Dear Student,

Literature, like travel, broadens our mind. It gives us wings to fly off to
faraway places on an adventure that encourages intellectual activity and
stirs the imagination. It is against this backdrop that the ‘Mystic Miles’
series is being offered in an attempt to take you on a quest of a lifetime.
A great poet once said that ‘the universe is made up of stories, not
atoms.’

In Mystic Miles, we have chosen a rich assortment of stories and poems

that fit together like pearls on a string. Great care has been taken to
make the book rich and varied. Along with complete stories, there are a
few extracts from longer prose works too, so as to enable you to develop
the skills needed for reading and exploring the detail in longer prose
works and novels. The poems in the collection give an enticing glimpse of
a world unmatched in its enchantment. The themes range from Science
fiction to humour and have a fair sprinkling of fantasy and also reality to
keep you grounded. We believe that the inclusion of poems and stories
that up the social consciousness is the need of the hour and have
endeavoured to do so.

The text will enable you to consider in greater detail the specific
requirements of starting with effective writing strategies and
communicating your ideas in speech. Reference-to-context type of
question has been added to fulfil the examination requirements that
would help you become more insightful and responsive to reading
Literature.

Hoping this text will open your minds to an imaginative and magical world
of words and ideas!

Happy reading and learning!

 EduSpark International Private Limited

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Acknowledgements

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 INDEX
Unit No. Unit Name Page No.

10 Our Uninvited Guest 123

11 Macavity's a Mystery Cat 137

12 A Wrinkle in Time - chapter 6 and 7 144

13 The Canterville ghost 155

14 Under the hazy blossom laden sky 169

15 A Wrinkle in Time - chapter 8 and 9 180

16 Fables 189

17 Can You 200

18 Mystery of the Aquilla Diamond 208

19 A Wrinkle in Time - chapter 10 to 12 225

10 ~ by Ernest Harold Baynes
123
"Jimmy," our young black bear, was known to every child in the
neighbourhood. If a children's vote had been taken for the most popular
animal in the county, I believe that Jimmy would have been unanimously
elected. If the grown people had held the election, however, it is certain
that there would have been some votes against him. For example, when
Mr. W—, one of our neighbours, came home very late one night, got into
bed in the dark, and unwittingly kicked a bear cub that had climbed in at
a window earlier in the evening, of course he had his toes nipped. That
man would never have voted for Jimmy.

Neither would the farmer's wife he met one evening coming from the barn
with a pail of new milk. The weather was warm, Jimmy was thirsty, and

124
he was particularly fond of new milk. So he stood on his hind legs, threw
his arms around the pail, and sucked up half the contents before the good
woman had recovered from her astonishment. But with the children he
was a great favourite. He was one of them, and they understood him.
Like them he was full of fun and mischief, and he would play as long as
anyone cared to play with him.

One Christmas we gave a children's party, and perhaps a score of girls

and boys came to spend the evening. As it was not possible to make
Jimmy understand about the party, he went to bed early, as usual, and
was asleep in his own den under the porch long before the first guests
arrived. He was not forgotten by his little friends, however, and "Where's

125
Jimmy?" was the first question asked by almost every child as he came in.
But there was so much to chatter about, and there were so many games
to play, that absent comrades—even Jimmy—were soon out of mind.

At last supper was ready, and all the children trooped into the dining-
room and took their places at the long table.

For a little while everyone was so busy that there was little to be heard
except the clatter of forks and spoons and plates. I stood at the end of
the room, enjoying the fun. For the moment, my eyes were on a small
boy who seemed to be enjoying himself even more than the rest. He was
making more noise than anyone else, and at the same time performing
remarkable sleight-of-mouth tricks with a large piece of cake and a plate
of ice cream. Suddenly, I saw his face change. His laugh was cut in two,
his smile faded, the remains of the cake fell to his plate, and a spoonful of
ice cream, on its way to his open mouth, remained suspended in the air.
He was facing a window, and as I followed his gaze, I saw a hairy black
face, with a tawny muzzle and a pair of small shining black eyes, looking
eagerly into the room. It was the bear cub, whose slumbers had been
disturbed by the noise, and who had come to see what it was all about.

In an instant the room was in an uproar. All the children left the table at
once, and crowded around the window yelling—"Jimmy!" "It's Jimmy!"
"Let him in!" "Don't you do it!" "Keep him out!" "Open the window!" "Give
him some cake!" One little boy, with a piece of cake in his hand, raised
the window just a little. That was enough for Jimmy; he thrust his strong
muzzle under the sash, raised it with one jerk of his head, and came
tumbling into the room. How those children yelled and scattered! While
they all thought it good fun to have the cub at the party, none of them
knew just what he would do, and some; especially among the younger
ones, were decidedly nervous. A small girl hid behind the window
curtains, two little boys scurried upstairs and peeped through the
banisters, and another, by means of a chair, scrambled to the top of a

126
sideboard. But Jimmy had his own ideas about a party. His first interest
was in the supper table. Standing up on his hind legs, he placed his
forepaws on the cloth. Just in front of him was a plate with some apple
jelly on it. One sweep of his long tongue and the plate was almost as
clean as if it had been washed. A dish of blancmange was the next to be
gobbled up, and then a boy rather bolder than the rest made an attempt
to save the cake. He seized the intruder by the skin of his neck, but
except for a loud, grumbling protest, the bear paid no attention to him.
He walked right along, pulling the boy with him, and one slice of cake
after another disappeared down the black throat. The little girl behind the
curtains, seeing that Jimmy did not intend to hurt anyone, came from her
hiding place to try to help the boy who was holding him. Now this little
girl had been eating strawberry jam, and as little girls sometimes do, had
left some of it on her lips. The moment she touched him, Jimmy turned,
and seeing and smelling the jam, he caught the child in his short
forearms, and in spite of her screams, licked her face all over before
letting her go. Then he reached for the sugar basin, lifted it from the table
with his paws, and sat down on his haunches to devour the contents.

127
By this time the children who had been nervous were quite at their ease
again, and gathered round to see him eat the sugar. In a few moments he
had satisfied his hunger, and was ready to play. First of all he acted as if
he had lost his wits; or as if he wanted to "show off," which is about the
same thing. He rolled over on his back, turned somersaults, and batted
the chairs and the table legs with his paws. The children got down on the
floor to romp with him, and together they had a merry time.

When they were all upon their feet again, Jimmy arose and stood
perfectly straight on his hind legs. Then he picked out a girl about his own
height and took a step toward her, raising his paws as though inviting her
to a boxing match. The girl accepted the challenge, and as she was
strong, she held her own very well for a time. But as Jimmy warmed up to
his work, he became very rough and swung his heavy paws as hard as he
could. At last he gave his playmate a stinging slap on the side of her face,
and she decided not to play anymore. And as I thought that Jimmy had
had about enough fun for one evening, I opened the door, and he
galloped off to his den under the porch.

128
 unanimously adverb: with the agreement of all people
involved.
 unwittingly adverb: unintentionally
 suspended verb: hang (something) from somewhere
 tawny adjective: of an orange-brown or yellowish-brown
colour.
 muzzle noun: the projecting part of the face, including the
nose and mouth, of an animal such as a dog or horse
 slumbers verb: sleep
 sash noun: the framework of a window that holds
the glass
 scurried verb: move hurriedly with short quick steps
 blancmange noun: a sweet opaque gelatinous dessert
made with flavoured corn flour and milk

 sleight-of-mouth: Named after sleight of hand magic

tricks, where you get the observer to look one way while
you do something outside their field of vision, thereby
making it appear to them as magic.
Here it is being referred to as sleight-of-„mouth‟ since the
little boy was gobbling both ‗a piece of cake‘ and an ‗ice
cream‘ while trying not to be being noticed.

129
 Use:

To retell an experience or an event that 1. Chronological order of

happened in the past. The purpose of a events

recount can be to inform, entertain or 2. Past Tense

to reflect and evaluate.
3. First person „I‟ or third
person „He /She/They‟

3. Amazing adjectives to
help create a picture in the
INTRODUCTION:
reader‟s head
Set the scene by telling the audience
4. Powerful verbs to
‗when‘, ‗Where‘,‘ Who‘, ‗How‘ and ‗Why‘
describe the action in the
story

5. Conjunctions and
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:
connectives e.g. a few
Using lot of details tell the audience minutes later, meanwhile,
the sequence of events that took afterwards
place in the order that it happened.
6. personal comments,
opinions or interpretations
of the writer

CONCLSION: 7. Reported speech and

Quoted speech
Tell your audience what happened
in the end. You should add your
own comment about the event.

130
Different type of texts can recount and describe things that have
happened. Some of these include...

Newspaper article Letters Diary

Biography Trip report Sports report

Police report Magazine articles

131
 Looking Closely

Now write a recount of any incident you might have had with your pets
or any other animals in general.

Details are vital to bring incidents alive. Add in a lot of details.

Use specific names of people, places, objects, etc.
Pick out incidents that will amuse, interest or that in some way are
significant.
You can write as if you were telling the story of what happened.
Plan by thinking, noting or drawing - when? who? where? what? and
why?
Write in the first or third person.
End by commenting on events and expressing your feelings and views.
Remember to use the past tense and put the event/events in a
chronological order using connectives that signal time, e.g. then, next,
after, meanwhile, etc.

ERNEST HAROLD BAYNES: THE REAL DR. DOOLITTLE

Naturalist, writer & lecturer, Mr. Baynes was

the closest thing New England, and the world
for that matter, will ever get to a real-life Dr.
Doolittle. All sorts of New England birds and
animals--foxes, wolves, chickadees, bears and
bison--were known to roam around and in and
out of his house, "Sunset Ridge," in Meriden.
Baynes was born in 1868 in Calcutta, India.
His parents, John and Helen, were of English
origin, and he was educated in English schools
as a young boy. Read more about him here 

[Link]
new-england-birds-best-friend-ernest-baynes-
saved-birds-bison/

132
 Comprehension

Read the excerpts given below and answer the questions that
follow:

"Jimmy," our young black bear, was known to every child in the
neighbourhood. If a children's vote had been taken for the most popular
animal in the county, I believe that Jimmy would have been unanimously
elected. If the grown people had held the election, however, it is certain
that there would have been some votes against him.

1. Why was Jimmy not popular with some of the grownups in the
neighbourhood?

2. Why do you think the children liked the bear?

3. What is the meaning of the word ‗unanimously‘? Use the word in a

sentence of your own.

In an instant the room was in an uproar. All the children left the table at
once, and crowded around the window yelling—"Jimmy!" "It's Jimmy!"
"Let him in!" "Don't you do it!" "Keep him out!" "Open the window!" "Give
him some cake!"

1. What was the event and why had the children gathered?

2. Who was Jimmy and what was he doing?

3. How did the party end?

4. Do you think they would have enjoyed the party more, or less, if there
had been no "uninvited guest"? Give reasons.

133
What is Research? Well it‘s when you copy down facts from books and
websites and put them all together...RIGHT? Well; Not exactly! Research is
a ‗Learning‘ and ‗Sharing‘ process. Let‘s check out the process:

GATHER CREATE REFLECT

EXPLORE SHARE

EXPLORE the topic, define subject, think about what you already know,
brain storm specific research questions related to the who, what, where,
how, when, whys of the topic.

GATHER tools for the research e.g. books; internet; magazines;

dictionaries and other references such as newspapers. Photo copy
materials, create graphic organisers, mark/print pages from internet and
make written notes.

Before creating check if it is true or bogus. Organise information and put it

in order. CREATE something new using the notes and materials you have.
Put in your own words and record sources in bibliography.

SHARE what you have created in a novel manner. REFLECT about the
entire process by thinking on the following lines: What were the easiest
and hardest parts; When did you learn the most; Did your final product
answer all the questions; What will you do differently next time.

134
 The Internet is a big place, and getting information from it can seem a little
daunting. It's really not very hard, though. All you have to do is ask one of the many
search engines to go and look for you. Well, it's a little harder than that. You have to
know HOW to ask the search engines.

1. Keywords

Search engines don‘t read sentences the way people do: instead, they look for the
key words in your query in the websites they search; therefore, you need to be able
to choose the best combination of key words.

Most search engines work best if you provide them with several keywords. So how
do you determine which keywords will work best?

