VISTAS AT A GLANCE –PART I ( LAST MIN PREP)
THE
ENEMY BY PEARL S BUCK
• Character Sketch
of Sadao
– Dedicated surgeon
and doctor, has fellow feeling and kindness for
people in distress
– Conflict between
duty as a doctor and duty as a Japanese
– prejudiced
against the white man, afraid of being called a traitor
– Shelters the
enemy and saves his life.
– Out of loyalty to
his country, informs the General
– helps the white
man escape
• Character Sketch
of Hana
– Balanced woman,
stands with her husband
– Responsible -
washes prisoner, treats him respectfully
– Dignified and
graceful about servants leaving the house
– helped Sadao in
the operation
– administers anesthesia to the
prisoner
• American Soldier
– Tom
– Hardly 17, taken
prisoner
– Escaped, but shot
at the back
– suffered torture
and hunger
– Wounded, bleeding
was in great pain, lay unconscious
– Strong will-power
– Full of gratitude
towards Dr. Sadao
• The General
– Selfish, thinks of only his
treatment
– had faith in
Sadao’s skill as a doctor
– Promises to send
private assassins to get rid of the prisoner
– Careless – forgot
to send assassins
• Reaction of
Servants
– Don’t agree with
the idea of helping an enemy
– Yumi refused to
wash the white man
– Gardener felt
Sadao should have let the soldier die
– Thought sea and
gods would take revenge if Sadao saved the
soldier
– felt Sadao was
proud of his skill and used it irresponsibly
– left the house
till the time the prisoner stayed there.
• How Sadao helped
the soldier escape
– Put food and
extra clothing in the boat.
– Directed him to
row to an uninhabited island
– Asked him to wait
for a Korean fishing boat
– Told him to catch
fish but eat it raw
– Gave him his
flash light
– Told him to flash
the torch twice if food ran out and one flash if he was all right
– Gave him Japanese
clothes and covered his hair with a black
cloth.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following questions in about 30-40 words each. (2 Markseach)
1. Why did Sadao
wait before falling in love with Hana?
2. Give two reasons why Sadao was not
sent abroad with the troops.
3. What do you
learn about Sadao’s father from the story ‘The Enemy’?
4. In which
condition did Sadao and Hana find the man? How did they
est1ablish his
identity?
5. What
superstitious beliefs of the servants made them oppose Sadao’s
decision to give
shelter to the injured man?
6. Why did Sadao
decide to treat the injured man?
7. What did the
servants think about Sadao’s sheltering an enemy?
8. What message did
the messenger from the palace deliver to Dr. Sadao?
9. How did Hana
react to the servants leaving the house?
10. What plan did
the General suggest to get rid of the prisoner?
11. Why couldn’t
the General’s plan of eliminating the prisoner succeed?
12. What things did Sadao provide for
the wounded prisoner on the boat?
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in 125-150 words. (7 Marks each)
1. Dr. Sadao and
Hana rise above man made divisions to serve the nobler
cause of humanity.
Discuss with reference to the story.
2. What efforts
were made by Dr. Sadao and Hana to save the life of the
injured man?
3. Hana plays an
instrumental role in saving the life of the injured prisoner.
Give an account of
her role in the light of this statement.
4. How did the
servant’s react to the efforts made by Sadao and Hana to
save the prisoner’s
life?
5. What conflict of
duties does Dr. Sadao f ace? How does he resolve
them?
SHOULD WIZARD HIT MOMMY BY JOHN UPDIKE
• Jack’s Story
Telling
– Began two years
ago
– to tell stories
in the evening for the Sunday naps
– Story telling
very tiresome
– no longer takes
everything as true
– growing up and
questions everything.
• The Story
– a basic story
line and a few characters
– the main
character – a small creature
– usually named
Roger
– when in trouble
Roger goes to wise owl
– owl sends him to
the wizard
– wizard finally solves the problem
• Roger Skunk’s
Story
– smelled very bad
– no one wants to
play with him
– teased and called
stinky skunk
– meets the owl and
tells his story
– owl asks him to
meet the wizard
– the wizard asks
for 7 pennies
– he had 4 and took 3 from magic wall
– changed his smell
like roses
– Friends were
happy and want to play with
– But his mother
didn’t like his smell
– became angry and
took him back to wizard
– ordered to change
back to his original smell
– once again
smelled very bad
• Jo’s Opinion
About the Ending
– not likes the end
of the story
– wants to see her
character happy
– not wants to
smell bad once again
– not likes mommy’s
interference
– wants her dad to
change the ending
– wants dad to make
the wizard hit her
– not convinced at
her father’s saying that his mother loved him as
he smelled like her
baby
– Jo wants his
mommy to understand how his friends used to tease
him and not to play with.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in about 30-40 words each. (2 Marks each)
1. What made Jack
realize that the custom of telling his daughter a story, had
turned futile?
