I Semester (General English Notes)

Textures of English

A Little Bit of What You Fancy

                                                                                              Desmond Morris

Introduction:

     Desmond Morris is most famous for his work as a zoologist and ethnologist (study about human behavior), was born on 24 January 1928.  He has written a number of books and produced a number of television shows.  He first came into attention in 1960’s as a presenter of ITV television’s Zoo Time.  His studies mainly focus on animal and human behavior, explained from a zoological point of view.  His famous works include The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo, Manwatching and Babywatching. In this essay he talks about his own mother and the people who lived during the 18^th century who were least bothered about the health foods and diet regimes.

Morris’ mother in tune with 18^th century:

     Desmond Morris talks about his own mother who was born during the reign of Queen Victoria, and she enjoyed the robust food pleasures (less importance to healthy foods, table manners), she ate with lots of gusto piling her plate with greasy, fatty, fried up grill foods without any anxiety about their possible bad effects.  It is advisable to chew each mouthful of food thirty-two times before swallowing.  Watching his mother in action, Morris wanted to match her appetite and he also remarked that if she ignores the words of health gurus and diet experts, she would die young.

Simple truth behind her mother:

     She lived the whole of twentieth century (99 years of age) without even giving a moment’s thought to know what was correct to eat.   If it tasted good it was all right for her.  Her lack of anxiety (worry) about the diet kept her fit.  For a good digestion you need to be perfectly relaxed in what we are eating.  Only then, the parasympathetic nervous system will help us in good digestion.  We should never worry about our diet system when we start to eat.  On the other hand if we eat in fear and tension body refuses to co-operate and would suffer from cancer which induces effects from the nervous system.

Modern Pontificators:

     Now a day the modern pontificators (one who gives their opinion) feels that, it is their duty to tell the rest of us about what we should and should not eat, as though thinking that they have discovered the secrets of the eternal life.  Author feels that there are two flaws in their arguments.  First, they keep on changing their views.  Secondly, they over the fact that the human species evolved as an omnivore and hence require a bigger variety of food stuffs for the body to pick out what it needs and discards the rest.  Only food, that keeps us different from our animal rivals.

Problems faced by human beings:

     So many people suffer from obesity, indigestion and various diet deficiencies.  The answer lies in their lifestyle.  They don’t realize that man needs a variety of foods for good health.  In the urban, the living scenario is too indifferent since they suffer from various anxiety problems and work tensions finally ending up in wrong digestion of food stuffs they eat. Food should be savoured (tasted), relished, enjoyed and digested at leisure.

Food taboos and totems:

     According to author, there are two reasons for the existence of so many food taboos (ban), namely totems (special respect to religious emblem) and poisons.  People from ancient times chose a particular animal as a mascot a god-figure and tried to protect it.  For example: cows are considered to be sacred for the Hindus.  This protection included not eating it.  Another reason was the deep-seated humar fear of being poisoned.  This irrational fear makes people avoid certain foods and causes anxiety when we eat anything for enjoyment. 

     Our ancestors had countered with a natural caution and it is this caution that can be exploited all too easily and some animals were treated as god they avoid eating them. 

Conclusion:

     Author feels that we should never consider the words of food experts or diet gurus. He also thought that he would die ten year ago and in mean time he would like to try out the food stuffs prepared by various cooks. Later he managed to live for another ten years since he maintained to disrespect the words of diet fascists who spoil our bookstalls, radio stations and news agents.  So, we should enjoy all kinds of foods and need not worry about the advice of diet experts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headache

Introduction:

     R.K. Narayan (1906-2001) is one of the most famous and distinguished Indian writer in English.  He had a fine insight into various aspects on the lives of the poor and the middle class people, particularly in South India.  He makes the dull and common place events more interesting and this essay is one such essay. In a writing career that spanned over sixty years, Narayan received many awards and honours.  His writings are full of humour.  In this essay he explains the advantages of headache.

A blessing for Mankind:

     R.K. Narayan explains how headache conferred on mankind as a blessing by a benign providence and also talks about the usefulness of headache to avoid difficult situations.  He later narrates an incident in his school life about the letter writing exercise, where his teacher used headache as a cause in the specimen letter.  He always wondered what made his teacher to select for headache as a cause even in a specimen letter. Later he talks about the drill class during his school days and how students usually mentioned ‘headache’ as an excuse for avoiding the drill class after the school hours.  One day the instructor asked all the students suffering from headache to hold their arms. For many students it raised large hope.  The instructor also added that he was going to give them some special exercise to cure their splitting headache.  Not even a boy raised his arms. Thus the instructor put an end to that problem.

Touch of Importance:

     Headache gives the sufferer a touch of importance because it can be mentioned in any social gathering and is well taken.  No other pain can be so openly mentioned with freedom from punishment.  Other aches sound crude and bad which cannot be mentioned in publish and thus headache helps us to avoid many embarrassing situation.

What is indisposition?

     Indisposition is a superior expression; it can be used only by eminent people.  R. K. Narayan was really concerned about finding the real meaning of the word indisposition since it is very vague and confusing.  He feels that he was not able to understand the meaning of the word indisposition except that it sounds very well in press notes or health bulletins or in messages from eminent men to gatherings to which they have been invited.  It cannot be written directly and it will sound better in the third person.  A gentlemen is an eminent one, has a secretary or a deputy who can speak for him.  For example a gentleman regrets his inability to attend the meeting today owing to indisposition (sickness or unwillingness).  People will understand and accept the statement and will not question the concerned person.

     R.K. Narayan wants to know the perfect meaning of indisposition.  Is the concerned person down with flu or malaria or cold or rheumatism (pain in joints and muscles)?  He feels that the word indisposition could be used only at a particular level, not by all and if a school boy says “As I am indisposed, I want to be let off”, he will have his ears twisted for his intelligence beyond his age.

Headache as an excuse:

     If we openly say that we want to avoid the situation or an important meeting, people will get angry.  No one has really got courage to tell that he/she is not willing to attend a meeting or a social gathering. The world is not yet ripe for such outspokenness and frankness.  So we safely use headache as an excuse.

