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Government of Tamilnadu
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e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Idioms and Phrases

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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

IDIOMS:

np
Idioms may be defined as expressions peculiar to a language. They play an
important part in all languages. Many verbs, when followed by various prepositions,
or adverbs, acquire an idiomatic sense.

1. a chance in a million -
2. two sides of the same coin -
e/t
either no chance at all or a very slim chance
two contrasting characters in the same
category
3. a million dollar question - a question with a much awaited and valuable

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4. as good as gold -
answer
very well behaved
/t.m
5. to cash in on - to take advantage
6. thirty pieces of silver - the money paid to Judas Iscariot for an act of
betrayal.
7. child’s play - a simple task for anyone to accomplish
8. a brain child - one’s original ideas
9. child-like - having the innocent and frank qualities of a
child
10. second childhood - old age
s:/

11. a Chip on Your Shoulder - Being angry about something that happened
in the past; a grudge
12. a Dime a Dozen - When something is extremely common and
simple to acquire.
13. a Piece of Cake - A task that is simple to complete; similar to
p

the common phrase "as easy as pie."

14. all greek to me - When something is incomprehensible due to
htt

complexity.
15. an arm and a leg - Something that is extremely expensive; an
idiom meaning the price paid was costly,
excessively so.
16. back to the drawing board - Similar to the phrase above, it means starting
over again from a previously failed attempt.
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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

17. barking up the wrong tree - To make a wrong assumption about

scg
something.
18. beating around the bush - Avoiding the main point; a common phrase
meaning a person is failing to get to the
bottom line.
19. beating a dead horse - Something that is seen as futile; a popular
saying used to describe how bringing up older
issues that have already been resolved is

np
pointless
20. between a rock and a hard - Being faced with two difficult choices; a Place
dilemma.
21. break the ice - Breaking down a social stiffness or
awkwardness.
e/t
22. burst your bubble - To ruin someone's happy moment or mood,
usually by telling them disappointing news or
information.
23. close but no cigar - Coming close to a successful outcome only to

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/t.m
24. cry over spilt milk - One shouldn't worry over things that have
already happenend and that cannot be
changed.
25. cry wolf - Lying; a common phrase meaning someone is
calling for help when it's not really needed.
26. curiosity killed the cat - An idiom meaning mind your own business,
as too much poking and prodding could lead
to harm.
s:/

27. cut the mustard - Meeting expectations; used as a way to

describe how someone has met the required
standards that were set.
28. cut to the chase - To get to the point, leaving out all of the
unnecessary details. Similar to popular
p

sayings such as "beating around the bush."

29. don’t count the chicken - Don’t rely on something you are not they
before hatch sure of.
htt

30. down to the wire - A tense situation where the outcome is

decided only in the last few seconds.

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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

scg
PHRASAL VERBS:
A phrase is a group of two or more words functioning as a meaningful unit
within a sentence or clause. A phrase is commonly characterized as
a grammatical unit at a level between a word and a clause.
takeover – assume charge
took off – left the ground
went about – did as a routine

np
went out – stopped, ended, or was not in existence
went on – continued without changing
act on – act according to an effect
act upto – act fully
act for – officiate
bear out
breakdown
–
–
confirm
e/t
fail lose composure health
break up – end
break in – enter illegally interrupt
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back up – support
/t.m
back out – quit
bring in – earn
bring on – produce
bring up – rear
call off – cancel
call for – require
call up – to calling
call down – reprimand
s:/

cut down – reduce

cut in – interrupt
cut off – stop
cut out – have talent
come in – arrive, be useful
p

come up – arise
come about – happen
htt

come across – find by chance

come round – change
come under – included
die out – stop existing
die away – decrease sound

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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

do for – serve the purpose

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do with – manage
do over – again
draw on – depend
draw up – write
draw back – retreat
drop in – informal visit

np
drop out – leave
fall in – collapse
fall out – quarrel
fall off – decrease
fall through – fail e/t
fall to – begin
fall behind – make less progress
fall back on – depend
get up – rise from bed

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get in – enter
/t.m
get off – leave
get through – succeed
get away – escape
give up – abandon/discontinue something
give in – surrender/yield
give away – distribute
go into – examine
go for – attack
s:/

go at – attack
go off – leave/proceed/explode
go ahead – continue/make progress
go without – manage without
go through – pass through
p

go back on – fail to keep promise

go down – believe
go ahead of – pass/take over
htt

go after – chase
go about – perform
go with – match
hand in – submit
hand on – transmit
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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

scg
hand over – transfer
hand down – give
hang on – hold
hang out – frequent
hold on – wait
hold up – delay
hold over – postpone

np
keep up – to keep something
keep away – to avoid going near
keep on – to continue
keep off – to avoid
knock out – stop working
knock down
see about
–
–
struck
deal with
e/t
see to – attend to

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set out
set in
–
–
start
begin
/t.m
set up – establish something before you do something
set apart – keep away
stand against – oppose
stand up for – defend/support
stand for – represent
stand upon – depend
set on – determined
set back – check progress
s:/

take down – write

take to – to start liking
take up – to continue
take for – mistake for
p

turn up – to be found
turn off – return
turn over – attend
htt

turn down – reject

wait on – wait for
wake up – awaken
watch out – be careful
work out – solve
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IDIOMS AND PHRASES

work off – dispose

scg
write down – record
write up – compose
lay out – arrange
lay down – establish
let in – allow to enter
let out – release

np
let down – disappoint
look after – take care of
look ahead – plan for future
look around – search
look for – search e/t
look into – make investigation
look on – regard as
make of – understand
make up – invent a story

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make off – escape/steal
/t.m
make up for – compensate
pass over – ignore
pass away – die
pass by – go by the side
pass on – give/die
pick up – increase/learn
pick out – select
pick on – single out
s:/

pull out – leave

pull up – critisize someone for doing
pull through – recover
put in – enter
put on – wear/add to
p

put up – erect/lodge
put off – postpone
put across – convey
htt

run to – reach an amount

run for – contest election
run over – hit with
run after – follow

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Government of Tamilnadu
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Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
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SYNONYMS

scg
Clambered - climbed with Forlorn - lonely
difficulty Battered - beaten out of shape
Paltry - unimportant Apparent - obvious/ easy to see

np
Petrified - motionless with fear Treasure - something very
Copious - plentiful, abundant valuable
Perplexity - confusion Porch - verandah
Disentangled - simplified, Mended - improved
unravelled e/t Master (verb) - to learn completely
Gratify - satisfy Unquenchable - cannot be satisfied
Gaol - prison Figure out - make out
Crusader - one who fights for a Articulate - express one’s
cause with thoughts or feelings

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determination in words
/t.m
Subjugation - suppression Vista - a view
Gin - trap Invidious - jealous
Culminated - reached the final Redress - compensation
stage Acquiescence - acceptance without
Consternation - feeling of anxiety protest
Breaches - openings Diligently - showing care and
Soliloquizing - speaking to oneself effort
Perpetrated - did something wrong Warped - distorte1d
s:/

Infamy - a bad and shocking Stuporous - dazed by shock

act or event Soaring - rising
Relinquish - give up Scramble - struggle
Impugn - oppose or resist Exodus - mass movement from
Mitigate - lessen one place
p

Beseech - earnestly ask for Stacked - arranged in piles

Confiscate - take or seize Swirling - moving around
Dazzling - brilliant quickly
htt

Emerge - come out from a Wading - walking through

hidden place water
Ragged - untidy Squabble - noisy quarrel
Wizened - looking dried up Maneuvered - moved skillfully
through age Deny - refuse
Alms - offerings Brutality - cruelty
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SYNONYMS

Congested - overcrowded Shudder - shiver

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Lavish - rich Impediments - obstacle
Sojourn - temporary stay Afflicted - troubled
Glide - move smoothly Ripple - wave
Gallop - to run Dormant - hidden
Secular - free of religion Reverence - great respect
Strategy - plan of work Replenish - to fill up again
Vanished - disappeared Yearning - longing

np
Glued - stuck Discernment - realisation
Composure - calm manner Inquisitive - curious
Avid - clean Procure - collect
Embodies - represents Approval - consent
Deterred - discouraged e/t Sublime - grand and great
Austere - simple and refined Chores - routine
Placid - quiet Trudging - walking slowly
Idyllic - peaceful Override - set aside
Hallmark - symbol Weary - tired

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Retaliate - to hurt someone Regretful - feeling sorry
/t.m
Shun - avoid Glen - a narrow valley
Scared - frightened Laborious - hard working
Resolve - determine Chuckled - laugh shyly
Stagger - unsteady movement Intricate - complicated
Segregate - separate Squirming - wriggling
Denuding - removing Respite - break
Refrain - stop doing from Siesta - sleep for a short while
Canopy - tree cover Glanced - looked
s:/

Eternal - last forever Daubed - smeared

Perils - danger Exquisite - refined
Futile - useless Dread - fear
Lofty - high Mumbled - muttered
Germinate - sprout Tattered - ragged
p

Banned - prohibited Gleamed - glowed

Grim - unattractive Faintly - indistinctly
Gashed - badly cut Bewildered - confused
htt

Beamed - smiled happily Mused - thought

Perturbed - worried Serenity - calmness
Attire - dress Bereft - lonely
Innate - natural Precinct - a boundary
Endeavour - attempt

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Government of Tamilnadu
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ANTONYMS

scg
Sturdy x weak Assembled x dispersed

np
Shrouded x uncovered Locked x opened
Frailty x strength Losing x winning
Radically x moderately Strange x Common
Domineering x submissive Commence x conclude
Marvelous x ordinary Panicked
e/t x calmed
Precisely x vaguely Pride x humility
Impugn x support Drought x flood
Inability x ability Unique x common
Rare x common Freedom x bondage

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Wide
Clean
x
x
narrow
dirty
Prudence
Unruly
x
x
carelessness
disciplined
/t.m

Foreign x native Success x failure

Sweet x bitter Inhale x exhale
Selfish x generous Complicated x simple
Powerful x weak Discourage x encourage
Fascinate x bore Hastily x leisurely
Gentle x rough Inquisitive x incurious
Wild x fame Particular x common
Balance x imbalance Nourished x malnourished
s:/

Dangerous x safe Fortunate x unfortunate

Summer x winter Healthy x unhealthy
Inward x outward Preserve x destroy
p
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Government of Tamilnadu
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Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
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Topic : Prefix and Suffix

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PREFIX AND SUFFIX

scg
PREFIX

a - atheist, aglow ex - exterminate

mis - misuse, misspell re - reorganise

np
im - immortal, immobile over - overlook
hyper - hypersensitive semi - semicircle
uni - uniform, unilateral poly - polysyllabic
il - illogical tele - telephone
un - unwind, unaware under - underestimate
de - decode, defame
e/t inter
pro
-
-
international
proclaim
mal - malnutrition anti - antinational
en - enable, entrust sub - submarine
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co - cooperate, coexist out - outcast
/t.m
dis - dislike micro - microbiology

SUFFIX

ful - scornful, doubtful graph - autograph

ness - happiness ship - friendship
ment - appointment ly - hopefully, sadly
ish - childish, reddish y - rocky, muddy
s:/

cracy - democracy ous - dangerous

eer - auctioneer ism - fanaticism
able - honourable graphy - biography,photography,
ster - youngster logy - psychology , zoology
ward - downward ling - duckling, hireling
p

ist - artist let - booklet, leaflet, eaglet

less - cordless, hopeless ette - novelette
hood - adulthood ise - familiarise, popularise.
htt

like - childlike

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Topic : Article

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ARTICLE

scg
Indefinite Articles ‘A’/ ‘An’
Article A or An is used before a singular noun. The choice between A or An is
determined by the first sound of pronunciation (not by the letter of alphabet even it
may be A, E, I, O, U) of the noun. If it is pronounced with vowel sound, use An

np
otherwise A.
The indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’ means ‘one’ and is used only with
singular countable nouns.

Examples
(a) He is a European. (B) He is an MLA

Usage of ‘A’:
e/t
 Before a word beginning with a consonant
Eg: a kettle, a woman, a fan, a chair
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 Before a word that begins with a vowel letter but with a consonant sound
/t.m
Eg: a university, a European, a one- eyed man
 Before a singular countable noun when it is mentioned for the frist time
Eg: He bought a book
 With an expression of quantity
Eg: a lot of time, a dozen oranges, a great deal of money
 With certain numbers
Eg: a thousand rupee note, a thousand times
 Before half and when half follows a whole number
s:/

Eg: half a litre, two and a half kilos

 Before a stressed ‘h’
Eg: a hotel, a hostel, a history student
Usage of ‘AN’
 In front of singular noun that starts with the vowel sound (the sounds of a, e, i,
p

o, u)
Eg: an orange, an apple, an egg, an ink pot
htt

 Before a mute ‘h’

Eg: an honest man, an hour
 Before individual letters spoken with a vowel sound (f, h, l, m, n, r, s x)
Eg: an FIR, an HMT watch, an LIC agent, an MBA, an MP, an NOC.

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ARTICLE

Definite Article ‘The’

scg
The definite article ‘the’ refers to a particular person or thing and can be
used with both singular and plural nouns and also with uncountable nouns
Usage of “The“
 While speaking of a particular person or thing or one already referred to.
Example: She found a purse. The purse contained a golden chain. The
golden chain is very precious.
 ‘The’ is used with the names of renowned building, gulf, river, ocean, sea etc.

np
Example: The Taj Mahal, The Persian Gulf, The Char Minar, The
Pacific, The Ganga, The Red Sea, The Yamuna, The Thames.
 When a singular noun is meant to represent a whole category / class
Example: the dog is a faithful animal. (Or we can say Dogs are faithful
animals)
e/t
 ‘The’ is placed only before the plural names of islands and the mountain
ranges, chains of mountains, plural names of countries. Example the
Netherlands, the Phillipines, The Bahamas, The Laccadives islands, The
Himalayas, The Alps
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 ‘The, is used before the names of countries but if the name of a country
/t.m
contains word like; States, Kingdom, Republic, we use ‘the’ before them. E.G.,
The USA, The Ussr, the UK. The Republic of Ireland, the Domonican
Republic.
 ‘The’ is used before names consisting of adjective + noun (provided the
adjective is not East /West etc.)
 ‘The’ is also used before names consisting of noun + of + noun. Example: The
Cape of Good Hope, The Boy of Biscay, The gulf of Mexico.
 ‘The’ is used before superlatives. Example: She is most beautiful girl in our
s:/

college.
 Before such common nouns that are names of things unique of their kind.
Example: The Sun, The Earth, The Sky, The World, The Sea, The
Environment.
Examples
p

(a) The Sky is dark and the Moon is shining.

(b) The Sea seems calm today.
htt

(i) In following cases we do not use ‘The’ before ‘Sea’.

(a) We go to sea as sailors.
(b) He is at sea now-a-days. (on a voyage)

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ARTICLE

(ii) We can use ‘the’ before ‘Space’ if it means place.

scg
He tried to park his car there but the space was too small.
But if it means area beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, do not use ‘the’ before it.
Example: There are lakhs of stars in space.
 ‘The’ is used before the name of persons (Family) in plural.
Example: The Raymonds, The Ambanis, The Birlas
 Before the names of important and renowned books.

np
Examples:
(a) The Kuran (b) The Ramayana (c) The Mahabharata
But we say – Homer’s Illiad, Valmiki’s Ramayana, Jaidev’s Geet Govind.
 Before musical instruments and name of inventions.
Examples e/t
(a) He can play the flute/the tabla/the harmonium well.
(b) Who invented the telephone?
 Before terms referring Nationality or Community.
Example: The Indian, The French, The American, The English
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 Before a proper noun, only when it is qualified by an adjective.
/t.m
Example: The great Caesar, The immortal Shakespeare, The brave Napoleon.

 With ordinals like.

Examples:
(a) He was the first man to stand up.
(b) The sixth chapter of this book is very interesting.
First, Second, third ________ are called ordinals.
One, Two, Three ________ are called cardinals.
s:/

 When a person being referred by his designation, ‘the’ is used.

The Chairman, The Director, The President, The Chancellor.
Example: All financial decisions will be taken by the Chairman.
p

 When the thing referred is understood.

Examples:
htt

(a) Kindly return the book. (That I gave you)

(b) Can you turn off the light? (The light in the room).

 Before an adjective, when the noun represents a class of persons.

Examples:
(a) The young will support the motion.
(b) The poor can be trusted. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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ARTICLE

 When two or more nouns refers to one person, put ‘the’ before the first noun

scg
only. If both the nouns refer two different persons or things, ‘the’ is used before
both of them.
Examples:
(a) The producer and financer was present there. (Producer and financer is
one person)
(b) The producer and the financer were present there. (Producer and financer
are two different persons)

np
 Before a common noun to give it the meaning of an abstract noun.
Examples
(a) The moralist in Gandhi, revolted against the injustice.
(b) The judge in her prevailed upon the wife and she sentenced her husband
to prison.
e/t
 ‘The’ is used before name of Newspaper, Community, Political Party, Historical

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event, Train, Ship, Aeroplane etc.
/t.m

 ‘The’ is used as an adverb with a comparative.

Examples:
(a) The more she gets the more she demands.
(b) The sooner you complete the better it is.

 ‘The’ is used before comparative degree being used for selection or comparison.
Examples:
s:/

(a) He is the stronger of the two.

(b) This is the better of the two novels.

 ‘The’ is used in some phrases also.

Examples:
p

(a) What is the matter?

(b) Come to the point.
htt

(c) She came to the rescue.

(d) Keep to the left.
(e) The market is hot with the rumour.
(f) He is in the wrong.
In phrases; Go to the cinema, Go to the theatre ‘the’ used.
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ARTICLE

Examples:

scg
(a) He went to the cinema yesterday.
(b) She is going to the theatre.

 Before name of things single in kind; Hell, Heaven, God, Parliament, Paradise
(But ‘The Pope’, ‘The Devil’ are exceptions)
Examples: (a) He was condemned to hell.

np
(b) The Pope delivered a religious speech.
 Before Abstract Nouns that express qualities, state, feeling, actions
Examples: (a) Honesty is the best policy.
(b) Virtue is its own reward.
 When abstract nouns, instead of referring qualities, express person or things
e/t
possessing such qualities or express qualities of definite objects. They are
preceded by Article.
Examples:
(a) She possesses the cunningness of a fox. (Here cunningness refers the

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quality of an object that is ‘fox’)
/t.m
(b) He is the justice of peace. (‘Justice’ stands for judge).

Zero Article Position

Students should learn the following points carefully avoid the wrong use of articles.
Article is omitted in following cases.
 Before a Proper Noun.
Example: Akbar was a great king.
s:/

When an ‘Article’ is used before a proper noun, it become common noun.

Examples:
(a) Mumbai is the Manchester of India.
(b) This man is a second Sachin.
p

 Before a Common Noun, used in its widest sense

Examples:
htt

(a) Man is mortal (b) what kind of bird it is?

 Before Plural Nouns referring a class in a ge—sense

Examples:
(a) Bankers are generally honest.
(b) Lawyers are generally intelligent.
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ARTICLE

 Before name of regular meals.

scg
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Example: The dinner hosted by the queen was superb.

 Before names of ‘Languages’ or ‘Colours’. Examples:

(a) 1 do not know ‘Hindi’ but know ‘English’.
(b) I like red and blue colours.

np
 Before names of diseases like Fever, Cholera, Consumption etc.
(But if the names of diseases are plural in their form, the article is generally
used as, the measles, the mumps).
 Before names of public institutions, (Church, School, University, Prison,
e/t
Hospital, Court, etc.) if they are used, for the purpose they exist rather than
actual building.
Example: He went to Church. (It means he went to church for saying his
prayer)

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He went to the church and from there he took a bus. (Means thast he went to
/t.m
the place where building of the church is situated)

 Before certain titles and names indicating the relationship.

Emperor Ashoka, President Bush, Dewan Bahadur.
Examples
(a) Prince Charles is Queen Elizabeth’s son.
(b) President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
(c) Dr.Watson was ‘Sherlock Holmes’ friend.
s:/

(d) He is duke of York.

(But, the Queen of England, the Pope are exceptions)

 Before Material Nouns.

p

Examples:
(a) Iron is a hard metal.
(b) Silver is a semi-precious metal.
htt

 When material nouns express things instead of matter of which they are made
they are representing ‘Common noun’, So they can be preceded by the Article.
Examples:
(a) He threw a stone on the cow.
(b) She threw a stick at the pig.
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ARTICLE

 Before a noun following the expression ‘kind of’’

scg
Examples
(a) What kind of girl is she?
(b) What kind of boy is he?

 In certain phrases.
To take breath, to set sail, to leave school, to lay siege, to catch fire, at home, in

np
hand, at school, by water, at Sunset, on Earth, by land, by train, by car, on
demand, in debt, in jest etc.

 Before nouns, which are plural in their meanings, though singular in form i.e.,
Cattle, gentry, furniture, scenery, advice, information.
e/t
 When two or more descriptive adjectives qualify the same noun and adjectives
are connected by ‘and’ the article is used before the first adjective only.
Example: This is a Hindi and English Dictionary. (Here dictionary is one)

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 Article is omitted after the possessive case.
/t.m
Example: His brother’s car, Peter’s house.
 Article is omitted with professions.
Examples:
(a) Engineering is a useful career.
(b) He’ll probably go info medicine.

 Article is omitted with years.

s:/

Examples:
(a) 1947 was a wonderful year.
(b) Do you remember 2000?

 No article is used before name of games, sports.

p

Examples:
(a) I am playing cricket.
htt

(b) He is found of playing tennis.

 No article is used before number + noun.

Examples:
(a) The train arrives platform 7.
(b) I want shoes in size 10.
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ARTICLE

scg
 Work (= place of work) is used without definite article ‘the’.
Examples:
(a) He is on his way to work.
(b) She is at work.
(c) They haven’t back from work yet.

 ‘Nature’ when means environment, do not use article before it.

np
Example: If you interfere with nature you will suffer for it.
 No article is used before name of ‘Season’.
Examples
(a) In spring we like to clean the house.
(b) She is planning to visit her parents in winter.
e/t
 Definite article ‘the’ is not used before ‘Time of day’.
Examples:
(a) We travelled mostly by night.

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(b) We’ll be there around midnight.
 Usually no article is used with the name of Airlines, companies.
/t.m
British Airways, Sony, IMB, KODAK, Indian Airlines etc.
 No article is used before a noun when it is modified by either a possessive
adjective or a demonstrative adjective.
Examples:
(a) Do you like my shirt? (Possessive adjective ‘my’)
(b) I like this pen. (Demonstrative adjective ‘this’)
 No article is used before a noun when it is preceded by a distributive adjective.
s:/

Examples:
(a) Every student got a prize. (Distributive adjective ‘every’)
(b) Each student was present in the hall. (Distributive adjective ‘each’?
p
htt

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s
scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Preposition

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This e-
content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training.
s:/

No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the

matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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PREPOSITION

scg
PREPOSITIONS
Some Important Prepositions
At/In/To/Into
 At shows stationary position or existing state while In shows movement.
Examples

np
(a) She is at home. (b) The train is in motion.
 At for small place, town etc, while In for big place, town, city, country etc.
Examples:
(a) He lives at Alwar in Rajasthan.
(b) A temple is situated at Madurai in Chennai.
e/t
 At is used for Point of time and In is used for period of time.
Examples:
(a) The train will arrive at six in the morning.

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(b) He will meet you in the morning.
/t.m
 In/Into In shows exiting state of things, while Into shows movement.
Examples:
(a) He jumped into the river.
(b) There are three students in the class.
 In can also be used as an adverb.
Come in = Enter. Get in (into the train).

To/Into : To or Into is used as following

s:/

In the direction of Turn to the right.

Destination I am going to Jaipur.
Until From Monday to Friday; five minutes to ten.
Compared with They prefer hockey to soccer.
With indirect object Please give it to me.
p

As part of infinitive I like to ski; he wants to help.

In order to We went to the store to buy soap.
htt

Into
To the inside of We stepped into the room.
Change of condition The boy changed into a man.
On/Onto
 On can be used for both existing position and movement.
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PREPOSITION

Examples:

scg
(a) He was sitting on his bag. (b) Snow fell on the hills.
 On can also be used as an adverb.
Examples:
(a) Go on (b) Come on
 Onto is used when there is movement involving a change of level.
Examples:

np
(a) People climbed onto their roots.
(b) He lifted her onto the table.

At/In/On
Note the use of these prepositions in reference of ‘Time’
e/t
i. At is used for a precise time.
ii. In this used for months, years, centuries and long periods.
iii. On is used for days and dates.
Note the use of these prepositions in reference of ‘Place’.

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(i) At is used for a point.
/t.m
(ii) In is used for an enclosed space.
(ii) On is used for a surface.

With/By
With is used for instruments and By is used for agents.

Examples:
(a) The snake was killed by him with a stick
s:/

(b) The letter was written by Suresh with a pencil.

Since/For/From
Since is often used with Present Perfect or Past Perfect Tense. Is used for point of
time and never for place, as; Since is used for point of time and never for place, as;
since 6 o’ Clock / last night / last Monday / Since morning / evening / Monday /
p

January / 2005 etc.

Examples:
htt

(a) It has been raining since O’ clock

(b) He had been ill since Monday.
 Since can also be used as an adverb.
Examples:
(a) He left school in 1983. I haven’t seen him since.
(b) It is two years since I last saw Tom. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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PREPOSITION

 For is used of a period of time: for two hours / two days / two years / a long

scg
time / sometime / forever etc.
Examples:
(a) Boil it for two hours
(b) He lived in this house for six months.
 For is also used with a Present Perfect Tense or Past Perfect Tense for an
action which extends up to the time of speaking.

np
Examples:
(a) He has worked here for a years.
(b) It has been raining for two hours.

From is normally used with to or till / until.

e/t
Example Most people work from eight to six.
From can also be used of place.
Examples:

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(a) He is from Mumbai?
(b) Where do you come from?
/t.m

Below / Under / Beneath

Below and under both mean lower than (in level), and sometimes either can be
used. But, ‘under’ usually denotes physical contact and ‘below’ denotes space
between the things.

Examples:
s:/

(a) He put the books under the pillow.

(b) He placed the lamp below the almirah.
(c) They live below us. (we live at the second floor while they live at the first floor)
(d) I was wearing a sweater also under the jacket
p

 Below and under may also mean junior in rank.

Examples:
(a) He is under me Means that I am superior to him
htt

(b) He is working under me.

 Below is used meaning opposite to above
Examples:
(a) The temperature can fall below 15 degree Celsius
(b) Rainfall has been below average this year.
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PREPOSITION

 Beneath Something that is beneath another thing under the other thing.

scg
Examples:
(a) I could see the muscies of his shoulders beneath T-Shirt...
(b) I found pleasure in sitting beneath the trees...
(c) ... the frozen grass crunching beneath his feet.
 Beneath could also mean ‘unworthy as per status’ or ‘in lower strata in
social class’.

np
Examples:
(a) It is beneath his dignity to beg for money. (unworthy Of)
(b) She married beneath her. (into a lower social class)

In/Within
 ‘In’ means the maximum time limit, while ‘within’ means the period upto
e/t
which the work will be completed. Within, a particular length of time, means
before that length of time, while ‘in’ refers the maximum time requires for the
completion of the job’.

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Examples:
(a) I will complete the work in a month.
/t.m

(b) I can repair the car within two hours.

Ago/Before
 Ago is used for past events while before is used in reference to two events.
Examples:
(a) He came three days ago.
(b) The train had left before he reached the station.
For/During
s:/

 During is used with known periods of time, i.e., periods known by name, such
last, Christmas, Easter or periods which have been already defined.
(i) During the middle ages
(ii) During the summer
p

(iii) During his childhood

Examples:
(a) It trained all Sunday, but stopped raining during the night.
htt

(b) She was it ill for a week, and during that week she ate nothing
 For may be used to denote purpose and may also be used before known
periods.
Examples:
(a) I went there for the summer.
(b) I rented my house for my holidays. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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PREPOSITION

 For has various other uses

scg
Examples:
(a) He asked for ten. I paid six for it.
(b) I bought one for Kuku.
(c) He has been ill for three days.

Beside / Besides

np
 Beside and Besides have altogether different meanings. Don’t confuse beside
with besides. Beside = at the side of
Example: He was sitting beside Sarta.
Besides = in addition to / as well as
Example: He has a car besides a motor cycle.
e/t
Between / Among
 Between is normally used for ‘two’ things or persons, but it can also be used

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of more, when we have a definite number in mind and there is a close
relationship/association within them.
/t.m
Example: He distributed his property between his two sons.
 Among is usually used for more than two persons or things when we have no
definite number in mind.
Example: He was happy to be among friends again.

Make of / Made from

Both refers material used.
s:/

Made of is used when the shape of the material is not changed.

Examples:
(a) A notebook is made of papers.
(b) A house is made of bricks.
Make from is used when shape of the material has undergone a total change.
p

Examples:
(a) Buffer is made from milk.
htt

(b) Paper is made from grass.

Of / Off
Of and Off are used in following situations referring
 Location East of here; the middle of the road
 Possession A friend of mine; the sound of music https://t.me/tnpscgs
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PREPOSITION

 Part of a group One of us; a member of the team

scg
 Measurement A cup of milk; two meters of snow

Off
 Not on; away from Please keep off the grass.
 At some distance from There are islands off the coast.

Above / Over

np
Above and over both mean ‘higher than’ and sometimes either can be used.
Examples:
(a) The helicopter hovered above / over us
(b) While flags were waved above / over the buildings
e/t
But over also mean ‘covering’ / ‘on the other side of / ‘across’.
Examples:
(a) I put a cloth over her.
(b) He lives over this mountain
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(c) There is a bridge over the railway line.
/t.m

Above can have none of these meanings.

Over can mean higher in rank.
He is over me. (Means, He is my immediate boss)
Over is also used with meals / food / drink.
Examples:
(a) We had a chat over a cup of team. (while drinking tea)
(b) The matter was decided over the lunch.
s:/

Above is also used meaning ‘earlier’ or ‘previous’.

Examples:
(a) He lives at the above address. (Previously mentioned)
(b) For details please see (P-1) above. (Previously mentioned)
p

In / With
‘In’ is used in following situations:
htt

Place thought of as an area in London; in Europe.

Within a location in the room; in the building.
Large units of time That happened in March, in 1992.
Within a certain time I will return in an hour.
By means of write in pencil; speak in English.
Condition in doubt; in a hurry; in secret.
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PREPOSITION

A member of he is in the orchestra; in the navy

scg
Wearing the boy in the blue shirt.
With reference to lacking in ideas; rich in oil.

With is used in following situations:

Accompanying He came with her; I have my keys with me.
Having; containing Here is a book with a map of the island.
By means of using I repaired the shoes with glue.

np
Manner with pleasure; with ease; with difficulty.
Because of We were paralysed with fear.
Agreement I agree with you.

But / Except
Both have the same meaning and are usually interchangeable.
e/t
After nobody / none / nothing / nowhere etc. usually ‘but’ is used.
Examples:
(a) Nobody but Shyam knew the way.
(b) Nothing but the best is sold in our shop.
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/t.m
Through usually suggests movement across an entire space, from one side of
something to another.
Examples: He cut through the wire.
The preposition into refers to movement from the outside to the inside of a
three-dimensional space.

Examples:
(a) We got into the back of the car.
s:/

(b) She reached into her bag and found the keys.
With certain verbs into can be used to express the idea of movement in the
direction of something, often resulting in actually hitting it, as in the example (b)
below.
Examples:
p

(a) he looked straight into her eyes.

(b) She swerved and crashed into the fence.
htt

Opposite / In front of
‘Opposite’ is used meaning ‘antonym’ and ‘position in front’. ‘In front of always
means front position.
See the following example
Ram and Shyam are having a meal. Ram is sitting at one side of the table and
Shyam at the other side.
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PREPOSITION

Examples:

scg
(a) Ram is sitting opposite shyam. (Ram if facing Shyam)
(b) People living on one side of a street will talk of the houses on the other side as
the houses opposite rather than the houses in front of us.
(c) His house is opposite to ours.
In front of is used in following ways
Examples:
(a) He parked the car in front of the hotel.

np
(b) He put the plates on the table in front of us.

To/Towards
The preposition to indicates movement with the aim of a specific destination,
which can be a place or an event. e/t
Examples:
(a) I’m going to USA tomorrow.
(b) I need to go to the Bank.
(c) Can you tell me the way to the station?

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(d) Are you going to the party?
/t.m

That up to is often used to express movement to a person.

Example: She came up to me and asked me what the time was?

The preposition to is sometimes used to indicate a specific position, especially if a

person or object is facing something.
Examples:
(a) There’s door to your left.
s:/

(b) He stood with his back to the window.

Towards The preposition towards indicates movement in a particular direction.

Examples:
(a) Everyone sitting in the room turned towards me.
p

(b) She was carrying a suitcase and walking towards the railway station.

The contrast has been expressed in the following two examples.

htt

Examples:
(a) I’m going to New York for a meeting.
(b) I think we’re heading towards New York now, we must have gone wrong.
In the (a) example, to refers a specific destination, In the example (b) with towards,
the direction of movement is more importantly indicated.

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PREPOSITION

Across/Over/Along

scg
The prepositions across and over are used to talk about movement from one side
of a place to another. The, usually refer to movement in relation to places which can
be thought of as two-dimensional, such as surfaces (e.g., lawn) or (lines (e.g., a
river).
Examples:
(a) I’ll jump over the wall and open the gate.
(b) It’s the first time I’ve flown across the Atlantic.

np
Over also functions as a preposition expression position. It often has a similar
meaning to the preposition above.

Example: There was a mirror above / over the sink.

One of its core uses, however, is to express position in relation to a two-dimensional
e/t
surface.

Example: A white table-cloth was spread over the table.

Or to show when something is positioned on the opposite side of a ‘line’, e.g., road,
bridge etc.
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/t.m
Example: The hotel is over the bridge.
Across is sometimes used to express position in relation to something which
stretches from one side of a place to another.

Example: There was a barrier across the road.

and like over is also used to show when something is positioned on the opposite
side of a place in relation to the speaker.
Example: The Bank is across the street.
The preposition along is used to show movement following a line.
s:/

Examples:
(a) We walked along the river.
(b) I followed Mr. Jackson along the corridor.
(c) Well-wishers began placing flowers along the railings.
p

It is also sometimes used to show a specific position relation to a line.

htt

Example: Somewhere along the path there’s signpost.

Or to show when a group of things are positioned in a next to something.
Example: There were plenty of restaurants along the river from

Through/Into
The preposition through refers to movement within space which can be through of
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PREPOSITION

Examples:

scg
(a) They drove through some spectacular countryside,
(b) The canal flows through the city centre.

Preposition Omitted
1. Some transitive verbs do not take prepositions with them. Such commonly used
verbs are, reach, resist, resemble, afford, accompany, attack, assist, pick,
pervade, precede, obey, order, combat, benefit, inform, violate etc.

np
Examples:
(a) He ordered for a cup of tea. (Incorrect)
He ordered a cup of tea. (correct)
(b) India attacked on Pakistan. (Incorrect)
India attacked Pakistan
(c) He informed to me yesterday.
e/t (correct)
(Incorrect)
He informed me yesterday (correct)

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/t.m
2. Home: If verbs showing movement like, go, get etc. is used with home, we
should not use any preposition before home.
Examples:
(a) It took them three hours to get home.
(b) I went home by bus.
It any pronoun / adjective / phrase is used immediately before home, the use of
preposition is necessary.
Examples:
s:/

(a) She returned to her husband’s home.

(b) I went to his home.
The Preposition ‘at’ is also used with home.
Examples:
p

(a) You can do this work at home.

(b) We can stay at home.
htt

3. Verbs denoting Command, request, invitation and advice e.g., advise, ask, beg,
command, encourage, implore, invite, order, recommend, remind, request, tell,
urge, warn, can be followed directly by the person addressed without the usej of
preposition ‘to’.
Examples:
(a) I advised her to wait. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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PREPOSITION

(b) We urged him to try again.

scg
(c) I reminded them that there were no trains after 8 pm.
(d) She warned him that the ice was thin.
Except is used when the prepositional phrase comes later in a sentence.
Nobody knew the way except shyam.
After ‘but’ and ‘except’ bare infinitive (infinitive without to) is used.

np
Worked Out:
1. Leave your books on the table at the centre of the room. Then go to the room
beside the staircase. Wait there until I come.
2. There is not enough space between the desk and the bench. Arrange them
properly, before the classes commence.
e/t
3. Behind the cupboard, very near the wall, there is a narrow gap, into which
a few charts have been kept. Unroll them and hang them on the walls of the
room. This is the work assigned to you for today.
4. The work will be over (by, on) this evening.

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5. The papers are to be prepared (by, within) a month.
/t.m
6. My uncle will visit me (at, in) May.
7. The cat hid (behind, under) the door.
8. Ravi stayed with his uncle (for, since) six months.
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Question Tag

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This e-
content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training.
s:/

No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the

matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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QUESTION TAG

scg
When the statement is positive, the tag will be negative in sense. The pattern
will be “auxiliary verb + not + pronoun?”
When the statement is negative, the tag will be positive in sense. The pattern
will be “auxiliary verb + pronoun?”
When the statement has no auxiliary verb, depending on the tense of the

np
principal verb, auxiliary verb such as do, does or did is used.

RULES FOR QUESTION TAG.

RULE 1 e/t
In affirmative sentence the Tag question will be negative.
Examples –
 A teacher goes to school daily, doesn‟t he?
 Madhu plucks flowers, doesn‟t she?

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 You appeared at the examination, didn‟t you?
/t.m
 Helmet makes driving safe, doesn‟t it?

RULE 2
In Negative Sentence the Tag question will be Positive.
Examples –
 All the children were not present, were they?
 Dogs cannot fly, can they?
 Everybody cannot be clever, can they?
s:/

RULE 3
For sentences having modal Auxiliary (can, could, will, would, may, might, must,
shall, should, ought to, need, would rather, had better, dare) Tags will be shan‟t ,
will not, won‟t , can‟t etc depending on whether positive or negative is needed.
p

Examples:
 A healthy body can achieve the impossible, can‟t it?
htt

 A student should be regular in studies, shouldn‟t he?

 Everybody cannot drive, can they?
 Everbody should wear a seat belt while driving , shouldn‟t they?
 Water animals can breathe under water, can‟t they?

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QUESTION TAG

RULE 4

scg
Everybody, everyone , no one, no body are singular. So we use a singular verb and
singular pronoun with them. But in the question tag a plural verb and a plural
pronoun will be used.
Examples –
 Everybody has to pay his own bill, Haven‟t they?
 None of your friends has arrived yet, Have they?

np
RULE 5
For Affirmative Imperative sentence we use will you or won‟t you in the question
tag.
Examples –
 Be assured of all co-operation, will you?
 Switch on the cooler, will you?
e/t
 Please give me the documents, won't you?
 Kindly take a seat, will you?

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/t.m
RULE 6
For Negative Imperative sentence we use will you as the question tag.
Examples –
 Don‟t touch the wire, will you?
 Don‟t litter here, will you?
 Don‟t make a noise in the class, will you?

RULE 7
s:/

For Imperative sentences beginning with let us , when a suggestion or proposal is

being made the question tag will be shall we.
Examples –
 Let us go for a movie, shall we?
 Let us help her to complete the work, shall we?
p

 Let us go to meet her, shall we?

RULE 8
htt

For Imperative sentences beginning with let but not followed by us , the question
tag will be will you.
Examples –
 Let Madhu go, will you?
 Let them do their homework, will you?
 Let the labourer go, will you? https://t.me/tnpscgs
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QUESTION TAG

RULE 9

scg
For sentences having nothing, anything, everything, something as the subject the
question tag will have it as the pronoun.
Examples –
 Everything has gone bad today, hasn‟t it?
 Everything is clear, isn‟t it?
 Nothing can revive this worse situation, can it?

np
RULE 10
If any sentence has used to in it then the question tag will be usedn‟t/didn‟t.
Examples –
 He used to come here, usedn‟t he?
 He used to play the guitar very well, didn‟t he?
e/t
RULE 11
Never, no, nobody, hardly, seldom, scarcely, few, little, not ,none ,rarely etc. are
negative words. So the question tag will not be negative.

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Examples –
 A barking dog seldom bites, does it?
/t.m

 My son never stands still, does it?

 He hardly does his duties, does he?
RULE 12
In exclamatory sentences the question tag will contain the auxiliary verbs.
Examples –
 How beautiful the garden is, isn‟t it?
 How big the slide is, isn‟t it?
s:/

 How nicely the bird sings, isn‟t it?

RULE 13
Moon, earth, river, motherland, country, ship, train are treated as feminine gender.
In the tag question the Pronoun used will be “she”. Instead of she „ it‟ can also be
p

used.
Examples –
 The Titanic was thought to be unsinkable, wasn‟t she?
htt

 India has never attacked any country, has she?

RULE 14
There is no contracted form of am not. So in question tags aren‟t is used.
Examples –
 I am a little late today, aren‟t I?
 I am confident, aren‟t I? https://t.me/tnpscgs
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QUESTION TAG

RULE 15

scg
If the subject of a sentence is there/one/this/that/these/those then the question tag
will contain there/one/this etc as the pronoun.
Examples –
 There is a book on the table, Isn‟t there?
 One cannot find a solution to this problem, Can one?

np
RULE 16
Collective nouns are used in singular forms so the question tag will have a singular
verb and a singular pronoun.
Examples –
 The class has selected its monitor, hasn‟t it?
e/t
 The team has played very well, hasn‟t it?
But if the collective noun is not treated as one unit, we use the plural verb and the
plural pronoun.
Example – The team have to arrange for their own shoes , haven‟t they?

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/t.m
EXAMPLES:
1. The bus is early today, isn‟t it?
2. There is no water in the tank, is there?
3. I shall carry the bags for you, shan‟t I?
4. The conductor will not give you change for Rs. 10/-, will he?
5. You will come tomorrow, won‟t you?
6. The flag has four colours on it, hasn‟t it ?
7. I haven‟t answered your questions, have I ?
8. Plants give out oxygen during the day, don‟t they ?
s:/

9. There are enough mangoes for all of us, aren‟t there?

10. We get uninterrupted power supply, don‟t we?
11. Many of us do not know this story, do we?
12. It has been raining continuously, hasn‟t it?
13. Shreya draws well, doesn‟t she?
p

14. Swarna cannot run fast, can she?

15. The lessons are quite interesting, aren‟t they?
htt

16. You know this story, don‟t you?

17. He should see a doctor if he is unwell, shouldn‟t he?
18. I‟m not late, am I?
19. I have completed my painting, haven‟t I?
20. Sita and Uma are sisters, aren‟t they?

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Tense

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This e-
content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training.
s:/

No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the

matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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p s:/
htt

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TENSE

scg
Tense Function Example
Simple i) for habitual action I get up early in the morning
Present ii) for instantaneous present Sehwag hits a sixer.
Tense (commentaries, demonstration)

np
iii) future expressed with certainty My uncle arrives from Delhi
next week.
iv) to indicate possession I have a Maruti Car.
v) in proverbs Slow and steady wins the race
vi) Universal truths e/t The Sun rises in the east.
vii) Scientific facts Water boils at 100◦C
If you study well, you will
viii) Conditional Clause – I pass.
Present i) To refer to an action in progress They are playing cricket now.

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Continuous at the moment of speaking
/t.m
Tense ii) An action which is planned to Mr. Obama is visiting India
take place in near future next week.
Present i) To refer to an action which has He has just finished his work.
Perfect just completed
Tense ii) To refer to a past action I have been all his films.
recollected at the present time
iii) To refer to a past action whose It has rained all through the
effect is even at present. night.
s:/

Present To refer to an action that began in He has been studying since

Perfect the past and is still in progress morning.
Continuous
Tense
p

Tense Function Example

htt

Simple Past i) To refer to past events I met him last week.

Tense ii) In conditional Clause II If I were an angel, I would
help you
iii) In reported speech He told me that he was a good
boy
iv) To show politeness Could you please lend me
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TENSE

your pen?

scg
Past i) To refer to an action in progress I was searching for a good job,
Continuous in the past When I was in Chennai
Tense ii) To refer to an action which When I saw Tom, he was
started before the action in the talking with Sam.
simple past
Past Perfect i) To refer to the earlier of the two The train had already left

np
Tense past actions before he reached the station.
If I had known of your arrival,
ii) In Conditional Clause – III. I would have received you.
Past Perfect To describe an action that began in The workers had been
Continuous the past and continued in the past. demanding a hike in the
Tense
Simple
e/t salary throughout last year.
To refer to future events with They will visit us tomorrow.
Future Tense certainty.

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Future To refer to an action as going on He will be writing his public
/t.m
Continuous some time in the future. examinations next month.
Tense
Future To refer to an action extending upto They will have reached
Perfect Tense a definite point in the future. Chennai at 4.00 p.m.
tomorrow.
Future To refer to an action as being in By the end of next month,
Perfect progress and may be completed in Shankar will have been
Continuous future. shooting his next film.
s:/

Tense
SUBJEC-VERB AGREEMENT
Plural Verb Singular Verb
Write Writes
p

Read Reads
Like Likes
I Person Singular I write
htt

Plural We write
II Person Singular You write
Plural
III Person Singular He, She, It - writes
Plural They write
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TENSE

Only III person singular takes singular verb.

scg
CONDITIONAL CLAUSE
In English we have three distinct types of conditional clauses.
Type I - Open condition
Type II - Hypothetical condition (Improbable condition)
Type III - Impossible condition

np
Open condition

 If the „if‟ clause has Present tense in it, then the main clause will contain have
will/shall/can/may
If he comes in time, he will attend the class.
e/t
If I see her, I will give the parcel to her.
If she goes to the doctor in time, she may survive.
 If “unless” is used then the main clause will have will/shall/can/may + not
Unless he studies well, he will not pass the exam.
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 If we have universal truth, both clauses of the sentence will have present tense.
/t.m
If you drop a piece of wood in water, it floats.

Improbable Condition
If the „if‟ clause has Past tense in it then the main clause will have
would/should/could/might
If he came in time he would attend the class.
If I saw her I would give the parcel to her.
s:/

If she met the doctor in time she might survive.

Impossible condition
If the „if‟ clause has Past perfect tense in it then the main clause will have
would have / could have/ might have
p

If he had come in time ,he would have attended the class.

If I had seen her ,I would have given the parcel to her.
htt

If she had met the doctor in time ,she might have survived.
If „were‟ is used in if clause the main clause will have would
If I were a bird I would fly to the top of the tree.

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TENSE

Modal Auxiliaries

scg
English language has primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries. The modal
auxiliaries can be used only as auxiliaries not as finite verbs. They do not have –s
forms, -ing forms, or –ed forms.

Modal auxiliaries are:

np
will, shall, can, may, would, should, could, might, must, ought to, need and dare
will, shall, can and may have the special past forms would, should, could and
might.

These words are not past tense but only past forms.
e/t
Of these, „ought to‟ „need‟ and „dare‟ are also known as semi – modals or quasi –
modals.
Uses of Modal auxiliaries

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Shall
/t.m
‘Shall’ is used to express ‘pure’ future with first person. (I and We)
I shall come to your house tomorrow.
We shall get the form tomorrow.
We shall find it very difficult.

‘Shall’ is used to express promise, intention, and willingness.

I shall find it immediately. (Promise)
We shall study well. (Promise)
s:/

I shall buy the books when I go out. (Intention)

We shall accept your orders. (Willingness)

In present day English there is a growing tendency to use „will‟ for all the I person.
So very often we come across sentences like the following.
p

I will come to your house.

We will get the application form tomorrow.
htt

I will buy the books.

I will help you.
When „shall‟ is used with the second and third persons, it does not express a
„pure‟ future. It expresses a command, a promise, or a threat.
He shall not meet me hereafter. (Command)
You shall not get the order. (Command) https://t.me/tnpscgs
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TENSE

You shall get the result tomorrow. (Promise)

scg
His work shall be accepted. (Promise)
You shall be punished for this. (Threat)
He shall lose his job. (Threat)

Will
„Will‟ is generally used with second and third person to express „pure‟ future,

np
He will meet me at 6 O‟ clock.
You will finish the work without any problem.
The monsoon will begin within a week.
She will be forty-eight next July.
e/t
They will be happy to work with me.

She will come along with me,

„Shall‟ can never be used in this context.

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/t.m
„Will‟ is used with second and third persons to express assumption and
characteristic habit.

Jane will understand this easily. (Assumption)

David will make himself comfortable. (Assumption)
She will talk about books and music. (Characteristic habit)

„Will you?‟ expresses an invitation or request.

s:/

Will you come to my place today?

Will you close the door?
Will you lend me some money?
Will you have tea?
p

There is a possibility to use „will‟ with first person to express „pure‟ future. But we
can never use „shall‟ with second and third person to express „pure‟ future.
htt

Can
„Can‟ usually expresses ability or capacity and permission.
Rita can use computer. (Ability)
Can you lift this table? (Ability) https://t.me/tnpscgs
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TENSE

You can go home now. (Permission)

scg
The students can use the school bus for their picnic. (Permission)
Speaker can ask permission by using „can‟ in the question.
Can I see her now?
Can we get into the bus?

We use the negative form of „can‟ (cannot and can‟t) for the absence of ability and

np
prohibition.
The principal can‟t see you now. (He is busy now) – absence of ability
I can‟t drive. (I don‟t know how to drive) – absence of ability
You cannot take these toys. (Prohibition)
You cannot smoke here. (Prohibition)
e/t
„May‟ is used to express permission and possibility or probability.
In a question from the speaker can ask permission.
May I come in?
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May I get your pen?
/t.m
May we go home now?
May I post this letter?
In a statement form, the speaker can give permission to someone to do something.
You may go home.
She may come in.
The boys may go to the library.
The girls may go to the singing class.
s:/

„May‟ is used to say that some event or some action is possible or likely to happen.
‘May not‟ can express the idea that an action or event is unlikely to happen or
improbable.
The train may arrive now.
p

It may rain now.

The function may be postponed.
Our teacher may not come today.
htt

„May‟ expresses the wish of the speaker. Wishes for birthday, wedding, success etc.
can be sent by using „may‟.
May God bless you!
May you enjoy your success!
May you have the best of luck!
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TENSE

We use „may have‟ to express the idea of some event that was possible or probable

scg
in the past.
She may have passed in the examination.
They may have finished the work.
‘Must’
„Must‟ is used to express necessity.
We must go to the station now.

np
I must see her now.
„Must‟ is used for inference or certainty.
The manager must come to his room now because the time is 10 o‟clock.
Rita must spend her time happily.

Should
e/t
„Should‟ is used as the past equivalent of „shall‟ in the first person.
I said that I should come.
I said that we should complete the work.
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I said that we should meet her today.
/t.m
But in normal usage „would‟ replaces „should‟ in these sentences.

‘Should’ is used to express duty or obligation.

We should obey our parents.
You should keep your promise.
I should find her now.
s:/

‘Should’ expresses something that is very likely to happen.

We should win the match.
My dress should be ready by now.
She should be here in an hour.
Would
p

„Would‟ is used as the past form of „shall‟ and „will‟. It is mainly used in
indirect speech.
htt

She said that she would come to my house that day.

The clerk said that the principal would come soon.
The mother told her son that she would see his work the next day.

„Would‟ is used in the question form to express polite request.

Would you please attend the party?
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TENSE

Would you close the door please?

scg
Would you tell me where I should go?

„Would‟ is used to express happenings or activities in the past, which were frequent
or occurred from time to time.
He would spend many hours in reading.
On many days he would come late to school.

np
Akbar would discuss the state matters in the court.
„Would is used with verbs such as „like‟, „rather‟
I would like to play the guiter
They would rather die than surrender.

She went to school regularly.

They studies their lessons well.
e/t
For regular actions in the past, simple past tense is used.

He prepared food at home.

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/t.m
Could
„Could‟ is used as the equivalent of „can‟ in the past tense. It is mainly used in
indirect speech.
She asked him whether he could meet her at her place.
I said that I could attend the meeting.
He said that he could finish the work within a week.
When we have a word or a phrase to refer to the past in a sentence, „could‟ is
used for possibility.
s:/

I could run well when I was young.

My father could read without glasses till his last days
She could compete with everyone in her school days.
p

„Could‟ is used in polite request.

Could I meet the manager?
htt

Could you please answer my question?

Could you pass the salt?

Might
„Might‟ is used as the past form of „may‟ to express possibility of permission.
It is mainly used in indirect speech. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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TENSE

He said that he might go to see her.

scg
She said that she might send the letter.
He said that they might come to the party.
„Might‟ is used in the present or future tense to express the idea of something
being probable. If „might‟ is used, the probability expressed is less than that is
expressed by „may‟.
It might rain.

np
The train might be late.
She might attend the party.
He might be right.
„Might‟ is used to express a polite request that is more polite than that if „may‟ is
used e/t
QUASI MODALS OR SEMI MODALS
Quasi modals or semi modals are slightly different from other modal verbs.
‘Ought to’, „need‟, „dare‟ and „used to‟ are quasi modals.

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Ought to
/t.m
„Ought to‟ is used almost in the meaning of „should‟
It expresses the idea of a recommendation or advice.
She ought to consult a doctor.
I ought to go home now.
They ought to complete the work.
The worlds ‘need’ and ‘dare’ can be used as auxiliaries with certain
restrictions.
Need
s:/

„Need‟ is used as a regular or finite verb in the meaning „require‟ or „be in

need of‟. It has its singular and past form as all other finite verbs.
She needs a room to stay.
I need a book to read
p

He needed his pen to write the essay.

Do you need anything to carry with you?
„Need‟ is used as an auxiliary in negative and question forms. It does not have
htt

singular and past forms as auxiliary.

You need not come home.
He need not complete the work now.
The children need not go to school.
I need not pay any fine.
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TENSE

Need I pay the fine?

scg
Need Mr. Das pay any tax?
Need the students go on strike?

Dare
Like the word „need‟, „dare‟ is also used both as a finite verb and as an
auxiliary verb.

np
As a finite verb it has singular form and past tense form. It has the meaning
„have the courage‟
He dares to oppose the minister.
She dared to come out of the meeting.
He did not dare to oppose his father.
e/t
As an auxiliary „dare‟ is used only in questions and negative sentences.
Dare he oppose me?
Dare they do such things?
Dare you step into my house?
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She dare not come into my house.
/t.m
They dare not receive any bribe
How dare you open my room?
Used to
„Used to‟ is used only in past tense. It is used for a past habit or a
discontinued habit.
He used to see a lot of movies in his college days.
She used to carry a red bag when she was studying.
s:/

I used to visit my grandmother very often.

p
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Voice

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This e-
content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training.
s:/

No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the

matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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VOICE

scg
Active Voice:
Subject is the doer of the action denoted by the verb.
John / kicked / the ball
  
Subject Verb Object
  
Doer action Receiver

np
Passive Voice:
Subject is the receiver of the acts denoted by the verb.
The ball / was kicked / by John
  
Subject Verb Object e/t
  
Receiver Action Doer

Personal Passive Voice: If the doer of the action is mentioned it is called

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Personal Passive Voice.
/t.m
Eg: The letter was written by me
Impersonal Passive Voice: If the doer of the action is not mentioned it is called
an impersonal passive voice.
Eg: The letter was written.

Rules for converting Active to Passive Voice

1. Interchange the subject and object
S O
s:/

2. Convert the verb into its past participle form

3. Add the corresponding helping verb.

Active Voice : My mother / writes / an email.

S V O
p

Step – 1 : S O
Step – 2 : Paste Participle of write  written
htt

Step – 3 Corresponding helping verb  is (Subject is singular, tense is

:
present tense)
Passive Voice : An email is written by my mother.

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VOICE

PRESENT TENSE

scg
1. Assertive Sentence:
1. The boys play cricket. (simple present)
Cricket is played by the boys.
2. They are playing cricket. (present continuous)
Cricket is being played by them.

