12th English Notes

1. 1.ROMEO AND JULIET
-William Shakespeare
“Romeo and Juliet” is one of the famous dramas of William Shakespeare.
The story is about two lovers who belonged to two rival families. Juliet was
a Capulet and Romeo was a Montague. In these selected lines from the
dream the two lovers express their implicit feelings for each other.
SUMMARY:
In the party of Capulets, Romeo sees Juliet on the dancing floor. He is
awestruck after seeing such a beautiful girl. Romeo feels that he had seen
true beauty only that night and instantly he has starts to love her. It is love
at first sight. He feels that real love has taken birth in his heart after seeing
Juliet.
Romeo describes the beauty of Juliet saying that because of her
beauty the torches in the hall are burning more brightly. She is like a
jeweled sparkling earring hanging against the dark skin of an African lady.
She is so beautiful that her beauty should be kept intact. It is impossible to
be so beautiful. Juliet‟s beauty is a heavenly beauty and her beauty is too
great for the earth. She appears like a beautiful white dove in the middle of
the flock of black crows. In this way she outshines the other ladies.
So Romeo decides that after the dance, he will go to her and touch her
hand and this touch will make his rough and ugly hand blessed.
Juliet:
Juliet is waiting for Romeo. She says that he is like a day that has
come during the night. He is whiter than snow on the black wings of a
raven. She implores the loving, dark night to come and give her, her
Romeo. Juliet requests the night saying that when she dies, to turn Romeo
into stars and form a constellation in his image. His face will make the sky
so beautiful that the world will fall in love with the night and forget about
the bright sun.

2. 2.TOO DEAR
-Leo Tolstoy
Summary of “Too Dear” :
Monaco was very small country near the borders of France and
Italy. The population of this country was 7000 people. It had an army in
which 60 soldiers were there. The people were peace loving.
All was well in this country until a man committed a murder. The
king had never dealt with a murderer before. Therefore the case was taken
very seriously by the judges and the king. Finally the murderer was given
death sentence. To cut off his head a machine and a man was needed. As
Monaco had no Guillotine and executioner. The king asked the Government
of France to give them these things. French authorities said the cost would
be 16000 francs. The king thought that he would have to put new taxes on
the people, and the people will be angry. So the king requested the
Government of Italy, who told that the cost would be 12000 francs. The
king didn‟t agree to this offer also. Therefore the king and the judges
changed the death sentence of the criminal to life imprisonment.
The murderer was sent to a jail and a guard was appointed to
look after him. After a year the expenses had come to 600 francs. To lessen
the expenses the guard was dismissed, even at the risk of escape of the
prisoner. However the prisoner didn‟t try to escape and continued to eat the
food provided by the Government.
The minister of justice asked him why he didn‟t escape. The
criminal replied that he had no place to go, because his reputation is ruined.
Therefore the ministers thought that the only way to get rid of him was to
give him a pension. The king agreed to give him 600 francs a year as
pension. The prisoner agreed to this and left Monaco to live in another
country.

3. 3.ON DHILDREN
-Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese metaphysical poet and philosopher.
“On children” is a thoughtful poem with deep spiritual meaning. It is taken
from his collection of poems named “The Prophet”. It is a book of 26
poetic essays written in English by Khalil Gibran. It was published in 1923.
It is Gibran‟s best known work.
The prophet begins with a man named AI Mustafa living on an
island called Orphalese. Locals consider him something of a sage, but he is
from elsewhere, and has awaited twelve years for the right ship to take him
home. From a hill above the town he sees his ship coming into the harbor
and realizes his sadness at leaving the people he has come to know. He is
asked to tell his philosophy of life before he goes to the crowds gathered.
What he has to say forms the basis of the book.
Summary “On Children”:
A nursing mother asks AL Mustafa about children, and he declares
that a couple‟s children are not their own, but life‟s longing for itself,
coming through but not from them. Parents may give children their love but
not their thoughts because they have thoughts of their own.
Parents can provide shelter to the bodies of their children but not to
their souls because children‟s souls live in the house of tomorrow where the
parents cannot visit even in their dreams. Parents must not seek to make
their children like themselves, because life doesn‟t go backward. Children
are living arrows sent forth swiftly and far into the infinite by the Archer.
The Archer loves the bow as well as the arrows.

