Contents

[Link]
[Link]…..
[Link] quiet
5.A Thing of beauty
[Link]
[Link] of Comparison
[Link] passive voice
[Link] of Comparson

DEEP WATER

In this story, Douglas talks about his fear of water and how he finally
overcomes it with strong will Power, courage, hard work and firm
determination. Once he took courage, the fear vanished. That Shows
most of our fears are baseless. Fear creates dangers where there is
none. The writer’s Experiences further confirm the proverbial truth,
“Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Characters & Places -Douglas: Narrator of the story

YMCA Pool: A swimming pool runs by Young Men’s Christian
Association
Yakima: Yakima is a US city located about 60 miles southeast of
Mount Rainier in Washington.

Summary-The story, “Deep Waters” tells us how the writer

overcame his fear of water and learned swimming with sheer
determination and will power. He had developed a terror of water
since childhood. When he was three or four years old, the writer had
gone to California with his father. One day on the beach, the waves
knocked the child down and swept over him. The child was terrified
but the father who knew, there was no harm, laughed. The experience
bred a permanent fear of water in the child’s sub-conscious mind. Still
another incident, more serious, increased his terror.
The writer was trying to learn swimming in the Y.M.C.A. swimming
pool in Yakima. One day while he was waiting for other boys, a big
boy suddenly played a dangerous prank and pushed him into the
water. The writer was terribly frightened. He went down nine feet into
the water. When he reached the bottom, he jumped upward with all
his strength. He came up but very slowly. He tried to catch hold of
something like a rope but grasped only at water.

He tried to shout but no sound came out. He went down again. His
lungs ached, head throbbed and he grew dizzy. He felt paralyzed with
fear. All his limbs were paralyzed. Only the movement of his heart
told him that he was alive. Again he tried to jump up. But this time his
limbs would not move at all. He looked for ropes, ladders and water
wings but all in vain. Then he went down again, the third time. This
time all efforts and fear ceased. He was moving towards peaceful
death. The writer was in peace.

When he came to consciousness, he found himself lying on the side of

the pool with the other boys nearby. The terror that he had
experienced in the pool never left him. It haunted him for years and
years to come. It spoilt many of his expeditions of canoeing,
swimming and fishing. It spoilt his pleasures in Maine Lakes, New
Hampshire, Deschutes, Columbia and Bumping Lake etc. But the
writer was determined to conquer his terror.

He took help of a swimming instructor to learn swimming. The

instructor taught him various actions necessary in swimming part by
part. He put his face under water and exhaled and inhaled raising it
above water. He practiced it for several weeks. He had to kick with
his legs a few weeks on the side of the pool. At last he combined all
these actions and made the writer swim.

He learned swimming but the terror continued. So deep goes our

childhood experiences! So fearful is the fear of fear! Whenever he
 was in water the terror returned. Hence forward the writer tried to
terrorize terror itself. He tried to face the new challenge. When terror
came, he confronted it by asking it sarcastically as to what it can
really do to him? He plunged into the water as if to defy the fear.
Once he took courage the terror vanquished. He faced the challenge
deliberately in various places like the Warm Lake. He conquered it at
last.

Gist of the lesson:

 William O. Douglas had a desire to learn swimming since childhood.
 At the age of three or four, he was knocked down and buried by a
wave at a beach in California.
 He developed a great aversion to water.
 At the age of ten or eleven he decided to learn to swim with water
wings at the Y.M.C.A pool since it was safe at the shallow end.
 A misadventure:- while sitting alone and waiting for others to come at
the Y.M.C.A pool, a big boy came and threw Douglas into deep end
of the pool.
 Douglas swallowed water and went straight down to the bottom of the
pool.
 While going down he planned to make a big jump upwards but came
up slowly. Tried to shout but could not.
 As he went down the pool second time, he tried to jump upwards but
it was a waste of energy.
 Terror held him deeper and deeper.
 During the third trial he sucked water instead of air.
 Light was going out and there was no more panic.
 So he ceased all efforts and he became unconscious.
 He crossed to oblivion.
 When revived he found himself vomiting beside the pool.
 He was in grip of fear of water and it deprived him of the joys of
canoeing, boating swimming and fishing.
 Hired an instructor to learn swimming.
 The instructor taught him swimming piece by piece.
 He went to different lakes to swim and found tiny vestiges of fear still
gripped him.
 He challenged the fear and swam.
 Swimming up and down the Warm Lake he finally overcame his fear
of water.
 He realized that in death there is peace and there is terror only in fear
of death.
Questions
What is the “misadventure” that William Douglas speaks about?
Or, What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas
experienced when he was thrown into the pool? What plans did he
make to come to the surface?
Answer – William Douglas, the narrator recounts a terrifying
childhood experience when he came face to face with death. When he
was 10 or 11 years old, he was tossed into a 9 feet deep swimming
pool at YMCA by a bigger boy just for the sake of “fooling” or for
fun. Although he was a beginner, Douglas did not lose heart and
planned to push himself with all his force. He thought once he comes
to the surface, he would peddle to the age of the pool.
Unfortunately, this strategy did not work. He could not pop out of the
water like a cork. His legs failed to support him. Terror gripped him
with water all around him, did not know what to do. His lungs get
ready to burst out and the pounding heart throbbing head made things
worse. He could not scream and was frozen with fear. Its seemed that
the water around him was still and no amount of effort helped him.
Suddenly, he felt there were tender arms around him and he was
rescued.
Q2. How did this experience affect him?
Answer – After being rescued Douglas had lost consciousness and
found himself beside the pool lying on his stomach and vomiting.
This misadventure left him week and trembling. He shook seriously
and cried at night. He could not eat anything and for days a haunting
fear was knocking in his heart. The slightest exertion trouble him very
much, making him weak from the bottom of his heart.
3. How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that
gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have
made the description vivid.
A. William describes his experience where he had a close brush with
death at the Y.M.C.A. Swimming pool. As it a first-person account,
he has described it deeply. The emotional, mental and physical
struggle and the paralyzing fear of drowning have been discussed in
detail.
William retained his intelligence and had a plan to come to the
surface. He tried it but I did not work and after a few trials to save his
life, death dawned upon him. All these details make the description
vivid.

