Monday, January 13, 2014

Job Letter

Composition Writing· Application letters
· Paragraph writing
· Free paragraphs writing
· Essay writings

Letters of Application for Job
Letter of application is written when we need a job. The letters written for a job are formal and official but the letter of application for a job are difficult from those of other common official or formal letters. There are also more common features found in the official letters. The letters of application for a job mainly involves
.
the heading
the superscription,
the salutation,
the body,
the ending
the subscription
the signature of the applicant and
the enclosures.

In every application, we have to write about our education present and previous employment, i.e. experience and references. Nowadays C.V. is necessary while writing a letter of application.We have to maintain the following qualities of letters while writing the letter of application for a job;
1. Polite, readable, clear, correct and to paint the languages,
2. Normal length (not more a page)
3. No boastful proclamations and self-praising and
4. Sense of having self-confidence.

While writing the first sentences of the first paragraph, the following kinds of sentences are common ones:
a. I am writing to apply for the position of section officer advertised…………
b. I wish to apply for the post of section officer in your office…
c. With reference to your advertisement published in the Rising Nepal, dated 10th June 2009, for the post of section…………
d. I wish to offer myself as a candidate for the post of section officer advertised in the rising Nepal………………………………………………..
e. I saw your advertisement in The ‘Republica’ stating that you are looking for a section officer for your company…………………………….
f. In response to your advertisement……………
g. I wish to offer myself as a candidate for the vacancy……….
h. Having seen your advertisement published………………..
i. I wish to offer my candidacy for the post of secretary advertised……..
The letters of application for a job having three paragraphs are regarded appropriate ones regarding the number of paragraph.


a. The first or introductory paragraph includes
· Why writing?
· Where and how information obtained? and
· The most important qualification of the applicant for the job(optional).
b. The second paragraph includes
· Academic qualification and experience and
· Determination / promise.
c. The last / three paragraph includes
· Formal ending
· Question about something not specified and
· Enclosures
But this is not a hard and fast rule. There can be more than three paragraphs while
writing an application.

Look at the following example:

Write an application for the post of ‘Lower Secondary Science Teacher’.

Kalimati, Kathmandu
15th Feb, 2010
The Principal,
Glorious International School,
Baneshwor, Kathmandu.
Sub: Application for a Lower Secondary level Science teacher.

Sir,
With reference to your advertisement published in ‘The Republica’, dated 10th June 2009, I wish to apply for the post of Lower Secondary Science teacher. I would like to present the following particulars for your kind perusal and consideration.
I have been teaching as a lower secondary level Science teacher at P.S.B. School for two years since I completed by higher secondary in science from HSEB. As I am guided by the strong zeal to serve my native place, I am determined to serve your institute.
I would be grateful if you kindly provide the opportunity to offer my caliber experience, sincerity and devotion to your institute. My curriculum vitae, testimonials and other documents will tell you about me in detail.
I am looking forward to getting your favorable response as soon as possible.
Yours Faithfully

Anmol Sapkota


A. Write an application for the post of a shop assistant.





Samakhusi, Katmandu.
9th February , 2010.
The Proprietor
National Book Center
Katmandu

I am a Nepali citizen living at present in Katmandu. Through the advertisement published in The Katmandu Post on February 7, I came to know that your shop is in need of a shop assistant. As I posses require qualification I wish to apply for it.
My qualifications are as follows: I passed S.L.C. with distinction from boarding school in 2057. After S.L.C., I joined Swaraswati College and passed first year with first division. At present I am prepairing for the exam of second year.
I have go
good working knowledge about dealing with customers. A year before I had worked as a shop assistant in Bidhyarthi Pustak Bhandar. I have good command over English and Hindi. I can hand books and customers properly.
I look forward to hearing from you. If I am called for interview, I would be present with original certificates. I would try my best to satisfy the need of your shop and the demand of customers if I am selected.
Yours Faithfully
Binaj Sapkota


B. You are now living in one of the flats you visited, write a letter to a friend describing what it's like living there and what the people there are like.

Samakhusi, Kathmandu.
5th March, 2009
Dear friend,
Rameh
It was a great pleasure to read your letter dated February 2003. I am grateful for the gift you sent and express my sincere thanks for the description of your locality. Your description really fascinated me.
The flat I visited is suitable for students. The location, environment and facilities properly match with any student's wish. The rooms have central heating system in addition to water and communication facilities. The building has only two stories, the second of which is occupied by the owner. As they seem peaceful, there is unlikely to be disturbance.
The flat is however quite far from college. So, it is likely to compel me to walk daily for nearly thirty minutes. The second drawback of the flat is there are shops away from it. I have to walk approximately seven minutes even to bring vegetables. Despite these shortcomings, I think the flat suitable for my purpose.
Hope that you get knowledgeable about my intended residence and colleagues. Please convey my Namaste to your parents and family. Expecting a letter soon from you, I wish to end.


With best wishes
Birat Sapkota

C. You've just joined a multi-national class in a summer school. The teacher asks you to introduce yourself to the other students, and to say something about yourself. What do you say?
It is a great pleasure to introduce myself among colleagues, who have come here with high aims. I would like to extend my thanks to our respected teacher. I am John Thapa from Katmandu. I did my school level in the year 2001 from Banasthali School, which is situated near Balaju Industrial State. At present I am waiting for the result of exam, which was held in last November. I am fond of playing football in addition to singing bongs and playing musical instruments. I prefer excursion during vacation. I wish to make friends who can truly be helpful in need. I hate people, who accompany to other only for personal benefits. Regarding culture and county, I am of the opinion that they should be in everyone's heart.
Thank you!



D. What thing in particular: impress you? Embarrass you? Terrify you? Fascinate you? Offend you? Amuse you? Write a paragraph.


