General English 3rd and 5th Sem (KU Old)

English

College Reference cum Text

 

 

For

3^rd & 5^th Sem. (KU)

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Peer Salim Jahangeer (Salim Sir)

 

 

 

Copyright @ Author

All Rights Reserved

Title: English College Reference Cum Text

Composed & Compiled by Dr Peer Salim Jahangeer (Salim Sir).

Note: No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

 

Dr. Peer Salim Jahangeer (M.A, B.Ed, M.Ed, M.Phil, Ph.D. & DCA) is working in J&K Higher Education from  last Ten Years and is approved IGNOU Counselor.  He has published 8 books and 30 research papers and is editor of Internal Journal ‘Creative Launcher’. He has participated in many FDPs, Seminars, Conferences, Workshop.

 

 

Dedicated

 

 

To

 

 

Dear Students

 

 

 

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Contents of the Book

 

Module I: One-act Play

1.      Life Sketch of J.B Priestley

2.      Summary and analysis of 

3.      Urdu Translation

4.      Textual Questions of

5.      Text

6.      Glossary

 

Module II: Memoir

7.      Life Sketch of Helen Keller

8.      Summary and analysis

9.      Urdu Translation

10.  Textual Questions

11.  Text

12.  Glossary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Day (J.B. Priestly)

About Author J.B. Priestly 

Life: The play “Mother’s Day” is written by J.B. Priestley. His full name is John Boynton Priestley. He was born on 13^th Sept. 1894 at Manningham, Bradford, U.K, and died on 14^th Aug. 1984 at Stratford-up-on-Avon, U.K. In 1914 he volunteered for the British army.

Parents & Spouse: Jonathan Priestley was his father who was a master. His mother Emma who was a mill girl died in 1896 when he was only two years old. He was brought up by stepmother Amy who was very human. He married Emily in 1921 that was a Bradford Librarian but died with cancer. He married second time with Jane Wyndham- Lewis.

Education: He gets his early education at the Bradford School. During World War-I, his education carrier was interrupted. At the end of the World War, he matriculated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.  After graduation, he started writing for local periodicals.

Work and Job:  He left school at the age of 16 years. He started to work as a clerk at the Wool firm Helm and Co. He had too much interest in writing. He worked hard to write articles in both national as well as international newspapers. He was writing to a regular unpaid column in a local Periodical, “Bradford Pioneer”.  His writing was the main influence of Yorkshire. He was a founding member of “The campaign for Nuclear Disarmament”.  During World War II he worked with BBC, as a broadcaster.

Literary Contribution: He was working hard to become a writer. He achieved his aim with the publication of his novels “The Good Companions” and “Angel Pavement”. In “Margin Released” he wrote about his war experiences. He becomes famous with his travelogue “English Journey” as a social reporter. In his work “Literature and Western Man” he surveys the Western Civilization from the 15^th Century.   His important novel is “Adam Moonshine” “Benighted”, “Faraway”, “They Walk in the City”. Also, he achieved his popularity with his plays “Dangerous Corner” and “When We Are Married”.

Honors and Prizes: He rejected the offer of a knighthood ad peerage.   He was honored with Freedom of the City of Bradford and Order of Merit. At Bradford University the library was named on his name. To honor him his statue was unveiled in Bradford. 

Summary and Analysis of “Mothers Day”

Introduction: “Mother’s Day” is written by J.B. Priestley in 1953. This is a satirical play on the modern society’s approach towards mothers. This play is humors representation of a housewife

in a family. This play depicts the plight of mother who works hard from morning to evening butno one appreciates her. The family members do not recognize mother’s services for them,

without care of herself. 

 Imp. Characters:  Mrs. Anne Pearson (Mother), George Person (Son), Doris Person (Daughter), Cyril Person (Father), Mrs. Fitzgerald (Neighbor).

Summary: As depicted by the title “Mother’s Day” the whole play revolves around the Mother ‘Mrs. Pearson’. The Mother is the main and central figure of the play. The play depicts the plight of the mother in sarcastic way. The mother is not treated well by her children and husband. Her neighbor and friend ‘Mrs. Fitzgerald’ helped her with the help of magic spell. The magic spell interchanges them for time being. The family gets a lesson with the help of her new character. At the end of the play mother gets respect and regard from all family members.

Setting: The play starts in the living-room of the Persons’ house in London Suburb. When the curtain rises, the time is afternoon of an autumn. Two main characters of the play i.e. Mrs. Fitzgerland and Mrs. Pearson are discussing at a table. Mrs. Fitzgerald who is a fortune teller has been telling Mrs. Pearson’s fortune.

Introduction of about Characters: Annie is a nice and worried looking lady in forties. She is wife of George Person. She like other mothers cares her family but in return they didn’t care about her. Her main goal is to keep her family members happy on the sacrifice of her own happiness. George Person who is the husband of Annie is about fifty years old. He did not care about the emotions of his wife. Doris Person is the daughter of twenty years old. She has flown in live with Charlie Spence. Cyril is the son of the family and is like other members. He is a spoilt child and didn’t care his mother. Mrs. Fitzgerald is the neighbor of Person’s. She is talented lady and has knowledge of magic.

Theme: The theme of the play is that mother always sacrifices themselves for their family without expecting anything in return. The family members should also respect the mothers in all ways.

 

مدرز ڈے (جے بی پرسٹلی)

مصنف J.B. Priestly کے بارے میں

زندگی: ڈرامہ "مدرز ڈے" جے بی پریسلی نے لکھا ہے۔ اس کا پورا نام جان بوئنٹن پریسلی ہے۔ وہ 13 ستمبر 1894 کو میننگھم، بریڈ فورڈ، یو کے میں پیدا ہوئے اور 14 اگست 1984 کو سٹریٹفورڈ-اپ-آن-ایون، یو کے میں انتقال کر گئے، 1914 میں انہوں نے برطانوی فوج کے لیے رضاکارانہ خدمات انجام دیں۔

والدین اور شریک حیات: جوناتھن پریسلی اس کے والد تھے جو ایک ماسٹر تھے۔ اس کی والدہ ایما جو ایک مل لڑکی تھی 1896 میں اس وقت انتقال کر گئی جب وہ صرف دو سال کی تھیں۔ اس کی پرورش سوتیلی ماں ایمی نے کی جو بہت ہی انسان تھی۔ اس نے 1921 میں ایملی سے شادی کی جو بریڈ فورڈ لائبریرین تھی لیکن کینسر کے باعث ان کی موت ہوگئی۔ اس نے دوسری شادی جین ونڈھم-لیوس کے ساتھ کی۔

تعلیم: اس نے اپنی ابتدائی تعلیم بریڈ فورڈ اسکول میں حاصل کی۔ پہلی جنگ عظیم کے دوران ان کے تعلیمی کیریئر میں خلل پڑا۔ عالمی جنگ کے اختتام پر، اس نے ٹرنٹی ہال، کیمبرج میں میٹرک کیا۔ گریجویشن کے بعد انہوں نے مقامی اخبارات کے لیے لکھنا شروع کیا۔

کام اور ملازمت: اس نے 16 سال کی عمر میں اسکول چھوڑ دیا۔ اس نے اون فرم ہیلم اینڈ کمپنی میں بطور کلرک کام کرنا شروع کیا۔ اسے لکھنے میں بہت زیادہ دلچسپی تھی۔ انہوں نے قومی اور بین الاقوامی اخبارات میں مضامین لکھنے کے لیے بہت محنت کی۔ وہ ایک مقامی میعادی، "بریڈ فورڈ پاینیر" میں ایک باقاعدہ بلا معاوضہ کالم لکھ رہا تھا۔ ان کی تحریر یارک شائر کا بنیادی اثر تھا۔ وہ "جوہری تخفیف اسلحہ کی مہم" کے بانی رکن تھے۔ دوسری جنگ عظیم کے دوران انہوں نے بی بی سی کے ساتھ بطور براڈکاسٹر کام کیا۔

ادبی شراکت: وہ مصنف بننے کے لیے سخت محنت کر رہا تھا۔ انہوں نے اپنے ناولوں "دی گڈ کمپینز" اور "اینجل پیومنٹ" کی اشاعت سے اپنا مقصد حاصل کیا۔ "مارجن ریلیز" میں اس نے اپنے جنگی تجربات کے بارے میں لکھا۔ وہ اپنے سفرنامے "انگلش جرنی" سے بطور سوشل رپورٹر مشہور ہوئے۔ اپنی تصنیف "ادب اور مغربی انسان" میں انہوں نے 15ویں صدی سے مغربی تہذیب کا سروے کیا ہے۔ ان کے اہم ناول "Adam Moonshine" "Benighted"، "Faraway"، "They Walk in the City" ہیں۔ اس کے علاوہ، انہوں نے اپنے ڈراموں "خطرناک کارنر" اور "جب ہم شادی شدہ" سے اپنی مقبولیت حاصل کی۔

اعزازات اور انعامات: اس نے نائٹ ہڈ ایڈ پیریج کی پیشکش کو مسترد کر دیا۔ انہیں فریڈم آف دی سٹی آف بریڈ فورڈ اور آرڈر آف میرٹ سے نوازا گیا۔ بریڈ فورڈ یونیورسٹی میں لائبریری کا نام ان کے نام پر رکھا گیا۔ ان کے اعزاز کے لیے بریڈ فورڈ میں ان کے مجسمے کی نقاب کشائی کی گئی۔

"مدرز ڈے" کا خلاصہ اور تجزیہ

تعارف: "مدرز ڈے" J.B. Priestley نے 1953 میں لکھا ہے۔ یہ جدید معاشرے کے ماؤں کے تئیں رویہ پر ایک طنزیہ ڈرامہ ہے۔ یہ ڈرامہ ایک گھریلو خاتون کی مزاحیہ نمائندگی ہے۔

ایک خاندان میں. اس ڈرامے میں ماں کی حالت زار کو دکھایا گیا ہے جو صبح سے شام تک محنت کرتی ہے لیکن کوئی اس کی قدر نہیں کرتا۔ گھر والے ان کے لیے ماں کی خدمات کو تسلیم نہیں کرتے،

اپنی پرواہ کیے بغیر

 Imp کردار: مسز این پیئرسن (ماں)، جارج پرسن (بیٹا)، ڈورس پرسن (بیٹی)، سیرل پرسن (باپ)، مسز فٹزجیرالڈ (پڑوسی)۔

خلاصہ: جیسا کہ "مدرز ڈے" کے عنوان سے دکھایا گیا ہے پورا ڈرامہ مدر 'مسز' کے گرد گھومتا ہے۔ پیئرسن۔ ماں اس ڈرامے کی مرکزی اور مرکزی شخصیت ہے۔ ڈرامے میں ماں کی حالت زار کو طنزیہ انداز میں دکھایا گیا ہے۔ ماں کے ساتھ اس کے بچے اور شوہر اچھا سلوک نہیں کرتے۔ اس کی پڑوسی اور دوست 'مسز فٹزجیرالڈ نے جادوئی منتر کی مدد سے اس کی مدد کی۔ جادوئی منتر ان کو وقتی طور پر بدل دیتا ہے۔ خاندان کو اس کے نئے کردار کی مدد سے سبق ملتا ہے۔ ڈرامے کے اختتام پر ماں کو خاندان کے تمام افراد کی طرف سے عزت اور احترام ملتا ہے۔

ترتیب: ڈرامہ لندن کے مضافات میں پرسنز ہاؤس کے رہنے والے کمرے میں شروع ہوتا ہے۔ جب پردہ اٹھتا ہے تو موسم خزاں کی دوپہر ہے۔ ڈرامے کے دو مرکزی کردار یعنی مسز فٹزگرلینڈ اور مسز پیئرسن ایک میز پر بحث کر رہے ہیں۔ مسز فٹزجیرالڈ جو ایک خوش قسمتی بتانے والی ہیں مسز پیئرسن کی خوش قسمتی بتا رہی ہیں۔