Q4 How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

A. William Douglas was not able to come out of his fear. So, he hired
a swimming instructor. Once he had learned swimming, he wanted to
check if he had overcome the fear as well. He would swim in lakes
and found the fear to return in small phases. William was no longer
scared as he knew that he could swim. Hence, he overcame the fear.

Q5. Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of

terror and his conquering of it? What larger meaning does he draw
from this experience?
A. William Douglas gives a detailed description of his childhood
experience so that the reader gets familiar with the kind of fear that he
had as a child.
When he quotes Roosevelt ““All we have to fear is fear itself” he tries
to draw a larger meaning from this experience. He wants to highlight
the fact that life became meaningful and the desire to live grew
intense once he had conquered his fear.

Q.6 What happened at the YMCA swimming pool which instilled fear
of water in Douglas’ mind?
A: Since the age of three or four, when the author accompanied his
father to the beach, he realized that he disliked water. He would get
frightened by the power of the waves which threw him, swept over
and he was buried in water.
Later, at the age of ten – eleven years, he decided to learn swimming.
He joined swimming classes at a swimming pool at the Y.M.C.A. He
felt that the swimming pool was safe. Also, the pair of water wings
would help him stay on the surface but more, they instilled a sense of
confidence in him. It was just when he had started feeling comfortable
that an incident took place. A big boy picked up the author and threw
him in the pool at the deep end. He got water in his mouth and sank to
the bottom. He was frightened but kept his mind working and devised
a way out but things did not turn out as planned. His lungs felt as if
they would burst, he was overpowered by fear, reached out, as if to
grab something, but could only get his hands on the water. He got
suffocated due to lack of air, could not scream, moved his arms
desperately but all his efforts failed and he once again sank to the
bottom of the pool. An unexplainable terror seized him. His limbs
were lifeless, rigid due to fear and he could not even scream, the only
sign of life was his heart beat. He sucked in water and then suddenly
all his efforts to save himself stopped. He was relaxed, peaceful,
fearless and sleepy, almost dead.
It was due to these experiences that the author developed an aversion
to water.
Q.7How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer?
A: The instructor made him practice swimming step by step and
gradually, piece by piece, turned him into a swimmer. When he had
perfected each piece, he put them together into an integrated whole.

[Link] the efforts made by Douglas to overcome his fear of

water.
A: Douglas was in the tight grip of a fear of swimming in water
bodies and finally decided to get rid of it. He hired an instructor who
taught him swimming piece by piece and when he had learnt it all, he
combined all the pieces together and made Douglas a swimmer. Still,
he was not confident, and the terror would seize him time and again.
Douglas wanted to get rid of all the fear, he wanted to conquer it. So,
he went to various lakes, dived and swam across them. He reverted
sarcastically to the tiny vestiges of fear that would grip him time and
again until all of it vanished away. Douglas realized that fear was
merely a crop of the mind and once he had conquered it, he felt
released, free to walk arduous terrains, climb peaks and brush aside
fear. Douglas had faced stark terror and then by conquering it his
desire to live life grew intensely.

[Link] did his experience at the YMCA swimming pool affect

Douglas?
A: Douglas’ experience of drowning and almost being dead instilled a
fear of water in him. He shook and cried, couldn’t eat, for days a
haunting fear engulfed him, the slightest exertion upset him. He never
went back to the pool, feared water and avoided it whenever he could.

RATTRAP
Summary: The protagonist and central character of the story is an
unnamed man who lives as a tramp wandering the countryside and
selling rattraps, which he makes out of wire in his spare time. Because
he does not make enough money from this to survive, the rattrap
peddler also engages in petty thievery and begging—though even
with this he still wears only rags and is constantly on the verge of
starvation. At the start of the story, the peddler is cynical and
opportunistic. He has a difficult lot in life, and takes whatever he can
get and trusts no one. He even steals money from the crofter after the
old man offers him his hospitality. Indeed, it seems that the peddler’s
only pleasure in life comes from thinking of the world as one large,
cruel rattrap, and ruminating on other people he knows who have
been ensnared.
After experiencing true kindness from Elda Wilmansson, however,
the peddler seems to change his mindset. He returns the stolen money
and declares that he wants to “be nice,” having been freed from the
“rattrap” of life by Edla’s compassion and generosity. The peddler’s
transformation shows Lagerlöf’s idea of the latent potential for
goodness in all human beings.
This chapter sheds light on human’s loneliness and its dire
consequences. It revolves around a rattrap seller who plods all over in
order to sell his rattraps which he makes by begging the material from
the farms. Besides, he often remains involved in begging and petty
thieveries for his [Link] he is walking and lost in his
meditations, he considers this world as rattrap where every human is
trapped just for the sake of little money, greed and love. He is neither
welcomed nor sheltered by anyone in this world rather shooed away
by the people because of his odd habits and shabby [Link]
he is sheltered by a crofter who lives alone and depends on his bossy
cow for his survival. The crofter, having sympathized with the rattrap
seller, shows latter his hardly-earned thirty kronors which is, later on,
stolen by the rattrap seller taking the undue advantage of his leniency.

Having stolen the money, the rattrap seller runs through the woods
but he soon realizes that he has been trapped by those thirty kronors
and now he can’t come out of it. Soon, he hears the thumping of the
iron and reaches Ramsjo Ironworks which is almost closed now. Only
little part of it is working and used for production of good quality
[Link] there, he is mistaken as an old acquaintance by the
ironmaster who is the owner of that mill. He requests that vagabond to
come to his home but declined by the peddler. After some time, his
own daughter comes to invite the peddler and she succeeds too in
[Link] following day, when the ironmaster sees the peddler in day
broad light, the ironmaster realizes his mistake and decides to hand
him over to the police.

Edla intervenes and saves him from the anger of his despondent
father. She requests her father to let the peddler celebrate Christmas
with them. Her father accedes to her request and they all celebrate
Christmas [Link] the next day, when Ironmaster and Edla go to
Church, they get to know about the rattrap seller and his misdeed of
stealing thirty kronors from the home of old crofter. They rush to their
home and find that the peddler is already gone.

