UNIT 1 Poem: “O Captain”! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman.

About the Poem:

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to
commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln. It was first published in
Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865), a collection of Whitman’s poems inspired by the events
of the American Civil War. The poem is perhaps Whitman’s most famous—which is
ironic, since it is far more conventional in meter, form, and subject than much of
Whitman’s other work. Although some critics have suggested that Whitman regretted
writing “O Captain! My Captain!” it captured the mood of a nation in mourning and
has remained one of Whitman’s best-loved and most-quoted poems.
Very Short Summary:
◆ Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” is an extended metaphor mourning the
death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 at the close of the American Civil War.
◆ The speaker, a sailor, reports to his captain that the ship has completed its
journey. They have returned from a successful voyage. The crowd is celebrating
on the shore to welcome home the captain.
◆ But suddenly the speaker exclaims that the captain has fallen on the deck, ‘cold
and dead’.
◆ The speaker pleads the captain to rise up as people erupt in joy and wait to have
a look at their captain.
◆ But the captain does not move. The speaker cannot enjoy with the people
outside. He moves towards the fallen captain and mourns over the loss.

Short Summary:
O Captain! My Captain!" is a famous poem by Walt Whitman. It was written in 1865,
right after the American Civil War. The poem is a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, who
was the US President at the time. Whitman admired Lincoln a lot. In the poem,
Lincoln is the captain of a ship, which represents America. The ship has gone
through a rough journey, symbolising the Civil War, but has reached the harbour
safely. The poem is full of emotion. Whitman uses simple but powerful words to
express his feelings. The phrase "O Captain! My Captain!" is repeated, showing
respect and love for Lincoln. The captain is not just any leader; he's "my" captain,
making the relationship personal.

However, the poem is also very sad. Even though the ship is safe, the captain is
dead. This reflects the real life loss of Lincoln, who was assassinated just as the Civil
War ended. The mood changes from happiness about the end of the war to sorrow
for the loss of the great leader. Whitman also uses vivid imagery. He talks about "the
prize we sought is won, meaning the end of slavery and the preservation of the
Union. But this came at a high cost, which was the death of the captain. The ship is
a metaphor for the United States, and the "fearful trip" is the turbulent time of the
Civil War. The poem is also known for its rhythmic flow. The lines are structured to
be read with feeling. This adds another layer to the poem, making it not just words
on a page, but a heartfelt cry. It's like you can hear the waves and feel the ship
moving.

Conclusion: "O Captain! My Captain!" is a powerful poem that captures the

emotional depth of a nation in transition. It celebrates the end of a dark period in
American history while mourning the loss of a leader who could not see the new era.
It's a mix of triumph and tragedy, making it one of the most memorable works by
Walt Whitman.

Short Summary with quotes from poem:

The poem is an elegy to the speaker's recently deceased Captain, at once celebrating
the safe and successful return of their ship and mourning the loss of its great leader.
In the first stanza, the speaker expresses his relief that the ship has reached its
home port at last and describes hearing people cheering. Despite the celebrations on
land and the successful voyage, the speaker reveals that his Captain's dead body is
lying on the deck. In the second stanza, the speaker implores the Captain to "rise up
and hear the bells," wishing the dead man could witness the elation. Everyone
adored the captain, and the speaker admits that his death feels like a horrible
dream. In the final stanza, the speaker juxtaposes his feelings of mourning and
pride.

Stanza wise summary

Stanza 1
The speaker opens the poem by directly addressing “my Captain!” (Line 1), speaking
in the first-person. The speaker is jubilant, using exclamation points early in the
poem and the repetition of the captain’s title. The pronouncement that “our fearful
trip is done / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won” (Lines
1-2) echoes the jubilee, suggesting whatever trial on which the speaker and captain
had embarked has now successfully concluded. As the speaker’s ship nears the port,
the speaker hears bells and people cheering as the ship approaches the shore. But
the speaker’s glee turns to shock and sorrow when he sees his Captain bleeding,
cold, and dead.

The second stanza begins with the speaker begging for the captain to rise and hear
the celebration. He claims the celebration is for the captain, saying:
“...for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding, For you they
call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;” (Lines 10-12).
All of these images of celebration—flags, music, flowers, cheers, and eager faces—are
for the captain, who led his men to victory. The speaker calls the captain “dear
father!” (Line 13) as he wonders if it is a dream to hold the dying man in his arms.

In the final stanza, the speaker says the captain does not answer his pleas, and
describes the captain’s lifeless face as “pale and still” (Line 17). The poem concludes
with the dual imagery of the celebration on the shore and the “mournful tread” (Line
22) of the speaker, who once again reminds the reader that the captain is dead.

Detailed Stanza wise summary:

Stanza 1
The poem begins with the speaker addressing someone as his captain. He wants to
inform him that the ‘fearful trip’ is complete. The ship has returned home from a
dreadful voyage. It has survived (weathered) every storm (rack). And it’s been a
success; they have won the prize they have been fighting for. Here one must
recognize the speaker of the poem. He is none but a sailor. The readers are informed
about the grueling journey that the crew of this ship has gone through to bring home
the prize they fought for. We are so far not sure what the prize actually is. Have they
won a game or even maybe a battle with a great outcome?
The ship is nearing the port. The church bells can be heard ringing. People are all
celebrating (exulting) in joy. They are staring at the steady ship (keel) coming to the
harbour. The ship now looks ‘grim and daring’.

The ship is ‘grim’ because it has come back from a long hard voyage and has worn
out. It is ‘daring’ because it has not only survived many hardships but has also been
successful in its mission. The two words ‘steady’ and ‘grim’ associated with the ship
in the final line stand in sharp contrast to the exulting and celebratory mood of the
people on the shore. It brings a sense of gloom and uncertainty. Is something bad
going to happen? It looks like the speaker is utterly shocked, almost dumbstruck! He
sees drops of blood on the ship. His captain’s body lies on the board. The captain
who was supposed to be welcomed grandly by the masses is now fallen on the deck,
lifeless and cold.

Stanza 2-
The sailor calls the dead captain to rise up and hear the sound of the bells. The
people have gathered to welcome their captain. They are waving the flag and playing
the bugle for him. They have brought bouquets and wreaths with ribbon to give him
a grand welcome. The crowd is cheering for the captain. They are calling out to him.
Their ‘eager faces’ say they can’t wait to see their beloved captain.
The profound admiration and reverence people hold for the captain is evident in the
above extract.
Here Captain! dear father!/ This arm beneath your head!/ It is some dream that on
the deck,/ You’ve fallen cold and dead.
The speaker puts his arms under the captain’s head and tries to raise him as he
calls him ‘dear father’. Though the captain is not probably his father literally, he has
done something of great responsibility to have earned that respect.
However, the speaker wishes that it is some dream he is going through. He cannot
accept the reality that his dear captain is now dead and fallen on the deck.

Stanza 3-
The captain is not answering the speaker’s repeated calls. His lips are now pale and
motionless. He doesn’t feel the speaker’s hand under his head as he has no pulse
now and no will power. It is no wonder that a dead man won’t respond to calls and
won’t have feelings. But these lines actually highlight the unbearable pain and grief
the speaker is going through at the death of the captain. It also suggests a great loss
to the people.
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

As the ship has now been anchored safely at the harbour. Its journey is over. After a
long tumultuous journey (fearful trip), the ship has now come back victorious (victor
ship) with its mission fulfilled (object won).
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!/ But I with mournful tread,/ Walk the deck my
Captain lies, /Fallen cold and dead.
The speaker addresses the crowd on the shore and calls for celebration. He wants
the bells ringing and the crowd cheering. After all, they are celebrating the
homecoming of their ship and the success of the mission.
While the crowd keeps erupting in joy, the speaker cannot join them. He stays all
alone on the ship. Grief-stricken, he walks slowly towards where his beloved captain
lies on the deck, cold and dead.

To understand the poem well, you must know that it is an extended metaphor in
which the victory of the Union over the Confederacy in the American Civil War is
compared to a ship returning home after a victory. The captain here is Abraham
Lincoln, the former President of America, who guided the nation to the great victory.
People exulting on shore indicates to the Union’s joy and celebration after a long
painful journey or war.

O Captain! My Captain! – Symbols-

The Ship

The poem “O Captain! My Captain!” is an extended metaphor where the ship is the
United States itself. Abraham Lincoln guided the nation’s ship as a captain through
many storms in the Civil War. But the captain died when the ship returned home
safely after accomplishing its mission, i.e., when the war ended and the Union
emerged victorious. Thus, the ship is used symbolically in the poem.