کرداروں کے بارے میں تعارف: اینی چالیس کی دہائی میں ایک اچھی اور پریشان نظر آنے والی خاتون ہیں۔ وہ جارج پرسن کی بیوی ہے۔ وہ دوسری ماؤں کی طرح اپنے خاندان کا خیال رکھتی ہے لیکن بدلے میں انہیں اس کی کوئی پرواہ نہیں تھی۔ اس کا بنیادی مقصد اپنی خوشی کی قربانی پر اپنے خاندان کے افراد کو خوش رکھنا ہے۔ جارج پرسن جو اینی کا شوہر ہے اس کی عمر تقریباً پچاس سال ہے۔ اسے اپنی بیوی کے جذبات کی پرواہ نہیں تھی۔ ڈورس پرسن بیس سال کی بیٹی ہے۔ وہ چارلی اسپینس کے ساتھ لائیو میں اڑ چکی ہے۔ سیرل خاندان کا بیٹا ہے اور دوسرے ارکان کی طرح ہے۔ وہ ایک بگڑا ہوا بچہ ہے اور اپنی ماں کی پرواہ نہیں کرتا تھا۔ مسز فٹزجیرالڈ پرسنز کی پڑوسی ہیں۔ وہ باصلاحیت خاتون ہیں اور جادو کا علم رکھتی ہیں۔

تھیم: ڈرامے کا تھیم یہ ہے کہ ماں ہمیشہ اپنے خاندان کے لیے اپنے آپ کو قربان کر دیتی ہے اور اس کے بدلے میں کسی چیز کی توقع نہیں رکھی جاتی۔ گھر والوں کو بھی چاہیے کہ ماؤں کا ہر طرح سے احترام کریں۔

 

Text of Mother’s Day (J.B. Priestley)

The action takes place in the living-room of the Pearsons’ house in a London suburb.

Time: The Present

Scene: The living-room of the Pearson family. Afternoon. It is a comfortably furnished, much lived-in room in a small suburban semi-detached villa. If necessary only one door need be used, but it is better with two-one up left leading to the front door and the stairs and the other in the right wall leading to the kitchen and the back door. There can be a muslin covered window in the left wall and possibly one in the right wall, too. The fireplace is assumed to be in the fourth wall. There is a settee up right, an armchair down left and one down right. A small table with two chairs on either side of it stands at the centre.

When the curtain rises it is an afternoon in early autumn and the stage can be well lit. Mrs Pearson at right, and Mrs Fitzgerald at left, are sitting opposite each other at the small table, on which are two tea-cups and saucers and the cards with which Mrs Fitzgerald has been telling Mrs Pearson’s fortune. Mrs Pearson is a pleasant but worried-looking woman in her forties. Mrs Fitzgerald is older, heavier and a strong and sinister personality. She is smoking. It is very important that these two should have sharply contrasting voices Mrs Pearson speaking in a light, flurried sort of tone, with a touch of suburban Cockney perhaps; and Mrs Fitzgerald with a deep voice, rather Irish perhaps.

MRS FITZGERALD: [collecting up the cards] And that’s all I can tell you, Mrs Pearson. Could be a good fortune. Could be a bad one. All depends on yourself now. Make up your mind and there it is.

PMRS PEARSON: Yes, thank you, Mrs Fitzgerald. I’m much obliged, I’m sure. It’s wonderful having a real fortune-teller living next door. Did you learn that out East, too? 8 MRS FITZGERALD: I did. Twelve years I had of it, with my old man rising to be Lieutenant Quartermaster. He learnt a lot, and I learnt a lot more.

But will you make up your mind now, Mrs Pearson dear? Put your foot down, once an’ for all, an’ be the mistress of your own house an’ the boss of your own family.

MRS PEARSON: [smiling apologetically] That’s easier said than done. Besides I’m so fond of them even if they are so thoughtless and selfish. They don’t mean to be..

MRS FITZGERALD: [cutting in] Maybe not. But it’d be better for them if they learnt to treat you properly...

MRS PEARSON: Yes, I suppose it would, in a way.

MRS FITZGERALD: No doubt about it at all. Who’s the better for being spoilt-grown man, lad or girl? Nobody. You think it does ‘em good when you run after them all the time, take their orders as if you were the servant in the house, stay at home every night while they go out enjoying themselves? Never in all your life. It’s the ruin of them as well as you. Husbands, sons, daughters should be taking notice of wives an’ mothers, not giving ‘em orders an’ treating ‘em like dirt. An’ don’t tell me you don’t know what I mean, for I know more than you’ve told me.

MRS PEARSON: [dubiously] -keep dropping a hint....

MRS FITZGERALD: Hint? It’s more than hints your family needs, Mrs Pearson.

MRS PEARSON: [dubiously] I suppose it is. But I do hate any unpleasantness. And it’s so hard to know where to start. I keep making up my mind to have it out with them but somehow I don’t know how to begin. [She glances at her watch or at a clock] Oh-good gracious! Look at the time. Nothing ready and they’ll be home any minute and probably all in a hurry to go out again.

[As she is about to rise, Mrs Fitzgerald reaches out across the table and pulls her down.]

MRS FITZGERALD: Let ‘em wait or look after themselves for once. This is where your foot goes down. Start now. [She lights a cigarette from the one she has just finished.]

MRS PEARSON: [embarrassed] Mrs Fitzgerald-I know you mean well-in fact, I agre with you but I just can’t and it’s no use you trying to make me. If I promise you really have it out with them, I know I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise. MRS FITZGERALD: Then let me do it.

MRS PEARSON: [flustered] Oh no-thank you very much, Mrs Fitzgerald-but that wouldn’t do at all. It couldn’t possibly be somebody else they’d resent it at once and wouldn’t listen and really I couldn’t blame them. I know I ought to do it but you see how it is? [She looks apologetically across the table, smiling rather miserably.] MRS FITZGERALD: [coolly] You haven’t got the idea.

MRS PEARSON: [bewildered] Oh-I’m sorry-I thought you asked me to let you do it.

MRS FITZGERALD: I did. But not as me-as you.

MRS PEARSON: But I don’t understand. You couldn’t be me.

MRS FITZGERALD: [coolly] We change places. Or-really-bodies. You look like me. look like you.

MRS PEARSON: But that’s impossible.

MRS FITZGERALD: How do you know? Ever tried it?

MRS PEARSON: No, of course not...

MRS FITZGERALD: [coolly] I have. Not for some time but it still ought to work. Won’t last long, but long enough for what we want to do. Learnt it out East, of course, where they’re up to all these tricks. [She holds her hand out across the table, keeping the cigarette in her mouth] Gimme your hands, dear.

MRS PEARSON: [dubiously] Well I don’t know is it right?

MRS FITZGERALD: It’s your only chance. Give me your hands an’ keep quiet a minute. Just don’t think about anything. [Taking her hands] Now look at me. [They stare at each other. Muttering] Arshtatta- dum arshtatta lam-arshtatta lamdumbona...

[This little scene should be acted very carefully. We are to assume that the personalities change bodies. After the spell has been spoken, both women, still grasping hands, go lax, as if the life were out of them. Then both come to life, but with the personality of the other. Each must try to adopt the voice and mannerisms of the other. So now Mrs Pearson is bold and dominating and Mrs Fitzgerald is nervous and fluttering.]

MRS PEARSON: [now with Mrs Fitzgerald’s personality] See what I mean, dear? [She notices the cigarette] Here you don’t want that. [She snatches it and puts it in her own mouth, puffing contentedly.]

[Mrs Fitzgerald, now with Mrs Pearson’s personality, looks down at herself and sees that her body has changed and gives a scream of fright.]

MRS FITZGERALD: [with Mrs Pearson’s personality] Oh-it’s happened.

MRS PEARSON: [complacently] Of course it’s happened. Very neat. Didn’t know I had it in me MRS FITZGERALD: [alarmed] But whatever shall I do, Mrs Fitzgerald? George and the

children can’t see me like this MRS PEARSON: [grimly] They aren’t going to-that’s the point. They’ll have me to deal with-only they won’t know it.

MRS FITZGERALD: [still alarmed] But what if we can’t change back? It’ud be terrible.

MRS PEARSON: Here-steady, Mrs Pearson-If you had to live my life it wouldn’t be so had. You’d have more fun as me than you’ve had as you. MBS FITZGERALD: Yes-but I don’t want to be anybody else....

MRS PEARSON: Now-stop worrying. It’s easier changing back- can do it any time we want...

MRS FITZGERALD: Well-do it now...

MRS PEARSON: Not likely. I’ve got to deal with your family first. That’s the idea, isn’t it? Didn’t know how to begin with ‘em, you said. Well. I’ll show you. MRS FITZGERALD: But what am I going to do?

MRS PEARSON: Go into my house for a bit-there’s nobody there-then pop back and see how we’re doing. You ought to enjoy it. Better get off now before one of ‘em comes.

MRS FITZGERALD: [nervously rising] Yes I suppose that’s best. You’re sure it’ll be all right?

MRS PEARSON: [chuckling] It’ll be wonderful. Now off you go, dear.

[Mrs Fitzgerald crosses and hurries out through the door right. Left to herself, Mrs Pearson smokes away-lighting another cigarette-and begins laying out the cards for patience on the table. After a few moments Doris Pearson comes bursting in left. She is a pretty girl in her early twenties, who would be pleasant enough if she had not been spoilt.]

DORIS: [before she has taken anything in] Mum-you’ll have to iron my yellow silk. I must wear it tonight.

[She now sees what is happening, and is astounded.] What are you doing? [She moves down left centre.]

[Mrs Pearson now uses her ordinary voice, but her manner is not fluttering and apologetic but cool and e.]

MRS PEARSON: [not even looking up] What d’you think I’m doing-whitewashing the ceiling?

DORIS : (still astounded )but you’re smoking!

MRS PEARSON: That’s right, dear. No law against it, is there?

DORIS: But I thought you didn’t smoke.

MRS PEARSON: Then you thought wrong.

DORIS: Are we having tea in the kitchen?

MRS PEARSON: Have it where you like, dear. DORIS: [angrily] Do you mean it isn’t ready?

MRS PEARSON: Yours isn’t. I’ve had all I want. Might go out later and get a square mea at the Clarendon.

DORIS: [hardly believing her ears] Who might? MRS PEARSON: I might. Who d’you think?

DORIS: [staring at her] Mum-what’s the matter with you? MRS PEARSON: Don’t be silly.

DORIS: [indignantly] It’s not me that’s being silly-and I must say it’s a bit much when I’ve been working hard all day and you can’t even bother to get my tea ready. Did you hear what I said about my yellow silk?

MRS PEARSON: No. Don’t you like it now? I never did.

DORIS: [indignantly] Of course I like it. And I’m going to wear it tonight. So I want it ironed.

MRS PEARSON: Want it ironed? What d’you think it’s going to do-iron itself?

DORIS: No, you’re going to iron it for me... You always do.

MRS PEARSON: Well, this time I don’t. And don’t talk rubbish to me about working hard. I’ve a good idea how much you do, Doris Pearson. I put in twice the hours you do, and get no wages nor thanks for it. Why are you going to wear your yellow silk? Where are you going?

DORIS: [sulkily] Out with Charlie Spence.

MRS PEARSON: Why?

DORIS: [wildly] Why? Why? What’s the matter with you? Why shouldn’t I go out with Charlie Spence if he asks me and I want to? Any objections? Go on-you might as well tell me...

MRS PEARSON: [severely] Can’t you find anybody better?

I wouldn’t be seen dead with Charlie Spence. Buck teeth and half-witted... DORIS: He isn’t...