On enquiry, they find that the peddler has left a package which
contains a letter, a small rattrap and 30 kronors. Besides he thanks
Edla for changing a wild beast into a [Link] this way, a man who is
poor and wretched ,whose condition is that of a vagabond is
converted into a civilized man with love care and [Link] rattrap
seller thought that the world is a rattrap which attracts the people
towards it through riches, joys and entertainment. Moreover, he
thought that he would once get trapped in this world as a rat gets
trapped in the greed of a piece of cheese & pork.

Questions

Q2. How did the crofter behave with the peddler? Had he
expected that much of hospitality?The crofter behaved genuinely
with the peddler by sheltering, offering him food, serving him tobacco
& sharing his sentiments with him. No, he had not expected any
hospitality from him since he was looked down upon wherever he
went.

Q3. What other business was the peddler engaged in?The peddler
got engaged in a couple of business except rattrap selling. He got
involved in begging and petty thieveries for his survival. He begged
the material from the scrap shop and made rattraps from that material.

Q4. How did he respond to the hospitality shown by the crofter?

He responded negatively to the hospitality shown by the crofter. He
stole his thirty kronors that he had earned by selling the milk of his
bossy cow. In this way, he cheated on the crofter.

Q5. Why did the peddler choose woods instead of public

highway?He chose woods because he had fear of being caught by the
police. In order to escape, he diverted himself towards the woods
instead of going through public highway.

Q6. What did the peddler notice after running through the woods
all the day? Could he escape?The peddler noticed that he was at the
same place where he started in the morning. He once again felt that
the world was a rattrap & he was a rat who had got trapped in that
world. Yes, he escaped when he heard the sound of thumping iron; he
moved towards its sound & reached Ramsjo Ironworks.

Q7. What did the ironmaster mistake while inspecting his iron
mill?Ironmaster, while inspecting, got to see a man sleeping in front
of the furnace. He mistook him as an old acquaintance that once used
to work him in his regiment. He requested the peddler to come along
with him to his home.

Q8. Why did the peddler forbid him to go to his home?The

peddler knew that he was not the friend of ironmaster’s. He thought
going to his home would be to put himself deliberately in lion’s den.
In order to avoid his arresting by the sheriff, he forbade him to go to
ironmaster’s homeMy Mother at Sixty Six by Kamala Das is a
moving poem. In this she laments her mother’s ageing and feels
extremely sad at the time her separation from her ageing mother at the
airport. In the car, she notices that her mother had grown terribly old
and that the two would not probably meet again. She compares her
mother with a late winter’s moon. She pretends to be happy to make
her mother happy and departs with a heavy heart.

Journey ……….

What is going to happen to our planet? What will happen to this earth
after another million years? No one can say but Antarctica can give us
some hints. The coldest place of the earth, Antarctica warns us to take
care of the earth so that it will take care of us!Yes, we the human
 beings have indeed caused a lot of harm to this earth. We multiplied
in the last 12000 years of our existence and brought every species
under our control and destroyed many of them for our water, for our
food, for our shelter, for our fun. Now stop and listen to the warnings
from Antarctica. It was once a dry and hot landmass. Forget how it
became cold. Now the big thing is that it is going to become that same
dry, hot landmass again! If so, what will happen to the dry regions of
the earth? Will they turn up to cold continents again? If you don’t
believe these facts, come to Antarctica and start digging the miles-
deep ice-sheets. You will discover layers after layers rich with the
well preserved fossils of a lot of unknown animals and birds and trees.
Join us, to the Journey to the End of the Earth to see if the world is
really journeying to its end.

The writer visited Antarctica, the coldest, the driest and windiest
continent in the world, aboard the Russian research vessel, Akademik
[Link] journey, beginning at Chennai, passed through many
areas, geographical, legal, ecological and [Link] writer’s first
reaction to the continent was of relief, followed by wonder at its
vastness, seclusion and geological history.
Part of History-Before human evolution, Antarctica was part of a
huge tropical landmass called the Gondwana land, which flourished
500 million years ago.
Biological (flora and fauna), geological (changing continents) and
geographical (climatic)changes occurred and Antarctica separated and
moved away evolving into what it is today.
A visit to Antarctica gave the writer a deeper understanding of fold
mountains, the earth’s history, ecology and [Link] writer
felt unsettled in two weeks time not only because she came from a
much hotter place, but also because all features of human civilization
were absent from an already desolate [Link] long summers,
the silence is broken occasionally by cracking ice sheets and
avalanches, the blue whales and icebergs, all contribute to an
ecological implication that the future for humans isn’t good.

 Students on Ice is an educational trip to Antarctica

 It is organized by Geoff Green
 Destination – Antarctica
 Participants – Mostly youngsters
 Starting from – India, Canada, etc.
 Duration – Two weeks or more
 Purpose – Teach the new generation of the disaster that the earth is
facing today and of the end of the earth
 When you reach Antarctica you feel like being part of its history of
human occupation.