     At home, headache is used as an excuse to avoid many uncomfortable situations.  The mother-in-law, who is angry with the daughter-in-law, uses it to avoid food.  The son, who does not want to take his wife out, gives headache as an excuse.  The boy, who has skipped his homework, claims headache in order to avoid his tutor and to send him back away.  The cultured existence is not to interfere too deeply, but to accept the face value as expressed by the speaker.

Conclusion:

     Headache has become a confirmed habit. Lots of medicines have been produced to cure headache, which people always carry with them and feels uneasy without them.  Opticians give glasses to cure and relieve headache.  All these things prove that mankind easily begins to believe in myths.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Early Days

                                                                                       A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Introduction:

     Dr. Avul Pakir Jainlabdeen Abdul Kalam wa born in the small pilgrim town of Rameswaram in Tamild Nadu, as a son of a boatman.  Kalam was hard working and ambitious.  He aspired to be a pilot, but went on to design rockets under the inspiration of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.  He became the Director of the Defence Research and was the force behind the development of ‘Agni’ and ‘Trishul’ rockets under the missile programme.  He also got Bharat Ratna award and published an autobiographical work called Wings of Fire, which is an inspiring story of how India can achieve. 

His Childhood:

     He was born in Rameswaram and his father Jainulabdeen was a middle class Muslim.  His father had neither much of formal education nor much wealth but though he had generosity of spirit and wisdom.  His mother Ashiamma, who is quite generous in providing food for outsiders and and Kalam recollects his vision how he sat with the outsiders and ate every day. His parents were widely regarded as an ideal couple.  He was one among many children in his family with distinguished looks born to tall and handsome parents.

Location of his house:

     He lived in his ancestral house which was build in the middle of 19^th century and it was a fairly large pucca house built up of limestone and brick on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram.  His parents took care of his needs.  He ate with his mother on the floor of kitchen, on which she ladle rice with aromatic sambhar and with a variety of sharp pickle and small amount of coconut chutney.

Jainulabdeen, a pious Muslim:

     He describes about an old mosque in his locality where his father use to take him every evening.  He never has any idea of the Arabic prayers chanted (sung) but he was convinced that they reached God.  When his father came out of the mosque after the prayers, people of different religions would be sitting outside waiting for him.  He used to dip his finger inside the bowl of water and say prayers to cure diseases and other disables.  Many came home to thank his father after they get cured.  He always smiled and asked them to thank Allah.

    His father’s close friend named Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry would always discuss about spiritual matters with him.  Kalam, asked his father about the relevance of prayers and he replied that there is nothing so mysterious about prayers.  It is a communion of the spirit and people.  He is capable of explaining difficult religious concepts in a simple manner.

Kalam’s inspiration:

     Abdul Kalam tried to follow his father as an example in his life.  When he was six years old when his father was working on a project to build a wooden sailboat he sat beside him and admired his work.  Ahmed Jallaluddin who married Kalam’s sister Zohara, helped his father.  Later he narrates about a disastrous wind which collapsed a train full of passengers in Pamban Bridge.  Ahmed turned to be his friend though there is a difference in their age.  They walked along the sea shore discussing on spiritual matters.  Their first halt would be near Lord Shiva temple, and they talked about God and relationship with him.

      Though Ahmed’s education was limited, he was the only person in the island who can speak and write English.  He always speaks about scientific discoveries, contemporary literature and achievements of medical sciences and widened his knowledge.  He encouraged Kalam to read and borrow books from the library of S.T.R Manickam, a former militant nationalist.

His Second Inspiration:

      Samsuddin, cousin of Kalam was the next person to inspire him greatly.  He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram.  The newspapers would arrive from Pamban.  These newspapers were mainly bought by the reading demands of 1000 strong literate people who lived in Rameswaram and few readers would discuss Hilter, Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah. Kalam collected the bundles of newspapers thrown from train and he earned his first wage.  Second World War was broke out in 1939 when he was eight years old.  He used to collect tamarind seeds and sell it to a provision shop. Jallaludin would tell him stories about war and he talks about the solitariness of his locality after war.

Kalam’s Close friends:

     He had three close friends in his childhood.  Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan.  All these children were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families.  Ramanadha Sastry was the son of Pakshi Lakshaman Sastry, and later he took priesthood of Rameswaram temple; Aravindan went into business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for Southern Railways. 

Science Teacher:

     One day when he was in his fifth standard at Elementary School a new teacher came to his class.  He never could digest a Hindu and a Muslim student sitting together.  He asked Kalam to sit in the last row and later he went home and told his parents about the incident.  Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher and asked not to poison the minds of children with social inequality.  Later his science teacher Siva Subramania Iyer an orthodox Brahmin who tried to break the social barriers helped Kalam in studies and later he joined in high-school for his higher education.  Kalam was invited to his home for a meal but his wife refused to serve him. Later his teacher served him the dinner.

Higher education:

     After the Second World War, India’s freedom was eminent.  He asked his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram.  Later his father took him along with his three brothers to the mosque and recited prayers from the Holy Quran, and wished ‘May God Bless You, my child’.  Samsuddin and Ahmed Jallaluddin travelled with him till high-school.

Conclusion:

     Due to his homesickness, he found hard to fit with the new environment.  He used to recollect the words of Jallaluddin who always spoke about the power of positive thinking whenever he felt homesick or dejected.  He strived hard to control his thoughts and his mind was filled up with the memory of his home town.  He used positive thinking and overcame his home-sickness.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Escape From Intellectual Rubbish

                                           -Bertrand Russell

Introduction:

     Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic is best known for his work in analytic philosophy and mathematical logic.  In the course of his long career, be made significant contribution to a broad range of subjects including education, history, political theory and religious studies.  Russell was awarded the Noble Prize for literature in 1950.  His major works include ‘The History of Western Philosophy, the Problems of Philosophy and The Principles of Mathematics’. 

Rules to avoid foolish opinions:

     According to Russell many issues can be settled by personal observation.  To avoid any foolish opinion which makes mankind look inclined, no superhuman genius is required to rectify our mistakes.  Personal observation can keep us from all silly error.  Russell supported his view by pointing out the mistake committed by the great philosopher Aristotle.  He could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking his wife to keep her mouth open while he counted.  He did not do so because he thought that he knew.  Russell says that many writers who knew less about unicorns and salamander spoke about them in their works but none of the writers had ever seen them. 