MRS PEARSON: When I was your age I’d have found somebody better than Charlie Spence or given myself up as a bad job.

DORIS (nearly in tears] Oh-shut up!

Doris runs out left. Mrs Pearson chuckles and begins putting the cards together. After a moment Cyril Pearson enters left. He is the masculine counterpart of Doris.]

CYRIL (briskly] Hello Mum. Tea ready?

MRS PEARSON: No.

CYRIL Imoving to the table; annoyed] Why not?

MRS PEARSON: [coolly] I couldn’t bother. CYRIL: Feeling off-colour or something?

MRS PEARSON: Never felt better in my life. CYRIL: (aggressively] What’s the idea then?

MRS PEARSON: Just a change.

CYRIL: [briskly] Well, snap out of it, Ma-and get cracking. Haven’t too much time. Cyril is about to go when Mrs Pearson’s voice checks him.] MRS PEARSON: I’ve plenty of time.

CYRIL: Yes, but I haven’t. Got a busy night tonight. [moving left to the door] Did you put my things out?

MRS PEARSON: [coolly] Can’t remember. But I doubt it.

CYRIL: [moving to the table; protesting] Now-look. When I asked you this morning, you promised. You said you’d have to look through ‘em first in case there was any mending.

MRS PEARSON: Yes-well now I’ve decided I don’t like mending. CYRIL: That’s a nice way to talk-what would happen if we all talked like that?

MRS PEARSON: You all do talk like that. If there’s something at home you don’t want to do, you don’t do it. If it’s something at your work, you get the Union to bar it. Now all that’s happened is that I’ve joined the movement.

CYRIL: [staggered) I don’t get this, Mum. What’s going on?

MRS PEARSON: [laconic and sinister] Changes.

[Doris enters left. She is in the process of dressing and is now wearing a wrap. She looks pale and red- eyed.] MRS PEARSON: You look terrible. I wouldn’t wear that face even for Charlie Spence.

DORIS: [moving above the table; angrily] Oh-shut up about Charlie Spence. And anyhow I’m not ready yet-just dressing. And if I do look terrible, it’s your fault-you made me cry.

CYRIL: (curious] Why what did she do?

DORIS: Never you mind.

MRS PEARSON: [rising and preparing to move to the kitchen] Have we any stout left? can’t remember.

CYRIL: Bottle or two, I think. But you don’t want stout now.

MRS PEARSON: [moving left slowly] I do.

CYRIL: What for?

MRS PEARSON: (turning at the door] To drink-you clot!

[Mrs Pearson exits right. Instantly Cyril and Doris are in a huddle, close together at le centre, rapidly whispering.]

DORIS: Has she been like that with you, too?

CYRIL: Yes-no tea ready-couldn’t care less....

DORIS: Well, I’m glad it’s both of us. I thought I’d done something wrong.

CYRIL: So did I. But it’s her of course...

DORIS: She was smoking and playing cards when I came in. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

CYRIL: I asked her if she was feeling off-colour and she said she wasn’t.

DORIS: Well, she’s suddenly all different. An’ that’s what made me cry. It wasn’t what she said but the way she said it-an’ the way she looked.

CYRIL: Haven’t noticed that. She looks just the same to me…

DORIS: She doesn’t to me. Do you think she could have hit her head or something.

CYRIL: [staggered] Do you mean she’s barmy?

DORIS: No, you fathead. Y’know-concussion. She might have.

CYRIL: Sounds far-fetched.

DORIS: Well, she’s far-fetched, if you ask me. [She suddenly begins to giggle.]

CYRIL: Now then-what is it?

DORIS: If she’s going to be like this when Dad comes home... [She giggles again.]

CYRIL: [beginning to guffaw] I’m staying in for that-two front dress circles for the fir house....

[Mrs Pearson enters right, carrying a bottle of stout and a halffilled glass. Cyril and Do try to stop their guffawing and giggling, but they are not quick enough. Mrs Pears regards them with contempt.]

MRS PEARSON: [coldly] You two are always talking about being grown-up-why don’t you both try for once to be your age? [She moves to the settee and sits.]

CYRIL Can’t we laugh now?

MRS PEARSON Yes, if it’s funny. Go on, tell me. Make me laugh. I could do with it. DORIS Y’know you never understand our jokes. Mum...

MRS PEARSON: I was yawning at your jokes before you were born, Doris.

DORIS: (almost tearful again] What’s making you talk like this? What have we done?

MRS PEARSON: [promptly] Nothing but come in, ask for something, go out again, then Et les come back when there’s nowhere else to go.

CYRIL: [aggressively] Look-if you won’t get tea ready, then I’ll find something to eat myself...

MRS PEARSON: Why not? Help yourself. [She takes a sip of stout.]

CYRIL: [turning on his way to the kitchen] Mind you, I think it’s a bit thick. I’ve been working all day.

DORIS: Same here.

MRS PEARSON: (calmly) Eight hour day!

CYRIL: Yes-eight hour day-an’ don’t forget it.

MRS PEARSON: I’ve done my eight hours.

CYRIL: That’s different.

DORIS: Of course it is.

MRS PEARSON: [calmly] It was. Now it isn’t. Forty-hour week for all now. Just watch it at the weekend when I have my two days off.

Doris and Cyril exchange alarmed glances. Then they stare at Mrs Pearson who returns their look calmly.]

CYRIL: Must grab something to eat. Looks as if I’ll need to keep my strength up. [Cyril exits to the kitchen.]

DORIS: [moving to the settee; anxiously] Mummy, you don’t mean you’re not going to do anything on Saturday and Sunday?

MRS PEARSON: [airily] No, I wouldn’t go that far. I might make a bed or two and do a bit of cooking as a favour. Which means, of course, I’ll have to be asked very nicely and thanked for everything and generally made a fuss of. But any of you forty-hour-a weekers who expect to be waited on hand and foot on Saturday and Sunday, with no thanks for it, are in for a nasty disappointment. Might go off for the week-end perhaps.

DORIS: (aghast) Go off for the week-end?

PEARSON: Why not? I could do with a change. Stuck here day after day, week after week. If I don’t need a change, who does? DORIS: But where would you go, who would you go with?

MRS PEARSON: That’s my business. You don’t ask me where you should go and who you should go with, do you?

DORIS: That’s different.

MRS PEARSON: The only difference is that I’m a lot older and better able to look after myself, so it’s you who should do the asking.

DORIS: Did you fall or hit yourself with something?

MRS PEARSON: [coldly] No. But I’ll hit you with something, girl, if you don’t stop asking silly questions.

[Doris stares at her open-mouthed, ready to cry.]

DORIS: Oh-this is awful... [She begins to cry, not passionately.]

MRS PEARSON: [coldly] Stop blubbering. You’re not a baby. If you’re old enough to go out with Charlie Spence, you’re old enough to behave properly. Now stop it. [George Pearson enters left. He is about fifty, fundamentally decent but solemn, self-important, pompous. Preferably he should be a heavy, slow-moving type. He notices Doris’s tears.]

GEORGE: Hello what’s this? Can’t be anything to cry about.

DORIS: [through sobs] You’ll see.

[Doris runs out left with a sob or two on the way. George stares after her a moment, then looks at Mrs Pearson.]

GEORGE: Did she say ‘You’ll see...?

MRS PEARSON: Yes.

GEORGE: What did she mean?

MRS PEARSON: Better ask her.

[George looks slowly again at the door then at Mrs Pearson. Then he notices the stout that Mrs Pearson raises for another sip. His eyes almost bulge.]

GEORGE: Stout?

MRS PEARSON: Yes.

GEORGE: [amazed] What are you drinking stout for?

MRS PEARSON: Because I fancied some.

MRS PEARSON: Yes-what’s wrong with it at this time of day? GEORGE [bewildered] Nothing, I suppose, Annie but I’ve never seen you do it before... MRS PEARSON: Well, you’re seeing me now.

GEORGE: [with heavy distaste] Yes, an’ I don’t like it. It doesn’t look right. I’m surprised at you.

MRS PEARSON: Well, that ought to be a nice change for you.

GEORGE: What do you mean?

MRS PEARSON: It must be some time since you were surprised at me, George.

GEORGE: I don’t like surprises I’m all for a steady going on-you ought to know that by this time. By the way, I forgot to tell you this morning I wouldn’t want any tea. Special snooker matches night at the club tonight-an’ a bit of supper going. So no tea.

MRS PEARSON: That’s all right. There isn’t any.

GEORGE: [astonished] You mean you didn’t get any ready? MRS PEARSON: Yes. And a good thing, too, as it’s turned out.

GEORGE (aggrieved] That’s all very well, but suppose I’d wanted some?

MRS PEARSON: My goodness! Listen to the man! Annoyed because I don’t get a tea for him that he doesn’t even want. Ever tried that at the club?

GEORGE: Tried what at the club?

MRS PEARSON: Going up to the bar and telling ‘em you don’t want a glass of beer but you’re annoyed because they haven’t already poured it out. Try that on them and see what you get.

GEORGE: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

MRS PEARSON: They’d laugh at you even more than they do now.

GEORGE: [indignantly] Laugh at me? They don’t laugh at me.

MRS PEARSON: Of course they do. You ought to have found that out by this time. Anybody else would have done. You’re one of their standing jokes. Famous. They call you Pompy-ompy Pearson because they think you’re so slow and pompous.

GEORGE: [horrified] Never!

MRS PEARSON: It’s always beaten me why you should want to spend so much time at a place where they’re always laughing at you behind your back and calling you names. Leaving your wife at home, night after night. Instead of going out with her, who doesn’t make you look a fool...

OREDMI NOTE 8 lass of milk in one hand and a thick slice of cake in the other. AI QUAD CAMERA almost gazed, turns to him appealingly.]

GEORGE: Here, Cyril, you’ve been with me to the club once or twice. They don’t laugh at M me and call me Pompy-ompy Pearson, do they?

[Cyril, embarrassed, hesitates.] [Angrily] Go on-tell me. Do they? CYRIL: [embarrassed] Well-yes, Dad, I’m afraid they do.

[George slowly looks from one to the other, staggered.]

GEORGE: [slowly] Well-I’ll be-damned!

[George exits left, slowly, almost as if somebody had hit him over the head. Cyril, after watching him go, turns indignantly to Mrs Pearson.]

CYRIL: Now you shouldn’t have told him that, Mum. That’s not fair. You’ve hurt his feelings. Mine, too.

MRS PEARSON: Sometimes it does people good to have their feelings hurt. The truth oughtn’t to hurt anybody for long. If your father didn’t go to the club so often, perhaps they’d stop laughing at him.

CYRIL: [gloomily] I doubt it.

MRS PEARSON: [severely] Possibly you do, but what I doubt is whether your opinion’s worth having. What do you know? Nothing. You spend too much time and good money at greyhound races and dirt tracks and ice shows....

CYRIL: [sulkily] Well, what if I do? I’ve got to enjoy myself somehow, haven’t 1?

MRS PEARSON: I wouldn’t mind so much if you were really enjoying yourself. But are you? And where’s it getting you? [There is a sharp hurried knocking heard off left.]

CYRIL: Might be for me. I’ll see. [Cyril hurries out left. In a moment he re-enters, closing the door behind him.] It’s that silly old bag from next door-Mrs Fitzgerald. You don’t want her here, do you?

MRS PEARSON: [sharply] Certainly I do. Ask her in. And don’t call her a silly old bag either. She’s a very nice woman, with a lot more sense than you’ll ever have.

[Cyril exits left. Mrs Pearson finishes her stout, smacking her lips.

Cyril re-enters left, ushering in Mrs Fitzgerald, who hesitates in the doorway.]

Come in, come in, Mrs Fitzgerald.

MRS FITZGERALD: [moving to left centre; anxiously] -just wondered if everything’s all right....

CYRIL: [sulkily] No, it isn’t.