1. What is ‘Students on Ice?’

‘Students on Ice’ is an educational journey to Antarctica. It takes high
school students to show them the horrifying impacts of human
activities in Antarctica so that the youngsters, the future policy
makers of the earth, will realize that the end of the earth is quite near
and therefore something is to be done to save the planet.
2. Why did Geoff Green decide to take high school students to
Antarctica?
Geoff Green didn’t find any good in taking curious celebrities to
Antarctica until he thought of taking high school students. He
believed the young enthusiasm in them would easily understand the
seriousness of the threat that poses the earth by visiting Antarctica and
they would act their bit to save the planet from further deterioration.
3. Why is Students on Ice Program a success?
When one stands in the midst of the calving ice-sheets and retreating
glaciers and melting ice-bergs, he realizes that the threats to the earth
are real. It is different from talking about Antarctica from the comfort
zones of our warm countries and therefore being in Antarctica is a
shocking realization.
4. Why are the youngsters called the future policy makers of the
earth?
The youngsters are called the future policy-makers because it is they
who will steer the government-machine as they grow up. More than
that, the more educated youth of today is the hope for the earth as
many students are more informed and more aware of the weakening
strength of the planet.
5. What lessons are we able to learn from Antarctica?
While in Antarctica, we can ice-sheets breaking, water level rising,
seals taking sun bath on the ice-floes. We can also walk on the thin
layers of ice and feel the life under our feet. We can see icebergs as
big as a small country. We will be shocked to hear that these ice
sheets were many times bigger than their present size a few years ago.
You will see a green patch of phytoplankton – a microscopic grass
that feeds the entire marine life. Last of all, if you dig a bit, you will
be lucky to see the fossils of half a million year old animals, plants
and birds that got killed in the previous ice-age. From all this, we are
able to learn the lesson of the death of the planet earth.
6. What are phytoplanktons? How are they important for the
earth’s survival? What does the parable of phytoplankton teach
us?
Phytoplankton is a single-celled grass that feed the entire southern
ocean’s marine life. These micro organisms require a low degree of
temperature for their survival. But due to the overheating and the
depletion of ozone layers, their existence is threatened. The message
for the humans is to take care of the small things so that the bigger
things will also fall in place.
7. What beauty of balance does the author see in Antarctica and in
the warm countries?
While in Antarctica the author saw crab-eater seals having sun-bath
on the ice-floes much like the stray dogs sleep under the shade of
trees in the warmer countries. While the polar animals prefer a bit of
warmth, the tropical ones desire a bit cool. The author believes that
the earth has a balancing of climatic variations and after millions of
years the Polar Regions will once again become warmer and the
warmer will turn cool.
8. How is Antarctica significant in climatic debates?
Antarctica is a continent that has a landmass with miles deep ice,
layers over layers. In each of those layers lie millions of years old
carbon records of the organisms that existed since the beginning of
the earth. While pondering over the issue of the future of the earth,
these carbon records will shed light on the past and enable the
scientist to co-relate the past, present and future.
9. Do you think that programs like the Students on Ice do more
harm than good? Support your answer.
I personally feel that such trips do more harm than good. We have
ruined the earth as much as we could and as wide as we could go.
Because Antarctica was far away and extremely cold, it could keep
the most dangerous animal away from it but now we have so many
reasons to go to this pristine continent. Please, please stop it. Let’s not
encourage such trips. After all, what else do we have to learn about
the earth than the fact that we have ruined it beyond reparation and
repair. Geoff Green, no, it is evident that you have been running a
business, not a service. Please spare Antarctica. Stop Students on Ice
program!

THE ENEMY Characters

Dr. Sadao Hoki: A Japanese doctor trained by Americans.
Sadao’s father: much concerned about his son’s education, a true
patriot.
Hana: Wife of Dr. Sadao, met in America, became friends and got
married in Japan.
Tom: An American prisoner of war, a soldier of U.S. Navy.
The old General: a sick Japanese army General, needed an operation,
trusted only Dr. Sadao.
An officer: A messenger of the General.
Gardener: an old gardener in the house of Dr. Sadao.
Yimi: Hana’s maid servant.
The cook: an old cook in the house of Dr. Sadao.
Place House of Dr. Sadao: a house built on a narrow beach near the
sea.
The story highlights how a Japanese doctor saves the life of an
American prisoner of war and rises above narrow national prejudices.
He risks his honour, career, position and life by sheltering a war
prisoner of the enemy camp and saving his life. The author has
beautifully portrayed the conflict in the doctor’s mind as a private
individual and as a citizen with a sense of national loyalty. Setting
The story takes place on a coastal town of Japan in the year 1941
when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. A war going on between America
and Japan. Japanese were hostile to the Americans and ready to kill
any American found in their soil. Theme‘The Enemy’ gives the
message that humanism transcends all man made prejudices and
barriers. Dr. Sadao upholds the ethics of medical profession in
treating an enemy. The story is a great lesson of peace, love,
sympathy, fellow feeling and humanism.

Sadao was a Japanese surgeon. He studied in America and returned

with Hana, a Japanese girl whom he met there, and married her in
Japan and settled down comfortably. While most of the doctors were
sent to serve the Japanese army in the World War II, Sadao was
allowed to stay home because he was wanted by the old General who
was dying. But one night into his uneventful life came an American
Navy-man, shot, wounded and dying. Though unwilling to help his
enemy, Sadao took the young soldier into his house and provided him
with medical aid. He was in danger from that moment. Soon his
servants left him. Dr. Sadao saw that the soldier was getting well and
absolutely alright. Once his patient was no more in need of him, the
doctor turned out to be his assassin, conspiring to kill him in his sleep.
He informed the General of the American and the General promised,
he would send his private men to kill the American. Sadao awaited
the American’s death every morning but to his gloom the man was
still alive, healthier and posing danger to him. At this point Sadao
becomes the real man in him, a true human being who realizes the
essential worth of human life and universal brotherhood. He thinks
beyond countries and continents and races and wars. He finds no
reason to believe that the American is his enemy. Sadao rescues the
American. Thus Sadao rises above narrow prejudices and acts in a
truly humanitarian way.
GIST OF THE LESSON:

 Sadao, a Japanese surgeon finds a wounded American soldier on

the beach near his house.
 He is unable to throw him back though he was his enemy as he
was a doctor and his first duty was to save a life.
 Hana, his wife, though initially reluctant because it was
dangerous for all including the children to keep the enemy in the
house, joins her husband in operating and nursing the enemy
soldier back to health, even though the servants desert the house.
 Hana assists Dr. Sadao in operating the soldier in spite of her
physical discomfort and hesitation.
 Though it was war time and all hands were needed at the front,
the General did not send Sadao with the troops as he is an expert
surgeon and the General needed him.
 Sadao tells him about the enemy soldier but he does not take any
action as he is self-absorbed and forgets his promise that he
would send his private assassins to kill the enemy and remove
his body.
 Taking advantage of the general’s self-absorption Sadao decides
to save the soldiers life. After the soldier is out of danger Dr.
Sadao helps him to escape from his house to safety.