4. 4.EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW,
I LEARNT FROM THE FOREST
-Vandana Shiva
1. Vandana Shiva is an Internationally famous activist for Biodiversity and
a fighteragainst corporate Globalization.
2. Her father was a forest conservatorin the Himalayan region and her
mother had become a farmer. Vandana got the knowledge about Ecology in
the forests of Himalayas.
3. In the 1970‟s Peasant women started the “Chipko Movement” in the
Garhwal region of Himalayas. In 1973 when she visited her Favorite forest
she observed that the forests had disappeared. She decided to become a
volunteer for the “Chipko Movement”.
4. In 1977 in the Himalayan village of Adwani a women named Bachni
Devi along with other women opposed her husband who had obtained a
contract to cut the trees.
5. From the Chipko movement Vandana Shiva learnt about bio diversity
and bio Diversity based living economies. She wanted to protect both.
6. In 1994 she started “Navadhanya Farm” in the Doon Valley in the
Himalayas to protect Bio Diversity and carry on organic farming.
7. In 2011 United Nations General Assembly organized a conference on
harmony with nature as a part of the Earth Day Celebrations.
8. She quotes Cormac Cullinan who advocated to overcome the Eco
Aparthied which is based on separateness of Humans from Nature, in our
minds and Lives.

5. 9. The Eco Aparthied was started with the idea that Earth is a dead
matterand should be used to facilitate Industrial Revolution. Terra Nullius
(The Empty Land) replaced Terra Madre (Mother Earth).
10. Influenced by the ideas of Robindranath Tagore in his Essay “Tapovan”
(Forest Purity) Vandan Shiva Started the Earth University in her Farm in
Navadhanya.
11. According to her the forests teaches us union and compassion. It also
teaches us the principle of equity, that is how to enjoy gifts of nature
without exploitation and accumulation.
12. Therefore we must try to end consumerism and accumulation which
heralds the beginning of joy of li

6. 5. A SUNNY MORNING
- Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quinter
SUMMARY:
„A sunny morning‟ is a new romantic one act comedy of Madrid.
The play begins on a sunny morning in a park in Madrid. An old woman
Dona Laura of 70 years is sitting on a bench feeding the pigeons with bread
crumbs. Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy enters with his servant
Juanito and feels irritated not to find a vacant bench. The bench on which
he usually sat is occupied by three priests. Therefore Gonzalo sits on the
same bench on which Dona Laura is sitting.
The conversation between the two 70 years olds begins
sarcastically with each accusing the other of occupying on their private
space. Don Gonzalo calls Laura, a senile old lady. She says that he is an ill-
natured old man. But after a few moments of disagreement, both of them
have a pinch of snuff and become friendly and start talking in a friendly
manner.
Gonzalo says that he is from Valencia and to his surprise Laura says
that she is from Maricela. Both of them realize that they are the two lost
lovers. But they pretend not to reveal their identities. Laura and Gonzalo
device stories of their own death. The play ends with both of them
promising to meet the next day.

7. 6. WHEN YOU ARE OLD
-W. B. Yeats
SUMMARY:
„When You Are Old‟ is a beautiful love Poem of W. B. Yeats. The
poet as a lover imagines how his lady love in the future will appear.
Addressing his young beloved the poet says that he is writing this love
poem when she is still young, but she should read this when she is an old
woman. He tells her that a time will come in her life when she would be
sitting in front of the fire in a sleepy mood. At that time she should open the
book of his poems and read them slowly. While reading the book she
should dream of her beautiful eyes. She should further remember many
lovers who loved her moments of glad grace. Whether their love was true
or false, if was only for her physical charm. But among her lovers, there
was one, the poet, who loved her pilgrim soul. As she become old, her face
changes and becomes less beautiful and will bring sorrows on her face. The
poet says that he loved the sorrows of her changing face. Thus he was her
true lover. At that time in her old age, she should bend beside the glowing
bars and murmur sadly. She should remember the true love of the poet
which fled because of her indifference. The true love of the poet paced on
the mountains and hid its face amidst a crowd of stars.