The Captain: The captain of the ship is a symbol for President Abraham Lincoln. As
the captain guides the ship Lincoln guides the nation. He was the leader steering the
country through the Civil War, making tough decisions, and working towards unity
and the abolition of slavery. The captain's death in the poem symbolises Lincoln's
assassination or murder, a tragic event that. occurred just as the war was ending.
Calling Lincoln the "captain" emphasises his leadership role and adds a personal
touch, making the readers feel a connection with him.

The Voyage: The voyage of the ship is a symbol for the journey of the country
through the Civil War The phrase "fearful trip" describes the dangers and difficulties
faced during this period. The war was a time of division, violence, and uncertainty,
and the voyage captures these emotions. The completion of the voyage symbolizes
the end of these troubles and the country's move towards healing and reconciliation.
The Port: The some at the port, with people celebrating, symbolizes the public's
reaction to the end of the war. It reflects the joy, relief, and hope that many people
felt when the war was over. But the port also serves as a setting for the contrast
between public joy and private grief, as the speaker mourns the captain's death amid
the celebrations.

The Contrast: Throughout the poem, there's a stark contrast between victory and
loss, joy and sorrow. While the ship's safe arrival symbolises success, the captain's
death symbolises tragedy. The ship is safe, but the captain is dead. This shows the
different feelings people had at that time.

Conclusion: "O Captain! My Captain!" is a poem about feeling really sad about
losing a great leader. It shows how much one person can mean to a whole country
and how hard it can be to move on when they're gone.

Prose : Mallika Srinivasan

MALLIKA SRINIVASAN- Summary:

Mallika Srinivasan is a big name in the tractor business in India. She is the CEO of a
company called TAFE and has won many awards. She was even called the Tractor
Queen." Mallika grew up in a business family and always wanted to learn about it.
Even though her dad suggested she study literature, she chose to study economics
and then got an MBA from a top school in the US.

When she joined her family's company in 1986, her dad told her she would have to
earn her place. Her office was just a small space at the end of a hall. Her dad and
other workers weren't impressed just because she had a fancy degree. But Mallika
didn't give up. She learned from people who had been in the business longer and
started using her knowledge to help the company grow.

Under her leadership, the company became really successful. They started making
way more tractors and even bought another big company. Mallika made smart
choices, like investing in new ideas even when money was tight. This helped TAFE
make a profit when other companies were struggling.

However, Mallika did experience major trials during the company's explosive growth.
In the late 2000s, her father passed away. Her father had been her anchor and her
rock, nudging her in the right direction and always available to bestow advice and
constructive criticism. Indeed, it was his words that had always motivated her to
push TAFE to become a major player in the tractor industry. Months after her
father's death, her sister passed away. Even with two major losses within her family,
she was still able to steer the company without letting her personal grief overwhelm
her professional responsibilities. In 2008, her mother passed away. Mallika
Srinivasan had lost the family she had grown up with. And she managed anyway,
taking over the burden of the family business with dignity and grace. The way in
which she managed the company during that period was a source of inspiration for
many of her employees.

Conclusion: Mallika Srinivasan shows that with hard work, the right skills, and a
never-give-up attitude, we can reach big goals. Even when life was tough, she kept
going and made her company a success. She is a role model for many people,
especially women in business.

Q and A- Q2. What setbacks did Mallika Srinivasan face in her personal life? What is
inspirational about her response to these setbacks?

Mallika Srinivasan, CEO of India's TAFE, led the company to success as a top tractor
maker. A graduate of Madras University and Wharton, she's won awards like the
BBC Businesswoman of the Year and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Her
leadership and charity work make her a notable person in Indian business. Mallika
Srinivasan faced significant setbacks in her personal life, particularly concerning the
loss of close family members.

Loss of Her Father: Her father played a big role in her life, helping her personally and
professionally.

His support and kind words helped her work hard to be successful. When she lost
him in the late 2000s, it could have really affected how she led the company. But
instead, she remembered what he taught her and kept pushing TAFE to do well,
keeping his memory alive.

Loss of Her Sister: Soon after losing her father, Mallika also lost her sister. Losing
two close family members one after the other could have been too much for her, but
she kept her emotions in check and kept leading the company. Her personal sadness
didn't get in the way of her work and responsibilities.
Loss of Her Mother: In 2008, she suffered another devastating loss when her mother
passed away. Her mother had been a great support for her, even accompanying her
to America to care for her daughter while Mallika attended MBA classes. The loss of
her mother marked the loss of her entire immediate family, with whom she had
grown up.

Initial Treatment at TAFE: In her early days at TAFE, Mallika faced some tough
challenges. including a lack of support from her father and less-than-ideal working
conditions. Even her father's words, telling her that he didn't need a Wharton
graduate to run his business, could have stopped her in her tracks. But instead of
giving up, she used those challenges as motivation to prove herself.

Conclusion: Mallika Srinivasan's success story in business is inspiring. It's not only
about her achievements but also a clear example of what can be done with
determination and good leadership.

Q3. Draw a character sketch of Mallika Srinivasan on the basis of this biography.

Answer: Mallika Srinivasan, CEO of India's TAFE, led the company to success as a
top tractor maker. A graduate of Madras University and Wharton, she's won awards
like the BBC Businesswoman of the Year and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the
Year. Her leadership and charity work make her a notable person in Indian
business.

Mallika Srinivasan's character, as depicted in the biography, is multifaceted and

inspirational Here's a sketch highlighting some key aspects:

Strong and Focused: Mallika faced many challenges in her personal life and at the
start of her career, but she never gave up. Her strong will and determination helped
her make TAFE a leading company in the market.

Smart and Well-Educated: Mallika studied hard, earning an MA in-econometrics

and an MBA from Wharton School. This shows how much she values education. Her
smart choices in business come from her strong education.

Creative Leader: Under Mallika's guidance, TAFE turned into a modern company
that focuses on technology. Her smart thinking and ability to see the future helped
the company get through tough times and come out even stronger.
Family Centred: Mallika's close relationship with her family is evident in the
biography. Her father's teachings, her mother's support, and her sister's connection
played essential roles in shaping her. She maintained her familial commitments
while building her career.

Kind and Fair: Her interactions with senior colleagues at TAFE, who treated her
with honesty and sincerity, shaped her approach. She was not above learning from
others and appreciating her position in the company.

Global Thinker: Mallika had big plans for TAFE that went beyond just India. By
making smart business deals, focusing on exports, and forming partnerships around
the world, she helped the company reach people in many different countries. Her
thinking was wide-ranging and far- reaching.

Strong :. The loss of her immediate family within a short span could have been
paralysing, but Mallika's graceful handling of her grief, without letting it overwhelm
her professional responsibilities, reveals her strong character and emotional
stability.

Driven to Succeed: Mallika started in a small, unremarkable office, but her strong
ambition led her to grow TAFE into a well-known name in the tractor business. Her
ability to greatly increase the company's profits and make them stronger shows her
skill and understanding of business.

Down-to-Earth: Despite her success and education, she remained grounded,

learning from her colleagues and putting her knowledge to practical use rather than
flaunting her qualifications

Conclusion: Mallika Srinivasan's success story in business is inspiring. It's not only
about her achievements but also a clear example of what can be done with
determination and good leadership.

“O Captain! My Captain!” Themes

Victory and Loss
Even as the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” celebrates the end of the American Civil
War, it is also an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln. Victory and loss are thus
closely intertwined throughout the poem. On the one hand, its mourning is tempered
with joyful reminders that the war is won. Its celebrations, on the other hand, are
haunted by melancholy. In this sense, Whitman’s poem illuminates the lingering
pain and trauma of losses sustained in war—as well as the impossibility of ever
separating the triumph of victory from its human costs.

In its juxtaposition of the language of loss and victory, “O Captain! My Captain!”

uses poetic form to model the close relationship between triumph and pain. At first,
it seems as if this will be a poem celebrating the victory of the Union in the Civil War.
The speaker congratulates President Lincoln on steering the metaphorical ship of
state through “every wrack,” i.e. storm, and declares that “the prize we sought is
won.” However, halfway through this triumphant first stanza, the speaker breaks off:
“But O heart! heart! heart! ... my Captain lies, / Fallen cold and dead.” The sudden
appearance of a qualification—"But O heart!”—reveals to the reader that not all is
well. The poem scarcely has time to celebrate triumph before facing loss.

One of the poem’s painful ironies is that its celebrations are intended to honor the
leader who won this victory, yet President Lincoln is not there to witness the
triumph. This is made all the starker by the joyous scenes that begin each stanza:
there are ringing bells, “bouquets,” “wreaths,” and cheering crowds. The poem
juxtaposes these moments of vibrancy and happiness with the body of the “Captain”,
which is “cold,” “dead,” “pale,” and “still.”