MRS PEARSON: [sharply] Of course it is. You be quiet.

CYRIL: [indignantly and loudly] Why should I be quiet?

MRS PEARSON: [shouting] Because I tell you to-you silly, spoilt, young piecan.

MRS FITZGERALD: [protesting nervously] Oh-no-surely... MRS PEARSON (severely] Now, Mrs Fitzgerald,

just let me manage my family in my own MAS FITZGERALD: Yes--but Cyril...

CYRIL: (sulky and glowering) Mr Cyril Pearson to you, please, Mrs Fitzgerald. [Cyril stalks off into the kitchen.] MRS FITZGERALD: [moving to the settee; whispering] Oh-dear-what’s happening?

MAS PEARSON: [calmly] Nothing much. Just putting ‘em in their places, that’s all. Doing what you ought to have done long since.

MRS FITZGERALD: Is George home? [She sits beside Mrs Pearson on the settee.] MRS PEARSON: Yes. I’ve been telling him what they think of him at the club.

MRS FITZGERALD: Well, they think a lot of him, don’t they? MRS PEARSON: No, they don’t. And now he knows it.

MRS FITZGERALD: [nervously] On-dear-I wish you hadn’t, Mrs Fitzgerald....

MRS PEARSON: Nonsense! Doing ‘em all a world of good. And they’ll be eating out of your hand soon-you’ll see... MRS FITZGERALD: I don’t think I want them eating out of my hand…

MRS PEARSON: [impatiently] Well, whatever you want, they’ll be doing it all three of em. Mark my words, Mrs Pearson.

(George enters left glumly. He is unpleasantly surprised when he sees the visitor. He moves to the armchair left, sits down heavily and glumly lights his pipe. Then he looks from Mrs Pearson to Mrs Fitzgerald, who is regarding him anxiously.]

GEORGE: Just looked in for a minute, I suppose, Mrs Fitzgerald?

MRS FITZGERALD: [who doesn’t know what she is saying] Well-yes-I suppose so, George.

GEORGE: [aghast] George!

MRS FITZGERALD: [nervously] Oh-I’m sorry...

MRS PEARSON: [impatiently] What does it matter? Your name’s George, isn’t it? Who d’you think you are-Duke of Edinburgh?

GEORGE: [angrily] What’s he got to do with it? Just tell me that. And isn’t it bad enough without her calling me George? No tea. Pompy-ompy Pearson. And poor Doris has been crying her eyes out upstairs-yes, crying her eyes out.

MRS FITZGERALD: [wailing] Oh-dear- ought to have known...

GEORGE: (staring at her, annoyed] You ought to have known! Why ought you to have known? Nothing to do with you, Mrs Fitzgerald. Look-we’re at sixes and sevens here just now-so perhaps you’ll excuse us...

MRS PEARSON: [before Mrs Fitzgerald can reply] I won’t excuse you, George Pearson, Next time a friend and neighbour comes to see me, just say something when you see her-Good evening or How d’you do? or something-an’ don’t just march in an’ sit down without a word. It’s bad manners...

MRS FITZGERALD: [nervously] No-it’s all right...

MRS PEARSON: No, it isn’t all right. We’ll have some decent manners in this house-or I’ll know the reason why. [glaring at George] Well?

GEORGE [intimidated] Well, what!

MRS PEARSON: [taunting him] Why don’t you get off to your club? Special night tonight, isn’t it? They’ll be waiting for you-wanting to have a good laugh. Go on then. Don’t disappoint ‘em.. .

GEORGE: [bitterly] That’s right. Make me look silly in front of her now! Go on-don’t mind me. Sixes and sevens! Poor Doris been crying her eyes out! Getting the neighbours in to see the fun! [suddenly losing his temper, glaring at Mrs Pearson, and shouting] All right let her hear it. What’s the matter with you?

Have you gone barmy-or what?

MRS PEARSON: [jumping up: savagely] If you shout at me again like that, George Pearson, I’ll slap your big, fat, silly face...

MRS FITZGERALD: [moaning] Oh-no-no-no-please, Mrs Fitzgerald... [Mrs Pearson sits.]

GEORGE: [staring at her, bewildered] Either I’m off my chump or you two are. How d’you mean-’No, no- please, Mrs Fitzgerald’? Look-you’re Mrs Fitzgerald. So why are you telling yourself to stop when you’re not doing anything? Tell her to stop-then there’d be some sense in it. [Staring at Mrs Pearson] I think you must be tiddly.

MRS PEARSON: [starting up; savagely] Say that again, George Pearson.

GEORGE: [intimidated] All right-all right-all right....

[Doris enters left slowly, looking miserable. She is still wearing the wrap. Mrs Pearson sits on the settee.]

MRS FITZGERALD: Hello-Doris dear!

DORIS: [miserably] Hello-Mrs Fitzgerald!

MRS FITZGERALD: I thought you were going out with Charlie Spence tonight.

DORIS: [annoyed] What’s that to do with you?

MRS PEARSON: [sharply] Stop that!

MRS FITZGERALD: [nervously] No-its all right...

MAS PEARSON: [severely] It isn’t all right. I won’t have a daughter of mine talking to anybody like that. Now answer Mrs Fitzgerald properly, Doris-or go upstairs again....

MRS PEARSON: [fiercely] Well? Answer her DORIS [sulkily] I was going out with Charlie Spence tonight- but now I’ve called it off...

MRS FITZGERALD: Oh-what a pity, dear! Why have you? DORIS [with a flash of temper] Because-if you must know my mother’s been going on at me making me feel miserable-an’ saying he’s got buck-teeth and is half-witted.... MRS FITZGERALD: [rather bolder: to Mrs Pearson] Oh-you shouldn’t have said that... MRS PEARSON: [sharply] Mrs Fitzgerald, I’ll manage my family-you manage yours. GEORGE: [grimly] Ticking her off now, are you,

Annie?

MRS PEARSON: [even more grimly] They’re waiting for you at the club, George, don’t forget. And don’t you start crying again, Doris...

MRS FITZGERALD. [getting up with sudden decision] That’s enough-quite enough. George and Doris stare at her bewildered.] [to George and Doris] Now listen, you two. I want to have a private little talk with Mrs Fitz-[she corrects herself hastily] with Mrs Pearson, so I’ll be obliged if you’ll leave us alone for a few minutes. I’ll let you know when we’ve finished. Go on, please. I promise you that you won’t regret it. There’s something here that only I can deal with.

GEORGE: [rising] I’m glad somebody can-’cos I can’t. Come on, Doris.

[George and Doris exit left. As they go Mrs Fitzgerald moves to left of the small table and sits. She eagerly beckons Mrs Pearson to do the same thing.]

MRS FITZGERALD: Mrs Fitzgerald, we must change back now-we really must...

MRS PEARSON: [rising] Why?

MRS FITZGERALD: Because this has gone far enough. I can see they’re all miserable and I can’t bear it....

MRS PEARSON: A bit more of the same would do ‘em good. Making a great difference already... [She moves to right of the table and sits.]

MRS FITZGERALD: No, I can’t stand any more of it-I really can’t. We must change back. Hurry up, please, Mrs Fitzgerald.

MRS PEARSON: Well if you insist... MRS FITZGERALD: Yes I do please please.

(She stretches her hand across the table eagerly. Mrs Pearson takes them.]

MRS PEARSON Quiet now. Relax.

[Mrs Pearson and Mrs Fitzgerald stare at each other. Muttering; exactly as before Arshtatta dum arshtatta lam-arshtatta lamdumbona. They carry out the same action as before, going lax and then coming to life. But this time, of course, they become their proper personalities.]

MRS FITZGERALD: Ah well-I enjoyed that.

MRS PEARSON: I didn’t.

MRS FITZGERALD: Well, you ought to have done. Now-listen, Mrs Pearson. Don’t go soft on ‘em again, else it’ll all have been wasted...

MRS PEARSON: I’ll try not to, Mrs Fitzgerald.

MRS FITZGERALD: They’ve not had as long as I’d like to have given ‘em-another hour or two’s rough treatment might have made it certain... MRS PEARSON: I’m sure they’ll do better now-though I don’t know how I’m going to explain...

MRS FITZGERALD: [severely] Don’t you start any explaining or apologising or you’re done for.

MRS PEARSON: [with spirit] It’s all right for you, Mrs Fitzgerald. After all, they aren’t your husband and children....

MRS FITZGERALD: [impressively] Now you listen to me. You admitted yourself you were spoiling ‘em- and they didn’t appreciate you. Any apologies-any explanations-an’ you’ll be straight back where you were. I’m warning you, dear. Just give ‘em a look-a tone of voice-now an’ again, to suggest you might be

tough with ‘em if you wanted to be an’ it ought to work. Anyhow, we can test it.

MRS PEARSON: How?

MRS FITZGERALD: Well, what is it you’d like ‘em to do that they don’t do? Stop at home for once?

MRS PEARSON: Yes-and give me a hand with supper...

MRS FITZGERALD: Anything you’d like ‘em to do that you enjoy whether they do or not?

MRS PEARSON: [hesitating] Well-yes. I-like a nice game of rummy-but, of course, I hardly ever have one except at Christmas...

MRS FITZGERALD: [getting up] That’ll do then. [She moves towards the door left then turns] But remember-keep firm-or you’ve had it. [She opens the door. Calling] Hoy! You can come in now. [Coming away from the door, and moving right slightly. Quietly] But remember-remember-a firm hand.

[George, Doris and Cyril file in through the doorway, looking apprehensively at Mrs Pearson.] I’m just off. To let you enjoy yourself.

[The family looks anxiously at Mrs Pearson, who smiles. Much relieved, they smile back at her]

DORIS (anxiously] Yes, Mother?

MRS PEARSON: [smiling] Seeing that you don’t want to go out, I tell you what I thought we’d do.

MRS FITZGERALD: [giving a final warning] Remember!

MRS PEARSON: [nodding, then looking sharply at the family] No objections, I hope? GEORGE [humbly] No, Mother-whatever you say...

MRS PEARSON: [smiling] I thought we’d have a nice family game of rummy-and then you children could get the supper ready while I have a talk with your father...

GEORGE: [firmly] Suits me. [He looks challengingly at the children.] What about you two?

 CYRIL: [hastily] Yes-that’s all right.

DORIS: [hesitating] Well-...

MRS PEARSON: [sharply] What? Speak up!

DORIS: [hastily] Oh I think it would be lovely...

MRS PEARSON: [smiling] Good-bye, Mrs Fitzgerald. Come again soon.

MRS FITZGERALD: Yes, dear. ‘Night all have a nice time. [Mrs Fitzgerald exits left and the family cluster round Mother as the curtain falls]

Glossary

Suburb: /ˈsʌbəːb/  An outlying district of a city, especially a residential one    

Muslin: /ˈmʌzlɪn/ Lightweight cotton cloth in a plain weave

Flurried: /ˈflʌrɪd/ Agitated, nervous, or anxious

Cockney: /ˈkɒkni/ Characteristic of cockneys or their dialect or accent

Dubious: /ˈdjuːbɪəs/ Hesitating or doubting.  

Complacently: /kəmˈpleɪsnt/  Marked by self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies

Incisive:  To tell someone about a feeling, opinion, or aim by speaking or writing about it

Laconic:  /ləˈkɒnɪk/ Using very few words

Concussion: /kənˈkʌʃ(ə)n/  Temporary unconsciousness or confusion caused by a blow on the head

Blubbering: /ˈblʌbə/ Cry noisily and uncontrollably

Aggrieved: /əˈɡriːvd/  Feeling resentment at having been unfairly treated.

Stalk off: / stɔːk /To walk in a way that shows you feel angry or offended

Textual Questions of “Mothers Day”  by J.B. Priestley

Q1. Husband, sons, daughters should be taking notice of wives and mothers...’ remarks Mrs Fitzgerald. Does Mrs Pearson’s family take ‘notice’ of her? Discuss how she is treated by her husband and children?

