronger that ever and was better tempered too and therefore he thanked
God.

5. What were the two things for which the Garoghlonian family was famous?

Answer: The Garoghlonian family was famous for the following two things: 1. Their poverty 2. Their
honesty

6. What points were put forward by Aram in defense of Mourads act of stealing the horse?

Answer: Aram argued to himself that stealing a horse for a ride was not the same thing as stealing
something else, such as money. And then he went a little ahead by saying that if one was so much
crazy about horses the way Mourad and he himself were, it was not stealing at all. It would not
become stealing until they offered to sell the horse and he was sure that last thing they would never
be doing.

7. Which excuses were given by Aram to himself for taking a ride on the horse despite knowing fully
the truth about the theft of the horse by Mourad?

Ans: Aram dismissed stealing a horse as much grave a crime as stealing money. Secondly, he believed
that if it was something like a horse for which both he and his cousin were crazy then it couldnt be
stealing. Additionally, it was not going to become stealing until they offered to sell the horse.

8. Why was Aram unwilling to return the horse so soon?

Ans: Aram was crazy for horse and he wanted to learn horse riding at all costs. The horse would not
let him to ride over it and hence he was unwilling to return the horse at least till he would learn to
ride it.

Long Answer Questions

1. Why did the two boys ultimately return the horse all of a sudden although they had planned to
keep it at least for six months?

Answer: Although the two boys had planned to keep the horse for at least six months, they returned
it all of a sudden the morning after they accidentally met the farmer John Byro from whom Mourad
had stolen the horse. The farmer examined the horse and told them that he could swear that the
horse was his very horse which had been stolen from him many weeks before if he did not know
about their parents. He added that the fame of their family for honesty was very well known to him
and therefore he liked to say that the horse could be the twin of his stolen horse. What John Byro told
them served as an eye opener for the two boys especially Mourad and they became conscious how
precious and strong their familys fame for honesty was and therefore they did not want to tarnish
that name and prestige and immediately returned the horse.

2. Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak of uncle Khosrove. Explain the statement
giving instances from the story, The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse

Ans: Uncle Khosrove was considered in the Garoghlanian tribe as one of the craziest persons. It was
also believed that the tribe that Mourad was the natural descendant of the crazy streak in their tribe.
Uncle Khosroves craziness was out of the world. He had the largest moustache in the surrounding. His
talk was not less than roaring, which was but natural for him. Once when his son came running to tell
him about his house on fire, he simply said, It is no harm; pay no attention to it. The barber who
reminded him that it was his own house also got rebukes. Khosrove also asked John Byro not to worry
about the horse or the loss of money or even for his paining legs and answered in the same way.
Mourad was considered the natural descendant of this man though not a biological descendant
mainly because of the crazy acts he was involved in. The act of stealing a horse because he was crazy
about it is an example to prove the same. Like the punch line of uncle khosrove i.e. It is no harm; pay
no attention to it Mourad used to say that he had a way with the things, animals and even people.
Thus Mourad said that he had a way with the horse, with the dogs and with the farmers too.

3. I knew my cousin Mourad enjoyed being alive more than anyone else who had ever fallen into the
world by mistake. Explain the statement with help of the instances from the story.

Value Points: -Mourads nature -His crazy deeds -Having a way with the things -Considerate towards
animals -A true member of the tribe

4. Write a brief note on the Garoghlanian tribe.

Value Points: -The traits of the tribe -Economic condition -The members of the tribe -Its uniqueness

Questions for Practice Long Questions:

1. Does the social atmosphere described in the story differ from your social atmosphere? How?

2. What are moral lessons that the story put forward?

3. Compare and contrast the character of Aram and Mourad.

4. What picture of rural life does the story paint?

5. Describe Arams horse-riding lesson.

Short Questions:

1. How does Mourad has a way with the dogs?

2. How does Mourad have a way with farmers?

3. Even when Aram knew that Mourad was sitting on the back of the horse that morning, he could not
believe his eyes?

4. Does Uncle Khroshrove resemble Mourad in any way?

5. Bring out the frustrations in the farmer John Byro after losing his horse.