The speaker also emphasizes that all of these celebrations are for President Lincoln
with the repetition of the word “you”—“for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle
trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding, For
you they call,” the poet repeats five times. The repetition of the word further
underscores the poignancy of Lincoln’s absence from his own celebration.

Even small formal features like the poem’s punctuation register the tension between
celebration and mourning, as the speaker’s emotions descend from joy to grief. For
example, the exclamation points after “O Captain!” in the first stanza seem like
enthusiastic celebrations of victory. Later in the poem, however, the meaning of the
exclamation points begins to subtly change. “O heart!” becomes an exclamation of
grief and dismay. The exclamation points after “O Captain!” in the second stanza
take on even darker connotations, since it’s now clear that the speaker is addressing
a dead man rather than a living leader. The five total exclamation points in this
stanza take on a desperate quality, as if the speaker is begging the fallen leader to
come back to life again. By the final stanza, there is only a single exclamation point,
marking the poem’s newly restrained tone of quiet grief. The speaker acknowledges
that the world around him is celebrating—"Exult O shores, and ring O bells!”—but
he walks with “mournful tread,” grieving even as the country rejoices.

Throughout, the speaker dramatizes the painfully close relationship between loss
and victory. The celebration of the Union’s triumph is reframed by the reminder that
the country has paid a dear price. Whitman seems to argue that loss and victory are
closely linked in all wartime settings, where victory always requires the expenditure
of human life.

Theme Grief and Isolation

Each stanza of “O Captain! My Captain!” pivots between public celebration and
private grief. In this way, the poem foregrounds the tension between outward
emotional expression and internal emotional experience. The speaker must reconcile
his personal grief for President Lincoln, whom he seems to regard as a paternal
figure, with the wider grief—and joy—of the nation. Through these tensions,
Whitman suggests that deep grief for a loved one can be an isolating force that
makes loss even more painful than it might otherwise be.

The tension between collective experience and private emotion is implied even in the
title of the poem, “O Captain! My Captain!” The speaker compares President Lincoln
to the captain of a ship and then refers to him as my captain, emphasizing his own
personal connection to the president. The poem is not titled “Our Captain”; rather,
the speaker seems to feel that President Lincoln is his captain in particular.
Logically, the captain of a ship is indeed everyone’s captain, but the poet’s choice to
emphasize the personal pronoun makes the loss seem private and personal rather
than public.

The public celebrations that accompany the return of the ship into the harbor—
metaphorically standing in for the victory of the Union in the Civil War—are a shared
experience of joy. By contrast, the speaker’s experience of grief is private and
solitary. The descriptions of the crowds give the impression of a shared public
experience. The “people” are “all exulting”; they are “a-crowding” and form a
“swaying mass” on the shore. They seem to have become a kind of collective, feeling
together and expressing themselves as one body.
On the other hand, the depiction of the speaker himself emphasizes his isolation and
solitary melancholy. Although he “hear[s] … the bells,” he ignores them and walks
alone, “with mournful tread.” The poem presents an experience of collective rejoicing,
but the speaker chooses to physically and emotionally separate himself from the
crowd. The isolated nature of the speaker’s grief seems to result from his perception
of his relationship with Lincoln. That is, his mourning seems to transcend the
sorrow of a citizen for the assassination of a leader to become more like that of a son
for his father. Indeed, the speaker repeatedly refers to President Lincoln as “father.”

The poem’s final stanza thus introduces another layer of emotional complexity, as
the speaker’s grief becomes yet more private and personal in contrast to the rejoicing
of the crowds. The speaker admits that “[m]y father does not feel my arm” and “he
has no pulse,” implying that the speaker has physically touched and shaken the
body to feel for a pulse. This gesture is highly private and intimate, more like a
familial relationship than that of a citizen and a leader. It’s clear that the speaker
feels so strongly about the fallen leader that he experiences a close, almost paternal
relationship with him. The fact that the speaker’s intense, private grief contrasts so
sharply with the cheering crowds suggests that losing a loved one can create a
painful boundary between an individual and other people.

The Individual vs. the Nation

“O Captain! O Captain!” depicts the overwhelming grief and trauma that followed one
of the most notorious political assassinations in United States history. At the same
time, it suggests that the nation will move on and even thrive after the loss of its
leader. In doing so, the poem interrogates the relationship between the individual
and the wider political community, ultimately suggesting that the United States as a
nation is a political project that can and must transcend the life of any single
person—even though individuals are still very important.

The poem’s extended metaphor compares President Lincoln to a captain steering the
“ship of state”— guiding the Union through the Civil War. However, the “captain” of
the title turns out to be less essential to the continuing success and unity of the
nation than it might initially seem. At first it seems like the “captain,” President
Lincoln, is solely responsible for the safe return of the ship after it has “weather’d
every rack,” that is, survived every storm and finally made it home. But the poem
also hints that this is not entirely the case: even in the first stanza, the speaker
refers to the voyage as “our fearful trip,” implying that the community has survived
these trials by banding together and assuming shared responsibility.

The idea that President Lincoln might not be entirely essential to the nation’s victory
becomes clearer when the citizens continue to rejoice after their captain has fallen.
Even while the “Captain lies / Fallen cold and dead,” the people celebrate victory
with bugles, bells, and public commemorations. Their grief at the assassination of
the president does not stop them from continuing their celebrations and moving on
with life. Although the speaker claims that the celebrations are “for you [i.e.
President Lincoln],” this starts to look more like wishful thinking as the poem
continues. The people don’t seem to require the physical presence of President
Lincoln in order to celebrate; the commemoration of the Union’s victory takes on a
life of its own, persisting as a community celebration even without the presence of a
leader to direct it.

However, this emphasis on communal strength is complicated by the speaker’s own

ambivalent relationship to the crowds that await the ship’s arrival. He seems to feel
that he has little in common with them, since his grief alienates him from the
general mood of celebration. This contrast shows how meaningful individuals (like
the fallen “Captain”) are within collective efforts, even if those efforts can still
succeed without them. Each stanza of the poem is split between the first four lines,
which generally depict communal scenes of rejoicing, and the final four lines, which
typically feature expressions of the speaker’s personal grief. This consistent divide
suggests that the speaker still feels a great deal of individual pain at the loss of his
leader, despite the joy of his broader community. The speaker even chooses to
remain on board the ship while the communal celebrations go on. The bells ring and
the “shores … exult,” but he chooses to “walk the deck my Captain lies,” alone. This
physical separation reinforces the significance of the loss of the captain.

While the nation manages to move forward without President Lincoln, the speaker
can’t quite join in the celebrations—the loss of his leader is still agonizing, even
though the nation has survived. Ultimately, the poem seems to argue that collectivity
is necessary for the survival of the United States, but it also acknowledges that
individual people play crucial roles within this collective effort.
Unit 1- Additional Reading: Jadav Peyeng:
Jadav Payeng was honored with the title 'Forest Man of India' on 22nd April 2012 by
the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Jadav Payeng, who is also popularly known as Molai Payeng, earned his name as
'The Forest Man of India' by spending 30 years of his life planting around 40 million
trees to create a real man-made forest by changing a barren sandbar of the
Brahmaputra, covering an area of 550 hectares of land which is known as 'Molai
forest ' named after him. It is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India.

JADAV PEYENG- Summary:

Jadav Payeng, also known as the "Forest Man of India," has spent 40 years planting
trees and transforming barren land into a lush forest. It all started in 1979, when he
saw dead snakes washed up after a flood in the Brahmaputra River. Worried about
the effects of soil erosion and a lack of tree cover, he decided to take action.

He first joined a tree-planting effort on Majuli Island, the world's largest river island.
Even when the official project was abandoned, he continued to plant trees. For 30
years, he worked alone, waking up early and spending his day planting and caring
for trees. He dropped out of school to devote himself to this mission.

Jadav's forest, known as Molai Forest, is now a thriving ecosystem, home to various
wildlife like elephants, tigers, and deer. The forest became well-known only after
2008, when a herd of elephants entered it. Surprised officials discovered it was the
work of one man. Jadav also stood up against locals who wanted to cut down the
forest and protected it from poachers.

While taking care of the forest remains his primary mission, Jadav makes a living by
selling milk and growing vegetables. Despite losing some cattle to tigers, he believes
in the natural food chain and does not resent the animals. His work has gained
international attention, earning him titles like 'Forest Man of India' and a Padma
Shri award. He's also been the subject of several documentaries and books.

Conclusion: Jadav Payeng is a living example of how one person can make a
significant impact on the environment. He transformed a barren land into a forest,
provided a home for various animals, and inspired people globally. For him, the work
is a never-ending cycle of nurturing nature, and he believes that the younger
generation should take up the mantle of planting trees as part of their education. His
life's work shows the power of individual effort and dedication.
Here are some key points from the passage:

◆ Jadav Payeng is a forest conservationist from Assam, India.