1. There are moments in life when we have to make hard

choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens
with a sense of national loyalty. Discuss with reference to the
story you have just read.
 A. Dr. Sadao is trapped in a dilemma. On one hand, being a
doctor having moral and ethical responsibility to save the
wounded soldier and on the other hand, being a patriot, to let the
enemy die or hand him over to the army. He fulfils his ethical
responsibility, saves the man, risks his own life, his family,
reputation and then later, as a patriot plans to get him killed with
the help of the army general. Later on again, he helps him
escape which reflects his true personality.
 2. Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the
enemy soldier. What made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him
in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?
 A. Hana firmly follows her husband’s sense of duty although
she knows that her husband’s decision is being questioned by
everyone. She is humanitarian and compassionate and goes
beyond her duty to perform the tasks which she is not supposed
to. It is her care that helps the man recover quickly. She respects
her husband and has a sense of duty towards him.
 3. How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave
the shelter of the doctor’s home even when he knew he couldn’t
stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
 A. Sadao and Hana had treated the American man with a lot of
kindness and warmth. The man had suffered severely at the
hands of the Japanese army as he had been made a prisoner of
war. This warm attitude of Sadao and Hana gave him so much
relief that he did not want to leave their house. The man felt at
home – safe and warm. So, even though they were at risk at the
hands of the army and the people of Japan, the man was
reluctant to leave them.
 4. What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the
enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of national
loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-absorption?
 A. All his life the general had performed his duties with utmost
sincerity. He realized that killing innocent men had become a
burden on his soul. He understood Sadao’s mindset which
indicated that he wanted to save a life irrespective of the fact
that he was from an enemy country. The general also considered
him to be a human being and so, excused Sadao to save his life.
 Question.1. Why did Dr Sadao treat the American soldier even
though, it was an unpatriotic act On his part?
Answer. Dr Sadao treated the American prisoner of war because
as a doctor, he was trained to save lives. He could not have let
the injured soldier die even though he was his national enemy,
as that would have been against his professional ethics
 .Question.2. How did Hana help Dr Sadao?
Answer. Hana was an impeccable wife and stood by her
husband in all his. decisions. She helped Dr Sadao when he was
operating upon the enemy and also nursed and washed the
prisoner herself when the servants had flatly refused to do so.
Question.3. Why did the General not order immediate arrest of Dr
Sadao who had sheltered a
Whiteman? Answer. The General did not usually keep in good health
and trusted no other surgeon but Dr Sadao in his time of need and
could have needed his services anytime. This is why he did not order
immediate arrest of the doctor for harbouring an enemy in his house.

Question.4. What forced Dr Sadao to be impatient and irritable with

his patient? (All India 2013,2010)
Answer. The wounded white man urgently needed an operation as he
was critically injured. Hana was with Sadao when, he started
operating on the prisoner. Hana, who had never seen an operation in
her life, vomited at the sight of blood. Sadao wanted to help her in her
distress but he could not leave his patient. This made him impatient
and irritable.

Question.5. What made a cool surgeon like Sadao speak sharply to his
wife and what was her
reaction? (All India 2013)
Answer. Hana had never seen an operation before. When Sadao
started operating, blood began to flow. Hana choked at this moment.
Sadao sharply told her not to faint because if he had stopped, the
wounded man would surely have died. Hana clasped her hands to her
mouth and ran out. Sadao heard her vomit.

Question.6. Why had Hana to wash the wounded man herself? (or
Why did Hana wash the wounded soldier herself?
Answer. Hana had to wash the wounded man herself because her
servants and even her maidservant flatly refused to wash an enemy
American out of superstition and fear.
Question.7. How did Dr Sadao ensure that the American sailor left his
house but he himself
remained safe and secure? (
Answer. The night the man escaped as per the plan, Dr Sadao slept
well. One evening standing on the verandah, Dr Sadao looked
towards the island. There was no signal of the flashlight. It meant that
the man had gone, safe on a Korean fishing boat. In this way, he
ensured the American’s departure and his own safety and security.

Question.8. How does the writer indicate that Dr Sadao’s father was a
very traditional and
conventional man?
Answer. Sadao’s education had been his father’s chief concern, who
even sent him to America at the age of twenty-two to study surgery
and medicine. Sadao’s father was a true patriot and took immense
pride in Japanese culture and traditions. That is why Sadao married
Hana only after confirming that she was a Japanese, as he did not
want to upset his father. This suggests that Sadao’s father’was a very
traditional and conventional man.

Question.9. Why did the messenger come to Dr Sadao? What did

Hana think about it? (Answer. The messenger had come to Dr
Sadao’s house to inform him that the old General was in pain again
and had to be attended to. When Hana first saw the uniformed
messenger, she got frightened, for she thought that he had come to
arrest her husband for harbouring an enemy in their hou$e.

Question.10. Why did the General spare the American soldier?

Answer. The General spared the American soldier because he was a
selfish man. He thought of nothing but his own life. He needed Sadao
for his operation and he forgot about his promise in his pain.
[Link] was Dr Sadao not sent to the battlefield?
Answer. Dr Sadao was not sent abroad with the troops because the
ailing General trusted no other surgeon but Dr Sadao and could have
needed his expert services anytime.

[Link] did Dr Sadao get rid of the enemy soldier?

Answer. Dr Sadao planned out everything beforehand. He put his boat
on the shore with food and extra clothing. He asked the American
prisoner of war to row to a little island near the coast and then wait for
a Korean ship to pass. He also gave the American his flashlight
complete with instructions on how to signal him in a time of distress.

[Link] secret plan did the General have about the

American soldier staying under the
care of Sadao?
Answer. The General planned to get the American soldier staying
under the care of Dr Sadao assassinated by his private assassins. He
assured the doctor about the removal of the dead body also.

[Link] told Yumi to wash the soldier. How did Yumi

react?
Answer. When Hana asked Yumi to wash the soldier, she bluntly
refused to do so, saying that she had never washed a white man and
she would not wash a dirty one. Yumi obstinately told Hana that she
was a poor person and did not want to associate with the man.

[Link] did the servants leave Dr Sadao’s house?

