Delhi Public School Ruby Park, Kolkata

English Study Material

Class 4

Session: 2022-23
Month- DECEMBER
Topics: Literature: The Visit to the Mansion (Prose)
Great Wide Beautiful Wonderful World (Poem)
Language: Conjunctions
Writing Skill : Letter Writing (Informal)

Literature:

THE VISIT TO THE MANSION (PROSE)

• This lesson is an extract from L.M Alcott’s Little Women.

• The story revolves around the lives of 4 March sisters- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy
• This extract describes Jo’s first visit to the Laurence mansion
• Though the March family and Laurence family are neighbours, they have never visited
each other’s house. So Jo is curious about the stately old mansion and wants to be friends
with Laurie, who looks lonely and shy.
• One afternoon she decides to visit the mansion after Mr Laurence had driven off.
• She spends time with Laurie and realizes that he is rather lonely.
• They enjoy each other’s company and towards the end of the story, comes across Mr
Laurence, who is kind in spite of his stern appearance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louisa May Alcott (1 8 3 2 - 1 8 8 8 ) was born on November 29, 1832 in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. Her first poem, “Sunlight,” was published in a magazine under a pseudonym. Her
first book, a compilation of short stories, was published in 1854. When the Civil War started in
1861, Alcott served as a nurse in a Union hospital. Unfortunately, in the middle of her
assignment she contracted typhoid fever. Her experience in the hospital as a patient and a nurse,
inspired the novel Hospital Sketches. After the war, Alcott published several other works and
gained a following. During this time, one of Alcott’s publishers asked her to write a novel for
young women. To do so, she simply reflected back on to her childhood with her sisters. In 1868,
Alcott published her most popular work, Little Women. The novel was published in a series of
short stories, but was eventually compiled into one book. Little Women was an instant success
and the book cemented Alcott as one of the foremost novelists of her times.

About ‘Little Women’:

‘Little Women’, a novel by L.M. Alcott follows the lives of four sisters growing up during the
American Civil War. It follows the lives of four women — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Set in New
England during the Civil War, the novel is a coming-of-age story of the four main characters
who grow and learn from their mistakes. The story is based on the childhood experiences Alcott
shared with her real-life sisters, Anna, May and Elizabeth.

EXTRA PRACTICE
Fill in the blanks with suitable words from the story:
1. Jo threw a ________ towards the upper storey window where she spotted Laurie’s head.
2. Laurie was ________ and invited Jo into the house.
3. While talking to Laurie, Jo realized that he was ________ and so asked him to visit her house.
4. Both Jo and Laurie loved books and so, Laurie took Jo to his huge ___________.
GREAT WIDE BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL WORLD (POEM)

About the poet- William Brighty Rands:

William was born in West London in the town of Chelsea, England on the 24th of December
1823. He came from a non-gentry and simple family of candlemakers. His father had a shop in
Chelsea. He went to school for a short while until the age of 13 after which he is known to have
self taught. He had a huge flair for learning. William Brighty Rands was an English writer of the
19th century who specialized in writing for children. For some time he was a chapel preacher and
wrote a number of inspirational, original hymns. As a poet he showed a keen love of nature and a
sense of the music of words.

EXTRA PRACTICE

Question 1.
In the poem above ‘beautifully drest’ refers to

(a) having gaudy dress

(b) decorated with nature’s beauty
(c) wearing costly dresses
(d) wearing cheap but beautiful dresses.

Question 2.
The poet calls the world ‘beautifully drest’ because

(a) it looks beautiful

(b) it has wonderful grass curled around it
(c) it is covered with fine clothes
(d) it is covered with green leaves

Question 3.
The wind in the poem talks to

(a) passersby
(b) trees
(c) clouds
(d) itself.

Question 4.
The poet calls the earth

(a) unfriendly
(b) friendly
(c) proud
(d) kind.

Question 5.
The phrase ‘such a dot’ means

(a) so small
(b) so fat
(c) so big
(d) so kind
Question 6.
Humans are considered superior to the Earth because:
(a)Humans have brains
(b) Humans have money
(c)Humans can love and think
(d)Humans can appreciate others

GRAMMAR: CONJUNCTIONS

What is a conjunction?
A conjunction is a word or phrase that connects wordsand sentences together.