◆ He began planting trees on a sandbar in the Brahmaputra River in 1979.
◆ He continued to plant trees for the next 30 years, even after the government
abandoned the project.
◆ The forest he created, now known as Molai Forest, is home to a variety of wildlife.
◆ Payeng's work has been recognised with several awards, including the Padma
Shri.
◆ He is an inspiration to people all over the world for his dedication to the
environment.

UNIT 2- Poem-
The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth.

The poem begins with the speaker asking readers to behold a young girl reaping and
singing by herself in a field. The song the girl sings is a sad song and anyone passing
by the speaker says should either stop and listen or gently pass so as not to disturb
her. He is so struck by the sad beauty of her song that the whole valley seems to
overflow with its sound.In the second stanza the speaker compares the girls singing
to that of a nightingale and a cuckoo bird. He says that the song she sings is more
welcome than a nightingale might sing to weary travellers in the desert and her voice
is more thrilling to hear than the cuckoo-bird in spring. He is utterly enchanted
although he cannot understand the language of the song and so cannot say what the
song is about.In the third stanza the speaker tries to imagine what the song might
be about. Given its sad tune he speculates that her song might be about some past
sorrow pain or loss of old unhappy things or battles fought long ago. Or perhaps he
says it is a humbler simpler song about some present sorrow pain or loss a matter of
to-day.
A Brief Background

William Wordsworth is one of the most important English poets and a

founder of the Romantic Movement of English literature, a style of writing
that focuses on emotion and imagination. Wordsworth became known as a
Lakeland Poet because of the area where he lived, which is renowned for
its beautiful, wild landscapes, charming pastures, and countless lakes. He
was often called a nature poet because of his emphasis on the connection
between humans and the natural world. He became widely successful and
was named Poet Laureate of England in 1843.

'The Solitary Reaper' was written on November 5, 1805, and published

in 1807 in the collection Poems, in Two Volumes. This poem is unique
because while most of Wordsworth's work is based closely on his own
experiences, 'The Solitary Reaper' is based on the experience of someone
else, author and friend Thomas Wilkinson, as described in his Tours to the
British Mountains.
The poem, like most of Wordsworth's poetry, is distinguished by its
straightforward use of language and meter as well as its natural theme and
imagery. It reflects Wordsworth's belief in the importance of the natural
world, the power of memory and the human mind, and his first principle
of poetry - that poetry should be written to provide pleasure through a
rhythmic and powerful expression of emotion and leave readers with 'a
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings' long after it is read. Let's take
a look at the text of the poem and then discuss what it might mean.
Short stanza wise summary:
The poem begins with the speaker asking readers to behold a young girl ‘reaping and
singing by herself’ in a field. The song the girl sings is a sad song, and anyone
passing by, the speaker says, should either stop and listen or 'gently pass' so as not
to disturb her. He is so struck by the sad beauty of her song that the whole valley
seems to overflow with its sound.
In the second stanza, the speaker compares the girl's singing to that of a nightingale
and a cuckoo bird. He says that the song she sings is more welcome than any
nightingale might sing to weary travelers in the desert,
and the sound of the her voice is more thrilling to hear than the cuckoo-bird in
spring. He is utterly enchanted, although as we see in the next stanza, he cannot
understand the language of the song and so cannot say what the song is about.
In the third stanza, the speaker tries to imagine what the song might be about.
Given its sad tune, he speculates that her song might be about some
past sorrow, pain or loss of old, unhappy things' or battles fought long ago. Or
perhaps, he says, it is a humbler, simpler song about some present sorrow,
pain, or loss, a „matter of to-day.‟The poem ends as the speaker understands that
whatever the girl sings about does not matter. It is the beauty of the song and her
singing that touches his heart and lingers in his mind, giving him joy as he travels
up the hill and carries her song with him long after he can no longer hear it.
Stanza wise long summary-
Stanza 1
In the First stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” Wordsworth describes how the Reaper
was singing all alone. During one of his journeys in the countryside of Scotland, he
saw a Highland girl working in the field all alone. She had no one to help her out in
the field. So she was singing to herself. She was singing without knowing that
someone was listening to her song. The poet doesn’t want to disturb her solitude so
requests the passer by’s go without disturbing her. She was immersed in her work of
cutting and binding while singing a melancholy song. For the poet, he is so struck by
the sad beauty of her song that the whole valley seems to overflow with its sound.
Stanza Two:
In the second stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” the poet compares the young
woman’s song with ‘Nightingale’ and ‘Cuckoo’ – the most celebrated birds by the
writers and poets for the sweetness of voice. But, here he complains that neither
‘Nightingale’ nor the ‘Cuckoo’ sang a song that is as sweet as hers. He says that no
nightingale has sung the song so soothing like that for the weary travelers. For, the
song of the girl has stopped him from going about his business. He is utterly
enchanted that he says that her voice is so thrilling and penetrable like that of the
Cuckoo Bird, which sings to break the silence in the ‘Hebrides’ Islands. He
symbolically puts forth that her voice is so melodious and more than that of the two
birds two birds, known for their voice.
Stanza three;
In the third stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” the poet depicts his plight over not
understanding th: theme or language of the poem. The poet couldn’t understand the
local Scottish dialect in which the reaper was singing. So tries to imagine what the
song might be about. Given that it is a ‘plaintive number’ and a ‘melancholy strain’
(as given in line 6) he speculates that her song might be about some past sorrow,
pain or loss ‘of old, unhappy things‘ or battles fought long ago. Or perhaps, he says,
it is a humbler, simpler song about some present sorrow, pain, or loss, a ‘matter of
to-day.’ He further wonders if that is about something that has happened in the past
or something that has reoccurred now.
In the fourth stanza, the poet decides not to probe further into the theme. He comes
to the conclusion that whatever may be the theme of her poem, it is not going to end.
Not only her song but also her suffering sounds like a never-ending one. He stays
there motionless and listened to her song quite some times. Even when he left and
 mounted up the hill he could still hear her voice coming amongst the produce, she
was cutting and binding. Though the poet left that place, the song remained in his
heart, long after he heard that song.
Literary/ Poetic Devices Used
‘The Solitary Reaper’ by William Wordsworth uses a straightforward language
and meter as well as natural theme and imagery. Once again Wordsworth reflected
his belief in the importance of the natural world. The poem highlights his definition
of poetry to be ‘a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’ from the poet and the
readers’ part.
Rhyme scheme
The poem’s 32 lines are equally distributed among the four stanzas. Each stanza
follows the rhyme scheme: ABABCCDD. Use of end rhymes, such as
“profound/sound”, “still/hill”, “lay/day” and “grain/strain” makes the poem
melodious.

Unit 2- Prose: How to Live to Be 200

A Brief Analysis of the Essay "How to Live to be 200" for ADP/B.Sc English
Students

Stephen Leacock enjoyed enormous popular success with his short stories and
sketches. “How to live to be 200” is a beautiful essay, in which the writer has satirized
those people who are obsessed by the idea of “Health Maniac”. It is a humorous essay
on the fantastic heath habits of a person known as Jiggins type young people. Jiggins
symbolizes the so many young people who are unusually obsessed with their bodily
exercises. Although he kept on taking hard exercises regularly yet Jiggins died in his
youth and could not see his old age. The writer satirizes all those people who are
obsessed by the idea of being strong and healthy. He is of the view that physical fitness
and health cannot postpone the death. One has to die at an appointed time. One should
be worried about his health. One should take care of himself but not to be preplanned
in hard and daily exercises.

While talking about germs and bacilli, the writer provokes laughter and amuses
us with his examples and sayings. But the purpose, again, to make us realize the fact
that we should not be worried about the germs at a time. As they are harmless at a
certain time and they are useful at a certain time. He is of the view; life is a gift of God
and should not spoil it in useless activities.
 The essay, it can be said, is a remarkable satire on human activities. It also
reminds us “Leisure”, a beautiful story by “W.H.Davies”, in which the poet satirizes
the dull and boring routine life, useless care and worries of human beings which
snatches the real luxury of life from them.

Life according to “Stephen Leacock” is a heavenly gift and one should enjoy it
without being obsessed by useless habits and activities.

Leacock tells us that Jiggins , the health maniac , used to take a cold bath every
morning so as to open his pores. After his cold bath , he took a hot sponge in order to
close his pores. Before putting on his clothes for going to office , Jiggins used to stand
and breathe at an open window for half an hour in order to expand his lungs. After
putting on his shirt he used to perform a short exercise by moving forward and
backward. He repeated all such exercises even during his duty hours at his office
instead of using his spare time in eating or having some refreshment. He would lie on
his stomach on the floor and lifted himself up with his knuckles (the joints of fingers).