8. 7. THE GARDENER
- P. Lankesh
SUMMARY:
The writer says that this is just a fiction and he has conceived the
story after he met an old man who was a labourer, overseer and philosopher
at the same time.
From some where this old man came to a plantation in
Channarayapatna and was readily employed by the owner. By his good
management the income from the garden increased. The owner became
very rich but acquired many bad habits. The wife of the owner was very
much worried by the change in her husband.
One day the old man told a story to the wife of the owner. It was the
story of a prosperous farmer named Tammanna. He had a rival Basavaiah.
There was competition between them about the possession of land. Both of
them began to purchase the land in and around the village. Tammanna
acquired one thousand acres and Basavaiah 800 acres. Basavaiah could not
tolerate this and asked Thammanna to sell 200 acres to him. When
Thammanna refused, Basavaiah forcibly occupied 200 acres of land of
Thammanna.
Tammanna wanted to take revenge and punish Basavaiah in the
most unique way. He started writing ballads and sing them. In his poems
Thammanna wrote about Basavaiah‟s Cruelty and meanness. His poems
become very famous and he was felicitated as the best poet of his time. All
this made Basavaiah shrunk in humiliation. He started to take revenge by
acquiring more and more wealth and luxury things and invited scholars,

9. poets and musicians to his house. But he could not get the required
satisfaction. Then Basavaiah came to know that Thammanna was ill and he
felt happy that he can surpass Thammanna in health.
Meanwhile Thammanna thought of surpassing Basavaiah with
death. In this way revengeful feelings went on. As he had a good
knowledge of international affairs, he thought of two rivals America and
Russia. If Russia were to say to America that it was not its enemy, America
will feel bored.
Finally the old man reveals that he him self was Thammanna. That
he had left every thing and came away to this far off place. As Bsavaiah
had no one to compete he died after some days. After the death of
Basavaiah, Thammanna forgot all his songs and ballads and became a non-
entity. In this way he avenged himself.

10. 8. TO THE FOOT FROM ITS CHILD
- Pablo Neruda
SUMMARY:
“To the foot from its child” is a poem written by Pablo Neruda. This
poem describes the journey of a human being from cradle to grave. The
child‟s foot wants to be an apple hanging from a bunch and bulging. It also
wants to be a butterfly, flying here and there. But in time stones, bits of
glass, streets, ladders and paths in rough earth the foot that it cannot be an
apple or a butterfly. Thus the foot is defeated, made a prisoner and is
confined in the shoe. Separated from the other foot in the dark where its
small toes are bunched, it starts to grow and hardens, feeling its way like a
blind man. Then a time comes when the foot becomes really hardened.
Now the nails are trimmed, the transparency turns into opaqueness and the
foot starts walking, without stopping. It becomes the foot of a man or a
woman, goes to different places like fields, mines, markets and ministries,
sometimes forward some times backwards, it rarely takes any time to bare
itself in love or in sleep. This goes on till the man chooses to stop. Then
unaware it descends into the underground, where everything is dark. It
never knows that it had stopped to be a foot, or that it is being buried so that
it could fly or be an apple.

11. 9. I BELIEVE THAT BOOKS WILL NEVER
DISAPPEAR
- Interview with Jorge Luis Borges
SUMMARY:
This lesson is an interview given by Jorge Luis Borges who was
an Argentine short story writer, essayist, poet and translator. He lost his eye
sight at the age of 55 but his enthusiasm to write and towards books never
vanished.
In this interesting interview Borgus expresses his humane,
wonderful and inspiring ideas on different subject.
He expresses his deep gratitude to his mother for her kindness
towards him. He feels guilty that he should have been more understanding
of her. Borgus says that blindness is no more a problem for him. It has
become a way of life and not a source of unhappiness. He thinks that like
other happenings, blindness is also a resource given to him as clay so that
he may shape his art.
He remembers Goethe‟s verse “alles nahe werd fern” meaning all
that is near becomes far, and says that in this line Goethe refers not only to
the sunset but also to life.
About books Borgus say that it is an excellent idea to write history
of the book. He completely agrees with the statement of Bernard Shaw that
every book worth being re-read has been written by the spirit.

