 This is a Classroom Lecture.

While preparing the Lecture I

have consulted various sources and references of all such
sources have been mentioned at the end of the Lecture. The
basic purpose of creating the Classroom Lecture in the form
of e-content is to impart knowledge and understanding the
concepts that I have taught.

 I have not published any research paper/ book chapter or any

other publication from these Classroom notes and this is only
for the consolation of students for better understanding.

Ms Neha Pandey
Assistant Professor
Department of English
SGGS College, Chandigarh
SECTION - I
POETRY
1. ALL FOR LOVE – LORD BYRON
2. SORROW- PB SHELLEY
3. TO ONE WHO HAS BEEN LONG IN THE CITY PENT –
JOHN KEATS
4. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE- TENNYSON
5. ANIMALS- WALT WHITMAN
 ALL FOR LOVE – LORD BYRON
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
“All for Love " is a narrative poem which tells about
how the days of our youth are the grand and glorious
days, but as we get older things ultimately end up
changing. The narrator of the poem only ever took
delight in the praises he received for his marvellous
deeds because he wanted to gain the love and
attention of a certain female, not because he wanted
to hear people praising him. In the end, he feels that
he is glorious because he gained her love.
 Lord Byron says that the best days of a person’s life are the days of his youth. A
young man does not wish to hear the names famous in stories. He just feels
proud and happy to be young.
 He feels that laurels, garlands, and crowns that are given to famous people are
like dead flowers on which dew drops have fallen. He does not attach
importance to these things, these crowns which can only give fame, but which
fail to understand the joy and love that is there in the hearts of the youth "what
are garlands and crowns to the brow that is wrinkled?”
 The narrator of the poem never took delight in the applauds he got for his
marvelous deeds because he craved to gain the love and consideration of his
beloved, not on the grounds that he wanted to hear people commending him.”
Oh Fame!- If I e’er took delight in the praises…She thought I was not unworthy
to love her"
Fame gives the greatest glory to the poet when he succeeds in securing

a smiling glance from his beloved. He feels honored when her eyes start
shining on finding something glorious in the achievements of his life.

THEME : The poem ‘All for Love’ is about how one can not depend on

past achievements because they lose their value over time. The poem
reveals that getting pure and real love is the best achievement. It is
based on the theme that every man seeks appreciation from his beloved
and is prompted by the desire to feel that she is proud of him.

“Tis but as a dead flower with May-dew besprinkled", which is line 6 of


this poem, is most helpful in conveying the overall meaning of the poem
because a dead flower won't be able to receive any benefits from
watering; the water, though at one time was crucial to the flower, is now
useless, just as a marvelous deed one fulfilled when young is good-for-
nothing when years have passed.
 SORROW - PB SHELLEY
In the poem, the poet expresses three different
kinds of reactions to sorrow and suffering.
The first reaction is of utter dismay or total void. It
results in mental and emotional lassitude, in acute
depression.
In second reaction, the poet recollects his earlier
life and weighs the loss of youthful hope against the
gains of the present.
 The third reaction is that of the people who are
thick skinned. They are content to enjoy the
Sensitive people are affected most by sorrow. The
poet is one of those people and have lost all hopes
in life. The vigorous energies of youth have
suffered a decline.
The worldly pleasures are no more giving peace to
the poet and he realizes that the endless joy and
happiness that the world presented is a mere
façade.
 The poet says that sorrow remains hidden in the
heart as lightning remains in the stormy clouds.
The poet uses the simile of lightning and cloud to
represent sorrow.
TO WHO HAS BEEN LONG IN CITY
PENT - JOHN KEATS
SUMMARY OF POEM
This is a sonnet (a poem of fourteen lines with a systematic rhyme
scheme) where the poet points out that the pleasures of nature are
a boon for the man who has remained shut in the suffocating
atmosphere of the city for a long time. He regards it as a great
blessing to look at the beautiful open sky. In the city, man leads an
artificial life which is very tiring.
He finds true happiness in the lap of nature. He forgets all the
fatigue when he lies on the soft and soothing grass which waves
with the wind. There is no greater pleasure than to lie on the grass
and read a romantic love story. Time passes very sadly and slowly
This poem is about escaping the city for a day and simply
enjoying being in the nature. In the first stanza, Keats
conveys the happiness felt by a person who can see the
open sky without the city blocking the view.
In the second stanza, he asks a rhetorical question that
whether anyone can be any happier than when immersed
in nature, reading a book. “Who is more happy, when, with
heart’s content/Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant
lair/Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair …”.
As he comes back to the lap of nature , the poet forgets all his
fatigue. He feels rejuvenated when he lies on the soft and
soothing cushion of grass which waves with the wind.