In the evening Jiggins lifted iron bars , cannon balls and pulled himself up to the
ceiling. All the noise of the exercise was so loud that one could hear the stumps far
away. Jiggins spent half the night slinging himself around the room to make his brain
clear. Unfortunately , even so much exercise did not kep Jiggins alive to enter his old
age as his death came at an early age. Perhaps he died earlier than the other men who
did not perform the regular exercise as Jiggins.

Like Jiggins many young men have the same health mania (craze). They behave
exactly like Jiggins and become a great nuisance (trouble) fir others. They get up at
impossible hours and start running marathon race before breakfast. They like to walk
barefoot on grass. They search for places blessed with ozone (fresh air). They look for
easily digestible food. They avoid eating meat because it has too much nitrogen. They
avoid eating fruit because it has not any nitrogen. What they prefer is albumen (white of
egg) , starch ( nishasta) etc. they do not drink tap water. They do not eat canned food.
They not drink glass water. They do not drink alcohol in any form. They became a
nuisance for all in the name of health. Even then we can see that like others they easily
fall ill and die. Thus in spite of their troublesome exercises they cannot attain long age.

Stephen Leacock does not like to see people obsessed with body care. As
obsessions are always bad. As a counter attack to heath mania (obsession) Stephen
Leacock humorously gives us some pieces of advice. We should get up in the morning
hardly half an hour before our office opens. We should not care much about getting
pure and fresh air. We should have warm baths instead of cold baths so that we may get
rid of the cold pinching water and may feel comfortable in our warm baths.

We should not worry about germ and bacilli. As they are totally harmless. We
should eat whatever we want and to the extent as much as we like. The only test is: Can
we pay for it? Moreover we should eat whatever our food may or may not contain:
starch , albumen or nitrogen or anything else. We should not bother about fresh air. We
should not go to open places for it. As far as exercise is concerned , it is also not
necessary at all. We can hire a taxi and see others playing football , running races and
doing gymnastics. We can even do so when sitting in some shade or smoking cigarettes.
We should divert our attention away from our body care and attend to the enjoyment of
life like a carefree person. We should remember that the more we enjoy the joys of life ,
the more we shall become healthy. Stephen Leacock seems to be an Epicurean whose
philosophy is “Eat , drink and be merry.”

Q1. Leacock uses exaggeration in the title of his essay. Where does he use
exaggeration and why?

“How to Live to be 200” by Stephen Leacock is a satirically humorous essay and

the writer has used the technique of exaggeration for that. He uses this technique to
produce special humour. The title itself is greatly an exaggeration of facts. Even the
man, who gets a long life to live, today does not have a life of 200 years. There are a few
persons in the world that can attain the age of 100 year. Even the average age in the
U.S.A (said to be the highest average age) is almost a little above 70. So the writer has
used exaggeration in the use of figure 200 in title.

The question arises why he has used the figure 200 in the essay. The answer is
quite clear. Leacock was not writing a chapter for a book on “Health and Physical
Education” for the public. He was writing a satirical essay and exaggeration is a very
popular tool of satire. If he would use the figure 100 or 120 0r even the almost rare
figure of 140, it would not give that satirical colour to the essay. He wishes to say that
no reader can achieve 200 years age. Another thing that he wishes to say that death
comes at the appointed time and no one can get his death postponed by achieving good
health. There is a fixed time to death. Health and healthy life are n guarantee against
death. So one must not waste his life in being extra- careful and over cautious about
what one eats or breathes. A moderate attitude is the real requirement.
 This essay is full with the satirical exaggerations which are used by Leacock for
creating special effect, pleasure, attraction and humour in the essay. Some quotations
as examples are given where he uses this technique in this essay. After title, he talks
about one of his acquaintances, Mr.Jiggins who was a health maniac. He exaggerates
about his exercises by reaches on the peak of exaggeration and satire.

Again he exaggerates by saying that he used “to lie on his stomach on the floor
and see if he could fit himself up with his knuckles. If he could, then he tried some
other way until he found one that he couldn’t do”. At night he used to “haul himself up
to the ceiling with his teeth.”

Writer also exaggerates in these sentences. Such people “got up at impassible

hours. They go out in silly little suits and run marathon heats before breakfast”. So far
as eating habits of such people are concerned, the writer says that they “won’t eat meat
because it has too much nitrogen. They won’t eat fruit because it hasn’t any”. Similarly,
they “won’t drink water out of water tap…… they won’t milk out of a glass”.

So far as breathing in fresh air is concerned, the writer advises us to “get up at

ten-thirty” If “the office opens at eleven” and to “take your chance on ozone. There isn’t
any such thing

The writer is very much exaggerating about the germs. He advises that if “you see
bacilli, walk right up to it, and look it in the eye…. As a matter of fact, a bacillus is
perfectly quiet and harmless if you are not afraid of it. Speak to it…. it will understand.”
Then he goes on to tell a superb exaggeration about a bacilli named “Fido” or Robert”
that had become his close friend once. Those bacilli “would come and lie at my feet
while I was working. I never knew a more affectionate companion, and when it was run
over by an automobile, I buried it in the garden with genuine sorrow.” It is superb
exaggeration.

About ingredients of food, he says “don’t worry as to whether your food contains
starch, or albumen or gluten, or nitrogen. If you are damn fool enough to want these
things, go and buy them and eat all you want of them. Go to a laundry and get a bag of
starch, and eat things up with your food. There isn’t any nitrogen or phosphorus or
albumen in ordinary things to eat.” And if it is, we waste it before cooking. According to
him, fresh air “will keep for years”.

These are the examples of satirical exaggeration that show how Stephen Leacock
uses satire and exaggeration to create humour.
Q2. Leacock describes a health maniac as an obsessed person. How do people
become obsessed? Are obsessions always bad?

In “How to Live to be 200”, Leacock describes us humorously that some of the

young people are very serious about their health. They take extraordinary pains to build
their health. They get up early in the morning; take exercise in the fresh air and run a
race in the garden. They think that they can prolong their life if they lead a careful and
hard life. They are particular about their food habits. They are greatly afraid of germs.
They don’t drink from the water tap. They would not eat meal because it has too much
nitrogen. They would not eat fruit. They prefer album, starch and nitrogen to creamy
things and fats. The writer says that such people follow the wrong way. They are
obsessed with the idea of prolonging their life but they die an early death.

I think that every person is obsessed in one way or other. Every person follows
some ideas and he cannot compromise on it. Here are some reasons of people’s
obsession. First: when a person watches his follows that they have that facility, envy
stimulates him to get the same thing. This idea obsesses in his mind and he works to
get it. Second: every person desires to go ahead from others. He longs to take over the
others; due to this he becomes obsessed. Third: people become obsessed due to create a
particular status, fame, esteem in the society or in the eyes of others. He does so for his
respect. Fourth: obstinacy makes people obsessed. They make a thing the matter of life
and death and want to achieve it on every cost. Fifth: some people make the things
purpose of their lives. They want to get them by fair and unfair means. They consider,
without them, they will lose everything of life.

Some more reasons of people’s obsession are given: sixth: some people naturally
have inclination toward some ideas. Some ideas and things have been present in their
blood and heredity since their birth, due to this, they become obsessed. Seventh:
competition makes people obsessed. They long to compete with others and try to go
ahead from them. Eighth: some people are imaginative and introverted. They don’t share
their ideas and don’t talk with others. They live in imaginative world and find pleasure
in it. When they find pleasure in it, they don’t want to lose it. They try their best to
maintain this situation so that they may remain happy in the future and become
obsessed. Ninth: love makes people obsessed. When one loves or likes someone, he does
everything that makes his beloved happy. He becomes obsessed to keep happy his
beloved. Tenth: prize, reward, motivation and degree make people obsessed. They want
to achieve them on every cost. They want to make their name and improve themselves
by achieving them. Eleventh: family makes people obsessed because someone supports
a large family and for their better future, he had to follow some things. Twelfth:
economic condition is also reason of obsession. It compels people to adopt some ideas
and works which improve their condition.

A reading of the lesson throws light on the fact that people become obsessed due to one-
sided thinking. They become extremists in their attitude towards life. The do not
study life slowly and steadily. They are always in a hurry to draw conclusions from
the examples of others. They are not moderate and balanced in their thinking. Such
persons consider their point of view the only truth of life. The result is that they
follow that point of view passionately without knowing its good or bad points. Such
persons are bound to suffer a loss soon.

All obsessions are not always bad. There are certain good things in life which must be
followed blindly. Before following an idea passionately, we must be clear about its
goodness and correctness. All the reformers, poets and thinkers were obsessed with
one idea or the other and spread it in the world with full force. We can quote the
example of Quaid I Azam in this connection. He obsessed with the idea of creation of
Pakistan. He followed and Pakistan was translated into reality. We can say that all
obsessions are not always bad.