2. Interrogative:

np
1. Why does your brother sing such songs? (simple present)
Why are such songs sung by your brother?
2. Who is doing the dishes? (present continuous)
By whom are the dishes being done?
e/t
3. Why have you called me here? (present perfect)
Why have I been called here by you?

PAST TENSE:
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Assertive Sentence:
/t.m
1. The man cut down the tree. (simple past)
The tree was cut down by the man

2. The boys were helping the wounded man.(past continuous)

The wounded man was being helped by the boys.

3. He had given me a bouquet.(past perfect)

I had been given a bouquet by him.
s:/

Interrogative sentence:
1. Who broke the jar? (simple past)
By whom was the jar broken?
2. Why were you doing the work ? (past continuous)
p

Why was the work being done by you ?

3. Why had the work been done by you ? (past perfect)
htt

Why had you done the work ?

FUTURE TENSE
Assertive sentence.
1. She will teach the lesson. (simple future)
The lesson will be taught by her.
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VOICE

2. She will have won gold medal (future perfect)

scg
Gold medal will have been won by her.
Interrogative sentence.
1. Who will call him ? (simple future)
By whom will he be called ?
2. Who will have worn this dress ? (future perfect)
By whom this dress will have been won ?

np
3. Who will have served the purpose ?
By whom the purpose will have been served ?
Imperative Let + Object + be + past participle
1. Keep it there − Let it be kept there.
2. Take it home
3. Please help me
−
−
e/t
Let it be taken home.
Let me be helped.
4. Do not touch it − Let it not be touched.

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5. Do not beat the dog − Let the dog not be beaten
/t.m
6. Let me do it − Let it be done by me.

Active and Passive Voice

Active Passive
Simple present He sings a song (is, are + past participle)
A song is sung by him
Present continuous I am writing a letter (Am being / is being / are
being+ past participle)
s:/

A letter is being written

by me
Present perfect She has finished her work (has been / have been+
past participle)
p

Her work has been

finished by her
htt

Present perfect He has been studying

continuous economics since morning. ------------

Simple past I killed a snake (was / were+ past

participle)
A snake was killed by me.
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VOICE

Past continuous He was drinking a car (was being/were being+

scg
past participle)
A car was being driven by
him
Past perfect They had completed the (had been+ past
assignment participle)
The assignment had been

np
completed by them.
Past perfect continuous The workers had been
demanding a hike in the
salary throughout last year --------------
Simple Future
e/t
She will buy a car (will be+ past participle)
A car will be bought by
her.
Future continuous He will be writing his

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/t.m
month
Future Perfect You will have started the (Will have been+ past
job participle)
The job will have been
started by you.
Future Perfect By the end of next month,
continuous Shankar will have been ---------------
shooting his next film.
s:/

Auxiliary verbs May/ can/ might/ May/ can/ might/

could/ could/
should/would/must/ought should/would/must
p

to/have to /ought to/have to

+ be + past participle
htt

My parents may invite They may be invited by

them. my parents.
My parents ought to invite They ought to be invited.
them.
My parents have to invite They have to be invited.
them.
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VOICE

Note: The following conditions do not take Passive Voice.

scg
1. Present Perfect Continuous.
2. Past Perfect Continuous.
3. Future Continuous.
4. Future Perfect Continuous.
5. Intransitive Verbs.

np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Infinitive, Gerund, Participle

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or
reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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p s:/
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s
INFINITIVE, GERUND,
PARTICIPLE

scg
INFINITIVES:

np
Infinitives are „to + present form of the verb.‟
Eg : bid- to bid, hear- to hear, feel – to feel
Bare infinitives are those that gives the same meaning of an infinitive without
the use of „to‟
The coach made us (to)run around the ground.
Here “run” is the bare infinitive.
e/t
GERUNDS:
Gerunds are verbal nouns. It is „verb+ ing’
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Eg: Driving too fast is dangerous.
/t.m

PARTICIPLES:

A participle is a verb is most commonly used as

i. part of the continuous form of a verb
Eg: He is painting.
She was waiting.
s:/

ii. an adjective. (verbal adjective)

eg: The rising sun looks majestic.
p
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Sentence Pattern

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
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scg
np
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p s:/
htt

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s
SENTENCE PATTERN

scg
1) Subject (S)
The person who does the action in the sentence is the subject of the sentence.
e.g: Ram studies well.
Priya plays games well.

2) Verb (V)

np
The word that indicates an action done by the subject or expresses a state of
being or shows possession, is called the verb.
e.g: She went home
Kannan is a doctor.
I have a sister. e/t
3) Complement (C)
The word or phrase which completes the meaning is called a complement.
e. g: Solomon was wise.
He became the leader.
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4) Subject (S)
/t.m

The word or phrase which is responsible for the action taking place in a
sentence.
e.g: Raja posted the letter

5) Verb (V)
The word or phrase expressing existence, action or occurrence.
e.g: Priya is a teacher
s:/

Arjun dances well

6) Complement (C)
The word or phrase that usually after a „be‟ verb such a am, is, are, was
and were to make the sense complete.
p

e.g: Children are happy.

Kumar is a good boy.
(OR)
htt

Sometimes Complement comes after certain verbs such as become, turn,

look, appear, feel, etc.
e.g: He became a doctor.
The sky appears red.
Note: (If the complement is removed the sentence would be incomplete)
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SENTENCE PATTERN

SVOC

scg
In SVOC patterns, complement can be identified by raising the question
“as what?”
e.g: My parents made me a a doctor.
These complements can be recognised with the following verbs.

Made, named, elected, selected, called, declared, proved,

np
appointed, recognised, found, etc.
e.g: The court declared him innocent.
They named the child Siva.
We call him a jocker.
Ravi‟s parents made him a dancer.
e/t
(All the given sentences are in SVOC pattern)

7) Object (O)

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The word which receives the action from the subject is the object of the
/t.m
sentence.
e.g: He wrote a novel.
He ate fruits.
We applauded the leader.

8) Direct Object (DO) and Indirect Object (IO):

Direct object answers the question „what‟ whereas the indirect object answers
„to whom‟
s:/

Eg: My uncle gave a present (DO). (What did my uncle give?)

My uncle gave me (IO) a present. (To whom did my uncle give a present?)

9) Adjunct(A)
An adjunct is a word or group of words which provides answers to the
p

questions: „How‟, „When‟, „Why‟ or „Where‟.

e. g.: They came by bus.
She went to Chennai.
htt

I shall meet you tomorrow.

You speak English well.

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SENTENCE PATTERN

Worked Out:

scg
S+V - Raju /woke up.
S V
S+V+O - He/wore/his new uniform
S V O
S + V + IO + DO- His father/gave/him/his school bag.
S V IO DO
S+V+C - He/was/excited.

np
S V C
S+V+O+C - Reading/made/him/a complete man.
S V O C
S+V+A - He/was going/to school.
S V A e/t
HOMOPHONES
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and
meanings.
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Some examples :
/t.m
1) ascent: climbing a way sloping up
2) assent: agreement, to agree
3) complement(v): to add new or contrasting features to improve something
4) compliment: express praise or approval
5) personal: pertaining to a person
6) personnel: body of employees
7) stationary: not moving, still.
8) stationery: writing or office supplies
s:/

9) principal : primary or chief

10) principle: a doctrine, standard or rule.

Worked Out:
1. I had no peace. He gave me a piece of advice. (piece/peace)
p

2. They had dates for dessert in the desert (dessert/desert)

3. The police tried to elicit information from the bootlegger who sells illicit
htt

liquor.(illicit/elicit)
4. The most eminent scientists in the world have been warning about the
imminent danger of nuclear war. (imminent/eminent)
5. The book which has been prescribed for the BA class has been proscribed for
containing some remarks against a particular religion. (proscribed/prescribed)
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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Find out the error (Article, Preposition, Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb)

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and Training.
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No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or reproduce the

matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
p
htt

Commissioner,
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scg
np
e/t
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p s:/
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FIND OUT THE ERROR (ARTICLE,

scg
PREPOSITION, NOUN, VERB,
ADJECTIVE, ADVERB)

Model Question
Spot the error and correct it.

np
One of the body looks sad.

Answer:
One of the boys looks sad.

How to spot the error ?

e/t
In this section, you will be given a sentence with an error in it. Read the
sentence carefully and find the error. Errors are generally tested in the following
areas.

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 Articles
/t.m
 Numbers (singular and plural)
 Usage of tenses
 Usage of adverbs and adjectives
 Question tags
 Conjunctions
 Prepositions
 Usage of wrong words
 Usage of conjunctions
 Word order
s:/

 Conditional clauses
 Concord (agreement of the verb with its subject)

1. Articles
p

Rule 1:
Words like one, university, universal, useful, unique, union, European
are preceded by the article ‘a’.
htt

Incorrect Question Correct Answer

I saw an one-eyed man. I saw a one-eyed man.
My brother is an university rank – My brother is a university rank - holder.
holder.
He made an universal appeal He made a universal appeal.
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FIND OUT THE ERROR (ARTICLE, PREPOSITION, NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB)

It is an useful advice. It is a useful advice.

scg
An European invented this machine. A European invented this machine.
Rule 2: Half is followed by the article ‘a’
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
I have taken half day leave. I have taken half a day leave.
I bought half litre of milk. I bought half a litre of milk.
Rule 3: Abbreviations beginning with L / M / N / S / F / H are preceded by the
article ‘an’

np
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
Mr. Susai is a LIC agent. Mr. Susai is an LIC agent.
Sheela is a M.A., in English. Sheela is an M.A., in English.
Mr. Nazar is a N.R.I. living in America. Mr. Nazar is an N.R.I. living in

I want to make a STD call to Mumbai.

e/t America.
I want to make an STD call to
Mumbai.
He bought a H.M.T. watch yesterday. He bought an H.M.T. watch yesterday.
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/t.m
Rule 4: Words like hour, honest, honourable etc. Are preceded by the article
‘an’
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
Ramesh played for a hour. Ramesh played for an hour.
Balu is a honest boy. Balu is an honest boy.
Dr. Shylu is a honourable person Dr. Shylu is an honourable person.

Rule 5: Definite article ‘the’ is used before

s:/

i) superlative degrees. (the most ... the tallest, ...) ii) unique objects (the sun,
the moon, the earth etc), iii) rivers (The Cauvery), iv) Seas (The Arabian Sea),
v) mountain ranges (The Himalayas), vi) group of islands (The Maldives)
vii) musical instruments (The guitar), viii) holy books and epics (The Bible,
The Ramayana) ix) directions (the east), x) World wonders and historical
p

monuments (The Tajmahal) etc.

htt

Incorrect Question Correct Answer

Ram is most intelligent boy in our class. Ram is the most intelligent boy in
our class.
Earth is a planet. The earth is a planet.
Nile is the longest river in Egypt. The Nile is the longest river in Egypt.
Pacific Ocean is the deepest ocean in The Pacific Ocean is the deepest
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FIND OUT THE ERROR (ARTICLE, PREPOSITION, NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB)

He lives in Andaman Islands. He lives in the Andaman islands.

scg
She plays violin excellently. She plays the violin excellently.
James reads Bible every day. James reads the Bible every day.
The sun rises in east. The sun rises in the east.
Have you ever seen Tajmahal? Have you ever seen the Tajmahal?
United States of America recovered The United States of America
from the stock market crash. recovered from the stock market crash.

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Rule 6: Suitable article should be placed if the sentence is wrong due to omission
an article.
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
I have headache. I have a headache.
India defeated Srilanka by innings.e/t India defeated Srilanka by an innings.

Rule 7: Generally proper nouns and subjects / languages do not take any
article before them.
Incorrect Question Correct Answer

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She can speak the Hindi.
My friend resides at the Chennai.
She can speak Hindi.
My friend resides at Chennai.
/t.m

Rule 8: Words like prefer, inferior, superior, prior, senior, junior,

exterior, interior, anterior, posterior should be followed by the preposition
‘to’ and not by than.
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
I prefer coffee than tea. I prefer coffee to tea.
Mohan is senior than Guru. Mohan is senior to Guru.
s:/

Rule 9: i) Difference in the usage of between and among:

Between : distribution involving only two persons / things
Among : distribution involving more than two persons / things.
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
There is no friendship among Kala and There is no friendship between Kala
p

Mala. and Mala.

The brokers shared the profit between The brokers shared the profit among
themselves. themselves.
htt

ii) Difference between the usage of besides and beside

Beside: by the side of
Besides: in addition to
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
I can speak English beside Hindi. I can speak English besides Hindi.
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FIND OUT THE ERROR (ARTICLE, PREPOSITION, NOUN, VERB, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB)

There is a Church besides our school. There is a Church beside our school.

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iii) Difference between the usage of after and behind
After : used with time
Behind : used with place
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
I never do any work behind 10 p.m. I never do any work after 10 p.m.
My school is after the temple. My school is behind the temple.

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iv) Difference between the usage of since and for
Since : refers to a specific time (in the perfect continuous tense)
For : refers to a period of time (in the perfect continuous tense)
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
It has been raining since five hours It has been raining for five hours.
He has been working here for 2001.
e/t He has been working here since 2001.

v) Difference between the usage of on and upon

On : refers to things at rest.
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Upon : refers to things in motion.
/t.m
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
My book is upon the table. My book is on the table.
The cat jumped on the wall. The cat jumped upon the wall.

vi) Difference between the usage of in and into

in : refers to things at rest
into : refers to things in motion.
Incorrect Question Correct Answer
s:/

My ID card is into my bag. My ID card is in my bag.

She jumped in the well. She jumped into the well.

(The correct answer is given within the brackets)

1. I met an European (a)
p

2. Gita’s father is a MLA (an)

3. Raghu prefers milk than tea. (to)
4. A bunch of keys were there in my car (is)
htt

5. One of the boy looks unhappy (one of the boys)

6. We bought lot of furniture. (a lot of furniture)
7. My father is a honest man (an)
8. Mathematics are my favourite subject. (is)
9. He will finish his work on this evening.(by)
10. Bread and butter are my breakfast (is) https://t.me/tnpscgs
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scg
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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Find the odd words (Verb, Noun, Adjective, Adverb) Parts of Speech

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
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e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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FIND THE ODD WORDS

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(VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB)
PARTS OF SPEECH

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NOUN
Noun : A Noun is the name of a person, place, thing, quality, condition and action.
As,
Person Mukesh
Place Patna
Thing
Quality
Pen
Honesty
e/t
Condition Illness
Action Movement
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/t.m
Noun

Countable Noun Uncountable Noun

Proper Noun Common Noun Collective Noun

Material Noun Abstract Noun

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1. Countable Noun: The Nouns which can be counted. as, Veena, Girl, Class etc.

(a) Proper Noun: The Noun which denotes a proper person, place or thing. As,
Proper person Binay, Ajit, Nilu
Proper place Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi
Proper thing Ramayana, Gita, Bible
p

(b) Common Noun: The Noun which denotes common persons, places or things.
As,
htt

Common person Man, Woman

Common place Town, School
Common things Book, Table

(c) Common Noun: The Noun which denotes a group of persons or other
creatures and collection of things, as, https://t.me/tnpscgs
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

A crew of sailors

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Group of Persons A team of players
A class of students
An army of soldiers
A fleet of ships
Collection of things A bunch of flowers
A library of books

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2. Uncountable Noun: The Nouns which cannot be counted. As, gold, water, oil,
coffee, honesty etc.
(a) Material Noun: The Noun which denotes materials. as, copper, silver, tea,
coffee, ghee etc.
(b) Abstract Noun: The Noun which denotes quality, condition or action. as,
e/t
wisdom, humanity, pride, bravery, childhood etc.

Pronoun: means for-a-noun.

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 A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun; as, Ram is a handsome boy. He is
/t.m
my student. Sita is a beautiful girl. She lives with her husband. A dog is a pet
animal. It barks at night.
 Generally you know that a pronoun is used to stop the repetition of a noun. If we
use a noun in a sentence again and again. The beauty of the sentence ends or The
sentence is awkward (clumsy). This is the main reason that a pronoun is used
instead of a noun.
 In the examples give above, ‘Ram’, ‘Sita’ and ‘a dog’ have been used as nouns. In
the latter sentences you observe that The Pronouns – ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘it’ have been
s:/

used instead of the nouns – ‘Ram’, Sita’ and ‘a dog’ respectively in the sentences
given above.

Remember:
p

 In the example (1) given above, The word – ‘Ram’ is the noun of third person,
singular number, masculine gender and nominative case.
 The Pronoun – ‘he’ has been used in the latter sentence according to the
htt

number, person, gender and case of the noun – ‘Ram’.

 In the example (2) given above, The word –‘Sita’ is the noun of third person,
singular number, Feminine gender and nominative case.
 The Pronoun – ‘she’ has been used in the latter sentence according to the
number, person, gender and case of the noun – ‘Sita’.
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

 In the example (3) given above, The word – ‘A dog’ is the noun of ‘third person’,

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‘singular number’, ‘masculine gender’ and ‘nominative case’.
 The Pronoun – ‘it’ has been used in the latter sentence according to the number,
person, gender and case of the noun – ‘a dog’.
 A pronoun is used according to the number, person, gender and case of a noun.

Kinds of Pronoun

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1. Personal Pronouns: I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them.
2. Possessive Pronouns: Mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs.
3. Demonstrative Pronouns: This, That, These, Those, Such, The same.
4. Distributive Pronouns: Each, Either, Neither.
5. Reciprocal pronouns: Each other, one another.
e/t
6. Reflexive Pronouns: Myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself,
itself, themselves, oneself.
7. Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronouns: When The words – ‘myself’,
‘ourselves’, ‘yourself’, ‘yourself’, ‘yourselves’, ‘himself’, ‘herself’, ‘itself’,

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‘themselves’ and ‘oneself’ are used to emphasis the subject of the sentence, then
these are called Emphasis the subject of the sentence, then these are called
/t.m

Emphatic or Emphasizing Pronouns. Emphatic Pronouns are generally used

just after the subject; as, He himself comes here.
8. Indefinite Pronouns: Everybody, somebody, Nobody, Anybody, Everyone,
Someone, No one, Anyone, Everything, Something, Nothing, Anything, all,
some, any, both, another, much, few, little.
9. Relative Pronouns: Who, whom, whose, which, that.
10. Interrogative Pronouns: When the pronouns – ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘whose’,
‘which’ and ‘what’ are used to ask a question, These are called Interrogative
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pronouns.

Adjective: An Adjective is a word used to qualify a Noun or Pronoun. Or,

Qualifying words are known as Adjectives.
As,
p

She is a beautiful woman.

Ajit is handsome and intelligent.
He has a big house.
htt

It is a charming scenery.
He is rich.
In the sentences given above, The words – beautiful, handsome and intelligent, big,
charming and rich have been used to qualify the nouns – woman, Ajit, house,
scenery and the pronoun – ‘he’. So, these are Adjectives.

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Definition of the Kinds of Adjective

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1. Adjectives of quality: The Adjectives which denote / show the colour, shape,
size, kind, quality (merits-demerits), state/condition of a person or thing are called
Adjectives of quality; as
Ram is a tall man. He is a foolish student.
She is a beautiful girl. I write with an old pen.
In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – tall, foolish, beautiful and old
have been used before the nouns – man, student, girl and pen respectively – which

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qualifies them (the nouns – man, student, girl and pen); and also show the quality –
tallness, foolishness, beauty and oldness of the nouns – man, student, girl and pen
respectively.
Note: Adjective of quality answer the question: ‘of what kind?’
e/t
2. Adjectives of quantity: the Adjectives which denote/show the quantity of a
thing are called Adjectives of quantity. They tell us how much of a thing is
meant/intended.
A good deal of, A great deal of, A large amount of, A large quantity of, a lot of, lot of,

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plenty of, a part of, half of,...... etc; as,
Mukesh has enough money. He has lost all his wealth.
/t.m
She has a lot of coffee. There is a little water in the glass.
In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – enough, all, a lot of and a little have
been used before the nouns – money, wealth, coffee and water respectively which
show/denote their quantity.
Note: Adjectives of quantity answer the question: ‘How much?’

3. Adjectives of Number: The Adjectives which show / denote the number of

persons or things are called Adjectives of number. They show how many or ‘In what
s:/

order persons or things are meant/taken or stand’; as,

I have three rooms.
The two sisters have left for London.
There are forty students in the class.
There are forty students in the class.
p

Binay is the second son of Mr. Maneshwar Thakur.

Many criminals were killed.
htt

In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – Three, two, forty, second and many
have been used before the nouns- rooms, sisters, students, son and criminals
respectively which show/denote their number (=definite/Indefinite), order
(=sequence).
Note: Adjectives of number answer the question: ‘How many?’ or ‘In what order?’
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Adjectives of Number

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Definite Adjectives of Number Indefinite Adjectives of Number

Cardinal Adjectives Ordinal Adjectives

I. Definite Adjectives of Number of Definite Numeral Adjectives:
The Adjectives which show/denote the definite (=certain) number or order (=

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sequence) of persons or things are called Definite Adjectives of number; is,
I have two brothers.
Pt. Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.
In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – ‘two’ and ‘first’ have been used
before the nouns – ‘brothers’ and ‘Prime Minister’ respectively which show/denote
e/t
their definite number or oder.

1. Cardinal Adjectives: Definite number showing / denoting Adjectives are called

Cardinal Adjectives, such as-one, two, three, four, five, six, seven........ etc; as,

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He has four pens.
/t.m
She has two toys.
Have you two sisters?
Sudhir Babu has only one daughter.

2. Ordinal Adjectives: Definite order showing / denting Adjectives are called

Ordinal Adjectives; such as __ Next, last, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth .....
etc. as, The first chapter of this book is Syntax.
Who will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar?
s:/

II. Indefinite Number of Adjectives or Indefinite Numeral Adjectives:

Indefinite number showing/denoting Adjectives are called Indefinite number of
Adjectives; such as – may, few, most, no, none, whole, various, some, all sufficient,
enough, several ...... etc; as,
p

Some books are torn.

Many students are laborious.
I have few pens.
htt

Most boys are gentle.

3. Proper Adjectives: The Adjectives which are formed from proper nouns are
called Proper Adjectives, such as -

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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

Remember:

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Proper Nouns Proper Adjectives Proper Nouns Proper
Adjectives
China Chinese Nepal Nepalese
Switzerland Swiss Portugal Portuguese
Israel Israeli Pakistan Pakistani
Africa African Australia Australian
Canada Canadian Germany German

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Greece Greek India Indian
Italy Italian Russia Russian
Asia Asian England English
France French Holland Dutch
Brazil Brazilian Britain British, etc.
e/t
Note: Proper Nouns or Proper Adjectives are always written in capital letter. In
other words, The first letter of a proper noun or Proper Adjective is capital.
4. Possessive Adjectives: Ownership denting Adjectives (such as – my, our,
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your, his, her, its, their) are called Possessive Adjectives. These are always used
/t.m
before nouns; as,
This is your pen. That is my car.
These are our chairs. These are his books.

In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – your, my, our and his have been
before the nouns – pen, car, chairs, and books respectively which denotes
relationship or possession with them (=the nouns – pen, car, chairs and books)
In other words, Relationship or Possession expressing Adjectives are called
s:/

Possessive Adjectives.

5. Distributive Adjectives: One or Each of the two or more than two persons or
things denoting Adjectives are called Distributive Adjectives.
p

In other words, when the distribution expressing (=denoting) words – each, every,
either and neither are used before nouns, These are called Distributive Adjectives.
When the distribution expression (=denoting / showing) words – each, either and
htt

neither are not used before nouns, These are called distributive pronouns; as,
Each girl has a book. Every man is emotional.
Either book is yours. Neither boy is handsome.
In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – each, every either and neither have
been used before the nouns – girl, man, book and boy respectively which denote
each or one.
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

6. Demonstrative Adjectives: Demonstrating or pointing out persons or things

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denoting (=expressing) Adjectives are called Demonstrative Adjectives.
In other words, when pointing out persons or things expressing (=denoting) words
such as-this, that, these, those..... and another are not used before nouns are called
demonstrative pronouns.
When pointing out persons or things expressing (=denoting) words such as – this,
that, these, those...... and another are not used before nouns are called
demonstrative pronouns.

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Demonstrative Adjective

Definite Demonstrative e/t Indefinite Demonstrative

Adjective; Adjective;
this, that, these, those, some, any, a certain
such, the same certain, other, another, any other

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(i). Definite Demonstrative Adjectives: Demonstrating or pointing out
/t.m
definite (certain) persons or things expressing (denoting) Adjectives such as – This,
that, these, those, such and the same are called Definite demonstrative Adjectives;
as,
This book is red. This boy is honest.
That pen is black. That girl is ugly.
These books are red. These boys are honest.
Those pens are black. Those girls are ugly.

In the sentences given above, The demonstrative Adjectives – This, that, these and
s:/

those have been used before the nouns – book, pen, books, pens, boy, girl, boys and
girls respectively which point out/demonstrate the definite persons or things.
(ii). Indefinite Demonstrative Adjectives: Demonstrating or pointing out
Indefinite (uncertain) persons or things expressing (denoting) Adjectives such as –
Some, any, a certain, certain, any other, other and another are called Indefinite
p

demonstrative Adjective; There are used in particular sense; as,

Some Mr. Jha is looking for you.
htt

(= Any / unknown Mr. Jha is looking for you.)

You met a certain woman yesterday evening.
(= You met an unknown woman yesterday evening.)

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7. Interrogative Adjectives: The Adjectives which are used to ask a question are

scg
called Interrogative Adjectives such as – What, which and whose; these are used
before nouns; as,
Which pen is yours?
Whose note book is this?
What book do you want to read?
In the sentences given above, The Adjectives – which, whose and what have been
used before the nouns – pen, notebook and book respectively to ask questions. So,

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these are Interrogative Adjectives.
When the words – what, which and whose are not used before nouns, these
are called Interrogative pronouns.
8. Emphasizing Adjectives: When the words – own and very are used before
nouns to emphasis them (the nouns), these are called Emphasizing Adjectives; as,
e/t
He saw his beloved on the road with his own eyes.
She killed her husband before his very eyes.
In the sentence given above, The words – own and very have been used before the

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nouns – eyes and eyes to emphasis the nouns. So, these are emphasizing Adjectives.
/t.m
Verb: A Verb is a word used for saying the action done by some person or thing.

Look at these sentences:

1. Aditi laughs. 2. The dog is dead.
3. The boys are eating food. 4. Aditya goes to school.
5. The policeman arrested the thief.

The words – ‘laughs’, ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘goes’ and ‘arrested’ have been used in the sentences
s:/

given above which says the action of – Aditi, the dog, the boys, Aditya and the
Policeman respectively. Therefore, these words are verbs.

A verb may tell us:

(i) What a person or thing does; as,
p

1. Ramita sings.
2. Boys run quickly.
(ii) What is done to person or thing; as,
htt

1. The chair is broken.

2. Binay is punished.
(iii) What a person or thing is; as,
1. The dog is dead.
2. Glass is brittle.

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Kinds of verb

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Verb

Transitive verb Intransitive verb

I. Transitive and Intransitive verb

1. Transitive verb: A verb which requires an object after it to complete its sense is
called a Transitive verb; as,

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1. The man killed a snake.
2. The boy opened the window.
3. Aditi made a doll.
In the sentences given above, The object – a snake, the window and a doll have been
used after the verbs – killed, opened and made respectively which are clarifying the
e/t
meaning of the used verbs – killed, opened and made. Therefore, these are
Transitive verbs.

2. Intransitive verb: A verb which does not require an object to complete its

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sense, but makes good sense by itself, is called an intransitive verb; as,
1. The man died 2. The girl smiled 3. The sun shines
/t.m

In the sentences given above, The verbs – died, smiled and ‘shines’ have been used
which are clarifying their meaning without objects. Therefore, These are
Intransitive verbs.
Note: (i) When the Interrogative word – ‘what’ or ‘whom’ is used to ask a question
from the sentence, we get something as an answer. That is an object and the verb is
transitive.
s:/

Adverb: An adverb qualifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

An adverb is also used to qualify a preposition, a conjunction, a noun, a pronoun
and a sentence besides a verb, an adjective and an adverb.

Look at these sentences:

p

As, He walks slowly.

V Adv.
You run fast.
htt

V Adv.
In the sentences given above, The words – ‘slowly’ and ‘fast’ are qualifying the verbs
– ‘walks’ and ‘runs’ respectively. Therefore, The words – ‘slowly and fast’ are
adverbs.
He is very good.
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In the sentences given above, The words – ‘very’ and ‘extremely’ are adverbs.

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I write very carefully.
The horse runs very fast.

Kinds of Adverb:
1. Adverbs of Time
2. Adverbs of Place
3. Adverbs of Number / Frequency

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4. Adverbs of Quantity / rang / extent / degree
5. Adverbs of Manner
6. Adverbs of Reason
7. Adverbs of Affirmation or Negation
8. Interrogative Adverbs e/t
1. Adverbs of Time: The adverbs which express time are called Adverbs of time;
such as,
Today, tomorrow, yesterday, last night, last day, last week, last month, last year,

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next day, next week, next month, next year, late, lately, now, just now, just, ago,
daily, already, early, soon, the day after tomorrow, the day before yesterday, at
/t.m
present, presently, shortly, recently, immediately, instantly, before, since .... etc.
Look at these sentences:
He saw me yesterday.
I have seen her before.
She comes here daily.
Vikas will soon return.
Binay arrived late.
s:/

In the sentences given above, The words – Yesterday, before, daily, soon and late
have been used as adverbs to qualify the verbs – saw, seen, comes, return and
arrived respectively which denote (express) time. Therefore, these are adverbs of
time.

2. Adverbs of Place: The adverbs which express place are called adverbs of place.
p

Such as
Here, there, hither, thither up, within, in, out, away, down, everywhere, somewhere,
htt

nowhere, anywhere, without, above, below, far, near, backward, inside, outside,
outdoors, indoors, ... etc.
Look at these sentences:
He was sitting here.
Mr. Thakur lived there.
My brother-in-law is out.
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

Hope looks above, doubt looks below.

scg
She looked up.
The horses galloped away.
Walk backward.
In the sentences given above, The words – here, there, out, everywhere, above,
below, up, away and backward have been used to qualify the verbs – sitting, lived,
is, is looks, looked, galloped and walk respectively which denote (express) place –
Therefore, these are adverbs of place.

np
Note: Generally the words – above, below, up, down, within, without and in are
used as prepositions; as,
1. Come in
Adv
2. He lives in this apartment.e/t
Prep
In example (1), the word – ‘in’ has been used as an adverb.
In example (2), the word – ‘in’ has been used as a preposition.

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3. Adverbs of Number: The adverbs which express the frequency or number of
/t.m
‘to be an action’ are called Adverbs of numbers. Such as –
once, twice, thrice, again, seldom, always, never, often, scarcely, hardly, rarely,
frequently, firstly, secondly, thirdly... etc.
Look at these sentences:
He has not seen her once.
The postman called again.
She seldom dances.
We always try to do our best.
s:/

Every person often make mistakes.

He frequently comes unprepared.
In the sentences given above, the words – once, again, seldom, always, often and
frequently have been used as adverbs to qualify the verbs – seen, called, dances, try,
makes and comes respectively which denote (= express) number or frequency.
p

Therefore, these are adverbs of number or frequency.

4. Adverbs of Quantity: The adverbs which express the quantity, area or extent
htt

of an adjective or an adverb are called Adverbs of quantity. Such as –

Too, very, quite, enough, rather, fairly, entirely, altogether, almost, partly,nearly,
fully, so, well, wholly, partially, far ... etc.
Look at these sentences:
He was too careless.
She was very tired.
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

His grandfather is entirely deaf.

scg
He is rather busy.
She is fully prepared.
You are altogether mistaken.
You are partly right.
I am nearly exhausted.
The mango is almost ripe.
He is quite wrong.

np
In the sentences given above, the words – too, very, entirely, rather, fully,
altogether, partly, nearly, almost and quite have been used as adverbs to qualify the
adjectives – careless, tired, deaf, busy, prepared, mistaken, right, exhausted, ripe
and wrong respectively which denote (= express)quantity. Therefore, these are
adverbs of quantity. e/t
5. Adverbs of Manner: The adverbs which express the method of ‘to be an action’
are called Adverbs of manner; such as,
Fast, hard, slowly, bravely, foolishly, wisely, loudly, soundly, badly, carefully,

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fluently, beautiful, clearly, lovingly, faithfully, seriously, so, agreeably, certainly,
well, doubtfully, firm, conveniently, ... etc.
/t.m
Note: Generally Adverbs of manner end with ‘Iy’.

Look at these sentences:

The horse ran fast.
He works hard.
Mr. Thakur walks slowly.
They fought bravely.
My sister-in-law behaved foolishly.
s:/

Aditi acated wisely.

Aditya laughts loudly.
The child sleeps soundly.
This book is well written.
He should not do so.
p

In the sentences given above, The words – fast, hard, slowly, bravely, foolishly,
wisely, loudly, soundly, well and so have been used as adverbs to qualify the verbs –
ran, works, walks, fought, behaved, acted, laughs, sleeps, written and do
htt

respectively which denote (= express) the method of ‘to be an action’. Therefore,

these are adverbs of manner.

6. Adverbs of Reason: The adverbs which express the sense of reason are called
Adverbs of Reason; such as,
Hence, therefore, consequently. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

Look at these sentences:

scg
Rambabu Thakur was hence unable to refute the charge.
She was therefore fined.
I therefore left school.
Consequently she was sent to New York.

In the sentences given above, the words – hence, therefore and consequently have
been used as adverbs to qualify the words – unable, fined, left and she respectively

np
which denote (=express) the sense of Reason. Therefore, these are adverbs of
reason.
7. Adverbs of Affirmation or Negation: The adverbs which express the sense
of affirmation or negation are called Adverbs of Affirmation or Negation; such as,
Not, surely, certainly, indeed, by no means, not at all, yes, no, probably etc.
e/t
Look at these sentences:
She did not come after all.
Surely he is right.
She is certainly alive.

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I do not know her.
Probably he will go.
/t.m

In the sentences given above, The words – not, surely, certainly, not and probably
have been used as adverbs to qualify the words – come, he, alive, know and he
respectively which denote (=express) the sense of affirmation or negation.
Therefore, These are adverbs of affirmation or negation.

Note: (i) Generally ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ are used as substitutes of affirmative and negative
sentences. Therefore, these are also called substitute adverbs; such as,
s:/

Q. Have you learnt the lesson?

Ans. Yes, (Here ‘Yes’ means ‘I have learnt’.)

Q. Have you learnt the lesson?

Ans. No. (=Here ‘No’ means ‘I have learnt’.)
p

(ii) Generally ‘No’ is used as an adjective.

8. Interrogative Adverbs: The adverbs which are used to ask a question are
htt

called Interrogative adverbs. Such as –

When, how long, where, whence, whither, how often, how many times, how much,
how far, in what degree, how, in what way, why, wherefore ... etc.

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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

PREPOSITION

scg
Pre + position = Preposition
‘Pre’ means ‘before’ while ‘position’ means place.
Preposition: A preposition is a word use before a noun or pronoun to show its
relation with the other words of the sentence; as,

1. The book is on the table.

2. The pen is in the inkpot.

np
3. The cat is under the table.
4. The book is between the inkpot and the chair.
5. The boy is behind the hut.

In the sentences given above, The words – on, in under, between and behind have
e/t
been used before the nouns – the table, the inkpot, the table, the inkpot, the hut
respectively which show their relation with the other words – the book, the pen, the
cat, the book, the boy of the sentences. Therefore, the words – on, in, under,
between and behind are prepositions.

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/t.m
Conjunction: A conjunction is a word which joins two or more than two words,
phrases, clauses or sentences.
Look at these sentences:
Veena and Sweta went to market.
Mukesh gave me a book and an inkpot.
I went to see him but he was not there.
Give me tea or coffee.
In the sentences given above, the words – and, but, or, have been used to join
s:/

Veena and Sweta, a book and an inkpot, I went to see him but he was not
there and ‘tea or coffee’. Therefore, the words – and, but, or are conjunctions.
These are also called connective words.
Interjection
An interjection shows the emotion or feeling. These words or phrase
p

can stand alone or be placed before or after a sentence. Many times an interjection
is followed by a punctuation mark, often an exclamation point.
htt

Examples: Ahh, that feels wonderful!

Ouch! My cut hurts!
Wow! I won the lottery!
Alas! We lost the match!

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FIND THE ODD WORDS (VERB, NOUN, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB) PARTS OF SPEECH

1) neat, long, grey, boat

scg
2) yellow, large, old, write
3) run, read, write, blue
4) take, make, lake, shake
5) often, usually , cheerfully, religion
6) belief, short ,freedom, history,
7) gang, well, swarm, herd
8) birth, trust, go, peace.

np
9) give, snow, frost, dew.
10) well, fast, brief, edible.

e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Plural Forms

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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PLURAL FORMS

scg
Singular Plural
axis axes

np
crisis crises
focus foci
terminus termini, terminuses
memorandum memoranda
stratum strata
e/t
aquarium aquaria
alumna (feminine) alumnae
alumnus (masculine) alumni
analysis analyses

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criterion criteria
/t.m
erratum errata
curriculum curricula
medium media
sheep sheep
scenery scenery
stationery stationery
luggage luggage
deer deer
swine swine
s:/

information information
news news
crisis crises
fungus fungi
index indices
p

vertex vertices
phenomenon phenomena
htt

formula formulae

_____ Some nouns retain the same form in the singular and plural.
e.g. Sheep, deer, aircraft, swine
_____ Most compound nouns form their plural with an addition of ‘_s’

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PLURAL FORMS

e.g. dining room dining rooms , grown-up grown-ups, spoonful

scg
spoonfuls
_____ In some compound nouns ,the plural is formed by adding ‘s’ to the first part
of the compound word.
e.g. daughter-in-law daughters-in-law , runner-up runners-up,
governor-general governors-general
_____ In some compound nouns, the plural is formed by converting both the parts
in the compound word. e.g. man servant - men servants, woman

np
student -women students.
_____ Some nouns are always plural. They have no singular forms.
E.g.spectacles,scissors, trousers

e/t
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p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Identify the Sentence (Simple, Compound, Complex)

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or
reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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p s:/
htt

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IDENTIFY THE SENTENCE

scg
(SIMPLE, COMPOUND,
COMPLEX)

np
There are three types of sentences:
1. Simple sentence
2. Compound sentence
3. Complex sentence

Simple sentence:
 One finite verb
e/t
 Limited by person, number and tense

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 One subject and one predicate
/t.m

Compound sentence:
 More than one finite verb.
 2 or more coordinate clauses (or) Independent clauses.
 Two thoughts connected to each other by coordinate
FANBOYS
conjunctions
F − For
 The coordinate conjunctions are for,and,or,not only A − And
but also,or,yet,still,so,otherwise,therefore. N− Not only But also
s:/

And  Similar B − but

O − or
But  Opposite
Y − Yet
Or  Equally important ideas S – Still, so
So  Results in continuation of ideas
p

Example:
htt

1. She completed her homework and she also worked on her project.
2. The road is long but I shall travel it.
3. He can film a documentary or he can make a short film.
4. This novel is huge, so you must take time to read it.
5. He is famous yet he is humble.
6. The thieves not only knocked the men but also injured him.
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IDENTIFY THE SENTENCE(SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX)

Complex sentence:

scg
 More than one finite verb.
 One independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (subordinate
clause)
 Subordinate clause has no meaning of its own. It derives its meaning from
the principal clause.
 These clauses are connected using subordinate conjunctions or relative

np
pronouns.
E.g.: When he heard the news, he was astonished.
Subordinate Conjunctions - Though, although, even though, while, when,
whenever, during, as if, after, because, before, as soon as, since, until, unless,
Relative Pronouns:
Who, Whose, Whose
Which, that


e/t
Persons
Animals, actions
Where  adverb of place

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What  Things
/t.m
Who  nominative
Whose  Possessive (whose eyes)
Whom  accusative( whom I met yesterday)

Transformation of Simple, Compound, Complex sentences.

Simple Compound Complex

s:/

1. Inspite + V + ing But / Yet / Still Though / Although / even

though
2. In the event of Or ... not and / If can / will /
In case of at once Unless ... not
on +verb + ing As soon as
p

3. Being And / and so Therefore As / Since / Because

4. As a result of / And / and so / As / Since / Because

htt

On account of Therefore
Because of
Deu to
Owing to

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IDENTIFY THE SENTENCE(SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX)

5. Too .... to Very ... and so So that ... can / could not

scg
6. In order to And so So that

7. Besides + v + ing Not only... But also As well as

8. Without + v + ing Must ... Otherwise After

EXAMPLES

np
1. Inspite of /Despite his poor performance, he got the job (SIMPLE)
His performance was poor, but he got the job(COMPOUND)
Though his performance was poor he got(COMPLEX)

2. In the event of your working hard, you will score very good marks(SIMPLE)
e/t
Work hard and you will score very good marks(COMPOUND)
You work hard, you will score very good marks(COMPLEX)

3. Being clerk, she solved the problem easily(SIMPLE)

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She was clever and so she solved the problem easily(COMPOUND)
/t.m
As she was clever, she solved the problem easily(COMPLEX)

4. In case of your walking fast, you will reach the station in time(SIMPLE)
Walk fast and you will reach the station(COMPOUND)
If you walk fast, you will reach the station(COMPLEX)

5. Due to heavy rain, the meeting was postponed(SIMPLE)

It rained heavily & so the meeting was postponed(COMPOUND)
s:/

As it rained heavily, the meeting was postponed(COMPLEX)

6. The coffee is too hot for me to drink(SIMPLE)

The coffee is very hot and so I cannot drink(COMPOUND)
p

The coffee is so hot that I cannot drink(COMPLEX)

7. I work hard in order to become a successful businessman. (SIMPLE)

htt

I work hard and so I can become a successful businessman. (COMPOUND)

I work hard so that I can become a successful businessman. (COMPLEX)

8. Besides robbing the old man, the thief wounded him severely. (SIMPLE)

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IDENTIFY THE SENTENCE(SIMPLE, COMPOUND, COMPLEX)

The thief not only robbed the old man but also wounded him severely.

scg
(COMPOUND)
The thief robbed as well as wounded the old man severely. (COMPLEX)

9. Without completing your homework, you cannot go to play. (SIMPLE)

Complete your homework and then you can go to play otherwise you cannot.
(COMPOUND)
After you had completed your homework you can go to play. (COMPLEX)

np
Examples:
1) Being hardworking, she cleared the exam (Simple)
2) As I broke my arm I had to go to the hospital (Complex)
3) I couldn’t walk and so I was taken in a wheel chair. (Compound)
4) It was too painful, to stay in bed. (Simple)
e/t
5) As I regained my strength, I started playing again. (Complex)
6) I recovered in a month’s time and was discharged. (Compound)
7) Since they have planned everything, they feel relaxed. (Complex)
8) Choose challenging goals. (Simple)
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9) Having planned everything, they feel relaxed. (Simple)
/t.m
10) He was singing, though he had a sore throat. (Complex)
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Degrees of Comparison

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The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

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reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
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It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
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scg
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e/t
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p s:/
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DEGREES OF

scg
COMPARISON

An adjective can be written in three different types to denote three degrees of

comparison namely Positive, Comparative, Superlative.
The comparison may be of a quality or a quantity, an adjective or an adverb.

np
Sam is as tall as Pam. – POSITIVE DEGREE
Raj is taller than Joy. – COMPARATIVE DEGREE
Toby is the tallest boy in the class – SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
e/t
From the above examples it is evident that when the degree of comparison changes
from one to another, words (denoting the quality) as well as the structure of the
sentence changes.

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Positive Degree - as adjective as
/t.m
Comparative Degree - adjective than
Superlative Degree - the adjective

Let us now see how words denoting the comparison are changed.

POINTS TO NOTE :
If the positive ends in two consonants, or in a single consonant
preceded by two vowels, er and est are added.
Positive Comparative Superlative
s:/

Bold bolder boldest

Clever cleverer cleverest
Great greater greatest
Exceptions :
p

just more just than the most just

right more right than the most right
real more real than the most real
htt

wrong more wrong than the most wrong

Adverbs of more than one syllable take more and most.

quickly more quickly than the most quickly
slowly more slowly than the most slowly
seldom more seldom than the most seldom
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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

 When the Positive ends in e, only r and st are added.

scg
Able abler ablest
Brave braver bravest
Fine Finer finest

 When the Positive ends in y, preceded by a consonant, the y is

changed into i before adding er and est.

np
Dry drier driest
Easy easier easiest
Happy happier happiest

 But if the y is preceded by a vowel, the y is not changed to i .

e/t
Gay gayer gayest
Gray grayer grayest

 When the Positive is a word of one syllable and ends in a single

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consonant, preceded by a short vowel, this consonant is doubled
/t.m
before adding er and est.
Big bigger biggest
Fat fatter fattest
Hot hotter hottest

 In all Adjectives of more than two syllables, and in most Adjectives

of two syllables, the Comparative is formed by adding ‘more’ and
the Superlative is formed by adding ‘most’.
s:/

Positive Comparative Superlative

Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
Courageous more courageous most courageous
Difficult more difficult most difficult
Industrious more industrious most industrious
p

Adjectives ending in ed, ing, re, ful, ous and those with the stress on the first
htt

syllable usually take more and the most.

charming more charming than the most charming
famous more famous than the most famous
hopeful more hopeful than the most hopeful
learned more learned than the most learned
obscure more obscure than the most obscure
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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

 Irregular Comparisons :

scg
The following Adjectives are compared irregularly, that is, their Comparative and
Superlative are not formed from the Positive.
Positive Comparative Superlative
Bad, evil, ill worse worst
Far (distance) farther farthest
Fore former foremost first
Good, well better best

np
Hind hinder hindmost
Late later, latter latest, last
Little less least
Much (quantity) more most
Many (number) more most
Old
e/t
older, elder oldest, eldest

For the sake of changing the sentence structure we can classify the sentences into
three types and follow certain rules for each type.
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TYPE I : (Comparison between two people or objects)
Here only two people or two things are compared therefore only two degrees are
required i.e. positive and comparative. There is no need to change into superlative
degree.

STEPS :
 Change the position of the 2 things compared
 If the given sentence is in the positive degree, change to
s:/

comparative and vice versa

 If the verb is in affirmative, change it to negative and vice versa

eg. John is more intelligent than Joseph

1. interchange the position of John and Joseph
p

2. change from comparative to positive (more intelligent – as intelligent as)

3. change the verb into negative (is – is not)
htt

Ans. Joseph is not as intelligent as John.

eg. Sudha sings better than she dances.

Ans. Sudha doesn’t dance as well as she sings.

eg. Rahul is a better writer than a singer.

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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

eg. Sushmita is as beautiful as Aishwarya.

scg
Ans. Aishwarya is not more beautiful than Sushmita.
eg. Sameer is stronger.
Ans. Sameer was not as strong before as he is now.

SOLVED EXAMPLES (TYPE I) :

1. Some people have more money than brains.

np
Ans. Some people do not have as much brains as money.
2. I know him as well as you do.
Ans. You do not know him better than I do.
3. It is easier to preach than to practise.
Ans. It is not as easy to practise as to preach.
e/t
4. A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend.
Ans. A foolish friend is not as good as a wise enemy.
5. The pen is mightier than the sword.
Ans. The sword is not as mighty as the pen is.
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/t.m
TYPE II :
Type II A Type II B
Meaning (Comparison is in a (Comparison is in a group
group and we select but there are a few who
one person as having are the best and we select
the quality in the one of them)
highest degree)
Superlative the best one of the best
s:/

Dhoni is the best Dhoni is one of the best

batsman. batsmen.
Comparative better than any (or better than many (or
all) other most) other
Dhoni is better than any Dhoni is better than many
p

other batsman. other batsmen.

Positive No other as good as Very few as good as
htt

No other other batsman Very few batsmen are as good

is as good as Dhoni is. as Dhoni is.

Type II A :
eg. Ramesh is the best batsman in the team. (S)
Ramesh is better than any other batsman in the team. (C)
No other batsman in the team is as good as Ramesh. (P) https://t.me/tnpscgs
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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

eg. Australia is the largest island in the world. (S)

scg
Australia is larger than any other island in the world. (C)
No other island in the world is as large as Australia. (P)

eg. No other man was as strong as Bhim.( P)

Bhim was the strongest man. (S)
Bhim was stronger than any other man. (C)

np
SOLVED EXAMPLES (TYPE II A) :
1. Radha is the smartest girl in the class.
Ans. Radha is smarter than any other girl in the class.
No other girl in the class is as smart as Radha.
2. Nothing in the world is as important as being honest.
e/t
Ans. Being honest is the most important thing in the world.
Being honest is more important than any other thing in the world.
3. The Taj Mahal is more magnificent than any other monument in India.
Ans. The Taj Mahal is the most magnificent monument in India.
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No other monument in India is as magnificent as the Taj Mahal.
/t.m

4. Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Ans. Helen of Troy was more beautiful than any other woman in the world.
No other woman in the world was as beautiful as Helen of Troy.

5. No flower is as sweet smelling as the rose.

Ans. The rose the sweetest smelling flower of all.
The rose smells sweeter than any other flower.
s:/

TYPE II B :
eg. New York is one of the most crowded cities in America. (S)
New York is more crowded than most cities in America. (C)
Very few cities in America are as crowded as New York. (P)
p

eg. Very few books I have read are as good as this one. (P)
This book is better than many other books I have read. (C)
htt

This is one of the best books I have read. (S)

eg. Akbar was greater than most other emperors in the world. (C)
Akbar was one of the greatest emperors in the world. (S)
Very few emperors in the world were as great as Akbar. (P)
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DEGREES OF COMPARISON

SOLVED EXAMPLES (TYPE II B) :

scg
1. Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greatest cricketers in the world.
Ans. Sachin Tendulkar is greater than most cricketers in the world.
Very few cricketers in the world are as great as Sachin Tendulkar.

2. Very few animals are as useful as the cow.

Ans. The cow is more useful than many other animals.
The cow is one of the most useful animals.

np
3. Suresh is more industrious than many other boys of his age.
Ans. Suresh is one of the most industrious boys of his age.
Very few boys of his age are as industrious as Suresh.

4.
e/t
Tilak was one of the most prominent leaders of India.
Ans. Tilak was more prominent than most other leaders.
Very few leaders were as prominent as Tilak.

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5. Kolkata is more thickly populated than most other cities of India.
/t.m
Ans. Kolkata is one of the most thickly populated cities of India.
Very few cities of India are as populated as Kolkatta.
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Blending Words

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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BLENDING WORDS

scg
Blending is a form of word formation where a word is formed from parts of two or
more words.

np
Eg:‘smog’ is formed by combining ‘smoke’ and ‘fog’

1. Advertisement+inflation - Adflation
2. Binary+digit - Bit
3. Breakfast+lunch - Brunch
4. Camera+recorder
5. Diplomacy+economics
e/t
- Camcorder
- Diplonomics
6. Documentary+drama - Docudrama

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7. Electric+execute - Electrocute
/t.m
8. Guess+estimate - Guestimate
9. Hight+technology - Hi-tech
10. Helicopter+airport - Heliport
11. International+police - Interpol
12. Medical+evacuation - Medevac
13. Medical+care - Medicare
14. Motor+bike - Mobike
s:/

15. Motor+hotel - Motel

16. News+broadcast - Newscast
17. Parachute+troops - Paratroops
18. teleprinter + exchange - telex
19. television + broadcast - telecast
p

20. travel + catalogue - travelogue

htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Compound Words

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or
reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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https://t.me/tnpscgs

s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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COMPOUND WORDS

scg
Compound words are formed, when two or more words are joined together to

np
make them one word. The meaning of the compound word may be very different
from the meanings of its components in isolation.

Noun + Noun = sea food, star light, school boy, wonder land
e/t
Adjective + noun = good will, soft ware, gentle man, blue print
Gerund + noun = sewing machine, walking stick
Adverb + noun = insight, outpost, fast food

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Verb + adverb = washout, flash back, make-over
/t.m
Noun + verb = nightfall, day break, water fall
Adjective + verb = free-drive, dry-clean, deep-fry, safeguard
Adverb + verb = outrun, well-defined, downcast, upset
Noun + adjective = radio-active, light-sensitive, life long
Adjective + adjective = pale blue, light green
Adverb + adjective = out sourcing, in coming
Verb + Object = push-button, tread mill
s:/

Verb + Noun = pop corn.

p
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Figures of Speech

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or
reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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https://t.me/tnpscgs

s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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scg
FIGURES OF SPEECH

Alliteration :
It is the repetition of the same consonant sound in several nearby words.

np
Eg: Soul, slumbers
Dumb, driven.

Allusion :
It is a figure of speech whereby the author refers to a subject matter such as
e/t
place, event, or literary work by way of a passing reference.
Eg: Dust thou art, to dust returnest.
The statement is derived from Bible (Genesis 3 : 19)

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Simile :
The use of simile compares two things that are not alike and finds something
/t.m
common between them. The comparison is made using the words „as‟, „like‟, etc.
Eg: Speech that came like leech craft.
Here, speech is compared to leech – craft.

Metaphor :
A metaphor is an implied simile. A comparison between two unlike things,
this describes one thing as if it were something else. Does not use “like” or “as” for
the comparison.
s:/

Eg: Sita is a queen in dance.

NOTE : Sita dances like a queen – simile.
Comparison between Sita and Queen.

Personification :
p

In personification, inanimate objects and abstract ideas are portrayed as a

living thing. [Usually personified words begin with a capital letter, but not always].
Ex: Trust no Future however pleasant.
htt

Future is considered to be a human and asks us not to trust it.

Antithesis:
In antithesis, striking opposition or contrast of words or sentiments is made
in the same sentence.
Eg: Man proposes, God disposes.
To err is human, to forgive is divine. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Oxymoron :

scg
Oxymoron is a special form of antithesis, whereby two contradictory
qualities are predicted at once of the same thing.
Eg: Till the gossamer thread you fling catch...
Fling  throw.
Two opposite qualities/actions, throw and catch are employed to describe the
action of the spider.

np
Onomatopoeia :
The use of words containing sounds similar to the noises they describe.
Eg: Ding dong goes the bell.

Rhyme scheme :
It is a pattern of rhyming lines in a stanza. Every rhyming word in a stanza is
e/t
given a particular letter, in lower case.
Eg: Tell me not, in mournful numbers (a)
Life is But an empty dream (b)
For the soul is dead that slumbers (a)
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And things are not what they seem (b)
/t.m
Rhyme scheme : abab

Rhyming words :
The similarity of sounds in the words at the end of each line of a verse is
called a shyme.
Eg: Tell me .............. numbers
Life is but an empty dream
Far ................ slumbers
And ................... seem
s:/

Rhyming words: numbers, slumbers dream, seem.

Apostrophe :
An apostrophe is a direct address to the dead, to the absent, or to a
personified object or idea. It is a special form of personification.
p

Eg: O tongues of fire!

It address the fire, and fire is personified here.
htt

[Apostrophe usually begins with „O‟ & ends with!]

Hyperbole :
In hyperbole a statement is made emphatic by overstatement.
The impossible events mentioned in a poem are referred to as the
„Hyperbole‟.
Eg: Why man, if the river were dry, I am able to fill it with tears. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

It is impossible to fill a river with tears.

scg
Hence the statement is a hyperbole.

Anaphora :
It is a technique of beginning several lines with the same word or
words. This creates a parallelism and a rhythm, which can intensify the meaning of
the piece.