In the last stanza, Keats mourns having to return to the city


and wistfully watches/hears the last sights and sounds of
nature. The poet feels sad that the beautiful day has come to
an end too soon. He compares the day to the tear of an angel
which falls quietly from the sky down to the earth.

“He mourns that day so soon has glided by:

E’en like the passage of an angel’s tear
 THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

SUMMARY OF POEM

The poem talks about the bravery and courage of the six

hundred soldiers of the Light Brigade. They were ordered to
attack the enemy far larger in power and number. Someone
had blundered. Obviously there was something wrong with the
orders. But as dutiful soldiers , they obeyed it with all their heart
and soul. These soldiers on horseback knew fully well that they
were riding into the jaws of death. They did not question the
orders. They attacked the enemy with their greatest force.
They showed utmost determination and perseverance
and almost all of them died fighting in the battlefield.
They were real heroes. Their motto was-
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die.
This is a dramatic poem which deals with an episode from the Crimean
war of 1854-56 fought by Britain, France and Turkey against the
common enemy, Russia.
The poem is a rich tribute to the bravery and courage of the six
hundred soldiers of the Light Brigade.
The soldiers were ordered to attack the army far larger in power and
number. But the dutiful soldiers obeyed with all their might and
determination.
The 600 soldiers were assaulted by the shots of shells of canons in
front and on both sides of them. Still, they rode courageously forward
toward their own deaths: “Into the jaws of Death / Into the mouth of
hell / Rode the six hundred.”
The Light Brigade earned an immortal fame. All the world wondered at
the brave charge they had made. The poet says that their glory will
never fade.
 ANIMALS - WALT WHITMAN
 Walt Whitman (1819-1892) is a major figure in the early American
poetry. He broke the tradition of rhymed and metrical poetry. He was
famous for writing a revolutionary new kind of poetry which was in
free verse. The poem ‘animals’ is from his work ‘Song of Myself’ in
the book Leaves of Grass.
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
 In the poem, the poet compares men with animals and admires them
for their qualities. He finds animals better than men in many ways.
The poet has described his will to become an animal because he
thinks animals are far better than human beings. Human beings are
greedy and full of jealousy against each other. But animals are calm
and self contained. The animals are happy with what they have.
 In his poem, he shows how animals are better than humans as they
are more empathetic than humans.
 He says that animals also have feelings just like humans, however,
their way of expression is better than humans. He says that humans
have lost the true meaning of life in this fast paced life while animals
still enjoy the true beauty of life and nature. He says that animals are
calm and self-contained. They are happy with whatever resources
they have. Unlike humans, they do not criticize others for what they.
He says that the humans have lost their sanity while chasing the
material goods.
 The poet also points out that no animal has to bend and bow in
respect to other animals. No animal worships its ancestors who lived
thousand of years ago. Only men have this slavish mentality.
 In the last stanza the poet points out that he is fed up with humans
because they indulge in endless discussions about their duties to
God. They are hypocrites.
 SECTION-ll
SHORT STORIES