Think about what you‘re searching to determine the essential key words. For
instance, if you‘re just looking for a recipe for peanut butter cookies, you can write
peanut butter cookie recipe. But if you‘re looking for a recipe that doesn‘t use egg,
you can write peanut butter cookie recipe eggless (the order of the words doesn‘t
matter)

2. Booleans
No, this is not a race of aliens from Star Trek. You can narrow the scope of your
search using BOOLEAN operators. This means that you can use AND and OR (or a
combination of the two) between words to make your request more specific.

3. Use + to Require Words:

Put a plus sign (+) in front of a search word and some search engines will make sure
that ALL of the documents it returns contain the word. Example search: Travel
+France.

4. Use - to Exclude Words:

Put a minus sign (-) in front of a search word and some
search engines will make sure that NONE of the
documents it returns contain the word.
Example search: Jaguar -car -automobile.

135
Our Jimmy was an American Black Bear.

Now dive deeper and investigate about the

‗American bears‘ using your research skills. List all
the features and important information about these
bears and bring it to the class.

136
11 ~ by T S Eliot

137
Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw—
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime—Macavity's not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,

He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime—Macavity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air—
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!

138
Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,

For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square—
But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there!

He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)

And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's
And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!

And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty's gone astray,

Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair—
But it's useless to investigate—Macavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
It must have been Macavity!'—but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumb;
Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.

139
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,

There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.

He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare:

At whatever time the deed took place—MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!

And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known

(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)

Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time

Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!

140
 defy verb: openly resist or refuse to obey
 bafflement noun: confusion
 despair noun: the complete loss or absence of hope
 levitation noun: be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of
gravity
 sunken adjective: at a lower level than the surrounding
area
 fiend noun: an evil spirit or demon
 fakir noun: a Muslim (or, loosely, a Hindu) religious ascetic
 feline adjective: a cat or other member of the cat family
 depravity noun: wickedness
 rifled verb: to search quickly through something, often
in order to steal something
 peke noun: a Pekinese dog
 stifled verb: suffocate, choke
 trellis noun: a framework of light wooden or metal bars
used as a support for fruit trees or creepers
 treaty noun: agreement
 admiralty noun: (in the UK) the government department
that administered the Royal Navy, now incorporated in the
Ministry of Defence and current only in titles
 deceitfulness noun: Given to cheating
 suavity noun: charm and polish
 alibi noun: a claim or piece of evidence that one was
elsewhere when an act, typically a criminal one, is alleged to
have taken place

141
 Looking Closely

As a class make a spider diagram of words

and phrases (on a large sheet of paper) that
describe Macavity. What do you think about
Macavity – is he an exciting character or do
you disapprove of him? Make a second spider
diagram of words and phrases to describe the
character of a detective cat who could track
Macavity down and capture him. Think of a
name for the detective cat. Using the spider
diagram for ideas write a short story about
the detective cat who hunts for Macavity. Use
information from the poem about Macavity‘s
crimes, and explain how, eventually,
Macavity is caught.

142
 Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:

Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw—

For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime—Macavity's not there!

1. Why is Macavity called a mystery cat?

2. Macavity is also known as the hidden paw. Why?
3. What are Scotland Yard and Flying Squad? Why is Macavaty the
bafflement of them?

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,

There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare:
At whatever time the deed took place—MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely
known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!

1. What is an alibi? How did Macavity make use of his alibi?

2. Why do people say that Macavity is the Napoleon of crimes?
3. What are the villainous qualities that Macavity possess?
4. Give a detailed description of Macavitiy‘s appearance.

143
144
12 ~ by Madeleine L'Engle
Extended Reading: Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Time.
Extended Reading (ER) section of the Literature curriculum has been introduced to nurture the
following areas of student development.
ER develops learner autonomy
Reading is, by its very nature, a private, individual activity. Readers can read at the speed they are
comfortable with. They can visualise and interpret what they read in their own way. They can
themselves ask questions (explicit or implicit), notice things about the language or simply let the
story carry them along.
ER offers comprehensible input
Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input, which offers them repeated
encounters with language items they have already met. This helps them to consolidate what they
already know and extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to
learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through
massive and repeated exposure to it in context, precisely what ER provides.
ER enhances general language competence
In ways, we so far do not fully understand the benefits of ER beyond reading. There is a spread of
effect from reading competence to other language skills writing, speaking and control over syntax.’
So, reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading.
ER helps develop general, world knowledge
Many,, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they
inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows to the world seen through different eyes.
This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough.
ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth
Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and
phrases in context, thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By
presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier.
ER helps improve writing
There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better
we write. Common sense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often through
reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech, when it is
needed.
ER creates and sustains motivation to read more
The virtuous circle—success leading to success—ensures that as we read successfully in a foreign
language, we are encouraged to read more.

Henceforth, Middle School curriculum would have an ‘Extended Reading’ time called DEAR Time,
wherein students will periodically read the prescribed novel, just for the sake of enjoyment and
sustained joy of reading.
The novel would not be a part of the Assessments. The students will be expected to fill in Response
Journals to register their feelings and thoughts about the novel.

145
 The Happy Medium

The children again focus through the crystal ball in the Happy Medium‘s
cave. Earth still had the fearful dark shadow around it. Further away in
the Milky Way, there was the Thing! And then suddenly there was a great
burst of light. Mrs. Whatsit explains that it was a star that died fighting
the Thing. But the star had won, in spite of dying. The children come to
know that Mrs. Whatsit too was a star once and had died fighting the
Thing. This makes the children respect her more. The group begins to
leave, and the Happy Medium offers them some food. Meg is hungry, but
Mrs. Whatsit refuses. Charles Wallace says maybe the women need to be
reminded that humans need to eat.

Mrs. Whatsit tells the kids they are heading to a planet called Camazotz,
and the group tessers there. Mrs. Whatsit tells Meg, Charles Wallace and
Calvin that she and Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which cannot come with them, but
they will stay near. She tells them that their father is around but the
exact place was not told. Mrs. Whatsit gives each kid a talisman. Meg is
given her own faults, Charles Wallace is given the ability to bounce back,
and Calvin‘s gift of communication is strengthened.

Mrs. Who has a gift for each kid too. She gives Meg her glasses, but tells
her not to put them on until she needs them. She reminds Charles
Wallace that he does not know everything.

Mrs. Which gives advice to the group. She tells them to go into town,
stay together and remain strong.

146
Mrs. Whatsit has some final advice for Charles Wallace. She tells him to
take care of Meg, and that he is in the most danger of them all. She
warns him about his pride and arrogance. He is annoyed by her warnings.

In Camazotz, every house is the exact same size, shape and colour. In
front of each house, children bounce balls and skip rope in a synchronised
rhythm that seems to govern the whole town. The children are then
confronted by a paper delivery boy on a bicycle, who asks them what they
are doing out of doors. He informs them that they live in the most
oriented city on the planet, governed by IT in the CENTRAL Central
Intelligence. When the boy rides off, Charles Wallace notes that he seems
to talk as though the words were not his own.

Prepared to confront the forces of Camazotz at their source, the children

decide to enter the CENTRAL Central Intelligence building. Charles
expresses concern that he will not recognise his father after so many
years, but Meg reassures him that this will not be a problem. Calvin
voices his strong sense that entering the building means facing a terrible
danger; however, the children realise that they have no choice.

147
seethe (verb) to be filled with intense anger

writhe (verb) to move one‘s body in response to pain

getup (noun) an unusual outfit

facet (noun) one aspect or side of something

ambrosia (noun) something that is very pleasing to the taste

or smell, ‗food of the gods‘

snaggle-toothed(adjective) having crooked, damaged, or missing teeth

myopic (adjective) nearsighted

eon (noun) a very long time

clammy (adjective) damp

malignant (adjective) harmful, evil

precipitously (adjective) to do something suddenly

sumac (noun) a small tree or shrub of the cashew

family

smokestacks (noun) chimney

propitious (adjective) favourable

talisman (noun) an object that brings good luck

resilience (noun) the ability to recover from something

simultaneously (adverb) at the same time

aberration (noun) a departure from what is expected

inkling (noun) slight knowledge of, a hint

chink (noun) a narrow opening or crack

vary (verb) to change

148
Have you ever thought of the possibility of Time Travel? Do you wish you
could travel through time and space and visit other galaxies in the
universe? Have you ever wondered if life exists beyond Earth and its
atmosphere? Probably you should!!!
Many scientists strongly believe that other forms of life must exist in the
universe. They point out that the star we know as our sun is just one of
the 400 billion other stars in our galaxy. As life exists on Earth, life
probably can exist on a planet that rotates around a similar star.

Scientists also point out that there are billions of

galaxies in the universe aside from our own, the
Milky Way. However, because of the great
distances between Earth and other stars, people
probably will not be able to use a spacecraft to
search for life outside the solar system any time
soon. It is believed that any contact will have to
be by radio. Successful radio contact, however, would require that other
life forms to be as technologically advanced as humans and have similar
radio equipment.
Maybe we could just Tesser!!

149
What ‗gifts‘ did each of the three Mrs. Ws give to the children? Complete
the table below by listing each gift in the appropriate space. Think about
the relevance of these gifts.

150
Compare the life in your city with that of the life in Camazotz.
Write a paragraph explaining the similarities and the
differences.

151
 THE MAN WITH RED EYES

Meg, Calvin and Charles decide to stick together and enter the ‗CENTRAL
Central Intelligence‘ building. The building has only one huge door which
opens on its own just as they were about to knock. Inside, there were
benches lined up with people sitting on them like statues. The hall had
green marble flooring which reflected on their faces making them look
green and bilious. Charles unknowingly manages to tick off a man in the
hallway by saying something silly and he reports them.

The kids find themselves facing a raised platform. On it stood a man with
glowing red eyes. They could feel the evil coming from him, and they felt
he was the Black Thing in human form. The man was able to speak
directly into their minds. He tempts them with the idea that they should
give into him so that he could take away all their ‗burdens of thought and
decision‘. He begins to bore into their minds, reciting the multiplication
table. Charles Wallace fights the man‘s power by yelling out nursery
rhymes and Meg and Calvin follow; Calvin yells out Abraham Lincoln‘s
‗Gettysburg Address‘ and Meg simply yells out ―Father!‖ The man laughs
at them for their attempt to break his hold on their minds and says that
they had passed his tests with flying colours.

The man retorts that he could show them their father but wants to know
why. Suddenly, Charles Wallace rushes at the man and hits him as hard
as he could and knocks the wind out of him. Charles Wallace explains that
he thought the man was not real, that perhaps he was a robot, and that

152
he could feel that something was coming ‗through‘ him instead of ‗from‘
him. The man was displeased with Charles Wallace, but tells him that if
he looked into his eyes, he would show him what is behind them. Charles
Wallace reluctantly agrees.

He slowly walks towards the man, and Meg then tackles Charles Wallace
to the floor, breaking the man‘s spell on the boy. The man tells Meg that
he could lose patience with her, and she retorts angrily that he should at
least feed them since they were starving. The man serves the children an
elaborate turkey dinner, but to Charles all the food tasted like sand. The
man explains that the food was synthetic, but Charles would be able to
taste it if only he opens his mind to IT.

Charles Wallace then makes a deal with the man that if he would show
him his father and allow him to leave when he wants, then he would give
into the man‘s spell. Though Meg and Calvin protest, Charles Wallace
convinces them to let him try. He gives himself over to the man‘s stare
and within moments, he looked and talked different than the old Charles
Wallace. Horrified, Meg shrieks to Calvin that the boy beside them was no
longer Charles; the Charles they knew was gone.

153
bilious irritable as if suffering from indigestion

nondescript ordinary

bravado a show of boldness intended to impress or

intimidate

perspective a point of view

whistling in the dark pretend to be unafraid

warily carefully, cautiously

tolerant showing willingness to allow the existence of

opinions or behaviour that one does not
necessarily agree with; open-minded

chortling laugh in a noisy, gleeful way

smocks a piece of clothing like a long shirt worn loosely

over other clothing to protect it when working
dilated become wider, larger or more open.

preliminaries preparation taking place before an action or

event

concussion a violent shock as from a heavy blow

neurological relating to the anatomy, functions and organic

disorders of nerves and the nervous system

tenacity determination

phoney fake

gallivanting go around from one place to another in the

pursuit of pleasure or entertainment

154
13
~ by Oscar Wilde

155
 In the story, Mr Hiram B Otis, an American minister, buys an old
house called Canterville Chase in England. Many people had warned him
that the house was haunted by the ghost of its original owner, Sir Simon
de Canterville. However, the American Minister, did not believe in the
rumours and went to stay there with his family. The Canterville Ghost
tries to scare them away in all possible ways, but feels insulted when no
one in the family feels frightened. Read on to find out more about the
funny situations that are created.