12. Giving the definition of poetry he says that it is the aesthetic art
which cannot be defined without over simplifying it.
About metaphors Bogus says that all Metaphors could be reduced
to five or six like Time & a River, Life and Dreams Death and Sleep, Stars
and eyes, Flowers and Women. These are essential metaphors found in all
literature.
Finally in his interview Borgus give his ideas about books that it is
his belief that books will never disappear. The book is an extension of our
Imagination and memory and literature is a dream, a controlled dream.
Finally he says that if books disappear history and man would disappear.

13. 10. HEAVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ON EARTH
- Kuvempu
SUMMARY:
In this poem the poet glorifies human beings and nature. The poet
says that heaven is not elsewhere but on the earth itself. The earth is so
beautiful that one can find heaven in its divine beauty. We should be able to
find god in ourselves because there can be no gods. We have been made so
beautiful that we ourselves are the nymphs.
The roaring stream that rushes fast, the surf at the edges of waves,
the tender sunshine, the gentle sun all make this earth heaven.
In the splendor of harvest and scattered moon light we can find
heaven on earth. When the poet consumes and spils the song of the nectar,
he creates the heaven on earth. In short we can say that we need not go and
find heaven elsewhere, it lies here on earth.

14. 11. JAPAN AND BRAZIL THROUGH A
TRAVELER’S EYE
- George Mikes
JAPANESE MANNERS - SUMMARY:
As Japan is a over crowded country, people show respect to others
privacy in public places in a unique way. Telephone is kept in an open
space and everybody has to talk in open. But Japanese never show the
curiosity to hear other‟s talk. Every body bows to everybody in Japan, but
while imitating them the foreigners make many mistakes. There is a
complicated hierarchy in bowing. Who bows to whom and for how long is
all calculated. In the family the younger bows to elders but the sister bows
to elder as well as younger brothers. In the Japanese stores bowing girls are
employed who stand at the top of escalators and whose only duty is to bow
deeply to every body. Even the conductor bow to the passengers before
starting their work. Even the deers in the park bow before the public before
snatching the food packet from their hands. Another practice of the
Japanese is to make a fearful noise while eating soup, which is the sign of
appreciation. People will be considered as ill mannered if they don‟t do so.
TRAFFIC IN BRAZIL: SUMMARY
In Brazil pedestrians move very slowly, but the cars move very fast,
breaking all rules of traffic. Brazil is a poor country. Motor cars are very
expensive in Brazil, but their number is increasing day by day. There is a
competition between the pedestrians and the drivers of the motor cars for
the use of road. The cars move so fast that the pedestrians have to jump
leap and run for their life. They have to wait for hours to cross the roads

15. particularly in the Avenida Vargas. The war between drivers is murderous
but good tempered. They smilingly break all rules of the road.
12. THE VOTER
- Chinua Achebe
SUMMARY:
The voter tells us about the corrupt electoral practices in a semi
literate and illiterate country. National elections were held once in 5 years
in Nigeria. Marcus Ibe was the candidate of people‟s Alliance party (PAP)
from the village of Umuofia and Roof was his election agent. The election
symbol of people‟s alliance party was motor car. In the last election the
people of Umuofia had voted for Marcus Ibe free of cost because he was
from the same village. He was a teacher but after winning the election and
becoming a minister for culture, he had got motor cars and constructed a
big house. The voters decide that this time they would not vote for free as
Marcus Ibe had acquired a lot of wealth.
In the meeting of elders they told this to Roof. And he offered to
pay 2 shillings each for their vote. But the elders did not agree. Finally
Roof paid them four shillings for their vote.
In the night before the voting date. The election agent of the
opposite Progressive Organisation party (POP) visited Roof and offered
him 5 pounds to cast his vote to Mr. Maduka, the Progressive Organisation
party candidate. After much fight with his conscience, Roof agreed to sell
his vote. They made him sear on Iyi of Mbanta, the village deity. In the
election booth once again he is faced with the conflict of conscience. How
could he betray his master Marcus and give his vote to the other candidate.
He thought of returning the 5 pounds but finally he decide to tear the ballot