Contrary opinions:

     If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, it shows that your views are not based on strong evidence.  If someone says that two and two are five or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity on them rather getting angry, unless you know little of mathematics or geography, otherwise his opinion will make you feel contrary and makes you angry.  The most heated arguments rise up in theology, since there is no evidence either way.  Whenever we find ourselves getting angry about a difference of opinion, we should always re-examine our views.

Insular prejudice:

     According to Bertrand Russell, a good way of overcoming dogmatism (one is right and other is wrong) is to become aware of different opinions by travelling to different countries.  He travelled through many countries and observed their cultures and traditions which made him to diminish his intensity of insular prejudice (dislike of particular group).  In some cases, the effect may not be beneficial.  When the Manchus invaded the Chinese, it was custom of Chinese for the women to have small feet and among Manchus for the men to wear pigtails.  Instead of dropping their customs, the two countries adopted each other’s custom.  Chinese continued to wear pigtails until the revolution of 1911.

Imaginary arguments:

     The author feels that, we can have imaginary arguments with a person with difficult views about the technology like Gandhiji.  Mahatma Gandhi disapproved railways and steamboats and machinery.  He wanted to undo the Industrial Revolution, but for the Westerners most people take the advantage of modern technology.  Such imaginary arguments helped Russell to overcome his dogmatism. 

Self-esteem:

     He warns us against the views that flatter our self-respect.  It is a general human opinion which makes them think that their own sex or country is superior to others.  Men think that all the poets, inventors and scientists are male, but women feel most of them are criminals.  We hide the demerits of our country in order to show off the merits possessed by our nations.  There may be beings superior to us in other parts of the universe which may think us very inferior by the same way how we feel superior to jelly fish.

Steps to avoid fear:

     Fear according to Russell is the root cause of all errors. Fears sometimes operates directly by inventing rumours of disaster in wartime or by imagining objects such as ghosts, sometimes it operates indirectly by creating belief in something such as heaven for ourselves and hell for our enemies.  Fear has many forms, fear of death, fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of herd.  There are two ways of avoiding fear.  One is by convincing ourselves that we are safe from disaster. The other is by the practice of pure courage which is difficult for many people.  So people prefer the former method and try to secure safety with the help of talismans, spells, witchcraft and incantations. 

Conclusion:

     During the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, witches and sorcerers (witchcraft) were used to overcome fear.  Socrates on the day of his death expressed his belief that, in the next world (heaven) he/she would be accompanied by Gods and heroes but Plato in his work ‘Republic’ argued his views about next world.  He argued that the information gave by Socrates weren’t true, but to make soldiers more willing to die in battle.  He feels that the traditional myth about Hades (river of Death) represents the spirits of the dead as unhappy.  Belief in future life proves to be more effective way of overcoming fear. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Key to Courage

Introduction:

     Ida Alexa Ross Wylie, better known as I.A.R Wylie, was one of the most respected authors of her generation.  She lost her mother very early, and was later raised by her father.  She had no formal education.  She was given large numbers of books to read and was taught to rely on her instincts until she was in her teens.  Many of her storied and novels turned into movie, the most famous being Keeper of the Flame (1942).  In this essay, the author feels that fear can be useful to kindle our courage to do our best.

Significance of Fear:

     According to I.A.R Wylie fear play a vital role in bringing out our hidden capacities.  She asked a question to herself “When was I (author) happiest? She came upon with an unexpected answer; she enjoyed herself the most when she had badly scared.  Fear makes it possible to trust in one’s own self to face difficulty or danger.  As a young child she was fearless and she had an unusual upbringing.  She was isolated from children and she use to travel all alone.  When she first went to school at the age of fourteen, she caught fear from the other children brought up by orthodox methods might catch mumps and measles.  She turned very nervous and shy.  But, whenever she met with danger, her fear aroused in her with unsuspected powers.

Her personal Experience:

     When she first went to United States her publishers expected her to give a speech during a public dinner, she was almost sick with fear.  Her tongue was tied up with shyness. Later she gave speech like a practiced speaker.  She realized that she needed fear to spur (encourage) her talents.  Even the actors, singers and public performers agree that unless they fear they are not likely to give a good performance.

Soldier’s Fear:

      Bravest soldiers are not ‘fearless’.  It is found that soldiers are those who go to battle sweating with fear.  Army doctors observed that it is not the tough guy who endure the stress of war, but those who imagine fearful consequences to themselves and to others for whom they are responsible.  “Fear when rightly used is the father of courage”.

      In 1942, she was invited by British government with several other writers to observe how Britain stood during various difficult situations.  She was afraid to travel by flight to Great Britain during the war time.  But, after her journey she felt refreshing and vigorous.  Without fear there is no real courage.  It is the power to face any kind of challenge in life.  Fear stimulates our energy and mind.

Noel’s experience:

     An English writer, Noel Streatfield once told her that she was on her way to Singapore by ship and the passengers became very unfriendly through her journey.  The captain met Noel on the deck and asked her to give a hint to the passengers that the ship might suffer from the teeth of a hurricane (cyclone/storm).  After hearing it the passengers developed high spirits and good temper with her through her journey.

Fear of losing Job:

     The author’s friend was nervous and shy.  One day when he was called to the office of his vice-president, his worry turned into fear.  Worry isn’t same as the fear.  A change came over him and he faced his superiors in a light- headed mood.  The interview ended in a handshake and her friend was promoted afterwards.

Conclusion:

     Fear has spurred him to do at his best.  Fear when rightly used can do miracles in life.  Fear can make humans to develop superhuman qualities.  Thus ‘Fear is the Father of Courage’.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verse 

“Lines Written in Early Spring”

The opening stanza of William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” sets the tone for the underlying theme of the poem: Wordsworth’s narrator lying in a grove where his thoughts are allowed to flow uninterrupted in what Wordsworth describes as “In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts / Bring sad thoughts to the mind.” (3-4). importantly, these last two lines of the first stanza easily catch a reader off guard.  The quiet and descriptively beautiful setting seems to have brought Wordsworth’s narrator to a state of uninhibited inward contemplation of the external civilized world, and found this subject of thought emotionally disturbing. 