The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly

after they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful crash
in the hall. Rushing downstairs, they found that a large suit of old armour
had become detached from its stand, and had fallen on the stone floor,
while, seated in a high-backed chair, was the Canterville ghost, rubbing
his knees with an expression of acute agony on his face. The twins,
having brought their pea-shooters with them, at once discharged two
pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which can only be attained by
long and careful practice on a writing-master, while the United States
Minister covered him with his revolver, and called upon him, in
accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands!

The ghost started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through
them like a mist, extinguishing Washington Otis‘s candle as he passed,
and so leaving them all in total darkness.

On reaching the top of the staircase he recovered himself, and

determined to give his celebrated peal of demoniac laughter. This he had
on more than one occasion found extremely useful. He accordingly
laughed his most horrible laugh, till the old vaulted roof rang and rang

156
again, but hardly had the fearful echo died away when a door opened,
and Mrs. Otis came out in a light blue dressing-gown.

‗I am afraid you are far from well,‘ she said, ‗and have brought you a
bottle of Dr. Dobell‘s tincture. If it is indigestion, you will find it a most
excellent remedy.‘

The ghost glared at her in fury, and began at once to make

preparations for turning himself into a large black dog, an
accomplishment for which he was justly renowned. The sound of

157
approaching footsteps, however, made him hesitate, so he contented
himself with becoming faintly phosphorescent, and vanished with a deep
groan, just as the twins had come up to him.

On reaching his room he entirely broke down. The rudeness of the

twins and the unpleasant comment of Mrs. Otis, were naturally extremely
annoying, but what really distressed him most was, that he had been
unable to wear the armour. He had hoped that even modern Americans
would be thrilled by the sight of a Spectre In Armour. Besides, it was his
own suit. He had worn it with great success at the Kenilworth
tournament, and had been highly complimented on it by no less a person
than the Virgin Queen herself. Yet when he had put it on, he had been
completely overpowered by the weight of the huge breastplate and steel
casque, and had fallen heavily on the stone pavement, barking both his
knees severely, and bruising the knuckles of his right hand.

For some days after this, he was extremely ill and hardly stirred out
of his room at all, except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair.
However, by taking great care of himself, he recovered, and resolved to
make a third attempt to frighten the family.

He selected Friday, the 17th of August, for his appearance, and spent
most of that day in looking over his wardrobe, ultimately deciding in
favour of a large slouched hat with a red feather, a winding-sheet frilled
at the wrists and neck and a rusty dagger.

Towards evening a violent storm of rain came on, and the wind was
so high that all the windows and doors in the old house shook and rattled.
In fact, it was just such weather as he loved.

158
 His plan of action was this. He was to make his way quietly to
Washington Otis‘s room, gibber at him from the foot of the bed, and stab
himself three times in the throat to the sound of slow music. He bore
Washington a special grudge. Having reduced the reckless and foolhardy
youth to a condition of abject terror, he was then to proceed to the room
occupied by the United States Minister and his wife, and there to place a
clammy hand on Mrs. Otis‘s forehead, while he hissed into her trembling
husband‘s ear the awful secrets of the charnel-house. With regard to little
Virginia, he had not quite made up his mind. She had never insulted him
in any way, and was pretty and gentle. A few hollow groans from the
wardrobe, he thought, would be more than sufficient, or, if that failed to
wake her, he might grabble at the counterpane with palsy-twitching
fingers. As for the twins, he was quite determined to teach them a lesson.
The first thing to be done was, of course, to sit upon their chests, so as to
produce the stifling sensation of nightmare. Then, as their beds were
quite close to each other, to stand between them in the form of a green,
icy-cold corpse, till they became paralysed with fear, and finally, to throw
off the winding-sheet, and crawl round the room, with white bleached
bones and one rolling eye-ball.‘

At half-past ten he heard the family going to bed. For some time he
was disturbed by wild shrieks of laughter from the twins, who, with the
light-hearted gaiety of schoolboys, were evidently amusing themselves
before they retired to rest, but at a quarter past eleven all was still, and,
as midnight sounded, he sallied forth.

The owl beat against the window panes, the raven croaked from the
old yew-tree, and the wind wandered moaning round the house like a lost
soul; but the Otis family slept unconscious of their doom, and high above
the rain and storm he could hear the steady snoring of the Minister for
the United States.

159
 He stepped stealthily out of the wainscoting, with an evil smile on his
cruel, wrinkled mouth, and the moon hid her face in a cloud as he stole
past the great oriel window. On and on he glided, like an evil shadow, the
very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed.

Once he thought he heard something call, and stopped; but it was

only the baying of a dog from the Red Farm, and he went on, muttering
strange sixteenth-century curses, and brandishing the rusty dagger in the
midnight air.

Finally he reached the corner of the passage that led to luckless

Washington‘s room. For a moment he paused there, the wind blowing his
long grey locks about his head, and twisting into grotesque and fantastic
folds the nameless horror of the dead man‘s shroud. Then the clock struck
the quarter, and he felt the time was come. He chuckled to himself, and
turned the corner; but no sooner had he done so, than, with a piteous
wail of terror, he fell back, and hid his blanched face in his long, bony
hands.

Right in front of him was standing a horrible spectre, motionless as a

carved image, and monstrous as a madman‘s dream! Its head was bald
and burnished; its face round, and fat, and white; and hideous laughter
seemed to have writhed its features into an eternal grin. From the eyes
streamed rays of scarlet light, the mouth was a wide well of fire, and a
hideous garment, like to his own. On its breast was a placard with strange
writing in antique characters, some scroll of shame it seemed, some
record of wild sins, some awful calendar of crime, and, with its right hand,
it bore aloft a falchion of gleaming steel.

160
 Never having seen a ghost before, he naturally was terribly
frightened, and, after a second hasty glance at the awful phantom, he fled
back to his room, tripping up in his long winding-sheet as he sped down
the corridor, and finally dropping the rusty dagger into the Minister‘s jack-
boots, where it was found in the morning by the butler. Once in the
privacy of his own apartment, he flung himself down on a small pallet-
bed, and hid his face under the clothes. After a time, however, the brave
old Canterville spirit asserted itself, and he determined to go and speak to
the other ghost as soon as it was daylight.

Accordingly, just as the dawn was touching the hills with silver, he
returned towards the spot where he had first laid eyes on the grisly
161
phantom, feeling that, after all, two ghosts were better than one, and
that, by the aid of his new friend, he might safely grapple with the twins.
On reaching the spot, however, a terrible sight met his gaze. Something
had evidently happened to the spectre, for the light had entirely faded
from its hollow eyes, the gleaming falchion had fallen from its hand, and
it was leaning up against the wall in a strained and uncomfortable
attitude. He rushed forward and seized it in his arms, when, to his horror,
the head slipped off and rolled on the floor, the body assumed a
recumbent posture, and he found himself clasping a white dimity bed-
curtain, with a sweeping-brush, a kitchen cleaver, and a hollow turnip
lying at his feet! Unable to understand this curious transformation, he
clutched the placard with feverish haste, and there, in the grey morning
light, he read these fearful words:—

The whole thing flashed across him. He had been tricked, foiled, and out-
witted!

162
 armour noun: the metal  corpse noun: dead body
coverings formerly worn to  loathe verb: feel intense
protect the body in battle dislike
 agony noun : extreme  baying verb: bark or howl
physical or mental suffering loudly
 etiquette noun: good  brandishing verb: waving
manners, polite behaviour. something in excitement
 vaulted verb: provide (a  grotesque adjective: ugly
building or room) with an arched or distorted
roof.  burnished verb: polished
 tincture noun: a medicine (something, especially metal) by
solution made by dissolving it in rubbing
alcohol  eternal adjective: lasting or
 spectre noun: ghost existing forever
 casque noun: a helmet  scarlet adjective: of a
 gibber verb: speak brilliant red colour
rapidly typically when in fear or  placard noun : a printed or
shock handwritten notice or sign for
 grudge noun : a long public display
lasting strong feeling of anger  falchion noun: a broad,
and dislike for a person who you slightly curved sword
feel has treated you badly  grapple verb: seize hold of
 abject adjective: the state of (someone)
being extremely unhappy, poor,  recumbent adjective: lying
unsuccessful, etc down
 grabble verb: feel or search  foiled verb: countered
with the hands  out-witted verb: to get the
 palsy noun: paralysis better of someone by cleverness

163
Fear is one of the most difficult emotions to evoke in writing. It takes
more than tortured groans and rattling chains to raise goose bumps in the
reader. Let us learn about a few techniques that can inspire nightmares!

1. Opening sentence: Hook the readers from the very beginning of the
story. Take a look at a few examples:

―The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years –
if it ever did end – began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat
made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen
with rain.‖ – It by Stephen King

“This is not for you.” – House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by

tonight I shall be no more. — Dagon. Lovecraft.

"This is creepy, Erin." My friend Marty grabbed my

sleeve.— A Shocker on Shock Street. R.L. Stine.

―Since it’s Sunday and it’s stopped raining, I think

I’ll take a bouquet of roses to my grave.‖ —
Someone Has Been Disarranging These Roses, by
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

164
2. Setting and weather: Setting and weather is very important to give a
gloomy atmosphere to the story.

The house stands on a bleak, windswept moor (cold, empty and not
welcoming)

The house was on a desolated area..

It was frosty outside; it was raw winter; fog rolled over the city etc.

3. Use details: Particularly creepy noises such as - bones were audibly

shattered; he could hear a piercing screech; I could hear something
whirring from the attic; Or creepy descriptions. But don‘t give away too
much. Leave some things for the reader‘s imagination.

4. Make your reader feel what the characters feel -- Utter terror!!

5. Create suspense and the fear of the unknown – Use your reader‘s
imagination against them.

6. Create a feeling that something is not right –characters with slightly

deformed features or unnatural movements; Houses with strange angles;
unexpected behaviour like a crying security guard; child‘s laughter from
the basement etc.

7. The End...or is it? – an unexpected plot twist or a

spooky revelation.

8. Last but not the least, read a lot so you can write
better.

165
USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES TO CONSIDER USING WHEN
WRITING A GHOST STORY

Words, words and more words are all you have. Use the best ones.

166
 Looking Closely

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE?

Think of a location to set your story and draw it.

Think of a main character and draw.

Think of an action. (Axe viz. chopping, fainting).

Think of an ending and draw.

From the drawings you‘ve made, you now have a location for
your story, a character, an action and an ending. Try now, to
write a scary story. Remember to describe the weather, the
atmosphere, the sounds, the actions in as much detail as
possible. Don‘t forget to look back at the suggestions and
examples given earlier. Aim to write at 150 - 300 words.

PHOSPHORESCENT

Anything phosphorescent emits light but not much

heat. Phosphorescent things glow in the dark.

Have you ever seen a lightning bug? They're a lot easier to

spot at night, because they glow, giving off light and looking
like flying, dancing night lights. The word for creatures and
things like lightning bugs is phosphorescent. Phosphorescent
things give off hardly any heat, but they radiate light. Glow-
in-the-dark toys are phosphorescent. It can help you
remember this word if you know that phosphorus is a
substance that emits light, so anything that does so is
phosphorescent.