Obsession is mark of one’s individuality. It makes one separate and different from
others. By obsession, here is variety of thinking; working; living and of personalities.
Sometimes the Nation becomes obsessed. It follows one idea and progresses through
following it. This obsession makes their ideology culture and social norms; gives them
separate identification, recognition in the other Nations.

Obsession has its own indispensability and essentiality. It has lot of merits which drag
us in its favour. First: obsession develops confidence in a person. A person works
without fear of public-opinion. Second: obsessed person sticks to his goal and he
mobilizes all his abilities, capacities and qualities to achieve them. Third: obsession
teaches regularity, punctuality, continuity and steadfastness. Obsessed person works
without break-up to take results as soon as possible. Fourth: obsession develops
competition among people. They have craze to go ahead and take over others,
therefore, they work laboriously and society progresses. Fifth: obsession leads a
person toward single goal or direction in life. Obsessed person sets his objectives
destinations and aims of life. He does not digress from it and succeed. Sixth:
 obsession develops sense of responsibility and obligation in a person. He cannot sit
comfortably and satisfactory unless he achieves his goals. Seventh: obsession
develops power of decision making in a person. He decides quickly and sticks to it;
becomes bold and courageous. Eighth: obsession also develops optimism, positivity
and hope in a person. He believes that he will succeed one-day; tries repeatedly and
succeed. Ninth: obsessed person has his own viewpoint about things. He makes his
point of view by his observation and experience. Tenth: obsession brings clarity.
Obsessed person becomes clear about his aim, direction and goals.

Instead of all demerits, obsession is not always bad, because it has its own importance,
essentiality and indispensability. It develops competition, power of decision-making,
regularity, single direction of life, set goals of life, optimism and point of view in a
person. Obsession is necessary sometime to lead life. We should follow it.

Q3. Which is more important, to enjoy life’s pleasure or to sacrifice some of them
to keep physically fit? Are these two goals necessarily incompatible?

Life is a very sacred trust. It is to be lived as well as to be enjoyed. Keeping physically fit
is an important thing. One can only do one’s normal duties of life in a satisfactory
manner if one is healthy enough. A sick person cannot perform even the smallest
duties. Enjoyment and pleasure both can be achieved at the same time. One should
neither be obsessed with enjoyment of life nor with physical fitness. One should
adopt the middle way. One could keep regular hours of eating and drinking as well as
of exercises. But excess of everything is bad. The only desirable thing is a beautiful
and reasonable mixture of health and enjoyment of life and its achievement is not at
all impossible.

one should live life of moderation; should restrain in the selection of one’s food and
show moderation in ones habits; should enjoy pleasures of life without worrying
whether they leave a bad effect on one’s life or not. A very careful and painful life
cannot guarantee long life. One should eat good food without doubt of its chemical
reactions. One should eradicate the dread of germs.

Mr.Jiggins type of obsession about health is not reasonable at all. He used to go to sleep
at midnight and rise up at very odd hours. And all the day around, he would go on
doing one or the other exercise. He would always be over careful in eating and
drinking. He could not enjoy life at all. He died carelessly at normal age. Our
 youngsters, now a day, do diet to make them smart, slim and attractive; use
medicine to lessen their burden and weight. They become so slim that a puff of wind
can blow them with it. They deteriorate their health and fitness. They also don’t enjoy
the pleasure of life. They neither stand in one way nor other. There is another group
which believes in the motto of eats, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Leacock
does not believe in blind pleasure and enjoyment. A life of enjoyment and pleasure
seeking can also rob us our health. One should enjoy life’s pleasure as well as
sacrifice some of them to keep physically fit.

Additional Reading- Organic Farming:

Summary

The article "Organic Farming Gets a Bad Rap: Why It Shouldn't" by Raymond Auerbach
argues that organic farming is actually a better choice for both the planet and people.
First, it's good for the soil because it uses compost, which helps the ground hold water
and nutrients. This way, plants grow better and the soil stays healthy.

Organic farming also supports good bacteria and earthworms in the soil. These
creatures make the soil rich and keep harmful plant diseases away. For a long time,
organic farmers have been saying that healthy soil is the key to good farming.

The article also fights against the wrong ideas some people have about organic farming.
Some say it can't make enough food to feed everyone and that it uses too much energy.
But actually, organic farms are productive and cost less to run. They might use more
land, but the quality of the food is better. In Africa, for example, switching to organic
farming has even doubled or tripled the amount of food produced in some places. The
article also talks about organic farming in Uganda. It's become a big business, making
up about a quarter of the country's agricultural exports. South Africa, however, is
behind because it still uses lots of chemicals in farming.

Then, the article lists seven reasons why organic farming is different and better:

◆ Less chemicals: Organic food is grown without harmful sprays.

◆ Quality check: Organic farms are checked regularly to make sure they follow the
rules.
◆ Better food: Organic food has more good stuff like vitamins and less bad stuff like
nitrates.
◆ Good for animals: Animals on organic farms live better lives.
 ◆ Supports local markets: People like to buy directly from local organic farmers.
◆ Helps local economy: Money stays in the community when you buy organic.
◆ Sustainable: Organic farming is better for the earth in the long run.

Conclusion: The article says we have a choice. We can either pay a bit more for
healthier, organic d now or pay a lot more later for problems like bad health and a
damaged planet.

What criticisms does the author raise about agriculture in South Africa?

Answer: Raymond Auerbach is a researcher, author, and advocate in the field of organic
farming understand and promote organic farming methods. He believes that these
methods are not only with a strong focus on environmentally friendly agriculture,
Raymond has greatly contributed to environmentally friendly but also capable of
producing nutritious and high-quality food.

The author raises many criticisms about agriculture in South Africa. He points out that
the country has a highly concentrated agriculture sector. Just 10,000 farmers are
responsible for 80% of South Africa's food sales. Conventional farmers still use large
quantities of chemical fertilizers and The author raises many criticisms about
agriculture in South Africa. He points out that the poisons, as well as genetically
engineered seeds and animal antibiotics with growth hormones.

This high level of concentration also means that biodiversity on farms has
suffered. Today, 90% of South Africa's food energy and protein come from only 15 plant
species and eight animal species These criticisms depicts a concentrated agricultural
system that lacks diversity and relies heavily on chemical fertilizers inputs, contrasting
sharply with the principles of organic farming that the author advocates.

Conclusion: Organic farming is a way of farming that cares for the environment and
helps plants grow in a healthy way. By using various techniques, it supports the soil
and fights diseases. Organic farming is more than just a trend; it's an environmentally
friendly method that benefits both the earth and the people.

List three ways in which organic farming is good for (a) society, and (b) the
environment.
Answer: Raymond Auerbach is a researcher, author, and advocate in the field of organic
farming. With a strong focus on environmentally friendly agriculture, Raymond has
greatly contributed to understand and promote organic farming methods. He believes
that these methods are not only environmentally friendly but also capable of
producing nutritious and high-quality food.

Organic farming Good for Society

◆ High-Quality: Organic farming needs precise annual inspections and it must

meet international standards for product certification, providing assurance to
customers that they are purchasing healthy and sustainably produced food.
◆ Animal Welfare and Social Justice : Organic policies demand humane treatment
of animals, allowing them to carry out their natural behaviours and also ensure
fair treatment for workers on the farms.
◆ Local Economy Benefits: Natural farming helps industries, local farmers and
retailers by circulating resources locally and respecting local delicacies by
forming as part of sustainable community investment method.

Organic Farming Good for Environment:

◆ Enhanced Soil Health: Organic farming practices, such as the use of colloidal
humus, improve soil biology, keep moisture and plant nutrients available and
enhance soil health that is resilient and productive.
◆ Reduction in Chemical Use: Organic farming avoids using large quantities of
chemical fertilisers, poisons and genetically engineered seeds, reducing the
potential for water and soil pollution.
◆ Sustainable food systems: Organic farming contributes to the development of
sustainable food system. The principles of health care, fairness and ecology are
respected. The hidden costs of poison, pollution, waste water and fuel can be
avoided.

Conclusion: Organic farming is a way of farming that cares for the environment
and helps plants grow in a healthy way. By using various techniques, it supports the
soil and fights diseases. Organic farming is more than just a trend; it's an
environmentally friendly method that benefits both the earth and the people.

Unit 3- Poem

La Belle de Sans Merci by John Keats:

‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ (‘the beautiful lady without mercy’) is one of John Keats’s
best-loved and most widely anthologised poems; after his odes, it may well be his
most famous.