If you can dream and not make dreams your master;

np
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster;

Ellipsis :
It is a series of dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a
e/t
word, a sentence, or whole section from a text without attesting its original
meaning.
Repetition :
It is the repetition of a single word.
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Eg: Act, - act in the living present.
/t.m

A PSALM OF LIFE

What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! -
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
s:/

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
p

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each tomorrow
htt

Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world‟s broad field of battle,
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

In the bivouac of Life,

scg
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, how‟er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o‟erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us

np
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o‟er life‟s solemn main,
e/t
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
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Still achieving, still pursuing,
/t.m
Learn to labor and to walk
- H W Longfellow
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the great American poet,
was a professor at Harvard. His great fame began with the publication of his
first volume of poems „Voices of the Night‟ in 1839, which included “A Psalm
of Life,” one of nineteenth century‟s best-loved poems. His other collections
include Ballads (1841), Evangeline(1847), Hiawatha (1855), The Courtship of
Miles Standish (1858) and Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863).
s:/

 Longfellow was the most popular poet of his age and during his lifetime he
became a „national institution‟.“His work was musical, mildly romantic, high-
minded, and flavoured with sentimental preachment” (Norton Anthology of
American Literature). “This poem seems to give a great deal of good advice. It
tells the reader not to waste his/her time but to be up and going; not to be
p

discouraged by failures but to have a heart for any fate; not to judge life by
temporary standards but to look to eternal reward.” (Brooks and Warren)
htt

FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1) And our hearts though stout & brave, Heart beat is compared to the beating
still like muffled drums are beating of drums.
2) Be not like dumb, driven eattle. young man is compared to a cattle.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

METAPHOR

scg
1) Life is but an empty dream Life is compared to an empty dream.
2) In the world‟s broad field of battle. The world is compared to a large
3) In the bivouac of Life. battle field.
[Bivouac is the temporary camp made by Life is compared to the soldier‟s
soldiers] temporary stay.
[Temporary stay of Life in this world

np
4) Footprints on the sands of time.
is compared here.
Hence „Life‟ is also a Pessonification].
Foot prints on the sand is compared
e/t to the achievements made by people
during a period of time.
5) Sailing o‟er Life‟s solemn main. Life is compared to a large ocean.

PERSONIFICATION

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1) Art is long, and Time is fleeting. Time is personified.
/t.m
2) In the bivouac of Life. Life is personified.
[Life is compared to soldier]
3) Trust no Future however pleasant.
Future is personified.
4) Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Past is personified and is called as
dead person.
[It is also a Biblical allusion]
ALLUSION
s:/

1) Dust thou art, to dust returnest. Biblical allusion [Genesis 3 : 19

The creation of the world]
Biblical allusion [St. Mathew‟s Gospel
2) Let the dead Past bury its dead. chapter : 8 verses : 22]
p

OXYMORON
htt

1) Not enjoyment, and not sorrow. Two opposite words qualities

enjoyment & sorrow are described for
a person.
ALLITERATION

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Soul, slumbers; grave, goal;spoken, soul.

scg
RHYME SCHEME
Tell me note ......... numbers a Rhyme scheme : ab ab [Whole Poem]
............................ dream b
............................. slumbers a
......................... seem b

np
REPETITION
Act, act in living present Repetition of „act‟ to emphasis on
working without fail.

RHYMING WORDS
Numbers, slumbers;
e/t
Dream, seem ;

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Goal, soul.
/t.m

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish,

Nor turn our thoughts away
From the bright picture of a “Woman‟s Mission”
Our hearts portray.
s:/

We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,

Beneath the household roof,
From the great world‟s harsh strife, and jarring voices,
To stand aloof;
p

Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction

To sleep our life away,
htt

But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,

To deck our way.
As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,
That treasure up the rain,
And yield in odours, ere the day‟s declining,
The gift again;
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,

scg
But happy none the less,
Be privileged to fill the air around us
With happiness;

To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,

Which we can bless and aid;
To die, and not a heart that does not love us

np
Know where we‟re laid.
- Annie Louisa Walker
Annie Louisa Walker (1836-1907), British-born novelist, children‟s playwright
and poet, was educated in Ontario, where she and her sisters operated a school for
ladies. Walker published poetry widely in newspapers on both sides of the border
e/t
before collecting them in „Leaves from the Backwoods‟ in 1861-62. She returned to
England to work for her cousin, Margaret Oliphant, a well-known novelist, and
edited her „Autobiography and Letters‟ in 1899, under her married name, Mrs.
Harry Coghill. She collected her poetic output in „Oak and Maple: English and

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Canadian Verses.‟
/t.m

I. FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
As humble plants by country Women are compared to humble
hedgerows growing. plants.
ALLITERATION
Sob, sights;
claim, quiet /K/ sound
days, declining, etc.
s:/

RHYME SCHEME
As humble plants by country
hedgegrows growing, ................. rain, RHYME SCHEME : abab.
.............................. declining,
p

....... again.

RHYMING WORDS
htt

Away, portray; roof, aloof;

away, way, etc.

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

THE NATION UNITED

scg
A Noiseless, Patient Spider
A NOISELESS, patient spider,
I mark‟d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark‟d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch‟d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

np
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect
them,
Till the bridge you will need be form‟d, till the ductile anchor hold,
e/t
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
- Walt Whitman

Born on May 31, 1819, Walt Whitman was the second son of Walter Whitman,

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a house-builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. At the age of twelve Whitman began to
/t.m
learn the printer‟s trade, and fell in love with the written word. Largely self-taught,
he read voraciously, becoming acquainted with the Bible and the works of Homer,
Dante, and Shakespeare.
In 1936, at the age of 17, he began his career as a teacher in Long Island. He
continued to teach until 1841, when he turned to journalism as a full-time career.
He founded a weekly newspaper, Long Islander. During 1850 – 1855 he focussed,
on his own poetic work “Leaves of Grass”, and continued to write. He died at the age
of 72 in 1892.
s:/

The first half of this poem describes the spider‟s inimitable way of spinning its web.
The second half of the poem pictures the human soul reaching out into space and
time, seeking something infinite and eternal to serve as the anchor of hope.
I. FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR
p

... In measureless oceans of space. Space is compared to the

measureless ocean.
htt

APOSTROPHE
1. And you O my soul where you It addresses to the soul.
stand.
2. Tell the gossamer ........................... It addresses to the soul.
O my soul.
OXYMORON
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

 Till the gossamer thread you fling Fling – throw & catch are opposite

scg
catch somewhere words describing the action of the
spider.
ALLITERATION
Vacant, vast; forth, filament.
REPETITION
It launched forth filament, filament, „Filament‟ is repeated to emphasis on
filament .......... the repeated action of the spider.

np
ENGLISH WORDS
Speech that came like leech-craft
e/t
And killed us almost, bleeding us white!
You bleached our souls soiled with impurities.
You bathed our hearts amid tempestuous seas
Of a purer, drearier, delight.

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O tongues of fire! You came devouring
/t.m
Forests of nightshade, creepers that enmesh,
Trees that never remembered to grow,
And shrubs that were but thornmills in our flesh.
You were the dawn, and sunlight filled the spaces
Where owls were hovering.
O winged seeds! You crossed the furrowed seas
To nestle in the warm and silent earth.
Like a golden swarm of fireflies you came
s:/

Pining for a new agony, a new birth.

You blossomed into a nascent loveliness.
You ripened into nectar in fruit-jars
That hung like clustered stars.
O winging words! Like homing bees you borrow
p

Grown murmurous, the honey of delight,

Pollened within our hearts the coming morrow,
htt

Sweetened within our souls for aeons bright:

You kindle in the far corners of the earth
The music of an ever-deepening chant:
The burthen of a waneless, winterless spring,
The gospel of an endless blossoming.
Fathomless words, with Indo-Aryan blood
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Tingling in your veins.

scg
The spoils of ages, global merchandise
Mingling in your strains!
You pose the cosmic riddles:
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word was God.
The Word is in the middle
And the Word is Man.

np
In the end will be the Word
And the Word will be God in Man. - V K Gokak
VK Gokak, a famous novelist and poet in Kannada and a professor of English, wrote
and published poetry in English as well. This poem expresses Gokak’s admiration for
the English language. He brings out the efficacy of English words in delightful and
e/t
poignant similes. How the language across the seas changed our hearts is shown here.
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
Speech is compared to beech – craft.
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1) Speech that came like leech – craft.
2) Like a golden swarm of fireflies you English words is compared to fireflies.
/t.m
came. English words is compared to
3) You ripened into .......... like clustered clustered stars.
stars. English words is compared to homing
4) Like homing bees you borrow. bees.
METAPHOR
1) You bleached our souls soiled with Purifying our soul is compared to
impurities. bleaching something to remove
impurities.
s:/

2) You were the dawn and sunlight filled English is compared to dawn and
the spaces. sunlight.
APOSTROPHE
1) „O tongues of fire! Addressing the personified object
2) „O winged seeds!‟ „fire‟. Addressing the English words,
p

that is compared to winged seeds.

3) „O winging words!‟ Addressing the English words.
htt

ALLUSION
1) In the beginning was the word and Biblical allusion St. John chapter : 1
word was God Fathomers words. verse 1.
ALLITERATION
Like, leech; souls, soiled; waneless,
winterless. https://t.me/tnpscgs
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NOTE :

scg
 „O tongues of fire‟ – Here fire is personified and is addressed to as „tongues of
fire‟. Hence it is personification. Similarly, since “tongues of fire” is compared
to English words, it is a metaphor. But, the whole phrase is addressed to
something, using „o‟ and hence it is apostrophe.

The Best Option is Apostrophe

 Similarly, “o winged seeds! “and “o winging words!” are both metaphor and

np
apostrophe.

The Best Option is Apostrophe

SNAKE

A snake came to my water-trough

e/t
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there.
In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree
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I came down the steps with my pitcher
/t.m
And must wait, must stand and wait; for there he was at the trough before me.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down,
over the edge of the stone trough,
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, Silently.
s:/

Someone was before me at my water-trough,

And I, like a second comer, waiting.
He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment,
p

And stooped and drank a little more,

Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth,
On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.
htt

The voice of my education said to me:

He must be killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous.
And voices in me said: If you were a man
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.
But must I confess how I liked him,
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How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough

scg
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this earth?
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?
Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
I felt so honoured.
And yet those voices:

np
If you were not afraid, you would kill him.
And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid;
But even so, honoured still more
That he should seek my hospitality
From out the dark door of the secret earth.
e/t
He drank enough
And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,
And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,
Seeming to lick his lips,

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And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,
/t.m
And slowly turned his head,
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream,
Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round
And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.
And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,
And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and
entered farther,
A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing
s:/

into that horrid black hole,

Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing
himself after,
Overcame me now his back was turned.
I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
p

I picked up a clumsy log

And threw it at the water trough with a clatter.
I think it did not hit him,
htt

But suddenly that part of him that was left behind

convulsed in undignified haste,
Writhed like lightning, and was gone
Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,
At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.
And immediately I regretted it.
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I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!

scg
I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.
And I thought of the albatross,
And I wished he would come back, my snake.
For he seemed to me again like a king,
Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
Now due to be crowned again.
And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords

np
Of life.
And I have something to expiate; A pettiness.
- D.H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) occupies a unique position among the leading
Modernist writers of the generation that came of age before the outbreak of the
First World War.
e/t
D.H. Lawrence was born near Nottingham in the English Midlands. D.H. Lawrence
spent several years as a teacher before turning to writing for a livelihood.
Although D.H. Lawrence is best known for his novels and short stories, he was also

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a fine poet who wrote free verse. His poetry concentrates on the life-giving force of
/t.m
nature and exalts the physical and instinctual over the purely intellectual.
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 And I, like a second comer, The poet is compared to second comer
waiting
2 He lifted his head .......... as Snake is compared to cattle
drinking cattle do,
3 How glad I......... at my water- Snake is compared to a guest
s:/

trough
4 And he lifted.......drunken Snake is compared to a drunken person
5 And flickered........ air, so back Flickering of Tongue is compared to lighting
in the night sky
p

6 And looked around........ turned Snake is compared to god

his head
7 Writhed like........ was gone Snake‟s quick movement is compared to quick
htt

lighting
8 For he........ like a king, Snake is compared to king in exile
9 Like a king ....... under world Snake is compared to king in exile
METAPHOR

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1 “On the day ........ Etna The summer season is compared to sicily‟s july

scg
smoking”. month
2 Being earth-brown........ earth The brown and golden colour of snake is
compared to earth‟s colour
3 Into the burning bowels of this The inner part of the earth where molten rock
earth is found is compared to the bowels.
4 From out the dark door of secret The snake hole is compared to the door to
earth earth.

np
PERSONIFICATION
1 The voice........ to me “Voice” is personified
2 And voice........ a man “Voice” is personified
3 Into the black hole, the earth- e/t
lipped fissure in the wall-front
ONAMATOPOEIA
1 And threw it at the water trough “clatter” – quick sound of falling
with a clatter

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ALLUSION
/t.m
1 On the day........ Etna Smoking Geographical Allusion. Etna is a volcanic
mountain in Sicily Italy
2 And I thought........ my snake Literary Allusion. The albatross is a sea-bird
mentioned in the poem “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner” written by S.T. Coleridge
ALLITERATION
1 Hot, heat
2 Deep, dark
s:/

3 Strange, scented
REPETITION
1 On a hot, hot day
ANAPHORA
p

1 And slowly turned his head,

And slowly
htt

Very slowly

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THE MAN HE KILLED

scg
―Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!‖
―But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,

np
And killed him in his place.‖
―I shot him dead because —-
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That‘s clear enough; although.‖
e/t
―He thought he‘d ‘list, perhaps,
Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.‖

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―Yes; quaint and curious war is!
/t.m
You shoot a fellow down
You‘d treat if met where any bar is
Or help to half-a-crown.‖
- Thomas Hardy

 Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) was both a novelist and a poet. In his novels he
depicted people striving against overwhelming odds within a society that was
uncaring. However, he sought to improve society.
s:/

 Hardy‟s poetry marks a bridge between the Victorian Age and the Modernist
movement of the twentieth century. Hardy‟s use of „non-poetic‟ language and
odd rhymes, coupled with his fatalistic outlook, were both a source and
inspiration to numerous twentieth - century writers.
p

FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 Off-hand like – just as I –
htt

Was out of work – had sold his traps -

ALLITERATION
1 Had, he
2 We, wet
3 Him, he
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4 Quaint, curious // „k‟ sound

scg
RHYMING WORDS
1 met, wet
2 Inn, nipperkin
3 Face, place
RHYME SCHEME
1 Had he........ ab,ab (similar for all
.................... stanzas)

np
....................
..... nipperkin

OFF TO OUTER SPACE TOMORROW MORNING

e/t
You can start the Count Down, you can take a last look;
You can pass me my helmet from its plastic hook;
You can cross out my name in the telephone book –
For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
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/t.m
There won‘t be any calendar, there won‘t be any clock;
Daylight will be on the switch and winter under lock.
I‘ll doze when I‘m sleepy and wake without a knock –
For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
I‘ll be writing no letters; I‘ll be posting no mail.
For with nobody to visit me and not a friend in hail,
In solit‘ry confinement as complete as any gaol
I‘ll be off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
s:/

When my capsule door is sealed and my space-flight has begun,

With the teacups circling round me like the planets round the sun,
I‘ll be centre of my gravity, a universe of one,
Setting off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
p

You can watch on television and follow from afar,

Tracking through your telescope my upward shooting star,
htt

But you needn‘t think I‘ll give a damn for you or what you are
When I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.

And when the rockets thrust me on my trans-galactic hop,

With twenty hundred light-years before the first stop,
Then you and every soul on earth can go and blow your top –
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For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.

scg
- Norman Nicholson
FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 In solitary confinement as complete The space shuttle is compared to a
as a gaol jail
2 With tea cups circling........ sun Tea-cups is compared to planet, the
poet is compared to the sun

np
METAPHOR
1 I‟ll be centre of my gravity, a universe The poet is compared to the universe
of one
2 Tracking through........ star The space shuttle is compared to the
shooting star

1
ANAPHORA
You can start the........
e/t
You can.........
You can.........
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RHYMING WORDS
/t.m
1 Look, hook, book
2 Clock, knock, lock

RHYME SCHEME
1 You can start the........ aaab ( similar for all stanzas)
You can.........
You can.........
s:/

................. morning

SONNET NO:116
p

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
htt

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand‘ring bark,
Whose worth‘s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love‘s not Time‘s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
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Within his bending sickle‘s compass come;

scg
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov‘d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov‘d.
- William Shakespeare

Note: The first collected edition of Shakespeare‟s sonnets appeared in 1609. There

np
are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets include the
destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangular love and the
analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted that apart from these 154
sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled „Venus and Adonis‟ and „The
Rape of Lucrece‟.
e/t
Sonnet: A sonnet is a lyric (short, personal poem) written in a single stanza
consisting of fourteen lines. Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage . . .”) deals with
the theme of true love. Many critics consider it “incomparable” and call it “the finest
of all”. In this poem various images are used to highlight the nature of true and deep

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love.
/t.m

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
ALLITERATION
1 Me, marriage
2 Which, when
METAPHOR
1 It is an ever-fixed mark Love is compared to
ever-fixed mark.
s:/

2 It is the ......... bark Love is compared to star

PERSONIFICATION
1 Love‟s not Time‟s fool Time is personified here.
RHYMING WORDS
Mind, finds
p

Mark, bark
htt

THE SOLITARY REAPER

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
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Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

scg
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,

np
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne‘er was heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
e/t
Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
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Or is it some more humble lay,
/t.m
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again!
What‘er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o‘er the sickle bending –
I listen‘d motionless and still;
s:/

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore
Long after it was heard no more.
- William Wordsworth
p

William Wordsworth, an eminent poet of nature, was born on 7th April, 1770, at
Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. Though he lost his parents at a
very young age, his uncle gave him a good education. His meeting with Samuel
htt

Taylor Coleridge in 1795, proved to be a turning point in his life. They, together
published, „The Lyrical Ballads‟ in 1798, Wordsworth succeeded Robert Southey as
Poet Laureate in 1843 and remained in office till his death in April 1850.

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BE THE BEST

scg
It you can‘t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush, if you can‘t be a tree.
If you can‘t be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;

np
If you can‘t be a muskie, then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can‘t all be captains, we‘ve got to be crew,
There‘s something for all of us here.
There‘s big work to do and there‘s lesser to do
e/t
And the task we must do is the near.
If you can‘t be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can‘t be the sun, be a star;
It isn‘t by size that you win or you fail-
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Be the best of whatever you are!
/t.m
- Douglas Malloch

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR
1 If u can‟t be a pine........ The reader is compared to a pine
........................ – but be and shrub.
2 If you can‟t be a bush.......... The reader is compared to a bush
...................... happier make and grass.
s:/

3 If u can‟t be a muskie.......... The reader is compared to a muskie

........................in the lake and bass.
4 If you can‟t be a highway, then The reader is compared to the
just be a trail highway and trail
5 If you can‟t be the sun, be a star The reader is compared to the sun
p

and the star

OXYMORON
htt

1 It isn‟t by size that you win or Win and fail are opposite words
you fail-
ALLITERATION
1 Bush, bit
2 Highway, happier
RHYMING WORDS
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2 Grass, bass

scg
RHYME SCHEME
If you can‟t be a pine............ abab (similar for stanzas)
Be a scrub............................
The best little.......................
Be a bush.................................

np
O’ CAPTIAN MY CAPTIAN

O‟ Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather‟d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
e/t
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops o red!
Where on the deck my Captain lies,

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Fallen cold and dead.
/t.m
O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon‟d wreaths - for you the shores crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You‟ve fallen cold and dead.
s:/

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor‟d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
p

Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
htt

Fallen cold and dead.

- Walt Whitman
 Walt Whitman was born in Long Island, in the United States of America in
1819. He started his career as an office boy in a law office in Brooklyn at the
age of eleven and then became a typesetter‟s apprentice in a number of print
shops. He took to teaching for some time and started his own newspaper, „the
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Long Islands‟. During 1850-1855 he focussed on his own work, „ Leaves of

scg
Grass‟ and continued to write. He died at the age of 72.
 The poem, „O Captain! My Captain‟ was published in 1865 and widely
anthologised during his life time. This poem is a rare example of his use of
rhymed, rhythmically regular verse, which serves to create a sombre yet
exalted effect. Whitman had envisioned Abraham Lincoln as an archangel
Captain and he wrote this poem as a dirge for the death of Abraham Lincoln.
 The first line of the poem serves to begin the controlling metaphor upon

np
which the rest of the poem is built. In this poem, „Captain‟ is a substitute of
Abraham Lincoln, and the ship is the United States of America. „The fearful
trip‟ is the Civil War. The Speaker celebrates the end of the civil war but
continues to mourn the fallen hero.

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR
e/t
1 O Captain!............ trip is done The captain refers to Abraham
Lincoln, the trip refers to the civil

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2 The ship.............. sought is won
war.
The ship refers to USA
/t.m
3 The port is near............ all exulting The port is
4 O the bleeding drops o red! Blood is referred to as bleeding
drops and red.
5 The ship is anchor‟s........ closed and The ship is compared to USA
done
APOSTROPHE
1 O Captain!.................. trip is done Captain refers to the dead
Abraham lincoln
2 But O heart! Heart! Heart! It addresses to the heart that is
s:/

personified.
3 O the bleeding drops o red! It addresses to the personified
object blood
4 O Captain!............. hear the bells It addresses to the dead captain
p

Abraham Lincoln
5 Exult, O shores! And ring, O bells! It addresses to the personified
object shores.
htt

ALLITERATION
1 For, flag, flung
2 Port, people
RHYMING WORD
1 Done, won
2 Bells, trills
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3 Still, will

scg
REPETITION
1 But O heart! Heart! Heart! Heart is repeated here.

LAUGH AND BE MERRY

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,

np
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.
Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.

Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.

e/t
God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,
Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.
So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,

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Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,
/t.m
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.
Laugh and be merry together, like brothers skin,
Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,
Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.
- John Masefield
John Masefield was born on 1 June, 1878 at Ledbury in Herefordshire. After an
st

unhappy education at the Kings School in Warwick, he entered the merchant navy
s:/

at the age of 16, deserted ship and became a vagrant in America. He returned to
England in 1897 and settled as a versatile writer. A few of his earlier works are „Salt
Water Ballads‟. „Manchester Guardian‟ and „The Everlasting Mercy‟. In 1930
Masefield became poet laureate. He died in the year 1967.
p

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 Be merry together like brothers akin We should live together
htt

like brothers happily

METAPHOR
1 So we must........... of the sky Sky is compared to the
deep blue cup.
2 Laugh, and battle............... wine outpoured Happiness is compared

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

In the dear......................... joy of the lord to the wine.

scg
3 Guesting awhile.......... beautiful inn, Earth is compared to the
inn.
Men are compared to
guests.
4 Laugh till the game........... my friends Game is compared to life
5 Glad till dancing stops.....music ends Life is like dancing and
“music ends” is

np
compared to death.
6. Life is brief a thread. Life is brief and is
compared to a thread
ALLITERATION
1 World, with, wrong
2
3
Laugh, length
Time, thread
e/t
RHYMING WORDS
1 Song, wrong
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2 Span, man
/t.m
3 Akin, inn
RHYME SCHEME
1 Laugh and be merry.................... aabb(similar for all
Better the world......................... stanzas)
Laugh, for the time.....................
Laugh and be proud....................

EARTH
s:/

How beautiful you are, Earth, and how sublime!

How perfect your obedience to the light and how noble is your submission
to the sun.
…………………….
p

I have walked over your plains,

I have climbed your stony mountains
htt

I have descended into your valleys;

I have entered into your caves.
On the plains I have discovered your dreams,
On the mountains I have admired your splendid presence.
And in the valleys I have observed your tranquillity;
In the caves I have touched your mysteries.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

scg
You are the mouth and lips of Eternity,
The strings and fingers of Time,
The mystery and solution of life.
How generous you are, Earth, and
How strong is your yearning for
Your children lost between
That which they have attained

np
And that which they could not obtain
……………………………..

We pierce your bosom with swords and spears.

And you dress our wounds with oil and balsam
We plant your fields with skulls and bones.
e/t
And from them you rear cypress and willow trees,
We empty our wastes in your bosom, and you fill
Our Threshing floors with wheat sheaves,
And our winepresses with grapes.
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/t.m
We extract your elements to make
Cannons and bombs but out of
Our elements you create lilies and roses
How patient you are Earth, and how merciful!
Are you an atom of dust raised by
The feet of God when he Journeyed from
The East to the West of the Universe?
Who are you, Earth, and what are you?
You are ―I‖, earth!
s:/

You are my sight and my discernment.

You are my knowledge and my dream
You are my hunger and my thirst.
You are my sorrow and my joy.
You are the beauty that lives in my eyes
p

The longing in my heart, the everlasting life in

my soul!
htt

You are ―I‖ Earth,

Had it not been for my being,
You would not have been!
- Khalil Gibran

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931) born in Lebanon, was a poet, philosopher and

scg
artist. His books have gained popularity in the western world, with „The Prophet‟ as
probably the best known work of his. Most of his works convey the timeless
universal truths and of man‟s inhumanity to man.

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
PERSONIFICATION
1 How beautiful............. how sublime! Earth is personified.

np
2 You are the mouth and lips of Eternity Eternity is
personified(and denoted
as if it has mouth and
lips)
3 The strings and fingers of Time Time is personified(and
e/t denoted as if it has
fingers)
4 We pierce.................. and appears Earth is personified(and
is denoted as if it has
JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs bosom)
/t.m
5 How patient you are earth! Earth is personified
OXYMORON
1 The mystery and solution of life Mystery and solution are
opposite words.
2 You are my sorrow and my joy Sorrow and joy are
opposite words
ALLITERATION
1 Longing, life
s:/

2 Been, being
3 Swords, spears

DON’T QUIT
p

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
htt

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing down a bit,
Rest, if you must-but don‘t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometime learns,
And many a failure turns about https://t.me/tnpscgs
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

When he might have won has he stuck it out

scg
Don‘t give up, though pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems after;
So, stick to the fight when you are hardest hit.

np
It‘s when things get worse that you mustn‘t quit.
- Edgar A. Guest.
Edgar Albert Guest (1881 – 1959) was a prolific British – American poet. He
became popular in the first half of the 20th century. He was known as the „People‟s
Poet‟ for having contributed 11,000 poems to English literature. He was the only
e/t
poet honoured with the title „Poet Laureate of Michigan‟.

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR

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1 The silver tint of the clouds of doubt Doubt is compared to clouds
/t.m
and the hope behind it is
compared to the ray of sun
shine behind the clouds.

2 Success is failure turned inside out. Success is like failure turned

inside out.

ANTITHESIS
1 When the funds are low and the debts Low and high are opposite
s:/

are high words.

2 It might be near when it seems afar Near and far are opposite
words.
p

ALLITERATION
1 Things, they
2 Seems, slow
htt

3 Captured, cup
RHYMING WORDS
1 Turns, learns
2 Slow, blow
RHYME SCHEME

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

1 When things go wrong............. aabb(similar for all stanzas)

scg
When the road.........................
When the funds.......................
And you want to......................
ANAPHORA
When things go wrong............. consequent lines start with
When the road......................... "when"
When the funds.......................

np
THE APOLOGY

In this poem the poet seeks apology from the people working hard in the field,
e/t
Does he feel guilty or does he justify himself? Read and find out from the poem.

Think me not unkind and rude

That I walk alone in grove and glen:

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I go to the god of the wood
/t.m
To fetch his word to men.
Tax not my sloth that I
Fold my arms beside the brook;
Each cloud that floated in the sky
Writes letter in my book.
Chide me not, laborious band
For the idle flowers I brought;
Every aster in my hand
s:/

Goes home loaded with a thought.

There was never mystery
But ‗tis figured in the flowers:
Was never secret history
But birds tell it in the bowers.
p

One harvest from thy field

Homeward brought the oxen strong;
htt

A second crop thine acres yield,

Which I gather in a song.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH

scg
METAPHOR
1 For the idle flowers i brought Laziness is compared to
flowers.
PERSONIFICATION
1 Each cloud that floated in the sky Cloud is personified(and
Writes a letter in my book is denoted as if it writes
a letter)

np
2 Every aster in my hand Aster is personified
Goes home loaded with a thought
3 But birds tell it in the bowers. Bird is personified.

1
2
ALLITERATION
Grove, glen
Go, god
e/t
3 Figures, flowers

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RHYMING WORDS
/t.m
1 Rude, wood
2 Glen, men
3 Mystery, history
RHYME SCHEME
1 Think me not.................. abab(similar for all
That I walk...................... stanzas)
I go to the.......................
To fetch his.....................
s:/

BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE

Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.
p

Imagine if your precious nose

were sandwiched in between your toes,
htt

that clearly would not be a treat,

for you‘d be forced to smell your feet.
Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
It soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Within your ear, your nose would be

scg
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
Your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place -
be glad your nose is on your face!

np
- Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940. He is the author of more
than 50 poetry collections. He has also set his poems to music on the audio versions
of his anthologies. He often sings and plays gultar on most of them.
e/t
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR

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1 Within your ear.....catastrophe Nose is compared to a
/t.m
catastrophe
ONAMATOPOEIA
Your brain would rattle from the breeze. Rattle is a series of loud
sounds.
ALLITERATION
1 Pasted, place
2 You, your
3 Drive, despair
s:/

RHYMING WORDS
1 Face, place
2 Not, lot
3 Sneeze, breeze
RHYME SCHEME
p

1 Be glad................. aabb(similar for all

Not pasted........... stanzas)
For if it.................
htt

You might.............

A SONNET FOR MY INCOMPARABLE MOTHER

I often contemplate my childhood, Mom.
I am a mother now, and so I know
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You learned that when you raised me long ago.

scg
I think of all the things you gave to me:
Sacrifice, devotion, love and tears,
Your heart, your mind, your energy and soul -
All these you spent on me throughout the years.
You loved me with a never-failing love
You gave me strength and sweet security,
And then you did the hardest thing of all;

np
You let me separate and set me free.
Every day, I try my best to be
A mother like the mom you were to me.
- By F. Joanna
-
e/t
About the Poet: F Joanna (1932) is a professional writer. She has written civil
service tests materials for government agencies, a newspaper column, a national
newsletter, public relations and marketing materials, Web site content, award-
winning children‟s stories, and more. Currently, she writes greeting card poems for
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her Website, Poemsource.com.
/t.m

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 Every day, I try my best to be The poet compares
A mother like a mom you were to me herself to her mom.
ALLITERATION
1 Think, things
2 These, throughout
s:/

3 Strength, sweet, security

RHYMING WORDS
1 Tears, years
2 Be, me
p

THE FLYING WONDER

htt

Said Orville Wright to Wilbur Wright,

―These birds are very trying.
I‘m sick of hearing them cheep-cheep
About the fun of flying.
A bird has feathers, it is true.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

That much I freely grant.

scg
But must that stop us, W?‖
Said Wilbur Wright, ―It shan‘t.‖
And so they built a glider, first,
And then they built another.
- There never were two brothers more
Devoted to each other.
They ran a dusty little shop

np
For bicycle-repairing,
And bought each other soda-pop
And praised each other‘s daring.
They glided here, they glided there,
They sometimes skinned their noses.
e/t
-For learning how to rule the air
Was not a bed of roses -
But each would murmur, afterward,
While patching up his bro.

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―Are we discouraged, W?‖
/t.m
―Of course we are not, O!‖
And finally, at Kitty Hawk
In Nineteen - Three (let‘s cheer it!),
The first real aeroplane really flew
With Orveille there to steer it!
-And kingdoms may forget their kings
And dogs forget their bites,
But not till Man forgets his wings
s:/

Will men forget the Wrights.

- Stephen Vincent Benet

Stephen Vincent Benet (July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American
author, poet, short story writer, and novelilst. Benet is best known for his book-
p

length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown‟s Body (1928) for
which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
htt

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR
1 For learning how to rule the air Learning to rule the air
Was not a bed of roses was not like a bed of
roses.
ONAMATOPHBIA
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

1 I‟m sick of hearing them cheep-cheep Cheep-cheep denotes a

scg
sound
HYPERBOLE
1 And kingdoms may forget their kings The kingdom cannot
forget its kings and is an
impossible act and is
hence a hyperbole.
2 And dogs forget their bites Dogs cannot forget its

np
food and is hence a
hyperbole.
ALLITERATION
1 Fun, flying
2 Then, they
3 They, there
RHYMING WORDS
e/t
1 Shop, pop
2 There, air
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3 Noses, roses
/t.m

TO A MILLIONAIRE

The world in gloom and splendour passes by,

And thou in the midst of it with brows that gleam,
A creature of that old distorted dream
That makes the sound of life an evil cry.
s:/

Good men perform just deeds, and brave men die,

And win not honour such as gold can give,
While the vain multitudes plod on, and live,
And serve the curse that pins them down: But I
Think only of the unnumbered broken hearts,
p

The hunger and the mortal strife for bread,

Old age and youth alike mistaught, misfed,
By want and rags and homelessness made vile,
htt

The griefs and hates, and all the meaner parts

That balance thy one grim misgotten pile.
-Archibald Lampman

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH

scg
SIMILE
1 And win not honour....give Honour is compared to
gold
METAPHOR
1 That makes the....cry Sound of life is
compared to evil cry

np
2 A creature of that old distorted dream A millionaire is
compared to a creature.

PERSONIFICATION
1 The world in gloom and splendour passes The world is personified.
by
ALLITERATION
e/t
1 Thou, that
2 Gold, give
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3 Mistaught, misfed
/t.m
RHYMING WORDS
1 Gleam, dream
2 Give, live
3 Vile, pile
OXYMORON
1 Old age and youth.....misfed Old age and youth are
opposite words
2 The world....by Gloom and splendour
s:/

are opposite words

THE PIANO
p

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;

Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
htt

And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as the sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weep to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour

scg
Of Childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
- D.H. Lawrence
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
PERSONIFICATION
1 Till the heart of me weeps to belong Heart is personified

np
ONAMATOPEIA
1 tinkling
OXYMORON
1 Of childish days......cast Childish and manhood
are opposite words.

1
SIMILE
I weep like a child for the past
e/tThe poet compares
himself to a child.

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METAPHOR
/t.m
1 Down in the flood of remembrance Remembrance and flood
are compared.
PERSONIFICATION
1 The tingling piano our guide The piano is
personified(as a guide)
ALLITERATION
1 Taking, till
s:/

2 Sitting, strings
3 Pressing, poised
RHYMING WORDS
1 Strings, sings
2 Song, belong
p

3 Outside, guide
RHYME SCHEME
htt

1 Softly, in the.................. aabb(similar for all

Taking me back.............. stanzas)
A child sitting..................
And pressing the............

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FIGURES OF SPEECH

MANLINESS

scg
(An extract from the poem „If‟)
If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster;
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can force your heart, and nerve, and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone;

np
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them, “Hold on”.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds‟ worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that‟s in it,
e/t
And, what is more, you‟ll be a man, my son.
- Rudyard Kipling

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH

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ANAPHORA
/t.m
1 If you can...
If you can...
If you can....
OXYMORON
If u can meet with triumph and disaster Triumph and disaster
are opposite words
PERSONIFICATION
s:/

If you can dream and not make dreams Dream is

your master personified(compared to
be a master)
ALLITERATION
1 Make, master
p

2 Treat, those, two

3 Turn, they
htt

RHYMING WORDS
1 Master, disaster
2 Aim, same
3 Run, son
RHYME SCHEME
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

1 If you can dream.................. abab(similar for all

scg
If you can think.................... stanzas)
If you can meet...................
And treat those...................

GOING FOR WATER

np
The well was dry beside the door,
And so we went with pall and can
Across the field behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran
e/t
Not lath to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though Chill), because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there

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/t.m
We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze

But once within the wood, we paused

Like gnomes that hid us from the moon
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.
s:/

Each laid on other a staying hand

To listen are we dared to look
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook.
p

A node as from a single place,

A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
htt

Like pearls and now a silver blade.

- Robert Frost.
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
SIMILE
1 Like gnomes .......moon The poet and his friends are compared to
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

gnomes.

scg
2. Now drops that ...like pearls Water droplets are compared to pearls.
METAPHOR
1. ..and now a silver blade
PERSONIFICATION
1 Ready to run to hiding new Moon is personified
with laughter when she found
us soon.

np
HYPERBOLE
1. We ran as if to ....moon No one can run and reach the moon and is
thus an impossible event. Hence the figure
of speech employed here is hyperbole.
ONAMATOPOEIA
1 A slender tinkling....made
ALLITERATION
e/t
Tinkling is a sound.

1 Well, was
2 We, went
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RHYMING WORDS
/t.m
1 Can, ran
2 Fair, there
RHYME SCHEME
1 The well was... abcb [similar to all stanzas]
.....................
......................
.....................ran
s:/

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN

―For oh,‖ say the children, ‗We are weary,

And we cannot run or leap.
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
p

To drop down in them and sleep.

Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping -
We fall upon our faces, trying to go;
htt

And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,

The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.
For, all day, we drag our burden tiring,
Through the coal-dark, underground -
Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron
In the factories, round and round.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

For, all day, the wheels are droning, turning, -

scg
Their wind comes in our faces, -
Till our hearts, turn, -- our head, with pulses burning,
And the walls turn in their places -
Turns the sky in the high window blanked and reeling --
Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall --
Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling --
All are turning, all the day, and we with all, --

np
And, all day, the iron wheels are droning;
And sometimes we could pray,
‗O ye wheels‘(breaking out in a mad moaning)
‗Stop! be silent for to-day!‘
e/t - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
SIMILE
/t.m

1 The reddest....as pale as snow The pale colour of the flower

is compared to colour of
snow.
METAPHOR
1 The reddest flower..... The children are compared to
the reddest flower.
2 Through....underground The dark underground is
s:/

compared to coal.
3 Till our hearts turn......pulses burning The burning fire is compared
to the pulses.
APOSTROPHE
1 O ye wheels Addresses to the wheels.
p

REPETITION
1 In factories round and round “Round” is repeated to
htt

emphasis on the action being

repeated several times.
ANAPHORA
1 Turns the sky in the high window ….. Repetition of same word in
Turns the long light that droppeth …. the successive lines. ie. turns.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

ONAMATOPOEIA

scg
And, all day, the iron wheels are droning Droning - sound made by
wheels
ALLITRATION
1 We, weary
2 Meadows, merely
3 Day, drive

np
RHYMING WORDS
1 Weary, merely
2 Turning, burning
3 Wall, all e/t
RHYME SCHEME
1 “For oh”, say.................. abab(similar for all stanzas)
And we cannot...............

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It we cared.....................
/t.m
To drop down.................

MIGRANT BIRD

The globe‘s my world. The cloud‘s my kin

I care not where the skies begin;
I spread my wings through all the din;
s:/

Through fears and fright I fly my flight.

No walls for me, no vigil gates,
No flags, no machine guns that blast
Citizens of those border states -
Brothers of her brother‘s sons.
p

No maps, no boundaries to block

My sojourn into unknown lands.
I spawn and splash in distant spills,
htt

I breed my brood where‘r I will.

I wont‘s look down. No I will not.
With speed of wings I hasten past
And close my eyes against the sun
To dream my dreams and make them last.
- Famida Y. Basheer
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

FIGURES OF SPEECH

scg
RHYME SCHEME
STANZA 1 Aaac
STANZA2 Abac
STANZA 3 Abcc
STANZA 4 Abcb
METAPHOR
1 The globe‟s my world, the cloud‟s The globe is compared to the

np
my kin bird‟s world. The cloud is
compared to the bird‟s kin
ALLITERATION
1 Fears, fly, fright
2 Boundaries, block
3 Breed, brood
RHYMING WORDS
e/t
1 Kin, din
2 Gates, states
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3 Past, last
/t.m

SHILPI
Steady throb
Then staccato rhythm
Harmonic cacophony to oblivious ears
The tempo is fickle-
Now synchronized, now not,
A mirror of his changing moods
s:/

Now sure, now steeped in thought.

Bleary eyes,
Sinews taut yet steady.
Decades of practice
p

Heirlooms of rich traditions

In stark evidence
htt

The knocking softens, fades,

To a mild judicious tap.
Virgin rock takes form
Rugged lines melt,
Sharp edges merge
Into smooth well moulded curves.
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FIGURES OF SPEECH

scg
He steps back, surveys with
Close scrutiny, then sharp critical glare
They days of toil,
Hammer and chisel laid aside
Only bloodshot eyes betray
Deep pride, then reverence,
Lo! God in Man‘s image !

np
I.FIGURES OF SPEECH
METAPHOR
1 A mirror.....sure The reflection of his changing
e/t moods is compared to the
reflection on the mirror.
2 Rugged lines melt Melting of ice is compared to
disappearance of rugged lines.
PERSONIFICATION

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1 Virgin rocks... The rocks are denoted as virgin.
/t.m
2 Only bloodshot eyes betray Eyes are personified here
ALLITERATION
1 Mirror, moods
2 Surveys, scrutiny, sharp
3 Bloodshot, betray
ONAMATOPOEIA
1 Then staccato rhythm Staccato- a series of short
detached sounds
s:/

2 Harmonic cacophony Sound that is melodious but also

noisy
OXYMORON
Harmonic Cacophony It describes the sound as both
melodious & noisy
p
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Appreciation Questions from Poetry

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or
reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS

scg
FROM POETRY

A PSALM OF LIFE

What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist

np
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! -
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
e/t
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

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Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
/t.m
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world‟s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
s:/

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, how‟er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
p

Heart within, and God o‟erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
htt

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o‟er life‟s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

Let us, then, be up and doing,

scg
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to walk
- H W Longfellow
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the great American poet,
was a professor at Harvard. His great fame began with the publication of his

np
first volume of poems „Voices of the Night‟ in 1839, which included “A Psalm
of Life,” one of nineteenth century‟s best-loved poems. His other collections
include Ballads (1841), Evangeline(1847), Hiawatha (1855), The Courtship of
Miles Standish (1858) and Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863).
 Longfellow was the most popular poet of his age and during his lifetime he
became a „national institution‟.“His work was musical, mildly romantic, high-
e/t
minded, and flavoured with sentimental preachment” (Norton Anthology of
American Literature). “This poem seems to give a great deal of good advice. It
tells the reader not to waste his/her time but to be up and going; not to be
discouraged by failures but to have a heart for any fate; not to judge life by
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temporary standards but to look to eternal reward.” (Brooks and Warren)
/t.m

Stanza 1 :
Mournful numbers – sad song.
Slumbers – deep sleep.
The poet asks us not to tell him that life is like an empty dream, through a sad
song.

Though the soul is immortal, the poet says, the soul that is lazy or inactive is
s:/

dead.
The things are different from how they seem.

Stanza 2 :
Life is real and earnest and death is not its ultimate goal.
p

It is said that man is created out of dust and he returns to the dust [Biblical
allusion].But this does not apply to the soul. Soul is immortal.
htt

Stanza 3 :
It is neither joy nor sorrow that decides our aim in life.
The poet asks us to work today and put in hardwork today itself, for a better
tomorrow. The hardwork that we put in today will find us in a better position
tomorrow.
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

Stanza 4 :

scg
We have to learn a lot, but our life is very short and time is passing on
quickly. Our hearts are strong and brave. The beating of human heart is like the
muffled drums beating, in funeral marches.

Stanza 5 :
Bivouac – temporary camp made by soldiers.
The world is compared to a large battle field and our stay in this world is

np
temporary, like the temporary stay of soldiers in the camp.
The poet advises us not to be quiet like animals and be like a hero in the
struggle.

Stanza 6 : e/t
One should not trust the future, though it appears to be pleasant and also one
should not worry about the past days of life.
Instead, we should learn to act and work in the present with the belief in God
and oneself.

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“Act,act” is the repetition to emphasis on working at present without fail.
/t.m
Stanza 7 :
Sublime – noble.
Departing – death.
The lives of great men reminds us that we can also make our lives noble.
And with their death, they leave behind their achievements. The foot prints
left by such people guide us in our lives towards success.

Stanza 8 :
s:/

Forlorn – lonely, sad.

Shipwrecked – depressed.
Human life is compared the ocean.
The forlorn and depressed person, on seeing the footprints (achievements) of
great men would gain confidence again to work towards success.
p

Stanza 9 :
Our heart should be ready to face any challenge and to accept any destiny.
htt

We should work with perseverance and learn to wait for results after our
work is done!

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

scg
You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish,
Nor turn our thoughts away
From the bright picture of a “Woman‟s Mission”
Our hearts portray.

We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion,

np
Beneath the household roof,
From the great world‟s harsh strife, and jarring voices,
To stand aloof;

Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction

e/t
To sleep our life away,
But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine,
To deck our way.
As humble plants by country hedgerows growing,

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That treasure up the rain,
/t.m
And yield in odours, ere the day‟s declining,
The gift again;
So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed,
But happy none the less,
Be privileged to fill the air around us
With happiness;

To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle,

s:/

Which we can bless and aid;

To die, and not a heart that does not love us
Know where we‟re laid.
- Annie Louisa Walker
Annie Louisa Walker (1836-1907), British-born novelist, children‟s playwright
p

and poet, was educated in Ontario, where she and her sisters operated a school for
ladies. Walker published poetry widely in newspapers on both sides of the border
before collecting them in „Leaves from the Backwoods‟ in 1861-62. She returned to
htt

England to work for her cousin, Margaret Oliphant, a well-known novelist, and
edited her „Autobiography and Letters‟ in 1899, under her married name, Mrs.
Harry Coghill. She collected her poetic output in „Oak and Maple: English and
Canadian Verses.‟

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

Stanza 1 :

scg
Portray – represent, Woman’s Mission – hobble goal of women,
turn away – divert.
The poem is addressed to men who are against women‟s liberation. The poet
says that men cannot rob the rights of women and divert their thoughts away from
“Woman‟s Mission”.
Stanza 2 :

np
claim – demand ; devell – Live; Secleasion – being away from
others Beneath – under ; harsh strife – severe struggle. Jassing voices
– unpleasant sound stand aloof – stand away & alone.
Women claim to live alone, confined to their homes.
They stand aloof from the world which is full of struggles and unpleasant
voices.

Stanza 3 :
e/t
Dreamy – unclear ; inane – meaningless ; abstraction – absent
minded; to deck our way – to decide our life.

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Women do not waste their time in laziness or spend their liver in dreamy
/t.m
state and absent – minded.
Instead, they decide their way by gathering the domestic happiness.

Stanza 4 :
Ere – before, treasure up – collect; hedgerows – rows of bushes
along roadside treasure up – collect, odour – fragrance; ere – before ;
declining – ending.
The humble plants by the wayside are compared to the women folk. Though
these plants are not tendered by people, they grow by collecting rain drops and
s:/

never fail to bloom and spread fragrance.

Stanza 5 :
unobtrusive – not easily seen, privileged – having special favour
Like the humble plants, which goes unnoticed, the women are also happy
p

despite being unobtrusive and unnoticed. They feel privileged to fill the air around
them with happiness.
htt

Stanza 6 :
cherished circle – close relatives aid – help.
The women blesses and aids the cherished circle. Here cherished circle refers
to the family members. They are not known beyond their family.
Even at her death, only the cherished circle knows where she is buried.

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

THE NATION UNITED

scg
A Noiseless, Patient Spider
A NOISELESS, patient spider,
I mark‟d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark‟d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch‟d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

np
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect
them,
Till the bridge you will need be form‟d, till the ductile anchor hold,
e/t
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
- Walt Whitman

Born on May 31, 1819, Walt Whitman was the second son of Walter Whitman,

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a house-builder, and Louisa Van Velsor. At the age of twelve Whitman began to
/t.m
learn the printer‟s trade, and fell in love with the written word. Largely self-taught,
he read voraciously, becoming acquainted with the Bible and the works of Homer,
Dante, and Shakespeare.
In 1936, at the age of 17, he began his career as a teacher in Long Island. He
continued to teach until 1841, when he turned to journalism as a full-time career.
He founded a weekly newspaper, Long Islander. During 1850 – 1855 he focussed,
on his own poetic work “Leaves of Grass”, and continued to write. He died at the age
of 72 in 1892.
s:/

The first half of this poem describes the spider‟s inimitable way of spinning its web.
The second half of the poem pictures the human soul reaching out into space and
time, seeking something infinite and eternal to serve as the anchor of hope.

Lines 1 – 5 :
p

Marked – watched ; promontory – high point of land standing out

from the coast line ; isolated – stood alone ; launched forth – sent
htt

forward ; unreeling – unwinding ; tirelessly – without rest.

The poet is the speaker and he speaks about the spider. The spider is referred
to as a noiseless, patient spider, because it is working patiently without making
any noise.
The poet watched the spider standing isolated at a high point of land from the
coastline. It tried to explore the vast surrounding.
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

The spider launched the filament [thin, thread like substance secreted by

scg
spider] continuously, unwinding it without any rest.

Lines 6 – 10 :

Detached – isolated; ceaselessly – endlessly; musing – thinking

deeply; venturing – acting boldly; spheres – range of influence;
ductile – flexible, anchor – support – gossamer thread – fine cob

np
web; fling – throw.
The poet addresses to the soul. The soul stands isolated as well as surrounded
in the measureless oceans of space. Like the spider that tries to explore the vast
surrounding, the human soul tries to bridge the space between material world
and the spiritual world. e/t
Here the gossamer thread stands for hope. The soul is trying to connect the
spheres with its endless meditation.

ENGLISH WORDS

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Speech that came like leech-craft
/t.m
And killed us almost, bleeding us white!
You bleached our souls soiled with impurities.
You bathed our hearts amid tempestuous seas
Of a purer, drearier, delight.
O tongues of fire! You came devouring
Forests of nightshade, creepers that enmesh,
Trees that never remembered to grow,
And shrubs that were but thornmills in our flesh.
s:/

You were the dawn, and sunlight filled the spaces

Where owls were hovering.
O winged seeds! You crossed the furrowed seas
To nestle in the warm and silent earth.
p

Like a golden swarm of fireflies you came

Pining for a new agony, a new birth.
You blossomed into a nascent loveliness.
htt

You ripened into nectar in fruit-jars

That hung like clustered stars.
O winging words! Like homing bees you borrow
Grown murmurous, the honey of delight,
Pollened within our hearts the coming morrow,
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

Sweetened within our souls for aeons bright:

scg
You kindle in the far corners of the earth
The music of an ever-deepening chant:
The burthen of a waneless, winterless spring,
The gospel of an endless blossoming.
Fathomless words, with Indo-Aryan blood
Tingling in your veins.
The spoils of ages, global merchandise

np
Mingling in your strains!
You pose the cosmic riddles:
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word was God.
The Word is in the middle
e/t
And the Word is Man.
In the end will be the Word
And the Word will be God in Man. - V K Gokak
VK Gokak, a famous novelist and poet in Kannada and a professor of English, wrote
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and published poetry in English as well. This poem expresses Gokak’s admiration for
/t.m
the English language. He brings out the efficacy of English words in delightful and
poignant similes. How the language across the seas changed our hearts is shown here.
Stanza 1 :
Leech- craft- ancient medical treatment of using leeches to remove the
impure blood; bleeding us white – became pale due to heavy loss of blood; drearier
– gloomier.
Speech/ English words came like leech- craft the language sucked out the
impurities from our souls and it bathed us in the seas.
s:/

As the result, we became pure, gloomy, happy.

Stanza 2 :
Devouring – consuming; nightshade – dark; enmesh – to catch; hovering –
flying in the air.English words are referred to the tongues of fires, as it destroyed
the dark forests and asepses that hindered the growth of native languages (the
p

trees that never remembered to grow). The impurities in the native languages were
the thorn mills in our fresh.
htt

The English words are compared to dawn and sunlight that drove away the
„owls that were horesing‟. Here the owls refers to the ignorance of the human mind.
Stanza 3 :
Furrowed – deep and wavy; nestle – settle ; pining – longing ; nascent
loveliness – developing beautifully. Here the English words are compared to
winged seeds. They crossed the deep and ferocious seas to settle in the warm and
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

silent earth. They came like a golden swarm of fireflies, longing for a new birth (its

scg
birth in India as a new language) It blossomed into a beautiful flower and ripened
into a fruit – containing nectar, hanging like clustered stars.
Stanza 4 :
Homing – returning home; borrow – bring; pollened – applied yellow
particles of a flower, the coming morrow – future; aeons – ages to come. Burthen
– refrain of a song; wane less – not dressing gospel – good news.
Winging words are the English words. The poet says that, like the bees that

np
return home bringing honey, English words bring us the honey of delight and
sweetened our souls. Like the homing bees that pollen the plants and help in
reproduction, the English words enriches itself & the leasness with new words and
thoughts.
English words Kindle the music of an ever – deepening chant, the refrain of
e/t
the song is wane less and the spring is never ending. Then comes the good news
that the blossoming of English words is endless.
Stanza 5 :
Fathomless – too deep to be measured;

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Indo – Aryan – refers to & French of Aryans who came to India thro Iran [English
/t.m
belongs to Germanic, an Indo – Aryan Language]; tingling – slight prickling or
stinging sensation; spoils of the ages – things stolen for a longtime; cosmic riddles
– mysteries related to the creation of the universe. The English words referred to
as the fathomless words, with Indo – Aryan blood is tingling in the veins. As a
result of British conquest all over the world, English spread everywhere and
became an integral part of every human language in the world.
The English words ask questions on the mysteries related to the creation of
the universe. Initially the word was present even before the Creation of Man and the
s:/

Word was with God. With the creation of Man, words flourished. At present, the
word is with Man as a tool of communication. In future, the word will symbolize
God‟s presence in Man. Thus the poet explains the divinity of words. [This passage
is in reference to Bible] [Biblical allusion].
p

SNAKE

A snake came to my water-trough

htt

On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,

To drink there.
In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob-tree
I came down the steps with my pitcher
And must wait, must stand and wait; for there he was at the trough before me.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
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And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down,

scg
over the edge of the stone trough,
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, Silently.
Someone was before me at my water-trough,
And I, like a second comer, waiting.

np
He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,
And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,
And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment,
And stooped and drank a little more,
Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth,
e/t
On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.
The voice of my education said to me:
He must be killed,
For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous.

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And voices in me said: If you were a man
/t.m
You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.
But must I confess how I liked him,
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of this earth?
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?
Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
s:/

I felt so honoured.
And yet those voices:
If you were not afraid, you would kill him.
And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid;
But even so, honoured still more
p

That he should seek my hospitality

From out the dark door of the secret earth.
He drank enough
htt

And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,

And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,
Seeming to lick his lips,
And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,
And slowly turned his head,
And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream,
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Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round

scg
And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.
And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,
And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and
entered farther,
A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing
into that horrid black hole,
Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing

np
himself after,
Overcame me now his back was turned.
I looked round, I put down my pitcher,
I picked up a clumsy log
And threw it at the water trough with a clatter.
e/t
I think it did not hit him,
But suddenly that part of him that was left behind
convulsed in undignified haste,
Writhed like lightning, and was gone

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Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,
/t.m
At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.
And immediately I regretted it.
I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!
I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.
And I thought of the albatross,
And I wished he would come back, my snake.
For he seemed to me again like a king,
Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
s:/

Now due to be crowned again.

And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords
Of life.
And I have something to expiate; A pettiness.
- D.H. Lawrence
p

David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) occupies a unique position among the leading
Modernist writers of the generation that came of age before the outbreak of the
First World War.
htt

D.H. Lawrence was born near Nottingham in the English Midlands. D.H. Lawrence
spent several years as a teacher before turning to writing for a livelihood.
Although D.H. Lawrence is best known for his novels and short stories, he was also
a fine poet who wrote free verse. His poetry concentrates on the life-giving force of
nature and exalts the physical and instinctual over the purely intellectual.