167
 Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions

that follow:

‗The owl beat against the window panes, the raven croaked from
the old yew-tree, and the wind wandered moaning round the
house like a lost soul; but the Otis family slept unconscious of
their doom...‘

1. Why does the writer refer to these particular birds?

2. How is the wind described? Why is the wind like a ‗lost soul‘?

3. Why was the ghost angry with the Otis family?

4. What was the ghost planning to do that night and why? Was he
successful?

5. Was the ghost successful in his endeavours? What happens?

‗After a time, however, the brave old Canterville spirit asserted

itself, and he determined to go and speak to the other ghost as
soon as it was daylight.‘

1. Why does the narrator call the ghost ‗brave‘?

2. Why does he choose to visit the ghost during the day?

3. Describe the second ghost that the Canterville ghost met.

168
14
~Okamoto Jun

169
Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky

The city sprawls, its gaping wounds exposed:

The streets due for a surgical operation,

Canals gathering pitch and filth,

Bridges with their concrete peeling away.

Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky

Cranes moving, drain-pipes lined up,

Truck after truck

Carrying dirt, rubbish, mud

The burnt-out, festering hulks of war.

Dark caverns in the streets:

On the canal-bed, submerged groans and sighs

Of those who will not surface:

Methane gushing up.

In the city with those clogged wounds

International streets will appear soon,

Rows of gay shops will grow,

Tempting goods will brighten the windows.

170
Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky

New building goes on.

Our ears tuned to the detonations under the hazy,

blossom-laden sky,

We Pray

That the fire-rain never again fall on the world.

 hazy adjective: foggy,  festering verb: decaying

murky  caverns noun: large caves

 blossom-laden: heavily loaded  submerged verb: buried

with flowers  surface verb: rise

 sprawls verb: spreads  Methane noun: A colourless

 gaping adjective: open odourless gas

 canals noun: an artificial  clogged verb: choked

waterway constructed to allow  detonations noun:

the passage of boats or ships explosions

inland

171
 Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Two Cities, One Destiny!

Little did the people in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki know that
their lives were about to change forever on an August morning. At
8:15 A.M. on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the "Little
Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed by the detonation
of the "Fat Man" on August 9 over Nagasaki.

As harmless as they might sound, these were terribly dangerous

nuclear bombs, causing devastating effects. In a blinding, searing
flash of light, the bombs instantly blasted the two cities to rubble.

The light of the bombs in brightness was comparable to the sun, and
the temperatures and pressure were comparable to those in the sun‘s
interior. The light rays consisted of thermal radiation that burned the
cities and bodies and nuclear radiation penetrated the body causing
catastrophic effects.

In the immediate aftermath, a quarter to a third of the population was

killed by burns, trauma and radiation, or by a combination of these.
Those who survived this gory day, developed cancer, especially young
children; the brain damage to the unborn child and to mothers
exposed to the atomic bomb; and the genetic effects to the children
born to the survivors is still evident even after years of exposure.

172
 has been a cruel aspect of life since the beginning of time and
thus has been one of the greatest subjects of literature. It questions the
character of humans and, more specifically, what they are willing to
sacrifice their lives for. Even after the battle is over, those who survive
are jaded and changed forever by war.
Therefore, it is inevitable that war is the subject of some of the most
compelling literature in the world. Innumerable novels, autobiographies,
and poems explore the effects of war on individuals.
A few infamous wars in History!!!

6 AD: Scandinavian adventurers 1812: Napoleon's invasion of Russia

991 AD: The Viking invasion 1854: The Crimean War
1100-1500: The Crusades 1861-1865: American Civil War
c.1587: Catholic plots 1914-1918: World War One
1415: Battle of Agincourt; 1939-1945: World War Two
1655: Europe's religious strife; 1961-1970: The Vietnam War
1311: Anglo-Scottish disputes; 1991: The Gulf War

People have often turned to poetry in times of war and calamities. The
following poems, taken from The Atomic Bomb: voices from Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, are selections from an Anthology of Japanese atomic bomb
poems first published in 1970. The anthology contains poems by the
victims of the atomic bomb, including children and housewives, alongside
professional poets.

173
Song of the Prime Minister

However much deadly ashes scatter

however much polluted rain falls
whatever scholars say
whatever hubbub the populace makes
the minister's face turns "over there" and greets
‐‐please, please, anything you like.

Beta rays
gamma rays
nebulous radioactive clouds cover the archipelago
fish cattle vegetables trees and grass
all turn into a leaden soggy mass
young and old, men and women turn into sea monsters,
even then
the minister leaves it up to those "over there"
‐‐please, please, anything you like.

Now no woman no man

has a human shape
the islands are shattered fragments of oyster shells
an eroded desert
where bones and ashes dance directionless
the wandering ghost of the minister
is singing somewhere like a marsh cricket
‐‐please, please, anything you like.

~from The Atomic Bomb: voices from Hiroshima and

Nagasaki, chapter titled ―Poems by Atomic Bomb
Survivors‖

174
Night train
crowded warehouses
a steel tower
the signal
water supply tank
the empty places where goods
were kept
lines of freight cars were there
as if they were left there
by someone in forgetfulness
all of them lying silently
at the midnight station yard.
the huge frame of the
locomotive alone
on the cold shining rail
keeps coming and going
suddenly, violently
spouting its flame‐colored
smoke
writhing like a beast
as if dragging the rail behind it
with the violent sound of the
steam whistle
the engine hurls itself
against the wagon trains
it seems that its anger cannot
be contained easily

175
Aoi Sorawa (Skies of Blue)

Let us leave our children skies of blue

That burning August morning even shadows burnt away
That weight of fathers mothers brothers sisters lives
We carry and we hold.
Let us leave our children skies of blue.
That night the essence of thousands vanished silent into space
The weight of fathers mothers brothers sisters lives
Now float like lantern lights to sea
Let us leave our children skies of blue.
Put out the fires of war from every nation in the world
May peace and love and liberty and life glow
In our handshakes
In our voices
In our songs
Let us leave our children skies of blue.

by Jim Mason

It‟s Springtime

It's a sad, cloudy day.

It's snowing, since it's still March.
Perhaps tomorrow the sun will shine
And the children's snowballing will be divine.
And trees will put on lovely jewels,
Nature will make everything bloom.
We will enjoy summer again,
All will be joy, no sadness will remain.
We will walk in the fields, among flowers,
We will lie on the grass, behind wheat stalks,
We will greet everything with an innocent smile,
It's spring again; once again it's springtime!

by Magdalena Klein

176
Atomic Skies Falling

With Hiroshima eyes I weep

for a world self-destructing,
never learning lessons from
the atomic apocalypse of skies
falling.
With Nagasaki ears I listen
to the woeful cries of
more and more victims,
each one muted by pre-emptive
Destruction.
With Bikini and Moruroa lips I mourn
so many stories unheard, untold
a legacy of catastrophe
buried by atolls of coral.
With Nevada skin I burn
to tell a Truth obstructed
of desolate Earth and People
united by a cataclysmic
obsolescence.
With Lop Nor legs I run
to find a secret crevice
where I lie hidden from a home
on the brink of nuclear precipice.
With Novaya Zemlya and Chernobyl
arms I reach
to embrace an untainted vision,
a reality not beholden since
before the Trinity explosion.
Unlike Pokhran and Chagai, I can not
celebrate
a new era of annihilation
concealed in formidable disguise
justifying my security by threatening
our demise.

by Carah Ong

177
 Looking Closely

Read the poems given above. How do they make you feel? Jot down
your feelings about war and its effects, in a rough page. Now make
a poem out of these feelings and write it on the A4 sheet that your
teacher gives you. Also illustrate the poem.

Certain words used in the poem

suggest a state of horror, fear
and ruin and certain words
suggest hope. Find such words
from the poem and list them.

178
 Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions

that follow:

Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky

The city sprawls, its gaping wounds exposed:
The streets due for a surgical operation,
Canals gathering pitch and filth,
Bridges with their concrete peeling away.
1. Why do you think the sky is hazy?

2. What has caused the gaping wounds?

3. What picture do you get of a city in the time following a war?

Under the hazy, blossom-laden sky

New building goes on.
Our ears tuned to the detonations under the hazy,
blossom-laden sky,
We Pray
That the fire-rain never again fall on the world.
1. Why is the new building activity going on?

2. Why does the poet talk of detonations?

3. What is fire-rain? Why shouldn‘t it ever fall on the world?

179
15 ~ by Madeleine L'Engle

180
Extended Reading: Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Time.
The Extended reading section of the Literature curriculum has been introduced in order to nurture
the following areas of student development:
ER develops learner autonomy:
Reading is, by its very nature, a private, individual activity. Readers can read at the speed they are
comfortable with. They can visualise and interpret what they read in their own way. They can
themselves ask questions (explicit or implicit), notice things about the language, or simply let the
story carry them along.
ER offers comprehensible input:
Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input which offers them repeated
encounters with language items they have already met. This helps them to consolidate what they
already know and to extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to
learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through
massive and repeated exposure to it in context: precisely what ER provides.
ER enhances general language competence:
In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading. There is ‘a
spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills writing, speaking and control over
syntax.’ So, reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading.
ER helps develop general, world knowledge:
Many, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they
inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows to the world seen through different eyes.
This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough.
ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth:
Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and
phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By
presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier.
ER helps improve writing:
There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better
we write. Commonsense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often, through
reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech, when it is
needed.
ER creates and sustains motivation to read more.
The virtuous circle - success leading to success - ensures that, as we read successfully in the foreign
language, we are encouraged to read more.

Henceforth, Middle School curriculum would have an ‘Extended Reading’ time, called ‘DEAR Time’
wherein students will periodically read the prescribed novel, just for the sake of enjoyment and
sustained joy of reading.
The novel would not be a part of the Assessments. The students will be expected to fill in Response
Journals to register their feelings and thoughts about the novel.

181
 The Transparent Column

Charles Wallace, now in the grip of IT, sits contentedly eating his turkey
dinner. He tells Meg and Calvin that the Man with the Red Eyes is their
friend and that the Mrs. W's are the enemies. They realize that this is not
the real Charles Wallace speaking and grab his arm in an attempt to
release the real person trapped within. They tell the Man with the Red
Eyes that they know that it is he who is speaking through Charles. The
Man identifies himself as the Prime Coordinator and tells them that
Charles will lead them to Mr. Murry.

Charles leads Meg and Calvin down a long white corridor. As they walk,
Meg is reminded of Mrs. Whatsit's gift to Calvin: his ability to
communicate. She encourages him to try to speak with her brother. For a
moment, Calvin's tone of jocular friendliness seems to reach Charles
Wallace, but then the boy drifts away again; Charles tells them that
instead of searching for Mr. Murry, they should turn themselves over

182
entirely to IT, whom he identifies as the "Boss" and the "Happiest Sadist."
He extols the virtues of IT and declares that on Camazotz, the total
conformity prevents all war or unhappiness. Meg notes that sometimes a
little bit of unhappiness is a necessary precondition for happiness.

Suddenly, Charles waves his hand and the wall of the corridor grows
transparent to reveal a small room radiating a dull, sulphurous light. In
response to Meg's questioning, Charles says that he simply moved around
the wall's atoms to make it open. He shows Calvin and Meg another room
in which the little boy that they saw that afternoon is bouncing a wall to a
pulsing rhythm, wincing with pain each time the ball hits the ground;
Charles explains that it is a punishment for the boy's earlier deviance.
Then he shows Meg and Calvin another small cell, in which stands a
transparent cylinder or column; Mr. Murry sits trapped inside.

Do you agree it is kind to just annihilate someone who is ill? In

Camazotz the weak and the ill were just killed to end their
misery. Express your views about this practice.

183
hysterical deriving from or affected by uncontrolled
extreme emotion
primitive a person who belongs to early stage of
civilization
infuriated make someone extremely angry and
impatient
spindly of a person or limb long or tall and thin
pinioned tie or hold the arms or legs of someone
connotations an idea or feeling that a word invokes person
in addition to its literal or primary meaning

somber dark or dull in color or tone; gloomy

ominous threatening
emanate to come forth; to send forth
Pinion wing of a bird
swivet a fluster or panic
pedantic of or like a pedant, pedant- a person who is
excessively concerned with minor details and
rules or with displaying academic learning.
annihilate destroy utterly; obliterate
endure suffer something painful or difficult patiently
radiated emit energy, especially light or heat in the
form of rays or waves
sulfurous chiefly of vapor or smoke containing or
derived from sulfur
sadist one who enjoys causing pain
deviate to turn aside from a course; to stray

184
 IT

Meg rushes forward to her father in his column, but she cannot penetrate
its surface, and her father cannot see or hear her. In frustration, she
hurls herself at Charles, but he punches her in the stomach. Calvin nearly
releases the real Charles by reciting the lines from Shakespeare's The
Tempest, which Mrs. Who gave him, but Charles ultimately remains in
thrall. Finally, at wit's end, Meg remembers Mrs. Who's spectacles. By
putting them over her eyes and throwing herself at the column, she
successfully gets through to her father and stands by his side.