The word and is a commonly used example of a conjunction. Here are two examples of how we
can use a conjunction like and to join two words and to join two sentences:
• The flower is yellow and white. (connects two words: adjectives)
• The flower is yellow, and it has a particular smell. (connects two sentences)
Conjunctions are useful in writing and speech to connect related ideas together, and they help us
make our sentences shorter, less repetitive, or less confusing.

Let us now understand the use of different conjunctions that we routinely use in our day-to-day
communication:
• For- It is used to sight a reason or purpose. Example: I bought a new bag for my upcoming
trip.

• And- It connects or adds one thing to another. Example: I love both apples and bananas.

• Nor- It is used to indicate a negative idea to an already existing negative

idea. Example: Neither the white dress nor the yellow one looks good on me.

• But- It is used to show a contrast between two items or ideas. Example: I wanted to go for
a hike but I have to go to work today.

• Or- It is used to present an alternative to an already present positive idea. Example:

Would you like tea or coffee?

• Yet- It is used to introduce an idea that adds something to a previous idea and is usually
contrasting with it. Example: I practice daily yet I couldn’t put up a good show yesterday.

• So- It is a conjunction that is used to indicate the effect or result of an

occurrence. Example: Both parents worked hard so that their children could study in good
schools.

EXTRA PRACTICE

Fill in the blanks with suitable conjunctions :

1. The climate in California is hot, ________it is also known to get chilly.

2. Adam doesn't have a vehicle, ___________Priya will have to drive her home.
3. Neither my mom ___________my dad will be able to come to the party on Friday.
4. I enjoy honey in my tea ______ not cream in it.
5. Pay any attention to the narrative __________give answers in full sentences.
6. Is today Tuesday _______Wednesday ?
7. Johnny was late _______the shuttle failed to arrive.
8. We were exhausted _________overjoyed following our travel to Australia.
9. They reached the summit _________it was very chilly.
10. Shreya was studying in the car ________her friend was watching the birds.
11. I'll call you _________I come to Canada.
12. ______my brother _______my uncle has a vehicle.
 Writing Skills: INFORMAL LETTERS

Letter writing is a skill people need for personal, professional and academic purposes. Knowing
how to write a good informal letter is important if you plan to communicate with your friends
and family members. Here are some of the things to keep in mind:

Address

The first thing to write is your address, i.e. the address of the writer. We usually write the address on
the left-hand side of the page at the very top. The address should be accurate and complete. Even
when writing to close friends or relatives the address must be written, so they can reply back to the
letter with ease. If the recipient of the letter is in another country, do not forget to write your country
as well in the address.

Date

Next just below the address we write the date. This allows the reader to have a reference as to when
the address was written. He can then relate better to the contents of the letter.

Greeting

Now since you know the person you are writing to, the greeting can be informal as well. If it is a
friend or someone close to your age you can greet them by their first name, like “Dear Alex”. If you
are writing to your relative like your mother/father/aunt/uncle etc, you may greet them as such, for
example, “Dear Mom”. And if you are writing to an elder person, someone you respect greatly you
can address them as Mr or Mrs. Like say for example you were writing a congratulatory letter to
your teacher, it can be addressed as “Dear Mrs. Alex”.

Introductory Paragraph

And now we begin writing the actual letter. The introductory paragraph sets the tone for the whole
letter. You might begin by asking the recipient about their well being. Or you may say that you hope
the letter finds them in good health and great spirits. The opening of informal letters should be
casual and comforting.

Body of the Letter

The letter overall should maintain a friendly tone. But you have to adjust the language and the
words according to who you are writing to. With a friend, you can afford to be a little casual. But if
you are writing to an elderly relative, you must be extremely respectful and considerate.

Conclusion
In the conclusive paragraph sum up the reason for writing the letter, i.e. summarize the letter. Say a
meaningful and affectionate goodbye to the reader. And do not forget to invite the reader to write
back or reply to your letter. It shows an intention to keep the conversation going.

Signature

There is no one way to sign off informal letters. Since they do not follow a strict format, you may
sign off as you please. Some commonly used phrases are

• Yours ever

• Yours lovingly

• Kind Regards

• Yours affectionately
Pick the one that best suits the occasion and then simply write your name (name of sender) below
the greeting.

EXTRA PRACTICE:

• Write a letter to your friend thanking him for a present sent to you on your birthday.
• Write a letter to your friend inviting him to join you in a tour.

Please Note: Extra Practice to be done in Rough Notebook after explanation is done in class