Ans. In the play “Mothers Day” the main character or heroine Mrs Anne Perason suffers in her family. She sacrifices her life for the sake of family member but they didn’t even respect her. Her close friend and neighbor Mrs Fitzgerald when knows about the family understanding of her friend at her family. She remarks that Husbands, Sons, daughters should take notice of wives and mothers. Pearson was insulted and ignored by her all family members. She used to run after them all the time, paying attention to their needs and taking their orders as if she was the servant and not the mother. She would live her life at home for enjoyment of all family members. Her husband ‘Doris Person’ would go to the club for his enjoyment. Her only son ‘Cyril Person’ would go to the races to enjoy his life. Her daughter ‘Doris Person’ spends whole life with her lover.

  Mrs Pearson would be left behind even during night lonely sacrificing her life for people who never thought about her. Her family members should have been taking notice of her as mother or wife. They should not her order her like servant or treating her like dirt. However, as a wife and a mother, she should be given the due respect. She took care of everyone in the family on the sacrifice of her own life. Her friend and neighbor Mrs Fitzgerald succeeded in teaching a lesson to all family members. This statement of Mrs Fitzgerald is valid and the whole story revolves around the statement.

Q2.  Discuss Mrs Fitzgeralds role in the change that occurs in the Pearson household.

Ans. The role of Mrs Fiterzgerald is very pivotal in the whole play. She played an important role to change the life of her close friend and neighbor and friend.  Mrs Pearson who has been doing the entire house works in the house.  She cooks food, washes clothes and irons them.  She does not take care of her husband only but also of her adult children son and daughter. They do not do anything on their own.  Even if her daughter Doris needs clothes to go meet her boyfriend, she wants ironed by Mrs Pearson.

In short Mrs Person doesn’t seem to get respect and attention that she deserves from her children and her husband. One day her friend and close neighbor  Mrs Fitzgerald comes to know about her coition in family.  Mrs Fitzgerald asks Mrs Pearson to deal with her family firmly.  But Mrs Pearson cannot understand how because she was innocent. At this, Mrs Ferald tells her, that with the help of some Magic they can exchange their bodies. They join hands and transformation of their bodies takes place. In this way they are able to change the behavior and attitude of the family. So, we came to conclusion that Mrs Fitzgeralds played important role in the change that occurs in the Pearson household.

Q.3. Compare and contrast Mrs Person’s personality before and after she changes place with Mrs Fitzgerland.

Ans:  There is complete change in the personality of the Mrs Person after she meets with Mrs Fitzgerland. The play starts in the living-room of the Persons’ house in London Suburb. Mrs. Fitzgerald who is a fortune teller has been telling Mrs. Pearson’s fortune.

The play depicts the plight of the mother in sarcastic way. The mother is not treated well by her children and husband before she met Mrs Fitzgerland. Mrs. Fitzgerald who was her neighbor and friend helped her with the help of magic spell. The magic spell interchanges them for time being. The family gets a lesson with the help of her new character. At the end of the play mother gets respect and regard from all family members when she follows the instructions of Mrs Fitgerland. 

It is clear from the play that personality of Mrs Person changed completely when she met Fitgerland. There is difference of hell and heaven in her personality before and after she met Mrs. Fitzerland.

Q4. Comment on the ending of the play. Do you think the family has changed for good?

Ans: The play has good and suitable ending. The play ends with a complete reversal of the initial situation faced by Pearson. Mother is in cheerful mood at the end of the play. The family members treat her in good way at the end of the play. Her family members now look anxiously towards her. When she smiles, they feel much relieved and smile back at her. None of them is going out for the first time. She tells the members of the family what they should do. Instead of behaving nervously, she looks sharply at the family and asks if they have any objections. George is the first to yield. He agrees to do whatever she says. Still smiling, she suggests that they should have a nice family game of and then the children could get the supper ready.

We can come to conclusion that its ending is happy and complete. The ending shows that one should resisted for ones respect and regard. It theme is that we should respect one who works for us.

 

Compression

Note: Please for full explanation of Grammar Portion watch live classes on you tube channel ‘Dear Students (Salim Sir)’

Exercise 2

Choose the correct option:

1. How many years has Mrs. Fitzgerald spent in the East? a. 10 b. 12 c. 15 d. 20

2. Mrs. Fitzgerald says that changing back to her earlier self a. Is impossible c. is easier than changing into a new self b. Is difficult d. can only be done after a few weeks

3. When Mrs. Pearson talks about Charlie spence her tone is a. Condescending b. Approving c. Indifferent d. none of the above

4. Which of the following adjectives are used to describe George Pearson? a. Pompous b. Decent c. Slow d. all of the above

5. How does Mr. Pearson react when Mrs. Fitzgerald addresses him as George? a. He is surprised c. He is pleased b. He is angry d. He shows no reaction

6. 'Now all that's happened is that I've joined the movement, says Mrs. Pearson after the transformation. Which movement is she referring to?

a) Women's Liberation Movement b) Pacifist Movement c) Human Rights Movement d) None of the above

7. On weekends Mrs. Pearson's family expects that a) She will wait on them b) She will rest after a tiring week c) She will go visiting d) None of the above

8. George responds to his wife's changed behaviour with a. Anger c. Submission b. Surprise d. all of the above

9. Which of the following is true of Mrs. Pearson after the change?  a) She is elated and does not want to be her earlier self b) She is upset and wants to be returned to her earlier self

c) She is upset about her family but wants to carry on for a bit longer d) None of the above

10. Who seems to enjoy the changed state of affairs in the Pearson household the most?

a. Charlie Spence b. Mr. Pearson c. Mrs. Fitzgerald d. Annie Pearson

Exercise 3

Find the meaning of these expressions. Some of these words are used in the play. 

1. Barmy: Foolish, 2. Tiddly: Slightly drunk, 3. Clot: A foolish, 4. Rollin' rat: Close friend, 5. Fathead: A stupid person, 6. Yes-man: A weak person who always agrees,  with their superior at work, 7.Wingman: A pilot who flies behind and outside the leader of a flying formation, 8. Bumkin: An awkward or rustic 9. Big daddy: A boss, 10. Gold digger: Who wants to extract money,

11. Mad hatter: Crazy Person, 12. Schmuck: Foolish man, 13. Klutz: awkward person, 14.Party pooper: A person who throws gloom over social enjoyment, 15.Big mouth: To have habit of speaking incessantly, 16.Piecan: A stupid person

Exerxise-4

Given below are a few idioms and phrasal verbs used in the play. Match them with their meanings.

1. To put one's foot down: to adopt a firm policy when faced with oppression, 2.Easier said than done: a task that looks easy to complete, but is not done to start doing something quickly. 3.To get cracking: to start doing something quickly.  4. To be at sixes and sevens: in a state of total confusion or disarray.  5. Tick off: to speak severely to someone who did wrong, 6.To be off one's chump: to be extremely silly or stupid, 7.To feel off-colour: to feel slightly ill, 8.To eat out of someone's hand: to be under someone's control, 9.To put someone in place: to humiliate or deflate someone. 10.To act one's age: to behave in accordance with one's expected level of maturity.

Exercise 5

Look of these adverbs of manner from the play. Give their antonyms.

1. Dubiously: Approvingly, 2. Complacently:  Unsatisfactorily, 3. Indignantly: Delightfully, 4. Sulkily: Cheerfully, 5. Aggressively: Assertively, 6. Coldly: Happily, 7. Promptly: Presently, Slowly, 8. Glumly: Joyfully, 9. Briskly: Slowly, 10. Contentedly: Unwillingly.

Exercise 6

S. No	Adverb	Noun	Adverb	Verb
1.	Bewilderedly	Bewilderment	Bewildered	Bewilder
2.	Embarrassingly	Embarrassment	Embarrassed	Embarrass
3.	Severely	Severity	Severe	Sever
4.	Indignantly	Indignation	Indignant	Indignation
5.	Promptly	Prompter	Prompt	Prompt
6.	Alarmingly	Alarmist	Alarming	Alarm
7.	Contentedly	Contention	Contented	Contest
8.	Aggressively	Aggression	Aggressive	Aggress
9.	Anxiously	Anxiety	Anxious	Anguish
10.	Sharply	Sharpness	Sharp	Sharpen

 

Exercise 7

Given below are some common words from the world of supernatural phenomena. Fill in the blanks using the most appropriate one.

1. An object thought to have magic powers and bring good luck talisman.

2. Esoteric doctrines of religious and meditative rituals associated with some religions tantra.

3. Root of a plant associated with superstitious practices and magic rituals mandrake.

4. A female spirit who heralds the death of a family member by wailing or shrieking banshee.

5. A religion derived from African polytheism and ancestor worship Voodoo.

6. A person having access to the world of spirits Shaman 7. Associated with Jewish mysticism cabbala.

8. The performance of miracles thaumaturgy.

9. The process of communicating with the dead necromancy.

10. A magical incantation abracadabra.

Exercise 8

Change the following exchange between Cyril and his mother into indirect speech.

CYRIL (briskly): Hello Mum. Tea ready?   MRS PEARSON: No CYRIL (moving to the table, annoyed): Why not?  MRS PEARSON (coolly): I couldn’t bother. CYRIL: Felling off-color or something?   MRS PEARSON: Never felt better in my life.

Ans: CYRIL greeted MRS PEARSON and asked her if the tea is ready to which she replied that it is not. CYRIL asked the reason with annoyance. MRS PEARSON replied coolly that she could bother. CYRIL enquired if she was feeling ill or something and MRS PEARSON replied that she had never felt better in her life.

Exercise 9

Identify the type of sentence and use the correct punctuation mark.

1. How well she cooks? 2. Did Mina say anything to make you smile?  3. How well do you know him? 4. She is a successful anchor. 5. It is raining cats and dogs. 6. I want to become an astronaut. 7. She does not eat any vegetables. 8. Come at one.

Exercise 10

Change the following sentences (as directed) without changing their meaning.

1.Lavender smells very sweet. (Exc.)  How sweet Lavender smells! 2. I seem to have done something to offend you. (Int.) What I seem to have done to offend you?  3. The room should be cleaned. (Imp.) Clean the room. 4. What a pity they have not come! (Aff.) It is a pity that they have not come. 5. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. (Int.) Is a thing of beauty a joy forever?

 6.  Long time I heard from you! (Exc.) Long time I heard from you! 7. She looked this way and that. (Aff.) She looked this way and that. 8. How the room stinks! (Exc.) How bad the room sinks.

Exercise 11

Write ‘S’ against simple Sentence, ‘CP’ against compound Sentence and ‘CM’ against Complex Sentences.

1.He purchased a new book yesterday. (S), 2. I invited him, but he didn’t come. (CP),  3. Seema will give you the watch. (S) 4. They will lose the game if they don’t try harder. (CM)

 5. We shall pay them a visit soon. (S) 6. As the market was closed, I bought nothing. (CM) 7. The gardener plucked a rose and gave it to the visitor. (CP) 8. The children packed up before the bell rang. (CM)

Exercise 12

Here are some compound sentences. Find coordinating conjunction and the clauses in each.

1. I met a stranger and talked to him.  2. Sit still or else leave the classroom.  3. Ramiz threw the stone, but it missed the bird. 4. The lion is bold as well as fierce.  5. Behave or I will call your parents.

Exercise 13

Here are some complex sentences. Find the subordinating conjunction and clauses in each.

1. I couldn’t hear you because the television was on. 2. Handsome is as handsome does. 3. When the cat is away, the mice will play. 4. The bag which you are carrying is expensive. 5. I went for a run though it was drizzling.