2. What was unique
about the story that Jack told?
3. How did the
wizard solve as well as create problem for Roger?
4. What was the
cause of Roger Skunk’s sadness?
5. What change
occurred in the attitude of other animals when the smell of
Roger Skunk changed.
6. How did Roger
Skunk’s mother react to his newly acquired smell?
7. Did Jo accept
the violence of Roger Skunk’s mother to the wizard? What
did she want?
8. Jo is no longer
a passive listener to Jack’s stories. How?
9. How does Jack
justify his ending of the story?
10. Why does Jo
want a different ending to the story?
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in 125-150 words. (7 Marks each)
1. Why does Jo want
the wizard to hit mommy? Discuss with reference to the
text.
2. Adults should
not impose their perspective on kids. Do you agree? Give
a reasoned answer.
3. Bring out the
moral issues raised in the story.
4. Jack’s handling
of the ending of his story projects him in a poor light as
a father. Do you agree? Why? Why not?
ON THE FACE OF IT BY SUSAN HILL
• Mr. Lamb Welcomes
Derry
– in his garden in
spite of jumping over the wall
– tries to make him
comfortable
– tells him to pick
crab apples
– talks to him,
without considering his disability
– Derry thinks,
pretending not to be afraid of his burnt face
– tells usually people afraid of his
face
– Mr. Lamb asks but
doesn’t probe
– tells Derry that
he has a tin leg
• Mr. Lamb’s advice
to Derry
– tells that in
Nature shapes differ but quality is the same
– no difference
among the plants whether they are weeds, flowers
and others all grow
– inside is
important than outside
– accept yourself,
not to fear others’ comments.
– calling
Lamey-Lamb not bother him
– not to keep
thinking of these things
– life offers many
more things
– isolation not
good
– inspires to look
at thing positively
• Derry’s reaction
to Mr. Lamb’s advice
– initially, very
suspicious of Mr. Lamb
– never had anybody
to talk to and understand
– not believe that
he does not find him ugly
– later, fascinated by Mr. Lamb’s talk
– motivated and
drawn towards him
• Mr. Lamb
– an old man with a
tin leg
– lives alone,
lonely
– found ways to
overcome his loneliness
– keeps his gate
open
– never curtains his windows
– imagines kids and
people walking all over
– spends time
listening to the bees
– has a positive
approach to life
• Derry’s
Transformation
– had bitter
experience in the world
– tells Mr. Lamb
about sarcastic comments about his looks
– Even his mother
kisses on the other side of face
– not trust people
and ignore their comments about his face
– sad that he will
have only half a face
– Mr. Lamb’s
meeting changes his outlook towards life
– talks to Mr. Lamb
about his likes, dislikes and fears
– wants to be loved
and appreciated
– wants to break
free from the stigma of being disabled
– his going back to
Mr. Lamb’s garden shows his changing
personality.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in 30-40 words each. (2 Marks each)
1. How does Derry
enter the garden? What had he thought about it?
2. What had
happened to Derry’s face? How do people react when they look at it?
3. What does Mr.
Lamb say about weeds and flowers?
4. What did Mr.
Lamb tell Derry about his handicap?
5. Why did children
call Mr. Lamb ‘Lamey Lamb’?
6. How does Mr.
Lamb convince Derry of the uselessness of being a recluse
(Lonely Person)?
7. How does Mr.
Lamb spend his time?
8. What did Derry
overhear his parents talking about his future? How did this affect him?
9. Why does Mr.
Lamb advise Derry to stop having feelings of hatred towards the people?
10. What draws
Derry to Mr. Lamb?
11. What did Derry
hear the woman at the bus stop say?
12. How is Mr.
Lamb’s concept of a ‘friend’ different from that of Derry’s?
13. What, according
to Derry, would happen if Mr. Lamb continued his friendship with him?
14. Why is not Mr.
Lamb troubled by the people who stare at him?
15. Why were there
no curtains in Mr. Lamb’s house?
16. Why did Derry
want to go back to Mr. Lamb’s garden?
17. Why does
Derry’s mother object to his going to Mr. Lamb’s house?
18. Give reasons to
show that Derry is a changed person at the end of the play.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in 125-150 words. (7 Marks each)
1. The play ends on
a tragic note but reaffirms hope. Discuss with reference to the text.
2. Despite his show
of Bravado, Mr. Lamb is a lonely man. Do you agree? Give a reasoned answer.
3. How is Mr. Lamb
successful in infusing Derry with a zest for living?
4. Derry suffers from a sense of
insecurity and alienation. Comment.