It is the second stanza of William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” that we are given the theme of the poem when Wordsworth writes “And much it grieved my heart to think / what man has made of man.” (7 and 8).  Wordsworth, in his reflection of “What man has made of man” (8), is describing how mankind, though civilized, has an inborn spiritual connection to “Nature” and “nature’s fair works” (4). 

The following three stanzas of William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” describe the natural scenery around Wordsworth’s narrator as he sits in his emotionally sensitive mood, thinking how life in the forest seems so beautiful and satisfying compared to life in civilization.  Wordsworth goes on to describe what he sees as “pleasure” as “every flower / Enjoys the air it breathes” (11-12), and the birds that hopped and played around him were written with every “least motion which they made” (15) “seemed a thrill of pleasure” (16).  Wordsworth goes so far as to describe “pleasure” in the very “budding twigs” (17) that spread their leaves to catch the “breezy air” (18).  It is this lifestyle that Wordsworth is jealous of and wishes that mankind could somehow return to the nature. It is also this lifestyle that gives Wordsworth reason to pity mankind for their empty pursuits and meaningless lifestyles.

The final stanza concludes William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” with the lines “If such be Nature's holy plan, / Have I not reason to lament /  What man has made of man?” (22-24); not only repeating the eighth line of “What man has made of man” (8) in the last, but also driving home Wordsworth’s main theme of “Lines Written in Early Spring”.  To Wordsworth, “Natures holy plan” (22) is for mankind to live as an intricate (involving) part of nature, surrendering to quiet cottages and subsistence farming, away from the bleak and pointless miseries of city life.  Man, in “Lines Written in Early Spring”, has successfully perverted his nature and is so condemned to the incomplete and aimless existence of civilization. 

 In many ways, “Lines Written in Early Spring” would set the tone for Wordsworth’s poetry; Wordsworth thereafter wrestling with the same theme of “Lines Written in Early Spring” and lamenting civilization and “What man has made of man.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ulysses

Ulysses declares that there is little point in his staying home “by this still hearth” with his old wife, giving out rewards and punishments for the people who live in his kingdom. Still speaking to himself he declares that he “cannot rest from travel” but feels compelled to live to the fullest and swallow every last drop of life. He has enjoyed all his experiences as a sailor who travels the seas, and he considers himself a symbol for everyone who wanders and roams the earth. His travels have exposed him to many different types of people and ways of living. They have also exposed him to the “delight of battle” while fighting the Trojan War with his men. Ulysses declares that his travels and encounters have shaped who he is: “I am a part of all that I have met,” he asserts. Ulysses declares that it is boring to stay in one place, and that to remain stationary is to rust rather than to shine; to stay in one place is to pretend that all there is to life is the simple act of breathing.  His spirit yearns constantly for new experiences that will broaden his horizons; he wishes “to follow knowledge like a sinking star” and forever grow in wisdom and in learning.

Ulysses now speaks to an unidentified audience concerning his son Telemachus, who will act as his successor while the great hero resumes his travels: he says, “This is my son, mine own Telemachus, to whom I leave the scepter (authority) and the isle (island).” He speaks highly but also supports his son’s capabilities as a ruler, praising his careful management, dedication, and devotion to the gods. Telemachus will do his work of governing the island while Ulysses will do his work of traveling the seas: “He works his work, I mine.”

In the final stanza, Ulysses addresses the mariners with whom he has worked, traveled, and weathered life’s storms over many years. He declares that although he and they are old, they still have the potential to do something noble and honorable before “the long day wanes.” He encourages them to make use of their old age because “’tis not too late to seek a newer world.” He declares that his goal is to sail onward “beyond the sunset” until his death. Perhaps, he suggests, they may even reach the “Happy Isles,” or the paradise of never ending summer described in Greek mythology where great heroes like the warrior Achilles were believed to have been taken after their deaths. Although Ulysses and his mariners are not as strong as they were in youth, they are “strong in will” and are sustained by their resolve to push onward relentlessly: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I have Fears

This poem falls into two major thought groups:

• Keats expresses his fear of dying young in the first thought, lines 1-12. He fears that he will not fulfill himself as a writer (lines 1-8) and that he will lose his beloved (lines 9-12).
• Keats resolves his fears by asserting the unimportance of love and fame in the concluding two and a half lines of this sonnet.

     The first quatrain (four lines) emphasizes both how fertile his imagination is and how much he has to express; hence the imagery of the harvest, e.g., "gleaned," "garners," "full ripened grain." A harvest is, obviously, fulfillment in time, the culmination (to reach a high position) which yields a valued product, as reflected in the grain being "full ripened." Abundance is also apparent in the adjectives "high-piled" and "rich." Keats is both the field of grain (his imagination is like the grain to be harvested) and he is the harvester (writer of poetry).

     In the next quatrain (lines 5-8), he sees the world as full of material he could transform into poetry (his is "the magic hand"); the material is the beauty of nature ("night's starred face") and the larger meanings he perceives beneath the appearance of nature or physical phenomena ("Huge cloudy symbols") .

     In the third quatrain (lines 9-12), he turns to love. As the "fair creature of an hour," his beloved is short-lived just as, by implication, love is. The quatrain itself parallels the idea of little time, in being only three and a half lines, the effect of this compression or shortening is of a slight speeding-up of time. Is love as important as, less important than or more important than poetry for Keats in this poem? Does the fact that he devotes fewer lines to love than to poetry suggest anything about their relative importance to him?

     The poet's concern with time (not enough time to fulfill his poetic gift and love). Keats attributes two qualities to love: (1) it has the ability to transform the world for the lovers ("faery power"), but of course fairies are not real, and their enchantments are an illusion and (2) love involves us with emotion rather than thought ("I feel" and "unreflecting love").