The world is full of so many things hat they create different moods in me. I like numerous things extremely, but few things really upset me. People who speak several languages impress me very much. I like the way they can switch their tongue so easily. I find people who talk about themselves embarrassing, for them nothing is more important than themselves. I get terrified with unreliable people, as they desire to let other people down. I find optimistic people fascinating, for they never expect bad things to happen. People who smoke in restaurants offend me. I get amused with gullible people, as they believe whatever is said to them.

E. write paragraph describing each of the followings. a. beggars, b. nudist

Beggars
Beggars really annoy me. They occupy any place they like, especially crowd places. It not only hinders the beauty of the city but also destroys the fame of the city. Police personals have to chase them time and again. This scene really disturbs any rational being. I find beggars irritating. They cling to the people and beg as if they are recently born puppies. Sometime they disturb tourists by begging. They defame Nepalese people’s identity. Moreover they terrify me. Every theme I see them I try to be away from them. Many of the beggars are involved in criminal activities. Some of them get involved in murder activities also. People use them in petty interests like smuggling. I object to the way they show they show their wonder fresh everyday. If there is any thing that I can’t stand it is people who prefer to beg instead of earning their livelihood by working.

Nudists
Nudists shock me very much, as they do not keep to social codes. Human beings are regarded as the most developed as they can live with the code established by the society codes is to put on clothes. As nudists do not think it necessary to put on clothes. I find them uncivilized. I think they are the beasts in human form. I find embarrassing. When walking with relatives their appearance compels me to hide my face. Fathers walking with their daughters should hide their face worth shame. I get terrified with nudists, as they are likely to create disorder in society. Their nakedness might result into the increment of sex violence in society. I object to the way they advocate about the benefits of being naked. I find their logic ridiculous. I don’t think that it does any benefit. If there is one thing that gets on my nerve it is people who can’t have behave themselves as human.

Topics For Further Practice :
Advantages/disadvantages of
· Television
· Studying in Foreign Country
· Cell phones( Mobiles)
· Advertisements
· Internet or Web
Other topics:
· Living in urban or rural area
· Peace Education
· Politicians
· Police Description about the robber that robbed in your or in your neighbors house
· Most interesting event in your college life/ in school life
· Most interesting event of your childhood

F. Develop the following into a paragraph describing your reaction.
a. I found that TV documentary very interesting.

That TV documentary really appealed me. I found the subject matter truly fascinating and I liked the way the director has treated the subject matter. He is successful in presenting the bitter reality of rustic people living in karnali region. The exploitation to poor people depicted in the bitter reality of rustic people living in karnali . the exploitation to poor people depicted in the documentary shocked me much. The anchor’s presentation impressed me. I found his voice properly matching with the demand of subject. The language used in the documentary was interesting. Photographer’s skill was very praiseworthy. The way he has used lights matches with the subject matter. His use of dark light for serious atmosphere and bright light for gay atmosphere is really interesting. But the thing I found most impressive is the way the documentary dared to present such important aspect of the people who are considered most backward. If there is any TV documentary that I have liked most it is none other than karnali ko serophero.

G. Write a paragraph describing a dental appointment that took longer than expected.
Appointments, especially clinical, are always tiresome and tedious. One has to wait beyond expectation to get a short advice. To avoid such a problem. I had enlisted my name two weeks before. I had expected that there would be no trouble in seeing dentist in time. I had been to clinic warily in the morning hopping to get appointment before eight, but as it happened I didn’t see any sign of doctor till eight. I had intended to have mine checked in time , but unfortunately my turn didn’t come till half eight. There were, according to receptionist thirty patients enlisted before mine. Truly speaking. It was eleven before I arrived to my home.

H. To what extent can you judge people’s characters from their faces? What other things can tell you what people’s characters are like ?

People’s character can be determined, to some extent, with some aspects of the person’s many people find it impossible thing to but I don’t suppose so. After observing a person’s facial appearance minutely, I can determine nature of the person. If the person’s if the person’s noise is crooked. Such person is egotistical. S\he has high opinion about him\her. other people’s for them are nothing in comparison to themselves. People with broad for head are generally thoughtful. They have the tendency of thinking seriously before they do any work. They like to get involved in the observation of natural beauty. They are intellectual. Quick thinking and imaginative, but wish to know excessively about others people’s activities. People having double chin are skeptical. They suspect on the character of others. Many of them are single minded and serious.
A long with appearance, other aspects like the way one talks. The way one walks can be helpful in knowing a person. People who put clothes carelessly never worry about what other think about them. Such people are interested only in merrymaking and enjoyment. Quite contrarily, people who always wear clean clothes are interested in showing their superiority. They have high opinion about themselves. Other aspect like talking also tells what a person is like. Nevertheless exception works in some cases.

Letter to the Editor
1. Write a letter to a newspaper saying how you fell about the growing use of computer in our daily live.

Samakhusi, Katmandu

16th March, 2010
The Editor
The Kathmandu Times
Katmandu
Sir,
I would be grateful if my article on the context of this modern changing world of innovation is published in your small column of newspaper. I hope millions of readers will advantage from this article.
The following is my view on the growing use of computer in our daily lives. Computer has become essential part of human life in the present world. Consequence, the users have been increasing day by day. Whether one is doing official or personal work, one prefers to use computer life, without computer, has become almost unimaginable. No doubt computer makes our task easier; it enables people to work efficiently and it prevents people from working in weather extremes. Undoubtedly it has made communication easer efficient and less time consuming. Nevertheless, computer do have reverse side too. Excess use of computer results into the loss of eyesight in the long run. Computer brings sex and violence in screen. Which result into the increment of sex violence. Teenagers utilize computer in such a way that their mind get corrupted mind crosses social norms and values. Eventually such deeds are sure to bring social disorder. Moreover it makes people lazy and unsocial as they wish to spend much of their time with computer.
Computers do have advantages as well as disadvantages. Surely, advantages that people can get greater than disadvantages. If people use computers wisely, they can reduce disadvantages.
Sincerely Yours
Birat Sapkota