 

The Story of My Life (Helen Keller)

About the Author (Helen Keller)

Introduction: “The Story of My Life is an autobiographical story of Helen Keller. She was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, USA on 1880 and died on 1968. She is an example of inspiration for handicapped or disabled people. She was writer, Lecturer and supporter for the handicapped people. She became blind at the age of 19 years. She fright well in her life and became a figure of hope and courage for handicapped. She is known throughout the world for her courage.

Parents: Her father Arthur Henley Keller was an editor of Tuscumbia North Alabamian and captain in the Confederate Army. Her mother Catheirne Everett Keller also called Kate.

Handicapped: At the age of 19 years in 1882 she felt ill. Due to this illness she lost her sight and hearing.

Role of Anne Sullivan: In 1887 Helen’s parents employ Anne Sullivan as a teacher and care taker for Helen. She was a graduate of the Perkins School for the Blind. Anne makes Helen able to learn to communicate with the help of sign language. She taught how to write on Braille. She teaches her with the help of toughing the words with fingers.

Education:   She went to Perkins Institute for Blind in the month of May of 1888. She gets her education at Boston and New York. She completed her matriculation from Radcliffe College. She becomes the first disabled person to get BA.

Literary Contribution: She has written twelve book and several articles.  At the age of eleven years in 1891, she wrote “The Frost King” Her first book “The Story of My Life” whose extract is in our syllabus is published in 1903. This is her first book on autobiography which she wrote at the age of twenty two years.

Awards and Prizes: Helen recipient of many honors and awards. She was awarded Academy Award for a documentary about her life. She was also awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Contribution: She was a member of the Socialist Party. She voiced for the women and supported them for the right to vote and right to control. She was co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1924 she joined a NGO American Foundation for the Blind.  She was good speaker and so many famous speeches of her are preserved in the Helen Keller Archives. She had made seven trips of the world by visiting more than thirty five countries.

Death: She died on 1^st June of 1968 at the age of 87. Her ashes are interred at Washington National Cathedral. She is remembered as a symbol of vigor and determination.

Summary and Analysis of “The Story of My Life”

Introduction: “The Story of My Life” is Helen Keller’s autobiographical story. This was written by Keller when she was only twenty two years old.  In this play Keller reminds her childhood. She depicts her struggle with life in this play. She suffers with visual, speech and hearing mutilations. She also depicts her relation with her teacher Anne Sullivan. This book was dedicated to Alexander Gram Bell. In 1959 this was modified in to a Broadway ‘The Miracle Worker. In 1962, on this play was made a film of the same name. In 1959 the Indian Hindi Film Black was also partially based on Keller’s life.  In our syllabus are four chapters (III, IV, V, & VI) from “The Story of My Life”.

Extracts of Our Syllabus: The extracts from the book “The Story of My Life” depicts the early years of Helen Keller. Keller became blind and deaf when she was only nineteen months old. These extracts of the book depicts the challenges which Keller faced in her life. She also credits all those who have helped her in her life as a child with disabilities. She also writes about her triumph over her disabilities. This shows us the sufferings of a person who has been denied with sound and sight that also in childhood. This also teaches us lesson that how normal people can help the disabled people.

Chapter-III: This chapter depicts the challenges and struggles of Helen’s family particularly of parents. This chapter narrates her travel in train with her parents. She enjoyed the journey because she was played well by the conductor. In this is also depiction of a doll gifted to her by her aunt. Also their acquaintance with Dr. Alexander Bell and Mr. Anagnos is described.

Chapter-IV: This chapter revolves around the Miss Sullivan who was the teacher of Helen. She taught Helen to speak with her fingers.

Chapter-V: This chapter represents how Miss Sullivan makes Helen aware about the world around her. She makes her to find beauty in the nature.

Chapter-VI: The chapter shows the determination of Sullivan make Helen familiar even with abstract things. This chapter depicts the role of Sullivan as a wise and patient teacher.

Theme:  The main theme of this story importance of determination. The lesson of this story is   that event the disabled and challenged can lead a healthy, purposeful and thrilling life.

مصنف کے بارے میں (ہیلن کیلر)

تعارف: "دی سٹوری آف مائی لائف ہیلن کیلر کی سوانح عمری کی کہانی ہے۔ وہ 1880 کو Tuscumbia، Alabama، USA میں پیدا ہوئیں اور 1968 کو انتقال کر گئیں۔ وہ معذور یا معذور افراد کے لیے تحریک کی ایک مثال ہیں۔ وہ لکھاری، لیکچرر اور معذور افراد کی حامی تھیں۔ وہ 19 سال کی عمر میں نابینا ہو گئیں۔ وہ اپنی زندگی میں اچھی طرح سے خوفزدہ رہی اور معذوروں کے لیے امید اور ہمت کا پیکر بن گئی۔ وہ اپنی ہمت کی وجہ سے پوری دنیا میں مشہور ہے۔

والدین: اس کے والد آرتھر ہینلی کیلر ٹسکومبیا نارتھ الابامیان کے ایڈیٹر اور کنفیڈریٹ آرمی میں کپتان تھے۔ اس کی والدہ کیتھرین ایورٹ کیلر نے بھی کیٹ کو بلایا۔

معذور: 1882 میں 19 سال کی عمر میں وہ بیمار محسوس ہوئی۔ اس بیماری کی وجہ سے وہ بینائی اور سماعت سے محروم ہوگئیں۔

این سلیوان کا کردار: 1887 میں ہیلن کے والدین نے این سلیوان کو ہیلن کے لیے ٹیچر اور دیکھ بھال کرنے والی کے طور پر ملازمت دی۔ وہ پرکنز سکول فار دی بلائنڈ کی گریجویٹ تھیں۔ این ہیلن کو اشاروں کی زبان کی مدد سے بات چیت کرنا سیکھنے کے قابل بناتی ہے۔ اس نے بریل پر لکھنے کا طریقہ سکھایا۔ وہ اسے انگلیوں سے سخت الفاظ کی مدد سے سکھاتی ہے۔

تعلیم: وہ 1888 کے مئی کے مہینے میں پرکنز انسٹی ٹیوٹ فار بلائنڈ گئی۔ اس نے اپنی تعلیم بوسٹن اور نیویارک میں حاصل کی۔ اس نے ریڈکلف کالج سے میٹرک مکمل کیا۔ وہ بی اے حاصل کرنے والی پہلی معذور بن گئی ہے۔

ادبی شراکت: اس نے بارہ کتابیں اور متعدد مضامین لکھے ہیں۔ 1891 میں گیارہ سال کی عمر میں اس نے "The Frost King" لکھی اس کی پہلی کتاب "The Story of My Life" جس کا اقتباس ہمارے نصاب میں ہے 1903 میں شائع ہوا۔ یہ ان کی سوانح عمری پر پہلی کتاب ہے جو اس نے اس عمر میں لکھی۔ بائیس سال کے.

ایوارڈز اور انعامات: ہیلن بہت سے اعزازات اور اعزازات کی وصول کنندہ۔ انہیں ان کی زندگی کے بارے میں ایک دستاویزی فلم کے لیے اکیڈمی ایوارڈ سے نوازا گیا۔ انہیں صدارتی تمغہ آزادی سے بھی نوازا گیا۔

شراکت: وہ سوشلسٹ پارٹی کی رکن تھیں۔ اس نے خواتین کے لیے آواز اٹھائی اور ووٹ کے حق اور کنٹرول کے حق کے لیے ان کی حمایت کی۔ وہ امریکن سول لبرٹیز یونین کی شریک بانی تھیں۔ 1924 میں اس نے ایک NGO امریکن فاؤنڈیشن فار دی بلائنڈ میں شمولیت اختیار کی۔ وہ اچھی مقرر تھیں اور ان کی بہت سی مشہور تقریریں ہیلن کیلر آرکائیوز میں محفوظ ہیں۔ وہ پینتیس سے زائد ممالک کا دورہ کر کے دنیا کے سات دورے کر چکی ہیں۔

موت: وہ یکم جون 1968 کو 87 سال کی عمر میں انتقال کر گئیں۔ ان کی راکھ واشنگٹن نیشنل کیتھیڈرل میں دفن کی گئی۔ اسے طاقت اور عزم کی علامت کے طور پر یاد کیا جاتا ہے۔

"میری زندگی کی کہانی" کا خلاصہ اور تجزیہ

تعارف: "میری زندگی کی کہانی" ہیلن کیلر کی سوانح عمری کی کہانی ہے۔ یہ کیلر نے اس وقت لکھا تھا جب وہ صرف بائیس سال کی تھیں۔ اس ڈرامے میں کیلر اپنے بچپن کی یاد دلاتا ہے۔ وہ اس ڈرامے میں زندگی کے ساتھ اپنی جدوجہد کو پیش کرتی ہے۔ وہ بصری، گویائی اور سماعت کی خرابیوں کا شکار ہے۔ اس نے اپنی ٹیچر این سلیوان کے ساتھ اپنے تعلق کو بھی دکھایا ہے۔ یہ کتاب الیگزینڈر گرام بیل کو وقف تھی۔ 1959 میں اس میں ترمیم کرکے براڈوے 'دی میرکل ورکر' کر دیا گیا۔ 1962 میں اس ڈرامے پر اسی نام سے فلم بنائی گئی۔ 1959 میں ہندوستانی ہندی فلم بلیک بھی جزوی طور پر کیلر کی زندگی پر مبنی تھی۔ ہمارے نصاب میں "میری زندگی کی کہانی" سے چار ابواب (III, IV, V, & VI) ہیں۔

ہمارے نصاب کے اقتباسات: کتاب "دی سٹوری آف مائی لائف" سے اقتباسات ہیلن کیلر کے ابتدائی سالوں کی عکاسی کرتے ہیں۔ کیلر اس وقت اندھی اور بہری ہو گئی جب وہ صرف انیس ماہ کی تھی۔ کتاب کے یہ اقتباس ان چیلنجوں کی عکاسی کرتے ہیں جن کا کیلر نے اپنی زندگی میں سامنا کیا۔ وہ ان تمام لوگوں کو بھی کریڈٹ دیتی ہے جنہوں نے اس کی زندگی میں معذوری کے ساتھ مدد کی ہے۔ وہ اپنی معذوری پر اپنی فتح کے بارے میں بھی لکھتی ہیں۔ اس سے ہمیں ایک ایسے شخص کے دکھوں کا پتہ چلتا ہے جسے بچپن میں بھی آواز اور بینائی سے جھٹلایا جاتا ہے۔ اس سے ہمیں یہ سبق بھی ملتا ہے کہ عام لوگ کس طرح معذور افراد کی مدد کر سکتے ہیں۔

باب III: اس باب میں ہیلن کے خاندان خصوصاً والدین کے چیلنجز اور جدوجہد کو دکھایا گیا ہے۔ اس باب میں اس کے والدین کے ساتھ ٹرین میں سفر کے بارے میں بتایا گیا ہے۔ وہ سفر سے لطف اندوز ہوئی کیونکہ کنڈکٹر نے اسے اچھی طرح ادا کیا تھا۔ اس میں ایک گڑیا کی تصویر بھی ہے جسے اس کی خالہ نے تحفے میں دیا تھا۔ نیز ڈاکٹر الیگزینڈر بیل اور مسٹر ایناگنوس سے ان کی شناسائی بیان کی گئی ہے۔

باب چہارم: یہ باب مس سلیوان کے گرد گھومتا ہے جو ہیلن کی استاد تھیں۔ اس نے ہیلن کو انگلیوں سے بولنا سکھایا۔

باب-V: یہ باب اس بات کی نمائندگی کرتا ہے کہ کس طرح مس سلیوان ہیلن کو اپنے آس پاس کی دنیا کے بارے میں آگاہ کرتی ہے۔ وہ اسے فطرت میں خوبصورتی تلاش کرنے پر مجبور کرتی ہے۔

باب VI: باب سلیوان کے عزم کو ظاہر کرتا ہے جو ہیلن کو تجریدی چیزوں سے بھی واقف کراتا ہے۔ اس باب میں سلیوان کے کردار کو ایک عقلمند اور صبر آزما استاد کے طور پر دکھایا گیا ہے۔

تھیم: اس کہانی کا مرکزی موضوع عزم کی اہمیت ہے۔ اس کہانی کا سبق یہ ہے کہ معذور اور معذور افراد ایک صحت مند، بامقصد اور سنسنی خیز زندگی گزار سکتے ہیں۔

 

Text of “The Story of My Life” (an Extract)

CHAPTER III

MEANWHILE the desire to express myself grew. The few signs I used became less and less adequate, and my failures to make myself understood were invariably followed by outbursts of passion. I felt as if invisible hands were holding me, and I made frantic efforts to free myself. I struggled–not that struggling helped matters, but the spirit of resistance was strong within me; I generally broke down in tears and physical exhaustion. If my mother happened to be near I crept into her arms, too miserable even to remember the cause of the tempest. After awhile the need of some means of communication became so urgent that these outbursts occurred daily, sometimes hourly.