     Reflecting upon his feelings, which the act of writing this sonnet has involved, Keats achieves some distancing from his own feelings and ordinary life; this distancing enables him to reach a resolution. He thinks about the human solitariness ("I stand alone") and human insignificance (the implicit contrast between his lone self and "the wide world"). The shore is a point of contact, the threshold between two worlds or conditions, land and sea; so Keats is crossing a threshold, from his desire for fame and love to accepting their unimportance and ceasing to fear and sadness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Unknown Citizen

W. H. Auden’s poem entitled “The Unknown Citizen” is a portrayal of a conflict between individualism and government control. “The Unknown Citizen” is a government’s view of the perfect modern man in an unrealistic society. In “The Unknown Citizen” the government has manipulated human intelligence to the point that they have control over everyone’s lives and minds. The motive behind the portrayal of an equal society is that it will eliminate hatred, envy and war. While this proves true, the numerous side effects such as loss of identity, lack of originality, and loss of personal feelings develop.

This citizen is portrayed as a normal and average human being who is being honoured for being normal. Auden, however, uses the fact that the state is honouring someone for being normal to criticise his society. The satiric society depicted in “The Unknown Citizen” is the authors attempt to ridicule a political system that tends to depersonalize its citizens and constantly strives to create equality. The attempt to create an equal society to the extreme makes many governments more like a dictatorship or communist system rather than a democracy. The society portrayed in the poem takes the notion of perfection and equality to the extreme.

            Auden develops the theme by describing the character's life through the research of different bureaus, researchers, and psychology workers. Each one of these descriptions points the same idea that the character is a normal and obedient citizen. The poem consists of several different kinds of people and organizations weighing in on the character of our dear "Citizen."  First, the not-so-friendly-sounding "Bureau of Statistics" says that "no official complaint" was ever made against him. More than that, the guy was a veritable saint, whose good deeds included serving in the army and not getting fired. He belonged to a union and paid his dues, and he liked to have a drink from time to time.   " He served in war, never got fired from his job, popular with his mates, and "normal in every way."    

This man was an ordinary man who did what a normal man would do, and what an ordinary would have. The "researchers in Public Opinion are content that he held the proper opinions for he time the time of year; when there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went."  He went to war when he had to, just like the people who served in the World Wars and in the Vietnam War. He left his home to do these things for his country. 

            His list of stirring accomplishments goes on: he bought a newspaper and had normal reactions to advertisements. He went to the hospital once – we don’t know what for – and bought a few expensive appliances. He owned a record player, had a radio, and had a refrigerator.  He would go with the flow and held the same opinions as everyone else regarding peace and war. He had five kids, and they added to it by telling that he did not interfere in their education. In fact, the only thing the government doesn’t know about the guy is whether he was "free" and "happy," two utterly insignificant, trivial little details. They themselves came to a conclusion that he couldn’t have been unhappy, though, because otherwise the government would have heard.

            The unknown citizen is someone who pays the taxes, satisfies the employers, read the newspaper daily, has the correct number of children, fights for the peace and supports the war etc. In spite of all these facts, the citizen remains "unknown" we do not see any strong traits in this unknown citizen. He is merely like any other ordinary man we can find around us. He works in the way the society runs. We could not see how special he appears or anything that could distinguish him from others.  The stress for individuals to conform in this system makes one loses his or her individualism.

For Elkana

The comfortable and loving relationship in the family between husband and wife, parents and child is poignantly (touchingly) brought out in a regular conversation in a regular setting, in this poem. The author and his family, tempted by the warm April evening, decide to drag their chairs outside and plant them on the uneven stone steps. There, they sit sprawled in their chairs, in silence till the wife breaks this silence by commenting on a broken window pane. She suggests a thing or two to her husband, assuming that he doesn't know what he is supposed to do. She might even be aware of the fact that he knows, but it’s just the comfort of replaying a familiar conversation they have had many times over the years, which prompts her to tell him these things.

The husband doesn't want to contradict her and understands the futility (talking) of arguing. He decides to maintain peace by humorously accepting that she is always right! They both accept each other’s faults and put up with each other because the bond they share is much deeper than what’s seen on the surface. Even though she might nag him and he might ignore her at times and though they disagree on many accounts, they both love each other immensely. 

          The son, who is playing about in the garden, hears his mother's voice travelling up and down the lawn and for some reason this reminds him that he needs his dinner. He goes up to his parents, and demands his dinner with "masterly determination". At this point, both the author and his wife, in unusual rapport, state one unspoken thought- their son must be disciplined. The wife expects her husband to discipline the boy but he looks away. Before her boy could repeat himself, she raises her finger and tells him firmly that he will have to wait another 5 minutes. When he doesn't listen, she tries pacifying him but to no avail. The young boy's logic is that he won't be hungry in 5 minutes. This argument appeals to the father and reminds him of himself. The father feels that such a logician deserves his dinner straightaway. Even the mother is amused by her son and laughs in delight! Both parents end up indulging their son. Her wonderful laughter holds the family together and all 3 of them rise to go back into the house.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vignettes

 Marriage Is a Private Affair

                                                                                           - Chinua Achebe

Introduction:

     Chinua Achebe is one of the best writer’s of Africa.  He belongs to Nigeria.  He is a prominent contemporary African writer in English now living in USA.   He has written several novels which include Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease, a collection of poems which won for him the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1972.  His writings reflect the conditions of the African society, particularly the beliefs and traditions of the Ibo tribe to which he belongs.  In this story he talks about the life style Ibo community who oppose love marriage.  He also attacks the outdated customs and beliefs of the Ibo tribe community.

Ibo tribe’s:

     Nnaemeka, who belonged to the Ibo community, falls in love with Nene who lived in Lagos.  On one fine afternoon, Nene sat with Nnaemeka in her room at 16 Kasanga Street, Lagos asking him whether he wrote a letter to his father regarding the love affair and his wish to marry Nene. He replied that it is better to tell him after he reach home on leave. 

     Nnaemeka’s father may not like his marriage to Nene.  He feels that his Ibo tribe people where slaves to customs and traditions.  They liked only arranged marriage.  Nene thinks in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city it is a joke that a person’s tribe should decide marriage.  She said that she believed the Ibo tribe to be kind people.  Nnaemeka said that marriage was a different matter.   He also says, if Nene’s father lived in the heart of Ibibo land he would be exactly as his father.