2. Write a short article for a magazine entitled ‘keeping a dog in a flat’
Samakhusi, kathmandu



10th March, 2010.
The editor,
The Katmandu post
Anam Nagar
I have forwarded this article with the hope that it will be published in your magazine. Keeping a dog in a flat is very difficult job though numerous prefer to do it. One who desires for it at least should have knowledge of what, how and why. Otherwise, keeping a dog in a flat is a troublesome job.
The owner should have knowledge on what he has to do. The first essential task is to teach the puppy about the time and place of doing excretion in teaching. Training is however not all in all. A good owner should know the way to talking care of dog. Dogs usually like flesh, so they should be fed with meat. Dogs should be vaccinated against various disease. Otherwise they might cause rabies, which is very dangerous. Despite the fact that training and caring are time a member of difficult the it keeps our house safe from burglars and unwanted visitors. Hope that my article would be given a place.
Faithfully Yours
Anmol Sapkota


Topics For Further Practice :
a) Strike and Its impact
b) Non-practical Students
c) Peace in Education
d) Crime and Conflict
e) Human Rights
f) Political parties and the constitution
g) Crisis of security
h) Climate change
i) Computer education social evils in your society

( For further details look at the handouts-4 provided in the class)

Free composition Practice

1. Someone ask you ‘have you ever been hurt in a fight’? what do you say?
Truly speaking, I don’t like to get involved in fighting, for I am peace loving. Despite my nature, I had been hurt very badly during union’s election in college. It was the year 1999 and the time was 6pm. The election result had only been announced even a clash started between the winners and losers I was in the college premises just watching the events in surprise. Suddenly stones started flying from all the directions. In no time police arrived there and started ‘lathi charge’. I attempted hard to get out of the place but all went in vain. A police man charged ‘lathi’ at my back. Though I tired to convince that I was not involved, he charged for the second time. His behavior really irrigated me. In my anger, I caught his lathi and tired to seize. We struggled for sometime. At last, I could take it away from his hand. As I became successful in doing so, o charged the policeman with it. I think I charged for more than five times over his head. In my sixth attempt, I heart the sound of tear fast gullet blasting. I was really afraid of it. I threw the stick on the ground and tired to be away from there. But my attempt went in vain as I left a lathi hitting continuously over my head. In no time I lost my consciously over my head. In no time I lost my consciousness. When I was conscious, I was in hospital bed. Around me were my relatives watching at me. This is the only one time I have been hurt in a fight.


Essay Writing:

1. Essay on advantages and disadvantages of computer.
Great advancement in the field of science and technology has resulted into the invention of numerous devices, which have made our life easy and comfortable. Among the devices, which are widely used in the present time, is computer. Indeed computer has become basis need of modern people. There is a symbol of modernity. Despite this fact computer like other devices has pros and cons. Having computer certainly has disadvantages but there are some good aspects of it too. Computers are useful in business, in education and home. The use of computer has reduced time span of many works. Any works can be done sitting in a place and pressing few keys. It has enabled people to know happenings of the world shortly after it happens. Computer has made it easier for people to communicate in addition to saving time and money. Formerly, operating business used to be totally manual work. Because of payments to be made for workers, goods used to costly. The use of computer has surely reduced cost of goods. Moreover, a chance of miscalculation is very less if done with computer than with a human brain. The use of computer in education sector has brought changes in the age-old teaching materials. Way viability of materials allows teachers to use them for effective educating. As in business and education computer is useful at home. Leisure time of family members does not become burden. They can si at a place and spend time watching any movies they like. Computer puts a stop to writing letter, posting it and waiting for the reply.
Needless to say computer has numerous advantages. Nonetheless it has disadvantages too use of computer results into unemployment as computer can perform the duty that might need nearly six to seven workers. Unemployment is likely to result into crimes. Continuous work with computer causes loss of eyesight in the long run. Internet, which is widely used to see pornographic scenes, corrupts the mind of teenagers. Due to it, sex- violence increases rapidly. Computer has direct impact on culture of any nation. The eventual impact of computer in society is uncertain, but they are likely to cause total disorder in society.
Computer has disadvantages, but advantages are not less. Faults are not inherent: they are man made. As defects are man-made, they can be reduced and computer can be used for the benefits of human beings.


Some Topics for Further Practice:
1. Gender Education
2. Future Developments in World Population
3. Role of youths in Nation Building.
4. Nepal Tourism Year-2011
5. Nepal Tourism Year-2011: Prospects and Challenges
6. Multiple Intelligence
7. Peace Education
8. Practicality/ Practical Students
9. Economic Challenges in the World
10. Inter-Cultural Communication
11. Strike and Its impact in our Education
12. Environmental Pollution
13. Natural Disaster
14. Human Rights
15. Technical Education
16. Culture

Friday, August 19, 2011


Travelling Through the Dark by William Stafford

Short Summary
While driving at night a man finds a dead deer. He stops to push it off the road. He notices that it is pregnant and the unborn baby is still alive. He stops to think, and then he pushes the dead animal into the river.