My parents were deeply grieved and perplexed. We lived a long way from any school for the blind or the deaf, and it seemed unlikely that anyone would come to such an out-of-the-way place as Tuscumbia to teach a child who was both deaf and blind. Indeed, my friends and relatives sometimes doubted whether I could be taught. My mother's only ray of hope came from Dickens's "American Notes." She had read his account of Laura Bridgman, and remembered vaguely that she was deaf and blind, yet had been educated. But she also remembered with a hopeless pang that Dr. Howe, who had discovered the way to teach the deaf and blind, had been dead many years. His methods had probably died with him; and if they had not, how was a little girl in a far-off town in Alabama to receive the benefit of them?

When I was about six years old, my father heard of an eminent oculist in Baltimore, who had been successful in many cases that had seemed hopeless. My parents at once determined to take me to Baltimore to see if anything could be done for my eyes.

The journey, which I remember well, was very pleasant. I made friends with many people on the train. One lady gave me a box of shells. My father made holes in these so that I could string them, and for a long time they kept me happy and contented. The conductor, too, was kind. Often when he went his rounds I clung to his coat tails while he collected and punched the tickets. His punch, with which he let me play, was a delightful toy. Curled up in a corner of the seat I amused myself for hours making funny little holes in bits of cardboard.

My aunt made me a big doll out of towels. It was the most comical, shapeless thing, this improvised doll, with no nose, mouth, ears or eyes–nothing that even the imagination of a child could convert into a face. Curiously enough, the absence of eyes struck me more than all the other defects put together. I pointed this out to everybody with provoking persistency, but no one seemed equal to the task of providing the doll with eyes. A bright idea, however, shot into my mind, and the problem was solved. I tumbled off the seat and searched under it until I found my aunt's cape, which was trimmed with large beads. I pulled two beads off and indicated to her that I wanted her to sew them on doll. She raised my hand to her eyes in a questioning way, and I nodded energetically. The beads were sewed in the right place and I could not contain myself for joy; but immediately I lost all interest in the doll. During the whole trip I did not have one fit of temper, there were so many things to keep my mind and fingers busy.

When we arrived in Baltimore, Dr. Chisholm received us kindly: but he could do nothing. He said, however, that I could be educated, and advised my father to consult Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, of Washington, who would be able to give him information about schools and teachers of deaf or blind children. Acting on the doctor's advice, we went immediately to Washington to see Dr. Bell, my father with a sad heart and many misgivings, I wholly unconscious of his anguish, finding pleasure in the excitement of moving from place to place. Child as I was, I at once felt the tenderness and sympathy which endeared Dr. Bell to so many hearts, as his wonderful achievements enlist their admiration. He held me on his knee while I examined his watch, and he made it strike for me. He understood my signs, and I knew it and loved him at once. But I did not dream that that interview would be the door through which I should pass from darkness into light, from isolation to friendship, companionship, knowledge, love.

Dr. Bell advised my father to write to Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston, the scene of Dr. Howe's great labours for the blind, and ask him if he had a teacher competent to begin my education. This my father did at once, and in a few weeks there came a kind letter from Mr. Anagnos with the comforting assurance that a teacher had been found. This was in the summer of 1886. But Miss Sullivan did not arrive until the following March.

Thus I came up out of Egypt and stood before Sinai, and a power divine touched my spirit and gave it sight, so that I beheld many wonders. And from the sacred mountain I heard a voice which said, "Knowledge is love and light and vision."

CHAPTER IV

THE most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.

On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from my mother's signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen, so I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face. My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this passionate struggle.

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother. Someone took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.

The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll. The little blind children at the Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not know this until afterward. When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word "d-o-l-l." I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.

One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled "d-o-l-l" and tried to make me understand that "d-o-l-l" applied to both. Earlier in the day we had had a tussle over the words "m-u-g" and "w-a-t-e-r." Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that "m-u-g" is mug and that "w-a-t-e-r" is water, but I persisted in confounding the two. In despair she had dropped the subject for the time, only to renew it at the first opportunity. I became impatient at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still, dark world in which I lived there was no strong sentiment of tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of my discomfort was removed. She brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine. This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called a thought, made me hop and skip with pleasure.

We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten–a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away. ¹

I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.

I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them–words that were to make the world blossom for me, "like Aaron's rod, with flowers." It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of the eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.

CHAPTER V

I RECALL many incidents of the summer of 1887 that followed my soul's sudden awakening. I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.

When the time of daisies and buttercups came Miss Sullivan took me by the hand across the fields, where men were preparing the earth for the seed, to the banks of the Tennessee River, and there, sitting on the warm grass, I had my first lessons in the beneficence of nature. I learned how the sun and the rain make to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, how birds build their nests and live and thrive from land to land, how the squirrel, the deer, the lion and every other creature finds food and shelter. As my knowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in. Long before I learned to do a sum in arithmetic or describe the shape of the earth, Miss Sullivan had taught me to find beauty in the fragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and in the curves and dimples of my baby sister's hand. She linked my earliest thoughts with nature, and made me feel that "birds and flowers and I were happy peers."

But about this time I had an experience which taught me that nature is not always kind. One day my teacher and I were returning from a long ramble. The morning had been fine, but it was growing warm and sultry when at last we turned our faces homeward. Two or three times we stopped to rest under a tree by the wayside. Our last halt was under a wild cherry tree a short distance from the house. The shade was grateful, and the tree was so easy to climb that with my teacher's assistance I was able to scramble to a seat in the branches. It was so cool up in the tree that Miss Sullivan proposed that we have our luncheon there. I promised to keep still while she went to the house to fetch it.

Suddenly a change passed over the tree. All the sun's warmth left the air. I knew the sky was black, because all the heat, which meant light to me, had died out of the atmosphere. A strange odour came up from the earth. I knew it, it was the odour that always precedes a thunderstorm, and a nameless fear clutched at my heart. I felt absolutely alone, cut off from my friends and the firm earth. The immense, the unknown, enfolded me. I remained still and expectant; a chilling terror crept over me. I longed for my teacher's return; but above all things I wanted to get down from that tree.

There was a moment of sinister silence, then a multitudinous stirring of the leaves. A shiver ran through the tree, and the wind sent forth a blast that would have knocked me off had I not clung to the branch with might and main. The tree swayed and strained. The small twigs snapped and fell about me in showers. A wild impulse to jump seized me, but terror held me fast. I crouched down in the fork of the tree. The branches lashed about me. I felt the intermittent jarring that came now and then, as if something heavy had fallen and the shock had traveled up till it reached the limb I sat on. It worked my suspense up to the highest point, and just as I was thinking the tree and I should fall together, my teacher seized my hand and helped me down. I clung to her, trembling with joy to feel the earth under my feet once more. I had learned a new lesson–that nature "wages open war against her children, and under softest touch hides treacherous claws."

After this experience it was a long time before I climbed another tree. The mere thought filled me with terror. It was the sweet allurement of the mimosa tree in full bloom that finally overcame my fears. One beautiful spring morning when I was alone in the summer-house, reading, I became aware of a wonderful subtle fragrance in the air. I started up and instinctively stretched out my hands. It seemed as if the spirit of spring had passed through the summer-house. "What is it?" I asked, and the next minute I recognized the odour of the mimosa blossoms. I felt my way to the end of the garden, knowing that the mimosa tree was near the fence, at the turn of the path. Yes, there it was, all quivering in the warm sunshine, its blossom-laden branches almost touching the long grass. Was there ever anything so exquisitely beautiful in the world before! Its delicate blossoms shrank from the slightest earthly touch; it seemed as if a tree of paradise had been transplanted to earth. I made my way through a shower of petals to the great trunk and for one minute stood irresolute; then, putting my foot in the broad space between the forked branches, I pulled myself up into the tree. I had some difficulty in holding on, for the branches were very large and the bark hurt my hands. But I had a delicious sense that I was doing something unusual and wonderful, so I kept on climbing higher and higher, until I reached a little seat which somebody had built there so long ago that it had grown part of the tree itself. I sat there for a long, long time, feeling like a fairy on a rosy cloud. After that I spent many happy hours in my tree of paradise, thinking fair thoughts and dreaming bright dreams.

CHAPTER VI

I HAD now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it. Children who hear acquire language without any particular effort; the words that fall from others' lips they catch on the wing, as it were, delightedly, while the little deaf child must trap them by a slow and often painful process. But whatever the process, the result is wonderful. Gradually from naming an object we advance step by step until we have traversed the vast distance between our first stammered syllable and the sweep of thought in a line of Shakespeare.

At first, when my teacher told me about a new thing I asked very few questions. My ideas were vague, and my vocabulary was inadequate; but as my knowledge of things grew, and I learned more and more words, my field of inquiry broadened, and I would return again and again to the same subject, eager for further information. Sometimes a new word revived an image that some earlier experience had engraved on my brain.

I remember the morning that I first asked the meaning of the word, "love." This was before I knew many words. I had found a few early violets in the garden and brought them to my teacher. She tried to kiss me: but at that time I did not like to have any one kiss me except my mother. Miss Sullivan put her arm gently round me and spelled into my hand, "I love Helen."

"What is love?" I asked.

She drew me closer to her and said, "It is here," pointing to my heart, whose beats I was conscious of for the first time. Her words puzzled me very much because I did not then understand anything unless I touched it.

I smelt the violets in her hand and asked, half in words, half in signs, a question which meant, "Is love the sweetness of flowers?"

"No," said my teacher.

Again I thought. The warm sun was shining on us.

"Is this not love?" I asked, pointing in the direction from which the heat came. "Is this not love?"

It seemed to me that there could be nothing more beautiful than the sun, whose warmth makes all things grow. But Miss Sullivan shook her head, and I was greatly puzzled and disappointed. I thought it strange that my teacher could not show me love.

A day or two afterward I was stringing beads of different sizes in symmetrical groups–two large beads, three small ones, and so on. I had made many mistakes, and Miss Sullivan had pointed them out again and again with gentle patience. Finally I noticed a very obvious error in the sequence and for an instant I concentrated my attention on the lesson and tried to think how I should have arranged the beads. Miss Sullivan touched my forehead and spelled with decided emphasis, "Think."

In a flash I knew that the word was the name of the process that was going on in my head. This was my first conscious perception of an abstract idea.

For a long time I was still–I was not thinking of the beads in my lap, but trying to find a meaning for "love" in the light of this new idea. The sun had been under a cloud all day, and there had been brief showers; but suddenly the sun broke forth in all its southern splendour.

Again, I asked my teacher, "Is this not love?"