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A snake came to the poet‟s water trough on a hot day, to drink water. It was

scg
under the shade of a strange-scented carob tree. The poet was wearing pyjamas to
beat the heat. The poet came with a pitcher to fetch water and he has to wait since
the snake was already there. The snake came down from the hole in the earth wall
and trailed his yellow brown colour soft loose body over the edge of the trough. He
rested his throat on the stone bottom and sipped with his mouth. He softly drank
through his fangs and the poet has to wait like a second comer. The snake lifted his
head like a cattle do and looked at him doubtfully and moved his forked tongue

np
quickly and thought deeply, then again he drank a little more water. The snake was
broken and golden in colour coming out from the bowels of the earth on the day of
Sicilian July (summer) when the volcanic mountain Etna was smoking. The voice of
poet‟s education said to him that the snake must be killed, because in Sicily the
black snakes are innocent and the golden are venomous. The voices in the poet said
e/t
that if he was a man he should take a stick and kill him then. But the poet confessed
that he like the snake so much and he was so glad that he came like a guest to drink
from his trough and leave into the inner part of the earth. He asked himself whether
it was cowardice that he dared not kill him, whether it was unacceptable that he

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longed to speak to him, whether it was humility to feel honoured? He felt honoured!
/t.m
But still those voices said if he was not afraid he would kill him. The poet was
indeed afraid to kill him and of course felt honoured that the snake seeked his
hospitality. He drank enough water and lifted him head dreamily like a drunken
person and flickered his tongue like a lighting in a dark night sky, licked his lips and
looked around like a God. He slowly turned his head, very slowly as if it was thrice a
dream.
He continued to move and climbed the broken wall and put his head into the
hole again. As the snake continued to move further, the poet was under a sort of
s:/

horror and protest against the snake. He did not like the snake leaving. The poet
dropped his pitcher and picked up a clumsy log and threw it in the water trough
with a sound. It did not hit the snake, but the remaining part of its body suddenly
made a quick uncontrollable movement, twisted his body and disappeared like
lightning in the black hole of the wall. The poet stared at it with astonishment. He
p

immediately regretted his action for being so mean and vulgar. He cursed himself
and his voices of education for forcing him to do such an act. He thought of the
albatross (good-omen for fishermen) and wished the snake would come again for
htt

the snake seemed like a king for him. He was a king in disguise, uncrowned in the
underworld and now to be crowned again. The poet thus missed his chance of being
with one of the lords of life. He wanted to amend his act of being petty i.e. throwing
a log at the snake.

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THE MAN HE KILLED

scg
―Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!‖
―But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,

np
And killed him in his place.‖
―I shot him dead because —-
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That‘s clear enough; although.‖
e/t
―He thought he‘d ‘list, perhaps,
Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.‖

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs ―Yes; quaint and curious war is!

/t.m
You shoot a fellow down
You‘d treat if met where any bar is
Or help to half-a-crown.‖
- Thomas Hardy

 Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) was both a novelist and a poet. In his novels he
depicted people striving against overwhelming odds within a society that was
uncaring. However, he sought to improve society.
s:/

 Hardy‟s poetry marks a bridge between the Victorian Age and the Modernist
movement of the twentieth century. Hardy‟s use of „non-poetic‟ language and
odd rhymes, coupled with his fatalistic outlook, were both a source and
inspiration to numerous twentieth - century writers.
p

Stanza 1:
If the poet and the soldier had met in an old ancient inn, they would have sat
to drink several glasses of beer or wine.
htt

Stanza 2:
The poet shot at the soldier and he too at the poet and the poet killed the
other soldier.
Stanza 3:

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The poet shot him dead because the soldier was his enemy. The repetition of

scg
“because” denotes that the poet cannot find any other reason to kill him.
Stanza 3:
The poet was jobless and he had no source of income. So he joined the army.
He joined the army without any previous thought. He thinks that the other soldier
also would have joined the army for the same reason. The poet was out of work and
had sold his traps (belongings).
Stanza 4:

np
The war is strange and uncommon because only in the war field one kills the
other without any personal vengeance. If the poet had met the other soldier in a bar,
he would have given him a treat or would give half a crown to the other soldier.

OFF TO OUTER SPACE TOMORROW MORNING

e/t
You can start the Count Down, you can take a last look;
You can pass me my helmet from its plastic hook;
You can cross out my name in the telephone book –
For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.

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/t.m
There won‘t be any calendar, there won‘t be any clock;
Daylight will be on the switch and winter under lock.
I‘ll doze when I‘m sleepy and wake without a knock –
For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
I‘ll be writing no letters; I‘ll be posting no mail.
For with nobody to visit me and not a friend in hail,
In solit‘ry confinement as complete as any gaol
I‘ll be off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
s:/

When my capsule door is sealed and my space-flight has begun,

With the teacups circling round me like the planets round the sun,
I‘ll be centre of my gravity, a universe of one,
Setting off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.
p

You can watch on television and follow from afar,

Tracking through your telescope my upward shooting star,
htt

But you needn‘t think I‘ll give a damn for you or what you are
When I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.

And when the rockets thrust me on my trans-galactic hop,

With twenty hundred light-years before the first stop,
Then you and every soul on earth can go and blow your top –
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

For I‘m off to Outer Space tomorrow morning.

scg
- Norman Nicholson
Stanza 1:
The poet says that the people on earth can start the countdown, take a last
look at him; pass on his helmet from its hook and remove his name from the
telephone book as he will be off to outer space tomorrow morning.
Stanza 2:
There won‟t be any calendar or clock; there will be switching of between day

np
and night, and there will be no winter. The poet will sleep when he is sleepy and
wake up when he feels as he will be off to outer space tomorrow morning.
Stanza 3:
He will not write any letters or post mails, because there will be nobody to
visit him. He will be alone in his sake shuttle like a gaol.
e/t
Stanza 4:
When the door of the shuttle is closed and his flight has begun, the tea cups
will be circling around him like planets around the sun, since there will be no
gravity. He will be the centre of his gravity.

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Stanza 5:
/t.m
The poet says the people on earth can watch him on television and follow him
through the telescope, in his shuttle. But he says he won‟t have time to think of
those on earth when he is off to outer space tomorrow morning.
Stanza 6:
The poet says when he is across the galaxy, with twenty hundred light years
before his first stop, everyone on earth will explode in anger as he will be off to
outer space tomorrow morning.
s:/

SONNET NO:116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
p

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
htt

It is the star to every wand‘ring bark,

Whose worth‘s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love‘s not Time‘s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle‘s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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If this be error and upon me prov‘d,

scg
I never writ, nor no man ever lov‘d.
- William Shakespeare

Note: The first collected edition of Shakespeare‟s sonnets appeared in 1609. There
are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets include the
destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangular love and the
analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted that apart from these 154

np
sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled „Venus and Adonis‟ and „The
Rape of Lucrece‟.
Sonnet: A sonnet is a lyric (short, personal poem) written in a single stanza
consisting of fourteen lines. Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage . . .”) deals with
the theme of true love. Many critics consider it “incomparable” and call it “the finest
e/t
of all”. In this poem various images are used to highlight the nature of true and deep
love.

The poet says that when there is union of two hearts filled with true love, then
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there can be no obstacles. Love is not true when it changes when it finds some
/t.m
alterations. True love is stable and steady. It is like a lighthouse. It is not shake by
tempests. Just as the lighthouse guides the sailor, true love leads the loving hearts
in their journey of life.
During Shakespeare‟s time people believed that the stars influenced men‟s
character; in the journey of life, to many a “wandering bark” (a lost boat) the star of
genuine love turns out to be the guiding factor; a star‟s “height” (altitude) can be
measured but the extent to which it controls the fate of man (its “worth”) cannot be
determined; similarly, the depth (“worth”) of true love cannot be measured.
s:/

Time can fool anyone, but it cannot cheat or destroy true love. The external
beauty can be destroyed by time but not true love. The destructive power of time is
denoted by “bending sickle”.
True love does not change with time. It lives till the day of judgement. The
poet declares that if his views on love were disproved he would give up writing
p

verses.
THE SOLITARY REAPER
htt

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
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O listen! for the vale profound

scg
Is overflowing with the sound.
No nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne‘er was heard

np
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
e/t
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
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Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
/t.m
That has been, and may be again!
What‘er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o‘er the sickle bending –
I listen‘d motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore
s:/

Long after it was heard no more.

- William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth, an eminent poet of nature, was born on 7th April, 1770, at
Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. Though he lost his parents at a
p

very young age, his uncle gave him a good education. His meeting with Samuel
Taylor Coleridge in 1795, proved to be a turning point in his life. They, together
published, „The Lyrical Ballads‟ in 1798, Wordsworth succeeded Robert Southey as
htt

Poet Laureate in 1843 and remained in office till his death in April 1850.

STANZA 1:
The poet asks the readers to behold the solitary reaper who is working in the
field. She is reaping and singing herself. He says that the reaper is singing sweetly
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and so we should stop to listen or pass gently without disturbing her. She is cutting

scg
and binding the grains and is singing a sorrowful song. He asks us to listen to the
song of the solitary reaper that is overflowing in the deep valley.

STANZA 2:
The poet compares the song of the reaper to that of the nightingale. The
nightingale sings sweetly to delight the weary Arabian travellers. But the songs of
the solitary reaper were more delightful than the song of the nightingale. The poet

np
compares the song of the reaper to that of the cuckoo. The cuckoo sings during the
spring season. The song of the cuckoo breaks the silence of the seas close to the
Hebrides. He says that the song of reaper is more thrilling than the song of the
cuckoo.

STANZA 3:
e/t
The song of the reaper was sung in a dialect unknown to the poet. So he could
not understand the theme of the song. So he asks someone to tell him the theme of
the song. The song is perhaps a sad song. it may be about some old, unhappy, far-off

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things and battles long ago or about some familiar current issue or about some
/t.m
natural sorrow loss or pain that has occurred in the past and would occur again in
future.

STANZA 4:
The poet could not understand the theme of the song and the song was so
long as if it had no ending. He saw her singing and bending over the sickle. He
stood motionless and still as the song was so sweet! As he climbed up the hill the
song faded away. But it kept reverberating in his heart.
s:/

BE THE BEST

It you can‘t be a pine on the top of the hill,

Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
p

Be a bush, if you can‘t be a tree.

If you can‘t be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
htt

And some highway happier make;

If you can‘t be a muskie, then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can‘t all be captains, we‘ve got to be crew,
There‘s something for all of us here.
There‘s big work to do and there‘s lesser to do
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And the task we must do is the near.

scg
If you can‘t be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can‘t be the sun, be a star;
It isn‘t by size that you win or you fail-
Be the best of whatever you are!
- Douglas Malloch

STANZA 1:

np
The poet says that we may not be like the tall pine tree on the top of a hill. We
must be like bush in the low-lying valley. If we happen to be a bush we should be
like the one that grows close to a river. The poet means that even though we do a
small job we should give our best.
STANZA 2:
e/t
One may not be as tall as a tree. But he must be like a short bush. Even if we
are unable to be as high as a bush we must be like a small bit of grass. The grass
along the highway gives happiness to the passerby. In the same way even if we
occupy a humble position we should bring joy into the lives of others.
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/t.m

STANZA 3:
The muskie is a type of rose. It has the smell of musk. We may not be as
sweet-smelling as the muskie. But we must be like the fish, bass. We should
resemble the bass which swims in the lake briskly. We should be happy and lively as
the fish and give our best to humanity.
STANZA 4:
Not all people can become captain of a ship. Some have to work as members
s:/

of the crew. All cannot be leaders; there are followers in large number. Some do
tasks of great importance. Others do duties of lesser importance. Whatever it is, we
should do our best. In other words, the poet lays stress on quality rather than on
quantity.
STANZA 5:
p

We may not be a public road, busy with traffic. We must be a pathway

through a wild region which is less frequented by people. We may not be as bright
as the sun. We must be like a tiny star that gives light at night. The size of a person
htt

and the rank he holds has nothing to do with success and failure. Whatever position
we occupy, we should give our best.

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O’ CAPTIAN MY CAPTIAN

scg
O‟ Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather‟d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops o red!

np
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon‟d wreaths - for you the shores crowding,
e/t
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!

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It is some dream that on the deck
You‟ve fallen cold and dead.
/t.m

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor‟d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
s:/

- Walt Whitman
 Walt Whitman was born in Long Island, in the United States of America in
1819. He started his career as an office boy in a law office in Brooklyn at the
age of eleven and then became a typesetter‟s apprentice in a number of print
p

shops. He took to teaching for some time and started his own newspaper, „the
Long Islands‟. During 1850-1855 he focussed on his own work, „ Leaves of
Grass‟ and continued to write. He died at the age of 72.
htt

 The poem, „O Captain! My Captain‟ was published in 1865 and widely

anthologised during his life time. This poem is a rare example of his use of
rhymed, rhythmically regular verse, which serves to create a sombre yet
exalted effect. Whitman had envisioned Abraham Lincoln as an archangel
Captain and he wrote this poem as a dirge for the death of Abraham Lincoln.

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 The first line of the poem serves to begin the controlling metaphor upon

scg
which the rest of the poem is built. In this poem, „Captain‟ is a substitute of
Abraham Lincoln, and the ship is the United States of America. „The fearful
trip‟ is the Civil War. The Speaker celebrates the end of the civil war but
continues to mourn the fallen hero.

STANZA 1:

np
The poet addresses the captain and says that their fearful trip is over. The
ship has overcome all hurdles and hazards. The goal is reached and the port is
round the corner. The people on the shores are rejoicing. The ship looks grim, for its
Captain is lying dead. In these lines the ship stands for the United States of America
and the civil war is referred to as the fearful trip. Abraham Lincoln is the captain
e/t
who led the ship to victory.

STANZA 2:
The poet is sad at heart to see the captain lying dead. He sees blood oozing
from the wounds. As the captain is dead his body is cold. The poet is broken-
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hearted to see the Captain who lost his life in saving the country.
/t.m

STANZA 3:
The poet entreats the captain to rise up and hear the bells ringing merrily on
the shore. Crowds of people are standing on the shores to welcome the Captain. The
flags flutter in their hands. The people are waiting for the captain with bouquets
and wreaths interlaced with coloured ribbons. With eager faces masses hail the
Captain. Such is the crowd‟s devotion to their leader.
STANZA 4:
s:/

The poet addresses the captain as his father. Truly, Lincoln is the father of
the oppressed people in USA. He puts his arm beneath the captain‟s head and
gently lifts it. He couldn‟t believe that the captain is dead. But the captain is actually
dead and he is lying on the deck of the ship. He couldn‟t feel the poet‟s hands under
his head.
p

STANZA 5:
The poet is sad that the captain does not respond to his call. Being dead, the
htt

captain‟s lips have lost their colour. They have turned pale. His body lies
motionless. He regrets that his father couldn‟t feel his arm under his head. The dead
leader has neither pulse nor desire of his own. Just as a ship is anchored safe and
sound after its fearful trip, the country remains peaceful after the civil war. The goal
is reached and the ship is free from harm. But he who led the country to victory is
lying dead.
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STANZA 6:

scg
The people on the shores are very happy. With great rejoicing they are ringing
bells. But he is down and depressed. He sees the captain lying dead on the deck.
Overwhelmed with sadness he walks in slow steps. He mourns the death of his
beloved leader. Thus the concluding lines portray a vivid contrast-mirth on shore a
melancholy on the deck.
In this poem ‘Laugh and be Merry’ the poet wants us to be cheerful and
enjoy our life to the fullest. He also reminds us, towards the end of the poem, that

np
we are like temporary guests who stay in a beautiful inn for a while.

LAUGH AND BE MERRY

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,

e/t
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.
Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.

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Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.
/t.m
God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,
Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.
So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,
Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.
Laugh and be merry together, like brothers skin,
Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,
s:/

Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.
- John Masefield
John Masefield was born on 1 June, 1878 at Ledbury in Herefordshire. After an
st

unhappy education at the Kings School in Warwick, he entered the merchant navy
p

at the age of 16, deserted ship and became a vagrant in America. He returned to
England in 1897 and settled as a versatile writer. A few of his earlier works are „Salt
htt

Water Ballads‟. „Manchester Guardian‟ and „The Everlasting Mercy‟. In 1930

Masefield became poet laureate. He died in the year 1967.

“Laugh and Be Merry” is actually the symbol of being human! The phrase is used as
a tagline and the very purpose of our life. Hence the poet commences the poem with
this phrase!
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STANZA 1:

scg
The world becomes better with every song. The song actually refers to the
inner voice when happy. “Blow in the teeth of a wrong” means that if you do
something wrong, make a mistake, punishment is inevitable. The poet says, a blow
(punishment) makes the world better because it saves you from “the bigger
punishment”. Time is brief. Our time on Earth is very limited and actually can be
measured with a thread. In this little life, there is no scope to sit and repent. It‟s not
that we‟d only be happy throughout our life. We equally need to be proud of our

np
existence and the place from where we belonged.
STANZA 2:
In this stanza Masefield expresses his opinion about the creation of Earth.
According to him, God made Heaven and Earth for joy and took in a rhyme. The
poem is actually an attempt to look into the brighter side of creation. The phrase
e/t
„red wine‟ is used to express the feeling of authority, celebration and merry-making.
In the next line, the poet conveys, as the heaven and the star rejoice, so does the
earth.

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STANZA 3:
/t.m
The stretch of the sky is endless. The poet appeals us (…so we must laugh and
drink) to lead our life much like the sky which knows no barrier and constraint. We
shouldn‟t be constrained to any feeling. Star actually is referred to „Us‟ and the way
we should see our life refers to the “sky”. In life, it‟s ok to fight, laugh, get wounded,
or anything. But we should laugh.

STANZA 4:
The final line ignites the feeling of brotherhood because we all are eventually
going to die. The purpose of hatred or separation withers upon realizing the
s:/

ultimate end of each being. We are in our individual rooms of a beautiful inn.
Anytime the music can stop, and then it actually ends! So, let there be a happy
beginning, happy journey and a happy ending!

The Poem ‘Earth’ a beautiful tribute to the Earth, is taken from a collection of
p

poems and essays entitled “The eye of the Prophet”. The following is an extract from
the poem.
htt

EARTH
How beautiful you are, Earth, and how sublime!
How perfect your obedience to the light and how noble is your submission
to the sun.
…………………….
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scg
I have walked over your plains,
I have climbed your stony mountains
I have descended into your valleys;
I have entered into your caves.
On the plains I have discovered your dreams,
On the mountains I have admired your splendid presence.
And in the valleys I have observed your tranquillity;

np
In the caves I have touched your mysteries.
………………………

You are the mouth and lips of Eternity,

The strings and fingers of Time,
e/t
The mystery and solution of life.
How generous you are, Earth, and
How strong is your yearning for
Your children lost between

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That which they have attained
And that which they could not obtain
/t.m
……………………………..

We pierce your bosom with swords and spears.

And you dress our wounds with oil and balsam
We plant your fields with skulls and bones.
And from them you rear cypress and willow trees,
We empty our wastes in your bosom, and you fill
Our Threshing floors with wheat sheaves,
s:/

And our winepresses with grapes.

We extract your elements to make

Cannons and bombs but out of
Our elements you create lilies and roses
How patient you are Earth, and how merciful!
p

Are you an atom of dust raised by

The feet of God when he Journeyed from
htt

The East to the West of the Universe?

Who are you, Earth, and what are you?
You are ―I‖, earth!
You are my sight and my discernment.
You are my knowledge and my dream
You are my hunger and my thirst.
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You are my sorrow and my joy.

scg
You are the beauty that lives in my eyes
The longing in my heart, the everlasting life in
my soul!
You are ―I‖ Earth,
Had it not been for my being,
You would not have been!
- Khalil Gibran

np
Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931) born in Lebanon, was a poet, philosopher and
artist. His books have gained popularity in the western world, with „The Prophet‟ as
probably the best known work of his. Most of his works convey the timeless
universal truths and of man‟s inhumanity to man.

STANZA 1 (LINES 1 -10)

e/t
Sublime – grand and great; obedience – here, waking up perfectly at the
dawn; tranquillity- peacefulness
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The earth is beautiful, great and grand. You wake up at dawn obediently. You
/t.m
surrender yourself to the sun at sunset magnificently. I have travelled along your
plains, mountains, valleys and caves. On the plains, I saw your dream, admired your
majestic height in the mountains. I have seen your calmness in the valleys and
touched the mysteries in your caves.

STANZA 2:
Eternity – an endless time. Strings and fingers – the violinist brings out tunes
using his strings and fingers; yearning – here, feeling pity and tenderness for;
s:/

You speak the joy of endless time. You are the music of Time. You present the
answers to the riddles of life. You are string and generous. Mankind is caught
between what it has achieved so far and what it has to achieve. Earth! You have pity
for the human beings who are your children.
p

STANZA 3:
Bosom –chest; swords and spears – weapons of war; winepresses – equipments for
squeezing grapes and getting juice
htt

Men dig deep into the earth with sharp tools. But mother applies balsam and
oil for man‟s wounds. Men wage war on earth and clutter the surface with bones of
people killed in war. But the earth raises tress from the fields strewn with bones.
Man throws away trash and rubbish on the earth recklessly. But the earth, in turn,
provides him with wheat and grapes.

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STANZA 4:

scg
Extract –take from;
We dig the ores out from the earth and make cannons and explosives. But
using our substances you grow beautiful flowers like lilies and roses. The earth is
patient and kind. Did you come into existence from a particle of dust raised by
God‟s feet when he travelled from East to West in the cosmos?

STANZA 5:

np
Discernment – realisation;
Who is this Earth? What is this Earth? It is none other than „I‟, that is Man.
The earth stands for man‟s sight and judgement, his knowledge and dream, his
hunger and thirst and his joy and sorrow. It is a beautiful thing, seen and enjoyed by
man forever. It is in his heart and soul permanently. To put it the other way, Earth
e/t
is man. If there is no mankind, there is no Earth too.

DON’T QUIT
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

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When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
/t.m

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing down a bit,
Rest, if you must-but don‘t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometime learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won has he stuck it out
Don‘t give up, though pace seems slow,
s:/

You might succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems after;
p

So, stick to the fight when you are hardest hit.

It‘s when things get worse that you mustn‘t quit.
htt

- Edgar A. Guest.
Edgar Albert Guest (1881 – 1959) was a prolific British – American poet. He
became popular in the first half of the 20th century. He was known as the „People‟s
Poet‟ for having contributed 11,000 poems to English literature. He was the only
poet honoured with the title „Poet Laureate of Michigan‟.

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STANZA 1:

scg
The poet says that we should not quit when things go wrong, when the path
we are travelling may be difficult, when the funds will be low and the debts will be
high and we would like to smile, but all we can do is to grieve.

STANZA 2:
The poet says that we should not quit when grieve is putting us down. He says
that we can rest if it‟s a must but we should not quit. Sometimes we learn that life is

np
strange with its twists and turns.

STANZA 3:
Many people reverse their path ie.quit when they might have won. Don‟t give
up when our journey is slow for we might succeed.
e/t
STANZA 4:
Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a weak and unsteady man. Often the
struggler would have given up when he might have won!

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STANZA 5:
/t.m
We realise very late after we miss the opportunity, when the success was so
close. Success and failure turned inside out. It means that within every failure are
the lessons that must be learned to achieve success in future attempts. “The silver
tint in the clouds of doubt” is similar to “silver lining”. It means that glimpse of
hope when everything seems hopeless.

STANZA 6:
We can never tell how close we are to success. It might be near when it seems
s:/

far. So we have to keep fighting when we are badly affected. We should not quit
when situations are worse.
THE APOLOGY

In this poem the poet seeks apology from the people working hard in the field,
p

Does he feel guilty or does he justify himself? Read and find out from the poem.

Think me not unkind and rude

htt

That I walk alone in grove and glen:

I go to the god of the wood
To fetch his word to men.
Tax not my sloth that I
Fold my arms beside the brook;
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Each cloud that floated in the sky

scg
Writes letter in my book.
Chide me not, laborious band
For the idle flowers I brought;
Every aster in my hand
Goes home loaded with a thought.
There was never mystery

np
But ‗tis figured in the flowers:
Was never secret history
But birds tell it in the bowers.
One harvest from thy field
Homeward brought the oxen strong;
e/t
A second crop thine acres yield,
Which I gather in a song.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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STANZA 1:
/t.m

Grove-group of trees; glen-a narrow valley;

I walk all alone along the narrow valleys. I walk under the trees, while you are
working in the fields. Don‟t think that I have no sympathy for anyone. Don‟t think of
me that I am rude and unkind. I am going to the God of forest to bring his message
to you.

STANZA 2:
Tax-accuse; sloth – state of being lazy; brook – small stream;
s:/

I stand near the stream, fold my hands and pray to God. When you see me
doing nothing, don‟t blame me for being lazy. I see the clouds floating in the sky.
Each cloud writes a letter in my book.
p

STANZA 3:
Chide-find fault with, scold; aster – kind of flower with long narrow petals around a
dark centre(like stars)
htt

I carry with me the flowers of idleness, O, you hardworking group of people,

don find fault with me for my laziness. I gather the star-like flowers (aster) in the
palm of my hand. I take them home and each flower rouses a thought in me.

STANZA 4:
Bowers – shady parts in garden; figured-appears
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Nothing is strange or puzzling except what appears in the flowers. Flowers

scg
with their mystery fascinate me. There is no secret history except the one utters by
the birds. The birds in the shady trees twitter sweet songs. The songs seem to
convey a secret history.
STANZA 5:
Thine- belonging to you; acres- here it means fields, yield-give
You, labourers work hard in the fields. You bring home the grains after
harvest. The cattle become strong after eating the fodder. You continue to work

np
hard in the field. When your fields give you the second crop I take it. I enjoy the
fruits of your labour, singing songs.

BE GLAD YOUR NOSE IS ON YOUR FACE

e/t
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.

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Imagine if your precious nose
/t.m
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you‘d be forced to smell your feet.
Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
It soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.
s:/

Within your ear, your nose would be

an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
Your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Your nose, instead, through thick and thin,
p

remains between your eyes and chin,

not pasted on some other place -
be glad your nose is on your face!
htt

- Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940. He is the author of more
than 50 poetry collections. He has also set his poems to music on the audio versions
of his anthologies. He often sings and plays gultar on most of them.

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STANZA 1:

scg
Our nose is on our face and not pasted anywhere else. Thank God! We are
happy with it. Suppose that the nose is seen somewhere else, we will not like the
sight of it.

STANZA 2:
Sandwiched- pressed between two things.
The nose is very valuable. suppose that the nose is placed between our toes, it

np
would not be pleasant to look at. We may have to smell our feet. How horrible it
would be!

STANZA 3:
Dread- great fear; atop- on the top of; drive to despair – make you desperate;
e/t
tickled – annoyed and irritated.
Suppose that we have our nose on top of our head, he would be an object of
fear or terror. The nose would be irritated constantly by the hair. We would be sad
and depressed.

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/t.m
STANZA 4:
Catastrophe- sudden great disaster; obliged to –forced to; rattle – make a series of
loud sounds;
Suppose that we have our nose within our ear, it would be a total disaster.
When we sneeze, the air that rushes out violently will cause the brain to clatter.

STANZA 5:
Through thick and thin – even when there are problems and difficulties.
s:/

Inspite of the possibilities cited above, the nose is placed on the face. We may
face problems and difficulties. But it remains firm on the face, between the eyes and
chin. It is our good fortune that the nose is where it should be. That gives us
immense joy and relief.

About the Poem: Mother is the dearest one on earth. Her unfathomable
p

love is inexplicable. In this modern poem, the poet portrays the hardships a mother
undergoes in bringing up her children. In the story „Miriam‟s Letter‟ we understand
htt

final love and in the following poem, the poet portrays the daughter‟s affection and
admiration for her mother. The poem shows that women are very affectionate and
caring.

A SONNET FOR MY INCOMPARABLE MOTHER

I often contemplate my childhood, Mom.
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I am a mother now, and so I know

scg
Hard work is mixed together with the fun;
You learned that when you raised me long ago.
I think of all the things you gave to me:
Sacrifice, devotion, love and tears,
Your heart, your mind, your energy and soul -
All these you spent on me throughout the years.
You loved me with a never-failing love

np
You gave me strength and sweet security,
And then you did the hardest thing of all;
You let me separate and set me free.
Every day, I try my best to be
A mother like the mom you were to me.
e/t - By F. Joanna
-
About the Poet: F Joanna (1932) is a professional writer. She has written civil
service tests materials for government agencies, a newspaper column, a national
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newsletter, public relations and marketing materials, Web site content, award-
/t.m
winning children‟s stories, and more. Currently, she writes greeting card poems for
her Website, Poemsource.com.

Contemplate- think about; Sonnet – a 14 line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme;
devotion – great love and loyalty
The poet thinks about her childhood and her mother. The poet herself is a
mother now. Her mother made hard work easy by mixing it with fun and learned it
s:/

while she brought her up. She thinks of all that her mom gave : sacrifice, devotion,
love and tears. She spent her heart, mind, energy and soul all these years on her.
She loved her with never-failing love and gave her strength and security and then
she did the hardest thing of all. She gave her full freedom and let her go. The poet is
a mom now and every day, the poet tries to be the mom her mother was to her.
p

THE FLYING WONDER

htt

Said Orville Wright to Wilbur Wright,

―These birds are very trying.
I‘m sick of hearing them cheep-cheep
About the fun of flying.
A bird has feathers, it is true.
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That much I freely grant.

scg
But must that stop us, W?‖
Said Wilbur Wright, ―It shan‘t.‖
And so they built a glider, first,
And then they built another.
- There never were two brothers more
Devoted to each other.
They ran a dusty little shop

np
For bicycle-repairing,
And bought each other soda-pop
And praised each other‘s daring.
They glided here, they glided there,
They sometimes skinned their noses.
e/t
-For learning how to rule the air
Was not a bed of roses -
But each would murmur, afterward,
While patching up his bro.

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―Are we discouraged, W?‖
/t.m
―Of course we are not, O!‖
And finally, at Kitty Hawk
In Nineteen - Three (let‘s cheer it!),
The first real aeroplane really flew
With Orveille there to steer it!
-And kingdoms may forget their kings
And dogs forget their bites,
But not till Man forgets his wings
s:/

Will men forget the Wrights.

- Stephen Vincent Benet

Stephen Vincent Benet (July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American
author, poet, short story writer, and novelilst. Benet is best known for his book-
p

length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown‟s Body (1928) for
which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929.
htt

LINES 1-10
Orville wright and Wilbur wright – the wright brothers who first invented the
aeroplane; i‟m sick of – i‟m fed up; cheep-the screech of birds; glider – an aeroplane
without an engine; „W‟- Wilbur Wright.

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Orville said to his brother Wilbur, “look at these birds. How annoying they

scg
are! They make a noise while flying about playfully. I am sick of their noses. Birds
have feathers. So they are flying. There is no denying that they could fly. But should
that prevent us from flying?” Wilbur agreed that nothing could stop them. So
brothers built a glider plane. Then they built another.

LINES 11-20:
Skinned their noses- failed;

np
It is hard to see such brothers who were devoted to each other in their dirty
little shop they repaired bicycles. They drank soda which gave out bubbles when
opened. They praised each other‟s bravery. They travelled on their glider planes
everywhere. Sometimes they failed. But they never gave up. Of course, learning to
fly in the air was not an easy joke. It was quite challenging.
e/t
LINES 21-32:
Patching up – treating injuries quickly and temporarily; “O” – Orville; Kitty
Hawk-a place in America; steer – control the course;

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While they dresses their wound Orville would ask” Are we depress,
/t.m
Wilbur?”His brother would reply: Certainly not. Nothing will discourage us”. Such
was their courage. Finally in the year 1903 their first aeroplane flew successfully in
Kitty Hawk. Let‟s celebrate the momentous occasion. Orville was the first person to
steer the first aeroplane. Kingdoms may forget their kings. Dogs may forget their
food. But man will never forget Wright brothers who gave to making to fly about
happily.
s:/

TO A MILLIONAIRE

The world in gloom and splendour passes by,

And thou in the midst of it with brows that gleam,
A creature of that old distorted dream
p

That makes the sound of life an evil cry.

Good men perform just deeds, and brave men die,
And win not honour such as gold can give,
htt

While the vain multitudes plod on, and live,

And serve the curse that pins them down: But I
Think only of the unnumbered broken hearts,
The hunger and the mortal strife for bread,
Old age and youth alike mistaught, misfed,
By want and rags and homelessness made vile,
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The griefs and hates, and all the meaner parts

scg
That balance thy one grim misgotten pile.
-Archibald Lampman

LINES 1 -7
Gloom – sadness; splendour – happiness; gleam – shine brightly;
multitudes – group of people; plod – work slowly

np
The world is under sorrow and joy and you(the millionaire) glow between
them. You are like an animal that does not have the clarity of dreams because it is
always about earning money. You make the human life like the sound of death.
Good people perform honest actions and brave men die, but they do not seek for
name and fame with their money like you, while a large group of people leads a life
e/t
of mediocre growth.

LINES 8-14
Strife – struggle; vile – very unpleasant or wicked; grim- depressing or

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unappealing; pile – accumulate.
You crush them for your profit and earn their curse also. But I (the poet)
/t.m

think of only the broken hearts, their hunger and their struggle for a living. Both old
and young people are taught wrongly and misinformed. Poverty and want of money
and shelter leads them to wrong path. Such people become evil with desire and are
filled with sorrow and hatred. The number of such people balances the wealth the
millionaire has earned by illegal means.
THE PIANO
s:/

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;

Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as the sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
p

Betrays me back, till the heart of me weep to belong

To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
htt

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour

With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of Childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
- D.H. Lawrence

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STANZA 1:

scg
In the dusk – Just before darkness sets in; Taking me back down the vista of years –
Transporting (carrying) me down the years of my childhood; In the boom of the
tingling strings – Hearing the sound of the notes of the piano; Poised feet – The
elegant feet of the mother placed on the pedal of the piano
„Taking me back down, the vista of years...‟ slowly, his childhood memories
unfold. He recalls sitting under the piano at his mother‟s feet. He finds comfort in
the tune of „the tingling strings.‟ D.H Lawrence has used onomatopoeia to denote

np
the sound of the piano keys. He presses the small feet of his mother with his little
hands. His loving mother smiles as she sings and plays the piano.

STANZA 2:
In spite of myself – though I am a grown-up, though I am a mature man; The
e/t
insidious mastery of song – the gradual mastery song; Betrays me back – makes me
lose my maturity as a man, and makes me feel childlike in return
Now in his years of maturity, his manhood betrays him. He should not yield
to his sentiments easily. The song overpowers him. He is filled with the nostalgia for

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his childhood days –the old Sunday evenings‟ when the snowfall outside confined
/t.m
him to the cosy parlour; the piano and the hymns that accompanied were his guide.
Music is divine. It unites the poet‟s two worlds-his past and his present. So now it is
vain for the singer to burst into clamour – now I cannot sing loud with excitement
as I used to do when I was a child.

STANZA 3:
The great black piano appassionato – a particular piece of music by Beethoven that
used to attract him most; The glamour of childish days – the sunshine or happiness
s:/

of his days as a child; My manhood is cast down – I am ashamed of being a man,

grown big physically and yet a child at heart; In the flood of remembrance – the
sweet memories of the childhood come flooding back into his mind unable to be
controlled
But now, the poet is no longer able to recollect the same nostalgic feeling.
p

Music was his childhood passion. The poet‟s childhood and his manhood are viewed
side by side. His childhood days lure him even now. Memories flood his mind.
Nostalgia bridges the two stages of his life-his past and present, his childhood and
htt

manhood, his sentiments and his masculinity. Yet his childhood passions dominate
and fill his eyes with tears;

MANLINESS
(An extract from the poem „If‟)
If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
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If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;

scg
If you can meet with triumph and disaster;
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can force your heart, and nerve, and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone;
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the will which says to them, “Hold on”.
If you can fill the unforgiving minute

np
With sixty seconds‟ worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that‟s in it,
And, what is more, you‟ll be a man, my son.
- Rudyard Kipling

STANZA 1
e/t
Kipling says man dreams and his aspirations and goals in life. But
accomplishments do not come to one who has only dreams and thoughts. In other
words, thoughts must be followed by action and must not remain as thoughts

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forever. Man should not be proud of triumph nor should he lose hope with failures.
/t.m
The poet personifies triumph and disaster as „two impostors‟. They surely cheat us
and play with our emotions.

STANZA 2
Man can force his physical being, his heart, nerves and muscles to obey his
fancies (imagination) only as long as they can. Man becomes helpless when they
weaken. They cannot serve man anymore but his will stays on. His mental strength
will command his physical forces to „hold on‟. Man‟s will power is man‟s companion
s:/

till end. Man may become physically weak but his mental stamina remains strong.

STANZA 3
Time is “unforgiving”. If you waste it, it will not excuse you, but will punish
you. So fill each minute with sixty seconds of meaningful action. Then you will be
p

the master of the world. You will be a man – a complete, perfect man.

GOING FOR WATER

htt

The well was dry beside the door,

And so we went with pall and can
Across the field behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran

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Not lath to have excuse to go,

scg
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though Chill), because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there

We ran as if to meet the moon

That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,

np
Without the birds, without the breeze

But once within the wood, we paused

Like gnomes that hid us from the moon
Ready to run to hiding new
e/t
With laughter when she found us soon.
Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen are we dared to look
And in the hush we joined to make

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We heard, we knew we heard the brook.
/t.m
A node as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
Like pearls and now a silver blade.
- Robert Frost.

STANZA 1
The opening lines present the basic problems of urban life. With no source of water
s:/

from the dry well beside the house, the poet and his playmate set out to the nearby
woods, with a pail and can, in search of water. The poet went to the woods behind
his house in search of water. There is a brook in the woods. Frost did not know if the
brook still had water. With this thought in mind he sets out to find water.

STANZA 2:
p

The poet was eager to get away to the woods to be free because the autumn
evening was cool and inviting. The autumn evening was chill and inviting. To the
htt

poet and his playmate it was an escape from the hot afternoon. They were looking
forward to an evening of fun. The boys felt safe to go through their fields and woods.
It was their second home. It offered a refuge (shelter) from the open farm. Their
boyhood frequent haunts (visits) into the woods made him feel sure of the presence
of the brook.

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

STANZA 3:

scg
The thought of being alone, by themselves made them run into the woods.
They ran as if to keep a tryst with the moon. As it was evening and the sun was
setting, the moon was visible in between the tall trees. These lines suggest the
presence of autumn. The branches of the trees bare. Hence no birds sat on them.
The woods were silent with no breeze blowing.

STANZA 4

np
When they entered the woods, they hid behind the tress like gnomes
(supernatural beings). The woods seemed to hide the playful buys from the moon.
Their laughter filled the silence of the woods as they ran. Their laughter did not last
for long. Soon they heard the flow of the brook nearby. Rather than mentioning that
they spotted the brook, it looks as if the brook was awaiting their coming with the
e/t
words – „she found us soon‟.

STANZA 5
The poet and his friend cautioned each other to pause. They waited to listed

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and be sure. Before (ere) they could sight the brook – their treasure. In the silence
(hush) the boys decided to make sure of the presence of the brook and it seemed
/t.m

that they heard it. They wanted to be certain about it. They were quite sure they
heard its flow; so the – „staying hand,‟ the „listen‟ and „the hush‟.

STANZA 6
The boy‟s keen sense of hearing is expressed in these line. They had not seen
the brook yet. It was a „signal‟ from a „single spot‟ that made them tune their ear to
s:/

listen. a tinkling fall of drops from a branch like pearls into the waters of the brook
made them realize that the brook was somewhere nearby. A drop of water like a
single note of music fell and joined the other pearly drops to form a single blade of
water.
p

THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN

htt

―For oh,‖ say the children, ‗We are weary,

And we cannot run or leap.
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
To drop down in them and sleep.
Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping -
We fall upon our faces, trying to go;
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And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,

scg
The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.
For, all day, we drag our burden tiring,
Through the coal-dark, underground -
Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron
In the factories, round and round.

For, all day, the wheels are droning, turning, -

np
Their wind comes in our faces, -
Till our hearts, turn, -- our head, with pulses burning,
And the walls turn in their places -
Turns the sky in the high window blanked and reeling --
Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall --
e/t
Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling --
All are turning, all the day, and we with all, --
And, all day, the iron wheels are droning;
And sometimes we could pray,

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‗O ye wheels‘(breaking out in a mad moaning)
/t.m
‗Stop! be silent for to-day!‘

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Lines 1-12
The children are tired of working the whole day at the machines. The poor child
labourers have been stooping (bending) throughout the day, because they are
s:/

rotating the wheels of the machines. Their knees ache because they are bending all
the time as they turn the wheels round and round. They are so tired that each time
they bend down they feel like falling flat on their faces. They are so exhausted.
“Trying to go” is trying to go on turning the wheel. Their eyelids are so heavy with
sleep. The work is too tiring. Their eyes close to sleep (droop) with such sleepiness
p

in their eyes, if they see a red flower, it appears as white as snow. The poet uses this
comparison to describe the extent to which the poor children face continuous
labour and sleeplessness. The whole day, the children are made to drag loads of coal
htt

through the dark tunnels.

Lines 13-24
All through the day, it is the children who have to drag the wheels round and round.
The „droning, turning‟ rhymes with the sound of wheels. That is the sound, the only

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

sound they hear, through their rotation, the slightest air they feel on their faces is

scg
the only breeze that touches them. The word „turn‟ in these lines indicate the only
work they do. They keep turning the wheels the whole day. It becomes monotonous.
The wheel turns, they turn, their hearts turn, their pulses turn, their heads turn; all
that they see around – the high walls, the high windows, the only light from the
high window, even the flies (black due to the coal) on the ceiling, everything turns
along with the wheels that they run, and in turn, they got into the monotonous
turning, they too turn along with the wheels of the machines. The poet has brought

np
out the monotonous work of turning the wheels by the repeated use of the word
„turn‟ throughout these lines. The children are so annoyed by the sound of the
wheels the hole day that every cell in their bodies seemed to cry to stop. They long
for silence.
e/t
MIGRANT BIRD

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The globe‘s my world. The cloud‘s my kin
/t.m
I care not where the skies begin;
I spread my wings through all the din;
Through fears and fright I fly my flight.
No walls for me, no vigil gates,
No flags, no machine guns that blast
Citizens of those border states -
Brothers of her brother‘s sons.
No maps, no boundaries to block
s:/

My sojourn into unknown lands.

I spawn and splash in distant spills,
I breed my brood where‘r I will.
I wont‘s look down. No I will not.
With speed of wings I hasten past
p

And close my eyes against the sun

To dream my dreams and make them last.
- Famida Y. Basheer
htt

STANZA 1
The bird doesn‟t say that the earth is its home. It sees the whole world as a single
unit to which it belongs. As it flies in the sky, it feels that the clouds are its relatives.
It does not care where the sky begins or ends. The bird is happy that the sky is its
home. Inspite of the noises made by man, it just loves to spread its wings in
freedom, to fly high above all the unpleasantness on the earth. Being part of the
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

world shared by man, animals and birds, the birds is aware of the dangers from

scg
man. Yet the meek (humble), timid (afraid) birds flies high freely.

STANZA 2
The sky has no narrow walls of narrow feelings such as hate, jealousy, greed etc to
hinder its path of flight. (vigil – the act of keeping watch without sleep) no gates to
prevent escape or entry. There is no politics to stop its flight. There are no political

np
barriers to mark various boundaries of power in the sky. The whole sky is a single
state or country. So there are no claims to the sky by any bird. The bird is a citizen
of the free sky. The borders between the states have divided families which were
once untied. Brothers of the same family have been divided by political powers. This
is not applicable to the free birds of the sky. They fly as a single flock.
e/t
STANZA 3
There are no boundaries or maps in the sky to divide nations. Every part of the sky
gives a free passage to every bird. Whenever it flies, it is a sojourn ( a short stay).

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(spawn-lay eggs) It chooses to lay eggs and splash ad play in the waters of ponds
/t.m
and lakes of distant land. It doesn‟t need a permit for the water spots it chooses. It
breeds in any place it wishes.

STANZA 4
The bird is determined not to look down. It doesn‟t want to see man or his
atrocities. The fear of being affected by man and his ways is there. The bird just
spreads its wings to fly past the habitations of man, closing its eyes against the sun
and dreams peacefully in its flight- a safe flight across the bare sky, unstopped and
s:/

undistributed.

SHILPI

Steady throb
p

Then staccato rhythm

Harmonic cacophony to oblivious ears
The tempo is fickle-
htt

Now synchronized, now not,

A mirror of his changing moods
Now sure, now steeped in thought.

Bleary eyes,
Sinews taut yet steady.
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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

Decades of practice

scg
Heirlooms of rich traditions
In stark evidence
The knocking softens, fades,
To a mild judicious tap.
Virgin rock takes form
Rugged lines melt,
Sharp edges merge

np
Into smooth well moulded curves.

He steps back, surveys with

Close scrutiny, then sharp critical glare
e/t
They days of toil,
Hammer and chisel laid aside
Only bloodshot eyes betray
Deep pride, then reverence,

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Lo! God in Man‘s image !
/t.m

“Shilpi” is a poem that has words which rhyme with the sculptor‟s strokes. The
poem begins with vibrant, abrupt strokes, strong enough to break a rough, rugged
stone. The beats become rhythmic. The cacophony of disjointed strokes become
harmonies to the ears of the sculptor who is now used to his strokes.
The pace first becomes inconstant and then it slowly steadies. The steady and
unsteady beats reflect the steady and unsteady thoughts of the sculptor. It echoes
s:/

his changing moods.

The constant work makes his eyes tired and exhausted. The muscles of his hands,
one with the striking hammer and the other with the shaping chisel, are taut. His
strokes display his „decades of practice‟-his years of experience. The skills have been
p

passed on to him by his ancestors and his skilled craftsmanship is proof of this.
The heavy strokes now soften into gentle taps. The rough, hard virgin rock is slowly
moulded. The rugged lines are no more rough. The rough sharp lines smoothen and
htt

soften merging into comfortable curves. The stone is moulded into a beautiful piece
of sculpture finally.

His work done, the sculptor steps back to review it. With careful, critical judgement,
very confident and decisive in his craftsmanship, he critically analyses his sculptural

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APPRECIATION QUESTIONS FROM POETRY

expertise. The carves figure is the reward of his days of toil and the result of a

scg
craftsmanship that has been passed down to him his forefathers.

Very content, the sculptor lays aside his hammer and chisel. Yet his tired eyes
betray his exhaustion – but only for some time. Pride surmounts. He has proved to
be a true son of the sculptural tradition. He reveres the fruit of his labour, and for us
readers – he is a God in Man‟s image. God is the mighty creator of man and man is
the creator of his mind‟s and heart‟s desires. Man carves out (chisels) beautiful

np
forms from rugged rocks.

e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Important Lines from Poems

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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https://t.me/tnpscgs

s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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s
scg
IMPORTANT LINES FROM
POEMS

np
WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR
Rabindranath Tagore prays for a world without fear - one world held together by
freedom. Tagore’s poem overflows with a deep sense of patriotism and the power in
every Indian to create that freedom which he should enjoy.
e/t
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls

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Where words come out from the depth of truth
/t.m
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

- Rabindranath Tagore
s:/

THE SOLITARY REAPER

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!
p

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
htt

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt, https://t.me/tnpscgs
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IMPORTANT LINES FROM POEMS

Among Arabian sands:

scg
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

np
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
e/t
That has been, and may be again!
What’er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,

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And o’er the sickle bending –
/t.m
I listen’d motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore
Long after it was heard no more.
- William Wordsworth

GOING FOR WATER

s:/

The well was dry beside the door,

And so we went with pall and can
Across the field behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran
p

Not lath to have excuse to go,

Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though Chill), because the fields were ours,
htt

And by the brook our woods were there

We ran as if to meet the moon

That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze
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IMPORTANT LINES FROM POEMS

scg
But once within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.
Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen are we dared to look

np
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook.
A node as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
e/t
Like pearls and now a silver blade.
- Robert Frost.

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THE PSALM OF LIFE
/t.m
What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream! -
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
s:/

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.
p

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
htt

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
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IMPORTANT LINES FROM POEMS

Trust no Future, how’er pleasant!

scg
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

np
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
e/t
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to walk
- H W Longfellow
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/t.m
BE THE BEST
It you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush, if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass-
s:/

But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here.
There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to do
p

And the task we must do is the near.

If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun, be a star;
htt

It isn’t by size that you win or you fail-

Be the best of whatever you are!
- Douglas Malloch

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IMPORTANT LINES FROM POEMS

scg
SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

np
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
e/t
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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scg
np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Biography

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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p s:/
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BIOGRAPHY

scg
MAHATMA GANDHI

Who said, „Frailty, thy name is woman‟?

np
Mahatma Gandhi was a ceaseless crusader of women‘s equality. He brought the
women out of their homes and made them equal participants in all walks of life –
social as well as political. His entourage always consisted of several women and
many of his closest associates were women. Under Gandhi‘s leadership thousands
of women took leading roles in several movements. Gandhi never considered
e/t
women to be unfit for any position or task. Because of Gandhi‘s support and
initiative, women‘s groups were formed all over India and there was hardly a week
when Gandhi did not address a women‘s group. It was mainly because of Gandhi
that the first Cabinet of Independent India consisted of two women ministers. What
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is significant here is his image of woman and his hope for her, so radically different
/t.m
from that of any earlier reformer. He was not the first to address women‘s issues in
India. Before the advent of Gandhi on the scene, the attitude to women, though
sympathetic, was patronising; leaders and social reform groups functioned in such a
way that made women look helpless. They wanted to protect, uplift and bring relief
to women. No doubt there was value in all of it. Yet, with Gandhi a new, unique
element emerged. Woman to him was neither man‘s plaything, nor his competitor,
struggling to be like him. What she needed most was education, the recognition of
her birthright to be free and equal, to steer her own destiny side by side with man.
s:/

He argues:
Therefore, ultimately, woman will have to determine with authority
what she needs. My own opinion is that, just as fundamentally men
and women are one, their problem must be one in essence. The soul in
both is the same. The two live the samelife, have the same feelings.
p

Each is a complement of the other. The one cannot live without the
other’s active help. But somehow
or other man has dominated woman from ages past, and so woman
htt

has developed an inferiority complex. She has believed in the truth of

man’s concept that she is inferior to him. But the seers among men
have recognised her equal status.
Gandhi was no advocate of blind adherence to tradition; its strong current could
help us swim far, or sink us; for him the deciding question was whether it would

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take us closer to God (Truth), selfless service and love of all human beings. He

scg
declared to a tradition bound India:
I do not subscribe to the superstition that everything is good because it
is ancient. I do not believe either that anything is good because it is
Indian... Any tradition, however ancient, if inconsistent with morality,
is fit to be banished from the land. Untouchability may be considered
an ancient tradition, the wide prevalence of child widowhood and
child marriage also may be considered to be a part of our ancient

np
tradition along with some of the horrible beliefs and superstitious
practices which offend the human dignity. I would sweep them out of
existence if I had the power.
What do our ancient books say about women? The woman‘s father protects her in
her childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in old
e/t
age; a woman is never fit for independence. Gandhi saw how wrong that was, how
unjust, how harmful to all; he spoke out strongly against child-marriages, the
isolation and subjugation of widows, the cruel domination of men over women, and
women‘s own subservient mentality. He says: True morality consists, not in

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following the beaten track, but in finding out the true path for
/t.m
ourselves and in fearlessly following it.
Gandhi‘s life-long ―experiments with truth‖ served that very purpose. And when he
felt sure he knew the way of truth, he not only followed it fearlessly himself, but
inspired millions of men, women and even children. The title of his life story he
aptly called, ‗An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments with Truth.‘
For, to him God was Truth, but whereas the definition of God, he said, was difficult
to grasp, the definition of truth every person could find in his or her own
conscience. Even from his childhood he was such an extraordinary lover of truth
s:/

that he tried to understand and verify the truth of any new thought he came across,
and every personal experience. Among various youthful experiments with truth, the
most pertinent in relation to women was his relationship with his wife, Kasturba.
They were both born in 1869, and married very young in 1882, when she was
thirteen and he was but twelve years old. Having read that a wife must always be
p

subjugated to her husband‘s will, he took on the role of a

domineering husband, and a boy husband at that! Little was he prepared to face the
challenge posed by his strong and spirited wife, who stood up to him for her rights
htt

with dignity and self-possession, which, in the early years he construed as

stubbornness, and later extolled as moral courage. He evolved his ideas on women,
and the relationship between men and women, thanks to a series of experiences
with his wife during his formative years. He wanted implicit obedience from her. He
never allowed her to go out without his permission. Once, in South Africa, he had
wanted her to clean the chamber pot of a low-born clerk with a smile. When she
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had resisted and cried, he behaved rudely to get the work done, using the words,

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―Have you no sense of shame? Must you so far forget yourself?‖ That was enough
for the sincerest of all votaries of truth; he thought a great deal, constantly, all his
life. He never forgave himself for causing Kasturba to suffer pain. His own pain and
regret are evident in his words: Of all the evils for which man has made
himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as
his abuse of the better half of humanity - to me, the female sex, not the
weaker sex. It is the nobler of the two, for it is even today the

np
embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith and
knowledge. He valued these qualities highly, considering them to be
indispensable for resistance by satyagraha, whether in the home or in society. He
held ancient models of womanhood - Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Draupadi - in
high reverence and venerated them for their moral strength; they were not passive,
e/t
weak women. Passive resistance, he explained, was not the right translation of
satyagraha, which means, “soul force” or “truth force”, the power of
enlightened non-violence, neither passive nor timid.
According to Gandhiji:

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To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by
/t.m
strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If
by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior.
Has she not greater
intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance,
has she not greater courage? Without her man could not be. If non-violence is the
law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal
to the heart than woman?
The wife is not the husband’s slave but his companion and his help-mate and an
s:/

equal partner in all his joys and sorrows – as free as the husband to choose her
own path.
Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the
right to participate in all debates, deliberations and activities and offer her
suggestions along with men for bringing about a better social order and she has
p

an equal right of freedom and liberty with him.

If only the women of the world would come together they could display such heroic
htt

non-violence as to kick away the atom bomb like a mere ball. Women have been so
gifted by God. If an ancestral treasure lying buried in a corner of the house
unknown to the members of the family were suddenly discovered, what a
celebration it would occasion. Similarly, women’s marvellous power is lying
dormant. If the women of Asia wake up, they will dazzle the world. My experiment
in non-violence would be instantly successful if I could secure women’s help.
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I would love to find that my future army contained a vast preponderance of

scg
women over men. If the fight came, I should then approach it with much greater
confidence than if men predominated. I would dread the latter’s violence. Women
would
be my guarantee against such an outbreak.

‘Ahimsa’ means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for
suffering. Who but woman, the mother of man, shows this capacity in the

np
largest measure? She shows it as she carries the infant and feeds it during nine
months and derives joy in the suffering involved. What can beat the suffering
caused by the pangs of labour? But she forgets them in the joy of creation. Who
again suffers daily so that her babe may wax from day to day? Let her transfer
that love to the whole of humanity, let her forget that she ever was or can be the
e/t
object of man’s lust. And she will occupy her proud position by the side of man as
his mother, maker and silent leader. It is given to her to teach the art of peace to
the warring world thirsting for that nectar.

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My suggestion is that women can play a very important role in establishing peace.
Instead of being carried away by science and its marvel they should follow the
/t.m

path of non-violence because women by nature are endowed with the quality of
forgiveness. Women will never succeed in aping men in everything, nor can they
develop the gift nature has bestowed on them by doing so. They should neither
allow their family members to have, nor should they themselves have any
connection with anything relating to war. God has endowed women with hearts
overflowing with love. They should utilise the gift properly. That power is all the
more effective because it is mute. I hold that God has sent women as messengers of
the gospel of non-violence.
s:/

But it is my firm conviction that if the men and women of India cultivate in
themselves the courage to face death bravely and non-violently, they can laugh to
scorn the power of armaments and realise the ideal of unadulterated
independence in terms of the masses which would serve as an example to the
p

world. In that women can take the lead for they are a personification of the power
of self-suffering.
htt

My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family,

every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-
respect and liberty, and that his defence prevails, though the world be against the
individual resistor. Is the society ready to give equal status to women? Equal status

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to women is a far cry. Does it mean that we will continue to be a male chauvinistic

scg
society? Who is to blame?
.
I blame the men. Men have legislated against them. Man has regarded woman as
his tool. She has learnt to be his tool and in the end found it easy and pleasurable
to be such, because when one drags another in his fall the descent is easy.

Woman, I hold, is the personification of self-sacrifice, but

np
unfortunately today she does not realize what tremendous advantage
she has over man. How apt these words are and look at the faith Gandhi has
both in nonviolence and women - If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future
is with women.