Letter from Nnaemeka’s father:

     Later he receives a letter from his father stating that she had found a suitable girl named Ugoye Nwede, the eldest daughter of Jacob Nweke.  She was uneducated but she had a proper Christian upbringing.  Her Sunday school teacher said she reads bible very fluently, and planning to start discussion about marriage in the month of December. Nnaemeka thought of showing the letter to Nene, but later decided on second thought not to.

     On the second evening he returned from Lagos to home.  He sat with his father and began to speak about his love with Nene Atang from Calabar.  He said she is working as a teacher.  His father said that a Christian should not teach and he asked his son for more details, and he left the room angrily.

Against Nnaemeka’s will:

     The next day his father called him and asked to cancel his engagement with Nene.  But Nnaemeka was firm and tried to convince his father saying that she is a good Christian who has all the good qualities of Ugoye.  Later the old man said he would never see the girl and stopped speaking to his son.  Nnaemeka thought that his anger would pass away.  That night, his father did not eat.  She feels that it was a duty of a father to show what is right and wrong. He said to his father that he will change his mind after seeing Nene

Role of Villagers against their marriage:

     The news of Nnameka’s marriage proposal with Nene spread amongst villagers.  An old man of the village said that he had never heard of man marrying a girl speaking a different language and the other man quoted the bible ‘Sons shall rise against their Fathers’, which said the sons would disobey their parents.  Another said, the world was going to end.  The discussions assumed a religious tone.

     Madubogwu suggested that a native doctor should be consulted.  An herbalist could cure his sickness.  The medicine Amalile could be tried on him. It would help women to get back to their husbands.  But Okeke refused to call in the native doctor.  Later he mentioned the case of Mrs. Ochuba, to support his views that, the medicine prepared for husbands and she gave it to a different person.  But, Nnameka and Nene got married against his father’s wish after few days.

Few months later:

    After six months Nnameka received letters from his father who cut off his son’s wife from the marriage photo and returned it back to his son stating that he have nothing to do with Nene.  She looks into the letter and starts to cry.  Later Nnameka console his wife saying that his father an essentially good-natured man and he will understand them one day.  They both lived in a little village in the heart of the Ibo country most happily but Okeke displayed much temper whenever his son’s name was mentioned by the villagers.  Though he had a pain of missing his son, he never showed out and controlled his feelings.

Letter from Daughter-in-law:

     One day Okeke received a letter from Nene.  He could not control himself from reading the letter.  Nene said that her two sons were eager to meet their grandfather.  She requested her father-in-law to permit them.  Her husband would take the children during his leave and she would stay back in Lagos.

Conclusion:

     The old man’s determination became weakened.  He tried to steal his heart and control his emotions. He leaned against a window and looked out.  The sky was overcast with heavy black could and high wind began to blow.  Okeke was trying hard not to think of his two grandsons, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle.  He imagined his grandsons standing outside, shut from home.  He later felt sorry for his action and he could not sleep that night because of a deep regret for wrong doing a fear that he might die without seeing his grandsons.

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Doll’s House

                                                                                    Katherine Mansfield

Introduction:

     Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), was born in New Zealand and educated in England.  She was influenced by Russian writer Anton Chekhov and like him; she depicted the inner life and feelings of the characters with sympathy and understanding.  Her work introduced a new form of psychological realism into the modern short story.  Among her most well known stories is "The Garden Party," "The Daughters of the Late Colonel," and "The Fly."  In this story The Doll’s House she talks about three elements; they are child psychology, class distinction and making fun of the society.

Burnell’s family:

     This story begins with the Burnell’s family where Mrs. Hay stayed with them and went back to town and she sent the children a doll’s house.  It was a beautiful doll’s house.  The children are Isabel (eldest), Lottie (middle), and Kezia (younger).  They were happy to receive this gift from Mrs. Hay which was carried into the courtyard by Pat who is the servant working in Burnell’s family.  The doll’s house was advised to be kept in the courtyard because of the pain smell that came from the doll’s house.  So, Aunt Beryl’s wants to keep from the children since the smell of the paint make anyone seriously ill.

Description of the Doll’s house:

     The doll’s house was painted with a dark, oily, spinach-green, picked out with bright yellow.  Its two solid little chimneys, glued on to the roof, were painted red and white, and the door, gleaming with yellow varnish, was little slab of toffee.  Four windows, real windows were divided into panes by a broad streak of green.  It also contains a drawing room, a dining room, the kitchen and two bedrooms.  All the rooms were papered and the pictures on the walls were painted with gold frames, whereas the red carpet covered all the floors except the kitchen, the beds are covered with real bedclothes, a cradle, a stove, a dresser with tiny plates and big jug.

     But what amazed Kezia was the lamp.  It stood in the middle of the dining room table, a little lamp with a white globe, and it was even filled all ready for lightning, though, of course we couldn’t light it. It looked some kind of oil inside the lamp when we shook it.  The Burnell children were so elated and in the next day they wanted to tell the news to everyone about the Doll’s house.  Isabel was bossy and she said that only she has got the right to choose the friends whom she would like to invite to look at the Doll’s house.  Later she did not invite the Kelvey’s girls.  She also ordered that, only two should be invited everyday to have a glimpse at the Doll’s house.  Kezia was the kind hearted amongst the three, whereas she was the one who wanted even the Kelveys girls to be invited.

Kelvey’s family:

     Through the Kelvey’s family, the author highlights the class distinction.  The Kelvey’s were left out because they were the daughters of a washer woman and a jail bird.  They were shunned by everybody.  Even teacher had a special voice for them and special smile for the other children.  They were the daughters of a hard-working little washerwoman, who went about from house to house by the day to earn money.  The children are Lil (elder) and Else (younger).  Lil was stout plain child and she came to school in a dress made out of table cloth, whereas Else was dressed up in white rather like a night gown and a pair of little boy’s boots. Both of them looked very strange. Else a very silent girl and only when she wanted something she uses to give Lil a little tug to her skirt. They never failed to understand each other.

Same school:

     As there are no other school for miles the rich Burnells had to send their children to the same school where the poor Kelvey’s children studies.  It was a mixed school where the Judges little girls and the milkman’s children were forced to study together.  But the children still looked upon children from the poor families like the Kelvey’s and kept them at a distance.