Mr. Murry is overjoyed at his daughter's arrival, though he cannot see her
until he puts on Mrs. Who's spectacles. By wearing the spectacles and
carrying Meg in his arms, he is able to escape the column with her. When
they emerge, Charles Wallace behaves insolently and obnoxiously toward
his father, and Meg assures her father that this is not the real Charles
Wallace. Charles tells them that he must take them immediately to IT. Mr.
Murry is horrified, and insists that Meg will not be able to survive the
encounter. However, they have no choice but to follow the youngest
Murry child.

Charles leads them out of the CENTRAL Central Intelligence Building and
into a strange, domelike edifice pulsing with a violet glow. Inside, Meg
feels a steady pulsing that seems to force the beating of her heart to
conform to its rhythm. The building contains nothing but the feel of the
pulse and a round central dais containing a revoltingly large living brain.
Mr. Murry shouts out to Calvin and Meg that they must not give in to IT's
rhythmic control. Meg tries to shout out the Declaration of Independence,

185
the periodic table, and the irrational square roots, but her mind
nonetheless begins to slip into IT's control.

Seeing that Meg is about to be lost to IT, Calvin commands everyone to

tesser. Mr. Murry grabs her wrist and Meg feels herself torn apart in the
whirlwind of tessering.

―Alike and equal are not the same thing at all!‖ Analyse this
statement and give examples and validate your analysis.

It's Elemental
You may remember the Periodic Table of the
Elements as a dreary chart on your classroom
wall. If so, you never guessed its real
purpose: It‘s a giant cheat sheet.
The table has served chemistry students
since 1869, when it was created by Dmitry
Mendeleyev, a cranky professor at the
University of St. Petersburg.

Do you remember what a periodic table actually is? In the novel, Mr.
Murry tries to help Meg resist IT by telling her to think of the periodic
table of elements. The periodic table has the chemical elements arranged
based on their atomic mass and atomic numbers. The periodic table with
atomic mass and atomic numbers helps researchers and students
understand the physical and chemical properties of various elements.

Everybody who has a keen interest in chemistry must properly study this
pictorial representation of elements.

186
impact the action of one object coming forcibly into
contact with another
placidly of a person or animal not easily upset or excited
cloven past participle of cleave
cleave- split or sever something, especially
along a natural line
myopic nearsightedness
insolent showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect
gait a person's manner of walking
stark severe or bare in appearance or outline
angular of an object, outline, or shape having angles or
sharp corners
inexorable impossible to stop or prevent
tangible perceptible by touch
omnipotent of a deity having unlimited power; able to do
anything
disembodied separated from or existing without the body
systole the phase of the heartbeat when the heart
muscle contracts and pumps blood from the
chambers into the arteries. Often contrasted
with diastole
diastole the phase of the heartbeat when the heart
muscle relaxes and allows the chambers to fill
with blood
miasma a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor
formaldehyde a colorless pungent gas in solution made by
oxidizing methanol

187
 Allusions

Before the children begin their travels, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs.
Which warn them of an ongoing cosmic struggle between good and evil.
To illustrate this struggle, they use many allusions.

An allusion is a reference in a work of literature to another work

of literature or to a well-known person, place, or event in history.
Writers often use allusions to express complex ideas. Sometimes the
allusions are direct, such as quotations from historical figures.
Sometimes, however, allusions are less obvious. For example, the Murry‘s
dog Fortinbras is named after a character in Shakespeare‘s play Hamlet
who is strong and brave in military matters. In a subtle way, the allusion
tells you something about the dog and something about the people who
named him. You might guess that the Murrys enjoy literature and value
strength and courage. Watch for allusions in chapters 5–8 and throughout
the novel. Here is a clue for a starter – ‗Ariel in the cloven pine‘,
‗Gettysburg Address‘.

Also check out the following website for examples of allusions from the
book:

[Link]

188
16

189
FABLE 1

Grasshopper and Toad appeared to be good friends. People always saw

them together. Yet they had never dined at each other's houses. One day
Toad said to Grasshopper, "Dear friend, tomorrow come and dine at my
house. My wife and I will prepare a special meal. We will eat it together."

The next day Grasshopper arrived at Toad's house. Before sitting down
to eat, Toad washed his forelegs, and invited Grasshopper to do the
same. Grasshopper did so, and it made a loud noise.

"Friend Grasshopper, can't you leave your chirping behind. I cannot eat
with such a noise," said Toad.

Grasshopper tried to eat without rubbing his forelegs together, but it

was impossible. Each time he gave a chirp, Toad complained and asked
him to be quiet. Grasshopper was angry and could not eat. Finally, he
said to Toad: "I invite you to my house for dinner, tomorrow."

The next day, Toad arrived at Grasshopper's home. As soon as the meal
was ready, Grasshopper washed his forelegs, and invited Toad to do the
same. Toad did so, and then hopped toward the food.

"You had better go back and wash again," said Grasshopper. "All that
hopping in the dirt has made your forelegs dirty again."

190
 Toad hopped back to the water jar, washed again, then hopped back to
the table, and was ready to reach out for some food from one of the
platters when Grasshopper stopped him: "Please don‘t put your dirty
paws into the food. Go and wash them again."

Toad was furious. "You just don't want me to eat with you!" he cried.
"You know very well that I must use my paws and forelegs in hopping
about. I cannot help it if they get a bit dirty between the water jar and
the table."

Grasshopper responded, "You are the one who started it yesterday. You
know I cannot rub my forelegs together without making a noise."

Sadly from then on, they were no longer friends.

191
FABLE 2

One moonlit night a Fox was prowling about a farmer's hen-coop, and
saw a Cock roosting high up beyond his reach.

"Good news, good news!" he cried. "Why, what is that?" said the Cock.

"King Lion has declared a universal truce. No beast may hurt a bird
henceforth, but all shall dwell together in brotherly friendship."

"Why, that is good news," said the Cock; "and there I see someone
coming, with whom we can share the good tidings."

And so saying he craned his neck forward and looked afar off.

"What is it you see?" said the Fox. "It is only my master's Dog that is
coming towards us. What, going so soon?" he continued, as the Fox
began to turn away as soon as he had heard the news.

"Will you not stop and congratulate the Dog on the reign of universal
peace?" "I would gladly do so," said the Fox, "but I fear he may not have
heard of King Lion's decree."

192
 FABLE 3

PLACE: A farmer‘s cabbage field.

TIME: A fine morning in spring.
(The hedgehog is standing by his door looking at the cabbage field which
he thinks is his own.)
HEDGEHOG: Wife, have you dressed the children yet?
WIFE: Just through, my dear.
HEDGEHOG: Well, come out here and let us look at our cabbage patch.
(Wife comes out.)
HEDGEHOG: Fine crop, isn‘t it? We should be happy.
WIFE: The cabbage is fine enough, but I can‘t see why we should be so
happy.
HEDGEHOG: Why, my dear, there are tears in your voice. What is the
matter?
WIFE: I suppose I ought not to mind it, but those dreadful hares nearly
worry the life out of me.
HEDGEHOG: What are they doing now?
WIFE: Doing? What are they not doing? Why, yesterday I brought my
pretty babies out here to get some cabbage leaves. We were eating as
well-behaved hedgehogs always eat, and those horrid hares almost made
us cry.
HEDGEHOG: What did they do?
WIFE: They came to our cabbage patch and they giggled and said, ―Oh,
see the little duck-legged things! Aren‘t they funny?‖ Then one jumped
over a cabbage just to hurt our feelings.

193
HEDGEHOG: Well, they are mean, I know, but we won‘t notice them. I‘ll
get even with them one of these days. Ah, there comes one of them now.
WIFE: Yes, and he laughed at me yesterday. He said, ―Good-morning,
Madam Shortlegs.‖ I won‘t speak to him. I‘ll hide till he goes by.
(Wife hides behind a cabbage.)
HEDGEHOG: Good-morning, sir.
HARE: Are you speaking to me?
HEDGEHOG: Certainly; do you see anyone else around?
HARE: How dare you speak to me?
HEDGEHOG: Oh, just to be neighbourly.
HARE: I shall ask you not to speak to me hereafter. I think myself too
good to notice hedgehogs.
HEDGEHOG: Now, that is strange.
HARE: What is strange?
HEDGEHOG: Why, I have just said to my wife that we wouldn‘t notice
you.
HARE: Wouldn‘t notice me, indeed, you silly, short-legged, duck-legged
thing!
HEDGEHOG: Well, my legs are quite as good as yours, sir.
HARE: As good as mine! Who ever heard of such a thing? Why, you can
do little more than crawl.
HEDGEHOG: That may be as you say, but I‘ll run a race with you any day.
HARE: Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! A race with a hedgehog! Well, well, well!
HEDGEHOG: Are you afraid to run with me?
HARE: Of course not. It will be no race at all, but I‘ll run just to show you
how silly you are.
HEDGEHOG: Good! You run in that furrow; I will run in this. We shall see
who gets to the fence first. Let‘s start from the far end of the furrow.
HARE: I will run to the brook and back while you are getting there. Go
ahead.
HEDGEHOG: I wouldn‘t stay too long if I were you.
HARE: Oh, I‘ll be back before you reach the end of the furrow.

194
(The hare runs off to the brook.)

II
HEDGEHOG: Wife, wife, did you hear what I said to the hare?
WIFE: Did I hear? I should say I did. What are you thinking of? Have you
lost your senses?
HEDGEHOG: You shouldn‘t speak that way to me. What do you know
about a man‘s business? Come here and let me whisper something to
you.
(He whispers and then walks to far end of the furrow. His wife laughs.)
WIFE: Ha, ha! I see. I see. Nothing wrong with your brains.
―Short legs, long wit,
Long legs, not a bit,‖ as my grandmother used to say. The hare will find
that out today.
(She stoops down in the near end of the furrow. The hare returns and
takes his place.)
HARE: Well, are you ready?
HEDGEHOG: Of course I am,-ready and waiting.
HARE: One for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to make ready,
And here we go!
(The hare runs as swiftly as the wind. The hedgehog starts with him, but
stops and stoops low in the furrow. When the hare reaches the other end,
the hedgehog‘s wife puts up her head.)
WIFE: Well, here I am.
HARE: What does this mean?
WIFE: It means what it means.
HARE: We‘ll try again. Are you ready?
WIFE: Of course I am.
HARE: One for the money,
Two for the show,

195
Three to make ready,
And here we go!
(The hare runs swiftly back again. Wife starts, but stops and stoops low.
The hare reaches the other end. The hedgehog puts up his head.)
HEDGEHOG: Here I am.
HARE: I can‘t understand this.
HEDGEHOG: It is very clear to me.
HARE: Well, we‘ll try again. Are you ready?
HEDGEHOG: I‘m always ready.
HARE: One for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to make ready,
And here we go!
(Again the wife puts up her head and the hare is bewildered.)
WIFE: You see I am here.
HARE: I just can‘t believe it.
WIFE: A perfectly simple thing.
HARE: We‘ll try once more. You can‘t beat me another time.
WIFE: Don‘t boast. You had better save your breath for the race; you will
need it.
HARE: One for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to make ready,
And here we go!
(When the hare reaches the other end of the field, the hedgehog puts up
his head.)
HARE: This is very strange.
HEDGEHOG: Shall we run again? You seem a little tired, but I am
perfectly fresh.
HARE (panting): No, no! The race is yours.
HEDGEHOG: Will you call my wife and children names any more?
HARE: No, no! I‘ll never do that again.