Let us join Otway in saying -

O woman! Lovely woman!
e/t
Nature made thee to temper man;
we had been brutes without you.

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Angels are painted fair to look like you;
/t.m
there is in you all that we believe of heaven –
amazing brightness, purity and truth,
eternal joy and everlasting love.
s:/

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

 Pandit (Hindi: “Pundit” or “Teacher”) Nehru

 Born - November 14, 1889, Allahabad, India
 Died May 27, 1964, New Delhi
p

 First prime minister of independent India (1947–64), who established

parliamentary government and became noted for his neutralist (nonaligned)
policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India‘s
htt

independence movement in the 1930s and ‟40s.

Early years
 Nehru was born to a family of Kashmiri Brahmans, noted for their
administrative aptitude and scholarship, who had migrated to Delhi early in
the 18th century.
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 Son of Motilal Nehru, a renowned lawyer and leader of the Indian

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independence movement, who became one of Gandhi‘s prominent associates.
 Jawaharlal was the eldest of four children, two of whom were girls.
 A sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, later became the first woman
president of the United Nations General Assembly.
 Until the age of 16, Nehru was educated at home by a series of English
governesses and tutors.
 A part-Irish, part-Belgian theosophist, Ferdinand Brooks—appears to have

np
made any impression on him. Jawaharlal also had a venerable Indian tutor
who taught him Hindi and Sanskrit.
 He received the best education in England where he attended Harrow and
Trinity colleges, Cambridge.
 Later, he qualified as a barrister at the Inner Temple.
e/t
 He returned to India in 1912.
 Four years after his return to India, in March 1916, Nehru married Kamala
Kaul, who also came from a Kashmiri family that had settled in Delhi.
 Their only child, Indira Priyadarshini, was born in 1917; she would later

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(under her married name of Indira Gandhi) also serve (1966–77 and
/t.m
1980–84) as prime minister of India.
 In addition, Indira‘s son Rajiv Gandhi succeeded his mother as prime
minister (1984–89).

Political apprenticeship
 On his return to India, Nehru at first had tried to settle down as a lawyer.
 Unlike his father, however, he had only a desultory interest in his profession.
 His political interest took place at "Änandabhavan‖, his father‘s place.
 He got acquainted with many politicians who came to hold discussions with
s:/

Motilal Nehru.
 Jawaharlal was also attracted by Gandhi‘s insistence on fighting against
British rule of India without fear or hate.
 Nehru met Gandhi for the first time in 1916 at the annual meeting of
the Indian National Congress(Congress Party) in Lucknow.
p

 He was elected as president of the Congress Party in 1929, when he presided

over the historic session at Lahore that proclaimed complete independence
htt

as India‘s political goal. Until then the party‘s objective had been dominion
status.
 The Massacre of Amritsar (Jallianwala Bagh)in 13,April 1919, killed
thousands of men, women and children, shocked the whole nation.
 According to an official report, 379 persons were killed (though other
estimates were considerably higher), and at least 1,200 were wounded when
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the local British military commander General Dyer, ordered his troops to fire

scg
on a crowd of unarmed Indians assembled in an almost completely enclosed
space in the city.
 Innumerable protests were organised and Nehru was one among those
leaders who organised the protests.
 In 1920, Gandhi put forward the idea of non co-operation.
 In 1927, there were wide spread demonstrations and strikes against the
Simon commission sent to India by the British INDIA to study the

np
constitutional reforms in the country. The protest was because it had No
Indian member.
 Nehru who led the protest in Allahabad was beaten by police.
 He prepared an alternative constitution‖, which was the famous Nehru
Report, passed in 1928 session of congress.
e/t
 In 1929, Nehru was elected as the president of congress at Lahore
session.
 In this session, congress declared complete independence as its goal.
 The Salt satyagraha‖and Quit india movement led to imprisonment of Nehru.

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 He had to spend a period of more than a decade and half in British Indian
/t.m
jails on various occasions.

Imprisonment during World War II

 by the end of second world war, Britian had recognised the need for settling
the questions of indiá‘s demand for independence.
 Nehru opposed the idea of division of the country into india and Pakistan.
 Later , the interim cabinet with muslim league during 1946-47 convinced him
that partition couldnot be avoided.
s:/

 India became free on 15 august,1947 after Pakistan was granted freedom the
earlier day.
 Jawaharlal Nehru sworn in as the first Prime Minister of free India when the
clock struck the midnight hour that day.
p

Achievements as prime minister

 Nehru envisaged a planned development for the country.
 He formed the planning commission which was entrusted with the
htt

preparation of the first five year plan.

 Nehru‘s more basic contribution was in the field of social and political
developments.
 Nehru‘s achievements on the international arena was no less great.
 The pro-socialist bloc of countries under the USSR and a pro-capitalist bloc
under the USA.
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 In this divided world Nehru took an independent stand.

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 Dubbed as non-alignment, the policy attracted many newly emergent,
independent countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
 A third bloc of nations soon got organised under the banner of non-
alignment.
 Nehru was regarded as a leader of non-alignment Movement along with the
president Nasser of Egypt, president Sukarno of Indonesia and president tito
of Yugoslavia.

np
 Peaceful coexistence was the pillar of his foreign policy.
 Non-alignment policy helped India and other third world countries to exert
an influence out of proportion to their military or economic strength.
 The council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR) was started as a nodal
agency for promoting institutional level research efforts in various fields.
e/t
 As a result, some of the world class research laboratories grew up in the
country.
 Steps were taken to establish atomic research centres and space research
centres.

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 University Grants Commissions was founded for rapid expansion of higher
/t.m
education facilities in the country.
 Nehru paid equal attention to the flowering of human talents in social
sciences, arts and literature.
 Indian council for historical research(ICHR), Indian council for
Social Science Research(ICSSR), etc were set up to encourage pursuits
of quality studies in social sciences.
 Kendra Sahitya Academy , Lalith Kala Academy, National Book
Trust, Children‟s Book Trust, etc also owe their existence to Nehru‘s
s:/

deep concern for the cultural, artistic and intellectual development of the
people of this vast country.
 Nehru‘s health showed signs of deteriorating not long after the clash with
China. He suffered a slight stroke in 1963, and a more-debilitating attack
followed in January 1964. He died a few months later from a third and fatal
p

stroke.
 Aged 75, he breathed his last peacefully on May 27,1964.
htt

Books by Nehru:
 Discovery of India
 Glimpses of World History
 Letter to his Daughter
 An Autobiography
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SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE

scg
The mere spell of this slogan „Jai Hind‟- inspires everyone instantaneously
and a mood of patriotism surges in every individual. Do you know who that verbal
magician is? It was the mighty hero of the Indian War of Independence, Subhash
Chandra Bose, or „Netaji‟ as he was popularly known.
Bose was born in Cuttack in Orissa on 23rd January 1897 in a very rich
family. His father Janakinath Bose was a famous lawyer. When he was five, he

np
was admitted into a big European School, where he was not taught his mother
tongue, Bengali, and wore only Western clothes. At the age of twelve, he was shifted
to another school, where his headmaster, Boni Madhav Des, kindled the spirit of
patriotism in him. Bose started to respect and wear Indian clothing. He also started
to help the poor and needy. When a village was hit by small pox, Subhash led a
e/t
group of volunteers, and personally looked after the sick. He did not mind that
there was no cure for small pox! Bose looked upon his teacher, Beni Madhav Das as
his ‗guru‘.
When Subhash was 15, he came under the profound influence of an

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outstanding spiritual leader, Swami Vivekananda, and was deeply impressed with
/t.m
his teachings. He understood how „Work is Worship‟. He also started practicing
yoga.
His mother, Prabhavathi made her son aware of the great traditions of India.
He joined the Presidency college, Calcutta, after securing the 2nd rank in his
Matriculation Examinations. At the College, he was deeply upset by the rude
behavior of one of the British teachers, Professor Oten with Indian students -
they were called „stupid natives‟ and „barbarians‟, or primitive people! The
Professor believed that in this ancient land, true civilization had been brought in
s:/

only by the British! Subhash decided to protest.

More than a thousand students joined him to ask for better treatment from
their British teachers. At the end of three days. Professor Oten finally apologized to
the boys. Later, as head of the Department of Public Instruction in Bengal,
Professor Oten also appreciated Subhash for his exemplary performance in the
p

University Military Training Crops. This was the forerunner of our NCC training
today! He was willing to give credit where it was due.
Subhash also organized a „Nursing Brotherhood‟, to serve the poor and
htt

the sick who did not have any access to medical care. The boys looked after the
patients personally, cleaning and feeding them on their own. After his graduation at
Presidency College, Calcutta, Subhash left for Cambridge in 1919 to appear for the
Indian Civil Service Examination (ICS). It is the same as the IAS examination
today, except that on passing the exam, he would work for the British! It was at
Cambridge that Subhash realized that if India was to be equal with other nations, it
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has to be a free country. He secured the fourth rank in the ICS examination. But he

scg
had made up his mind to devote his life to the service of his country, he resigned
from the Indian Civil service and returned to India in 1921. On landing at Bombay,
he called on Mahatma Gandhi and expressed his desire to work for freedom of
India. It became clear to the Mahatma that Bose had questions about his principle
of ‗Non-Violence‘. Meanwhile, with his brilliant academic achievements and
background, Bose became the Principal of the National College, Calcutta. He was
also appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Calcutta Municipal

np
Corporation. He made Khadi, or Homespun cloth, the official dress of the
Corporation. He also encouraged the production and sale of other goods made in
India.
Jai Hindh:
But the British wanted cloth from England to be bought and sold in India.
e/t
They also wanted to control Indian trade. They made the sale of homespun cloth
and other Indian products illegal. Bose was arrested and sent to a prison in
Rangoon, Burma. The conditions at the jail were horrible. There was no shelter
from the sun or the rain. Bose was also upset that he had not even given a chance to

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explain his point of view. A huge number of people protested his imprisonment. He
/t.m
was released. Bose started feeling that only an armed struggle would liberate India.
He felt too that he would need military help for this difficult task. He went to the
extent of seeking help from foreign countries like Japan, Italy and Germany.
Bose formed the Indian National Army (INA) in 1941 in Singapore with the
help of the Indian prisoners who were released by the Japanese. He inspired the
troops to fight against the British to liberate their mother land. They started
marching towards India. Bose said, “Every dawn is preceded by a thick
darkness. The dawn is therefore close at hand. So cheer up! Hold the
s:/

Indian flag aloft and fight on!‘ On 21st October 1943 the Azad Hind Government
was set up on foreign soil. It was here that Netaji coined the rousing words of
salutation to our motherland - ‗Jai Hind‘. Subhash is called ‗Netaji‘ or leader,
because he was a true and passionate leader of the Indian struggle for freedom. He
lived by example, and followed his convictions. Netaji was second to none for sheer
p

patriotism and valour. The Indian Government awarded „Bharat Ratna‟ to him
posthumously. Let the Lion of Bengal be an inspiration to all of us!
htt

HELEN KELLER

 Helen Keller, in full Helen Adams Keller (born June 27,

1880, Tuscumbia, Ala., U.S.
 Died June 1, 1968, Westport, Conn.), American author and educator who
was blind and deaf.
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 Her education and training represent an extraordinary accomplishment in

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the education of persons with these disabilities.
 Keller was afflicted at the age of 19 months with an illness (possibly scarlet
fever) that left her blind and deaf.
 She was examined by Alexander Graham Bell at the age of 6; as a result
he sent to her a 20-year-old teacher, Anne Sullivan (Macy)from the
Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston, which Bell‘s son-in-law directed.
 Sullivan, a remarkable teacher, remained with Keller from March 1887 until

np
her own death in October 1936.
 Within months Keller had learned to feel objects and associate them with
words spelled out by finger signals on her palm, to read sentences by feeling
raised words on cardboard, and to make her own sentences by arranging
words in a frame. e/t
 During 1888–90 she spent winters at the Perkins Institution learning
Braille.
 Then she began a slow process of learning to speak under Sarah Fuller of
the Horace Mann School for the Deaf, also in Boston.

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 She also learned to lip-read by placing her fingers on the lips and throat of
/t.m
the speaker while the words were simultaneously spelled out for her.
 At age 14 she enrolled in the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in
New York City, and at 16 she entered the Cambridge School for Young
Ladies in Massachusetts.
 She won admission to Radcliffe College in 1900 and graduated cum laude
in 1904.
 Having developed skills never approached by any similarly disabled person,
Keller began to write of blindness, a subject then taboo in women‘s magazines
s:/

because of the relationship of many cases to venereal disease.

 Edward W. Bok accepted her articles for the Ladies’ Home Journal,
and other major magazines—The Century, McClure’s, and The Atlantic
Monthly—followed suit.
p

 She wrote of her life in several books, including

 The Story of My Life(1903),
 Optimism (1903),
htt

 The World I Live In (1908),

 My Religion (1927),
 Helen Keller’s Journal (1938),
 The Open Door (1957).

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 In 1913 she began lecturing (with the aid of an interpreter), primarily on

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behalf of the American Foundation for the Blind, for which she later
established a $2 million endowment fund, and her lecture tours took her
several times around the world.
 Her efforts to improve treatment of the deaf and the blind were influential in
removing the disabled from asylums.
 She also prompted the organization of commissions for the blind in 30 states
by 1937. Keller‘s childhood training with Anne Sullivan was depicted in

np
William Gibson‘s play The Miracle Worker (1959), which won the
Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and was subsequently made into a motion picture
(1962) that won two Academy Awards.

KALPANA CHAWLA
e/t
‘The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,

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Were toiling upward in the night
/t.m
- H W Longfellow

“That‟s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”, said Neil
Armstrong, stepping on to the moon‘s surface on 21st July 1969.
Well, when she stepped into space, not once but twice, it proved to be a real leap for
womankind, especially for the Indian woman. It was a leap bridging the gap
between the impossible and the possible. ‗You can‘t cross a great chasm in two short
steps; it needs one big leap‘. That‘s exactly what she did.
s:/

...................
Having slept under a canopy of stars in Karnal, Haryana, a sleepy little town in
Northern India, where she was born, ‗A strong desire to travel beyond the blue
yonder, to fly into the heavens and touch the stars some day .......‘, was all that
Kalpana Chawla dreamt of even as a child. Maybe she was rightly named Kalpana –
p

‗imagination‘. Even as a young girl she preferred to sketch and paint airplanes than
dress up her Barbie dolls. A close friend remembers that Chawla often spoke about
travelling to Mars as being her greatest ambition. Not only did she dare to dream
htt

but she also went the distance to fulfill her motto, ‗Follow your dreams‘. She went
on to clock an incredible 760 hours in space, travelling 10.4 million km, as
many as 252 times around the earth! In realisation of her dream, she was to
say one day, ―I could then see my reflection in the window and in the retina of my
eye the whole earth and sky could be seen reflected ........ so I called all the crew
members one by one and they all saw it and everybody said, ‗Oh, wow!‘‖ Kalpana
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Chawla was born on the 1st of July 1961, into a middle-class family, the

scg
youngest of four siblings. She maintained a brilliant academic record
throughout school. She took part in almost everything, from athletics to dance and
science modeling.
She graduated from Tagore school, Karnal, in 1976. She went on to pursue her
Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical engineering through Punjab
Engineering College. She happened to be the only girl in the aeronautics branch.
Though her family initially resisted her decision to pursue a career in aeronautics,

np
they finally relented, knowing her determined nature. This led on to a Master of
Science degree in Aerospace engineering from Texas University in 1984,
again after having to fight it out with her father who was very reluctant. Finally a
mere five days before the last date for admissions closed, he relented on condition
that her brother, Sanjay, accompany her to the States. Then followed her
e/t
Doctorate of philosophy in Aerospace engineering from Colorado
University in 1988. Chawla enjoyed flying, hiking, backpacking and reading. Her
passion for flying began very early in life. Even when she was in school, she drew
airplanes in drawing competitions and made models of the universe and

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constellations for geography projects. Her friends remember how she incessantly
/t.m
talked about designing and flying planes, ―It was obvious that she wanted to do
something special and she would achieve it‖. While she was pursuing her
engineering, her brother Sanjay had enrolled himself in the Karnal flying school.
During a break from studies, Chawla accompanied her brother to the flight school,
but the authorities wanted a written consent from her guardian before they would
let her fly. Her father refused. It was then that Chawla got some valuable advice
from her brother that she remembered all through her life: „Everyone fights
their (his) own battles‟. It was this advice which encouraged her, to later earn
s:/

her pilot‘s licenses for airplanes and gliders. She enjoyed flying aerobatics and tail-
wheel airplanes. In fact, her inspiration to take up flying was JRD Tata, who flew
the first mail flights in India. As a first-year student at Punjab Engineering College,
she had surprised everyone by presenting a paper on time lapse in space. As
secretary of the aero-astro club of the same college, she had arranged for a
p

screening of the movie: ‗Those magnificent men in their flying machines‘. Her path
to the
‘Milky Way’ was laid then. She had a single-minded determination to be an
htt

astronaut. Where did this grit come from? Surely from the steely resolve of her
father, Banarsi Dass Chawla who had to flee Pakistan during Partition. He had tried
his hand at odd jobs, and having practically no money to invest he had succeeded in
building a thriving tyre business from scratch. Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to go
into space, in the guest column of a cover story in ‗The Week‘, featuring Kalpana
Chawla, said, ―Often I have been asked if, as a child, I had ever dreamt of going into
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space. I answered truthfully in the negative, explaining that India never had a

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manned space programme, and so dreaming about it would have been futile.
Kalpana, on the other hand, was a small-town girl who dreamt big and had the self-
belief to chase that dream. She chased it half way across the globe, caught up with it
and then, lived it. That was the difference between us.‖ Don Wilson, her thesis guide
at the University of Texas, Arlington, recalls her as a ―quiet and shy girl who was
intimidated by her surroundings‖. But this was not for long. She adapted well,
showing a burning desire to be an astronaut. ―She just refused to take ‗no‘ for an

np
answer. And she was also an amazingly good student,‖ he was to say later. In 1988,
Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research Center. Meanwhile she
married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flight instructor, drawn towards him
probably because of her fascination for flying. In 1993, she joined Overset Methods
Inc., Los Altos, California, as Vice President and Research Scientist. In December
e/t
1994, she was selected by NASA out of 2962 applicants as an astronaut
candidate in the 15th group of astronauts. According to NASA, her academic
accomplishments, intense physical fitness and experience as a pilot made her a
natural choice. She reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. Her path

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to the ‘Milky Way’ was paved now. She had to undergo a year‘s rigorous training
/t.m
and evaluation. The training was so arduous that it could deter an average human
being, but not Chawla. It was a training, which included experiencing the pull of
gravity, which would increase the pulse rate from 72 to 102 within seconds – a
training where every movement could be a discovery of pain. The training required
immense levels of fitness. In 1996, her dream became true. She started off on her
path to the ‘Milky Way’. She was assigned as mission specialist on STS-87
Columbia, for a 16-day mission between November 19 to December 5, 1997, as part
of a six astronaut crew. She became the first Indian or Indian-American to fly in the
s:/

US space shuttle. She made history by becoming the first Indian born woman to
achieve this feat, for she had sought American citizenship in the early 90‘s. Though
her dream became true, she was blamed for making mistakes that sent a science
satellite tumbling out of control. Other astronauts went on a space walk to capture
it. However a post-flight NASA evaluation absolved her of blame, rating her a
p

‗terrific astronaut‘. Following her first space flight, in 1997, Chawla said, “The
Ganges valley looked majestic, mind-boggling”. “Africa looked like a
desert and the Nile a vein in it”. She said sunrises and sunsets defined her
htt

experience in space. ―It is almost as if everything is in fast forward. Then the moon
races away from us and is lost in the glow of the earth‘s curvature‖. She yearned for
a second chance. The chance came in 2000, when she was assigned to the crew of
STS-107 scheduled for launch in 2003. Once again she had succeeded. It was not
only good fortune, but also her having worked very, very hard. On being selected
again, she said, ―Just looking at Earth, looking at the stars during the night part of
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Earth; just looking at our planet roll by and the speed at which it goes by and the

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awe that it inspires; just so many such good thoughts come to your mind when you
see all that,‖ “Doing it again is like living a dream – a good dream – once
again”. But this time it was to be her eternal voyage. She became one with the
space that she dared to dream about, and yet still dared to explore. The 16-day flight
which began on January 16th 2003 was a dedicated science and research mission.
The crew successfully conducted 80 experiments. On February 1st 2003, a breezy
blue day over Florida, during entry, the space shuttle exploded into a ball of fire,

np
sixteen minutes prior to scheduled landing. Kalpana Chawla and the other six crew
members died an unfortunate death leaving the whole world mourning.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.’
e/t - R L Stevenson

Probably R L Stevenson‘s yearning was Kalpana Chawla‘s too! She had said after
her first space flight, that as the shuttle repeatedly passed over India, especially
New Delhi, she pointed it out to the other crew members and said, ―I lived near

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there‖. Now each time we look up into the sky, it‘s our turn to say, ―She‘s up there‖.
/t.m

Kalpana Chawla carved an identity for herself in an otherwise men‘s domain. She
will always inspire many young women as she has paved the way for them to dream
- to think beyond horizons and reach for the stars. Her passion for space
exploration has made her an inspiration and an icon to every little Indian girl. No
wonder as many as 28,000 web-sites host information about her. In her last
interview to the press, Chawla said, ― ‗I was not born for one corner. The whole
world is my native land.‘ So said Seneca, the philosopher. I have felt that connection
s:/

for the Earth for as long as I can remember. And not just for Earth, but the whole
universe. In summers, while growing up in India, we often slept in the courtyard
under the stars. We gazed dreamily at the Milky Way, and once in a while caught
some shooting stars. Times like those gave me the opportunity to wonder and ask
all those very basic questions. That sense of awe for the heavens started there. The
p

family and the surrounding community were mostly folks who had come to the area
after Partition, most of them without many possessions. You couldn‘t lose by
working hard and everyone seemed to follow that rule. It helped instill the notion
htt

that no matter what the circumstances, you could indeed follow your dreams.‖ In
the same interview, her message to Indian children was, ―....... the journey matters
as much as the goal. Listen to the sounds of nature......Take good care of our fragile
planet.‖ When asked why anybody would want to climb Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund
Hillary replied, ―Because it is there!‖ To all the Hillarys, Armstrongs, Norgays,

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Pearys, Columbuses and Chawlas who want to explore ―because it is there,‖ in the

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generations to come, it is wishing bon voyage!

DR.SALIM ALI

 Born On: November 12, 1896

 Born In: Mumbai, Maharashtra
 Died On: July 27, 1987

np
 Career: Ornithologist, Naturalist
 Nationality: Indian
 Nicknames: Birdman of India , Grand oldman of Indian ornithology

Dr. Salim Ali was one of the greatest biologists of all times, Salim Ali meticulously
e/t
observed and documented the birds of the sub-continent for around 80 years,
thereby making immense contribution to the field of ornithology.

Early Life

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Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, or Salim Ali as he is better known as, was born
/t.m
as the ninth and youngest child in a Sulaimani Bohra Muslim family. He was born
in Mumbai to Moizuddin and Zeenat-un-nissa. Losing his father at the age of one
and mother at three, Salim Ali and other kids were brought up by his maternal
uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji, and childless aunt, Hamida Begum. He was also
surrounded by another maternal uncle, Abbas Tyabji, a prominent Indian freedom
fighter. He attended primary school at Zanana Bible Medical Mission Girls High
School at Girgaum and was later admitted to St. Xavier's College at Mumbai.
However, due to his frequent chronic headaches, he was forced to drop out of school
s:/

every now and then since he was 13 years old. He was sent to Sind to stay with his
uncle with hopes of the dry air making an improvement in his health. Thus, on
returning, he just managed to clear his matriculation examination from Bombay
University in 1913. Since childhood, Salim Ali gained an interest in observing birds
closely and had a hobby of shooting birds with his toy air gun. With the help of W.S.
p

Millard, secretary of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the bird was
identified as Yellow-throated Sparrow, which further increased his seriousness
towards ornithology.
htt

Life in Burma and Germany

After spending a difficult first year in Xavier's College, Mumbai, Salim Ali
dropped out of college and went to Tavoy, Burma to care of his family's Wolfram
mining and timber business. The forests surrounding the area helped him further
develop his naturalist and hunting skills. He developed good relations with J.C.
Hopwood and Berthold Ribbentrop who worked with the Forest Service. On
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returning to India in 1917, he decided to complete his studies. Hence, he studied

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commercial law and accountancy from Davar's College of Commerce. He used to
attend morning classes at Davar's College and go to St. Xavier's College to attend
zoology classes to complete his course in zoology. Apart from his interest in birds,
Salim Ali was also fascinated by motorcycles and hence, owned his first motorcycle,
3.5 HP NSU while he was in Tavoy. He later went on to possess Sunbeam, Harley-
Davidson (three models), Douglas, Scott, New Hudson, and Zenith, amongst other
models. He went further to get his Sunbeam shipped to Europe on being invited to

np
the 1950 Ornithological Congress at Uppsala, Sweden. While touring France, he
even injured himself in a minor accident and cobbled several times in Germany. He
was rumored to have ridden on his bike all the way from India, when he finally
reached Uppsala. Coming back to his interest in ornithology, he was rejected a
position at the Zoological Survey of India due to lack of a formal university degree.
e/t
With this, he began studying further when he was hired as a guide lecturer in the
newly opened natural history section at Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai in
1926 with a salary of Rs. 350 per month. Being fed up with the monotony of the job,
he decided to go on a break and went to Germany in 1928 on a study leave. He

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worked under Professor Erwin Stresemann at Zoological Museum of Berlin
/t.m
University. He was also required to examine the specimens collected by J.K.
Stanford, a BNHS member. Stanford was supposed to communicate with Claud
Ticehurst at the British Museum who did not like the idea of involving an Indian in
his work. Hence, he kept distance with Stresemann. Salim Ali then moved to Berlin
and associated with popular German ornithologists, such as Bernhard Rensch,
Oskar Heinroth, and Ernst Mayr. Apart from his usual ornithology experience, he
also gained knowledge in ringing at the Heligoland observatory. Contribution to
Ornithology After studying ornithology in Germany, Salim Ali returned to India in
s:/

1930 and started looking for a job. However, to his surprise, the position of a guide
lecturer had been dropped off from universities due to lack of duns. Left with no
option, Salim Ali, along with wife Tehmina, moved to Kihim, a coastal village near
Mumbai. This place gave him another opportunity to observe and study birds very
closely, including their mating system. He then spent a few months in Kotagiri on
p

being invited by K.M. Anantan, a retied army officer who served in Mesopotamia
during World War I. He also met Mrs. Kinloch and her son-in-law R.C. Morris, who
lived in the Biligirirangan Hills. Gradually, on traveling places, Salim Ali got an
htt

opportunity to conduct systematic bird surveys in the princely states of Hyderabad,

Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore, and Bhopal. He was financially supported by
Hugh Whistler who had previously conducted surveys in various parts of India.
Although Whistler initially resented Salim Ali for finding faults and inaccuracies in
the early literature, he later re-examined his specimens and accepted his mistakes.
With this, began a close friendly relationship between Ali and Whistler. He
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introduced Ali to Richard Meinertzhagen and the two went on an expedition to

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Afghanistan. Initially, Meinertzhagen was also critical of Ali's views but later, the
two became close friends. Salim Ali was more attracted towards studying birds in
the field rather than getting into the details of bird systematics and taxonomy.
However, he did show some interest in bird photography with the help of his friend
Loke Wan Tho, a wealthy businessman from Singapore. Ali and Loke were
introduced by JTM Gibson, a member at BNHS and Lieutenant Commander of
Royal Indian Navy, who had also taught English to Loke in Switzerland. Hence,

np
Loke provided financial support to both Ali and BNHS. Ali talked about the history
and importance of bird study in India in Sunder Lal Hora memorial lecture in 1971
and again in Azad memorial lecture in 1978. Literary Career Salim Ali was not only
passionate about studying birds in general; he also showed equal interest in
capturing his views on them in words. With the help of his wife Tehmina, a learned
e/t
scholar from England, Ali improved his English prose. Thus, began Ali's writing
career, particularly journal articles for Journal of the Bombay Natural History
Society. One of his most popular articles was "Stopping by the woods on a
Sunday morning" in 1930 which was reprinted again in Indian Express on this

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birthday in 1984.
/t.m
Books by Salim Ali:
 "The Book of Indian Birds" in 1941, which was inspired by Whistler's
"Popular Handbook of Birds". It was later translated into several languages
and saw more than 12 editions.
 His masterpiece was the 10 volume "Handbook of the Birds of India &
Pakistan", written along with Dillon Ripley and was often known as "The
Handbook". The first edition began in 1964 and was completed in 1974. The
second edition came from contributions by J.S. Serrao of BNHS, Bruce
s:/

Beehler, Michel Desfayes, and Pamela Rasmussen.

 Ali also authored several regional field guides
 "The Birds of Kerala" (first edition was titled "The Birds of Travancore
and cochin" in 1953),
 "The Birds of Sikkim", "The Birds of Kutch" (later renamed as "The
p

Birds of Gujarat"),
 "Indian Hill Birds",
 "Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern Himalayas".
htt

 Autobiography "The Fall of a Sparrow" in 1985 where he included his vision

for BNHS and the importance of conservation related activities.
 One of his last students, Tara Gandhi, published a two-volume compilation of
his shorter letters and writings in 2007.

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Personal Life

scg
On his return from Burma, Salim Ali was married off to his distant relative,
Tehmina, in December 1918 in Bombay. She accompanied him to all his
expeditions and surveys. But his life came to a halt when she suddenly died
following a minor surgery in 1939. Ali then started living with his sister Kamoo
and brother-in-law. Death After battling with prostate cancer for a very long
duration, Salim Ali died on July 27, 1987 in Mumbai at the age of 90.

np
Honors & Memorials
 "Joy Gobinda Law Gold Medal" in 1953 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, he
went on to receive numerous accolades. It was based on the appreciation
he received from Sunder Lal Hora.
 Thus, in 1970, he was conferred upon with the Sunder Lal Hora Memorial
e/t
Medal of the Indian National Science Academy.
 He was bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees from Aligarh Muslim
University in 1958, Delhi University in 1973, and Andhra University in
1978

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 . On receiving the Gold Medal from the British Ornithologists' Union in
/t.m
1967, Salim Ali became the first non-British citizen to be bequeathed with
such an honor.
 He received the John C. Philips Memorial Medal of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in the same year.
 In 1973, he received the Pavlovsky Centenary Memorial Medal from the
USSR Academy of Medical Science and was made the Commander of the
Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of Netherlands.
 He was honored with Padma Bhushan Award in 1958 and Padma
s:/

Vibhushan Award in 1976.

 The Government of India established the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology
and Natural History (SACON) in Coimbatore in 1990.
 Further, Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences has been
established by Pondicherry University.
p

 The Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Goa and Thattakad Bird Sanctuary near
Vembanad, Kerala have been set up in his honor.
 The place where BNHS was located in Bombay was renamed as "Dr Salim
htt

Ali Chowk".

Timeline
1896: Born on November 12 in Mumbai
1913: Completed matriculation from Bombay University
1914: Admitted to St. Xavier's College and went to Burma
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1917: Returned to India

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1918: Married distant cousin, Tehmina in December
1926: Employed as guide lecturer in Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay
1928: Left the job and went to Germany
1930: Came back to India
1939: Wife Tehmina died
1941: Wrote first book "The Book of Indian Birds"
1953: Awarded with Joy Gobinda Law Gold Medal by Asiatic Society of Bengal

np
1958: Received doctorate degree from Aligarh Muslim University
1958: Honored with Padma Bhushan Award
1970: Bestowed with Sunder Lal Hora Memorial Medal from INSA
1973: Received honorary doctorate from Delhi University
1976: Conferred upon with Padma Vibhushan Award
e/t
1978: Received honorary doctorate from Andhra University
1985: Penned autobiography "The Fall of a Sparrow"
1987: Died on July 27 in Mumbai from prostate cancer, aged 90
1990: Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History established at

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Coimbatore
/t.m

RANI OF JHANSI

Think of 1857 and you think of the Rani of Jhansi, one of India‘s bravest
women. That was the year when the Indian solders openly turned against their
masters, the British. It was the first organized fight back, and Indians called this
their First War of independence. It was also known as „Sepoy Mutiny‟. It was a
revolt against the British Government. Lakshmibai too joined that mutiny in 1858,
s:/

after she had become the Rani of Jansi.

When Lakshmibai was born in Benaras, the wise ones said she would become
a queen. Her parents, Moropant Tambe and Bhagirathibal named her
Manikamika after the river Ganga. Her mother told her many stories from the
Ramayana and the Mahabharatha and Manu, as she was called, was very happy.
p

Unfortunately Bhagirathibai died all of a sudden when Manu was only 4. Moropant
Tambe moved to a place called Bithur. There he worked for Baji Rao II, who had
once been the Peshwa, ‗Peshwa‘ was the title given to the Maratha ruler. Manu was
htt

not sad for long. She quickly made friends with the boys. Nana Sahib and Tantia
Tope. Nana Sahib was Baji Rao‘s adopted son. With them, she learned to ride and
shoot. She also went to school, although in those days girls were not taught to read
and write. She was called as ‗Chablis‘ - the sweet one - by everyone, including Baji
Rao.

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Because of her charm and wit, Gangadhar Rao, the king of Jhansi, married

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her after his first wife, Ramabai had died childless. When Gangadhar Rao married
Manu, she was only 15 and she was a child herself. The bride was given a new name,
Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi. The people of Jhansi welcomed Lakshmibai into their
hearts and she loved them too. Soon, the people of Jhansi were thrilled to know that
their king at last had an heir. Yes, Lakshmibai had given birth to a baby boy in 1851.
But this joy and happiness did not last as the baby died after three months and the
people were heartbroken. In those days, it was common for the rulers to adopt if

np
they did not have children. So the king, Gangadhar Rao chose five year-old Anand
Rao, his cousin‘s child, to be his adopted son. On the eve of the adoption, on
November 19, 1853, a colourful ceremony was held and Anand Rao was renamed
Damodar Rao Gangadhar. The British were informed of the adoption by the king
who told them that his queen, Lakshmibai, would rule Jhansi until the boy grew up.
e/t
Soon after he had made the adoption, the paril began with the death of Gangadhar
Rao. The Governor General Lord Dalhousie announced that he was taking over
Jhansi, since the British did not accept an adopted child as a legal heir to the
throne. This was only a clever plan on the part of the British to annex, or take over

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the land with force and cunning.
/t.m
This clever way of acquiring new territories for their Empire was called the
Doctrine of Lapse. That‘s what they used now. If an Indian ruler died without a
natural heir, the British simply took over his or her kingdom. The kingdom or state
‗lapsed‘ to the British. Lakshmibai was determined not to give up, and said, ―I will
not give up Jhansi.‖ However all her efforts became futile and she wept alone in her
room the whole night. She was only nineteen years old! She decided to leave the fort
as ordered by the British, and went to live in a palace in the town with Damodar,
her son. The British began to govern Jhansi.
s:/

In the palace, Lakshmibai led a quiet life. She taught Damodhar to fence and
ride, read and writer. Even then, she did not stop writing to the British for justice.
Three years passed without any disruption. The year 1857 arrived. The British
occupied all of India and their armies were full of Indian soldiers. Not everybody,
including the sepoys, was happy. They were very hurt because their officers had
p

asked them to grease the new cartridges to be used in the rifles with fat from pigs
and cows in order to smoothen the firing of the bullets.
India has always been a multi-cultural country. The Muslims did not tough
htt

Pork. The Hindus did not tough beef. Though they already faced many problems,
this was the worst one. On a hot summer day in May, sepoys of the Bengal Army in
Meerut attacked their British officers and some officers were killed. The Sepoy
mutiny had begun! As the news spread across the central and the northern India,
thousands of soldiers turned against their British officers. Very soon, the mutiny
spread to Jhansi. The British were helpless to control the mutineers. They appealed
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to Lakshmibai to advise her soldiers to return quietly to their camps. It was then

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that she decided to join the rebellion-her war for independence had begun.
First of all she dug up all the piles of ammunition that had been hidden
secretly and set up two new factories to manufactures rifles and swords. Thousands,
including women were trained. She had a strong and loyal army, headed by both
men and women-Khuda Baksh, Moti Bai, Dost Khan and Kashi Bai. Her army was
15,000 strong. Lakshmibai was galloping from one place to another on horseback
with her son, Damodar on the pillion, to supervise all the activities. She became one

np
of the toughest rulers of Jhansi!.
The job was given to the General, Sir Hugh Rose to attack Jhansi, Rose‘s men
reached Jhansi. Encouraged by Lakshmibai the two best gunners Ghulam Gaus
Khan and Khuda Baksh fired furiously at the attackers. The people inside the fort
were happy to know that Lakshmibai‘s childhood friend Tantia Tope had arrived
e/t
with Peshwa Nana Sehib‘s army to help her. But Rose‘s army was highly disciplined
in fighting. Tantia Tope was forced to push back to a place called Kalpi, 170 kms
away. The English cannons blasted a huge hole in the fort wall through which the
British army entered into the fort.

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It was a terrible fight. Even though nearly 5000 of Lakshmibai‘s soldiers were
/t.m
killed, the British could not catch Lakshmibai as she had escaped with Damodar to
Kalpi. Accompanied by about 350 people, she rode for twenty four hours
continuously until she caught up with Tantia Tope in kalpi. Rose chased them and
scored one more point for his side. meanwhile Rao Sahib Baji Rao‘s nephew joined
Tantia Tope and Lakshmibai. All three went to Gwalior to seek support from
Scindia of Gwalior. Though Scindia was on the British side, his soldiers deserted
him and supported Lakshmibai to fight against the British.
She gained fame far and wide and she asserted, “We must prepare ourselves
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for another onslaught. ―However Rose was back with more men and more arms,
waiting outside the Gwalior Fort. Once again there was a terrible battle. Lakshmibai
sat on her horse, holding the reins between her teeth and a sword in each hand. Her
eyes glittered with fire and her swords caught the sunlight when she fought bravely,
killing one after another. But on the third day, she was hit by a shot from an
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unknown soldier. She fell at Kotah Ki Sarai near Gwallor. She was twenty
three. Her soldiers huddled together in shock. She whispered with her last breath,
“Give my jewels to my soldiers and look after little Damodar.” The
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moment Lakshmibai died, the Peshwa army lost heart and the Sepoy Mutiny came
to an end. The history of India is full of stories of the brave. But Lakshmibai is
probably the most famous Indian women to have defied the British.

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NELSON MANDELA

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 Nelson Mandela, in full Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, byname Madiba
 Born : July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa
 Died December 5, 2013, Johannesburg
 Black nationalist and the first black president of South Africa (1994–99).
 His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de
Klerk helped end the country‘s apartheid system of racial segregation and

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ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule.
 Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993
for their efforts.

Early life and work e/t

The son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa-speaking
Tembu people, Nelson Mandela renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become
a lawyer. He attended South African Native College (later the University of Fort
Hare) and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand; he later passed the

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qualification exam to become a lawyer. In 1944 he joined the African National
/t.m
Congress (ANC), a black-liberation group, and became a leader of its Youth League.
That same year he met and married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. Mandela subsequently
held other ANC leadership positions, through which he helped revitalize the
organization and oppose the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party.
In 1952 in Johannesburg, with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo, Mandela
established South Africa‘s first black law practice, specializing in cases resulting
from the post-1948 apartheid legislation. Also that year, Mandela played an
important role in launching a campaign of defiance against South Africa‘s pass laws,
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which required non-whites to carry documents (known as passes, pass books, or

reference books) authorizing their presence in areas that the government deemed
―restricted‖ (i.e., generally reserved for the white population). He travelled
throughout the country as part of the campaign, trying to build support for
nonviolent means of protest against the discriminatory laws. In 1955 he was
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involved in drafting the Freedom Charter, a document calling for nonracial social
democracy in South Africa.
Mandela‘s antiapartheid activism made him a frequent target of the
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authorities. Starting in 1952, he was intermittently banned (severely restricted in

travel, association, and speech). In December 1956 he was arrested with more than
100 other people on charges of treason that were designed to harass antiapartheid
activists. Mandela went on trial that same year and eventually was acquitted in
1961. During the extended court proceedings, he divorced his first wife and married
Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela).
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He was a founding member of the Elders, a group of international leaders

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established in 2007 for the promotion of conflict resolution and problem solving
throughout the world. In 2008 Mandela was feted with several celebrations in
South Africa, Great Britain, and other countries in honour of his 90th birthday.
Mandela Day, observed on Mandela‘s birthday, was created to honour his legacy
by promoting community service around the world. It was first observed on July
18, 2009, and was sponsored primarily by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the
46664 initiative (the foundation‘s HIV/AIDS global awareness and prevention

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campaign); later that year the United Nations declared that the day would be
observed annually as Nelson Mandela International Day.

Mandela‟s writings and speeches were collected in

1. I Am Prepared to Die (1964; rev. ed. 1986),
e/t
2. No Easy Walk to Freedom (1965; updated ed. 2002),
3. The Struggle Is My Life (1978; rev. ed. 1990),
4. In His Own Words (2003). His autobiography,

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Autobiography:
/t.m
Long Walk to Freedom, was published in 1994.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

During the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln was visited by Colonel
Scott, one of the commanders of the troops guarding the Capital from attack by the
Confederate forces in Northern Virginia. Scott‘s wife had drowned in a steamship
collision while returning home after a journey to Washington to nurse her sick
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husband. Scott had appealed to regimental command for leave to attend her burial
and comfort his children. His request has been rejected as a battle seemed
imminent and every officer was essential. But Scott, as was his right, had pressed
his request up the chain of command unit it reached the Secretary of War. Edwin
Stanton. Since Stanton had else denied the request, the colonel had taken his appeal
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all the way to the top.

Scott went to his Commander - in - Chief in the presidential office late on
a Saturday right, as the last visitor who was allowed in. Lincoln listened to the story
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and as Scott recalled his response, the President exploded, ‗Am I to have no rest? Is
there no hour or spot when or where I may escape these constant requests? Why do
you follow me here with such business as this? Why do you not go to the War Office
which is in charge of all matters of papers and transportation?‖
Scott told Lincoln of Stanton‘s refusal, and the President replied, ‗Then you
probably ought not to go down the river. Mr. Stanton knows all about the
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necessities of the hour. He known what rules are necessary, and the rules are made

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to be enforced. It would be wrong of me to override his rules and decisions of this
kind: it might work disaster to important movements. And then, you ought to
remember that! have other duties to attend to-heaven knows, enough for one man-
and I can give no thought to questions of this kind. Why do you come here to appeal
to my humanity? Don‘t you know that we are in the midst of a war? That suffering
and death press upon all of us? That works of humanity and affection, which we
cheerfully perform in days of peace, are all trampled upon and outlawed by war?

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That there is no room left for them? There is but one duty now-toflight‖
―Every family in the land is crushed with sorrow; but they must not each
come to me for help. I have all the burdens I can cerry. Go to the War Department.
You business backags there. If they cannot help you, then bear your burden, as well
as must, until this war is over. Everything must yield to the paramount duty of
e/t
finishing this war‖.
Colonel Scott returned to his barrack, pondering over Lincoln‘s ‗Am I to have no
rest? Why do you follow me here with such business as this? . .. .You ought to
remember that I have other duties to attend to heaven knows, enough for one man. .

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I have all the burden I can carry‘.
/t.m
Early the next morning, Colonel Scott heard a rap at the door. He opened it
and there stood the President. He took Scott‘s hands, held them and broke out ‗My
dear Colone, I was brute last night. I have no excuse to offer. I was weary to the last
extent, but I had no right to treat a man with rudeness who has offered his life to his
country, much more a man in great affliction. I have had a regretful night and now
come to beg your forgiveness‖.
He said he had arranged with Stanton for Scott to go to his wife‘s funeral. In
his own carriage the Commander-in-Chief took the Colonel to the steamer wharf of
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the Potomac and wished him Godspeed.

p
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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Shakespeare’s Works

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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SHAKESPEARE’S WORKS

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MERCHANT OF VENICE(ACT IV COURT SCENE)
- William Shakespeare
(The Plot)
Antonio, a merchant of Venice, and Bassanio are very close friends. Bassanio needs
money to marry a wealthy lady in Belmont named Portia. He borrows money from a
cunning, Jewish moneylender called Shylock. Shylock lends him a heavy sum but
e/t
makes Antonio sign a bond that if the money is not repaid within three months, he
would cut a pound of flesh from Antonio‟s body. Meanwhile, Portia, who has to face
many suitors, waits for the arrival of her beloved, Bassanio. Before he died, Portia‟s
father, realising her difficulty in choosing the right man, had left a test for her
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suitors. Each man was to be presented with three caskets, of gold, silver and lead.
/t.m
Inside one of them was Portia‟s picture, and whoever chose this casket would
become her husband. The Prince of Morocco chooses the gold casket but finds
inside it a skull and a warning. The Prince of Aragon chooses the silver casket and
finds the portrait of an idiot and another warning. Bassanio chooses the lead casket,
the one with Portia‟s picture, and claims her as his wife. And his friend Gratiano
marries Nerissa, Portia‟s maid.
As the merry-making commences, there comes a letter from Antonio. His
ships are lost at sea, and hence unable to pay his debt, he has to keep his word with
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Shylock, and offer him a pound of his flesh. Portia offers money but Shylock insists
on a pound of Antonio‟s flesh as mentioned in the bond. When their husbands leave
for Venice, Portia and Nerissa too follow them in disguise. Portia disguises herself
as a (male) lawyer with Nerrisa as her clerk. Portia leaves her house in the care of
Jessica, Shylock‟s daughter who has left her father and married Lorenzo. All the
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great men of Venice gather at the Duke‟s court but Shylock is unmoved by their
arguments. He feels that the law is on his side and demands justice according to the
bond. Portia enters the court and changes the entire nature of the argument. She
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speaks not of justice but of mercy.

Portia wins the battle of wits and Shylock is forced to leave the courtroom in
defeat. Thanks to the brilliance of Portia‟s reasoning, the misfortunes of Antonio,
the merchant of Venice, are finally ended, and the married couples are ready for a
life of happiness.

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Note: The following is an extract from the court scene, Act IV.
Place: The court of justice in Venice.
Enter Portia, dressed like a doctor of laws.
DUKE : You are welcome: take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
PORTIA : I am informed thoroughly of the cause.

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Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
DUKE : Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.
PORTIA : Is your name Shylock?
SHYLOCK : Shylock is my name.
PORTIA : Of a strange nature is the suit you follow;
e/t
Yet in such rule, that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.
(To Antonio) You stand within his danger, do you not?
ANTONIO : Ay, so he says.

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PORTIA : Do you confess the bond?
/t.m
ANTONIO : I do.
PORTIA : Then must the Jew be merciful.
SHYLOCK : On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
PORTIA : The quality of mercy is not strain‟d
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice
blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: „Tis mightiest in the
mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of
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temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and
fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an
attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God‟s When
mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this
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That, in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render. The deeds of mercy. I have spoke
thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea, Which if thou follow, this strict court
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of Venice Must needs give sentence ‟gainst the merchant there.

SHYLOCK : My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
PORTIA : Is he not able to discharge the money?
BASSANIO : Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum, if that will not suffice,
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I will be bound to pay it ten times o‟er,
…………………………………………………
PORTIA : I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
SHYLOCK : Here ‟tis, most reverend Doctor, here it is.
PORTIA : Shylock, there‟s thrice thy money offer‟d thee.
……………………………………………………..
PORTIA : Why, this bond is forfeit;

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And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant‟s heart. Be merciful.
Take thrice the money; bid me tear the bond.
SHYLOCK : There is no power in the tongue of man
e/t
To alter me. I stay here on my bond.
ANTONIO : Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
PORTIA : Why then, thus it is:

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You must prepare your bosom for his knife.
/t.m
SHYLOCK : O noble judge! O excellent young man!
………………………………….

PORTIA : Therefore, lay bare your bosom.

SHYLOCK : Ay, his breast -
So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?
“Nearest his heart;” those are the very words.
PORTIA : It is so. Are there balance here to weigh The flesh?
SHYLOCK : I have them ready.
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PORTIA : Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your Charge,

To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
SHYLOCK : Is it so nominated in the bond?
PORTIA : It is not so express‟d, but what of that?
„Twere good you do so much for charity.
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SHYLOCK : I cannot find it; ‟tis not in the bond.

……………………………………..
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PORTIA : A pound of that same merchant‟s flesh is thine.

The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
SHYLOCK : Most rightful judge!
PORTIA : And you must cut this flesh from off his breast.
The law allows it, and the court awards it.
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PORTIA : Tarry a little; there is something else.
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words expressly are “a pound of flesh:”
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate

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Unto the state of Venice.
……………………………………………..

SHYLOCK : Is that the law?

PORTIA : Thyself shalt see the act;
e/t
For, as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir‟st.
……………………………………………….

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SHYLOCK : I take this offer then: pay the bond thrice,
/t.m
And let the Christian go.
BASSANIO : Here is the money
PORTIA : Soft!
The Jew shall have all justice. Soft! No haste:
He shall have nothing but the penalty.
Glossary:
 difference : dispute
 Jew: A race who presently live in Israel. During Shakespeare‟s times, the Jews
were ruthless moneylenders and were hated by the Christians. They hated the
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Christians too.
 stand forth: come forward strange nature: unusual because he demands a
pound of flesh even when he is offered ten times the original sum of money
impugn: oppose or resist ay: yes
 His sceptre . . .. . . fear of kings : The king‟s sceptre (royal staff) is a symbol of
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his earthly power and he is feared.

 But mercy. . . . .God himself : But mercy is above this earthly power. It resides
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in the hearts of kings and is an attribute of God.

 And earthly power. . seasons justice : Earthly power is revealed like God‟s
power when justice is tempered with mercy.
seasons: tempers, strengthens in the course of justice : if strict justice were to
take its course mitigate: lessen
 I crave the law : I pray for what the law entitles me to. . .
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 something wrong suffice: be sufficient
 beseech: earnestly ask for nominated : mentioned
 tarry: wait expressly : directly shown
 confiscate: take or seize soft: wait

JULIUS CAESAR
(From Act III Scene 2)

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Introduction
The play opens with Julius Caesar‟s victorious return to Rome after defeating the
sons of Pompey. While people rejoice, there is a group which fears that all these
victories would get into Caesar‟s head and he would cease to be democratic. Cassius,
Brutus and others plot to kill Caesar. A soothsayer (astrologer) warns Caesar about
e/t
the “ides of March”. Calphurnia, Caesar‟s wife, forbids him from going to the Senate
House as she has had bad dreams. Decius Brutus, one of the conspirators, convinces
Caesar to come to the Senate House. At the Senate House, the conspirators
surround Caesar. Casca is the first to stab him. Caesar is shocked when he sees his

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friend Marcus Brutus with a sword. With an anguished cry of Et tu, Brute? (You too
/t.m
Brutus) he dies. Mark Antony, Caesar‟s trusted friend, meets the murderers and
requests them to allow him to take Caesar‟s body to the market place. Marcus
Brutus agrees, but warns Antony not to blame them in his funeral speech. In Act III
Scene 2, Brutus justifies the murder of Caesar. But Mark Antony, with his
eloquence, wins the public over to his side. The result is that a riot breaks out and
people are moved to a frenzy to avenge the murder of Caesar. Cassius and Brutus
flee Rome, and Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Amelius Lepidus become the
„triumvirs‟. At the battle of Philippi, the forces of Cassius and Marcus Brutus are
defeated, and true to his word, Brutus kills himself with his sword. Note: This
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extract is known for the funeral orations of Brutus and Mark Antony.
Brutus: Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine onour, and have
respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly,
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any dear friend of Caesar‟s, to him I say that Brutus‟ love to Caesar was no less than
his. If, then, that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my
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answer,—not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather
Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free
men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he
was valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for
his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who
is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for https://t.me/tnpscgs
him have I
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offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him
have I
offended. I pause for a reply. Citizens. None, Brutus, none. Brutus. Then none have
I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus.
…………………………………………………………
Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR‟S body Here comes his body, mourned
by Mark Antony, who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit

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of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I
depart,—that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger
for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.
……………………………………………………………
Antony. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar,
e/t
not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred
with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar
was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault; And grievously hath Caesar
answer‟d it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, For Brutus is an honourable

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man; So are they all; all honourable men, Come I to speak in Caesar‟s funeral. He
/t.m
was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; And
Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of
sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he
did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure,
he is an honourable man. speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am
to speak what I do know. You all did love him once,—not without cause: What cause
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withholds you, then, to mourn for him? judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!—Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with
Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me.
First Citizen. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
Second Citizen. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong.
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Third Citizen. Has he, masters? I fear there will a worse come in his place.
Fourth Citizen. Mark‟d ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore ‟tis
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certain he was not ambitious.

First Citizen. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
Second Citizen. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
Third Citizen. There‟s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.
Fourth Citizen. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. Antony. But yesterday the
word of Caesar might Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so
poor to do him reverence. O masters, if I were dispos‟d to stir Your https://t.me/tnpscgs
hearts and
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minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, Who, you
all know, are honourable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong
the dead, to wrong myself, and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But
here‟s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet,—‟tis his will: Let
but the commons hear this testament,—
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, And they would go and kiss dead Caesar‟s
wounds, And dip their napkins in his sacred blood; Yea, beg a hair of him for

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memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.
…………………………………………………………..
Antony. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle: I
remember The first time ever Caesar put it on; ‟Twas on a summer‟s evening, in his
e/t
tent, That day he overcame the Nervii:— Look, in this place ran Cassius‟ dagger
through: See what a rent the envious Casca made: Through this the well-beloved
Brutus stabb‟d; And, as he pluck‟d his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of
Caesar follow‟d it, As rushing out of doors, to be resolv‟d If Brutus so unkindly

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knock‟d, or no; For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar‟s angel: Judge, O you gods,
/t.m
how dearly Caesar lov‟d him! This was the most unkindest cut of all; For when the
noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors‟ arms, Quite
vanquished him: then burst his mighty heart; And, in his mantle muffling up his
face, Even at the base of Pompey‟s statue, Which all the while ran blood, great
Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
Antony. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny:
…………………………………………………………..
I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love
s:/

my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him:
For I have neither wit, not words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of
speech, To stir men‟s blood: I only speak right on; I tell you that which you
yourselves do know; Show you sweet Caesar‟s wounds, poor poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an
p

Antony Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar,
that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
htt

Glossary (line numbers are given for easy reference

 lovers : close friends
 censure : judge
 senses : reason (Brutus appeals to the head and not to the heart, as Antony
does)
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 slew : killed
 base : depraved; mean
 vile : morally base, disgusting I have the same dagger : I will kill myself
(Brutus later dies for myself by his own sword)
 oft : often
 interred : buried, i.e. let the good qualities of Caesar rest with him in his
grave

np
 grievous fault : serious mistake
 Caesar answer’d it : Caesar paid for it (his mistakes) with his life
 under leave : under permission
 honourable : honest, upright. Notice the repetition of the word in his speech.
From a compliment it turns into a taunt.
e/t
 captives : prisoners ransoms : payment for the release of prisoners
 coffers : state treasury
 Ambition should be : an ambitious person made of sterner stuff would be
strict (but Caesar, points out Mark Antony, was one with the masses)

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 Lupercal : Lupercalia—an ancient fertility festival in honour of Pan, the god
/t.m
of the shepherds
 cause : reason what cause withholds you, : what prevents you from then, to
mourn for him? mourning for Caesar?
 O judg’ment! Thou art : men have lost their fled to brutish beasts capacity to
judge and reason methinks : it seems to me (that)
 I fear there will a worse : a person worse than come in his place Caesar
might rule
Mark’d ye his words? : Did you pay attention to his (Antony‟s) words?
 abide it : pay for it (someone will have to pay for Caesar‟s death)
s:/

 mark him : listen to him so poor : lowly in rank; even in death the lowly
placed citizen does not honour Caesar mutiny : revolt
 parchment : animal skin used as writing surface
 his will : Caesar‟s will
 napkins : handkerchiefs bequeathing : leave to a person by a will
p

 legacy : gift left in a will

 issue : children
htt

 mantle : cloak. Antony displays the bloodstained cloak of Caesar.