Paraphrase/Explanation
First Stanza: I was travelling at night by the Wilson River road when I found a dead deer. The road is not very wide, so the best thing to do is push the dead animal off the road into the river. If you try to drive around the deer's body, you might drive off of the road and be killed.
Second Stanza: I got out of the car, leaving the lights on and I went to the deer. It had been killed recently; it was already stiff and nearly cold. I pulled the deer's body to the edge of the road. Its stomach was large and I realised that her side was warm.
Third Stanza: When I touched the deer, I realised she was pregnant. Its baby, inside her, was still alive and was waiting to be born – but it never would be. I stood on the road trying to decide what to do.
Fourth Stanza: The lights of the car shone and the engine was still on. I stood by the warm exhaust. I could hear the wild animals listening.
Fifth Stanza: I thought hard about w hat to do, my thoughts were the only thing that changed direction, and then I pushed the dead deer off the road into the river.

Glossary
deer: large animal with large horns; canyon: deep valley with a river in it; swerve: change direction suddenly; glow: not very bright light; faint light; tail light: red lights at the back of a car; doe: female deer; stumble: walk, and almost fall over; stiffened: became hard-not able to be bent; belly: stomach; brought me the reason: made me understand what had happened; fawn: baby deer; hesitated: stopped and thought; aimed: pointed, directed; hood: front of the car (Brit Eng=bonnet);purred: made a soft sound, murmured; glare: harsh light; exhaust: fumes/smoke that comes out of the back of a car; wilderness: jungle – like area, thick forest, and the animals in it.

Comprehension Questions
  1. Where was the poet? What time of day is it? What did he find on the road? What does he say is the best thing to do? Explain the line "to swerve might make more dead"? What did the poet do? When the poet touched the dead deer what did he realize? What could the poet hear? What does the poet finally do? What is the significance of the unborn deer? In the line "I thought hard for all of us", what does the poet think about? What is meant by "my only swerving"? How does the poet feel about finding the deer? Why does he hesitate before pushing the dead animal off the road?
Board Questions
  1. What is the central idea of the poem "Travelling Through the Dark"? (2057)
  2. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza in the poem "Travelling Through the Dark"? (2060)
  3. Do you agree with what the narrator did? Why? (2063)

Some Solved Questions
  1. Explain the title of the poem. Who are all those travelling through the dark?
Ans.  The poem is about a travel or mountain trip made by a group of men who are probably nature travelers. It is night time and the car is passing through the mountain road.
  1. Show how the action develops stanza by stanza.
Ans. The action moves from physical to mental as the poem progresses. In the first stanza, the speaker sees a dead deer on the road and wants to avoid driving around it. Then, we see the speaker stop his car and get out of it. He walks backward to notice a recently killed pregnant doe. He also drags it to the side of the road. After that, the speaker feels for the ill-fated unborn deer and remains undecided as to what action to take. The penultimate stanza describes the car and its activities in the wilderness. And, in the final stanza, the speaker finally pushes the dead deer into the river after much thinking.
  1. How do the last two lines complete both types of action?
Ans. There are two types of action – physical and mental – in the poem. These two actions come together in the last two lines. The speaker contemplates (thinks deeply) the possible course of action to be taken on behalf of his group members as regards to the dead doe, and finally throws it into the river. Thus, after deep thought he pushes the dead deer.
  1. Explain the meaning of the word "swerve" in line 4 and line 17. Does the speaker "swerve"?
Ans. Swerve in line 4 means "change direction suddenly" and it has a physical meaning. In line 17 it means "mind movement from one idea, thought to another" and it has a mental meaning. In the first instance neither the speaker nor the car swerves, because if that is done than there would be more casualties on the narrow mountain road besides the dead pregnant doe. In the second instance the poet swerves between the easy course of action (pushing the deer into the river) and the more difficult, but better course of action (trying to save the unborn baby deer). He chooses the easy course.
  1. Stanza 4 is a break in the narrative. How do you explain its significance in the poem?
Ans. Stanza 4 describes the car, its dim lights, the purring of the engine and the smoke coming out of its exhaust pipe. This description contrasts with the earlier stanzas as he had been describing the occasion of the dead deer knocked down by an unknown passing vehicle and the possible courses of action available to him. The break in the narrative of the poem has an ironic significance as we come to learn that the car is more alive than the deer carrying a live baby inside it. We also see the contrast in that the smoke is "warm" but the doe is stiff and cold. The car seems to be urging the speaker to make quick decision, and hence the physical action of the first three stanzas is replaced by mental action in the fifth stanza that eventually results in the disposal of the dead deer.
  1. What is the tone of the poem: ironical, sympathetic, indifferent?
Ans. The speaker seems to combine various moods in the poem. He shows sympathy towards the unborn baby deer, not he doe. However, he is not indifferent as he makes a decision at the end to roll the deer into the river. I feel the tone is mostly ironical. This is so because the speaker thinks one thing and takes another course of action. We think he will rescue the unborn baby but he doesn't. He could have taken the deer to a nearby animal hospital and rescued the baby, but he doesn't do so. The speaker is, indeed, in two minds. This is the irony of life as we can't do all the good things we are taught and brought up to believe and practice. The speaker takes the ugly course of action – pushing the deer. It is ironical also that we kill innocent animals and not decide clearly what appropriate action to make.
  1. What is the central idea of the poem?
The poet seems to explore the conflict that goes on in the human mind between ugly virtuous actions, like responsibility, duty, etc one is taught to believe in and practice in day to day life and the difficulty of executing them at crucial times. In this poem the speaker is in an ironical situation as he is made to think deeply to do something to save the unborn deer for which he is not responsible. Sorrowfully, he can do nothing. He is a representative helpless man. He does the unthinkable – pushing the pregnant dead deer off the edge of the road. He also seems to advocate for the protection of innocent animals that are killed by careless driving in the narrow mountain road.