Answer. The servants left Dr Sadao’s house because they did not
approve of the white man staying in the surgeon’s house. They
thought that Sadao’s stay in America during his education had erased
all his sentiments for his country. Also, they did not want to be in
trouble with the authorities if Sadao was arrested as a traitor.
 Long Answer Type Questions

Question.1What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American

prisoner? Was it executed?
What traits of General’s character are highlighted in the lesson)
Answer. Dr Sadao informed the General about the presence of the
American prisoner at his house. The General decided that his private
assassins would take care of him and even take his body away Sadao
agreed to the General’s proposal. However, the General’s assassins
did not arrive for the next three days. Consequently the General’s plan
was not executed. Sadao spent three restless nights in waiting for the
assassins; ultimately he helped the prisoner escape.
When Sadao informed the General about the escape of the prisoner,
the General replied that he was sick and thus forgot about the whole
affair. He further wanted that Sadao must not inform anybody about
this.
This shows tharfhe General was highly selfish. He had regard only for
his own safety and pride. Also, he did not send Sadao to the
battlefield as he needed his services himself. He considered himself
more important than the lives of thousands of soldiers.
[Link] conflicting ideas arise in Dr Sadao’s mind after he
has brought the wounded
American soldier home? How is the conflict resolved?
Answer. From the day Dr Sadao found the wounded soldier outside
his house, he had been caught up in a web of conflicts and difficulties.
The first difficulty arose when Sadao decided to operate upon the
soldier. He was caught between his duty as a doctor and loyalty
towards his nation. Nonetheless, Sadao emerged a champion in this
regard. As an ethical and sincere doctor, he saved the life of the
soldier and as a responsible citizen, he also informed the General
about the presence of the soldier. Next, when the General’s men did
not arrive to kill the enemy, Sadao was again caught in a conflict as to
how to*get rid of the white man. His innate virtues of compassion and
benevolence forbade him from killing the man. Thus, he decided to let
the prisoner escape by sending him off to an unguarded island.
This is how Dr Sadao successfully resolved the conflict.
Question3Do you think Dr Sadao’s final decision was the best
possible one in the circumstances? Why/Why not? Explain with
reference to the story, ‘The Enemy’Answer. Dr Sadao’s final decision
was the best possible one in the given circumstances. He has the
instincts of a doctor. When Tom, the prisoner of war, was found
wounded, the first thing he did was to save his life. As a doctor, he
was duty bound to save lives.
Next, he completed the duty towards his nation by informing the
General about the presence of the prisonerBut finally, he helped the
enemy escape. His compassionate heart rose above the narrow .
confines of hatred and war. As a doctor, Sadao could not have left the
wounded prisoner of war unattended and so he decided to operate
upon him and save his life. However, at the same time, he discharged
his duty towards his nation by informing the General about the
enemy. And finally, the surgeon helped the enemy escape because his
compassionate heart forbade him to kill the same person whom he had
saved.
Question.4What impression do you form about Dr Sadao as a man
and as a surgeon on your reading the chapter The Enemy’?
Answer. After going through the chapter, ‘The Enemy’, we come to
the conclusion that Dr Sadao was an excellent surgeon and a human
being per excellence. He appeared to be a man full of; compassion
and a surgeon in the truest sense of the word.
Although he had a bitter experience of Americans being prejudiced
when he was a student in America, he did not let that bitterness
overwhelm him and the doctor and fine human being in him
prevailed.,He knew that, if being found that he had harboured an
American POW in his own house, tie would be labelled a traitor.
His conscience did not permit to let a human being die before his eyes
and he took the risk of being called a traitor. It was not that he was a
traitor. He promptly informed the General about the whole incident. It
showed that he was not a coward. He was ready to face the
consequences.

5Why did Sadao help the American soldier to escape? How did he do
it?
Answer. Sadao’s expertise in his profession and compassion as a
human being were his most dominant personality traits. As a dutiful
doctor, he could not have let the prisoner die of his injuries and so he
saved his life. At the same time, he acted like a responsible citizen
and informed the General of the presence of the enemy. However,
when the General’s men did not come to kill the American Sadao
decided to save his life.
Dr Sadao gave his boat to the young soldier, arranged food for him
and provided him valuable information which helped him escape
successfully. This is how Sadao helped the American soldier flee and
thereby saved his life.
Question.6 Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? Narrate his
experiences there. Answer. Sadao Hoki went to America to study
surgery and medicine as it was the wish of his father. His experience
of living in America was not very good but he was grateful to have
some good professors who taught him so well. Also, he was grateful
to the professor at whose home he had met Hana and immediately
liked her. But he did not like the smell of their food, their small room
and the wife of his professor, who was vbry talkative, although she
tried hard to be kind.
Initially, he had faced great difficulty in finding a place to live in
America because he was a Japanese. He perceived that Americans
were full of prejudice and for him it was a bitter experience to live
with them. Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help
the enemy soldier. What
made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him in the face of open defiance
from the domestic staff?
Answer. As a doctor, it was Dr Sadao’s moral responsibility to save
Tom, the American prisoner of war, but Hana was under no such
compulsion. In spite of this, she abided by her husband’s ; decisions
because she was a dutiful wife who pledged to support her husband
even through the most difficult times.
Secondly, Hana being a woman, was soft-hearted. She could not see a
wounded person being left in the lurch. As a woman, she adorned the
role of a life-giver and a preserver. She could not have been a
destroyer. That is why she cleaned the prisoner when her maid was
unwilling to do so. She also assisted her husband in the operation on
the American, despite the fact that she could not stand the blood, and
started vomiting when she saw it. She was thus a dutiful wife
 ADJECTIVES : Degree of Comparison
Adjective change in form when they show comparison.
Positive Degree: An adjective is said to be in the positive degree
when there is no comparison.
Comparative Degree: An adjective is said to be in the comparitive
degree when it is used to compare two nouns/pronouns.
Superlative Degree: An adjective is in superlative degree when it is
used to compare more than two nouns/pronouns. We use the article
'the' before the superlative degrees.
Formation of Comparative & Superlative Degrees of Adjectives
Adjectives usually form their comparative and superlative degrees:
1) by addition of '-er' and '-est' to the positive degree
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
bright brighter brightest
black blacker blackest
bold bolder boldest
clever cleverer cleverest
cold colder coldest
fast faster fastest
great greater greatest
high higher highest
kind kinder kindest
long longer longest
rich richer richest
small smaller smallest
strong stronger strongest
sweet sweeter sweetest
tall taller tallest
thick thicker thickest
young younger youngest
2) by addition of '-r' and '-st' to the positive degree ending in 'e'
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
brave braver bravest
fine finer finest
large larger largest
nice nicer nicest
noble nobler noblest
pale paler palest
simple simpler simplest
wise wiser wisest
white whiter whitest
3) When the positive ends in 'y' and has a consonant before it, we
change 'y' into 'i' and then add 'er' and 'est'.
By deleting the final ‘y’ and adding ‘ier’ and ‘iest’
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
costly costlier costliest
dry drier driest
easy easier easiest
happy happier happiest
heavy heavier heaviest
lazy lasier lasiest
mercy mercier merciest
wealthy wealthier wealthiest
4) when the positive degree ends in a consonant with a vowel
before it, we double the consonant & then add '-er' and '-est'
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
big bigger biggest
dim dimmer dimmest
fat fatter fattest
hot hotter hottest
thin thinner thinnest
5) by addition of '-er' and '-est' to the positive degree when it ends
in '-y'
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
gay gayer gayest
grey greyer greyest
5) by placing 'more' and 'most' before the positive form
POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE
active more active most active
attractive more attractive most attractive
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
brilliant more brilliant most brilliant
careful more careful most careful
courageous more courageous most courageous
cunning more cunning most cunning
difficult more difficult most difficult
famous more famous most famous
faithful more faithful most faithful
important more important most important
proper more proper most proper
popular more popular most popular
splendid more splendid most splendid
suitable more suitable most suitable