     Later that evening, Isabel chose Emmie Cole and Legan Logan to see the Doll’s house first.  The other girls would also have their chance.  Only the little Kelvey’s were not invited because they belong to poor family.

Kezia, the kind-hearted:

     The Burnell girl’s mother never allows her daughter to mix along with the Kelveys.  As days passed more children saw the doll’s house and the fame of it spread.  All the other girls use to make fun of the Kelveys girls since her mother was a washerwoman and her father was a jail bird.  But, Kezia was the only one who took pity on the Kelvey’s and invited them to have a look at the Doll’s house. 

     Kezia saw the Kelvey’s children near her and she called them and showed the Doll’s house.  Since the immates were occupied with the visitors Kezia secretly took the Kelvey children to see the doll’s house.  When they were looking at the doll’s house, Aunt Beryl who saw it, scolded Kezia for allowing the Kelvey’s.  She shooed the Kelvey’s out as if they were chickens.

Conclusion:

     Later Kelvey’s sat on the big red drainpipe by the side of the road looking at the thick fences and Logan’s cows Else came up close to her sister and said ‘I seen the Little Lamp”, and the silence prevailed once more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upper Division Love

                                                                                        Manohar Malgonkar

Introduction:

     Manohar Malgonkar is a prolific and distinguished Indian novelist and short story writer.  He was born in the year 1913.  Besides writing history and few novels, Malgonkar has to his credits a number of short stories. His famous works include Distant Drum, A Bend in the Ganges, A Sky in Amber, and The Devil’s Wind.  In the short story, author talks about the lower division clerk who falls in love with the film star Sunderbala, which later turns into agony and anger and tries to take revenge over her.

Meeting with the film star:

     This is the story about the lower division clerk who hold the photos of the film star Sunderbala, three in his room and on in his wallet and he had seen every movie in which she acted.  He had a great admiration for the film star.  The first time he meet her in real life was in a stationery counter of Buchumjee’s Store who was accompanied with two body guards.  She came and asked for gold-plated fountain-pens with encrusted tops.  Before the clerk could speak, the shop assistant stepped forward to answer her.

     But luck was in his way, on the counter she left her glasses and the clerk took it as an opportunity to speak with her.  Later the film star smiled at him and said thank you. After that incident he knew that he had no business to fall in love with the film star Sunderbala.

Clerk’s role in the movie:

     Every day, before going to office he waited near the Super Gajraj Film Company entrance with lots of hope of catching a glimpse of Sunderbala.  He saw her a dozen times, but she did not come care to look at him.  No more smiles from her.  One fine morning he stood near the entrance of the studio feeling cheated because the film star had not arrived for the shooting and suddenly an unshaved man waved his hands towards the waiting group near the gate.  The clerk got an opportunity to play a role of a bandit.  He was to move towards the heroine and to give a tug to her necklace.  It didn’t snap and come off, so he pulled with his full strength and the actress shouted in pain. 

Next take:

     In the next take Ramakanth, the hero of the movie jumped into the scene and he was to give the clerk who acts a bandit a light tap on his chin. Then he would fall down.  But Ramakanth hit him very hard.  Then the narrator realized that the hero of the movie had deliberately hit him.  Sunderbala was laughing, looking all these things.

The Revenge:

     What was given life by a smile was burnt out by a laugh.  Through her laugh the narrator came to know that Sunderbala has started to hate him totally.  On the next day he went and met his friend Santokh Singh who was s high-spirited young man with a passion for motorcycles.  He explained his friend about the insult he undertook during the film shoot. They later plan to cut off the silencer and to ride along the road side where they plan to take shooting. The fatty was driven mad, with his face turning red and it took nearly five re-takes and in the end the director decided to shoot the scene right through in spite of the noise.

     The narrator did a make-over as a policemen for the next scene, and the work assigned for him is to drive up in the police van and put the handcuffs on Ramakanth, motion him into the back of the van, lock the door and drive off with the cameras taking shots of his handsome face through the grill wire.  The narrator went through the scene quiet as a lamb and when at the end he just raced the engine of the van and turned for the road and crew had no idea what was happening.

Charity Show:

     The narrator drove the vehicle for an hour without any idea where he was going.  For two hours he laid down on the grass and a thriller story and smoked cigarettes.   He later bought a cardboard and a bottle of red ink and he dipped his finger in the ink and wrote out the sign in bold letter DANGEROUS LUNATIC KEEP AWAY.  He hung the board at the back of the van and drove through the busy streets until reaching the Bolero theatre where they were having the charity show.  Since Ramakanth failed to take Sunderbala to the charity show the place beside the Minister was occupied by the actress Shilamati who looked like a thousand dreams.

Conclusion:

     The narrator was enchanted by the new actress Shilamati and decided to pursue her.  The story reveals the common man’s attraction for the film world, and film stars, the realities of the film world, and the disappointment we get when we come closer to it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ransom of Red Chief

                                                                                 - O. Henry

Introduction:

     O. Henry was the pen-name of the well-known and highly talented American short-story writer, William Sydney Porter.  He was a cartoonist and a journalist as well.  He has written about six hundred short stories, which have been collected mainly in four volumes: The Four Million, The Voice of the City, Sixes and Sevens, and Waifs and Strays.  This story is full of irony and humour.  The kidnappers are tortured by a ten year old kid from Summit named Johnny and at the end the boy is handed over to his father along with cash. 

Bill and Sam:

     Sam is the narrator of the story ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’; he along with Bill (his companion) had a joint capital of six hundred dollars.  They needed just two thousand dollars more to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois.  So, they decided to kidnap someone and demand the needed (two thousand dollars) amount as ransom.  They both selected the victim who had only child a prominent citizen and a wealthy man named Ebenezer Dorset.  Two miles from Summit there was a cave, where they stored provisions.

     One evening, after sunset they drove in a cart and went near Dorset’s house.  The boy put up a fight with Bill and Sam like a huge bear, but finally they managed to overcome his stubborn resistance and got him in the bottom of the cart and took him to the cave.