Raj Kumar Gautam, Birat College of Management Studies/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 18, 2010


Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Paraphrase
Your father's body is a long way under the sea,
His bones are made of sea animals,
His eyes have now become pearls,
No part of him has disappeared,
But they have been changed by the sea into something strange,
Every hour sea creatures ring his funeral bell,
Ding-dong
Listen! Now I can hear them – Ding-dong, bell
Note: This poem occurs in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, Act I Scene 2. The spirit Ariel sings this song to Ferdinand, Prince of Naples, who mistakenly thinks his father is drowned.

Some poetic devices used in the poem:
1.        Onomatopoeia (Gk 'name-making'): The formation and use of words to imitate sounds. For example: dong, crackle, moo, pop, whiz, whoosh, zoom. It is a figure of speech in which the sounds reflect the sense. It is very common in verse and fairly common in prose and is found in many literatures at all times. As a rule it is deliberately used to achieve a special effect, as in these lines from Eliot's Dry Salvages:
When the train starts, and the passengers are settled
To fruit, periodicals and business letters
(And those who saw them off have left the platform)
Their faces relax from grief into relief,
To the sleepy rhythm of a hundred years
The whole passage is subtly onomatopoeic; the rhythm of the second line is beautiful skilful evocation of the clickety-click of wheels on rails.
2.        Alliteration (L 'repeating and playing upon the same letter'): A figure of speech in which consonants, especially at the beginning of words, or stressed syllables, are repeated. It is a very old device indeed in English verse and is common in verse generally. Observe this alliteration in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan:  Five miles meandering with the mazy motion. /m/Alliteration is often used in jingles and tongue-twisters. /b/
Betty Botter bought some butter, But, she said, the butter's bitter; If I put it in my batter It will make my batter bitter, But a bit of better butter, That would make my batter better.
3. Assonance: Sometimes called 'vocalic rhyme', it consists of the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, to achieve a particular effect of euphony (the quality of having a pleasant sound). Take Lord Alfred Tennyson's poem Lotos-Eaters which is assonantal. Indeed there is a kind of drowsy sonority: /o/
The Lotos blooms below the barren peak:
The Lotos blows by every winding creek:
All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone
Thro' every hollow cave and alley lone,
Round and round the spicy downs the yellow Lotos-dust
Is blown.
Write the summary of the poem in one paragraph.
Your father hasn't died but lies some 30 feet below in the sea. His bones have changed into coral and his eyes into pearl. No body part of his have decayed, but instead transformed into something strange and rich. As befits a king, the sea nymphs who dwell in the sea are keeping constant vigil (watch-nigarani) on the miracle body by ringing his death bell every hour.

Is death meaningful in this poem?
The death described in the lyric is not ordinary; it is the death of Ferdinand, the King of Naples. It is meaningful in the sense that no body part of the king has decayed, but has undergone tremendous rich change: eyes have changed into pearls; bones have become corals. All body parts have become ageless as they have changed into priceless objects that don't decay like ordinary mortal's body parts do. Indeed, Ariel the spirit is trying to ease the pain of Ferdinand who is under the impression that his father has drowned.

Example of Onomatopoeia:
Ding-dong: the sound of the bell when it is hit slowly. This sounding of the bell is significant in the poem because it signifies the death of an eminent person. The nasal sound /ÅŠ/ creates an atmosphere of lingering seriousness and the explosive sound /d/ informs us of the inescapable nature of death. 'Ding' suggests a mild treble sound while 'dong' implies a harder sound. The alternation of thin, crisp sound 'ding' along with the unpleasant loud sound 'dong' has a climactic effect, and thereby heightens the death of the ill-fated king.

Examples of Assonance: 'five…..lies' (line 1); 'pearls…..were' (line 3)'nymphs….ring' (line 7)

Examples of Alliteration: 'full fathom five thy father lies': the /f/ sound produces a feel of the flow of the sea. In the like manner, in 'suffer a sea change' the /s/ sound has a sonorous impact. In still another alliterative line, 'hark! Now I hear them' the glottal /h/ sound has a hint of warning and caution.
All the above-mentioned poetic devices go on to make this poem very lyrical i.e. they enhance the musical quality of the song.

Raj Kumar Gautam, Lecturer, English Department: Birat College of Management/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 18, 2010


A Story by Dylan Thomas

Summary
This is a story told by a young boy. It presents the adult's world from a child's perspective (point of view: dristikod). The boy is living with his uncle (Mr. Thomas) and his aunt. In the first part of the story the boy describes his uncle and aunt using a lot of comparisons (especially similes and metaphors). The uncle is a very big man, but the house is small. The uncle drops a lot of food on his clothes when he eats. He is very loud and has red hair. He has a small shop at the front of his house. The boy's aunt is small and quiet. He compares her to a mouse and a cat (because she walks quietly). The aunt spends a lot of time cleaning the small house. In the story the aunt becomes angry at her husband because he is going on an outing with his friends. She is angry because on the outing her husband will drink a lot of alcohol.
In the next part of the story the boy describes some of the other men who are going on the outing. For example there is Bob the Fiddle who stole the money to pay for the past outing so that he could buy alcohol. There is Mr. Franklyn who is keeping the money for this year's outing. Will Sentry is following Mr. Franklyn everywhere to make sure this year's money is not stolen.
Finally the boy describes the outing. He has to go on the outing because his aunt has left and there is no one at home to take care of him. The men take a bus (charabanc) and stop at every public house (bars where alcohol is served and are open only at certain times) and drink alcohol. The boy has to wait outside because children are not allowed into bars. The men go swimming in a river near Porthcawl, but they do not actually arrive at Porthcawl. In the evening they cook dinner with a kerosene stove in a field.