1. THE PRIZE POEM – PG WODEHOUSE

2. THE STOLEN BACILLUS - HG WELLS
3. ACCIDENT - AGATHA CHRISTIE
 THE PRIZE POEM- PG
WODEHOUSE
SUMMARY:
 The story of The Prize Poem is mainly about the choice of the
best poem out of the poems submitted by the members of the
Sixth Form of St. Austin’s College. The winner, the writer of the
best poem, is given the prize at the annual function. This
competition is required by the will left by a certain rich man before
his death.
 A rich and ill-natured (misanthropic=hater of mankind) man had a
scheme to eternalize his memory after his death. Hence, he left a
will in which he reserved a portion of his personal income to be
spent on an annual prize to be given to the writer of the best
poem. The condition was that the poem had to be written only by
the members of the Sixth Form of St. Austin’s College.
 This convention was preserved for a period of twenty seven
long years. The story tells how the practice was dropped.
 The story is based on the theme that poets are born, not
made. Ordinary people cannot write poetry as it requires
the immortal fire of inspiration which holds the hand of the
poet and writes poetry for him.
 In the story, Woodhouse suggests that nobody can be
forced to become a poet. Prosaic people have no interest in
poetry and compelling them to write poetry is nothing but
cruel.
 HUMOUR IN THE STORY
 P.G. Wodehouse is known for his humor. He creates a lot of fun and
humor in his story ‘The Prize Poem’.
 The entire situation is described in a lighthearted manner. The
description of the rich man who created the prize poetry practice is quite
humorous.
 The rich man has been described as a misanthrope. He set apart a
portion of his income to penetrate his memory among people after his
death. He mischievously mentions in his will that every student of the
sixth grade must take part in the competition.
 The writer has tongue in the cheek when he says that the old man died,
but the evil he had, lived even after his death.
 There is plenty of humor in the description of the headmaster. Being a
purist in speech, he was very particular about correctness and purity in
speech. Even in the privacy of home he couldn’t tolerate the wrong use
of language by his wife.
 THE STOLEN BACILLUS – H.G. WELLS
 “ The Stolen Bacillus” is in itself a tale about a scientist that begins in somber
tones and has a quickly developed plot suggesting the possibility of a terrifying
threat to humankind. The bizarre twist, with which the tale ends, gives it a thrilling
element.
SUMMARY:
 The Bacteriologist has a visitor to his laboratory, a pale stranger who arrives with a letter of
introduction from a good friend of the scientist. The scientist shows his visitor the cholera bacillus
under a microscope and they talk about the disease. The visitor is particularly interested in a vial
containing living bacteria, and the scientist describes the power of cholera, saying what a terrible
epidemic could be caused if a tube such as the one he holds was to be opened into the water
supply.
 The scientist’s wife calls him away for a moment; when the scientist returns, the visitor is ready to
leave. As soon as the visitor has gone, however, the scientist realizes the vial of bacteria is
missing, that the visitor must have stolen it. He runs out in a panic, sees the visitor’s cab leaving,
and hails another cab to give chase. The scientist’s wife, horrified by his inappropriate dress and
hurry, follows in a third cab, with her husband’s shoes and coat and hat.
 We shift to the point of view of the visitor in his cab. He has indeed stolen the vial. He
is an Anarchist who plans to release the bacteria into London’s water supply. His
motivation is fame: he feels he has been neglected by the world, and now he will
reveal his power and importance.
 In the speeding cab, however, he accidentally breaks the glass vial. He decides to
become a human vector. He swallows what is left in the vial, and stops the cab,
realizing that he no longer needs to flee. When the scientist catches up and confronts
him, the Anarchist gleefully announces what he has done. The scientist allows him to
walk away, and tells his wife that the man has ingested the stolen bacteria.
 There is a twist: the vial, it turns out, did not contain cholera, but a strange new
microbe the Bacteriologist had been studying, the only known effect of which is to
make the skin of the animals exposed to it turn bright blue. The Bacteriologist
reluctantly puts on his coat and returns home with his wife, complaining that he will
now have to culture the bacillus all over again.
THEMES
Science as a Tool For Destruction
 Through the Bacteriologist's sample of living cholera bacteria, in the story, we are
shown that science can be just as deadly as it can be helpful to humanity.
 While the cholera sample may have originally been created with the intention of
expanding humanity's knowledge about the disease and searching for ways to
eliminate it, it was perfectly capable of wiping out an entire city if acquired by a wrong
individual.
 Though adequate food supply, improved communication, better products, better
health facilities, comfortable housing and many such aspirations of mankind have
been fulfilled with the help of science, we must be aware of its potential to cause harm
and take measures to avoid its misuse.
Anarchism
 Though science and bio-terrorism remain the dominant themes in the story's
thematic spectrum, Wells also gives us an insight into the concept and philosophy
of aggressive anarchy.
 Anarchism simply means a political philosophy which says that the government is
responsible for the country's problems and must therefore be abolished.
 The Anarchist in the story is a man disappointed by his life and rejected by society.
He wishes to cause havoc and destruction to get noticed and remembered rather
than to serve a political motive.
 Thus, Wells shows us how and why many people tend to turn towards violent
anarchism. It must be noted that anarchy is not necessarily always violent.
Mahatma Gandhi, too, was an anarchist in a way but carried out his objectives
using peaceful methods.
 ACCIDENT – AGATHA CHRISTIE