196
HEDGEHOG: Very well. And if you wish a race at any time, friend hare,
just call by for me.
HARE (walking off shaking his head): It‘s very strange. I hope none of the
other hares will hear of this race.
WIFE (as she meets the hedgehog): I thought I should hurt myself
laughing. As my grandmother used to say,
―Short legs, long wit,
Long legs, not a bit.‖

“Tut, tut, child,” said the Duchess. "Everything has a moral,

if only you can find it."
—Lewis Carroll

197
 A short tale used to teach a moral lesson, often with animals as
characters
 The story is very brief
 Main characters are usually animals
 Animals are anthropomorphised
 They are stories with a moral
 The reader must pay attention to the title, which will cue who or
what to pay attention to
 The reader reads the moral and understands how the events of the
story lead to the moral
 Reader should consider how the moral might apply to his/her own life

Looking Closely

Now it is your turn to write a fable.

Use the class assignment to draft a fable and then write the fable based
on the draft in your notebook.

198
 Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions

that follow:

 WIFE: Yes, and he laughed at me yesterday. He said, ―Good-

morning, Madam Shortlegs.‖ I won‘t speak to him. I‘ll hide till he
goes by. (Wife hides behind a cabbage.)
1. Whom would the wife not speak with and why?

2. What was the challenge that Hedgehog accepted and how did
he win the challenge.

3. What is the moral of the story?

 Toad was furious. "You just don't want me to eat with you!" he
cried.

1. Why was the toad furious?

2. What did the grasshopper reply to this comment?

3. What is the moral of the story?

 Name any five famous fables that you might have read
and list their moral.

199
by Nicolas Guillen

17
~ Nicolas Guillen

200
Can you sell me the air that passes through your
fingers,

and strokes your face and undoes your hair?

Maybe you could sell me five dollars‟ worth of wind,

or more, maybe sell me a cyclone?

Maybe you would sell me

the thin air, the air

(not all of it) that sweeps

into your garden blossom on blossom

dances into your garden among the birds,

ten dollars‟ worth of pure air?

The air it spins and flits away

Like a butterfly.

No one owns it, no one.

201
Can you sell me some sky,

the sky that‟s sometimes blue,

and sometimes gray,

a small strip of your sky,

the piece you think you bought with all the trees

in your orchard, as one who buys the ceiling with the

house?

Can you sell me a dollar‟s worth

of sky, two miles

of sky, a slice of your sky,

whatever piece you can?

The sky is in the clouds.

The clouds are high, they pass.

No one owns them, no one.

202
Can you sell me some rain, the water

that has given you your tears and wets your tongue?

Can you sell me a dollar‟s worth of water

from the spring, a pregnant cloud,

as soft and graceful as a lamb,

or even water fallen on the mountain,

or water gathered in the ponds

abandoned to the dogs,

or one league of the sea, a lake perhaps,

a hundred dollars‟ worth of lake?

The water falls, it runs.

The water runs, it passes.

No one holds it, no one.

203
Can you sell me some land, the deep night

of the roots, the teeth of

dinosaurs and the scattered lime

of distant skeletons?

Can you sell me long since buried jungles,

birds now extinct,

fish fossilised, the sulphur

of volcanoes, a thousand million years

rising in spiral? Can you

sell me some land, can you

sell me some land, can you?

The land that‟s yours is mine.

The feet of all walk on it.

No one owns it, no one.

204
 Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (10 July

1902 – 16 July 1989) was a Cuban poet,

journalist, political activist, and writer.

He is best remembered as the national

poet of Cuba.

Poetry is often intended to be read aloud. In poetry recitations, not only are the
words used to give a meaning to the poem, but the voice, volume, inflexion,
pitch, pauses and speed of a person contributes to the entire recitation experience
as well, enhancing the meaning of the poem. And in so doing, the poem is
brought to life with the passion and vocal expression of the presenter.

 Highlight each question that the poet has used.

 Highlight the three-line answers in another colour.

 Think how the questions and answers should be spoken. For example, what
happens to the tone of your voice when you ask a question?

 Now recite the poem with proper pitch, intonation, voice modulation and
pronunciation.

 How does hearing the poem and reading it out loud, help you understand it
better?

205
Do you enjoy being in the farms and wide open spaces and breathing

fresh air? Do you like looking up at the clouds? Do you think it is possible

to create an image of the wind in the sky? Look at the lovely painting

given below. Before the invention of photography, painters brought to life

the various aspects of nature through their brush on the canvas.

Vincent Van Gogh - Wheatfield with cypresses

Looking Closely

Write a description of what it would be like to be crossing this field.

Describe the sights, sounds, smells of the air.

Make it sound real by starting out with a reason for why you might be

there. Are you taking a shortcut on your way home?

206
 Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that
follow:

Can you sell me the air that passes through your fingers,

and strokes your face and undoes your hair?

Maybe you could sell me five dollars’ worth of wind,

or more, maybe sell me a cyclone?

1. Do you think the poet‘s request to buy air is strange? Why do

you think he is making such a wish?

2. How does the poet create a sense of what the air is like to
touch and feel?

3. What is the effect of using the word ‗maybe‘ several times in

the stanza?

a small strip of your sky,

the piece you think you bought with all the trees

in your orchard, as one who buys the ceiling with the

house?

1. Which piece of sky does the poet want?

2. What reason does the poet give in the next stanza, while
stating that the sky does not belong to anyone?

207
Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the Aquilla Diamond by Sid River

18 ~ Sid River

208
Parts Description

Sherlock Holmes: Traditional ‗Homes‘ character, intelligent, superior,

arrogant and self-confident and always engrossed in

the detective work.

Doctor Watson: A bumbling, upper-class fool. Idolises Holmes but

just doesn‘t understand him. Amazed at everything

that Holmes does. Good with a revolver and a

stethoscope.

Lady Aquilla: Acts incredibly posh and self-important. Thinks that

(pronounced ―a she‘s the most glamorous thing since sliced bread.

killer‖)

Gertrude: An outrageously OTT (over the top) French accent

L‘Escargo/Cook masks a supreme criminal and ―mistress of disguise‖.

A difficult opponent for Holmes. Plays the cook with

warts, a bad back and a West Country accent

straight out of a Dickens novel.

Crumpton: (the Dead – that‘s all!

butler)

Narrator: Can stand on the edge of the stage for dramatic

effect.

Director‘s Voice: Voice of the play‘s director offstage. Easily frustrated.

209
Narrator: The story begins inside 21B Baker St. Holmes and Watson
are sitting by the fire playing chess. There is a knock at the
door.
Holmes: Get that would you Watson.
Watson: Certainly Holmes (goes to the door, opens it, in bursts a
woman in very expensive riding gear, boots and a riding hat
perched on top of a large nest-like hairdo) Goodness me!
Lady Aquilla: Mr Holmes (addressing Watson) I need to speak with you
immediately! It is of the utmost importance!
Watson: Well I never.... Goodness me!
Holmes: (coolly, without turning round) And Mr Sherlock Holmes will
speak to you when he decides that he is good and ready!
Lady Aquilla: And who might you be Sir?
Holmes: (getting up and turning round) I, Madame, might be Mr
Sherlock Holmes. In fact, I definitely was the last time I
looked! And you, you are Lady Henrietta Aquilla of
Porkington. You have rushed here, directly from riding in
the hunt to ask me to recover the famous Aquilla Diamond
which was, two days ago, stolen from your country house!
Watson: Goodness me! Jolly good show Holmes!
Lady Aquilla: (astonished) How on earth did you know all that Mr Holmes?
I haven‘t breathed a word to anyone!
Watson: It‘s just a talent that he has. But I'd like to know anyway.
Holmes: Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary. First, the knock
on the door. Too loud for a hand, but not for the ornate
silver riding crop that her Ladyship is holding. As for coming
straight from the hunt, well, leather riding boots, fresh mud,
and the unmistakable smell of horse manure, simple really.
Lady Aquilla: But my name! And about the diamond.
Holmes: Quite straight forward! You have a ridiculously expensive
hairdo covered by an extremely sad hat, and your picture is

210
 in tonight‘s paper under the headline ―Famous Aquilla
diamond stolen from Lady Aquilla‖. It is this that has
brought you in such a fervour and so quickly to 221b Baker
St!
Watson: Marvellous! I told you he was a smarty pants! Good show
Holmes!
Lady Aquilla: Yes, Yes! Very clever! But can you help me?
Holmes: Lady Aquilla, I would only be too pleased to help you. Let us
make our way directly to the scene of the crime! Come
Watson, the game is afoot!
Watson: I thought the game was chess Holmes?
Holmes: (sighs and sounds impatient) Watson, just call me a cab.
Watson: Righty-ho. You‘re a cab Holmes.
Holmes: Duh! You just can‘t get the staff nowadays!
All three exit.
Narrator: As night falls over old London town, (loud bang and scream
off stage) our gallant detective and his trusty sidekick gallop
their way through the steaming metropolis.
Eventually, they arrive at Lady Aquilla‘s country mansion
tired, travel sore and weary of the endless games of I-spy
with my magnified eye. Losing no time they make directly
for the scene of the crime, Lady Aquilla's study.
Lady Aquilla: This is where the diamond was kept Holmes, in this glass
display cabinet.
Watson: Goodness me, it‘s been smashed Holmes!
Holmes: (mockingly) Well done Watson, very astute. How on earth
did you work that out with all this broken glass in the way!
Watson: (extremely pleased with himself) Well, just a good guess
really!
Holmes: Lady Aquilla, when was the theft discovered?
Lady Aquilla: At about 4:00pm two days ago. The maid Florence noticed it

211
 when she came to polish the silver.
Holmes: And someone, in the meantime, had polished off the
diamond!
Watson: (laughs) Oh very good Holmes, very good.
Lady Aquilla: This is a very serious matter Dr Watson. Why that diamond
has been handed down from generation to generation of
Aquilla's. It was only the other day that I was saying...
Holmes: (Holmes walks to the front of the stage) Over here Watson!
What do you make of this? (points to something on the
floor)
Watson: (excitedly) Why, it‘s a carpet Holmes!
Holmes: No idiot! On the carpet.
Watson: Goodness me! It‘s a footprint in the shape of a boot!
Holmes: Yes! And a strange yellow footprint at that. Notice that it is
quite small and more pointed at the front and, if I'm not
mistaken, has been repaired at least 3 times in the last
year. (leans down and sniffs the footprint) Hmmm.
Watson: What is it Holmes, another clue?
Holmes: Can you smell anything Watson? Apart from Lady Aquilla's
boots that is?
Watson: Why, yes! What on Earth is it?
Holmes: Garlic Watson! The overpowering smell of fresh garlic!
(turns to Lady Aquilla) I would like to speak to the maid if
you please.
Lady Aquilla: Certainly. I‘ll send for her at once.
A loud scream is heard off-stage, all gasp and rush off.
Narrator: With capes flying our dashing duo head off in search of the
crime scene, speeding through the underground passages of
Gotham City in the fearsome Batmobile and wearing only
dark blue underpants and...
Director‘s (Interrupting loudly or via a microphone off-stage) Err . . .

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voice: Excuse me! That‘s not right!
Narrator: What?
Director‘s That‘s the wrong script, that‘s Batman!
voice:
Narrator: (confused) Are we not doing Batman?
Director‘s (impatiently) Err .. No. That‘s next week. This is Sherlock
voice: Holmes!
Narrator: Oh! Gosh! Sorry! I‘ll try again. Sorry.
Director‘s OK! OK! Off you go!
voice:
Narrator What? Am I fired? You want me to go?
Director‘s (irritated) Nooo! Just read the script!
voice:
Narrator: Oh Riiiight! (pause to re-establish dramatic voice) Our brave
detectives head off in the direction of the scream. They
arrive panting at the library to find the body of Crumpton,
the butler, lying dead on the floor with a large kitchen knife
sticking out from the back! (whispers to voice offstage) Was
that alright?
Director‘s Yes! Shut up!
voice: Holmes rushes over and examines the body. He pulls out
the bloody knife and holds it up for all to see.
Watson: (urgently) Is he dead Holmes?
Holmes: (sarcastically) I‘d say that was a fairly safe bet Watson.
Hmm! An interesting weapon.
Watson: Well Holmes, at least we know one thing.
Holmes: What‘s that Watson?
Watson: (smugly) The butler didn‘t do it!
Holmes: I‘m not so sure Watson. Lady Aquilla, all this criminal
activity is making me quite hungry. Is there any chance that
you could lay on a Roast turkey dinner for us?