Comprehensive Summary
This story told by a boy presents the adult world as understood by a young boy. The story is the story of his uncle – Uncle Thomas – who means to go outing to Porthcawl, but never made it there.  
                The boy was staying with his uncle and his aunt. His uncle was big and loud and red haired; he almost filled the small house of his as an old buffalo would. His aunt, on the other hand, was small and quiet. She would move from one room to another, like a cat on its soft paws, tending (care for or look after) to various household items like the china dogs, the buffalo, and the mousetraps. She would occasionally squeak like a mouse when in the hayloft (noun a loft over a stable used for storing hay or straw).
                The uncle sat like a giant steam-run dismantled ship behind the counter of the tiny shop at the front of the house breathing like a brass band; in the kitchen he ate his big meal in a noisy manner. When he ate the house appeared to grow smaller. His check waistcoat appeared to be a meadow after having dropped various food items on it. The aunt used to beat him every Saturday after he got drunk. But not before he had placed her on a chair. He was usually beaten with a china dog. On Sundays, the uncle used to sing songs after going high on alcohol.
                One evening when the boy was reading an advertisement for sheepdip (medicine for lice and animal bugs) some of his uncle's friends, Mr. Benjamin Franklyn, Mr. Weazley, Noah Bowen, and Will Sentry entered the shop. The boy felt their presence inside the house like all of them being in a drawer that smelled of cheese and turps, and twist tobacco and sweet biscuits and snuff and waistcoat. They talked about their annual outing. Mr. Benjamin had accumulated the money for the charabanc and twenty cases of pale ale. Benjamin was followed after by Will Sentry, who was keeping track of the money. Franklyn is disgusted as he feels he is not as trustless as Bob, who had been a treasurer in earlier outings and had embezzled some amount of money to buy himself some drinks. Then they played cards in the shop.
                On Sunday morning, Mr. Franklyn and Will Sentry entered the uncle's house as the boy and his uncle were eating sardines. They had the list of every member who had paid in full. Uncle Thomas approved of the list of the outing-goers after having checked it (read p. 50 for details). The two of them go out. No sooner had they gone than the aunt stood in front of the dresser, with a china dog threatening uncle to go over to her mother's house if he chose outing over her. The uncle after considerable contemplation (soch) chose the outing. She hit the uncle on the head with the china dog she was holding in her hand after he had lifted her on the chair. For the rest of the week she was quiet and quick.
                On Saturday morning breakfast time the boy's uncle saw his wife's familiar note that she wrote every year. He wanted to take the boy with him. He knew he would be opposed to by his friends for having taken his nephew but he nevertheless takes him along. The boy stopped outside and they objected to his uncle as presumed. The boy's share of money wasn't deposited. They forgot the boy when they talked about others. The charabanc had hardly moved out of the village on the beautiful August morning when they had to return to take on Old O. Jones, a regular outing-goer. After Jones got on, Mr. Weazley wanted to go home to take his(false)  teeth, but his friends didn't see its necessity.
                The charabanc pulled up (stopped) outside the Mountain Sheep, where the members, who were welcomed by the landowner with pouncing eyes, rushed out bleating like young sheep into the bar. The boy was made to look after the charabanc so that nobody stole it. Under age boys were not allowed inside bars; it still is a rule in the West. The boy had nothing to do for 45 minutes, which seemed to go by like a very slow cloud, except to look at the lake-eyed cows. On the contrary, his uncle and his friends were dead drunk and were breaking glasses. A French onion-seller bicycled down the road and stopped at the charabanc door, where the boy greeted him before following him down the passage and looked in the bar. He could hardly recognize the members of the outing. They were all red with alcohol and asking questions about their fellow friends and their whereabouts. Bob the Fiddle seemed to lead the drunken session: some were arguing; some were shouting. When Mr. Weazley came to the boy, he moved out and threw stone at the cows. The uncle came out and everyone followed him. They had drunk the bar dry. Mr. Weazley had won a string of onions which the French onion man had raffled in the bar. The charabanc moved out of Mountain Sheep in the direction of other public houses: The Blue Wall, the Sour Grapes, the Shepherd's Arms, the Bells of Aberdovey: The boy had nothing to do but remember the names where the outing stopped and kept an eye on the charabanc. Every time a public house appeared, it used to be Mr. Weazley who would stop the car for a drink on the pretext (baahana) of bad air ("stop the bus, I'm dying of breathe") in the charabanc.
                Closing time of public houses meant nothing to the members of the outing. Even when the bar was closed, they would drink behind the locked doors as they did at Druid's Tap. They even tempered the policeman and made him sing to their beer choral - Asleep in the Deep. Noah would whisper:  "Sssh! the pub is shut."
The charabanc finally came to a river where they had a merry time. Uncle Thomas sang "Porthcawl!" and Mr. Franklyn tried the Polka dance on the slippery stones, falling twice in the process. All gathered there agreed that the river was better than Porthcawl.
                It was dusk and all the thirty members of the outing were wet and drunk. They were oblivious (not aware) to what was happening around them. They cared little about reaching Porthcawl. In fact Will Sentry said "Who goes there?" to a wild duck flying. They, eventually, stop at Hermit's Nest for rum to keep out the cold. A drunken talk goes on between Enoch Davies and a stranger.
                On the way home there was moonlight. Old O. Jones began to cook his supper on a primus stove in the middle of the charabanc, but Mr. Weazley, ever so much the prime instigator, (bring about or initiate) stopped the bus on the excuse that he was dying of breath. All climbed down to the moonlit field carrying out the remaining cases of ale, the primus stove of Old Jones. They sat down in the field and drank and sang while Old O. Jones cooked sausage and mash. The boy began to sleep against his uncle's large waistcoat. Will Sentry exclaimed, "Who goes there?" to the passing moon.
Board Questions (Long questions haven't been asked from this text)
What is the reason for which Will Sentry always followed Mr. Franklyn? (2058)
Mr. Franklyn was made the treasurer of the Outing Committee because Bob the Fiddle, who had worked in the same position, had bought drinks for himself with the money that was collected for the outing. In other words, the fund was misappropriated. Will Sentry feared a similar episode could happen again. So, he was always on the heels of Mr. Franklyn. Mr. Franklyn even went to the extent of resigning from his responsibility if Will Sentry continued to be nosy about his duties.
How does the boy, the narrator, look at his uncle and his aunt? (2059)
The narrator was very small and much nicer when he was a young boy. As a young boy, he found his uncle big, loud and red haired man, who filled his little house like an old buffalo. Thomas appeared to be a sweaty giant who breathed like a brass band and ate a lot never keeping his large waistcoat as clean as his wife would have liked it to be. The boy seems to be a bit negative about his aunt. He addresses her as his uncle's wife rather than addressing her as aunt or auntie. He compares her to a cat as she used to whisk about the rooms on padded paws, cleaning and maintaining household items. Occasionally, she would utter high-pitched sounds like a mouse would do. The aunt wouldn't allow him and his uncle to play draughts on Sunday. He clearly remembers her posture the day when the uncle had finalized the list of would-be outing-goers. She had stood in front of the dresser, with a china dog in her hand threatening to go home to her mother if he went outing. All said the boy provides a humorous presentation of the contrasting personalities of his uncle and aunt, a loving couple most time of the year except the annual outing.
Describe the relation between Thomas (the boy's uncle) and his wife. (2060/62/63)