"Love is something like the clouds that were in the sky before the sun came out," she replied. Then in simpler words than these, which at that time I could not have understood, she explained: "You cannot touch the clouds, you know; but you feel the rain and know how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either; but you feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Without love you would not be happy or want to play."

The beautiful truth burst upon my mind–I felt that there were invisible lines stretched between my spirit and the spirits of others.

From the beginning of my education Miss Sullivan made it a practice to speak to me as she would to any hearing child; the only difference was that she spelled the sentences into my hand instead of speaking them. If I did not know the words and idioms necessary to express my thoughts she supplied them, even suggesting conversation when I was unable to keep up my end of the dialogue.

This process was continued for several years; for the deaf child does not learn in a month or even in two or three years, the numberless idioms and expressions used in the simplest daily intercourse. The little hearing child learns these from constant repetition and imitation. The conversation he hears in his home stimulates his mind and suggests topics and calls forth the spontaneous expression of his own thoughts. This natural exchange of ideas is denied to the deaf child. My teacher, realizing this, determined to supply the kinds of stimulus I lacked. This she did by repeating to me as far as possible, verbatim what she heard, and by showing me how I could take part in the conversation. But it was a long time before I ventured to take the initiative, and still longer before I could find something appropriate to say at the right time.

The deaf and the blind find it very difficult to acquire the amenities of conversation. How much more this difficulty must be augmented in the case of those who are both deaf and blind! They cannot distinguish the tone of the voice or, without assistance, go up and down the gamut of tones that give significance to words; nor can they watch the expression of the speaker's face, and a look is often the very soul of what one says.

Glossary

Oculist: /ɒkjʊlɪst/ An ophthalmologist or optician

Egypt… Sini: About Prophet Moses story about Ten Commandments recived on Mt. Sinai

Honeysuckle: (Lonicera caprifolia) is a group of flowering shrubs or vines

Languor: /ˈlaŋɡə/ Tiredness or inactivity, especially when pleasurable

Plummet: /ˈplʌmɪt/ fall or drop straight down at high speed

Hearth: /hɑːθ/ the floor of a fireplace

Spout: /spaʊt/ a tube or lip projecting from a container, through which liquid can be poured

Verbatim: /vəːˈbeɪtɪm/ in exactly the same words as were used originally

Aaron’s rod, with flowers: Biblical story of Moses brother Aaron

Textual Questions of “The Story of My Life”

Q1. How does Helen Keller struggle with her physical impairments in her early childhood?

Ans:  “The Story of My Life” in an autobiographical story of Helen Keller’s struggle with her physical impairments. Keller suffers with her physical impairments when she was only two years old.  In this play Keller reminds her struggle in her early childhood due to physical impairments. She depicts her struggle due to her physical impairments. She suffers in her early childhood with visual, speech and hearing mutilations. She also depicts her relation with her teacher Anne Sullivan who helps her to survive.

Keller became blind and deaf in her early childhood at the age of nineteen months. The story depicts the challenges which Keller faced with her physical impairments in her life. She also credits all those who have helped her in her life as a child with disabilities. She also writes about her triumph over her disabilities. This shows us the sufferings of a person who has been denied with sound and sight that also in childhood. This also teaches us lesson that how normal people can help the disabled people.

Keller is a source of inspiration for all who struggle with her physical impairments.

Q2. How does Helen describe the day Miss Sullivan came to the family home?

Ans. Ms. Anne Sullivan is best known as Helen Keller’s teacher and companion who connected her with the outside world. Miss Sullivan was not only successful in bringing Helen out of darkness and uncertainty but also was instrumental in making her think and thereby helping her make a connection between the abstract and the physical world. Miss Sullivan and Helen Keller were together for forty-nine years.

Helen describes the day Miss Sullivan came to the family home as:  “THE most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.”

On the afternoon of that exciting day Keller stood on the veranda and waiting for her teacher to come.  Her mother shows her with the help of signs about the coming of the Miss Sullivan. She did not guess what to happen but guessed ‘that something unusual was about to happen’.

Q3. Describe how Helen Keller was initiated, language.                     

Ans. Helen Keller was initiated to language with the help of her teacher Miss Sullivan. Her experiences with Anne Sullivan helped her to learn sign language, rules, writings, and behaviors.  Anne Sullivan taught her the letters of alphabets. Anne Sullivan makes Helen Keller able to learn words and communication.

The two incidents narrated by Keller how she initiated language by Miss Sullivan are:

            “The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll. The little blind children at the Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not know this until afterward. When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word "d-o-l-l." I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with childish pleasure and pride.”

         “One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled "d-o-l-l" and tried to make me understand that "d-o-l-l" applied to both. Earlier in the day we had had a tussle over the words "m-u-g" and "w-a-t-e-r." Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that "m-u-g" is mug and that "w-a-t-e-r" is water…”

Q4. Describe the two lessons in nature that Helen learns after ‘souls awakening’.

 Ans. Helen enjoyed the nature in the company of her teacher Miss Sullivan. She leans both the magnificent as well as ferocious aspects of the nature. The Munificent aspect of nature delights her.  But she learnt that nature could be also is ferocious which terrifies her.

Keller recalls about the natures beneficing and magnificent aspect as: “I RECALL many incidents of the summer of 1887 that followed my soul's sudden awakening. I did nothing but explore with my hands and learn the name of every object that I touched; and the more I handled things and learned their names and uses, the more joyous and confident grew my sense of kinship with the rest of the world.”

   Keller says about the furious aspect of nature when one day she was with her teacher on walk. She writes as “But about this time I had an experience which taught me that nature is not always kind.”  The weather grew warm and humid. They stood under the cool shad of a tree. With her teacher’s help Helen sat amidst the branches. Miss Sullivan went to fetch lunch and Helen was all alone.  Helen felt paralyzed and frightened until Miss Sullivan came and helped her. Helen had learnt a new lesson that “Nature wages open war against her children and under softest touch hides treacherous”. 

Note: Please for full explanation of Grammar Portion watch live classes on you tube channel ‘Dear Students (Salim Sir)

Exercise 2

Identify whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Helen undergoes a period of emotional agitation due to her physical impairments. (T) 2. In her childhood, Helen does not want to communicate with others. (F)  3. The parents are indifferent to the child. (F) 4. The journey to the oculist is a difficult one for the child. (F) 5. The absence of eyes in the doll is not noted by the child. (F)  6. Miss Sullivan comes to the Keller home when Helen is ten years old. (F) 7. The narrator uses the word 'light for the eventful day of Miss Sullivan arrival. (T) 8. The first word that her teacher teaches Helen is water. (T)  9. Miss Sullivan points to Helen's heart in response to the question 'what is love'? (T)  10. Helen learns to recognise words because Miss Sullivan speaks to her loudly. (F)

Exercise 3

Here are the names of some more disabilities that people struggle with daily. Match them their meanings.

1. Dyslexia: (a) attention deficit hyperactive disorders

2. Autism:(b) a genetic disorder associated with physical growth delays, intellectual disability and characteristic facial features

3: Down's syndrome: (c) difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters and other symbols

4. ADHD(Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) (d)colour blindness or the inability to see colour or colour differences.

5.Achromatopsia(e) a developmental disorder of variable severity characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication

Answers: 1-C, 2-E, 3-B, 4-A, 5-D

Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks with the help of clues given, to find words related to different styles of walking.

1. To walk with difficulty. H-B-I-(Hobble), 2. To walk on the tips of one's toes.-I-T-E (Tiptoe), 3. To move without a fixed purpose or destination. W-N-E-(Wander)

4. To walk with long steps. S-R-D- (Stride),  5.To walk slowly and with effort because one is tired. T-U-G- (Trudge)  6.To walk very slowly and noisily without lifting one's feet off the ground. S-U-F-E (Scuffle), 7. To go quietly or secretly in order to avoid being seen or heard. –N-A- (Sneak), 8. To walk slowly or quietly because you are involved in a criminal activity or you looking for something. P-O-L (Prowl), 9. To move quickly and suddenly, rush. D-S-(Dash), 10. To make a sudden movement towards somebody or something. –U-G- (Lunge)

Exercise 5

Here are some more expression which begin with the word 'out' use them in appropriate places in the sentences given below: Out of the blue, out of the question, out at the elbows, out of this world, out of the bounds, out and about, out with it, out and out. 

1. What was so terrible that he couldn't come... in his usual candid manner? (out at the elbows),  2. The village is ... to the soldiers in the camps. (of bounds)

3. ...a deer came in front of my car. (Out of the blue)  4. Scuba diving without an oxygen tank is ... (of the question) 5. What a restaurant the food was ... (out of this world), 6. It's good to see old Mr shah ... about again. (out and out) 7. The news report was ... fake, (out of this world ) 8. I cannot help you because I am ... these days. (out with it)

Exercise 6

In the box is a list of words you must have come across during the pandemic. Match words with their meanings. Droplet transmission, Quarantine,   Epidemic, Zoonotic disease, Outbreak, Herd immunity, Asymptomatic

1. A disease caused by an infectious agent that can pass between humans are other animals (Zoonotic disease)

2. The rapid spread of a disease to large number of people within a short period of time (Outbreak)

3. The same as a pandemic but occurring over a more limited geographical area (Epidemic)

4. The spread of an infectious disease within a group of who have had no known contact with an infected person or exposed to the disease (Community Spread)

5. A person who does not show any of a disease despite being infected (Asymptomatic)

6. When bacteria or viruses travel within small droplets of liquid from the respiratory tract (Droplet transmission)

7. The separation of people, animals or goods to prevent the possible spread of infectious diseases (Quarantine)

16. When enough people in a population are immune to a disease either through recovery or vaccination (Herd immunity)

Grammar

Note: Please for full explanation of Grammar Portion watch live classes on you tube channel ‘Dear Students (Salim Sir)

Exercise 7

Change the narration of the given sentences from direct to indirect speech.

1. Mira said, 'I am going home.'  Mira said that she was going home. 2. Aisha said, 'I have been to London.'  Aisha said that she had been to London.

3. Seerat said, 'My parents are going to Jammu.'  Seerat said that her parents are going to Jammu.4. She told me,'I can't swim.'  She told me that she couldn't swim.  5. He said, 'I went on a picnic yesterday.'  He said that he had gone on a picnic the previous day. 6. The mother said to the children, 'How brilliant you are!'  The mother told the children that how brilliant they were. 7. The teacher said, 'the earth moves around the sun.' The Teacher said that the earth revolves around the Sun. . I said to her, 'Honesty is the best policy.'  I told her that honesty is the best Policy. 9. Pinkly said, 'I didn't have any breakfast this morning.'  Pinky told that she didn't' had any breakfast that morning. 10. Kamal said,' 'I will paint a picture tomorrow.'  Kamal said that he would paint a picture the following day.

Exercise 8

Change the narration of the given sentences from indirect to direct speech.

1. Mrs Shah said that she had lost her bag. Mrs Shah said, 'I have lost my bag'. 2. The man said that she was a college friend of my father's. The man said' 'She is your father's college friends'. 3. Somu told the shopkeeper that he wanted to return the clock as it was defective. Somu said to the shopkeeper, 'I want to return this click,  it has a defect'. 4. The judge commanded them to call the accused into the courtroom. The Judge said to them, 'Call the accused into the courtroom'. 5. Salman said that hi and his sister were going to the circus. Salman said, 'I am going to Circus with sister'. My 6. Monty said that he hoped pinkly was all right. Monty said, 'I trust God that Pinky will be alright'. 7. The coach said that the players had to come for practice every morning. The Coach said, 'listen players, you have to come for practice every morning'. 8. She said she was seeing her brother the following day. She said, 'I am going to see my brother tomorrow'. 9. She asked me how they would get here.  She said, 'How will we get there'. 10. The guest requested them to give him a cup of coffee. The guest said, 'Please can I have a cup of coffee?

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