 Accident is a short story by Agatha Christie, first published in The

Sunday Dispatch in 1929 under the title The Uncrossed Path. In 1934,
Accident was included in a collection of short stories, The Listerdale
Mystery, published only in the UK. And in 1948 it appeared in another
collection, The Witness For The Prosecution and Other Stories,
published only in the US.
SUMMARY-

 The story starts when the Inspector Evans suspects of his

new neighbor Mrs. Anthony, who had murdered her husband
many years ago with arsenic but she was acquitted.
 Now she moved on with her new husband George
Merrowdene and the Inspector Evans is worried about it, he
thinks that Mrs. Anthony can do the same thing again.
 Inspector Evans begins to doubt of the woman who lives
near him, one day he goes downtown and see Mrs. Anthony
talking to Captain Haydock so he walks straight to them just
to uncover the truth about this mysterious woman.
 Mrs. Anthony invites him to have tea at her house with her
husband. When they are there, Inspector Evans realized that
Mrs. Anthony wants to kill her husband and he spit out the
truth in her face when George is out of the room.
 But what happens is that Mrs. Anthony didn't want to kill her
husband, she wanted to kill the Inspector because she knew
how suspicious he was, so she cheated him and she finally
killed him.
 There is an echo of accidents in the story as the story begins
with the mention of an accident that happened years ago and
ends with the so called accident of Evan’s. Hence the title is
quite meaningful and significant
SECTION III
EASSAYS
1. TIGHT CORNERS - EV LUCAS
2. LAST EXPEDITION - ROBERT
FALCON SCOTT
 TIGHT CORNERS-EV LUCAS
Introduction-
 In the essay 'Tight Corners' E.V. Lucas points out that tight corners can be
both mental as well as physical but the mental tight corner is too much to bear.
 The Narrator's Tight Corner : Once the narrator went with his friend to
'Christie's, an auction-sale hall, where Barbison pictures were put up. The
narrator knew nothing about art pictures nor had enough money to participate
in the bidding. He had only sixty-three pounds and that too in the bank. He had
no securities either.
 The auction started and the narrator, not understanding the seriousness,
started raising the bid amount marginally. By that time a Daubigny picture was
put on sale. A rich man bade four thousand guineas for it. As usual, the
narrator, just for fun, raised the bid by fifty guineas more.
 The Difficult Situation for the Narrator : Lucas thought that someone would raise
the bid further. But to his amazement, nobody else bade after that. The
narrator was panic-stricken. No doubt, he unwittingly got into a (mental) tight
corner.
 He could not find ways as how to raise such a huge amount. Sensing the
danger his friend had already left the place. Finally, the narrator decided to
confess his foolishness to the auctioneer himself and get rid of the critical
situation.
 Turn of Events : All of a sudden, the unexpected happened. At that time, the
rich bidder's agent came and offered fifty guineas, provided he passed on the
art picture to the first bidder. The narrator was immensely relieved. He was
about to weep in joy. Yet, he had the presence of mind to demand a hundred
guineas. When a cheque for that amount was given to him, his joy doubled.
 THE LAST EXPEDITION – ROBERT
FALCON SOCTT

 Captain Robert Falcon Scott was a brave sea-man who led a

number of expeditions. He and his secret band of brave men like
Captain Gates, Wilson Aris Bowers reached the South Pole on
January 18, 1913. On the return journey, however, they all perished
while they were only eleven miles from the One Ton Depot.
 Captain Scott kept a Diary in which he jotted down his experiences.
He continued to write this Diary till his last day.
 He writes that the situation was going from bad to worse. They had
covered a long distance. It produced a bad effect on all of them,
particularly on Oates whose feet were in a miserable condition.
 The members of the expedition had to struggle for their lives.
They could hardly advance at the rate of a mile an hour.
 Because of the troubles each of the them was going through
Captain Scott ordered Wilson to hand over to each knew the
drugs to end all the troubles.
 This was the sad and tragical side of the expedition as they
would take the drug and die in sleep. It was pity that Scott could
write nothing in the diary.
 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1. Bring out the importance of the character and role of the