Rules for Conversion from Active Voice to Passive Voice

Rule 1: Interchange of Subject and Object
While changing from the Active Voice to Passive Voice, the Subject
is made the Object, and the Object becomes the Subject in the Passive
Voice. Also, ‘By’ is used before the subject when it is made the
object in the Passive Form. Sometimes ‘By’ is kept understood or
implied also. For Example.
Active: Ram loves Shyam.
Passive: Shyam is loved by Ram.
Rule 2:
While Interchanging the Subject and Object in the Passive Voice, the
Articles, Adjectives and Adjectives Phrases connected with each other
are also carried over with them. They are not separated from the
Subject or the Object. For Example
Active: All the children heard an interesting story.
Passive: An interesting story was heard by all the children.
Rule 3
When the pronouns are transferred from the place of Object in the
Active Voice to the place of Subject of Passive Voice, their forms are
changed. For Example
(i). I in place of me.
(ii). We in place of Us.
(ii) Present Continuous Tense
The Structure of the Verb in this tense. Is / Am / Are + being + V3.
For Example.
Active: He is writing a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by him.
Active: Ram is helping me.
Passive: I am being helped by Ram.
(iii) Present Perfect Tense
The Structure of the Verb in this Tense is. Has / have + been + V3 For
Example.
Active: Mohan has read many books.
Passive: Many books have been read by Mohan.
(B). Past Tense
(i) Simple Past Tense
The structure of the verb in this Tense is. Was / Were + V3 For
Example.
Active: He helped me.
Passive: I was helped by him.
Active: Ram wrote a letter.
Passive: A latter is written by Ram.
(ii) Past Continuous Tense
The structure of the verb in this tense is. Was / Were + being
+ V3 For Example.
Active: Ram was writing a letter.
Passive: A letter was being written by Ram.
Active: Harry was reading a book.
Passive: A book was being reading by harry.
(iii) Past Perfect Tense
The Structure of the verbs in this Tense is Had + Been + For
Example.
Active: Ram had read many books.
Passive: Many books had been read by Ram.
Active: Ram had helped me.
Passive: I had been helped by Ram.
(C) Future Tense
(i) Future Indefinite
The structure of the verbs in this tense is. Will / shall + Be + V 3 For
Example.
Active: Shyam will help me.
Passive: I will be helped by Ram.
(ii) Future Perfect Tense
The Structure of verbs in this tense is. Will / Shall + Have Been +
V3 For Example.
Active: Ram will have written a letter.
Passive: a letter will have been written by Ram.
Rule 6
In a sentence in which an Auxiliary Verbs can / could / may / might /
should / Would are used with Finite Verbs, they are retain as they are
given in the Active Voice, they are followed by Be + V3 Structure of
the verbs in this tense is. Auxiliary Verbs + V3 For Example.
Active: She should help Sita.
Passive: Sita should be helped by her.
Active: They can help you.
Passive: You can be helped by them.
Rule 7
In some sentence, verbs ‘ to be ‘ ( Is , am , Are, was , were ) is
followed by Has / Have / Had, Which are followed by an Infinite ( To
+ verb ), While converting these sentence into Passive Voice, Verb ‘
to be’ and ‘ Has / Have / Had’ are retained in the form appropriate to
the subject, after which are used to be +V3 For Example.
Active: She has to help me.
Passive: I have to be helped by her.
Rule 8
Sometimes an intransitive Verbs joined with a Preposition does the
work of transitive verb. Sentences using this type of verb are
converted into Passive Voice According to the normal rules, keeping
in mind that the preposition must be retained with the verb. For
Example
Active: She looks after him.
Passive: He is looked after by her.
Active: They laughed at him.
Passive: He was laughed at by them.
Rule 9
Some sentences have two objects.
Direct Object Or Indirect Object. For Example
She teaches me grammer.
Here “grammer’ is Direct Object and me is Indirect Object.
While converting such sentences into Passive Voice, The Indirect
Object should be used as Subject. For Example
Active: I shall give you necessary help.
Passive: You will be given necessary help.
Note Sometimes, Direct Object can also be used as a Subject in the
Passive Voice. For Example
Active: He teaches me Hindi.
Passive: I am taught Hindi by him.
Rule 10
Some sentences containing Double Object begin with Let in the
Active Voice. In Passive Voice also these sentences begin with Let ,
and the Direct Object is used as the Subject. Also, Be should be used
before the third form of the verb. For Example.
Active: Let him bring a glass of water.
Passive: Let a glass of water be brought by him.
Conversion of Imperative sentences into Passive Voice
Rule 11
If the Imperative sentence carries the sense of Order or Command, Its
Passive Voice should begin with Let, and be should be used before
the third form of the verb. For Example
Active: Shut the door.
Passive: Let the door be shut.
Active: Bring the pen.
Passive: Let the pen be brought.
Rule 12
If the Imperative sentence carries the request of advice, should be
used before the third form of the Verb. These sentences do not begin
with Let. For Example
Active: Love Your country.
Passive: Your country should be loved by you.
Rule 13
If the Imperative sentence is negative, the Passive voice should
have Let not in place of Do not. Also, after the subject be + Third
form of the verb should be used.
Active: Do not beat the Child.
Passive: Let not the child be beaten.
Conversion of negative sentences into passive Voice
Rule 14
Nagative sentences are converted into Passive Voice just like the
Affirmative Sentences. Not is retain at its normal position. For
Example
Active: The baby was not hitting a toy.
Passive: A toy was not being hit by the baby.
Active: This boy cannot lift the box.
Passive: The box cannot be lift by this boy.
Conversion of Interrogative Sentences Into Passive Voice
Rule 15
If the Interrogative sentences begin with the helping verb ( do, does,
did, is, was, were, are, am, has, have, had ), The passive voice also
begin with the Helping Verb, but the form of the Helping Verb
changes according to the new subject in the Passive Voice. For
Example
(i). Has, Have, had take been before the third form of the verb.
i) Interrogative sentences beginning with an Interrogative pronoun /
Adverb ( Who, What , Whom etc…) begin in the Passive Voice
with By whom or By With What. For Example
Active: Has he killed the dog. ?
Passive: Has the dog been killed by him ?
Some Other Structures
Rule 16
Usually By is used before the Object in the Passive Voice. But there
are some verbs on account of which some other Preposition are used
befor e the Object in place of By.
(i). ‘at’ is used after- Shocked, Surprised, astonished, alarmed,
disappointed, displeased, distress.
(ii). ‘To’ is used after – Obliged, Known
(iii). ‘With’ is used after – Pleased, disgusted, impressed, Satisfied.
(iv). ‘In’ is used after – Consisted, contained, interested.
For Example
Active: Her behaviour disappointed me.
Passive: I was disappointed at her behaviour.
Active: This Job interests me.
Passive: I was interested in this job.
Rule 17
Some sentence begin with ‘ There’ followed by Verb + Subject +
Infinitive. No change is made in such sentence in the Passive Voice
that the Simple Present Infinitive is changed into the Past Infinitive
( To be + Past Participle). The rest of the sentence remains
unchanged. For Example
Active: There is no milk to waste.
Passive: There is no milk to be wasted.
Rule 18
In some sentences Infinitive without ‘ to ‘ is used. For Example.
Active: I made him run away.
Passive: he was made to run away.
In sentences of this pattern normal Rules are applied for conversion
into Passive Voice. with one more provision. that Infinitive without
‘to’ is used in place of Infinitive without ‘ to’. The structure of the
main verb would be – to be + Past Participle.
Active: We saw him jump the ditch.
Passive: He was seen to jump the ditch.
Note: It may be noted here that ‘ to’ is not used after ‘ let’ even in the
Passive Voice.
Rule 19
In some sentences that + a noun clause is used after the principle
clause, and this Noun Clause is the Object of the Transitive Verb in
the Principle Clause. Some Special care has to be taken in converting
such sentences into the Passive Voice. In such sentences no Passive
Voice is made of the Principle Clause, only its sentence is expressed
in some way. Then the noun clause is changed into the Passive Voice
according to the normal rules. In such sentences, we don’t usually
use By + Object. For Example
Active: We know that he is a great scholar.
Passive: He is known to be a great scholar.
Note The verb after which a Noun Clause can be used as the object
are [Link], Consider, Believe, say, Know, Find, Claim, find,
report, hold, etc…
Rule 20
Sometimes in the sentences of the above pattern, the noun clause is
already in the Passive Voice. For Example
Active: He wants that he should be recognized as a great scholar.
In converting such sentences into passive voice, the principle clause is
retained unchanged. That + Subject + Verb of the noun clause are
removed. After the verb of the Principle Clause we should use to be +
third form of the verb of the noun clause.
Passive: He wants to be recognized as a great scholar.
Active: He desires that he should be respected by all.
Passive: He desires to be respected by all.