 Nervii : The battle of the Sambre, 57 B.C. Caesar defeated the Nervii, a tribe
of Gaul.
 By uncovering the body of Caesar and revealing the stab wounds, Antony
plays on the emotions of the crowd and inflames them.
 Cassius and Casca - along with Brutus,Cassius and Casca stabbed Caesar.
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 rent : tear; cut (Note: Antony was not there when Caesar was murdered but
he uses his imagination.)
 pluck’d his cursed steel : pulled out the cursed away sword as : as though
 resolved : informed
 unkindest cut : cruel, unnatural because Caesar loved Brutus and Brutus
repaid his love by stabbing him. (Pay attention to Shakespeare‟s language—
most unkindest cut)

np
 Ingratitude, : Personification. more strong than traitors’ Ingratitude is
personified arms/ Quite vanquished him here.
 vanquished : defeated
 Then burst his : When Caesar saw Brutus mighty heart/And, in his with the
sword, he did mantle muffling up his face not resist; instead he covered his
e/t
face with his mantle.
 Pompey : the Roman general whom Caesar had defeated
 The crowd does not see the iron in Antony‟s speech.
 wit : intelligence

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 worth : reputation. Antony says that he does not have the skills needed for an
/t.m
orator. to stir men’s blood : to stir up emotions
 poor poor dumb mouths : as the wounds cannot speak Antony expresses
their agony.
 ruffle : disturb, upset Antony had all along said that he did not want to incite
the crowd but his eloquent speech does just that.

SONNET NO:116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
s:/

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
p

It is the star to every wand’ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
htt

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
- William Shakespeare
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Note: The first collected edition of Shakespeare‟s sonnets appeared in 1609. There
are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets include the
destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangular love and the
analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted that apart from these 154
sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled „Venus and Adonis‟ and „The
Rape of Lucrece‟.

np
Sonnet: A sonnet is a lyric (short, personal poem) written in a single stanza
consisting of fourteen lines. Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage . . .”) deals with
the theme of true love. Many critics consider it “incomparable” and call it “the finest
of all”. In this poem various images are used to highlight the nature of true and deep
love. e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Oscar Wilde’s Works

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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s
scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
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OSCAR WILDE’S WORKS

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THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE

Hughie was wonderfully good-looking with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut
profile and his grey eyes. He was as popular with men as he was with women, and
he had every accomplishment except that of making money. He had tried
e/t
everything. But he came nothing, a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect
profile and no profession.
Hughie wanted to marry Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel. the
Colonel was very fond of Hughie but would not hear of any engagement. „Come to

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me my boy, when you have got when you have got ten thousand pounds of your own
and we will see about it,‟ he said. Hughie looked very glum and he cursed himself
/t.m

for his inability to fulfil the condition. When he took up the brush, he was a real
master and his pictures were eagerly sought after.
When Hughie came in, he found Trevor painting the finishing touches to a
wonderful life-size picture of a beggar man. The beggar himself was standing on a
platform in a corner of the studio. He was a wizened old man with a face like
wrinkled parchment and a most pitsous expression. Over his shoulders was flunge a
coarse brown cloak, all tears and tatters; his thick boots were patched and cobbled
and with one hand he leant on a rough stick while with the other he held out his
s:/

battered hat for aims.

„What an amazing model!‟ whispered Hughie, as he shook hands with his friend.
“An amazing model?” shouted Trevor at the top of his voice. “I should think so!
Such beggars as he are not to be met with every day.”
“Poor old chap!” said Hughie, “How miserable he looks! But I suppose to you
p

painters, his face is his fortune?”

“Certainly you don‟t want a beggar to look happy, do you?”
htt

“How much does a model get for sitting?” asked Hughie.

“A Shilling an hour.”
“And how much do you get for your picture, Alan?”
“Oh! For this I get two thousand pounds.”

After sometime, the servant came in and told Trevor that the frame maker wanted
to speak to him. “Don‟t run away Hughie” he said went out, „I‟ll behttps://t.me/tnpscgs
back in a
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moment”. The old beggar took advantage of Trevor‟s absence to rest for a moment
on a wooden bench. He looked so forlorn that Hughie could not help pitying him.
All he could find was a sovereign and some coppers. „Poor old fellow‟, he said to
himself and slipped the sovereign into the beggar‟s hand. The old man said, „Thank
you, Sir”. Then Trevor arrived and Hughie took his leave.
The next day when Hughie visited tremor, he was surprised to hear that the model
kept asking Trevor for all details about him. Trevor informed Hughie that he had

np
clearly explained Hughie‟s condition to the old model. „What! You told that old
beggar all my private affairs?” cried Hughie looking very red and angry. “My dear
boy”, said Trevor smiling, „that old beggar as you call him is one of the richest men
in Europe. He is Baron Hausberg. He is great friend of mine”.
“Good Heaven! I gave him a sovereign!‟ and he sank into an armchair,
e/t
“Gave him a sovereign!‟ shouted Trevor and he burst into a roar of laughter.
„What will he think of me?‟ said Hughie.
„Oh, my God! I could not make out why he was so interested to know all about you;
but I see it all now. He will invest your sovereign for you, Hughie, pay you the

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interest every six months and have a capital story to tell after dinner,” commented
/t.m
Trevor.

The next morning as he was at breakfast, the servant brought him a card on which
was written Baron Hausberg and Hughie told the servant to show the visitor up. An
old gentleman came into the room. “I have come from Baron Hausberg”. He
continued, “I beg sir, that you will offer him my apologies,” stammered Hughie.
“The Baron”, said the old gentleman with a smile, „has commissioned me to bring
you this letter”. And he extended a sealed envelope on which was written “A
wedding present to Hugh Erskine - Hughie and Laura - from an old beggar” and
s:/

inside was a cheque for ten thousand pounds.

“Millionaire models‟ remarked Alan, „are rare enough, but by Jove! Model
Millionaries are rarer still!”

THE SELFISH GIANT

p

Oscar Wilde, the brilliant wit and playwright, was born

htt

in Dublin in 1854. At Oxford he shocked his teachers

and fellow students with his avant garde philosophy,
irreverent quips and his flamboyant clothing. Apart
from essays and novels, he wrote a string of successful
plays such as, “The Importance of being Earnest”, as
well as a number of short stories such as, “The Happy
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Prince”, which began as bed time tales for his children.
Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the
children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden.
It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into
delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich

np
fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children
used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we
are here!” they cried to each other.
One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend
the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After
e/t
the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his
conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own
castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
“What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice,

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and the children ran away.
/t.m
“My own garden is my own garden,” said the Giant, “any
one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but
myself,” So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice board.

Trespassers will be Prosecuted

He was a very selfish Giant. The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried
to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did
not like it. They used to wander round the high walls when their lessons were over,
and talk about the beautiful garden inside. “How happy we were there,” they said to
s:/

each other. Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter.
The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to
blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw
the notice board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground
p

again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and
the Frost. “Spring has forgotten this garden,” they cried, “so we will live here all the
htt

year round.” The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the
Forest painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with
them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden,
and blew the chimney-pots down. “This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask
the Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the
roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round
the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like
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ice. “I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said the Selfish
Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden, “I hope there
will be a change in the weather.” But the „Spring‟ never came, nor the „Summer‟. The
Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant‟s garden she gave none,
“He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and
the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees. One morning
the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so

np
sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King‟s musicians passing by. It was
really only a little linnet singing outside the window, but it was so long since he had
heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most melodious
music in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North
Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open
e/t
casement. “I believe the Spring has come at last,” said the Giant, and he jumped out
of bed and looked out. What did he see? He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a
little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches
of the trees. In every tree that he could see there was a little child. And the trees

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were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with
/t.m
blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children‟s heads. The birds
were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up
through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it
was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a
little boy. He was so small that he could not
reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying
bitterly. The poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North
Wind was blowing and roaring above it. “Climb up! Little boy,” said the Tree, and it
bent its ranches down as low as it could, but the boy was too tiny. And the Giant‟s
s:/

heart melted as he looked out. “How selfish I have been!” he said, “now I know why
the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree,
and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children‟s
playground forever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what he had done. So he
crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the
p

garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran
away, and the garden became winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his
htt

eyes were so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole
up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And
the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little
boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant‟s neck, and kissed
him. And the other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any
longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. “It is your garden now,
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little children,” said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall.
And when the people were going to market at twelve o‟clock they found the Giant
playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen. All day
long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.
“But where is your little companion?” he said, “the boy I put into the tree.”
The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him. “We don‟t know,”
answered the children, “he has gone away.” “You must tell him to be sure and come

np
here tomorrow,”
said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, and had
never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad. Every afternoon, when school
was over, the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the
Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he
e/t
longed for his first Little friend; and often spoke of him. “How I would like to see
him!” he used to say. Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He
could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the
children at their games, and admired his garden. “I have many beautiful flowers,”

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he said, “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.” One winter morning
/t.m
he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for
he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.
Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a
marvelous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with
lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from
them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved. Downstairs ran the Giant
in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near
to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he
said, “Who hath dared to wound thee?” For on the palms of the child‟s hands were
s:/

the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet. “Who hath
dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant, “tell me, that I may take my big sword and
slay him.” “Nay!” answered the child, “but these are the wounds of Love.” “Who art
thou?” said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little
child. And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, “You let me play once in
p

your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.” And
when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the
htt

tree, all covered with white blossoms.

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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Dr. Karl Paulnack

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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DR. KARL PAULNACK’S WORK

MUSIC – THE HOPE RAISER

np
Dr. Karl Paulnack, planist and director of the music division at The Boston
Conservatory, gave this fantastic welcome address to the parents of incoming
students at The Boston on September 1, 2004; (this speech is in American English)
“ One of my parents‟ deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly
value me as a musician, that I wouldn‟t be appreciated. I had very good grades in
e/t
high school, I was good in science and math, and they imagined that as a doctor or
a research chemist or an engineer, I might be more appreciated than I would be as a
musician. I still remember my mother‟s remark when I announced my decision to
apply to music school. She said, “You‟re wasting your SAT scores!” On some

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level, I think, my parents were not sure what the value of music was, what its
purpose was. And they loved music; they listened to classical music all the time.
/t.m
They just weren‟t really dear about its function. So let me talk about that a little bit,
because we live in a society that puts music in the „arts and entertainment” section
of the newspaper. Serious music, the kind your kids are about to engage in has
absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, in fact lit‟s the opposite of
entertainment. Let me talk a little bit about music, and how it works. One of the
first cultures to articulate how music really works was that of the ancient Greeks,
And this is going to fascinate you: the Greeks said that music and astronomy were
two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships
s:/

between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study
of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects.
Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and
souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you
some examples of how this works.
p

One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the “Quartet for
the End of Time” written by a French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messieen
was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was
htt

captured by the Germans in June 1940 and imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp.
He was fortunate to find sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a
place to compose, and was fortunate to have musician colleagues in the camp, a
cellist, a violinist, and a clarinettist. Messisen wrote his quartet with these specific
players in mind, it was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and
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guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the
repertoire.
Given what we have since learned about life in the Nazi camps, why would
anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There
was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating,
to stay warm, to escape torture-why would anyone bother with music? And yet,
even from the concentration camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual

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art; It wasn‟t just this one fanatic Messien: many, many people created art. Why?
Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities,
the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps
were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without
basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the
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human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in
which we say, “I am alive, and my life has meaning”.
In September 2001, I was a resident of Manhattan. On the morning of
September 12, 2001, I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship

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to the world. I sat down at the piano that morning at 10 a.m. to practise, as was my
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daily routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the cover
on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys and just as
soon took my hands off it. And I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn‟t
this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this
city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, Irreverent, and pointless. Why am I here? What
place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now?
I was completely lost. And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the
journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I
contemplated briefly whether I would ever want play the piano again. And then I
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observed how we got through the day.

At least in my neighbourhood, we didn‟t shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We
didn‟t play cards to pass the time, we didn‟t watch TV, we didn‟t shop, we most
certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York,
on the very evening of September 11th, was singing. People sang around fire houses,
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people sang „We Shall Overcome”. Lots of people sang “America the Beautiful”. The
first organized public event that I remember was the Brahms Requiem later that
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week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic. The first organised
public expression of grief, our first communal response to that historic event, was a
concert. That was the beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military
secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and music in particular, that
very night.
From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music is not part
of arts and entertainment‟s the newspaper section would have us believe. It‟s not a
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luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or
an amusement or a pastime. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one
of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings
when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we
can‟t with our minds.
Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I except you

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to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of
peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don‟t
expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer
even except it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have
brought us as much war as they have peace.If there is a future of peace for
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humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things
should fit together. I except it will come from the artists, because that‟s what we do.
As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artistes are the ones who
might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.”

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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
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Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
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Topic : Comprehension Questions from Motivational Essays

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

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FROM MOTIVATIONAL ESSAYS

GOPALA KRISHNA GOKALE’’S SPEECH ON 25TH JULY MUMBAI IN

RESPONSE TO THE ADDRESS PRESENTED TO HIM BY THE

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STUDENTS
Gopala Krishna Gokhale was a great freedom fighter of our country. He
delivered a speech in response to the address presented to him by students, on 25th
July 1911 at an open air public meeting near Victoria Hall, Mumbai.
My first duty on rising is to tender my most sincere and grateful thanks to the
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students for their address which they have just now presented to me .. . . There is
no doubt whatever in my mind that if I could now go back once again to the day of
my studenthood, I would do so at once with pleasure. The life of student is,
comparatively speaking, a sheltered life. There are, of course, certain

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responsibilities; they are definite and they are assigned to you by those who are
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willing to take care of you and there is not much need to be constantly exercising
your own judgements. You know that in later life the position is reversed; instead of
other helping you, you have in the first place to help yourself. . . . Gentlemen,
because this is the happy part of your life, there are certain responsibilities attached
to it which must be well discharged by you, because no privilege in life is worth
having, unless it is attended by corresponding duties and there are certain duties,
which those who placed in your present privileged position expect you to perform.
I will consider these duties under four heads. First of all, the duty which you
owe to yourselves; then there is the duty which you owe to your fellow-students, the
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third duty is the duty which you owe to those in authority over you, and the last
duty is a duty which you owe to those who are around you, not students, but people
of the wider world.
Duty to yourselves
The duty to yourself is two fold. You have first of all to lay by a stock of
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knowledge that will suffice you not sincerely for your examinations but will be
helpful to you in later life. Knowledge is an exacting mistress; she needs devotion,
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whole-hearted, on the part of the person who seeks her. Such whole-hearted
devotion is possible only in the days of studenthood. Therefore, the first part of the
duty towards yourselves is to take the utmost advantage of your present position, to
lay by a stock of knowledge that will be useful to you in later life.
Importance of character
But it is not merely knowledge that will help you or help any class of human
beings by itself. Along with that knowledge there is another requisite that you must
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secure and that is character. It is almost a truism to say that more depends for
success in life on character than on knowledge. It is an invidious thing to
distinguish between comparative values of knowledge and character. But since both
are indispensable, I would urge on you that you should attach as much importance
to character as to knowledge. This character must show itself in earnestness, in
energy of action and in high and generous sentiments being brought to bear upon
the discharge of your duties and in recognizing what is due to yourselves. You have

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to acquire a character which will raise the whole life of the people amidst whom you
move and for whom you are expected to work.
As character will naturally have to act on those around you, the stronger, the
firmer and nobler it is, the better work you will do for the country. Even if you
acquire a fairly high character while you are at school or college; It may not always
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be easy to retain that character in the struggles of later life, because you are sure to
be acted upon by those who are around you. But if you begin by acquiring a strong
character for yourselves and when you, in course of time, occupy the place of the
present seniors, then the students or the younger men of the succeeding generation

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will find that the forces that act on them are more helpful for retaining a good
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character than possibly what you may be able to find today. This is the twofold duty
which you owe t yourselves - the acquiring of knowledge (I use „knowledge‟ in its
widest sense) not only knowledge from every quarter which will be useful to you in
later life - and acquiring character which will enable you to achieve success in
whatever work you may take on hand. That, in brief, is the brief, is the duty to
yourselves.
Duty to fellow-students
Your duty to your fellows-students will teach you in later life and will secure
for you the habit of co-operation. The foundation of the habit of co-operation is
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really to be laid in our student days, because you are trained to be together in your
class, and you cannot have it all your own way, if you want to get on with your class.
Therefore, if you use your opportunities properly, you will know exactly how to get
on with them by sometimes giving in to them and sometimes standing out for your
own view, being regardful of the feelings and considerations of other people. This
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habit of co-operation once acquired will continue with you all your life. It is not easy
to acquire it in later life if you have not already acquired in your student days.
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Duty to parents and teachers

Your third duty is towards those in authority over you. Obedience to parents,
especially during the time of studenthood and reverence for teachers while you are
studying under them - these are two of the most essential conditions necessary for
acquiring knowledge and for taking the fullest advantage of those opportunities
which are placed within your reach while you are students. While you are young
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men and students, while parents have to care for you and find means wherewith to
enable you to prosecute your studies, it is necessary that their wishes should prevail
with you in all matters, but when once your education is completed, and the
struggle of life commences and when you are able to stand on your own legs, you
owe it to yourselves and to your country, that you should use your own judgement
as to what work you should do.
Reverence towards teachers

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In the same way you owe reverence to your teacher while you are at school or
college. Unless your whole attitude in the college and the school is founded upon a
proper feeling of reverence for the teacher, you will miss one of the principal
lessons of the school or college life viz, the appreciation of discipline. Remember
that in later life, along with the spirit of co-operation, what you will need most and
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what you need most in public life is a true spirit of discipline - the true spirit of that
discipline which voluntarily subordinates your judgement, your convenience and
personal gain to common good. Unless you acquire this habit at school or college, it
will not be possible for you to acquire it in later life.

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Duty to government
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In addition to that, you owe a duty to the rulers, the Government which is the
supreme authority over us all. Students with their generous mind and
Unsophisticated hearts naturally fall an easy prey to stirring up emotion. But
that very circumstance unfits them in some instances to exercise independent
judgement on current affairs. In any case, as long as they are students, not standing
on their own feet, it is not their business to do so. While they are students, their
attitude towards the Government of the country, such as it may be good, bad or
indifferent, should be one of acquiescence, loyal acquiescence. You should do
nothing whereby your relations with the authorities will be disturbed. You should,
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no doubt, study public questions, but wait for your time. But while you are students
you should give no cause to anybody to say that your attitude towards the
authorities is one of greater or less hostility.
Duty to wider world
The last duty that you owe to those who are in the wider world is to acquire a
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knowledge of their needs, observe their condition and observe their struggle, and to
acquire an attitude to mind, so as to sympathise with those who are struggling, even
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though you are not immediately able to give them redress. There is a great deal of
injustice and suffering in the wider world which requires to be remedied and when
it comes to you to play the part of grown-up men, it is expected you will contribute
your share to remove these things. In the meantime you must not enter the wider
world without knowledge. Observe and study the conditions carefully, as you are
bound to do.
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THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
Success does not mean the absence of failures.
It means the attainment of ultimate objectives.
It means winning the war, not every battle. - Edwin C Bliss
The road to success is not a bed of roses. It is full of thorns, pitfalls and gins.
Only those who wade through the hazards and hurdles with grit and determination

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could smell success. That is how Gandhi became a leader par excellence; that made
Churchill the greatest and the most successful war time leader. These traits and
qualities have paid rich dividends to Sachin and made him persona grata.
After all, winners don‟t do different things. They do things differently. Have
you the determination to succeed? Are you willing to devote the time and energy
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necessary to achieve success? Here are some proven techniques that will help you to
achieve success and happiness in life.
The first step is to set yourself clear goals, to define precisely what you want
to achieve. Goals provide direction to your behaviour and guide your thoughts and

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actions to the desired outcomes. Goal plans enable you to go beyond momentary
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influences and organise your behaviour over extended periods of time. Goals should
be an extension of your values, your most important fundamental beliefs. Specific
goals are better than general ones. Self-chosen goals are better than assigned ones.
Choose goals that are challenging but reachable. Write down your short term and
long term goals. This will help you in establishing priorities and in deciding on the
actions that you must engage in. Form a very intense, extremely vivid mental
picture of what you want. Verbalise your mental picture with a brief, concise,
forceful „GOAL COMMAND‟. Repeat it everyday to make it easier for your sub-
conscious mind to embrace them. As Swami Vivekananda says, “Take up one idea.
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Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain,
muscles, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea
alone. This is the way to success”. Prepare an „Action plan‟, outlining the specific
steps needed to accomplish the result you want. You must get timely feed-back on
your progress and be able to modify your strategies when changes occur.
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Sometimes, even if the goals are not attained the resultant consequences, feed-back
or reinforcement can be beneficial. There are literally millions of things in this
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world which are right and which need to be done - but to which you must mentally,
if not vocally say “No!” No person has the time and the ability to do any but a few
things which need to be done. The proven success method is this:
a. Say “ No” generally.
b. Say “yes” very, very selectively

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You simply concentrate your thought, time and effort on your one main goal. You
cannot possibly do all of the things you will be asked to do. So you are going to have
to say „No‟ to a lot of desirable and worthwhile things, simply because they are
“incompatible” with the necessary work you must do to reach your main goal. Don‟t
be afraid of failure. Failure is an accepted procedure in experimenting, research,
testing and all scientific forms of “finding out”. Failure is simply the means of
finding out what will not work so that it can be eliminated in the search for what

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will work. So there is no need to think of failure as something to be feared and
avoided. Edison and his staff conducted 17,000 experiments which failed before
they succeeded in the one experiment which enabled them to extract latex in
substantial quantities from just one variety of plant, which was worth the 17,000
failures! Besides, failure is good for your character and personality. It is a
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challenging experience.
The next step is to develop proper self-concept. What you think about yourself is
very important. Persons with high self-esteem feel unique, competent, secure,
empowered and connected to the people around them. Whereas people who have

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poor self-concept feel insecure, lack selfconfidence and become withdrawn. To
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improve your self-esteem, become aware of your hidden potentialities and activate
them. Take note of your shortcomings and drawbacks and try to overcome them.
You can prepare a „Weed list‟ and a „Seed list‟. Believe firmly that you can improve.
As the Bhagavad Gita says, “One should lift oneself by one‟s own efforts and should
not degrade oneself; for one‟s own self is one‟s friend, and one‟s own self is one‟s
enemy”. Another aspect of self-development is „Time Management‟. Time is your
most valuable resource. Successful people are those who manage their time
efficiently. They find time for everything; reading newspapers, jogging and even
occasional visits to the cinema. Since they have planned everything, they feel
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relaxed and do their work efficiently. What about you? Do you make optimum use
of your time? To know this, write down all you did yesterday with the amount of
time spent on each activity. Then you will realise how much time is being wasted on
useless activities and why you are not able to achieve your targets in time. Draw a
time-table for your daily activities and try to stick to it. Keeping a diary is another
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useful habit which you must cultivate. This will help you review and monitor your
progress. Many people make themselves miserable by trying to imitate others. Mrs.
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Edith Allred was one such person. She remained unhappy even after she married
into a poised and self-confident family. A chance remark by her mother-in-law
transformed her life. While talking about how she brought her children up, her
mother-in-law said, “No matter what happened, I always insisted on their being
themselves”. In a flash Mrs. Allred realised that she had brought misery on herself
by trying to fit herself into a pattern to which she did not conform. She changed
overnight. She started being herself. She tried to make a study of her own
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personality. Now she is the happiest person. The renowned psychologist, William
James was speaking of people who had never found themselves when he declared
that the average person develops only ten percent of his or her latent abilities.
You and I have such abilities. So, do not waste a second worrying because you are
not like other people. Remember you are unique. There never was and never will be
anybody exactly like you. Make the most of what nature gave you. For better or for
worse, you must play your own instrument in the orchestra of life. As Emerson

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says, “Envy is ignorance and imitation is suicide”. No real benefit will come to you
except through your own toil. Nature has given you the power. You only know what
you can and cannot do. So, find yourself and be yourself. There are people who keep
on grumbling and complaining. For them here is the story of Harold Abbott who
used to worry a lot. One day, he happened to see a man who had no legs but looked
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cheerful and happy. He greeted him with a grand smile. At that moment, Harold
Abbott felt ashamed of his self-pity. He realised how rich he was. He had two legs
and he could walk. This realisation changed his mind. That was a turning point in
his life. If we want to be happy, all we have to do is to concentrate on the ninety

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percent things that are right in our lives and ignore the ten percent that are wrong.
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Think of all we have to be grateful for and thank God for all our boons and bounties.
Would you sell your eyes for a billion dollars? What would you take for your legs?
Your hands? Your hearing? Your family? Add up our assets and you will find that
you won‟t sell what you have for all the gold amassed by the Rockfellers, the Fords
and the Morgans combined. So, “Count your blessings, not your troubles”. Make the
best of your time. Be optimistic. Plan your work and work your plan. Success will
knock at your door. Adieu!

VISION FOR THE NATION

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India is a nation of a billion people. A nation’s progress

depends upon how its people think. It is thoughts which
are transformed into actions. India has to think as a nation
of a billion people. Let the young minds blossom – full of
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thoughts, the thoughts of prosperity.

Nations are built by the imagination and untiring enthusiastic efforts of
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generations. One generation transfers the fruits of its toil to another which then
takes forward the mission. As the coming generation also has its dreams and
aspirations for the nation‟s future, it therefore adds something from its side to the
national vision; which the next generation strives hard to achieve. This process goes
on and the nation climbs steps of glory and gains higher strength.

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The first vision: Freedom of India
Any organisation, society or even a nation without a vision is like a ship cruising on
the high seas without any aim or direction. It is clarity of national vision which
constantly drives the people towards the goal. Our last generation, the glorious
generation of freedom fighters, led by Mahatma Gandhi, and many others set for
the nation a vision of free India. This was the first vision, set by the people for the
nation. It therefore Went deep into the minds and the hearts of the masses and

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soon became the great inspiring and driving force for the people to collectively
plunge into the struggle for freedom movement. The unified dedicated efforts of the
people from every walk of life won freedom for the country.
The Second vision: Developed India
The next generation (to which I also belong ) has put India strongly on the path of
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economic, agricultural and technological development. But India has stood too long
in the line of developing nations. Let us, collectively, set the second national vision
of Developed India. I am confident that it is very much possible and can materialise
in 15 – 20 years‟ time.

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Developed status
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What does the developed nation status mean in terms of the common man? It
means the major transformation of our national economy to make it one of the
largest economies in the world, where the countrymen live well above the poverty
line, their education and health is of high standard, national security reasonably
assured, and the core competence in certain major areas gets enhanced
significantly so that the production of quality goods, including exports, is rising and
thereby bringing all-round prosperity for the countrymen.
What is the common link needed to realise these sub-goals? It is the technological
strength of the nation, which is the key to reach this developed status.
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Build around our strength

The next question that comes to the mind is, how can it be made possible? We have
to build and strengthen our national infrastructure in an all-round manner, in a big
way. Therefore, we should build around our existing strengths including the vast
pool of talented scientists and technologists and our abundant natural resources.
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The manpower resource should be optimally utilised to harness health care, services
sectors and engineering goods sectors.
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We should concentrate on development of key areas, namely agriculture

production, food processing, materials and also on the emerging niche areas like
computer software, biotechnologies and so on. The common link required to bring
this transformation is the human resources. Therefore, adequate attention needs to
be paid to development of special human resource cadre in the country to meet
these objectives.
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The attainment of a developed status by 2020 does not mean that we can then rest
on our laurels. It is an endless pursuit of well-being for all our people. Our vision of
a developed nation integrates this element of time within it as well. Only people
with many embodied skills and knowledge, and with ignited minds can be ready for
such a long-term vision. We believe that it is possible to develop our people to reach
such a state, provided we can follow a steady path and make available to the people
the benefits of change all through their lives. They should see their lives and those

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of others improving in actual terms, and not merely in statistical tables.
Actions
This means the vision should become a part of the nation, transcending
governments – the present and the future. To make this happen, several actions are
required. An important element of these efforts is to develop various endogenous
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technological strengths. After all, technologies are primarily manifestations of
human experience and knowledge and thus are capable of further creative
development, under enabling environments. We have often asked ourselves and
others why India in its several thousand years of history has rarely tried to expand

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its territories or to assume a dominating role. Many of the experts and others with
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whom we had a dialogue referred to some special features of the Indian psyche
which could partly explain this: greater tolerance, less discipline, the lack of a sense
of retaliation, more flexibility in accepting outsiders, great adherence to hierarchy,
and emphasis on personal safety over adventure. Some felt that a combination of
many of these features has affected our ability to pursue a vision tenaciously.
We believe that as a nation and as a people we need to shed our cynicism and
initiate concrete action to realise the second vision for the nation. The first vision,
seeded around 1857, was for India to become politically independent; the second
one is to become a fully developed nation. Our successful action will lead to further
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action, bringing the vision much closer to reality. Perhaps in a decade from now we
may even be judged as having been cautious and conservative! We will be happy if
the action taken proves that they could have been still bolder in advocating a faster
march towards a developed India! We had written this chapter before the nuclear
tests on 11 May 1998. The details of the numbers projected in the tables and figures
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may change but our belief in what we say there remains unchanged. In any case,
they are meant to be indicative of directions for change. We have seen the reactions
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to the tests within the country in the Indian and foreign media. We have also had
the benefit of private conversations with many Indians. In all these, I observed one
striking feature: a number of persons in the fifty-plus bracket and especially those
who are in powerful positions in government, industry, business and academia,
seem to lack the will to face problems. They would like to be supported by other

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countries in every action we have to take in the country. This is not a good sign after
fifty years of an independent India which has all along emphasised „self reliance‟.
We are not advocating xenophobia nor i solation. But all of us have to be clear that
nobody is going to hold our hands to lead us into the „developed country club‟.
Nuclear tests are the culmination of efforts to apply nuclear technology for national
security. When we carried out the tests in May 1998, India witnessed issuing of
sanctions by a few developed countries. In the process, the same countries have

np
purposely collapsed their own doctrine of global marketing, global finance systems
and global village. Hence India has to evolve its own original economic policy, as
well as development, business and marketing strategies. It is not just that the
Indian nuclear tests are resented. If tomorrow Indian software export achieves a
sizable share in the global market, becoming third or fourth or fifth in size, we
e/t
should expect different types of reactions. Today, we are a small percentage of the
total trade in software or information technology. Similarly, if India becomes a large
enough exporter of wheat or rice or agro-food products to take it into an exclusive
club of four or five top food grain-exporting nations, various new issues would be

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raised couched in scientific and technical terms ranging from phyto-sanitary
/t.m
specifications to our contribution to global warming. Multilateral regimes to these
effects exist in terms of General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and other
environment-related multilateral treaties. India cannot afford not to sign these
treaties, though we could have done our homework a little better during the
negotiations. We have to face what we have with us. We need to play the
multilateral game, attract foreign investments, have joint ventures and be an active
international player. Still, we have to remember that those who aim high, have to
learn to walk alone too, when required.There are economic and social problems in
South-East Asia and Japan. Each country is trying to tackle them in its own way.
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There is a variety in the approaches. Some may overcome the difficulties and some
may not. We believe India can still emerge a major developed country and all its
people can contribute to and share in the prosperity. Our hope lies in the fact that
even in the older generation, there are a number of persons who are ready to
face the challenges. Most of the people are proud to see an India that is bold. In
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addition, the younger generation is ready to take action in such a complex

environment. Many of them have to contend with difficult hierarchial structures in
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the Indian systems, whether in the private or public sector, in government or in

academia. They are ready to rough it out. That is where our hopes lie for the
realisation of the Second Vision.

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OUR LOCAL TEAM

Indian youth have become inspired by great cricketers from around the
world-the game has caught on like wild fire. Children who show an interest in the
game are often on the lookout for support and encouragement from all quarters.
Sometimes, however, some games don‟t work!
Here is an interesting poem showing just how one game doesn’t!

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Here comes our batting hero;
Salutes the crowd,
Takes guard;
And out for zero.
He’s in again e/t
To strike a ton;
Alovely shot -
Then out for one.
Our demon bowler

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Runs in quick;
/t.m
He’s really fast,
Though hit for six.
In came their slogger,
He swung his bat
And missed by inches;
Our wicket keeper’s getting stitches.
Where’s our captain?
In the deep.
What’s he doing?
s:/

Fast asleep.
Last man in:
He kicks a boundary with his pad.
L.B.W.I. Not out?
The ump’s his dad!
p

- Ruskin Bond
htt

KEEP YOUR SPIRITS HIGH

Have you ever worried about passing exams? What have you felt, when you fought
with a friend? Have you ever felt shy and unsure? Have you felt scared to go on
stage? Here is a poem suggests a solution.
The present seems all dreary
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The future very grim,
Your problems are perplexing,
Your chances rather slim,
You’re sick and tired of trying,
And your hope is fading,
There’s only one solution -
It’s “ Keep your spirits high”.

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The way ahead is puzzling,
And clouds obstruct your view,
If this is how you’re feeling,
There’s just one thing to do;
Don’t prove yourself a quitter
e/t
Though you’re feeling sad and bitter,
But grit your teeth and bear it
And keep your spirits high!
Good luck is round the corner

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So have a smiling face:
/t.m
For soon your fears will vanish,
And joy will take their place,
Look forward to tomorrow
There will be an end to sorrow,
Because you have the courage,
To keep you spirits high.
- Adapted from HOPE SPENCER

AFTER THE STORM

s:/

What do you do, when you feel very troubled about situations around you? Here is
what one group of children did.
The storm raged all night. Lightning crackled and the wind howled like a demon.
Saruli cowered under the covers and clung to her mother when she heard the
thunder. A peculiar crack-crack-SNAP, followed by a tremendous crash, as though a
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giant had fallen to the ground.

“What is that” she asked her mother.
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“The trees”, her mother replied. “The wind is blowing them down.”
“ The trees!” Saruli was shocked. The wind was strong, very strong. But was it
powerful enough to knock down those enormous pines - so straight and tall?
The next morning she saw it for herself. Row upon row of the lofty pines lay
stretched helplessly on the ground. Saruli was stunned. Half the jungle seemed
bare. Most of the people from the small hill village were there, foraging for branches
and dragging them away. But Saruli, a wiry girl of thirteen, stood there stunned.
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Gripped with fear Saruli was thinking of the barren hillside across the valley. How
desolate it looked! A real contrast to the forest near their village, which was full of
fresh grass and shrubs. Suppose… suppose all the trees fell down . . . wouldn‟t the
forest disappear? With an effort she dismissed these thoughts and began to collect
wood, Fuel was always an important need. Saruli gathered a large bundle. On her
way back, she passed Diwan Singh’s house. The old man was seated outside. “You
want some wood, uncle?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer she dropped

np
part of the bundle in one corner of the paved courtyard.
„So you have been to the forest, girl?‟
“Yes, uncle, lots of trees fell down last night.
Old Diwan Singh was the headman of her village. „It was to be expected,‟ he said
slowly. „The trees have been totally hollowed by the resin-tappers.” Saruli‟s brown
e/t
eyes opened wide. “I wondered how so many trees had fallen down”. Diwan Singh
said, “First they only made one cut on the trees to tap resin. Now they keep on
making gashes till the trees are utterly drained. Even a moderately strong wind can
below them over they are so dry.” “Can‟t . . . . can‟t someone stop them?” Saruli

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asked, horrified, Diwan sighed. “Who can stop them, girl? The contractors are rich,
/t.m
influential people. They pay a lot of money to tap the trees.”
Saruli got up go home. As she stood up, she glanced at Diwan Singh‟s strange
nursery. He was growing saplings. Not the baby pines which sprang up themselves
in the rains, but shoots of oak and deodar - the native trees of the hills. Diwan Singh
told Saruli, „When! was a boy this was a forest of oak and deodar. The British
Government cut them down and planted pines”.
“But, Why?” Saruli had asked.
“Because pine trees can be tapped for resin and resin has many uses. But they forgot
that oaks bring rain and trap the water. Pines dry out the land.”
s:/

It was a holiday for school. Saruli took her cow to graze in the forest. The sight of
the fallen trees-trunks was depressing. Many of the other village children were there
too, with their goats and cows. “Come and play hide and seek!” Jaman called. But
Saruli shook her head. She sat on a rock, thinking and thinking. How could they
save their forest?
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“ What is the matter?” Jaman asked after a while.

“ I am scared,” she replied, after a short pause. “Suppose another storm comes
htt

along and all the trees are blown down. What will we do then?”
“ The contractors pay money to the Forest Department to tap the trees. They are
allowed to do it,” said Jaman in low voice.
But Saruli was rushing to the nearest pine tree. There she found several gashes
which had gone dry. At the end of one, there was a conical tin cup, into which the
sticky resin fell, drop by drop. She wrenched off the tin cup and threw it away. “That
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is what we can do!” She cried triumphantly. Jaman put some clay to seal the
gashes.
The other children gathered around curiously. Saruli cried excitedly. “Come on,
help to save our forest!”
She raced around pulling the tin cups off the trees. And Jaman followed with the
clay. The others joined in enthusiastically.
A week passed. The little group managed to remove the tin containers from a large

np
portion of the jungle. Then, one morning, four men entered the forest to collect
resin. Saruli‟s heart thudded suddenly. The showdown had come. But she had to
stay calm. She could hear their muttered exclamations of surprise which turned into
anger to find the trees devoid of the resin containers.
Finally, they came up to the children who were swarming up around a tree. “Do you
e/t
know who has done this?” One of the men demanded. Saruli had seen him around.
He was called Lal Singh.
The children looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Then Saruli jumped
down from the kafal tree. “We did it,” she said.

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“Wha-at?” the man seemed unable to understand.
/t.m
“Yes,” Saruli said quietly. “We threw away the containers”.
“You brats! How dare you!” Lal Singh Exploded. His companions swore and
muttered angrily. “Now we will have to put them again,” Lal Singh continued.
“Don‟t you dare touch the trees now?”
He produced a chisel-like tool and began to scrape off the mud plaster the children
had applied.
“Stop!” Saruli cried, hurling herself at him. He pushed her aside roughly but Jaman
and the others joined in too.
“ Run, Radha!” Saruli cried. “Get help from the village. We have got to save the
s:/

forest!”
Radha ran fast. But the taller man caught up quickly. He was about to grab her.
Suddenly, a jeep jerked to an abrupt halt. “What is going on?” a voice spoke from
inside.
Lal Singh sprang forward eagerly. Jaman followed Then his eye fell on what was
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written on the number plate. “The D.F.O.Sir!” he muttered nervously.

The District Forest Officer jumped out of the jeep. One of the men had Radha by the
htt

arm was gesticulating and pointing to the trees. Radha looked terrified!
“ What is the meaning of all this?” the D.F.O. asked.
“She is the ringleader,” Lal Singh said accusingly.
“Sir, we are only trying to save our forest!” Saruli said vehemently.
Taken aback by Saruli‟s impassioned outburst, the D.F.O. followed her to the edge
of the forest. He stared at the fallen tree-trunks and frowned.
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“It is the resin-tapping, Sir, “Saruli repeated. “If all the trees fall down, what will we
do?
But the D.F.O. was lost in thought. “I shall have to think about,” he said finally.
“Our job is to preserve the forests. Tell your contractor to talk to me.”
Lal Singh‟s eyes almost fell out with shock, but the children clapped gleefully. The
D.F.O. got into his jeep and drove away.
A month went by. The resin-tappers did not come again and the children continued

np
to remove the containers. They had almost finished when the first monsoon
showers came down. That evening when Saruli went home, Diwan Singh called out
to her, “Girl, the rains have come. “Let‟s plant the deodhars.”
She smiled happily up at him. Just then, they saw a familiar jeep. “D.F.O. Sir!” said
Diwan Singh. e/t
The D.F.O. got off the jeep and smiled at Saruli. “Keep it up,” he patted her back.
“The resin tappers will not trouble you again.”
“Thank you, Sir, thank you!” chanted a chorus of voices. The jeep sped down the
road. A breeze rustled through the trees making them sound like a distant waterfall.

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Saruli sighed happily. They would continue to hear that sound. They had achieved
/t.m
their goal. They had saved the forest.
Nothing would destroy their forest now.

YOU CAN’T BE THAT NO YOU CAN’T BE THAT

What do you dream to be? Do you feel troubled by what other people think you
should or shouldn‟t be? Keep your dreams! They make you who you are!
I told them:
When I grow up
s:/

I‟m not going to be a scientist

or someone who reads the news on TV.
No, a million birds will fly through me.
I‟m going to be a tree.
They said:
p

You can‟t be that, No, you can‟t be that.

I told them:
htt

When I grow up, I‟m not going to be an airline pilot, a dancer, a lawyer, or an MC.
No. huge whales will swim in me, I‟m going to be an ocean.
They said:
You can‟t be that. No, you can‟t be that.
I told them:
I‟m not going to be a DJ,
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a computer programmer, a musician, or beautician
No, streams will flow through me, I‟ll be the home of eagles;
I‟ll be full of nooks, crannies, valleys and fountains.
I‟m going to be a range of mountains.
They said:
You can‟t be that. No, you can‟t be that.
I asked them:

np
Just what do you think I am?
Just a child, they said.
And children always become at least one of the things we want them to be.
They do not understand me.
I‟ll be stable if I want, smelling of fresh hay.,
e/t
I‟ll be a lost glade in which unicoms still play.
They do not realize I can fulfil any ambition.
They do not realize among them walks a magician.
- Brian Patten

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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Comprehension Questions from Description of Places

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
FROM DESCRIPTION OF PLACES

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TO THE LAND OF SNOW
A Walk to the Milam Glacier on the edge of Tibet.
- Ahtushi Deshpande
A 24-hour journey in a UP Roadways bus is not the most comfortable way to get to
Munsiyari, I realise, as I count the numerous bumps on my head the morning
e/t
after. I had been rudely awakened, several times during the journey - most notably
around midnight, when the bus followed in hot pursuit of a rabbit, the passengers
cheering on the driver. (The rabbit was eventually caught, put in a sack and locked
up in the glove compartment.) But when I step off the bus in Munsiyari, all
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memories of the bizarre journey vanish - the five mythological Pandavas stand
/t.m
proud before my eyes, their legend forever ensconced in the five majestic peaks of
the Panchchuli range. Situated in a remote corner of Kumaon bordering
Tibet and Nepal, Munsiyari was once a bustling entrepot of trade. On a trekking
trail north-west of Munsiyari is the Milam Glacier, one of the longest in the region.
The four-day trek to the village of Milam at the end of this old trade route to Tibet is
dotted with abandoned Bhutia villages. In the wake of the India- China war of 1962,
trade came to a halt and the hardy Bhutia traders
migrated to the towns and cities below.
s:/

I am eager to set off on the trek to the glacier. Mr. Rare, the KMVN (Kumaon
Mandal Vikas Nigam) manager, is helpful and tells me that his father, Khem Nam,
could act as guide on my trek. Khem Nam turns out to be fully 65 years old, a
veteran of these valleys. We make a list of provisions and set off shopping at the
Munsiyari bazaar, a stronghold of the Bhutia traders. As I make my purchases,
p

the shop-owner proudly tells me that his daughter and son-in-law hold important
IAS posts in Delhi. The Bhutias, who once ruled the trade routes, may have lost
their business, but they have retained their enterprise. It is heartening to meet
htt

Laxmi, our porter, the following morning. He is a sturdy young man and seems like
just the support frail Khem Nam and I need. Rucksacks loaded, we head straight
down to the Gori river. For three days our path first takes us upstream along the
Goriganga, and then into the shrouded Milam valley where the narrow gorges afford
few views. Abandoned Bhutia villages dot our path and I increasingly get the feeling
that we are traversing a long-forgotten route. On the fourth day we cross the ghost
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villages of Burfu and Bilju before we reach Milam. It is now our sixth day on the
trek; it has rained the whole night, and the morning brings even drearier weather.
At over 4000m, firewood is hard to come by. Keeping warm is tough, and
distraction is the best recourse. The sun plays truant for most of the day, raising
doubts about the feasibility of our venturing further up. Howling winds, clouds,
bright sunshine and hailstorms chase each other through the skies, and I spend the
day moseying in and out of our cave. We are camped at Ragash Kund, a little

np
pond with a shepherd‟s cave on a grassy meadow above the glacier, where we sit out
the bad weather for two days and nights. From Milam village it has taken us a day to
get to our current position, en route to Suraj Kund which (as I am later told) takes a
detour via heaven because “you gotta be dead first” before you get there. The rains
of 1997 caused a lot of damage to the terrain and we are told that no one ventured
e/t
beyond the snout of the glacier that year. But Khem Nam is not to be deterred. “I
know the glacier like the back of my hand, I will find us a way”, he insists. His
confidence is heartening - my map does, after all, show a trekking trail, and I am
fascinated with the idea of seeing this sacred lake nestled in a far nook of the

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glacier. On the slope opposite our camp is the fascinating summit of Mandayo,
/t.m
which spirals up into the blue sky like a giant corkscrew. Slapped with steep cliffs on
all faces, it looks every inch an insurmountable peak. To my immediate right the
Nanda Pal glacier slopes down sharply. It could easily have been built up as a very
challenging ski slope except, of course, for the fact that it ends in a cold and
menacing snout with icy waters flowing beneath. I feel as if I have trespassed on
some hidden and forbidden world of beautiful peaks and ominous glaciers. For the
locals the glaciated region is one to be feared - a land of demons and spirits waiting
to devour the unholy, but for the avid trekker, a journey into what is literally a no
man‟s land can be the experience of a lifetime. To see the cold snowy peaks coming
s:/

to life with the first rays of the sun is simply magical. Getting to Suraj Kund is now
the task at hand. Entire slopes have, well, slid down, taking with them the
centuries–old path. To my untrained eye, the glacier looks impossible to walk on.
Luckily, Khem Nam thinks otherwise - he has done a recce the previous evening and
is now sure of our route. After a big breakfast, we set off on the final leg of our
p

pilgrimage to Suraj Kund. It is not an easy path - we hop over stones on landslides
and delicately tread on the glacier rubble. The ajestic mountains towering all
htt

around still look surreal, offering distraction from the fretful path. In all, nine
smaller glaciers feed the Milam glacier system, each with its own set of peaks from
which they emerge. Crevasses dot our route as Khem Nam lines it with dark stone
markers to help us return. As we walk dead centre of the glacier, the 80m icefall
starting from the base of the Hardeoli and Trishuli peaks comes into fuller
view. The last leg is up a landslide. I turn a corner and there below, in a hidden nook
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sandwiched between two glaciers, stand the twin ponds of Dudh and Suraj Kund
with the stunning icefall forming a magnificent backdrop. I greedily bend down to
drink some water from the holy pond - it is the sweetest I have ever tasted. It is a
long haul back and we reached our camp at Ragash Kund only after nightfall. The
following morning we return to Milam; by afternoon, the skies are showering down
snowflakes the size of my palm. It snows continuously for the next three days and
nights, leaving us stranded in the „civilisation‟ of Milam. Patience is an art well

np
learnt when one is at the mercy of nature. Just when mine is beginning to wear thin,
the skies clear. The autumn landscape is turning wintry. I am out on the path by six
¾ there is something I am keen to see. Three kilometres down from Milam lie the
ruins of Bilju. Icicles hang from abandoned roofs, and fields of creamy snow line the
tops. Facing the ghost village stand the twin peaks of Nanda Devi main and
e/t
Nanda Devi east. I am transfixed. It is like the view you get from Binsar, but with
an 800mm zoom lens attached to your eyes! I look deeply into its visage, trying to
etch in my mind every detail of the vast expanse of the valley and the forlorn
abandoned village, blessed by a goddess no less than Nanda Devi herself. I pay my

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obeisance, Khem Nam and Laxmi arrive, and we head back towards Munsiyari ¾
/t.m
and traffic. [Adapted from Outlook traveller special Issue February 2004]

YAANAI MALAI

Sometimes, landscapes can speak to us. But they only talk if we are willing to
listen to them. Manohar Devadoss loves his hometown Madurai. A scientist by
profession, the writer has produced some exquisite pen sketches of Madurai and its
surroundings. One of his sketches of Yaanai Malai has been reproduced here for
you. But what makes him extraordinary is not his versatility. It is his indomitable
s:/

spirit. For more than thirty years, Manohar Devadoss has had Retinitis
Pigmentosa, an eye disorder that slowly but surely reduces vision. His wife
Mahema, an immensely courageous person in her own right, was paralyzed
below the shoulders, following a road accident 36 years ago. The love that they
could bring to each other in the face of great tragedy has been a source of
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inspiration to all who have known them. Read, and discover it! The city of Madurai
has been in existence for at least 2400 years. Throughout its history the city has
htt

nurtured Tamil literature. Over the centuries, Madurai has become famous for its
temple complex. Rich in traditions, this ancient temple town has acquired its very
own mythologies, evolving its own customs and festivals.
A dominant landmark of the north-eastern outskirts of Madurai is
Yaanai Malai, a solid rocky hill. When seen or approached from Madurai, this hill
has a rather striking resembalance to a seated elephant - hence the name Yaanai
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Malai (Elephant Hill). Dotted with starkly beautiful Palmyra trees, this part of rural
Madurai had a character all its own.
The paddy fields here were nourished by monsoon rains, supplemented by
water from large wells called Yettrams, which have all but vanished from the rural
scene today. Yettrams were extensively used during my boyhood to draw water from
these large, square, irrigation wells. A yettram well had long causarina poles tied
together with a rope, a large bucket made of leather at one end and a counterpoise

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at the other, enabling a man to single-handedly draw large volumes of water.
On a cool moon in October, in the early 1950s, a school friend and I, on an
impulse, decided to take a cross-country trek to Yaanai Malai, climb up the hill and
stand on its head to look at Madurai and the surrounding country. At one stage the
hill seemed close enough but as we walked on it seemed to move further away.
e/t
Suddenly an idyllic rural scene presented itself. We saw watery fields being
ploughed. There was a large, square yettram well from which a wiry old man was
drawing water. Yaanai Malai was an imposing and silent backdrop.
Monsoon clouds began to gather, darkening the upper sky and softening the

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light falling on the austere scene. The landscape was placid but the sky was in
/t.m
turmoll. And yet, there was perfect harmony between land and sky. The sky became
darker and light played games on the hill. A large drop of water hit my head. Almost
immediately, a heavy downpour tore open the sky and the hill instantly disappeared
behind curtains of water. As we walked back to Madurai thoroughly drenched,
my friend complained with chattering teeth that the rain had ruined our plan.
I thought that what we had witnessed moments earlier was a rare visual gift and
that we could always climb Yaanai Malai some other day. But my destiny decreed
that, in this life, I was not to climb up this hill to enjoy viewing Madurai and its
enveloping beauty. However, many years later - in October 1986 - I was to
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capture in ink on paper, the magic of the moment, of that distant afternoon, before
lashing rains obliterated the serene landscape. During my adolescence, Yaanai
Malai inspired in me a sense of mystique. Though I gave a premium to rationalism
then, I had difficulty thinking of Yaannai Malai as a non-living, huge chunk of stone.
To me the hill seemed like a silent witness to all that was happening in Madurai,
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through its history. To this day, I dream of this hill in ways that relate to visual
pleasure. In 2001, at a time when my vision - due to an incurable visual syndrome,
htt

Retinitis pigmentosa - had declined to a level when I was hardly able to see any
details of a distant landscape, I dreamt that my wife, Mahema - who became
paralysed below her shoulders, following a road accident in 1972 - was in her
wheelchair and that I stood by her side on top of Yaanai Malai. In this vivid dream, I
showed her some of the important landmarks of Madurai, the tower of the large
Vandiyoor temple tank, the cupolas of the historic palace called the Mahal, the great
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gateway towers of the temple and many hills far and near. I told Mahema in my
dream that had Thirumalai Nayak the ruler who had built the Mahal three-and-a-
half centuries earlier, climbed up the hill then, he would have had a view not vastly
different from the one we were looking at.
The monolith, Yaanai Malai looks like an elephant only when it is viewed
from the southwest. Happily, Madurai sits to the southwest of Yaanai Malai. What
appears from Madurai to have a pyramidal shape is in actuality a very elongated

np
hill. The Melur road from Madurai runs many miles parallel to the southeastern
slope of the hill. When viewed from here, the hill has a different yet dominant
appeal, as one can see from this drawing of the hill that I completed in June 2002
and have pleasure in presenting below. The broad band of paddy fields ends not far
from the hill and then the monollth rises abruptly and steeply like a mighty fortress.
e/t
The pale brown hue of the hill is enriched by discrete downward streaks of rust-red
stains.
During the cool winter months, before the emerald of the paddy fields slowly
turns into a wealth of gold, small flocks of lily-white egrets alight here to feast upon

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the tiny, silvery fish that stray into the shallow water of the fields. The egrets slow,
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flapping take-off and the gentle swoop of soft-landing-as they hop from one part of
the field to another - are as graceful as the movements of ballerinas.
The borders of the paddy fields are often lined with rows of Palmyra trees.
Small bushes grow wild at the foot of the trees. During the winter season, these
plants burst into thousands of yellow flames of flowers.