213
Lady Aquilla: Now? But shouldn‘t we call the police or something?
Holmes: Just trust me on this one Madam, just trust me.
All exit stage left and reappear stage right.
Narrator: Just one hour later the great detective and the faithful
Watson are seated around a candle-lit table with Lady
Aquilla. With no butler, and the maid in shock, the cook
herself has had to lay the table and serve the dinner, as well
as cook it.
Lady Aquilla: I must apologise gentlemen for the very sparse service. The
only member of staff that we have left is the cook and I'm
afraid that she is best left in the kitchen!
Holmes: Don‘t you worry Lady Aquilla. Watson here is an Ex Indian
Army man; he won‘t mind roughing it for Sunday dinner.
Besides, I am most interested to meet Cookie. Ah here is
the good lady herself!
Cook: (sounding old and servile) I‘m so sorry hit‘s a bit late your
Ladyship, but has we‘re so short staffed down below, I've
‗ad to do everything myself, an' when you get to my age
madam you don‘t want to be running round a field after a
distraught Turkey with a large chopper!
Watson: (jumping up in amazement) You mean the turkey was
armed!
Holmes: Sit down Watson! Shall we begin? Allow me to reveal this
evening‘s savoury delights! Holmes whips the top off the
meat dish to reveal a decimated carcass.
Lady Aquilla: (gasps and stands) Cookie, what on earth happened to the
turkey! It looks like it‘s been savaged by wild wombats!
Cook: (looking distressed) I. . . don‘t know what you mean
madam? I. . . Is there something wrong?
Lady Aquilla: (sounding hysterical) Something wrong! We can‘t serve that
to guests! It looks like it‘s been carved with a wood axe!

214
 Take it away this instant!
Cook: Yes madam, I‘ll remove it directly!
Holmes: (Leaping up and placing his hand on the meat dish as cookie
tries to remove it) Not so fast Cookie! Watson, stand by the
door if you please. Perhaps Lady Aquilla, I can shed some
light on the matter.
Watson: I wish you would Holmes, it‘s rather dark in here!
Holmes: (Ignoring Watson) Now, Cookie. Could you please tell us all
just what exactly, did you use to carve the joint?
Cook: (nervously) Why, a carvin‘ knife o‘course!
Holmes: Would it be a carving knife similar to. . . THIS ONE . . .
perchance!
Holmes whips out knife and bangs it on the table.
Cook: (getting agitated) I . . . I . . . suppose so, yes!
Holmes: (pointing his finger upwards as though a solicitor in court)
Impossible! Because this was the very knife used to stab
Crumpton, the butler!
Cook: It . . . It must have been another one, I was mistaken!
Holmes: (Still gesturing) Impossible again! Just before dinner your
Ladyship, I took the liberty of checking the kitchen for
another carving knife, and I found NONE! What do you say
to that Cookie! (Holmes walks up to Cook) Or should I
say (pulls off her hat and wig) MADAME GERTRUDE
L‘ESCAGO. Otherwise known . . . as ‗Garlic Gertie‘ of
Burgundy!
Garlic (French accent) Oh no! I am undone! You‘ll never take me
Gertie: alive!
Watson: Goodness me Holmes!
Holmes: Watson, your service revolver!
Gertie runs towards Watson, He draws his gun and points it
directly at her nose. Gertie stops and puts up her hands.

215
 Watson forces her backwards at gunpoint.
Garlic Ok! Ok! Take me alive! I surrender!
Gertie:
She is led to chair and Watson ties her hands behind.
Lady Aquilla: Goodness me Mr Holmes, this is just too much to believe.
Are you saying that Cookie here is responsible for the
murder of Crumpton and the theft of the diamond?
Holmes: I certainly am Madam.
Lady Aquilla: But how on Earth did you see through it all?
Holmes: Elementary Your Ladyship. You see, the ―modus operandi‖
of Garlic Gertie is known across the whole of Europe! I
recognised it and was on to her from the very beginning.
The smashed display cabinet; a cook who cannot carve a
Sunday joint and who leaves footprints made by spilled
custard powder; and of course, that tell tale smell of fresh
garlic! It all added up to only one thing, Gertrude L'Escago!
A fiendishly clever plot though!
Cook: Yes, and if it hadn‘t been for you meddling kids I'd ‗ave
gotten away with it!
Watson: All that remains then Holmes, is for her to tell us where she
hid the diamond.
Holmes: Ah Watson, sadly that is the one thing that she cannot tell
us. For up until now only one person knew the hiding place
of the Aquilla diamond and he, unfortunately, lies dead in
the library.
Watson: Crumpton! The butler did do it after all!
Lady Aquilla: Surely you must be wrong!
Holmes: I‘m not wrong, and please don‘t call me Shirley! Crumpton
had the misfortune to see Gertie take the diamond in the
first place and thought that he could have it for himself. He
stole it from her, hid it quickly but then paid the price when

216
 he would not give up the hiding place.
Holmes walks to the sideboard to pour everyone a drink. As
he picks up the cut glass decanter, he pauses, and slowly
holds up the top of the decanter (which is in fact the
missing diamond) to the light.
Lady Aquilla: So what you‘re saying Mr Holmes is that we are still no
further on than when we started!
Watson: She‘s right Holmes, you can‘t deny her that!
Holmes: There is only one thing Watson that I cannot deny Lady
Aquilla, and that . . . is a celebratory drink.
Lady Aquilla: But Mr Holmes, what could there possibly be to celebrate?
Holmes: Only two things, your Ladyship. Firstly, that the great
Sherlock Holmes has once again successfully resolved a
baffling case and, secondly . . . (Holmes holds up the
decanter stopper and slowly hands it to Lady Aquilla as he
speaks) . . . the recovery of the.... beautiful...Aquilla
...DIAMOND!
Lady Aquilla gasps and holds the diamond up to the
audience with a frozen look of amazement.
Watson: By Jove Holmes, how ever do you do it?

Holmes: Ah, Elementary my dear Watson, Elementary!

Whole cast freeze whilst ending music plays then audience
erupts into applause!

END

217
 engrossed verb: absorbed all  servile adjective: having or
the attention showing an excessive willingness
to serve or please others
 idolises verb: admires greatly
 distraught adjective: very
 posh adjective: typically of worried and upset
upper class.  savoury adjective: having
 glamorous adjective: an appetizing taste or smell
beautiful and smart in a showy  decimated verb: Killed,
way. destroyed, or removed a large
 disguise verb: proportion of
to modify the appearance or ma  carcass noun: dead body of
nner in order to conceal the an animal
identity of.  hysterical adjective:
 warts noun: small, fleshy
affected by wildly uncontrolled
bumps on the skin caused by
human papilloma virus. emotion
 elementary adjective: simple  perchance adverb: perhaps
or uncompounded  solicitor noun: lawyer
 ornate adjective: highly
 modus operandi noun: a
decorated
 ridiculously adverb: particular way or method of
stupid or unreasonable and doing something
deserving to be laughed at
 fiendishly adverb: in an
 gallant adjective: brave; heroic
 metropolis noun: the capital extremely wicked or cruel
or chief city of a country or manner
region
 astute adjective:
 mansion noun : a large,
able to understand a situation
impressive house
quickly and see how to
 savaged verb: attack
take advantage of it
ferociously

218
 par-uh-dee

The word parody comes from the Greek words 'side-by-side' and 'song,'
thus intended to be compared side-by-side with the original. Parody is a
literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely
imitated for comic effect or to poke fun.

Just as a parody of a commercial exaggerates the language and images of

a specific commercial to advertise a fake (and often silly) product, a
literary parody exaggerates the language and tone of a well-known work
for humorous effect. So if the work being parodied is an action-adventure
story where the hero has a short temper, the hero in the parody might try
to fight everyone he encounters, from bad guys to old ladies. Parody of
famous people may focus on a trademark characteristic of their; for
instance, a billionaire might be parodied as carrying around suitcases
stuffed full of so much money that bills are falling to the ground around
them.

Parodies rely on the audience recognising the ‗source material‘. A

parody‘s creator must therefore select images or themes from the source
material that are instantly recognisable and well known.

219
 Now you might wonder what/who on earth is a
‗Palimpsest‘. We will get there in a while. First let us go
back more than a century in Victorian London, where
our hero ‗Sherlock Holmes‘, the universally recognised
fictional private detective, brought to life by British author Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, emerged. First appearing in print in 1887 (in A Study in
Scarlet), Holmes‘ popularity skyrocketed with each new story. Even his
wardrobe and accessories became iconic. Figures such as his best friend
and house mate Dr. Watson, arch-enemy Moriarty and housekeeper Mrs.
Hudson have become part of the popular consciousness as have his extra
ordinarily infallible power of deduction and of course his popular catch
phrase – ‗Elementary my dear Watson!‘

220
And yet, many of these recognisable features of Holmes do not appear in
Arthur Conan Doyle‘s original work. Surprised? Don‘t be.

Since Doyle‘s first story in 1887 there have been thousand‘s of

adaptations of Holmes making him perhaps the most adapted fictional
character in the world.

Our hero has been reinterpreted by people everywhere in remarkably

different ways, repeatedly altered overtime, as each new interpretation
was put on top of the other and superimposed. So let us return to the
question – will the real Sherlock stand up!! Thus bringing us to the
conclusion - Sherlock Holmes is a Palimpsest.

A Palimpsest is a piece of writing material on which later writing

has been superimposed on earlier writing, each one being erased
to make room for the next. Sherlock my friend qualifies as a
Palimpsest. After each new adaptation ends, Sherlock rises again, a little
changed perhaps, with a new face and fresh mannerisms but still
essentially Sherlock. Our Sherlock!!

221
Forms of Literature:

PROSE POETRY DRAMA

Novel/Short Couplet/Ballad/Sonn Plays (One Act, Two

FORMS stories/Essays/ et/ Free Verse etc. Act) Opera etc.
Autobiography etc.

It has a proper It is generally Drama contains a story

STRUCTURE grammatical written in verse and told through spoken
structure and a makes use of poetic remarks and stage
natural flow of devices such as directions. It is more
speech. figures of speech, about showing than
meter, rhyme, telling. The dialogue is
rhythm etc. the sole means of
carrying the story
forward.
The narrator is The narrator is the The narrator tells the
NARRATOR important to prose speaker of a poem outline of the play in
since he is a kind of through whom the as little or as much
mediator through ideas in the poem detail as needed. This
whom the story is are expressed. The depends on the
told and events ideas that the audience and the type
interpreted. narrator expresses of play being acted
need not necessarily out. For instance, in a
be the poet‘s point children‘s show, the
of view. characters may not
speak much and so the
story needs to be told
by somebody else i.e.
the narrator.

222
 The essential The essential A drama is meant for
PURPOSE purpose of prose is purpose of poetry is enactment. It is
to communicate to move us with the intended for live
ideas. When a beauty of its crafted performance in front of
reader is moved by language, in audience.
prose, she/he is addition to its
primarily moved by apparent meaning.
its meaning.

Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions

that follow:

Holmes: (getting up and turning round) I, Madame, might be Mr

Sherlock Holmes. In fact, I definitely was the last time I
looked! And you, you are Lady Henrietta Aquilla of
Porkington. You have rushed here, directly from riding in
the hunt to ask me to recover the famous Aquilla
Diamond which was, two days ago, stolen from your
country house!
1. Why do you think Holmes says ‗I, Madame, might be Mr
Sherlock Holmes.‘?

2. How did Holmes infer everything about Lady Aquilla?

3. Why has Lady Aquilla come to meet Sherlock Holmes?

4. Who else is there in the room other than Sherlock Holmes and
Lady Aquilla?

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Holmes: Only two things, your Ladyship. Firstly, that the great
Sherlock Holmes has once again successfully resolved a
baffling case and, secondly . . . (Holmes holds up the
decanter stopper and slowly hands it to Lady Aquilla as
he speaks) . . . the recovery of the....
beautiful...Aquilla ...DIAMOND!
1. Who had stolen the Aquilla Diamond?

2. How did Sherlock Holmes figure out who the thief was?

3. From where was the Aquilla diamond finally retrieved?

Have you read or watched any other Sherlock Holmes mystery? If

not then read/watch one and write a brief summary of the story.