EVANS TRIES AN O LEVEL BY COLIN DEXTER
• Evans tries an
O-Level
– James Roderick
Evans – a prisoner
– earlier escaped
thrice from the prison
– therefore titled
‘Evans the Break’
– started night
classes in O-Level German
– Govt. arranged to
examine Evans for O-Level in his prison cell
– On the exam day
he was given time to smarten up
– Unshaven and
having a filthy looking hat
– refused to remove
the cap that’s lucky
• Examination
Arrangements
– removal of razors
and nail scissors
– set tables
opposite each other and placed two hard chairs in the
cell
– deputed Stephens
on D-Wing and newly recruited to visit Evans’
prison
– invigilator Mc
Leery left his house at 8:45 am as the exam was to
begin at 9:15 am.
– Mc Lerry came,
having a brown suitcase, semi-inflated rubber ring,
needed for
haemorrhoids?
• The Exam Begins
– asked Evans to
write index No., centre No, 313 and 271
– at 9:40 a.m. Mc
Leery asked for correction slip
– Evans hardly
understood anything, kept his pen between lips and
staring towards the door.
– at 10:15 Evans
requested for a blanket
– The exam got over
at 11:20
– Hearing the
Governor’s order at 11:22 a.m. accompanied McLeery
to the prison gate
– Stephens obeyed
the orders
– On the way asked
Mcleery about Evans
– McLeery’s answer
made him feel, his broader scots accent, to be
slimmer due to long
black overcoat.
• Evans Escapes
– After seeing
McLeery off, wanted to go for coffee, must take one
last look at Evans
– he saw McLeery
sprawled in Evan’s chair slipping the blanket and
blood dripping
through the beard.
– instead of
calling ambulance McLeery low moaned and asked for
police to call
– he knew where
Evans was
– opened the German
Q. Paper and found a photocopied sheet
carefully and
cleverly super imposed over the last page of Q. Paper
– instructions and
the plan written in German as Make your way to
Neugraben
– Governor was
furious, not made any call to see off McLeery at the
prison gate
– Governor wanted
to know about the false beared, spectacles and
other things
– Later the
Governor was puzzled Mcleery was not in the hospital
– The ambulance
sent to Elsfield to pick, Mc Leery but just vanished
– after a quarter
and half an hour they found McLeery bound and
Gagged
– Now they
understood it was not Evans impersonating as McLeery
who had walked out
but it was Evans, impersonating Mc Leery
who stayed in
• Final Escape
– reached his hotel
at Golden Lion
– very happy for
his successful plan
– able to hide his
closely cropped hair due to lucky hat
– as he reached the
reception, found the receptionist not the same
girl
– collected the keys,
asked for early morning call at 6.45 am.
– as entered the
room, shocked to see the Governor sitting on the
narrow bed
– finally spoke
that was the correction slip which he left behind,
given the clue
about
– Index No. 313,
Centre No. 271 the six figures 313271 got him there
– Governor wanted
to know where the blood came from, answered
that was pig’s
blood in ring
– told about his
German friend, helped him
– winked at
receptionist and get back
– hand cuffed and
clambered into the back seat of prison van, As he
turned right, unlocked hand cuffs and
asked to drive fast
– on the driver’s
query, suggested Newbury
– prison officer
was Evans’ own man and the Governor was fooled
once again.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following questions in 30-40 words each. (2 Marks each)
1.What was unusual about the request
received by the examination board?
2. How is Evans not
a typical criminal?
3. What is the
nickname that Evans has got and why?
4. The prison
authorities were not taking any chances with Evans’. What precautions did they
take?
5. How did Evans
convince Jackson to allow him to wear his hat?
6. What reason did
McLeery give for bringing the rubber ring with him?
7. What did the
governor instruct Stephens to do after the exam got over?
8. What did Stephens
discover in Evans’ cell after McLeery had left?
9. Who had
impersonated whom in the plan to escape?
10. Mention two
changes that Stephens notices in McLeery when he was leaving after the exam?
11. How did Evans
exploit the soft corner Jackson had for him?
12. How did Evans
manage to procure the things that had helped him in his escape?
13. What was Evans
actually doing when the pen was stuck in his mouth?
14. How did Evans
manage to get blood? How was its clotting prevented?
15. How did the
governor manage to track down Evans to the hotel where he was hiding?
16. How is Evans
able to manage his escape in the absence of visitors and letters?
17. Why did Evans
leave the question paper with German written on it in the cell?
18. How did the
correction slip help in Evan’s escape?
19. What fate did
the real McLeery meet?
20. How did Evans manage to give a
slip to the governor at the end?
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer
the following in about 125-150 words. (7 Marks each)
1. What steps were
taken by the prison authorities to prevent any escape attempt by Evans?
2. How was Evans
able to turn the table on his captors?
3. “The Governor
was just another, good for a giggle, gullible governor.” Do you agree? Give a
reasoned answer.
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