16. paper into two pieces and put the two pieces in two boxes. In this way he
resolves his conflict of conscience by voting both the candidates.
13. WHERE THERE IS A WHEEL
- P. Sainath
SUMMARY:
Through out the history of human beings wheel has played a very
important role in the advancement of civilisation. In this lesson P. Sainath,
a journalist, has shown how the wheels of a cycle has improved the living
conditions of poor and illiterate people in pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu
state.
Cycling became a social movement because of a good soul Sheela
Rani Chunkath who came as a Distric Collector of Pudukkottai. To spread
literacy among the poor people of the district she started a programme in
1991, it was to train female activists to spread literacy among woman in the
interior parts of the district. She also included mobility as a part of the
literacy drive. The female activists were encouraged to learn cycling and
own a bicycle. She asked the banks to give loans to the women to buy
bicycles. She gave personal attention to spread literacy and mobility among
the women of the district. On the International Women‟s Day in 1992, an
all women‟s cycle rally was arranged in Pudukkottai in which 1500 female
cyclists took part. With flags on the handle bar and bells ringing, the rally
stunned the people of the town.
Cycling was given much engouragement by the “Arivoli
Iyakkam”, Pudukkottai district‟s Literacy drive. Its cental co-ordinator N.
Kannammal, encouraged the ladies not only to become literates but also to
learn cycling. Thus the „neo literates‟ were encouraged to become „neo

17. cyclists‟. Camps were arranged and in these camps a large number of those
already trained, helped the new comer to learn cycling. Thus it became a
movement and every woman wanted to learn cycling.
Women realized that cycling has given them independence and
mobility. It gave them confidence and very importantly it reduced their
dependence on men. Therefore women doing different type of jobs like
agricultural workers, village health nurses, anganwadi workers and others
were drawn towards cycling.
Women started carrying their household activities like getting water
from a 4 kilometers distance, bringing things for their house from the shop
etc. on their bicycles. Inaddition to this women started to go to other
villages to sell their agricultural products. Thus cycling increased the
income of women. They became “earners”. In this way cycling made
definite economic implications.
Thus cycling became a educational, social and economic movement
in the Pudukkottai district.

18. 14. WATER
- Challapalli Swaroopa Rani
SUMMARY:
The poet C. Swaroop Rani, who is herself a dalit and who has
understood the problem of untouchability deeply and personally, has
presented the fight of the low caste people, the untouchables to get water.
Water is a basic necessity for all living things. But this basic necessity of
life is denied to the dalits by the people of high castes.
The poet presents the generations of quarrel in the villages between
the upper castes and the dalits. Since the dalits are untouchables they cannot
take water from the village well as the water will become impure. The
people belonging to Panchama caste, which is the fifth caste in the caste
system, have to wait all day near the well holding their empty pots, because
they don‟t have the right to draw water from the well. Their pots can only
be filled by a person of upper caste who has the right to draw water from
the well.
The dalit girls are humiliated when water is poured in their pots from
a distance, but they become touchable for the purpose of their sexual abuse.
The dalits have fought about this social injustice in different places
like the karamchedu village, where a dalit woman Suvarthamma opposed
the upper caste Kamma landlords with her pot of water. In the same way a
Mahad struggle took place for taking water from the Chadar tank. In many

19. of these battles for water the dalits were killed. Even then they weren‟t
successful to get the right to take water and end untouchability.
In same village the upper caste people had an ample supply of water
to take bath twice daily where as the dalits had limited supply of water to
take bath once in a week.
Many villages were burnt to ashes when the dalits dared to take a pot
of water from the village well. In this way water had been a bane of strife in
the society.