Short Summary:

An unidentified speaker asks a knight what afflicts him. The knight is pale, haggard,
and obviously dying. "And on thy cheeks a fading rose / Fast withereth too — ." The
knight answers that he met a beautiful lady, "a faery's child" who had looked at him
as if she loved him. When he set her on his horse, she led him to her cave. There she
had sung him to sleep. In his sleep he had nightmarish dreams. Pale kings, princes,
and warriors told him that he had been enslaved by a beautiful but cruel lady. When
he awoke, the lady was gone and he was lying on a cold hillside.

Detailed Summary:

‘La Belle Dame sans Merci.’ ‘The woman is beautiful, but merciless.’ Keats’s title,
which he got from a 15th-century courtly love poem by Alain Chartier (La Belle Dame
sans Mercy), provides a clue to the poem’s plot: in summary,the poem begins with the
speaker asking a knight what’s wrong – this knight-at-arms is on his own, looking pale
as he loiters on a hillside.

This knight-at-arms has a lily-white forehead (i.e. he’s pale), and a rose-coloured
cheek. But symbolically, this rose is withering: love has gone rotten.

It’s at this point that the voice in the poem shifts from this first speaker – the one
questioning the knight about what’s up with him – to the knight-at-arms himself. The
knight then tells us his story: he met a beautiful lady in the meadows, who the knight
believes was the child of a faery – there was something fey or supernatural and
otherworldly about this woman. She had wild eyes, which imply an unpredictability in
her nature.

The knight tells his interlocutor how he was inspired to shower this ‘faery’s child’
with gifts: a garland or wreath for her head, bracelets for her wrists, and a sweet-
smelling girdle for her waist. The woman looks as though she loves these gifts, and
moans sweetly. The knight puts the lady up on his horse and rides all day without
taking his eyes off her – not a pursuit we’d recommend when riding a horse. As the lady
delicately rides his horse side-saddle, as befits a lady, she sings a ‘faery’s song’.
 As if to complement the three gifts (garland, bracelets, ‘zone’ or girdle) the knight
gave her, the belle dame sans merci gives the knight three sweet gifts: sweet relish, wild
honey, and manna-dew (implying something almost divine: ‘manna’ was the foodstuff
that fell from heaven in the Old Testament). In a strange language, the lady tells the
knight she loves him. She takes him to her Elfin grotto, where she proceeds to weep and
sigh; the knight silences her with four kisses.

The lady, in turn, silences the knight by lulling him to sleep – presumably with
another ‘faery’s song’ – and the knight dreams of men, pale kings and princes, crying
that ‘La belle dame sans merci’ has him enthralled or enslaved.

In the evening twilight, the knight sees the starved lips of these men – men who
have presumably also been enthralled or bewitched by such a belle dame sans merci –
as they try to warn him, and then the knight awakens and finds himself alone on the
hillside where the poem’s original speaker encountered him. And that’s how he ended
up here, alone and palely loitering.

Short Analysis

"La Belle Dame sans Merci" is a ballad, a medieval genre revived by the romantic poets.
Keats uses the so-called ballad stanza, a quatrain in alternating iambic tetrameter
and trimeter lines. The shortening of the fourth line in each stanza of Keats' poem
makes the stanza seem a self-contained unit, gives the ballad a deliberate and slow
movement, and is pleasing to the ear. Keats uses a number of the stylistic
characteristics of the ballad, such as simplicity of language, repetition, and absence
of details; like some of the old ballads, it deals with the supernatural. Keats'
economical manner of telling a story in "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is the direct
opposite of his lavish manner in The Eve of St. Agnes. Part of the fascination exerted
by the poem comes from Keats' use of understatement.

Keats sets his simple story of love and death in a bleak wintry landscape that is
appropriate to it: "The sedge has wither'd from the lake / And no birds sing!" The
repetition of these two lines, with minor variations, as the concluding lines of the poem
emphasizes the fate of the unfortunate knight and neatly encloses the poem in a frame
by bringing it back to its beginning.

In keeping with the ballad tradition, Keats does not identify his questioner, or the
knight, or the destructively beautiful lady. What Keats does not include in his poem
contributes as much to it in arousing the reader's imagination as what he puts into it.
La belle dame sans merci, the beautiful lady without pity, is a femme fatale, a Circe like
figure who attracts lovers only to destroy them by her supernatural powers. She
destroys because it is her nature to destroy. Keats could have found patterns for his
"faery's child" in folk mythology, classical literature, Renaissance poetry, or the medieval
ballad. With a few skillful touches, he creates a woman who is at once beautiful,
erotically attractive, fascinating, and deadly. Some readers see the poem as Keats'
personal rebellion against the pains of love. In his letters and in some of his poems, he
reveals that he did experience the pains, as well as the pleasures, of love and that he
resented the pains, particularly the loss of freedom that came with falling in love.
However, the ballad is a very objective form, and it may be best to read "La Belle Dame
sans Merci" as pure story and no more. How Keats felt about his love for Fanny Brawne
we can discover in the several poems he addressed to her, as well as in his letters.

Detailed Analysis:

‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ is a variation on the ballad, a poetic form that was
popular – and ‘popular’ in the true sense of the word, being a form sung and enjoyed by
the common people, many of whom could neither read nor write – during the Middle
Ages, which provides the poem with its (somewhat idealised) landscape and detail.

Ballads were usually written in a particular metre, known simply as ‘ballad

metre’: four-line stanzas rhymed abcb comprising alternating lines of iambic tetrameter
and trimeter (i.e. four iambic feet in the first and third lines, three iambic feet in the
second and fourth lines). However, Keats departs slightly from this strict form, retaining
the abcb rhyme scheme but swapping the tetrameter-trimeter-tetrameter-trimeter
pattern for one of three tetrameters followed by a concluding line of dimeter (two feet).

This means the last line of every stanza is half the length of the previous three
lines, pulling us up short – much as the knight has been thwarted or curtailed in his
romantic quest, deserted by the woman he fell in love with.

Ballads usually tell a story. And ballads are often cyclical in that the final stanza
takes us back to the first stanza. We find all of these features in ‘La Belle Dame sans
Merci’, with the action beginning on the cold hillside with the knight-at-arms, and
coming back to this place at the end of the poem, after he has told us (or his
interlocutor) how he came to be there.

In other words, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ recalls the Middle Ages not just in its
content – knights, faeries, and the like – but in its very form.
 There’s a sense of reciprocity between the knight and the lady, but how equal are
they? She is the one who is given star billing in the poem’s title, of course, suggesting
that the knight is merely the passive observer, used by her, yet another victim to fall
under the spell of the beautiful woman without mercy.

Running against this, however, is the to-and-fro of the action: the knight gives the
lady three gifts, and she responds with three gifts for him. He silences her sighs with
kisses, before she silences him in sleep by singing him a lullaby.

The gifts themselves are also significant. Recall how the knight makes the lady a
garland for her head, bracelets for her wrists, and a ‘fragrant zone’ or girdle for her
waist. All three of these things are circular, used to enclose the woman as if the man is
trying to keep her – and perhaps keep her under control. A fruitless endeavour, given
those wild eyes she has.

They are also things used to adorn her, while the three corresponding gifts the
lady makes to the knight – the relish, honey, and manna-dew – are all food-related. (The
way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, even in a John Keats poem.)

And whether she has even been won over by his gifts remains unknowable for
sure. The line ‘She looked at me as she did love’ implies that she loves them, and
perhaps even him, but the wording of ‘as she did love’ hovers delicately between two
quite different meanings: it could mean ‘because she did love’ or ‘as if she did love’, i.e.
‘but in reality, she didn’t; she only looked as if she did’.

And love what? The verb here is left as an intransitive one, without an object,
allowing us to guess whether she loves him or whether she merely loves the garland and
bracelet he’s fashioned for her (if she even loves them or merely appears to).

Sure enough, we learn later that she loves him truly: she tells him plainly enough.
Or does she? She speaks the words ‘I love thee true’, but ‘in language strange’
(presumably her own faery language), and this information is being related to us by the
knight, who may have been hearing what he wanted to hear. (She swore she loved me,
honest, she just came out and said it: ‘I love thee true.’) Whether he can even speak or
understand her ‘language strange’ remains unknown, but the fact that he describes it
as a ‘strange’ language invites reasonable doubt.

In short, then, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ is a fascinating poem because of its
unreliability and what it refuses to tell us. We have a mystified speaker relating a story
to us which he has heard from a (less-than-impartial) knight who has apparently come
under the spell of the ‘beautiful lady without mercy’. John Keats famously advocated
something he called ‘Negative Capability’: namely, as Keats himself said, ‘when a man is
capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after
fact and reason.’

‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’ inspires such negative capability within us as readers.
We cannot arrive at a neat analysis of this bewitching poem: like the lady herself, the
strange story is beautiful not least because it remains only half-understood.