bacteriologist from ‘The Stolen Bacillus.’
2. Bring out the significance of the title of Agatha Christie’s ‘Accident’.
3. Comment upon the title of the autobiographical essay ‘Tight
Corners’.
4. Bring out the pathos in ‘The Last Expedition’ described by Falcon
Scott in his diary.
5. Bring out the theme and the message conveyed by P.G. Wodehouse
in his story ‘The Prize Poem’.
6. Bring out the humour in the story ‘The Prize Poem’.
7. Bring out the theme and the symbolic meaning of H.G.Wells’ story ‘
 SECTION – B GRAMMER

1. PARAGRAPH WRITING (DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE)

2. USE OF TEXUAL WORDS AND IDIOMS IN SENTENCES
3. TRANSLATION FROM HINDI/PUNJABI TO ENGLISH (ISOLATED
SENTENCES)
OR
FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS ( PARAPHRASE OF POETRY PASSAGE)
4. TRANSFORMATION OF ALL TYPES
 PARAGRAPH WRITING
WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH : A Paragraph is a group of Sentences which are
coherent and organized, focusing on some aspect of a topic. Paragraphs can
contain many different kinds of information. A paragraph could contain a
series of brief examples or a single long illustration of a general point. It might
describe a place, character, or process; narrate a series of events; compare
or contrast two or more things; classify items into categories; or describe
causes and effects.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH :
1. The topic is introduced directly. A well-organized paragraph supports or
develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in a sentence
called the topic sentence.
2. It should be precise without any unnecessary illustrations, anecdotes and
examples.
3. It should have a beginning, middle and end which should be organized in
coherent and well connected sentences.
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Most paragraphs have a three-part structure—introduction, body, and conclusion. You


can see this structure in paragraphs whether they are narrating, describing, comparing,
contrasting, or analyzing information. Each part of the paragraph plays an important
role in communicating your meaning to your reader.

Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence and any

other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background information or
provide a transition.

Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments,

analysis, examples, and other information.

Conclusion: The final section; summarizes the connections between the information

discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea.
 EXAMPLE OF A PARAGRAPH
VALUE OF NEWSPAPER

TOPIC SENTENCE - Newspaper provides us with information

collected from around the globe. It also helps to develop new ideas,
and at times guide the common man how to think and discuss.
INTRODUCTION- We may say that today we are living in a
newspaper culture. Whether in English or other regional languages,
almost every man gets benefited from newspaper.
 BODY : A newspaper acts an important medium to control corruption
and scams. The chief topics of general interest in newspaper includes
politics, social issues, sports, economy, movies and share market.
Newspaper is a mode of mass communication. It is very helpful in
creating social awareness. Newspaper raises voices against social
issues such as child labor, dowry system etc. They urge the common
people to act and behave in a rational manner. We get the information
of the forthcoming movies and television shows through a newspaper. It
also contains a list of multiplexes with time-schedule for the movies.

 CONCLUSION : A newspaper contains each and every news related to

world which we all citizens require. We should encourage each and
every person to read newspapers daily because newspaper contributes
to our lives in several ways and helps in developing new ideas and
skills.
 USE OF TEXTUAL WORDS AND IDIOMS
 The students will be given eight textual words/idioms from the prescribed series of
poetry, short stories and essays. Out of these they have to choose any five and
make sentences using the same.

 SOME OF THE WORDS HAVE BEEN GIVEN BELOW AS ILLUSTRATIONS:

1. Debonair- He has a debonair personality.

2. Complacent – The voters are too complacent to change the government.
3. Endurance – She has great endurance for pain.
4. Ransack – The robbers ransacked the whole place.
5. Grotesque – The movie had grotesque images.
6. Dropping- The spirits began dropping after walking for long.
7. Rankling – He has rankling memories of the past.
8. Dismayed- His results dismayed his parents.
 REFERENCES

 www.enotes.com
 www.gradesaver.com
 www.prezi.com
 www.beamingnotes.com
 iscliteratureguide.blogspot.com
 brainly.in
 SUPER notes on Colours of Expression