BRIHADEESWARAR TEMPLE

The Brihadeesvarar Temple or „The Big Temple as it is commonly called by the

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natives of Thanjavur, is an architectural marvel of immense glory, that has

astounded the world with its stupendous proportions and grandeur. Built in the
year 1010 by King Raja Raja Chola, this monument of World Heritage, has,
for a thousand years, stood as a symbol of the flourishing sculptural expertise and
rich culture of ancient India.
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Thanjavur, „the Granary of Tamilnadu‟ is also the home of Camatic

music, dance and traditional handicrafts. Thanjavur was the ancient capital of the
htt

Chola kings, and the stylized bronze work for which the Chola period was famous, is
still produced in this town. Having overloaded myself with this and more
information on Thanjavur, I reached the palace in search of all glory of the old chola
Capital. The 16th century palace complex was built by the Nayaks and later
renovated by the Marathas. Situated close to the old bus stand, the first of the
museums. I visited here was the Royal Museum. “Is this the might and valour of the
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Cholas I heard of? What am I seeing here?” I wondered; a scantily lit room with
drums, ums, perfume bottles, wooden boxes, manuscripts, gifts, jewellery, weapons
and other belongings of the Marathas.
A painting of a Maratha King welcomes you to the Durbar Hall. On the rear
side of the painting an array of Pallava and Chola statues throws light on the
craftsmanship of the era. The Art Gallery at the palace has an impressive line-up of
granite and bronze monolithic statues, with details of excavation and the century of

np
origin clearly displayed. The gods, goddesses and other statues take you to a
different era. The magnificent monolithic statues evince energy and life; the aura in
their eyes beam a story of fine craftsmanship and effort. Vishnu, Ganesha or
Nataraja look exactly the same as they look in today‟s images and statues. I also did
notice a Buddha statue from the Pallava era here.From the palace, I moved to the
e/t
Brihadeeswara Temple. The structure of the temple looks majestic. The temple
occupies an area measuring about 750 feet by 400 feet, in a fort surrounded by a
moat. It is a marvel of engineering, considering the technology of those ancient
times. The towering vimanam is built up with stones with bonding and notching,

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without the use of mortar. The topmost stone, weighing about 80 tons, is still a
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matter of discussion for engineers who are baffled as to how the builders lifted it to
that height without the help of modern contrivances. A charming tale is told about a
ramp being built from a village - Sarapallam - four miles away, from where the giant
stone was pulled up by elephants. The details of the stone work of this imposing
vimanam are representative of the masterly craftsmanship of South Indian artisans.
The shilpi (Sculptor) and the sthapathi (architect) came together to create their
fanciful abode for Shiva. Naturally, the shape had to echo the divine Mount
Kailash. In its perfect geometry and distinct clarity of lines, this tower is unbeatable.
The shrine for Lord Muruga is an integral part of the temple. It is a beautiful,
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elaborately carves stone structure, a designer‟s delight. To copy the unrepeated

designs on each of the short pillars of this shrine would take an artist weeks if not
months. One can just imagine how long the stone chiseller would have taken to
complete each piece.
I stood in awe, astonishment and reverence when I saw a walled fortress
p

inside-a standing testimony of the Cholas‟ opulence and vision. The enormity of the
deities reflect the staunch reverence of the King to Lord Shiva. Rajaraja, his sister
htt

and queens donated their possessions of gold and silver to this temple. The gold the
king donated came from his treasury.
The intricate carvings on the pillars and the inscriptions on the walls make
the temple a delight for a historian‟s senses. The script used in the inscriptions
resemble Tamil, Thai or some of the South East Asian languages. The huge (8.7 m
height) Shiva Linga in the Sanctum Sanctorum and Nandhi Statues reflect the
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munificence of the Cholas. The pillared cloisters beside the main structure have a
series of ditties and Shivalingas, worthy to be admired. The murals narrate the story
of Shiva‟s might.
Among the things visible are the interlocks of the granite stones. The rocks so
perfectly fitted into one another at a height of 10 metres seems to share a
harmonious bonding, not unnerved by the rains, winds and heat. Very well
maintained, this structure will leave you with thoughts like, “Was it actually built in

np
the 11th century?”
Unlike many temples, here the 58 m tall and 130 storeyed Vimanam
makes the Gopuram. The inscriptions of the Vimanam talk about Raja Raja Chola‟s
gifts to the temple. In its magnanimous idea, its grandiose vision, its display of the
Herculean effort in construction, its portrayal of their glorious past of the Chola
e/t
regime and their patronage for arts and culture, this temple stands as testimony for
all and ever.
One can spend a whole day in the Big Temple, and still want to come back to marvel
at every detail of its beauty. Many kings had built temples to Shiva on the banks of

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the Kaveri. Many saints have sung in praise of these deities. But there is only one
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temple to Brihadeesvara, and it stands tall, a thousand years after a devotee-king
climbed a ladder with a copper pot (kalasam) anointed with holy water from all the
sacred rivers, to dedicate it to history. Our history!
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Government of Tamilnadu
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Subject : General English
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Topic : British English and American English

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BRITISH ENGLISH AND
AMERICAN ENGLISH

np
British English American English
aeroplane airplane
autumn fall
e/t
anticlockwise counterclockwise
bonnet hood
boot (of car) trunk

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biscuit cookies
/t.m
care taker janitor
chemist druggist
currency note bill
chips French fries
cot crib
cutting (from a newspaper) clipping
dustbin garbage/trash can
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dressing table dresser

flat apartments
fire brigade fire department
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fellow guy
fortnight two weeks
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full stop period

goods train freight train
ground floor First floor
holiday vacation

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BRITISH ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

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British American English
Interval (in a cinema) intermission
jug pitcher
jam jelly
lift elevator

np
maize corn
nappy diaper
hoarding bill board
pavemet e/tside walk
petrol gasoline
postman mailman
rubbish garbage/trash

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sweets candies
/t.m
single (ticket) one way
torch (battery operated) flashlight
taxi cab
terminus terminal
tin can
trousers pants
water tap faucet
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washbasin sink
witness box witness stand
zed zee
p

Given below is the American spelling for some words

American British American British American British
htt

colour color traveller traveller mold mould

math maths ax axe Skill ful skilful
honour honour defense defence judgement judgement
enroll enrol center centre focused focussed

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BRITISH ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

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Given below are the British equivalents of American English words.
American British American British American British
corn maize oatmeal porridge cracker biscuit
candy sweets druggist chemist escalator lift
depot terminus freight goods french- chips
fries

np
vacation holiday truck lorry flat apartment

American British American British American British

apartment flat mail post mailbag postbag
crib cot drapes
e/t curtain vacation holiday
antenna aerial sidewalk pavement trunk boot
tire tyre truck lorry movie film
gas petrol baggage luggage bookstore bookshop
nightgown nightdress sweater jumper pants Trousers
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election polling voting both pollingbooth stocks shares
/t.m
subway underground trash rubbish period fullstop
babycarriage pram diaper nappy faucet tap
waterheater geyser potato crisps undershirt vest
chips
Note: In this question the candidate should find out the American English for a
given word (or the British English for a given word) and make a sentence of his own
using the answer
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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
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Topic : Poems and Poets

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POEMS AND POETS

np
AUTHORS AND THEIR LITERARY WORKS

 A Psalm of Life - H.W Longfellow

 Be the Best - Douglas Malloch
 The Cry of the Children
e/t - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
 The Piano - D.H. Lawrence
 Manliness - Rudyard Kipling
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 Going for Water - Robert Frost
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 Earth - Khalil Gibran

 The Apology - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face - Jack Prelutsky
 The Flying Wonder - Stephen Vincent Benet
 Is Life But a Dream - Lewis Carol
 O Captain! My Captain - Walt Whitman
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 Snake - D.H. Lawrence

 Punishment in Kindergarten - Kamala Das
 Where the Mind is Without Fear - Rabindranath Tagore
 The Man He Killed - Thomas Hardy
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 Nine Gold Medals - David Roth

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Government of Tamilnadu
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Subject : General English
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Topic : Story and Nationality

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STORY AND NATIONALITY

np
 The Selfish Giant - England
 The Lottery Ticket - Russia
 The Last Leaf
e/t - America
 How The Camel Got It’s Hump - the story is set in a desert. The author
belongs to England.
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 Two Friends - France (Paris)
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 Refugee - China
 The Open Window - Burma
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Subject : General English
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Topic : Author and Short

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AUTHOR AND SHORT STORY

 The Selfish Giant - Oscar Wilde

np
 The Lottery Ticket - Anton Chekov
 The Last Leaf - O’ Henry
 How The Camel Got It’s Hump - Rudyard Kipling
 Two Friends - Guy de Maupassant
 Refugee
 The Open Window
e/t
-
-
Pearl S.Buck
Hector Hugh Munro (Saki)
 A Man Who Had No Eyes - Mackinlay Kuntor

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 The Tears Of The Desert - Paulo Coelho
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 Sam - Tammy Ruggles

 The Piano Lesson - Rob Reilly
 The Face Of Judas Iscariot - Bonnie Chamberlain
 Swept Away - Susannah Hickling
 A Close Encounter - Rex Coker
 Caught Sneezing - Oscar Wilde
s:/

 The Wooden Bowl - Leo Tolstoy

 Swami and The Sum - R.K.Narayan
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Topic : Biography/ Autobiography

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BIOGRAPHY/
AUTOBIOGRAPHY

np
 Playing It My Way
 Unbreakable
e/t -
-
Sachin Tendulkar
Mary Kom
 Sunny Days - Sunil Gavaskar

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 My Life in my Words - Rabindranath Tagore
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 My Life - Bill Clinton
 Dreams of my Father - Barack Obama
 Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
 The Story of My Life - Helen Keller
 Toward Freedom - Jawaharlal Nehru
 The Story of My Experiments with Truth - Mahatma Gandhi
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Subject : General English
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Topic : Poet and Nationality

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POET AND NATIONALITY

np
 Robert Frost - America
 Archibald Lampman - Canada
 D.H.Lawrence - U.K
 Rudyard Kipling -
e/t England
 Kamala Das(Kamala Surayya) - India (Kerala)
 Elizabeth Barrett Browning - U.K
 Famida Y. Basheer - Pakistan

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 Thomas Hardy - England
/t.m
 Khalil Gibran - Lebanon
 Edgar A. Guest - England
 Ralph Waldo Emerson - America
 Jack Prelutsky - New York
 F. Joanna - America
 Stephen Vincent Benet - America
s:/

 William Shakespeare - England

 William Wordsworth - England
 H.W. Long Fellow - America
 Annie Louisa Walker - England
p

 Walt Whitman - U.S.A

 V.K. Gokak - India (Karnataka)
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Government of Tamilnadu
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Topic : Characters, Quotes, Important Lines from the following

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Department of Employment and Training.

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/t.m
p s:/
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CHARACTERS, QUOTES, IMPORTANT LINES FROM
THE WORKS OF INDIAN AUTHORS

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Sahitya Akademi Award winner: Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai – „Farmer‟
WORKS OF INDIAN AUTHORS
THE FARMER
- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
e/t
That fifty-para paddy field is owned by someone in Vaikom. Kesavan Nair has
been cultivating it for the last forty years. Before that, Kesavan Nair‟s uncle was its
cultivator.
Some ten years ago, when paddy prices were as high as five to seven rupees a

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bushel, rich people from Changanassery and Thiruvalla, had come there for paddy
cultivation. They got on lease, groups of paddy fields. They used a tractor for deep-
/t.m
ploughing and new fertilisers, to produce bumper crops. And they made huge
profits. Kesavan Nair‟s fifty para was in the centre of such groups of fields. Big –
time farmer, Outhakkutty, met Kesavan Nair one day, on the mud-bund of the field.
The crop in the “fifty” was poor when compared to those around it. Outhakkutty
broke in, by way of exchanging civilities: “Why is the paddy not lush and robust
enough? Didn‟t you use fertilisers?” That question struck Kesavan Nair‟s heart. The
neighbouring farmer insinuates that the paddy he cultivates is inferior in growth!
“After you big guys came, can we drain out the water at the right times? No time is
s:/

convenient enough for you. We can do farm work only at your

convenience”. Outhakkutty, an arch diplomat, said, “Why do you say that, Uncle
Kesavan? I had specifically arranged with my people to pay heed to your
convenience.” Kesavan Nair was cross. “Oh! Nice arrangement indeed! I could
water the land only after my paddy seedlings had wilted in the sun. I went after your
p

servant, begging. He said he can‟t because you had instructed him not to give water
to me.” Outhakkutty had to counter that accusation. “Will there be any such
htt

difficulty, if you do the sowing at the same time as in the neighbouring fields?”
Kesavan Nair was piqued. “Don‟t teach me all that. It‟s not yesterday that I started
cultivating paddy.” Kesavan Nair continued, increasingly irritated, “No one
becomes a farmer by pouring in money, dumping fertilisers and raising a crop of
paddy.” After a few days, Kesavan Nair and Outhakkutty‟s servant quarrelled with
each other, upon the mud-bund of the field. On all sides there was water.
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But the “fifty” was parched dry and cracked up and the shoots were wilted.

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Kesavan Nair, heart-broken at the sight, cut a breach in the mud-bund. The servant
sealed it up. They pushed and jostled each other. It would have culminated in
murder. Luckily, that did not happen. Three or four days later, the crop in Kesavan
Nair‟s “fifty” was submerged up to the tips of the plants in water. The top of the
shoots were not at all to be seen above the water‟s surface. That servant‟s doing!
When the time came for the sunning of Outhakkutty‟s paddy plants, the water was
diverted to Kesavan Nair‟s “fifty”. How was he to drain that water away? Where

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will he take it to? Can he drink it all up? Kesavan Nair‟s shoots began to rot.
Kuttichovan, a friend of Kesavan Nair, asked in consternation, “Why don‟t we cut
open breaches on the bunds at night and divert the water back to the other fields?”
Kesavan Nair did not like that idea. He said, “That should not be done in puncha-
kandam. Cut open bunds in the dead of night! Can a farmer do that, Kutty? Let me
e/t
perish. I will not do what should not be done.” Then another friend, Kutty Mappila,
said, “Are all the things happening now, befitting a puncha-kandam?” Kesavan
Nair said he would never perpetrate that adharma. Kutty Mappila, who was
listening to it all, said, half-soliloquising. “So it was good that I leased out my piece

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of land to Outhakkutty. Or else, my fate too would have been the same now.”
/t.m
Kuttichovan also said the same thing. Of the 500 acre complex, only Kesavan Nair‟s
five acres remained outside Outhakutty‟s domain. Listening to the talk of his
friends, Kesavan Nair said, “I too could have entrusted mine to him. But, what else
is there for my livelihood? What work will I do? You, Kutty Mappila, get at
least 500 coconuts. Kuttychovan has four sons, working. I have only this field on
lease. And I can eke out a living, only by tilling it.” That night, the water in the
“fifty” somehow drained away. Someone had breached the mud-bunds at night.
Certainly it was not Kesavan Nair. Since that water spread evenly into the fields
s:/

surrounding that field, no ill effects had occurred to the crops of those fields. It was
clear that the farmer of the neighbouring fields had let in water to that “fifty” on
purpose.
Next morning, Kesavan Nair went out to the field and saw for himself. Who
had perpetrated this adharma? The weight of that sin would fall on him alone. He
p

had not known anything about it. He wondered how he was going to prove his
innocence. Two days passed thus. On the third day, in the morning, before anyone
woke up, Kesavan Nair went to the field and looked around.
htt

The weak shoots, which had been flattened to the ground, had started rising
up, in the sun‟s warmth. His crop wouldn‟t perish. After three or four days of getting
the sun, the shoots should be soaked a little by letting in water for one day, and
some manure put in. Then, the crop would be excellent, first rate. Where could he
raise the money from? Who would give him money? The household expenses were
met by the proceeds from the four milch cows. Kesavan
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Nair toyed with the idea of selling one of them to raise the funds. But his wife
wouldn‟t agree to it. “The shoots are properly sunned, aren‟t they, Uncle Kesavan?
Kesavan Nair turned around. It was Outhakutty. Suddenly Kesavan Nair‟s obsession
about the adharma upset him. Outhakutty stood there as if he had caught the
culprit. He, Kesavan Nair, should give him a proper explanation. He had to
establish his innocence in the matter. With a troubled smile, Kesavan Nair said,
“Upon my grand-uncle! Upon this „puncha-kandam‟ which is true to its tradition, it

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is not I who breached the bund, Outhakutty! I am a true farmer. A farmer worth his
name would never do such an adharma.” Outhakutty watched Kesavan Nair‟s
anxiety. “Why do you swear by your ancestors, Uncle Kesavan? It is not you who
breached the bund. It‟s I who did it. I did it because I saw your paddy submerged.”
Kesavan Nair was relieved. His eyes shone. “Is it true? Tell me the truth! Oh,
e/t
it‟s such a relief! May you do well in life, my boy! I feared I would have to carry the
weight of this infamy with me till my death.” Outhakutty once more said
emphatically. “Yes, Uncle Kesavan. It‟s I who did it. Although you hate me, can I
hate you? When I saw that sight, my heart nearly stopped. I opened the breach. Let

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my paddy perish, if it has to, I said to myself”. Outhakutty said, glancing all over the
“fifty”.
/t.m

“If you could sprinkle a little manure, the crop would be excellent, Uncle
Kesavan.” “I was thinking of that just now.” “Then you have to do it.” “One should
have money for that. Money! I don‟t have money”. “If you want a good crop, you
should spend money.” “The times are such.” Outhakutty said, as if because of his
fondness for Kesavan Nair: “Uncle Kesavan! May I say something?” “Why are you
taking all this trouble, Uncle Kesavan? I‟ll give you the lease-rent for the landlord at
Vaikom and fifty bushels of paddy extra.
Hand over the field to me. Why toil so much in your old age?” Kesavan Nair
s:/

suddenly became another person altogether. He was furious. Yet, controlling his
anger, he said: “No, no. Keep that thought to yourself Outhakutty. We have
cultivated this field right from the times of our ancestors. No one else shall cultivate
it.” “That‟s all right. You are the lessee of the Vaikom landlord. And I will be your
lessee”. “No. That won‟t do. I was born a farmer.
p

Farming is my occupation. And I have five heads of cattle, besides. They need
the hay. No. It won‟t work, Outhakutty….” No manure was put in the “fifty”. The
htt

crop was bad. Dismal, that is. During the harvest season, Kesavan Nair could not
get hold of reapers. All around, Outhakutty‟s first-rate crop was there; if they reaped
that the reapers would get two bushels of paddy as percentage wage. The paddy was
getting overripe. At last, the members of Kutty Mappila‟s and Kuttichovan‟s
families, and Kesavan Nair‟s family members together reaped the field.

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The crop was very, very bad. It was doubtful whether there would be

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sufficient paddy to pay the lease-rent. Kutty Mappila, Kuttichovan and Kesavan
Nair conferred together. Kutty Mappila‟s opinion was that the lease-rent need only
be proportionate to the crop output. Till that moment, there wasn‟t even a grain of
paddy as outstanding payment of rent. “You can give more, if next year‟s crop is
better.” Kesavan Nair couldn‟t agree to that.
“This is the only piece of land the landlord has. And he has only this much of
paddy to get. We have collected the crop. We should give the whole rent. The land

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will turn barren, if the landlord‟s tears fall on it.” The entire crop was just sufficient
for the payment of the lease-rent. What remained for Kesavan Nair was just a ton
and a half bushels of paddy, spillage on the threshing floor and the chaff! He
couldn‟t make good even the seedpaddy and the labour charges! The lease-rent
paddy was carried to the landlord‟s house.
e/t
The landlord was a Thirumulpad. Kesavan Nair had sensed that there was a
slight change of expression on Thirumulpad‟s face. What was unusual was that he
asked whether the entire lease-rent paddy had been brought. And he made this
comment: “My information was that this year I would not get the entire lease-rent

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paddy.” Kesavan Nair gave a quick repartee. “Isn‟t it at least a hundred years, since
/t.m
we took this “fifty” for cultivation, Thirumeni? Is there even a grain of paddy
outstanding as lease-rent payment?” Thirumulpad didn‟t say a word.
The lease-rent paddy was measured out without leaving even a grain as
deficit. Still, Thirumulpad‟s face didn‟t exhibit any trace of satisfaction. He gave
lunch to Kesavan Nair and the boatmen as usual. When Kesavan Nair approached,
after lunch, to take leave, Thirumulpad told him that he had something to say to
him. “What is it?” asked Kesavan Nair. The reply was abrupt.
“Someone has approached me with an offer to take the land on an increased
s:/

rate of rent. He is a very smart person too. Kesavan, you should relinquish the
land.” An idea dawned upon Kesavan Nair. “What increase of rent is proposed
now?” “A hundred bushels of paddy. And the person is very sound. How will I
recover any arrears you may accumulate?”
Kesavan Nair argued hotly: “So far there are no arrears.” No one spoke for
p

sometime. Kesavan Nair continued. “Thirumeni, I shall give you that increased rate
of rent.” “I‟ll tell you one thing, Thirumeni.
I know who has approached you. It‟s Outhakkutty. But he is not a true farmer,
htt

Thirumeni. The likes of him don‟t love the soil. They‟ll put in a lot of fertilisers,
prodigally extract the fertility of the soil and raise good crops. After four or five
years, your land will turn into useless, bran-like soil. Not even grass will sprout
there”. Thirumulpad was walking back and forth the length of the verandah. He
didn‟t speak a word. Kesavan Nair continued to speak. The words choked his throat.
His eyes brimmed with tears. “It‟s this field I saw, when I was born. The sweat of my
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ancestors has also added to its fertility. I have loved only that field in my entire life.”
Kesavan Nair broke down. “N-no! You shouldn‟t evict me from there, Thirumeni”.
Even Thirumulpad‟s heart seemed to melt a little.
He said, “I must get my rent”. Kesavan Nair sobbed. “I‟ll give you that rent.”
The next day, Kesavan Nair called the ploughmen and he had the field ploughed
once. He didn‟t even think how he was going to pay them wages. From that day, the
ploughmen pestered him for payment of wages. How could he have the land

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ploughed again, without paying the wages for the first ploughing? Thus the field fell
fallow. The neighbouring fields were regularly ploughed every month. The “fifty”
was overgrown with weeds. It was time for the sowing of the next crop. The work of
putting up the mud-bunds was over.
The water was being drained. The “fifty” was lying vacant, without being
e/t
ploughed, without weeding, without the soil being prepared. Poor Kesavan Nair
didn‟t even have the necessary seed-paddy. His fight then turned towards his wife.
One cow must be sold. She didn‟t like the idea, though. Kesavan Nair sold a cow
without the consent of his wife. The money the cow‟s sale brought in was sufficient

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only for ten bushels of seed-paddy and ten rupees for the labour charges.
Kesavan Nair tied up the seed-paddy and put it in water. He took out the seed
/t.m

the following day. Not even half of it had germinated. And he was supposed to sow
that day itself. Kutty Mappila advised him to sow it as it was. It will germinate, lying
in the soil! That‟s the only way out, besides. He did just that. The paddy was
growing robustly in the neighbouring fields. In the “fifty”, weeds had grown thickly.
Not even a single shoot was to be seen. The harvest that year was over. There was no
need to reap the “fifty”. The date of handing over the lease-rent paddy had expired.
Thirumulpad reached the spot. Kesavan Nair was in hiding. For three days,
Thirumulpad went about looking for him. He was not to be found. The next day,
s:/

Outhakkutty‟s men got into the “fifty” and ploughed the field. Thirumulpad stood
on the mud-bund, looking on. The sowing of the next crop was over. Early every
morning, Kesavan Nair would go out to the fields, like a farmer who had a crop to
look after. On watching him go, one would think that he really had a crop
somewhere. He returned home only after the day had progressed. It was the habit of
p

forty years.
The paddy in the “fifty” was growing high, as if challenging Kesavan Nair.
htt

He‟d go there every day. When once he spotted a slight yellowing of the plants, his
heart burned. He sought out Outhakkutty and reported the matter. Not only that;
he stood by and had the necessary remedial measures carried out.
- Translated by A.J. Thomas
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, (1912 - 1999) popularly referred to as „Thakazhi‟, is
the most celebrated contemporary Malayalam writer. He is, without doubt, the
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most well-known Malayalam novelist and his short novel “Chemmeen” was given

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international reception.Thakazhi was the recipient of many awards and honours
– the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award, (1984). The Soviet Land Nehru Award (1975),
The Sahitya Akademi Award (1957) and Vayalar Rama Varma Award
(1980).Though a „Vakil‟ by profession, Thakazhi‟s heart was not in his profession
and after twenty years of working as a „Pleader‟, he took to full-time writing.
Thakazhi wrote in Malayalam, his mother tongue, and was an active writer for 65
years. He wrote over novels and many short stories.

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Glossary
 bushel : a unit for measuring grain = 8 gallons
 lease : contract where land / property is rented
 parched : dry e/t
 wilted : having lost freshness
 jostled : pushed roughly
 submerged : under the surface of water
 culminated : reached the final stage

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 consternation : feeling of anxiety
/t.m
 breaches : openings
 soliloquising : speaking to oneself
 perpertrated : did something wrong
 infamy : a bad and shocking act or event
 spillage : amount spilt
 relinquish : give up
 prodigally : spending money wastefully without thinking of the
consequences
s:/

 fallow : land where nothing is planted

 germinate : (of a seed) to start growing
 piqued : angry as a result of one‟s pride being hurt
 shoot : the first part of a plant to appear above the earth
 chaff : the outer layer of seeds
p

 repartee : a quick, amusing remark in a conversation

Malayalam words:
htt

 para : a measure for grain (10 kg)

 puncha-kandam : a group of five fields
 adharma : injustice
 Thirumulpad : belonging to the royal family
 Thirumeni : a respectful term used to address
 one‟s boss
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1. PUNISHMENT IN KINDERGARTEN
Are there things you remember from when you were in the Balwadi or Pre
School? What kind of memories are they? What do these memories make you feel?
Are all the memories pleasant? This poem is an honest and evocative expression of
one of Kamala Surayya‟s memories of her Kindergarten. Observe carefully how she
shares her thoughts and feelings.

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Today the world is a little more my own.
No need to remember the pain
A blue-frocked woman caused, throwing
Words at me like pots and pans, to drain
That honey-coloured day of peace
e/t
“Why don‟t you join the others? What
A peculiar child you are!”
On the lawn, in clusters, sat my schoolmates sipping
Sugarcane, they turned and laughed;

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Children are funny things, they laugh
In mirth at other‟s tears, I buried
/t.m

My face in the sun-warmed hedge

And smelt the flowers and the pain.

The words are muffled now, the laughing

Faces only a blur. The years have
Sped along, stopping briefly
At beloved halts and moving
Sadly on. My mind has found
s:/

An adult peace. No need to remember

That picnic day when I lay hidden
By the hedge, watching the steel-white sun
Standing lonely in the sky.
Kamala Das/Kamala Surayya
p

2. MY GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE
htt

There is a house now far away where once

I received love….That woman died,
The house withdraw into silence, snakes moved
Among books I was than too young
To read, any my blood turned cold like the moon.
How often I think of going
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There, to peer through blind eyes of windows or

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Just listen to the frozen air,
Or in wild despair, pick an armful of
Darkness to bring it here to lie
Behind my bed room door like a brooding
Dog….You cannot believe, darling,
Can you, that I lived in such a house and
Was proud, and loved…I who have lost

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My way and beg now at stranger‟s doors to
Receive love, at least In small change. - Kamala Surayya.
R.K. NARAYAN - SWAMI AND THE SUM

Half an hour later, Swaminathan sat in his father‟s room, with a slate in his
e/t
hand and pencil ready. Father held the arithmetic book open and dictated, “Rama
has ten mangoes with which he wants to earn fifteen annas. Krishna wants only four
mangoes. How much will Krishna have to pay?
Swaminathan gazed and gazed at this sum, and every time he read it, it

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seemed to acquire a new meaning. He had the feeling of having stepped into a
/t.m
fearful maze….
His mouth began to water at the thought of mangoes. He wondered what made
Rama fix fifteen annas for ten mangoes. WHat kind of a man was Rama? Probably
he was like Sankar (The most brilliant boy in Swami‟s class. He was said to solve
any problem given to him in five minutes). Somehow, one couldn‟t help feeling that
he must have been like Sankar, with his ten mangoes and his iron determination to
get fifteen annas. If Rama was like Sankar, Krishna must have been like the pea
[another classmate, Samuel, known as the pea on account of his size. He was
s:/

considered „ordinary‟. The bond between Swami and Samuel was laughter]. Here
Swaminathan felt an unaccountable sympathy for Krishna.
“Have you done the sum?” father asked, looking over the newspaper he was
reading.
“Father, Will you tell me if the mangoes were ripe?”
p

Father regarded him for a while and smoothing a smile remarked, „Do the
sum first. I will tell you whether the fruits were ripe or not, afterwards.”
Swaminathan felt utterly helpless. If only father would tell him whether Rama was
htt

trying to sell ripe fruits or unripe ones, of what use would it be to tell him
afterwards? He felt strongly that the answer to this question contained the key to
the whole problem. It would be scandalous to expect fifteen annas for ten unripe
mangoes. But even if he did, it wouldn‟t be unlike Rama, whom Swaminathan was
steadily beginning to hate.
“Father, I cannot to the sum,” Swaminathan said, pushing away the slate.
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“What is the matter with you? You can‟t solve a simple problem in simple
proportion?”
“We are not taught this kind of things in our school.”
“Get the slate here. I will make you give the answer now.” Swaminathan waited with
interest for the miracle to happen. Father studied the sum for a second and asked,
“What is the price of ten mangoes?”
Swaminathan looked over the sum to find out which part of the sum

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contained an answer to this question. “I don‟t know”.
„You seem to be an extraordinary idiot. Now read the sum. Come on. How much
does Rama expect for ten mangoes?‟
“Fifteen annas, of course,” Swaminathan thought but how could that be its
price, its just price? It was all very well for Rama to expect it in his avarice. But was
e/t
It the right price? And then there was the obscure point about whether the mangoes
were ripe or not. If they were ripe, fifteen annas might not be an improbable price.
If only he could get more light on this point.
„How much does Rama want for his mangoes?‟

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„Fifteen annas,‟ replied Swaminathan without conviction „Very good. How many
mangoes does Krishna want?‟ „Four‟.„What is the price for four?‟ father seemed to
/t.m

delight in torturing him. How could he know? How could he know what that fool
Krishna would pay?
“Look here, boy. I have half a mind to thrash you. What have you in your head? Ten
mangoes cost fifteen annas. What is the price of one? Come on. If you don‟t say it…”
Swaminathan could not open his mouth because he could not decide whether the
solution lay in the realm of addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. In the
end, when father was waiting with a scowl for an answer, he received only a squeal
from his son.
s:/

„I am not going to leave you till you tell me how much a single mango costs at
fifteen annas for ten.” What was the matter with father?
Swaminathan kept blinking. What was the urgency to know its price? Anyway, if
Father wanted so badly to know instead of harassing him, let him go to the market
and find it out.
p

The whole brood of Ramas and Krishnas, with endless transactions with odd
quantities of mangoes and fractions of money, was getting disgusting.
htt

Father admitted defeat by declaring, „One mango costs fifteen over an annas.
Simplify it.”
Here, he was being led to the most hideous regions of arithmetic fractions. “Give me
the slate, father. I will find it out,” He worked and found at the end of fifteen
minutes, “The price of one mango is three over two annas.” He expected to be
contradicted any moment. But father said, “Very good, simplify it further.” It was
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plain sailing after that. Swaminathan announced at the end of half an hour‟s agony,

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“Krishna must pay six annas,” and burst into tears.
Rabindranath Tagore - Where the mind is without fear

REFER PART B - 3

RABINDRANATH TAGORE – WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

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DHAN GOPAL MUKHERJI - KARI, THE ELEPHANT
e/t
Kari the elephant was five months old when he was given to me to be taken
care of. I was nine years old then. We grew together. That is probably why I never
found out how tall he was. Kari needed forty pounds of twigs a day to chew and play
with.

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Everyday I used to take him into the river in the morning for his bath. He
/t.m
would ride on the sandbank while I rubbed him with the clean sands of the river for
an hour. After that he would lie in the water. He would squeal with pleasure as I
rubbed water down his back. Then I would take him by the ear because that is the
easiest way to lead an elephant. Thus I left him in the fringe of the jungle, while I
went into the forest to get some twigs for his food. It was not an easy job to get twigs
and saplings for Kari.
One day I was gathering some twigs and I heard Kari calling me. I thought
somebody was hurting him, so I came down from the tree and ran fast to the edge of
s:/

the forest. I could not see Kari. When I went near the edge of the water I saw
something black struggling on the surface. When it rose higher I saw it was Kari. I
thought he was drowning! But I soon saw his back rise above the water and he
began to struggle up to the shore. He then pushed me into the water and as I fell
into the stream, I saw a boy lying flat at the bottom of the river. When I came to the
p

surface of the water to take a breath. Kari was standing on the bank, his trunk
stretched out like a hand waiting. I went down again and pulled the body of the
drowning boy to the surface. Kari helped me to pull him onto the shore.
htt

Suddenly I slipped and sank back to the bottom of the river. As I struggled up
again with my eyes tightly shut, I felt something like a rope around my neck. This
frightened me. I thought it was a water snake. But the trumpeting sound I heard,
told me it was Kari. The boy lay stretched on the ground and I recognized him as a
boy from my village. He had gone to bathe in the river and had swum too far out.

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I put his face down on the sand and Kari put his trunk around his waist and
lifted it gently up and down. After kari did this three or four times, water began to
come out of the boy‟s mouth. I rubbed his hands and feet. The boy slowly started
breathing again. kari was the best friend I ever had.
(Excerpt : Adapted from the novel by Dhan Gopal Mukherji)

DEEPA AGARWAL - AFTER THE STORM

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What do you do, when you feel very troubled about situations around you?
Here is what one group of children did. The storm raged all night. Lightning
crackled and the wind howled like a deman. Saruli cowered under the covers and
clung to her mother when she heard the thunder. A peculiar crack-crack-SNAP,
e/t
followed by a tremendous crash, as though a giant had fallen to the ground. “What
is that?” she asked her mother.
“The trees,” her mother replied. “The wind is blowing them down.” “The trees!”
Saruli was shocked. The wind was strong, very strong. But was it powerful enough

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to knock down those enormous pines - So straight and tall?
The next morning she saw it for herself. Row upon row of the lofty pines lay
/t.m

stretched helplessly on the ground. Saruli was stunned. Half the jungle seemed
bare. Most of the people from the small hill village were there, foraging for branches
and dragging them away. But Saruli, a wiry girl of thirteen, stood there stunned.
Gripped with fear Saruli was thinking of the barren hillside across the valley. How
desolate it looked! Areal contrast to the forest near their village, which was full of
fresh grass and shrubs. Suppose…suppose all the trees fell down…wouldn‟t the
forest disappear? With an effort she dismissed these thoughts and began to collect
wood. Fuel was always an important need. Saruli gathered a large bundle. On her
s:/

way back, she passed Diwan Singh‟s house. The old man was seated outside. “You
want some wood, uncle?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer she dropped
part of her bundle in one corner of the paved courtyard.
„So you have been to the forest, girl?‟
„Yes, uncle, lots of trees fell down last night.‟
p

Old Diwan Singh was the headman of her village. „It was to be expected,‟ he
said slowly. “The trees have been totally hollowed by the resin-tappers.” Saruli‟s
htt

brown eyes opened wide. „I wondered how so many trees had fallen down”. Diwan
Singh said, “First they only made one cut on the trees to tap resin. Now they keep on
making gashes till the trees are utterly drained. Even a moderately strong wind can
below them over, they are so dry”. “Can‟t…cant‟t someone stop them?” Saruli
asked, horrified. Diwan sighed. “Who can stop them, girl? The contractors are rich,
influential people. They pay a lot of money to tap the tree.”
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Saruli got up go home. As she stood up, she glanced at Diwan Singh‟s strange

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nursery. He was growing saplings. Not the baby pines which sprang up themselves
in the rains, but shoots of oak and deodar - the native trees of the hills. Diwan Singh
told Saruli, „When I was a boy this was a forest of oak and deodar. The British
Government cut them down and planted pines”.
“But, Why?” Saruli had asked.
“Because pine trees can be tapped for resin and resin has many uses. But they
forgot that oaks bring rain and trap the water. Pines dry out the land”.

np
It was a holiday for school. Sarulli took her cow to graze in the forest. The
sight of the fallen trees-trunks was depressing. Many of the other village children
were there too, with their goats and cows. “Come and play hide and seek!” Jaman
called. But Saruli shook her head. She sat on a rock, thinking and thinking. How
could they save their forest? e/t
“What is the matte7r?” Jaman asked after a while.
“I am scared,” she replied, after a short pause. “Suppose another storm comes along
and all the trees are blown down. What will we do then?”
“The contractors pay money to the Forest Department to tap the trees. They

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are allowed to do it,” said Jaman in a low voice.
/t.m
But Saruli was rushing to the nearest pine tree. These she found several gashes
which had gone dry. At the end of one, there was a conical tin cup, into which the
sticky resin fell, drop by drop. She wrenched off the tin cup and threw it away. “That
is what we can do!” She cried triumphantly. Jaman put some clay to seal the gashes.
The other children gathered around curiously. Saruli cried excitedly. “Come
on, help to save our forest!”
She raced around pulling the tin cups off the trees. And Jaman followed with
the clay. The others joined in enthusiastically.
s:/

A week passed. The little group managed to remove the tin containers from a
large portion of the jungle. Then, one morning, four men entered the forest to
collect resin. Saruli‟s heart thudded suddenly. The showdown had come. But she
had to stay calm. She could hear their muttered exclamations of surprise which
turned into anger to find the trees devoid of the resin containers.
p

Finally, they came up to the children who were swarming up around a tree.
“Do you know who has done this?” one of the men demanded. Saruli had seen him
around. He was called Lal Singh.
htt

The children looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Then Saruli
jumped down from the kafal tree. “We did it,” she said.
“Wha-at?” the man seemed unable to understand.
“Yes , “Saruli said quietly. “We threw away the containers”.

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“You brats! How dare you!” Lal Singh exploded. His companions swore and
muttered angrily. “Now we will have to put them again,” Lal Singh continued.
“Don‟t you dare touch the trees now?”
He produced a chisel-like tool and began to scrape off the mud plaster the
children had applied.
“Stop!” Saruli cried, hurling herself at him. He pushed her aside roughly but Jaman
and Jaman and the others joined in too.

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“Run, Radha!” Saruli cried. „Get help from the village. We have got to save the
forest!‟
Radha ran fast. But the taller man caught up quickly. He was about to grab her.
Suddenly, a jeep jerked to an abrupt halt. “What is going on?” a voice spoke from
inside. e/t
Lal Singh sprang forward eagerly. Jaman followed. Then his eye fell on what was
written on the number plate. “The D.F.O. Sir!” he muttered nervously.
The District Forest Officer jumped out of the jeep. One of the men had Radha by
the arm was gesticulating and pointing to the trees. Radha looked terrified!

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“What is the meaning of all this?” the D.F.O. asked
“She is the ring leader,” Lal Singh said accusingly.
/t.m

“Sir, we are only trying to save our forest!” Saruli said vehemently.
Taken aback by Saruli‟s impassioned outburst, the D.F.O. followed her to the edge
of the forest. He stared at the fallen tree-trunks and frowned. „It is the resin-
tapping, Sir, “Saruli repeated. „If all the trees fall down, what will we do?. But the
D.F.O. was lost in thought. “I shall have to think about it, „he said finally. „Our
job is to preserve the forests. Tell your contractor to talk to me”. Lal Singh‟s eyes
almost fell out with shock, but the children clapped gleefully. The D.F.O. got into his
jeep and drove away. A month went by. The resin-tappers did not come again and
s:/

the children continued to remove the containers. They had almost finished when
the first monsoon showers came down. That evening when Saruli went home,
Diwan Singh called out to her, „Giri, the rains have come. “Let‟s plant the
deodhars.”
She smiled happy up at him. Just then, they saw a familiar jeep. “D.F.O. Sir!”
p

said Diwan Singh.

The D.F.O. got off the jeep and smiled at Saruli. “Keep it up,” he patted her
htt

back. “The resin tappers will not trouble you again”.

“Thank you, Sir, thank you!” chanted a chorus of voices. The jeep sped down
the road. A breeze rustled through the trees making them sound like a distant
waterfall. Saruli signed happily. They would continue to hear that sound. They had
achieved their goal. They had saved the forest. Nothing would destroy their forest
now.
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DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM - VISION FOR THE NATION

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(REFER MOTIVATIONAL ESSAYS)

INDRA ANANTHA KRISHNA- THE NEEM TREE

There are many kinds of dreaming. is there a difference between dreaming during
the day, and at night? Yes, there is! Discuss this!
In preparation
The Neem Tree is called Azadirachta Indica, and is a wonder tree. In Mecca,

np
in a place called Arafat, a nature lover and follower of Mohammed Nabi planted
50,000 saplings of neem to benefit and bestow shaded to the millions of pilgrims
who come to the Holy City on pilgrimage! The month of April was warm and
summer had just set in; the Neem tree was in bloom. Malar gazed through the
window at the neem tree and totally forgot herself. The tree was so beautiful
e/t
Suddenly. The teacher‟s harsh voice thundered. „Malar! I‟ve called your name twice
already and you‟ve not answered.” Her thoughts swung back to the classroom.
„Yes, teacher”, said Malar.
“Malar! You will never learn anything if you keep on dreaming in the class,”

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remarked her teacher. Malar stood up silently, her head down.
/t.m
“Sit down,” said the teacher and continued the lesson.
“It isn‟t true,” said Malar to herself as she sat down. „I do try to pay attention,
but I don‟t think dreaming is bad.” She swallowed a lump in her throat and began to
pay attention to the lesson. At the end of the class the teacher announced, “Before
we close for summer, we will entertain curselves as we usually do, with a song,
dance and drama show.” The children clapped their hands joyfully.
“Who‟d like to participate?” asked the teacher. A few enthusiastic hands went
up.
s:/

“Malar? You too….?” asked the teacher, raising her eyebrows. Malar nodded, her
right hand raised high.
Her grandmother‟s words echoed in her ears, “Keep your flag flying high. You
will do well!”
“What would you like to do, Malar? asked the teacher doubtfully. Malar answered
p

promptly.
“Act in a play?”
“Well…I must see where we can fit you in”, said the teacher, her voice still ringing
htt

with doubt.
“Or…or…dance.”
The girls giggled. One of them said, „She will start day dreaming on the stage, too!”
„We‟ll see about that,‟ replied the teacher evasively. The bell rang. It was
break time and the class dispersed. Malar and Nila ran out hand in hand. They ran
to the row of trees that provided shade for the children. They ran in and out of the
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row of trees. Malar loved the white flowers of the neem tree. She thought that the
green leaves of the neem tree were dotied like pearls by the tiny followers of the
neem trees. Suddenly, Nilla stopped running and pointed up to one of the trees.
“Look Malar,” she said. Malar gazed. “Strange, isn‟t it?” she said after a
moment. “There are marks on this tree.” Malar nodded wordlessly.
There were a few red marks on the neem tree.
The girls continued to run and play.

np
„Malar, are you really going to participate I our class dance? asked Nila.
“Why not”? Malar replied briefly.
“But you must remember all the steps,” said Nila.
“Yes, I will,” said Malar. Her eyes glistened and she controlled her tears
silently. „I need help to do that,” she thought to do that,” she thought to herself. “But
e/t
I don‟t know from whom I can get it!”
The following day, the teacher put down Malar‟s name for group dancing. She
called Malar to her side and said,” You must carefully follow the dance teacher‟s
instructions and do exactly what she tells you to do.”

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Malar was elated and decided to give her best. During the dance practice, the
teacher tought the girls to stand in a circle and move inward and outward in step
/t.m

with the music. The movements were easy and the girls danced joyfully. Malar was
very happy. The tampo gradually increased. Suddenly, the teacher cried, “Stop!
please stop!” The girls froze. „Malar has fallen out of step. Start all over again”Malar
looked around in dismay. The girls frowned and looked angrily at Malar her
confidence had gone. She made may mistakes. Each time Malar made a mistake, the
teacher made the whole group do the dance again. As the girls dispersed, the dance
teacher called Malar and said, “I think you should ask your teacher to give you some
other role”. Why, teacher?” Malar asked, hurt and annoyed. She had tried so hard!
s:/

“Never mind. I will talk to your class teacher,” said the dance teacher and
went away. Malar did not move. She stared vacantly and “Come on, let‟s go. Don‟t
worry…” before Nila could finish Malar voiced. “I‟m not good at anything, am I?”
She bit her lower lip. Nila smiled at Malar, and both of them went hand in hand
towards their classroom. On the way they stopped near the row of trees. There were
p

men standing near the marked neem tree. The girls overheard their conversation.
“Principal Madam wants this tree to be cut,” said one of the men.
htt

“Why?” enquired Malar, anxiously.

“We are going to bulled a new tollet here,” he replied.
“N…oooo, You can‟t cut the tree….”,
she cried and put her hands around the tree.
“Principal‟s orders”, said one of them. he felt sorry for Malar.

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„Oh!” Malar sighed sadly. She forgot to go to her class teacher. She took Nila

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along and rushed to the Principal‟s office. She pleaded with the Principal and
requested her not to cut down a living tree.
“It needs to be cut, child,” the Principal explained, “We need more tollets.”
“Why don‟t we choose some other place?” Malar asked. The Principal looked
thoughtfully at Malar. “I appreciate your love for the tree,” she said. She agreed to
keep the tree for some more time. Malar was overjoyed. The next day, the class
teacher summoned Malar and told her, “I‟will give you the role of the curtain

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raise!”. The class laughed.
“What‟s that? asked Malar, puzzied.
The teacher smiled and said, „Backstage, you‟ll have to pull the curtains at the
start of each item, and draw them at the close of the item”. That means the
audiences is not going to see me?” asked Malar. The teacher nodded. Malar‟s face
e/t
fell.
This is the best I can do for you, now, Malar,‟ the teacher replied. “In this way
you need not fear about any wrong movements on the stage. But you have to be
alert and pull the curtain strings in the right way at the right time. Please don‟t start

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dreaming. “Malar suppressed her tears and said.
/t.m
“Teacher, may I be given another chance?”
“There is no time. Please don‟t argue.”
Malar went home sadly. Her grandmother had made her favourite bajjis for
tiffin. „What role are you going to play?‟ she asked eagerly. Malar ran and hugged
her, and told her everything.
Remember what I have told you. Keep your flag flying high. Don‟t give up,”
she said.
The next day, when Malar went to her class she saw her teacher talking to the
s:/

Principal about the cultural programme. “Come, Malar!”said the Principal kindly.
What are you going to do for the Cultural Programme?” she asked. Malar started
crying. She remembered her grandmother‟s words. She looked at her teacher.
“Please give me another chance to dance,” she said.
“She is not able to cope with the steps, Ma‟am, said the class teacher.
p

Something burst inside Malar. “I can cope up,” she said. “Just because I take time,
doesn‟t mean that I am unifit.” Malar looked through the window at the neem tree.
“I am like the tree,” “I am like the tree,” she said. “Can I not be helped to be part of
htt

the dance? Why must I be removed?”

The Principal understood. “Of course you can be part of the dance,” she said.
“Do help her,” she told the teacher.
The teacher agreed.
„And here‟s some good news for you. added the Principal. “We have chosen
another place to build the toilets. Your tree will survive.” Malar‟s grandmother came
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to the cultural show. When the show was over, there was loud applause. All the
participants were congratulated.
The teacher told Malar‟s grandmother, “Malar gave her the best. If she hadn‟t
played her part well, the entire show would have been a mess.” Malar‟s face was
flushed. She was so happy!
The following day was the last day of school. Classrooms were cleaned and
locked. All the students bid farewell to one another and began to leave. For a long

np
time, Malar stood looking at the neem tree. She would not be seeing it for a couple
of months. The blossoms were bewitching.
Suddenly, Malar felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round and saw the
Principal smiling at her. “Beautiful, aren‟t they?” she asked. “You are a bright,
beautiful blossom too. Remember, Malar, You‟re a winner - we can all be winners.
e/t
Nobody has to lose the race.” The Principal patted Malar‟s cheeks and said, “Happy
holidays, girl”.
LAKSHMI MUKUNTAN- THE ANT EATER AND THE DASSIE

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Have you ever felt said when your efforts do not and up successfully? Do you
sit and brood over it? Have you ever pondered on how you could use your own
/t.m

strengths to be successful? Be smart like the Pangolin. Discover and use your own
strengths!
Tendai was helping his Grandmother to cook lunch outdoors. He was waiting
eagerly to eat the tasty sedza (maize grain) and stew when on their small radio they
heard the news bulletin. One news item was about some African farmers who had
caught a scaly ant eater in their farmlands. They travelled in a group and presented
it to the President of Zimbabwe as a token of respect. The President then sent the
creature to the National Park where it was safely released into its natural world
s:/

again.
Grandmother told Tendai that scaly anteaters were never harmed because
they were symbols of good luck. While they sat eating their lunch, she narrated to
Tendai an amusing anteater tale.
Ascaly anteater once lived near the Limpopo river, which flows at the border
p

between Zimbabwe and its Southern neighbour, South Africa. Pangolin and little
Dassie were friends and together explored the bush, and tried to find interesting
htt

ways of challenging each other with new games and races.

They had a lot of fun together. Dassie would take his friend to visit his colony
and Pangolin admired the intricate burrows and network of pathways built between
the rocks made by them.
On each of Pangolin‟s visits, Dassie had observed that it was difficult for his
heavy friend to climb up and down among the rocks and pathways. He himself was
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small and sleek and able to run along easily. One day he had a splendid idea. He

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decided to ask Pangolin to race against him down one of the paths. He smiled a wily
smile to himself because he felt quite sure that he would win!
He called out to his friend, “I have a good idea for a new race. Let us climb to
the top of the kopje and run down the main path that goes straight down. The one
who can reach level ground first will be the winner”. Pangolin cheerfully agreed
since he loved to compete. whether he won or lost.
Together they climbed to the very top of the kopje. Dassie‟s beady eyes shone

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eagerly as he drew a line in the clay at the beginning of the path. They took positions
at the starting line, counted to three and set off, running as fast as the could. Little
Dassie soon drew ahead because this was the most familiar of paths to him. He
could also run faster than pangolin who had to carry all his heavy, clattering scales
along. When they reached level ground, Dassie was the winner by a clear distance.
e/t
Pangolin came up puffing and panting, but happily hailed Dassie as the winner. The
two friends then had a good laugh together over the day‟s contest. The next day,
Pangolin returned to visit his friend and Dassie challenged him to the downhill race
again. Pangolin agreed.

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But this time the scaly one had a special gleam in his eye which Dassie did not
/t.m
notice. After the third count, they started racing down the slope to the ground once
more. Dassie ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Suddenly he was wondering
what was rolling quickly past him now? He was being overtaken by a scaly ball,
carried swiftly down the slope by its own weight. It reached the plain log before he
did, quite unhurt by the bumps along the
He could hardly believe his eyes. Dassie was very confused because he could
not really understand what had happened. He reached the finishing point and then
watched the ball unrolling itself.
s:/

Pangolin straightened himself and got onto all fours again. He laughed
delightedly as he carefully smoothed his scales back in place with his long claws.
Dassie looked on in amazement and asked, “How did you ever think of doing such a
clever and unusual thing? The scaly anteater explained,” After I lost the race
yesterday, I remembered my father‟s advice. He always said that there is more than
p

one way to do a thing. Last night, I thought very hard and realized that even if I
could not run as fast as you, maybe I could try curling up and rolling down faster.
As you can see, the new idea worked very well and I am the winner today!‟
htt

DR. NEERAJA RAGHAVAN - THE SUN BEAM

Is the rock really hard? Is the water really soft? What moves? What stays still?
These are the questions a young butterfly asks. In this fascinating excerpt, the
butterfly, talks to the sunbeam.
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It grew darker as the butterfly flew into the thick forest, for the tall and leafy
trees, formed a canopy above the ground, and there were only a few brightly lit
spots. The fresh smell of the leaves and the crackle of the wind as it blew through
the trees made the butterfly feel like humming a song.
Whom should it talk to here? Oh, what was that?
A broad shaft of sunlight came slanting down through the branches of the
tree. The butterfly could see lots of tiny particles dancing inside the beam. They

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looked happy!
“Hello, sunbeam! Whom are you bringing dancing down?” asked the butterfly to the
sunbeam.
“Why, I simply move along without bringing or taking anybody. What you see
are dancing dust particles. They are everywhere. It is just that you can‟t see them
e/t
unless there is a beam like me, „the sunbeam answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“But what makes them dance? Why can‟t they be still?” asked the butterfly.
“The entire universe is one big dance. What looks still may not really be so. Do you
think the rocks are still just because you can‟t see them move?

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There are dancing atoms and whirling particles inside them which never stop
moving. These dust particles are visible to the eye because they are large. But the
/t.m

world is incredibly vibrant. Not all know this, because they can‟t see the movement.”
“Does that mean that there are dancing atoms in that solid rock over there which
looks so heavy and still?” asked the butterfly, puzzled.
“Indeed, there are dancing atoms inside all matter. The entire universe is
made up of atoms and molecules which have in them constantly whirling particles.
IN that sense, nothing is static. The very earth that you live on is whirling through
space and spinning on its own axis. Planets in outer space are revolving
continuously around the sun. Everything is charged with energy,” said the sunbeam.
s:/

Looking at the sunbeam, that was not at all difficult for the butterfly to
imagine.
“But what makes these planets and atoms move? How come they never get tired
and stop moving?” asked the butterfly.
“The energy of the cosmos is eternal, and can never be destroyed. It is this
p

energy which goes into making me so bright, and it is this energy which, in a
different form, allows atoms to remain in motion in that rock,” said the sunbeam.
htt

“That means energy takes different forms,” said the butterfly, thinking hard.
“Yes, energy takes many, many forms, It is light energy that allows you to see
things, and causes things to shine. It is the heat energy that warms you up. The
energy of a fast-flowing river can be used to make yet another form of energy-
electricity. But the sum total of all the energy in the universe is constant. It cannot
be made more, it cannot be made less. It has always stayed the same, and it will
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always remain the same. Now do you see that everything has to be linked to

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everything else?
For all events that happen in the universe require energy, and there is a fixed
amount of energy in the universe. Somebody has to give, for the other to take. If you
fold your wings, you use energy from the same source that I draw upon to
shine!”The butterfly was silent. It seemed that the entire universe was dancing in
step with itself! Surely, the dance of the atoms in the rock was connected in some
way to the flight of the butterfly?

np
The butterfly began to feel more and more a part of what was around it.

e/t
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p s:/
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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Drama Famous Lines, Characters and Quotes

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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DRAMA FAMOUS LINES,
CHARACTERS AND QUOTES

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From Julius Caesar - The Merchant of Venice
e/t
MERCHANT OF VENICE(ACT IV COURT SCENE)
- William Shakespeare
(The Plot)
Antonio, a merchant of Venice, and Bassanio are very close friends. Bassanio needs

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money to marry a wealthy lady in Belmont named Portia. He borrows money from a
cunning, Jewish moneylender called Shylock. Shylock lends him a heavy sum but
/t.m

makes Antonio sign a bond that if the money is not repaid within three months, he
would cut a pound of flesh from Antonio‟s body. Meanwhile, Portia, who has to face
many suitors, waits for the arrival of her beloved, Bassanio. Before he died, Portia‟s
father, realising her difficulty in choosing the right man, had left a test for her
suitors. Each man was to be presented with three caskets, of gold, silver and lead.
Inside one of them was Portia‟s picture, and whoever chose this casket would
become her husband. The Prince of Morocco chooses the gold casket but finds
inside it a skull and a warning. The Prince of Aragon chooses the silver casket and
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finds the portrait of an idiot and another warning. Bassanio chooses the lead casket,
the one with Portia‟s picture, and claims her as his wife. And his friend Gratiano
marries Nerissa, Portia‟s maid.
As the merry-making commences, there comes a letter from Antonio. His
ships are lost at sea, and hence unable to pay his debt, he has to keep his word with
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Shylock, and offer him a pound of his flesh. Portia offers money but Shylock insists
on a pound of Antonio‟s flesh as mentioned in the bond. When their husbands leave
htt

for Venice, Portia and Nerissa too follow them in disguise. Portia disguises herself
as a (male) lawyer with Nerrisa as her clerk. Portia leaves her house in the care of
Jessica, Shylock‟s daughter who has left her father and married Lorenzo. All the
great men of Venice gather at the Duke‟s court but Shylock is unmoved by their
arguments. He feels that the law is on his side and demands justice according to the
bond. Portia enters the court and changes the entire nature of the argument. She
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Portia wins the battle of wits and Shylock is forced to leave the courtroom in
defeat. Thanks to the brilliance of Portia‟s reasoning, the misfortunes of Antonio,
the merchant of Venice, are finally ended, and the married couples are ready for a
life of happiness.
Note: The following is an extract from the court scene, Act IV.
Place: The court of justice in Venice.
Enter Portia, dressed like a doctor of laws.

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DUKE : You are welcome: take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
PORTIA : I am informed thoroughly of the cause.
Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
e/t
DUKE : Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.
PORTIA : Is your name Shylock?
SHYLOCK : Shylock is my name.
PORTIA : Of a strange nature is the suit you follow;

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Yet in such rule, that the Venetian law
/t.m
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.
(To Antonio) You stand within his danger, do you not?
ANTONIO : Ay, so he says.
PORTIA : Do you confess the bond?
ANTONIO : I do.
PORTIA : Then must the Jew be merciful.
SHYLOCK : On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
PORTIA : The quality of mercy is not strain‟d
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It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice
blessed: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: „Tis mightiest in the
mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of
temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and
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fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway, It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an
attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God‟s When
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mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, Though justice be thy plea, consider this
That, in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation; we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render. The deeds of mercy. I have spoke
thus much To mitigate the justice of thy plea, Which if thou follow, this strict court
of Venice Must needs give sentence ‟gainst the merchant there.

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SHYLOCK : My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
PORTIA : Is he not able to discharge the money?
BASSANIO : Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum, if that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o‟er,
…………………………………………………

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PORTIA : I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
SHYLOCK : Here ‟tis, most reverend Doctor, here it is.
PORTIA : Shylock, there‟s thrice thy money offer‟d thee.
……………………………………………………..
PORTIA : Why, this bond is forfeit;
e/t
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant‟s heart. Be merciful.
Take thrice the money; bid me tear the bond.