Figures of Speech

Using original figures of speech in our writing is a way to convey

meanings in fresh, unexpected ways. They can help our readers
understand and stay interested in what we have to say.

1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant

sound. Example: She sells seashells by the seashore.
2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the
beginning of successive clauses or verses. Example: Unfortunately, I
was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the wrong day.
3. Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced
phrases. Example: As Abraham Lincoln said, "Folks who have no
vices have very few virtues."
4. Apostrophe: Directly addressing a nonexistent person or an
inanimate object as though it were a living being. Example: "Oh, you
stupid car, you never work when I need you to," Bert sighed.
5. Assonance: Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels
in neighboring words. Example: How now, brown cow?
6. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an
expression is balanced against the first but with the parts
reversed. Example: The famous chef said people should live to eat,
not eat to live.
7. Euphemism: The substitution of an inoffensive term for one
considered offensively explicit. Example: "We're teaching our
toddler how to go potty," Bob said.
8. Hyperbole: An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms
for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect. Example: I have a
ton of things to do when I get home.
9. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal
meaning. Also, a statement or situation where the meaning is
contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the
idea. Example: "Oh, I love spending big bucks," said my dad, a
notorious penny pincher.
10. Litotes: A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in
which an affirmative is expressed by negating its
opposite. Example: A million dollars is no small chunk of change.
11. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two dissimilar things
that have something in common. Example: "All the world's a stage."
12. Metonymy: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is
substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the
rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to
things around it. Example: "That stuffed suit with the briefcase is a
poor excuse for a salesman," the manager said angrily.
13. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds
associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Example: The
clap of thunder went bang and scared my poor dog.
14. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which incongruous or
contradictory terms appear side by side. Example: "He popped the
jumbo shrimp in his mouth."
15. Paradox: A statement that appears to contradict
itself. Example: "This is the beginning of the end," said Eeyore,
always the pessimist.
16. Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object
or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or
abilities. Example: That kitchen knife will take a bite out of your
hand if you don't handle it safely.
17. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same
word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different
words. Example: Jessie looked up from her breakfast and said, "A
boiled egg every morning is hard to beat."
18. Simile: A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as")
between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain
qualities in common. Example: Roberto was white as a sheet after he
walked out of the horror movie.
19. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to
represent the whole. Example: Tina is learning her ABC's in
preschool.
20. Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker
deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it
is. Example: "You could say Babe Ruth was a decent ballplayer," the
reporter said with a wink.