Johnny as ‘Red Chief’:

     The cave was surrounded with thick cedar tree, later he wore feathers in his hair and called himself as ‘Red Chief’ and he also nick-named Sam as the Snake-eye the Spy.  He called Bill, Old Hank, the Trapper; the Red chief’s captive and was going to be killed at the day break.  The little boy seemed to be having the time for his life.  Later they had dinner, the little boy Johnny filled his mouth with bacon (pig’s meat), bread and gravy, and began to talk.

     Why are oranges round? I don’t like girls, a parrot can talk, but a monkey or fish can’t. The little boy started to threaten Bill and Sam.  Later, they went to sleep.  Johnny often got up and shouted.  In the early morning he sat on Bill’s chest and tried to cut off his hair and skin with knife. The whole night, both Sam and Bill lost their sleep. 

Ransom Note from Bill and Sam:

     Next morning, Sam went to the top of the mountain to look at the village Summit, from where kidnapped Johnny, but opposite to their expectations the village was very quiet and the people of Summit was yet to discover the kidnap of the kid.  Meanwhile the kid started to torture Bill in the cave. Sam rescued Bill after he returned to cave from the top of the mountain.  He suggested his companion that they should send a letter to Dorset demanding for the ransom and instructing him how to pay it. 

     Bill pleaded with Sam to reduce the amount to fifteen hundred dollars as he suspected that his father wouldn’t be willing to pay a bigger amount for a troublesome boy.  They wrote a letter demanding fifteen hundred dollars as ransom for returning his son.

Johnny’s torture continued:

     Sam went out to send a letter to Mr. Dorset demanding the amount.  Now, the little kid asked Bill to play along with him and asked him to get down on four legs.  He rode on Bill’s back to the village stockade, as a game.  After posting the letter, Sam returned back to the cave, but he found no one to be present in the cave.  He waited for Bill in the cave for a long time and about half an hour he heard the bushes rustle.  He saw Bill who looked tired and shabby.  He said that the boy is gone and he sent him home.  Bill tried to get rid of the boy but he followed him back to the cave.

      Later that night, Bill and Sam got a letter from Mr. Dorset stated that, instead of agreeing the ransom he demanded money from Bill and Sam and to paid in cash(two hundred and fifty dollars) to take his son off their hands. They should come with the boy in the night time because the neighbors might object to his returning home and might attack the kidnappers.

Conclusion:

     Bill and Sam wanted to get rid of the boy somehow and they decided to pay the amount demanded by Mr. Dorset.  They both paid the amount (two hundred and fifty dollars) as demanded by the little boy’s father and ran away from that town as much fast as they could, thinking that the boy could catch up with them again. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Man Who Knew Too Much

                                              -Alexander Baron

Introduction:

     Claud Alexander Barron (1871-1948) British novelist was born in a working class Jewish family.  After school, he was forced to forego a university scholarship to become a municipal clerk.  He entered the Indian Civil Service in 1892 in Punjab.  As an administrator, he had varied experience as an officer in the Survey of India, as Chief Commissioner of Delhi state and as Member of the Council of State 1921-24.  His novel “From the City, From the Plough”, the story of an English battalion in World War II was well received and widely admired in England and America.

Private Quelch:

     The story opens up with the description of the character named Private Quelch, who works as the soldier of lowest rank in the army.  He was lean and tall, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and had a permanent frown on his face.  He was given the nickname the ‘Professor’.  At the first chance, he began to lecture to anyone on anything much like a Professor.  Hence he was aptly called the ‘Professor’.  He looked like a professor both in his appearance and conduct.

Perfect Show off:

     At first he was respected for his knowledge in all fields.  He worked hard and gathered knowledge from various sources, but he grabbed every opportunity to show off his knowledge.  The narrator points out Private Quelch’s first incident of interruption during the class handled by the sergeant on Musketry (use of rifle). When he started with his lecture on the mechanism of a Service Rifle and the velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle is over two thousand feet per second, a voice interrupted saying two thousand four hundred and forty feet per second.  Sergeant without any enthusiasm went on lecturing. 

     When the sergeant asked “You had any training before?” the professor answered “No sergeant, it’s all a matter of intelligent reading.”   Others in the army camp started to learn about him and his ambition was to earn a Commission, which is the highest rank in the army.  He borrowed training manuals and stayed up late at nights reading them

Colleagues Behavior:

     He often pointed out other’s mistakes and corrected them in the public.  Whenever one of colleagues shone the “Professor” outshone them with his lectures.  This was not liked by all.  The colleagues tried to hit him back with clumsy sarcasms and practical jokes but he was never affected by them.  One day, they heard the drone of a plan flying high overhead.  None of them could even see it in the glare of the sun.  Without even a glance upward the Professor announced it is a North American Harvard Trainer.  With utmost pride the Professor wanted to show off his talent and knowledge to his colleagues.

Corporal Turnbull:

     He was a young man who came back from Dunkirk with all his equipment correct.  One day he was giving lecture on the hand grenade.  He lectured that the outside of a grenade we can see large number of fragment to assist segmentation and by that time a voice interrupted his lecture.  The Professor as usual interrupted him saying Forty four segments.  Corporal did not like this.  He gave the hand grenade to the professor and asked him to give the lecture.  The Professor happily came forward and gave a good lecture on the hand grenade.  The squad listened to him with a horrified kind of silence.  Corporal stood and watched his lecture.

A Kind Revenge:

     Corporal Turnbull announced that he was asked by the ‘Platoon officer (lieutenant) to nominate one from the squad for ---‘.  He paused and looked at the squad and most of them started to throw their glances at Private Quelch who stood rigid.  Everyone thought that the Professor would be given a Commission.  “—for permanent cookhouse duties and Corporal have decided that Private Quelch is just the man for the job and everyone enjoyed this joke.  He was not at all put out by this. 

Conclusion:

     Through the open doors of the canteen the squad, the other ranks of army and his colleagues saw three cooks standing against the wall, and from the within came a familiar voice.  Later they recognized that the voice belonged to the Professor who started his lecture about unscientific and unhygienic method of peeling potatoes and vitamin values.  Though he had lot of knowledge, he lacked humility.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------