Looking Closely

Work in small groups to create a parody about any topic you have
learned this school year in Math, Language Arts, Social Studies or
Science. To make a parody, simply replace the original lyrics of any
song you like with lyrics of your own. Now sing it to the tune of the
original song and rock!!

224
19 ~ by Madeleine L'Engle

225
Extended Reading: Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Time.
The Extended reading section of the Literature curriculum has been introduced in order to nurture
the following areas of student development:
ER develops learner autonomy:
Reading is, by its very nature, a private, individual activity. Readers can read at the speed they are
comfortable with. They can visualise and interpret what they read in their own way. They can
themselves ask questions (explicit or implicit), notice things about the language, or simply let the
story carry them along.
ER offers comprehensible input:
Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input which offers them repeated
encounters with language items they have already met. This helps them to consolidate what they
already know and to extend it. There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to
learn it in the limited number of hours in class. The only reliable way to learn a language is through
massive and repeated exposure to it in context: precisely what ER provides.
ER enhances general language competence:
In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading. There is ‘a
spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills writing, speaking and control over
syntax.’ So, reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading.
ER helps develop general, world knowledge:
Many, if not most, students have a rather limited experience and knowledge of the world they
inhabit both cognitively and affectively. ER opens windows to the world seen through different eyes.
This educational function of ER cannot be emphasised enough.
ER extends, consolidates and sustains vocabulary growth:
Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure. ER allows for multiple encounters with words and
phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them. By
presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier.
ER helps improve writing:
There is a well-established link between reading and writing. Basically, the more we read, the better
we write. Commonsense would indicate that as we meet more language, more often, through
reading, our language acquisition mechanism is primed to produce it in writing or speech, when it is
needed.
ER creates and sustains motivation to read more.
The virtuous circle - success leading to success - ensures that, as we read successfully in the foreign
language, we are encouraged to read more.

Henceforth, Middle School curriculum would have an ‘Extended Reading’ time, called ‘DEAR Time’
wherein students will periodically read the prescribed novel, just for the sake of enjoyment and
sustained joy of reading.
The novel would not be a part of the Assessments. The students will be expected to fill in Response
Journals to register their feelings and thoughts about the novel.

226
 Absolute Zero

As Meg regains consciousness, she feels icy coldness all around her and
finds herself unable to move her body or speak. She hears the voices of
Calvin and her father discussing her condition, but she has no way of
communicating with them.

Meg hears Calvin ask her father about his journey to Camazotz. Mr. Murry
explains that he never intended to go to this planet; he was part of a
team of scientists trying to tesser to Mars. Mr. Murry says that he knows
he could not have been on Camazotz for longer than two years, but time
seems to flow differently on this planet. He tells Calvin that he was about
to give up all hope and surrender to IT when the children arrived to
rescue him.

Meg desperately tries to make a sound to let her father and Calvin know
that she can hear them. She finally succeeds in making a small croaking
noise, slowly regaining the ability to speak. She demands to know where
Charles Wallace is, and she is furious to learn that they left Camazotz
without him. She yells at her father for his inability to solve their
difficulties and deliver them all to safety. Mr. Murry tells his daughter that
he is only a fallible human being, and no miracle-worker; however, he
expresses the belief that "all things work together for good for them that
love God."

Mr. Murry massages Meg's fingers, and she cries out in pain. He tells her
that the pain is a good sign; it means she is regaining sensation.

227
Suddenly, Calvin tells them to look ahead of them. Three strange upright
creatures advance toward them, each with four arms; they have tentacles
in place of hair, and soft indentations where their eyes would be were
they human. Calvin introduces himself politely to the creatures, and
explains Meg's precarious condition. At first Meg is terrified, but when one
of the creatures reaches out to touch her with its wavy tentacle, warmth
spreads through her body. The creature picks her up and tells Mr. Murry
that it is taking Meg with it.

You can look at the Dark Thing as a metaphor. There have

been evils throughout history that have plagued mankind.
What are some examples of man‘s inhumanity to man? Look
at today‘s newspaper. What are the modern ―shadows‖ that
threaten society and individuality?

228
atrophied of body tissue or an organ: waste away,
typically due to the degeneration of cells, or
become vestigial during evolution
fallible capable of making mistakes or being erroneous
tentacles a slender flexible limb or appendage in an
animal, esp. around the mouth of an
invertebrate, used for grasping, moving about,
or bearing sense organs.
indentations the action of indenting or the state of being
indented
haunches a buttock and thigh considered together, in a
human or animal.
loathing feel intense dislike or disgust for
revulsion a sense of disgust and loathing
assuaged make an unpleasant feeling less intense

What Is Absolute Zero?

The lowest temperature that is theoretically possible, at which the

motion of particles which constitutes heat would be minimal.

What happens at absolute zero?

The curious things that happen at low temperatures keep on throwing

up surprises. In experiments closer to room temperature, chemical
reactions tend to slow down as the temperature decreases. But
scientists found that molecules at frigid temperatures just a few
hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero (−273.15°C or 0
kelvin) can still exchange atoms, forging new chemical bonds in the
process, thanks to weird quantum effects that extend their reach at
low temperatures.
Now think why the author might have named this chapter as
‗Absolute Zero‘?
229
 Aunt Beast

Though Mr. Murry is at first against it, he consents to allowing these

beasts to take Meg to heal her, since they reveal that they are also
fighters against the Black Thing. They reveal that it is, in fact, tessering
through the Black Thing that has caused Meg's injuries. Despite herself,
Meg feels calm and safe and healed simply by being in the arms of the
beast, and she falls asleep.

When she wakes up, Meg finds herself in a room feeling far better than
before, with the beast sitting by her bed. It's very dark in the room, so
she asks the beast why there is no light. It turns out that these beasts
have no sense of vision, nor do they need it. Meg fumblingly tries to
describe what light is and why humans need to see, but the beast is
utterly perplexed by her explanations.

When she wakes up, Meg finds herself in a room feeling far better than
before, with the beast sitting by her bed. It's very dark in the room, so
she asks the beast why there is no light. It turns out that these beasts
have no sense of vision, nor do they need it. Meg fumblingly tries to
describe what light is and why humans need to see, but the beast is
utterly perplexed by her explanations.

The next morning, Meg awakens, feeling refreshed. She asks Aunt Beast
about what planet they're on; it turns out they're on the planet Ixchel,
which is in the same solar system as Camazotz, but which fights against
the Black Thing. Aunt Beast then takes Meg to an open hall, where Calvin

230
and Mr. Murry and many others of the beasts are eating and waiting for
her. As soon as she sees her father, all of Meg's bitterness and
disappointment towards him returns in a rush. She tells them all sulkily
that their only hope is to call the Mrs. W's. When the beasts ask her to
explain who the Mrs. W's are, Meg is so limited by her visual conception
of the Mrs. W's that her descriptions only make the beasts confused.
Calvin, the talented communicator, explains them somewhat better as
angels or messengers of God, but the beasts still don't understand…when
suddenly Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which appear!

Why do you think that the author has given such nurturing and loving
beasts an ugly appearance? Justify

As Aunt beast and Meg learn about each other, aunt beast explains
that they are unable to see. ―We do not know what things look like,
as you say,‖ Aunt Beast says. ‗We know what things are like. It must
be very limiting thing, this seeing.‖ What does she mean by this?

How is this true of the way people often make judgments on the
basis of appearance? How does L‘Engle make the case that ―seeing‖
can be a very limiting thing for humans? Apply this to our daily
lives—how can the ability to see hinder us from true awareness?

231
despondency sad emotional state
distraught deeply agitated, very upset
emanate flow out from
fallibility tendency to be wrong or make mistakes
pungent strong and sharp taste or odour
reprove to criticize or correct
reverberated echo
sternly in a sever manner
temporal limited by time
trepidation feeling of alarm or dread
tremor an involuntary quivering movement
distinctly recognizably different in nature from something
else of a similar type
acute of a bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation or
phenomenon: present or experienced to a
severe or intense degree
spasm a sudden involuntary muscular contraction or
convulsive movement
vaulted a roof in the form of an arch or a series of
arches, typical of churches and other large,
formal buildings

gorge a narrow valley between hills or mountains,

typically with steep rocky walls and a stream
running through it

232
 The Foolish and the Weak

As in previous times when they've appeared, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and
Mrs. Which cannot fully materialize on the beasts' planet. Meg begins
complaining to them about her father, but they, who clearly have a lot of
respect for Meg's father, will have none of it. Mr. Murry tells them that he
is going to try to return to Camazotz to get Charles back, but Mrs. Which
tells him that were he to go he would not be successful. Calvin then offers
to go, since he almost got through to Charles those few times, but Mrs.
Whatsit forbids it, saying that he would have to go so deep into IT to save
Charles that Calvin himself would be lost. A silence follows.
In this scene, the respect and love that the Mrs. W's show to Mr. Murry
and Calvin in not letting them go to Camazotz and that Mr. Murry and
Calvin show for Charles by offering to go by themselves is admirable…only
Meg hasn't show this spirit of self-sacrifice coming from love yet.

Meg realizes that she is the one who must rescue Charles. She feels
terrified and overwhelmed, bursts into tears, and cries out, "All right, I'll
go, I know you want me to go!" To which Mrs. Whatsit sternly replies,
"We want nothing from you that you do without grace, or that you do
without understanding." And with that sentence, Meg's resentment leaves
her. She forgives her father in her heart, and then clearly explains to all
of them that she understands it must be her, because she out of all of
them knows and loves Charles best.

233
Mr. Murry and Calvin immediately protest Meg going back to Camazotz
alone. But they are persuaded when Mrs. Whatsit tells them that she and
the Happy Medium have both seen that for Meg to go alone is the only
way Charles may be saved, though they don't know what will happen…but
they do believe she will succeed, because it is her fate. When Calvin asks
if they know what's going to happen, Mrs. Whatsit tells him they don't,
because that would be living like the people on Camazotz, with their lives
all planned out for them. She explains to a confused Calvin that fate and
freedom are compatible, just like a poet is constrained by a certain rhyme
and meter in a sonnet but can say whateverhe likes in the lines.

The time comes for Meg to leave for Camazotz. She thanks the beasts
and Aunt Beast, embraces her father lovingly, and, to her surprise,
receives a kiss from Calvin. Again, the Mrs. W's each give Meg a gift for
her journey. Mrs. Whatsit simply gives Meg her love, Mrs. Whatsit's love
for her. Mrs. Who gives her a quote from Scripture of which the first line
is: "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is
stronger than men." Mrs. Which then tessers with Meg to Camazotz,
leaving her on the same spot outside the town at which the children had
first arrived, and gives Meg her gift, which is the knowledge that Meg has
something that IT does not have…but Mrs. Which says that Meg must be
the one to discover what that thing is.

What was the most memorable part of this book, in your opinion? What
did you like best? Least?

234
A Wrinkle in Time introduces many concepts from physics and
psychology. The novel mentions, but does not explore extensively, topics
such as ESP (extrasensory perception), space travel, and
extraterrestrials. Mrs Whatsit‘s explanation of tessering is similar to the
concept of wormholes, the favoured method of travel in many science
fiction movies and literature. Putting it simply, travelling through a
wormhole provides a quick way to travel the astronomical distances of
space without the passage of time. Is this possible according to modern
physics? What would Einstein think of tessering? Can tessering be
explained by Einstein‘s special theory of relativity? Do some research.

Pick an idea from the book that interests you, and then find out more
information about that subject. Write a report on this subject and relate it
to the ideas in A Wrinkle in Time. Ask your friends what they think. Take
a poll and survey the school.

Web sites that will be useful to you are:

[Link]
[Link]
[Link]

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appallingly causing dismay or horror
formidably causing fear, apprehension, or dread
fatal causing or capable of causing death; mortal;
deadly
poised (of a person) composed, dignified, and self-
assured
linear of, consisting of, or using lines
imperceptibly very slight, gradual, or subtle
permeating to pass into or through every part of
reiterating to say or do again or repeatedly; repeat, often
excessively
vestige a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something
that is no longer present or in existence
incapable not capable
vulnerable open to moral attack, criticism, temptation, etc
contagious capable of being transmitted by bodily contact
with an infected person or object
catapulted an ancient military engine for hurling stones,
arrows, etc
exuberance the state of being exuberant

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