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SHYLOCK : There is no power in the tongue of man
/t.m
To alter me. I stay here on my bond.
ANTONIO : Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
PORTIA : Why then, thus it is:
You must prepare your bosom for his knife.
SHYLOCK : O noble judge! O excellent young man!
………………………………….

PORTIA : Therefore, lay bare your bosom.

s:/

SHYLOCK : Ay, his breast -

So says the bond: doth it not, noble judge?
“Nearest his heart;” those are the very words.
PORTIA : It is so. Are there balance here to weigh The flesh?
SHYLOCK : I have them ready.
p

PORTIA : Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your Charge,

To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
htt

SHYLOCK : Is it so nominated in the bond?

PORTIA : It is not so express‟d, but what of that?
„Twere good you do so much for charity.
SHYLOCK : I cannot find it; ‟tis not in the bond.
……………………………………..

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PORTIA : A pound of that same merchant‟s flesh is thine.
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
SHYLOCK : Most rightful judge!
PORTIA : And you must cut this flesh from off his breast.
The law allows it, and the court awards it.
SHYLOCK : Most learned judge! A sentence! Come, prepare.
PORTIA : Tarry a little; there is something else.

np
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words expressly are “a pound of flesh:”
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
e/t
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.
……………………………………………..

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SHYLOCK : Is that the law?
/t.m
PORTIA : Thyself shalt see the act;
For, as thou urgest justice, be assured
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir‟st.
……………………………………………….

SHYLOCK : I take this offer then: pay the bond thrice,

And let the Christian go.
BASSANIO : Here is the money
PORTIA : Soft!
s:/

The Jew shall have all justice. Soft! No haste:

He shall have nothing but the penalty.
Glossary:
 difference : dispute
 Jew: A race who presently live in Israel. During Shakespeare‟s times, the Jews
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were ruthless moneylenders and were hated by the Christians. They hated the
Christians too.
htt

 stand forth: come forward strange nature: unusual because he demands a

pound of flesh even when he is offered ten times the original sum of money
impugn: oppose or resist ay: yes
 His sceptre . . .. . . fear of kings : The king‟s sceptre (royal staff) is a symbol of
his earthly power and he is feared.

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 But mercy. . . . .God himself : But mercy is above this earthly power. It resides
in the hearts of kings and is an attribute of God.
 And earthly power. . seasons justice : Earthly power is revealed like God‟s
power when justice is tempered with mercy.
seasons: tempers, strengthens in the course of justice : if strict justice were to
take its course mitigate: lessen
 I crave the law : I pray for what the law entitles me to. . .

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 forfeit: give up as penalty for doing
 something wrong suffice: be sufficient
 beseech: earnestly ask for nominated : mentioned
 tarry: wait expressly : directly shown
 confiscate: take or seize soft: wait
e/t
JULIUS CAESAR
(From Act III Scene 2)
Introduction

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The play opens with Julius Caesar‟s victorious return to Rome after defeating the
/t.m
sons of Pompey. While people rejoice, there is a group which fears that all these
victories would get into Caesar‟s head and he would cease to be democratic. Cassius,
Brutus and others plot to kill Caesar. A soothsayer (astrologer) warns Caesar about
the “ides of March”. Calphurnia, Caesar‟s wife, forbids him from going to the Senate
House as she has had bad dreams. Decius Brutus, one of the conspirators, convinces
Caesar to come to the Senate House. At the Senate House, the conspirators
surround Caesar. Casca is the first to stab him. Caesar is shocked when he sees his
friend Marcus Brutus with a sword. With an anguished cry of Et tu, Brute? (You too
Brutus) he dies. Mark Antony, Caesar‟s trusted friend, meets the murderers and
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requests them to allow him to take Caesar‟s body to the market place. Marcus
Brutus agrees, but warns Antony not to blame them in his funeral speech. In Act III
Scene 2, Brutus justifies the murder of Caesar. But Mark Antony, with his
eloquence, wins the public over to his side. The result is that a riot breaks out and
people are moved to a frenzy to avenge the murder of Caesar. Cassius and Brutus
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flee Rome, and Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Amelius Lepidus become the
„triumvirs‟. At the battle of Philippi, the forces of Cassius and Marcus Brutus are
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defeated, and true to his word, Brutus kills himself with his sword. Note: This
extract is known for the funeral orations of Brutus and Mark Antony.
Brutus: Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my
cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine onour, and have
respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and
awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly,
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any dear friend of Caesar‟s, to him I say that Brutus‟ love to Caesar was no less than
his. If, then, that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my
answer,—not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather
Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free
men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he
was valiant, I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for
his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who

np
is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.
Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I
offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him
have I
offended. I pause for a reply. Citizens. None, Brutus, none. Brutus. Then none have
e/t
I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus.
…………………………………………………………
Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR‟S body Here comes his body, mourned
by Mark Antony, who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit

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of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this I
/t.m
depart,—that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger
for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.
……………………………………………………………
Antony. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar,
not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred
with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar
was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault; And grievously hath Caesar
answer‟d it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, For Brutus is an honourable
man; So are they all; all honourable men, Come I to speak in Caesar‟s funeral. He
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was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Brutus says he was ambitious; And
Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of
sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honourable man.
p

You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he
did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; And, sure,
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he is an honourable man. speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, But here I am
to speak what I do know. You all did love him once,—not without cause: What cause
withholds you, then, to mourn for him? judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason!—Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with
Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me.
First Citizen. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
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Second Citizen. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong.
Third Citizen. Has he, masters? I fear there will a worse come in his place.
Fourth Citizen. Mark‟d ye his words? He would not take the crown; Therefore ‟tis
certain he was not ambitious.
First Citizen. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
Second Citizen. Poor soul! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
Third Citizen. There‟s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.

np
Fourth Citizen. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. Antony. But yesterday the
word of Caesar might Have stood against the world: now lies he there, And none so
poor to do him reverence. O masters, if I were dispos‟d to stir Your hearts and
minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, Who, you
all know, are honourable men: I will not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong
e/t
the dead, to wrong myself, and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But
here‟s a parchment with the seal of Caesar; I found it in his closet,—‟tis his will: Let
but the commons hear this testament,—
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, And they would go and kiss dead Caesar‟s

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wounds, And dip their napkins in his sacred blood; Yea, beg a hair of him for
/t.m
memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.
…………………………………………………………..
Antony. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle: I
remember The first time ever Caesar put it on; ‟Twas on a summer‟s evening, in his
tent, That day he overcame the Nervii:— Look, in this place ran Cassius‟ dagger
through: See what a rent the envious Casca made: Through this the well-beloved
Brutus stabb‟d; And, as he pluck‟d his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of
Caesar follow‟d it, As rushing out of doors, to be resolv‟d If Brutus so unkindly
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knock‟d, or no; For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar‟s angel: Judge, O you gods,
how dearly Caesar lov‟d him! This was the most unkindest cut of all; For when the
noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors‟ arms, Quite
vanquished him: then burst his mighty heart; And, in his mantle muffling up his
face, Even at the base of Pompey‟s statue, Which all the while ran blood, great
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Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!

Antony. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
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To such a sudden flood of mutiny:

…………………………………………………………..
I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love
my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him:
For I have neither wit, not words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of
speech, To stir men‟s blood: I only speak right on; I tell you that which you
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yourselves do know; Show you sweet Caesar‟s wounds, poor poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an
Antony Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar,
that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.

Glossary (line numbers are given for easy reference

 lovers : close friends

np
 censure : judge
 senses : reason (Brutus appeals to the head and not to the heart, as Antony
does)
 valiant : very brave and determined
 slew : killed e/t
 base : depraved; mean
 vile : morally base, disgusting I have the same dagger : I will kill myself
(Brutus later dies for myself by his own sword)
 oft : often

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 interred : buried, i.e. let the good qualities of Caesar rest with him in his
/t.m
grave
 grievous fault : serious mistake
 Caesar answer’d it : Caesar paid for it (his mistakes) with his life
 under leave : under permission
 honourable : honest, upright. Notice the repetition of the word in his speech.
From a compliment it turns into a taunt.
 captives : prisoners ransoms : payment for the release of prisoners
 coffers : state treasury
 Ambition should be : an ambitious person made of sterner stuff would be
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strict (but Caesar, points out Mark Antony, was one with the masses)
 Lupercal : Lupercalia—an ancient fertility festival in honour of Pan, the god
of the shepherds
 cause : reason what cause withholds you, : what prevents you from then, to
mourn for him? mourning for Caesar?
p

 O judg’ment! Thou art : men have lost their fled to brutish beasts capacity to
judge and reason methinks : it seems to me (that)
htt

 I fear there will a worse : a person worse than come in his place Caesar
might rule
Mark’d ye his words? : Did you pay attention to his (Antony‟s) words?
 abide it : pay for it (someone will have to pay for Caesar‟s death)
 mark him : listen to him so poor : lowly in rank; even in death the lowly
placed citizen does not honour Caesar mutiny : revolt
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 parchment : animal skin used as writing surface
 his will : Caesar‟s will
 napkins : handkerchiefs bequeathing : leave to a person by a will
 legacy : gift left in a will
 issue : children
 mantle : cloak. Antony displays the bloodstained cloak of Caesar.
 Nervii : The battle of the Sambre, 57 B.C. Caesar defeated the Nervii, a tribe

np
of Gaul.
 By uncovering the body of Caesar and revealing the stab wounds, Antony
plays on the emotions of the crowd and inflames them.
 Cassius and Casca - along with Brutus,Cassius and Casca stabbed Caesar.
 rent : tear; cut (Note: Antony was not there when Caesar was murdered but
e/t
he uses his imagination.)
 pluck’d his cursed steel : pulled out the cursed away sword as : as though
 resolved : informed
 unkindest cut : cruel, unnatural because Caesar loved Brutus and Brutus

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repaid his love by stabbing him. (Pay attention to Shakespeare‟s language—
/t.m
most unkindest cut)
 Ingratitude, : Personification. more strong than traitors’ Ingratitude is
personified arms/ Quite vanquished him here.
 vanquished : defeated
 Then burst his : When Caesar saw Brutus mighty heart/And, in his with the
sword, he did mantle muffling up his face not resist; instead he covered his
face with his mantle.
 Pompey : the Roman general whom Caesar had defeated
 The crowd does not see the iron in Antony‟s speech.
s:/

 wit : intelligence
 worth : reputation. Antony says that he does not have the skills needed for an
orator. to stir men’s blood : to stir up emotions
 poor poor dumb mouths : as the wounds cannot speak Antony expresses
their agony.
p

 ruffle : disturb, upset Antony had all along said that he did not want to incite
the crowd but his eloquent speech does just that.
htt

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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Match the places, poet, dramatist, painter with suitable option

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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MATCH THE PLACES, POET,

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DRAMATIST, PAINTER WITH
SUITABLE OPTION

np
Golden City Amritsar
Manchester of India Ahmedabad
City of seven islands Mumbai
e/t
Sorrow of Bengal Damodar river
Sorrow of Bihar Kosi River
Blue Mountains Nilgiri

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Queen of Arabian Sear Kochi
/t.m
Space City Bengaluru
Garden City of India Bengaluru
Silicon valley of India Bengaluru
Electronic City of India Bengaluru
Pink City Jaipur
Gateway of India Mumbai
Detroit of India Chennai
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City of festivals Madurai

Deccan Queen Pune
City of Buildings Kolkata
Dakshin Ganga Godavari
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Old Ganga Godavari

Egg bowls of Asia Andhra Pradesh
htt

Soya region Madhya Pradesh

Manchester of the South Coimbatore
City of Nawabs Lucknow
Venice of the east Kochi
Queen of the Mountains Mussoorie (Uttarkhand)
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MATCH THE PLACES, POET, DRAMATIST, PAINTER WITH SUITABLE OPTION

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Sacred river Ganga
Hollywood of India Mumbai
City of Castles Kolkata
State of five rivers Punjab
City of weavers Panipat

np
City of lakes Srinagar
Steel city of India Jamshedpur (called Tatanagar)
City of Temples Varanasi
Manchester of the north Kanpur
e/t
City of Rallies New Delhi
Heaven of India Jammu & Kashmir
Boston of India Ahmedabad
Garden of spices of India Kerala
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Switzerland of India Kashmir
/t.m

Abode of the God Prayag (Allahabad)

Pittsburg of India Jamshedpur

Poets
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan , Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Dr.
Balamuralikrishna, Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Kumar Gandharva, M.S Subbulakshmi,
Tansen, Alka Yagnik, Asha Bhosle, Begum Akhtar Jagjit Singh, Kishore Kumar, K
s:/

L Saigal, Kumar Sanu, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, MukeshMohammed Rafi,

Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan.

Dramatists
Asif Currimbhoy, Girish Karnad , Gurcharan Das, Nissim Ezekiel, Sri
p

Aurobindo, Vijay Tendulkar.

Painters
htt

Abanindranath Tagore, Amrita Shergill, F.N.Souza, Jamini Roy, Jatin Das,

M.F. Hussain, Nandlal Bose ,Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ravi Varma, Satish Gujral ,
S H Raza,Tyeb Mehta

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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Folk Arts

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The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
s:/

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p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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Commissioner,
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e/t
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FOLK ARTS

Folk Painting:
Madhubani paintings of Bihar,

np
Patachitra paintings of Odisha,
Nirmal paintings of Andhra Pradesh.

Folk dances:
 Assam: Ankiya Nat, Kirtania Natak, Ojapali,Bihu
e/t
 Bihar: Bidesia, Senkela Chhau, Jat-Jatni Bidpada, Ramkhelia.
 Gujarat : Bhavai garba .
 Haryana : Swang, Naqqal

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 Himachal Pradesh : Kariyala, Bhagat, Ras Ihanld, Harnatra Haran or
/t.m
Harin.
 Jammu and Kashmir: Bhand Pathar or Bhand lashna, Vetal Dhamali.
 Karnataka: Yakshagana, Bedara Vesha, Dollu Kunitha, Santa, Doddata-
Bayalata, Tala Maddle or Prasang, Dasarata, Radhna.
 Kerala: Kodiyattam, Margam Kali, Mudiattam Therayattam, Chavittu
Nadakam, Chakyar koothu.
 Madhya Pradesh: Maanch, Nacha.
 Maharashtra: Tamasha, Lalit Bharud, Gondha, Dashavatar, Lavni.
s:/

 Odisha: Daskathia, Mayurbhanj Chhau, Mangal Ras, Sowang.

 Punjab: Naqqal, Swang bhangra .
 Rajasthan: Khyal, Rasdhari, Rammat, Turra Kilangi, Gauri, Nautanki,
Ihamtara.
p

 Seemandhra: Veethi Natakam, Burrakatha, lambadi, koya.

 Tamil Nadu: Therukuttu, Veethi Natakam, Bhagwat Mela Natakam,
htt

Kurvaanji, Pagal Vasham, Kavadi Chindu.

 Telangana: Bathukamma
 Uttar Pradesh: Bhagat, Sang-Swang, Naqqual.
 Goa : Dashavatar, Tiyara

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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Author and Characters with Relevant Story Title

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The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

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Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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scg
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e/t
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p s:/
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AUTHOR AND CHARACTERS
WITH RELEVANT STORY TITLE

The Selfish Giant

np
-Oscar Wilde

The giant, his friend the Cornish ogre, children, a little boy

How the Camel got its Hump

e/t -Rudyard Kipling

Horse, camel, dog, ox, man, Djinn - in charge of all deserts

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/t.m
-Anton Chekhov

Ivan Dmitritch, a middle class man and his wife Masha

The Last Leaf

-O’ Henry

Sue and Johnsy- owners of a studio; doctor; Old Behrman- a painter.

s:/

Johnsy - affected by pneumonia

Two Friends
-Guy de Maupassant
p

Monsieur Morissot- a watch maker; Monsieur Sauvage- his fishing companion

Refugee
htt

-Pearl S Buck

An old man who is a refugee, and is grandson, other refugees, the noodles vendor

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AUTHOR AND CHARACTERS WITH RELEVANT STORY TITLE

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The Open Window
- Saki

Framton Nuttel; Mrs.Sappleton- the aunt; Ronnie- aunt’s brother; Vera-

Mrs.Sappleton’s niece.

Reflowering

np
-Sundara Ramaswamy
Amma; Ambi; Gomathi- Ambi’s sister; Rowther- Co-worker in Ambi’s father’s
office; Murugan- Co-worker of Rowther

e/t
The Necklace
-Guy de Maupassant

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Mr. Loisel; Matilda- Loisel’s wife; Mme.Forestier/ Jeanne-Matilda’s friend;
/t.m
Minister of Public Instruction; Madame George Ramponneau

Holiday
-Rabindranath Tagore

Phatik Chakrabarti, leader of the gang; Makhanlal - Phatik’s younger brother ;

Bagha Bagdi (a servant); Bishvambhar Babu- Phatik’s uncle; Phatik’s aunt
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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : About the Poets

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
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reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.
p

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
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ABOUT THE POETS

scg
Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta, to Debendranath

np
Tagore and Sarada Devi. At age sixteen, he released his first substantial poems
under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion"). He founded, Visva-Bharati
University. He became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1913 for his “Gitanjali”. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national
e/t
anthems: India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
He (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and
educator. Longfellow was born to Stephen Longfellow and Zilpah (Wadsworth)
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Longfellow in Portland, Maine.
/t.m
Annie Louisa Walker
She was born to Robert and Anna Walker on 23 June 1836 in Staffordshire,
England. She published an anonymous collection of poems entitled “Leaves from
the backwoods” in 1861.
V.K.Gokak
Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (1909–1992) was a major writer in the Kannada
language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was the fifth writer
s:/

to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 1990 for Kannada language, for his epic
Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi. In 1961, Gokak was awarded the Padmashree from the
Government of India for Dyava Prithvi.
His works:
 Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi
p

 Samarasave Jeevana - Ijjodu Mattu Erilita (vol 1)

 Samarasave Jeevana - Samudrayana Mattu Nirvahana (vol 2)
htt

 Urnanaabha
 Abyudaya
 Baaladeguladalli
 Dhyava Pruthvi (Kannada Saahithya Academy Award)
 Samudra Geethegalu
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ABOUT THE POETS

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 English words
 Sahitya Vimarsheya Kelavu Tatvagalu
 Nanna Jeevana Drishti
 Jeevana Paatagalu
 Kala Siddhantha
 India & World Culture

np
 Gokak Kruthi Chintana
 Dyava Pruthivi
Walt Whitman
He was an American poet, essayist and journalist. Walt Whitman has been
claimed as America's first "poet of democracy",
e/t
His works:
Franklin Evans (1842)

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Leaves of Grass (1855)
Drum-Taps (1865)
/t.m

Memoranda During the War

Specimen Days
Democratic Vistas (1871)

Douglas Malloch
He was an American poet, and short-story writer. He was known as a
"Lumberman'spoet"
s:/

His works:
In Forest Land (1906)
The Woods (1913 )
p

Tote-Road and Trail: Ballads of the Lumberjack (1917)

Come on Home (1923)
Someone to Care (1925)
htt

The Heart Content (1927)

Live Life Today (1938)

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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : About the Dramatists

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The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
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scg
np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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ABOUT THE DRAMATISTS

scg
[

William Shakespeare

np
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet,
playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language
.He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" .William
e/t
Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden.
The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets appeared in 1609. There
are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets include the

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destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangular love and the
/t.m
analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted that apart from these 154
sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The
Rape of Lucrece’.

Thomas Hardy
s:/

Thomas Hardy, (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and
poet. He was born in Higher Bockhampton, England to Thomas and Jemima.

His works:
p

The Poor Man and the Lady (1867, unpublished and lost)
Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School (1872)
htt

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)

The Return of the Native (1878)
The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character (1886)
The Woodlanders (1887)
Wessex Tales (1888, a collection of short stories)
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ABOUT THE DRAMATISTS

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891)
Life's Little Ironies (1894, a collection of short stories)
Jude the Obscure (1895)
A Pair of Blue Eyes: A Novel (1873)
The Trumpet-Major (1880)

np
Two on a Tower: A Romance (1882)
A Group of Noble Dames (1891, a collection of short stories)
The Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament (1897)
e/t
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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

JOIN https://t.me/tnpscgs
Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Poem and Lines

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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Commissioner,
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POEM AND LINES

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[

POEM
POEM AND
AND LINES
LINES

GRANNY, GRANNY, PLEASE COMB MY HAIR

np
Granny granny,
Please comb my hair
You always take your time
You always take such care

You make me sit on a cushion

Between your knees
e/t
You rub a little coconut oil

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Parting my hair as gentle as a breeze
/t.m
Mummy mummy
She‟s always in a hurry-hurry
She pulls my hair
Sometimes she tugs

But granny…
You have all the time in the world
And when you‟ve finished
s:/

You always turn my head and say

„Now who‟s a nice girl?‟
- Grace Nichols
p
htt

WITH A FRIEND
With a Friend
I can talk with a friend
And walk with a friend
And share my umbrella
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POEM AND LINES

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I can play with a friend
And stay with a friend
And learn with a friend
And explain
I can eat with a friend
And compete with a friend

np
And even sometimes
Disagree
I can ride with a friend
And take pride with a friend
A friend can mean e/t
So much to me!
- Vivian Gould

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To Cook and eat
TO COOK AND EAT
/t.m

Is an art
Yet a part
of everyday life.
We take it for granted
not knowing
not caring
that others.
s:/

May not have this thing

which we soo foolishly
waste.
- Emma Richards
p

TO INDIA-MY NATIVE LAND

My country! In thy days of glory past
htt

A beauteous halo circled round thy brow

and worshipped as a deity thou wast—
Where is thy glory, where the reverence now?
Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last,
And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou,
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POEM AND LINES

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Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee
Save the sad story of thy misery!
Well—let me dive into the depths of time
And bring from out the ages, that have rolled
A few small fragments of these wrecks sublime
Which human eye may never more behold

np
And let the guerdon of my labour be,
My fallen country! One kind wish for thee!
-Henry Louis Vivian Derozio
A TIGER IN THE ZOO
He stalks in his vivid stripes e/t
The few steps of his cage
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage

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He should be lusking in shadow
Sliding through long grass
/t.m

Near the water hole

Where plump deer pass.
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle‟s edge
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorizing the village!
But he‟s locked in a concrete cell
s:/

His strength behind bars,

Stalking the length of his cage
Ignoring visitors.
He hears the last voice at night,
p

The patrolling cars,

And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
htt

- Leslie Norris

NO MEN ARE FOREIGN

Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
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POEM AND LINES

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Like ours; the land our brothers walk upon
Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie.
They too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war‟s long winters starv‟d
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own

np
Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love, In every land is common life
That all can recognize and understand.
let us remember, whenever, we are told
e/t
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn
Remember, we who take arms against each other.

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It is the human earth that we defile,
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
/t.m

Of air that is everywhere our own.

Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.
- James Kirkup

LAUGH AND BE MERRY

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a son,
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong:
s:/

Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread and the length of a span
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.
Laugh and be meery: remember, in olden time
God made Heaven and Earth for joy he took in a rhyme,
p

Made them and filled them full with the strong red wine of His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.
htt

So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,
Join the jubilant song of the greatest stars sweeping by
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine out poured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the lord.
Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,
Guesting a while in the rooms of a beautiful inn,
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POEM AND LINES

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Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends,
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends - John Masefield

THE APOLOGY
Think me not unkind and rude
That I walk alone in grove and glen

np
I go to the god of the wood
To fetch his word to men.
Tax not my sloth that I
Fold my arms beside the brook;
Each cloud that floated in the sky e/t
Writes a letter in my book.
Chide me not, laborious band
For the idle flowers I brought;

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Every aster in my hand
Goes home loaded with a thought.
/t.m

There was never mystery

But it is figured in the flowers;
Was never secret history
But birds tell it is the bowers.
One harvest from thy field
Homeward brought the Oxen strong
A second crop thine acres yield,
s:/

Which I gather in a song.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

THE FLYING WONDER

p

Said Orville Wright To Wilbur Wright,

“These birds are very trying,
I‟m sick of hearing them cheep - cheep
htt

about the fun of flying.

A bird has feathers, it is true

That much I freely grant.
But must that stop us, W?”
Said Wilbur Wright, “It shan‟t” https://t.me/tnpscgs
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POEM AND LINES

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And so they built a glider, first,
And then they built another
There never were two brothers more
Devoted to each other -
They run a dustry little shop
For bicycle - repairing,

np
And bought each other soda - pop
And praised each other‟s daring.

They glided here, they glided there,

They sometimes skinned their noses.
For learning how to rule the air
Was not a bed of roses -
e/t
But each would murmur, afterward

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While patching up his bro.
/t.m
“Are we discouraged, W?”
“Of course we are not, O!”

And finally, at kitty Hawk

In Nineteen - Three (Let‟s Cheer it!)
The first real aeroplane really flew
with Orville there to steer it!
And Kingdoms may forge their kings
s:/

And dogs forget their bites

But not till man forgets his wings
Will men forget the wrights.
- Stephen Vincent Benet
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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Works of Authors

 Copyright

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WORKS OF AUTHORS

RABINDRANATH TAGORE

np
Bhānusiṃha Ṭhākurer (Songs of Bhānusiṃha Ṭhākur) 1884
Paḍāvalī
Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat) 1894
Gitanjali (Song Offerings)
e/t 1910
Gitimalya (Wreath of Songs) 1914
Balaka (The Flight of Cranes) 1916
Valmiki-Pratibha (The Genius of Valmiki) 1881

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Visarjan (The Sacrifice) 1890
/t.m

Raja (The King of the Dark Chamber) 1910

Dak Ghar (The Post Office) 1912
Achalayatan (The Immovable) 1912
Muktadhara (The Waterfall) 1922
Raktakaravi (Red Oleanders) 1926
Nastanirh (The Broken Nest) 1901
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Gora (Fair-Faced) 1910

Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) 1916
Yogayog (Crosscurrents) 1929
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Jivansmriti (My Reminiscences) 1912

Chhelebela (My Boyhood Days) 1940
htt

SHAKESPEARE

Histories: Henry VI Part II ,Henry VI Part III ,Henry VI Part, Richard III ,Richard
II ,King John, Henry IV Part I , Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VIII

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WORKS OF AUTHORS

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Tragedies: Titus Andronicus, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello,
King Lear, Macbeth,Antony & Cleopatra,Coriolanus, Timon of Athens.

Comedies: The Comedy of, Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona,
Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merchant of
Venice, Much Ado about Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The
Merry Wives of Windsor, Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well that End’s

np
Well Measure for Measure.
Romances: Pericles, Cymbeline, Winter’s Tale, Tempest.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other e/t Lyrical Ballads, with Other
Poems (1798) Poems (1800)
"Simon Lee" Preface to the Lyrical Ballads
"We are Seven" "She Dwelt among the Untrodden
"Lines Written in Early Spring" Ways"]

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"Expostulation and Reply" "A Slumber Did my Spirit Seal"
/t.m
"The Tables Turned" "Lucy Gray"
"The Thorn" "The Two April Mornings"
"Lines Composed A Few Miles above "The Ruined Cottage"
Tintern Abbey" "Michael"

Poems, in Two Volumes (1807)

"Resolution and Independence" "Composed upon Westminster Bridge,

s:/

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (also September 3, 1802"

known as "Daffodils") "London, 1802
"My Heart Leaps Up" Guide to the Lakes (1810)
"Ode: Intimations of Immortality" " To the Cuckoo "
p

"Ode to Duty" The Excursion (1814)

"The Solitary Reaper" Laodamia (1815, 1845)
"Elegiac Stanzas" The Prelude (1850)
htt

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Hyperion, a Romance (1839) Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (epic
The Spanish Student. A Play in poem) (1847)
Three Acts (1843) The Golden Legend (poem) (1851)
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WORKS OF AUTHORS

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The Song of Hiawatha (epic poem) The Arrow and the Song (poem)
(1855) Voices of the Night (1839)
The New England Tragedies (1868) Ballads and Other Poems (1841)
The Divine Tragedy (1871) Poems on Slavery (1842)
Aftermath (poem) (1873) Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863)

np
Annie Louisa Walker
 A Canadian heroine, 1873.  Oak and maple: English and
 Hollywood, 1875 Canadian verses. This was
 Plays for Children. published under her married name,
 Against her will, 1877 e/t Anna Louisa Coghill
 Two rival lovers, 1881 [  The trial of Mary Broom; a
Staffordshire story, 1894
Oscar Wilde

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Ravenna (1878)
Poems (1881)
The Soul of Man under Socialism
(1891)
/t.m

The Happy Prince and Other Stories Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
(1888) A Woman of No Importance (1893)
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other An Ideal Husband (1898)
Stories (1891) The Importance of Being Earnest
House of Pomegranates (1891) (1898)
Intentions (1891) De Profundis
The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891 The Ballad of Reading Gaol
s:/

Pearl S. Buck
East Wind: West Wind (1930) China Flight (1943)
The Good Earth (1931) The Townsman (1945)
p

Sons (1933) Portrait of a Marriage (1945)

A House Divided (1935) Pavilion of Women (1946)
The Mother (1933) The Angry Wife (1947)
htt

This Proud Heart (1938) Peony (1948)

The Patriot (1939) The Big Wave (1948)
Other Gods (1940) The Long Love (1949)
Dragon Seed (1942) The Bondmaid (1949)
The Promise (1943) God's Men (1951)
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WORKS OF AUTHORS

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The Hidden Flower (1952) The First Wife and Other Stories
Come, My Beloved (1953) (1933)
Voices in the House (1953) "A Certain Star" (1957)
Imperial Woman (1956) Fourteen Stories (1961)
Letter from Peking (1957) Portrait of a Marriage (1961)
Command the Morning (1959) Hearts Come Home and Other Stories

np
The Living Reed (1963) (1962)
Death in the Castle (1965) Escape at Midnight and Other Stories
The Time Is Noon (1966) (1964)
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (1967) The Good Deed (1969)
The New Year (1968) e/t Once Upon a Christmas (1972)
The Three Daughters of Madame East and West Stories (1975)
Liang (1969) Secrets of the Heart: Stories (1976)
Mandala (1970) The Lovers and Other Stories (1977)

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The Goddess Abides (1972)
All Under Heaven (1973)
Mrs. Stoner and the Sea and Other
Stories (1978)
/t.m

The Rainbow (1974) The Woman Who Was Changed and

The Eternal Wonder Other Stories (1979)
Of Men and Women (1941) "Christmas Day in the Morning"
The Child Who Never Grew (1950) "The Refugee"
For Spacious Skies (1966) ″The Enemy"
To My Daughters, With Love (1967) "The Frill"
The Kennedy Women (1970) "The Golden Flower"
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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Theme in the literary works

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
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It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
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THEME IN THE LITERARY
WORKS

Snake

np
The poem is about the poet and his encounter with a snake. The poet is in a
dilemma whether to kill it or not. Finally, he tries to kill the snake but ends up in
vain. He feels for having missed the chance.
The Mark of Vishnu
e/t
This prose piece is about how superstitious belief about a Kala Nag ends up in
the death of Gunga Ram. He considered it as God and fed it. Finally, he dies out of
snakebite.

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/t.m
Govind in order to save money walks a mile for a coconut, though he can get
one coconut for seven rupees in his place. Finally he climbs a tree to get it and ends
up in getting a coconut fora few scratches on his body and a fracture in his leg.
Our local team
Indian youth have become inspired by great cricketers from around the
world- the game of cricket has caught on like wild fire.
Some games unfortunately do not work. Ruskin Bond explains one such game in
s:/

this poem, where a player is declared not out though on L.B.W because the umpire
was the player „s father.

Where the mind is without fear

p

Tagore prays for a world without fear- one world held together by freedom.
He dreams of an ideal world where everyone is truly free and liberated from all
htt

kinds of fetters.

Keep your spirits high

This poem is an adaptation from Hope Spencer. The poem is about how one
must keep his spirits high however worse the situation be at present.
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THEME IN THE LITERARY WORKS

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Poem:
The present seems all deary
The future very grim,
Your problems are perplexing,
Your chances rather slim,
You‟re sick and tired of trying,

np
And your hope is fading,
Ther‟s only one solution-
It‟s “keep your spirits high”.
The way ahead is puzzling, e/t
And clouds obstruct your view,
If this is how you‟re feeling,
There‟s just one thing to do.

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Don‟t prove yourself a quitter
/t.m
Though you‟re feeling sad and bitter,
But grit your teeth and bear it
And keep your spirits high!
Good luck is round the corner
So have a smiling face:
For soon your fears will vanish,
And joy will take their place,
s:/

Look forward to tomorrow

There will be an end to sorrow,
Because you have the courage,
To keep your spirits high.
p

Be the best
htt

The poet asks the readers to be the best, whatever be the position they are in.
Douglas Malloch

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THEME IN THE LITERARY WORKS

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Bat
The poem portrays the nocturnal life of a mother bat, revealing her similarity
with some other mammals in mothering a child. The poet describes the little bat‟s
life right from the time of it‟s birth observing its habits, its attributes and its
limitations. The poet brings in a vivid imagination along with great and careful
observation.

np
The Piano
This poem is about the early days of the poet when he would sing hymns with his
mother. e/t
The Model Millionaire
Oscar Wilde brings out the point that model millionaires are rare to find.

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/t.m
This poem is about the laborious work done by the children and their state in
Britain during that period.

Migrant bird
(refer “nature centered literary works” section )

Shilpi
s:/

This poem is about the work done by a shilpi who gives image to God
p
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np
Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Famous Quotes

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Commissioner,
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FAMOUS QUOTES

“The highest result of education is tolerance” - Helen Keller

np
“Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide” - Emerson

“Success does not mean the absence of failures.

It means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every
e/t
battle”. - Edwin C. Bliss

“Take up one idea make that idea your life”

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“Success is not something to wait for it is something to work for”

- Jessica Cox

“Under the wide and starry sky dig the grave and let me lie”
- R.L.Stevenson
s:/

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but
they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night”
- H.W.Longfellow
p

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it” - Confucius
htt

“The whole world is my native land” “I was not born for one corner” “The journey
matters as much as the goal. Listen to the sounds of nature..Take care of our fragile
planet” - Kalpana Chawla.

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Government of Tamilnadu
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e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Periods to Which Poets Belong

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
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Competitive Exams.
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Commissioner,
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PERIODS TO WHICH
POETS BELONG

np
William Shakespeare
e/t
- (1564-1616) Elizabethan Age
Walt Whitman - (1819-1892) – a Transcendentalist and realist
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/t.m
William Wordsworth - (1770-1850) – Romantic Age
H.W. Longfellow - (1807-1882) – American Renaissance
Annie Louisa walker - (1836-1907).
D.H.Lawrence - (1885-1930) - Modern Age- an imagist
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Government of Tamilnadu
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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Poets and Poems

 Copyright

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Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
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POETS AND POEMS

Discovery - Gayatri Pahlajani

np
Biking - Judith Nichols
Inclusion - Dipti Bhatia
Granny, granny, please comb my hair - Grace Nichols
With a friend - Vivian Gould
To cook and eat
Bat
e/t - Emma Richards
- Randal Jarrell
To India - Sarojini Naidu

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My native land - Henry Vivian Derozio
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A tiger in the zoo - Leslie Norris

No men are foreign - James Kirkup
Laugh and be merry - John Masefield
Earth - Khalil Gibran
The apology - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The flying wonder - Stephen Vincent Benet
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Off To Outer Space Tomorrow Morning - Norman Nicholson

Be the best - Douglas Malloch
Is life but a dream - Lewis Carroll
Women’s rights - Annie Louisa Walker
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The nation united - Walt Whitman

English words - V. K. Gokak
htt

Snake - D. H. Lawrence
The Man he Killed - Thomas Hardy

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Government of Tamilnadu
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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Nature Centered Literary Works and Global Issue Environment and
Conservation

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
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NATURE CENTERED LITERARY WORKS AND
GLOBAL ISSUE ENVIRONMENT AND
CONSERVATION

np
FLYING WITH MOON ON THEIR WINGS

Bird Migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of

e/t
birds. At a particular season thousands of birds travel from one place to another.
One of the greatest mysteries of bird life is migration or travelling. Every year,
during autumn and early winter, birds travel from their breeding haunts in the
northern regions of Asia, Europe and America to the southern, warmer lands. They
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make the return journey again during spring and early summer. They are very
/t.m
punctual too, unless they are delayed by the weather. We may calculate almost to a
day when we may expect our bird friends to return, carrying winter on their backs.
Some species also move out of one area into another, not very far away. All birds
have a certain amount of local movements, caused by the stresses of living and the
variations in food supply. This kind of movement is particularly noticeable in North
India where the seasons are well defined.
Birds which spend the summer in the higher reaches of mountains come
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down during the winter to the lower foothills or even the plains. This type is very
common within India where the mighty Himalayas lie close to the Indo-Gangetic
plain.
The brave little voyagers face many dangers and hardships while travelling
p

long, long distances through the air over hill, forest and plain and over large
stretches of water. Sometimes sudden storms arise and drive them far out of their
course. Often they are blown right out to sea and they drown in the wild waves.
htt

Sometimes at night bright lights attract and confuse the birds.

Migrating birds do not fly at their fastest. The migration speed is usually from
48 to 64 km an hour and rarely exceeds 80 km per hour. Small birds seldom exceed
48 km per hour, most shore birds fly between 64 and 80 km per hour, while many

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ducks travel at 80 to 96 km per hour. Migrants generally fly at a distance under 900
meters, but some travellers have been found sometimes at greater heights.
Some birds make the long journey in easy states, stopping to rest on the way.
Others fly great distances without pausing to rest and feed. Some fly by day, some
both by day and by night, but most of them speed on their way through darkness
after the sun has set.

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Birds usually travel in flocks. The „V‟ shaped formation of cranes and geese attracts
much attention as the birds speed across the sky. Swallows, flycatchers, warblers,
shorebirds and water birds begin to gather in flocks, each with its own kind and
after a great deal of excited fluttering, twittering and calling, they rise up into the air
and away they go.
e/t
Birds were seen moving from one place to another with the change in seasons
from the earliest times, but people had strange ideas as to why the birds travelled or
where they went. To explain their absence from a place in a particular season, they

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said that the birds buried themselves in the mud and slept there throughout the
/t.m
winter.
Later, detailed studies of migration started. Information was gained by directly
observing the habits of birds, and also by ringing. Bird movements are also studied
by creating artificial conditions and studying their effects on birds.
Today, most of the information on migration has come from ringing young
and adult birds. Ringing is done by capturing a bird and placing on its leg a light
band of metal or plastic. The band bears a number, date, Identification mark and
the address to which the finder is requested to return the ring. The bird is then set
s:/

free. The place where such a bird is shot, captured or found dead, gives a clue to the
direction and locality to which the birds ahs migrated.
Ringing has proved that birds cover large distances. There is some evidence
to believe that the woodcock on its winter movements flies the Himalayas to the
p

Nilgiris without a pause, a distance of 2,400 km. The wild duck comes to our lakes
from Central Asia and Siberia flying 3,200 to 4,800 km over the Himalayas. The
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rosy pastor comes from Eastern Europe or Central Asia. The wagtail, about the size
of a sparrow, comes from the Himalayan regions and Central Asia to the plains.
Smallest of all, the willow warbler, half the size of a sparrow, covers as many as
3,200 km to reach us every winter.
Why do birds migrate in spite of heavy loss of life on the way? Primarily to
escape the bitter cold and a restricted food supply. In the case of water birds, the
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food supply disappears altogether, when the water freezes and the fish and other
seafood are difficult to obtain. The main reason for the spring movement is the
availability of nesting sites and the need to escape summer heat.
The migration of birds is a fascinating study indeed, and there are many
unsolved problems which lie ahead. For example, how do the birds know when to
start? How do they know their way over the sea without any landmarks? How do

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they manage to return year after year to the same locality? How do the young
cuckoos join the adult birds without previous experience, and without any guidance
from adult cuckoos which fly to India and Africa several weeks before the young
cuckoos are ready to leave their foster parents? These and many more such
interesting questions lie ahead of you to solve!
e/t
WILL THIRST BECOME –UNQUENCHABLE?
1. It is not yet noon in Delhi, Just 180 miles south of the Himalayan glaciers. But in

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the narrow corridors of Nehru Camp, a slum in this city of 16 million, the blast
/t.m
furnace of the north Indian summer has already sent temperatures soaring past
105 degrees Fahrenheit. Chaya, the 25-year-old wife of a fortune teller, has spent
seven hours joining the mad scramble for water that even today defines life in
this heaving metropolis and offers a taste of what the depletion of Tibet‟s water
and ice portends.
2. Chaya‟s day began long before sunrise, when she and her five children fanned
out in the darkness, armed with plastic jugs of every size. After day break, the
rumour of a tap with running water sent her stumbling in a panic through the
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slum‟s narrow corridors. Now, with her containers still empty and the sun
blazing overhead, she has returned home for a moment‟s rest. Asked if she‟s
eaten anything today, she laughs: “We haven‟t even had any tea yet.”
3. Suddenly cries erupt - a water truck has been spotted. Chaya leaps up and joins
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the human torrent in the street. A dozen boys swarm onto a blue tanker,
jamming houses in and siphoning the water out. Below, shouting women jostle
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for position with their containers. In six minutes the tanker is empty. Chaya
arrived too late and must move on to chase the next rumour of water.
4. More than two-thirds of the city‟s water is drawn from the Yamuna and the
Ganges, rivers fed by Himalayan ice. If that ice disappears, the future will almost
certainly be worse. “We are facing an unsustainable situation,” says Diwan

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Singh, a Delhi environmental activist. “Soon - not in thirty years but in five to ten
- there will be an exodus because of the lack of water.”
5. The tension already seethes. In the clogged alleyway around one of Nehru
Camp‟s last functioning taps, which run for one hour a day, a man punches a
woman who cut in line, leaving a purple welt on her face.
6. “We wake up every morning fighting over water,” says Kamal Bhate, a local

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astrologer watching the melee. This one dissolves into shouting and finger-
pointing, but the brawls can be deadly. In a nearby slum a teenage boy was
recently beaten to death for cutting in line.
7. Climatic changes and diminishing water supplies could reduce cereal yields in
South Asia by 5 percent within three decades. “We‟re going to see rising tension
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over shared water resources, including political disputes between farmers,
between farmers and cities, and between human and ecological demands for
water,” says Peter Gleick, a water expert and President of the Pacific Institute in

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Oakland, California. “And I believe more of these tensions will lead to violence.”
/t.m
8. For the people in Nehru Camp, geopolitical concerns are lost in the frenzied
pursuit of water. In the afternoon, a tap outside the slum is suddenly turned on,
and Chaya, smiling triumphantly, hauls back a full, ten-gallon jug on top of her
head. The water is dirty and bitter, and there are no means to boil it.
9. But now, at last, she can give her children their first meal of the day: a place of
bread and a few spoonfuls of lentil stew. “They should be studying, but we keep
shooing them away to find water,” Chaya says. “We have no choice, because who
knows if we‟ll find enough water tomorrow.”
s:/

GOING FOR WATER

(Refer ”Figures Of Speech”)
SWEPT AWAY
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The young Frenchwoman stepped out of her flooded house

and disappeared beneath the water
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“Come on, We‟ve got to get out of here now”, Serge urged his partner Celine.
Flood water that had poured into their little terraced home was already 30
centimetres deep and rising. The couple had lifted the sofa onto the dining table and
stacked as many other possessions as they could out of the reach of the filthy water.

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It was 2:15 pm on Monday, September 22, 2003 and the small town of Lunel in
southern France had been battered violent storms since mid-morning.
Council worker Serge, 43 and 32-year old Celine, a home help, had lived most
of their lives in Lunel which stands only a few metres above sea level. The flat,
marshy area, floods frequently. This was the second time in just over a year that the
couple had found the home invaded by water.

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Serge and Celine stepped out into the street, now a fast-flowing thigh-high
river. They waded across the road and Celine stepped over a low hedge which
separated the street from the pavement. Serge was following close behind when he
saw Celine fall. In an instant she had disappeared below the water.
“She‟s dead”, he thought. “It‟s all over. All they‟ll find is her body later”. Celine felt
e/t
herself being pulled under the water. Instinctively, she reached up for Serge‟s hand.
She felt his grasp but her relief was short-lived as his hand slipped away.
She couldn‟t understand what was happening. She was being swept along

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underwater, helpless and swallowing mouthfuls of the filthy liquid. She couldn‟t
/t.m
breathe. “I‟m going to die”, she thought. “I‟m drowning. There‟s no way I can
survive this”. Then she found that she could breathe again. In the dim light, she
could see that she was about ten metres from the manhole through which she had
plunged, but the current made it impossible to swim back.
She was in a two-metre wide concrete storm drain which was almost
completely filled with water and it was still rising. Across the drain stretched a small
plastic pipe. Further on, the tunnel was completely black.
“I‟ve got to try to grab that pipe”, Celine thought. “I‟ve got to keep myself as high out
s:/

of the water as I can”.

Slippery though it was, she managed to grasp the pipe. With supreme effort
she pulled the upper part of her body out of the water and manoeuvred herself
against the wall to stop herself being swept further along the drain.
p

Above ground, Serge panicked. “Help, help!” he cried, wading as fast as he could to
his nearest neighbour‟s house. “Quick! Celine‟s been sucked down a drain! I‟ve got
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to go back, I‟ve got to get her out”.

“No,” said Louise Martinez, who lived opposite the couple. “We‟ll ring the fire
brigade.”
Drenched and freezing cold, Celine hung on. Thoughts came to her almost like
photographs. She could see her daughter Amandine turning to blow her a kiss as
she hurried into school. “I‟ll never see her again”, she thought. She wouldn‟t be
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there to celebrate Amandine‟s twelfth birthday in two weeks time. “No!‟ she said to
herself. “I‟ve got to be there for her. I‟ve got to survive”.
And then there was Serge. She thought of the squabble they‟d had that
morning. Now all she could think of was that Serge would have to tell Amandine
that her mother was dead. How will he tell her? she wondered.
It didn‟t bear thinking about. She couldn‟t let it happen. “I‟ve got to fight to the very

np
end”.
The firemen finally managed to battle through the floods about an hour after
they had received the call alerting them to Celine‟s disappearance. They shone
torches down the manhole and probed with metal rods but there was no sign of the
missing woman.
e/t
As the hung from the pipe, Celine saw a bright light. It was the firemen, she
realized, shining powerful torches down the manhole. She started tapping on the
pipe and battering the walls with her hands and arms, “I‟m here!” she shouted.

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“Come and get me out.”
/t.m
She watched as the firemen lowered metal rods, and she tried hard to shout
above the noise of the racing water.
Then, to her astonishment and anger, the lights and rods disappeared. It was black
now in the drain and she felt objects smashing against her - bags, branches the
contents of bins, all swept away in the food.
Unable to feel her legs, she knew she couldn‟t hold on to the pipe any longer. „I‟ve
got to do something”, she thought. The water level had dropped to her cehest.
“There‟s got to be an exit further on”, she reckoned. “All this water has got to go
s:/

somewhere. Perhaps there‟s a grill”. If it was shut she could be smashed to pieces
against it, but if it was open she would be free. She had to find out.
After a while, she was able to touch the bottom of the drain with her feet. The pipe
had narrowed. Her hopes rose until suddenly her face smashed against something
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hard protruding from the wall-an iron bar.

Celine lost consciousness for a moment and came round to find herself once more
htt

going under the water. At the same time she could feel something above her. It
seemed to be pieces of plastic hanging down from the roof. She grabbed one.
Soon the water picked up speed, the current became more and more difficult to
resist and Celine could no longer walk. Forced on her back, she once again felt
herself being sucked along, out of control.

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She couldn‟t hold on to the plastic any longer. She felt her body being thrown
around by the water, turning over and over in the icy deluge. Her shoulder, then her
legs and knees, slammed against the concrete wall. Still being buffeted by the
terrifying force of the storm water, Celine did not immediately realise that she was
in the open air. Night was falling. Then reality hit her. “I‟m outside! I‟m outside”!
She thought jubilantly.

np
She was in ditch whose water had over flowed in to a large flooded area, with houses
on one side and field on the other. She grabbed some tufts of grass and reeds but,
still unable to lift herself out of the torrent, she screamed for help.
Above the roaring of the water, she heard a man‟s voice. Jack Poderoso, a 45-year
old teacher, was standing on concrete platform just above the storm drain exit,
e/t
checking that his daughter‟s horse was all right. “Is there someone down there?” he
shouted.
“Yes, I‟m here, I‟m here,” Celine yelled back, “What‟s the time?

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“It‟s after 7pm”, he replied.
/t.m
Celine was amazed. “Have I been down here for five hours?”
“Ring Serge,” She shouted, “Tell him I‟m alive. He thinks I‟m dead.”
Jack could see that the woman was weak and still in danger. “No, calm down” he
said, “You‟ve got to get out of that river.”
Celine managed to heave herself onto the muddy bank, but there was still no way
Jack could reach her.
Jack forced Celine to give him Serge‟s number, repeating it figure by figure above
the water‟s roar. When nobody answered, Celine managed to recall Serge‟s brother‟s
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number. Celine‟s head ached but, urged on by Jack, she dragged herself to her feet.
Then she heard another voice, inquiring “Where‟s the body?” It was a fireman
bearing a bag. It was after 8 pm when Serge arrived at Lunel‟s fire station.
A fire engine pulled up outside. The doors opened. Inside sat Celine, her hair wet
p

and bedraggled, her face battered. She had no voice left. She could only collapse
weeping into Serge‟s arms.
htt

No one can understand how Celine survived. She has her own theory. “When I want
something, I‟m very determined. I wanted to be there for my daughter and for
Serge.”

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GAIA TELLS HER TALES
I‟m Gaia, the personification of the primordial mother Earth. I am known by
many names in different languages and in different places. The Greeks call me Gala,
the Indians call me Bhoomi Matha and the English call me Earth. I am a huge ball
in space spinning at a rapid pace while revolving round the Sun. Do you know how
old I am? I was a part of the sun, millions of years ago. Following the big bang that

np
occurred in the cosmos, I fell apart.
In the early years of my life, I was a land mass called Pangea and a big water mass
called Panthalassa, which covers two-thirds of my surface. Due to gravity, I am able
to hold everything in its place! I am the only life supporting planet in the universe.
Scientists are peering through their telescopes even as I am speaking; checking to
e/t
see whether there is any other planet with life in it. Research is still on! In the
beginning when there were just plants growing and animals wandering all over me,
life was very peaceful. There existed a natural rhythm that bound the entire species

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of life. There was peace and there was abundance, assuring the survival of every
/t.m
creature.
Of Course, I was very happy when man arrived, I was proud that a superior
creature had come to protect and care for me. He not only admired me but also
worshipped me with utmost reverence. Even when your tribe increased, I had no
problem because the ecosystem was still well-balanced and intact. I have a large
heart-large enough to accommodate all of you. However when you became greedy
and under the pretext of development exploited all the natural resources
indiscriminately, my trouble began. I am deeply concerned about the way my
s:/

resources are being ravaged. You do not replenish what you consume.
You all know it is getting hotter by the day and as a result my glaciers are melting,
my forests burning, my rivers drying up and my animals dying. You are indifferent
to your own actions. You have also turned a deaf ear to the cry of my creatures.
p

Where have your warmth and your love for nature disappeared?
You read the newspapers and journals and watch documentaries about
htt

environmental pollution. Many of the rarest of species have become extinct and
some are on the verge of extinction! Who is to be held responsible for this pathetic
state of affairs? The ozone gas that acts like a canopy, protecting you all from the
harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun is depleting. The use of aerosol sprays has led to
the increase of CFC content in the atmosphere and has eroded the ozone layer at the

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poles. As a result, an expanding hole has been created in the ozone layer. Many
deadly diseases such as cancer are caused due to this damage.
My forests are very important for your survival. The trees bind the soil and
preserve it. They bring about rain filling up lakes, ponds and rivers. You cut down
trees mindlessly to meet your immediate needs. The act of deforestation has
reduced the forest area to a considerable extent. The animals which inhabited these

np
forests have been rendered homeless.
How are you planning to address these problems? Do you think that nature
will regenerate all by herself? Are you going to turn a blind eye to these dangers?
Are you going to surrender to the circumstances in despair?
Don‟t you have the wherewithal to bring back the glorious past? Nothing is
e/t
impossible for you, but the choice is yours. As a mother it is my duty to warn you of
the impending dangers of neglecting me. Even your own scientists concur with my
views. How can I put up with the sight of my own children being poisoned and their

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safety being threatened? You may be careless, but how can a mother afford to be
/t.m
indifferent?
You have to put a stop to this slide for your own welfare. To begin with, I shall
suggest certain measures that you can easily implement in your everyday life.
 Use eco-friendly vehicles such as bicycles and solar cars. Prefer public
transport to private conveyance. Adopt car pooling system.
 Plant saplings to commemorate any celebration.
 Choose bio-degradable products over synthetic ones.
 Maximise the use of natural light. Conserve power by switching off electrical
s:/

and electronic and electronic appliances when not in use.

 Do not waste water. Harvest rain water. Recycle bathroom water for your
kitchen garden.
My dear little children, I love you so much as I loved your parents in the past. That
p

is the reason I‟m here, narrating my tale. Also I remind your of your responsibility
of protecting your own sweet home-your only abode in the immense universe! Seek
htt

to restore the harmony of the bygone days.

I‟m not mere ball of mud, water and minerals. I too possess a body and mind, a
heart and soul-just like you. It is you who keep me alive. I live in you; I live with
you; I live for you!

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Government of Tamilnadu
Department of Employment and Training
e/t
Course : TNPSC Group II Exam

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Subject : General English
/t.m
Topic : Miscellaneous

 Copyright

The Department of Employment and Training has prepared the TNPSC Group-II
Preliminary and Main Exam study material in the form of e-content for the benefit of
Competitive Exam aspirants and it is being uploaded in this Virtual Learning Portal. This
e-content study material is the sole property of the Department of Employment and
s:/

Training. No one (either an individual or an institution) is allowed to make copy or

reproduce the matter in any form. The trespassers will be prosecuted under the Indian
Copyright Act.

It is a cost-free service provided to the job seekers who are preparing for the
p

Competitive Exams.
htt

Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training.

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np
e/t
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/t.m
p s:/
htt

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MISCELLANEOUS

 Anaphora is the use of an expression the interpretation of which depends

upon another expression in context (its antecedent or postcedent).

np
Eg: Sally arrived, but nobody saw her.
Here the pronoun her is anaphoric, referring back to Sally.
 Ellipsis is a series of dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a
word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original
e/t
meaning.
 A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem
or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines

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rhyme like „abab‟ „cdcd‟
/t.m
 A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words. Eg: key-
knee, show-go.
 Allusion is a figure of speech, in which one refers covertly or indirectly to
an object or circumstance from an external context.
Eg: “dust thou art, and unto dust thou turnest back” This is an allusion to The
Bible.
s:/

 Repetition : When words get repeated often in the poem

 Apostrophe : Addressing to someone
Eg: O God ! please help me
 Alliteration is the use of the same letters or sound at the beginning of
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words that are close together.

Eg : Yet, when a crack causes
htt

Water to seep slowly through

Piles of purple crystals
 Simile : when one word is compared to some other thing using words such
as „like‟, ‟as.... as‟ etc.

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MISCELLANEOUS

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Eg: He is as brave as a lion.

 Metaphor : It is an implied simile

Eg: He is a lion
 Personification : Human action is given to a non-human or a non-living
thing.

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Eg: The roses were smiling
 Oxymoron : Two opposite words in the same sentence
Eg: My life is an open secret
 Onomatopoeia : This word is used as a substitution of sound
e/t
Eg: Zoom ..Zoom… the aeroplane flies
 Transposed letters in a word that produce a reversal of meaning is called an
Antigram.

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Eg: funeral – real fun, Festival – evil fast, infection – five tonic
/t.m
 A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters
which reads the same backward or forward.
Eg: eye, race car, madam - madam
 Diamonte poem is a poem arranged in diamond pattern using seven lines
 Sonnet -a 14 lines poem, with a fixed rhyme scheme
 Ballad – a song narrating a popular story.
p s:/
htt

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