UNIT 3- Prose: ILYAS by Leo Tolstoy

Summary: From Sia

Ilyas was a man who started from scratch. He was poor but determined to
make a better life for himself and his wife. Through hard work and sacrifice, they
both managed to accumulate a lot of wealth. Their house was big, they had many
animals, and their land was productive. Everyone around Ilyas knew him for his
generosity and the abundance he shared. Life seemed perfect, but then problems
started creeping in.

His newfound wealth became a source of tension and unhappiness. His kids
had a hard time. One of them even died, and the other just left, wanting nothing to
do with the family anymore. The bad luck didn't stop there. Diseases affected his
livestock, ruining them. His fields had poor harvests, and some people even stole
from him. As he grew older, all that he had built crumbled away, leaving him with
nothing.

At this point in his life, when he was penniless and in his twilight years, his
neighbour, a kind man named Muhammad-Shah, offered a helping hand.
Muhammad-Shah gave Ilyás and his wife a place to live and some simple work to do.
What happened next was astonishing: They found themselves feeling happier than
they ever did when they were rich.

When guests came to Muhammad-Shah's house, they were taken aback to

hear from Ilyás and his wife. The couple openly shared that they were actually
happier now in their poor state than when they were wealthy. This simpler life
allowed them room to breathe. They could talk, ponder about life and its bigger
meaning, and also have time for prayer. Their earlier lives, although filled with
material riches, never allowed them this luxury.

Listening to them, the guests started to think deeply about what really makes
a person happy. It was a revelation for many that contentment and peace could be
found in such simplicity, without the clutter of material wealth. They began to
understand that true happiness isn't about the size of your house or the number of
your possessions. Instead, it often resides in a simpler, stress-free life that leaves
room for meaningful conversations, self-reflection, and spiritual well-being.

Conclusion: This story shows that happiness isn't always about money or
wealth. Sometimes, you find true happiness when you focus on the simple,
meaningful things in life.

Q1. Narrate in your own words the ups and downs in the lives of Ilyas and
Sham-Shemagi.

Leo Tolstoy, a Russian writer, was one of the most famous and influential
authors in history. He wrote numerous short stories and essays. His thoughts on
nonviolent resistance have influenced many important figures, including Mahatma
Gandhi. Ilyás and Sham-Shemagi's lives were characterised by significant ups and
downs that marked different phases of their existence.

In the beginning, Ilyás inherited a small amount of property from his father,
consisting of only seven mares, two cows, and about twenty sheep. Despite this
modest start, Ilyás was a diligent worker, and he and his wife, Sham-Shemagi,
worked tirelessly from morning to night. They managed their resources well, and
their possessions increased year by year.

The couple's hard work led them to great wealth. By the end of thirty-five
years, Пlyás had acquired 200 horses, 150 heads of cattle, and 1,200 sheep. Hired
labourers took care of his flocks and herds, and his wealth was so large that
everyone in the district respected him. Visitors from afar would come, and Ilyás
would generously slaughter sheep or even a horse to feed them. His hospitality was
renowned, and his family prospered.

However, this prosperity came with challenges. Ilyás's children became

spoiled; one son died in a quarrel, and another neglected to obey his father, leading
to a division of property that reduced Ilyás's wealth. Tragedy struck again with a
disease among the sheep, a bad harvest, and the loss of his best herd of horses to
the Kirghiz, all of which greatly diminished his property. These misfortunes marked
the beginning of a downward spiral in Ilyás's life. His wealth decreased rapidly, and
by the time he was seventy, he had to sell almost everything he owned. He and his
wife found themselves facing extreme poverty.

Their neighbour, Muhammad-Shah, took pity on them and invited the old
couple to live with him, offering them work as labourers. This marked a new phase
in their lives, one of humility and service. The change was difficult at first, but they
soon found happiness in their simple existence. They worked as much as their
strength allowed, serving their master faithfully. Strangely, this seemingly low point
in their lives brought them happiness they hadn't experienced before. They had time
to talk and pray. They no longer had to worry about wealth.

Conclusion: Ilyás and Sham-Shemagi's story shows that life's happiness is

not about having lots of money or things. They were rich and then became poor, but
they found real joy in living simply, loving each other, and having a strong
connection to their faith.

Analysis:

In Ilyas by Leo Tolstoy we have the theme of happiness, materialism,

generosity, faith, loss and gratitude. Taken from his ‘Walk in the Light and Twenty-
Three Tales’ collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed
narrator and after reading the story the reader realizes that Tolstoy may be exploring
the theme of happiness. Ilyas and his wife have found happiness in the simple
things in life. Where previously they were wealthy and chasing happiness, it is only
when they become labourers do they find happiness. No longer do they have to worry
about what they have when the reality is they have everything they need while
working for Muhammad-Shah. A man who has generously offered Ilyas and his wife
employment. What is interesting about Muhammad-Shah is the fact that he offers
work to Ilyas and his wife because he pities them. He cannot imagine that they could
be happy as labourers.

This may be significant as Tolstoy may be suggesting that Muhammad-Shah

and his guests could learn something from Ilyas and his wife. Though they do find it
extraordinary that Ilyas could be happy. If anything the reader suspects that
material gain is not important when it comes to happiness. Simple things like
dialogue with the ones you love and working to the best of your ability are more
important than material possessions. Society however does not look at life this way.
Ilyas’ neighbours, when he was wealthy, thought he and his family must be happy
because they were so rich. It is as though material possessions dictate what makes a
person happy. It is also interesting that Ilyas does not have the support of his
children. Symbolically this could suggest that despite all his wealth Ilyas had really
not lived a happy life.

There may be other symbolism in the story which might be important. The
drinking of kumiss by each character may suggest that there is no real division or
divide between people. Everybody is the same regardless of their financial status.
Though ironically Muhammad-Shah and his guests do not really know this. They
would not consider Ilyas or his wife to have lives that they themselves would like to
live. Ilyas’s early prosperity; wherein he had so much livestock, but lacked
happiness could symbolically suggest that with material gain comes a distancing
between man (or woman) and God. Something that Ilyas and his wife fully
understand. Though some critics might disagree.

The end of the story is interesting as it would appear as though Ilyas and his
wife’s message on happiness has gotten through to Muhammad-Shah and his
guests. Though it is noticeable that the message is only clear when the Mullah says
that Ilyas has spoken the truth. It is through loss that Ilyas has really found
happiness. He had previously pursued a life wherein he thought that material
possession would bring him happiness. It is only when he has lost everything does
Ilyas and his wife realize that simple things can make you a happier person. It might
also be worth noting that Ilyas is grateful for the opportunities he has while working
for Muhammad-Shah. He does not appear to have any regrets about his life. Though
others might not be able to continue to move forward like Ilyas and his wife.

Unit 3 Additional Reading:

Five Space Exploration Missions to Look Out for in 2023

Summary

In 2023, the world is bracing for a year of unprecedented

milestones in space exploration potentially ushering in a new golden age
reminiscent of the past. Five pivotal missions are on the horizon, each
groundbreaking in its own way and collectively changing how we interact
with space

Firstly, the European Space Agency (ESA) is launching the Jupiter

Icy Moons Explorer (Juice). This is no ordinary mission; its ultimate aim
is to study three of Jupiter's moons: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
These moons are not just balls of ice and rock; they potentially hold
subsurface oceans, which could have implications for our understanding
of life's existence elsewhere in the universe. The spacecraft will make its
long journey to Jupiter in 2031, with a specific focus on orbiting
Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is also making headlines with its

Starship project. The spacecraft, heralded as the most powerful launch
vehicle ever conceived, is set for its first orbital test flight. It's a
behemoth capable of carrying both humans and significant amounts of
cargo, setting the stage for future interplanetary travel and even
colonisation.

In tandem with Starship, SpaceX is also initiating the dearMoon

project. Unlike typical space missions carried out by professional
astronauts, dearMoon aims to send everyday people on a voyage around
the Moon. The timing of this mission depends on the success of
Starship's testing phases, but it promises to open a new chapter in
space tourism, democratizing access to outer space

NASA isn't left behind either; its OSIRIS-REx mission, which took
samples from the asteroid Bennu, is making its way back to Earth.
Scheduled to land in Utah on September 24, the spacecraft will bring
invaluable materials that could provide insights into the early solar
system and the building blocks of life.

Finally, India's private sector is making its mark with Skyroot

Aerospace. This Indian company plans to launch its first satellite using
3D-printed rockets, potentially revolutionizing the economics of space
travel by making it more affordable and faster.

Conclusion: 2023 is predicted to be a landmark year in space

exploration, with missions ranging from deep space studies to the
democratization of space travel. These endeavors don't just represent
technological leaps; they also challenge our perspectives on life, the
universe, and our place within it.