Uncle Thomas was a big, noisy, hulk of a man who ran a shop at the front of his house. He had a voracious appetite too. His wife, on the other hand, was small and quiet like a cat. She would squeak about occasionally like a mouse. The two of them, in spite of having different characters, seem to enjoy a good conjugal (married; bibhahit jiwan) life most of the time other than during the annual outing season, when Uncle Thomas would desert her for a bout of uninhibited (expressing oneself or acting without restraint) drinking stupor (a state of near unconsciousness or insensibility) with his old community friends as they travel on a charabanc to reach Porthcawl. At home, Uncle Thomas is mostly drunk on Saturdays and Sundays so he allows her to beat him on his head with a china dog. He knows he has erred so he would lift her up, under his arm onto a chair in the kitchen. He is not seen to foul-mouth or abuse her. The opposite is almost true! The aunt has, in fact, broken many china cups on Uncle Thomas's head. During Uncle Thomas's annual outing, she would go to her mother's house. However, she would leave a note asking him to eat some eggs she had left in the pantry and to take his shoes off before he went to bed. This account proves that she loved him. She was more of a strict housemaker, who was bothered about neatness, which Uncle Thomas lagged clearly. She wouldn't allow Uncle Thomas to play draughts on Sundays too. This could mainly be for religious sake as Sunday is considered a holy day. Overall, the two shared a comfortable relationship. (You can, alternatively, create a hostile relationship between the two).
The plan was to go to Porthcawl for the outing. Did they ever reach there? Why? (2064)
The plan to reach Porthcawl never actually happened when Uncle Thomas and his thirty friends included went on the annual outing. They always started with the honest intention of reaching there but because they all loved ale and beer and because there were plenty of public houses selling them, they stopped in almost all public houses. At the Mountain Sheep, where they began their gypsy drinking session, they drank for 45 minutes getting themselves so dead drunk that drinking didn't stop at other public houses on the way. They even drank behind locked bars. Mr. Weazley would cough and stop the bus as he complained he was dying of breath. And they would all go back. The members on the charabanc would sing and talk of reaching Porthcawl but they didn't reach there. When it was dusk they settled for rum at Hermit's Nest to keep themselves warm. Finally, they got out of the charabanc for one last drink session. They sat in a circle in the open, moon-filled field and drank the remaining cases of beer. They continued to sing and enjoy the evening in the field. Thus, they never made it to Porthcawl.
Give a description of the outing as Thomas would describe it. (2066)
I am Thomas. I and twenty-nine other friends of mine had decided to go to Porthcawl for the outing. We started on Saturday morning. My strict wife warned me that she would stay with her mother if I went to Porthcawl with my friends. I chose Porthcawl. I chose the outing. On the morning of the outing, I found a note she had written and left for me. I found nothing new in it. I took my nephew along with me in spite of the opposition I would receive. As the charabanc stopped by at our place their voices of opposition rang the air but I cared little. Any way, the opposition died as other things took prominence. We had hardly got out of the village, when somebody said that Old O Jones   had been left out behind. We drove back and ushered O Jones in. Mr. Weazley had wanted us to return to his house to get his false teeth but we didn't see its urgency and need.
The charabanc stopped at The Mountain Sheep. All my friends rushed out like eager sheep to the bar. But, I kept my nephew back to look after the charabanc before I entered the bar. There we spent 45 minutes swilling all the available ale. We came out of it and drove on. We got down at each public house, even locked ones as Mr. Weazley asked the driver to stop to avoid dying of breath. We also had fun in the river as we sang and danced and talked of reaching Porthcawl. When it was dusk, we stopped at Hermit's Nest for rum to keep out the cold. On the way home, Old Jones prepared supper on the charabanc but Mr. Weazley had better plan. As usual he got us down the bus onto a moonsplashed field, where we sat in a circle and enjoyed the last remaining cases of ale we had carried with us. My nephew was sleeping against my waistcoat. We didn't reach home before midnight.
  Raj Kumar Gautam, Arniko HSS, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com. August 04, 2011.

A Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star
by Lilla M. Bishop and Barry C. Bishop

Summary
This essay is written by two American geographers who had spent 15 months living in the hills of western Nepal. It describes the hill people who walk to Nepalgunj to buy and sell things. The hill people on their journey towards Nepalgunj carry medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters and baskets to sell there. The geographers also met a group of men at the height of 9000 metres who were processing silajit on the way instead of their homes because they wanted to avoid a bad star! They are intending to sell silajit in Nepalgunj.
When the geographers walked through the sal forest slopes of the hills near the Terai they noticed that the trees were being chopped down and that the forest would soon disappear. One of the geographers talked to the local people about this but they said they had to chop down the trees to feed their animals.
When the geographers arrived in Nepalgunj they stared in amazement at the many things they had not seen while they were in the hills. They also watched the hill people buying supplies from the traders. Their fellow travelers bought sweets, aluminum, ironware, cotton cloth, spice and jewelry. One of porters, Karma spent all his money buying distillery (alcohol making) equipment. He hoped to become rich by making alcohol in Jumla.
The geographers returned to Jumla to finish their project. They had learnt much in Nepal. For example, they had learnt that hill people needed to farm as well as do other activities to survive. They also observed that people in the hills were always moving around.

Note: The title "A Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star" suggests the foot movement made by travelers who are going to Nepalgunj quickly because they do not want to be travelling at an unlucky time.

Comprehension questions based on the Text
  1. How did the writers travel to Nepalgunj?
  2. List the items carried by their fellow travelers?
  3. Why were these goods being taken to Nepalgunj?
  4. What did the Chhetri woman ask the authors to do for her?
  5. What is silajit?
  6. Why did the men not process the silajit before leaving their home village?
  7. What was happening to the trees in the sal forest?
  8. Why did people say they cut down the trees?
  9. What does the phrase "the Terai, bread-basket of Nepal" mean?
  10. Why did the author walk wide-eyed down the middle of the paved street in Nepalgunj?
  11. List the items the hill people bought in Nepalgunj?
  12. What did Karma buy?
  13. Why did he buy this?
  14. How long had the authors been in Western Nepal?
  15. How did they travel around western Nepal?
  16. How did the peasants survive?

Some vocabulary
Hashish: ganja; hand-knit: knitted by hand; poignantly: emotionally; hinterlands: areas some distance away from a major city; tarlike: like tar (pitch that roads are made from); pharmaceutical: medical; propitious: lucky, favourable; elevation: altitude/height above sea level; skeletal looking: very thin; bare and eroded: lacking in trees and soil; bread-basket of Nepal: i.e. where most of Nepal's food is grown; grove: small woodland; mournful: sad; yapping: barking; muted: hardly able to be heard, inaudible; barrage of new sights: lots of new things to look at; beside himself at: very excited by; doughy: made from a lot of flour; swarm: go round in a big crowd; distillery equipment: alcohol making equipment; mesh: come together; inhospitable: unfriendly; afoot: on foot, walking; indomitable: determined; peasantfolk: farmers who have a small amount of land; cross-flows: i.e. people constantly going backwards and forwards across the area: formidable: difficult to use.

Board Questions (only short questions have been asked so far from this text)
1.       How is Karnali linked economically with the low land regions to the south? (2057, 2061, 2063)
2. What did the two writers learn about the life and culture of the people of the Karnali region during their journey on foot? (2059)
3.                   Give short account of the life of the people of Karnali as you find in "Hurried Trip to Avoid a Bad Star"? (2066)

Some Solved Questions
How is Karnali linked economically with the low land regions to the south? (2057, 2061, 2063)
Ans. The two American geographers, Lilla and Barry along with a host of porters made a landmark tour on foot in 1971 to explore the life of the people of the Karnali region – western hills of Nepal – as they descended to Nepalgunj, a trading town in the southern Terai. Their travel lasted over 15 months and they covered nearly 2000 miles. Most Karnali people, on the one hand, carry with them unprocessed and raw products like medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets to trade in Nepalgunj. Some other enterprising but superstitious people take unprocessed silajit, which were easily available in their home valley of Sinja. They would be found processing this product on the way to the lowland. Still other Karnali folks also go to the lowland region to the south to find jobs. A case to cite is that of the Chhetri woman's husband who had gone to find job fifteen years ago but had never returned home.
In Nepalgunj, on the other hand, the geographers noticed that the hill people went in groups from shop to shop buying essential commodities like cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice, and jewelry, which they would probably sell or put to use for domestic purposes back home in Karnali. Some people even buy unconventional items like alcohol making equipment in order to make quick money. Whatever they buy or sell, the Karnali people's only access to the lowland is travel on formidable footpaths so it is economically burdensome and time-consuming.

Give a short account of the life of the people of Karnali people.
Karnali region lies in the western hills of Nepal. It is geographically far removed from the bread-basket of Nepal – the Terai. The people of this region are mostly traders. They carry with them products like medicinal herbs, hashish, hand-knit sweaters, and blankets. What is missing in their list of goods to be sold in the lowlands are food items. This could be so because of the unfavourable nature of soil of this region. Nevertheless, the people of this region have managed to work closely with nature in this inhospitable western Himalayas. The people of this region upon returning home bring with them conventional items like cotton cloth, aluminum, ironware, spice, and jewelry from the lowland town of Nepalgunj. The Karnali people are unfortunately very superstitious and fatalist in their approach. The 8 or 9 men who were processing silajit on the way did so because they thought it would bring them bad luck had they processed it at home at the inopportune time. Additionally, the women folk of lower Karnali are uneducated and unaware as to the devastating consequences of tree cutting in order to feed their livestock. Thus, the combined lack of access to transportation, education, communication and other basic infrastructure of development has made the life of the Karnali people very difficult and torturous. In their search for sustenance and opportunity the hill people are compelled to leave their ancestral land to seek job in the lowland region of Nepal and even in India! One of the defining characteristics of the Karnali area is the constant movement of people, animals and goods over the formidable footpaths of the region.

Raj Kumar Gautam, Birat College of Management Studies/Arniko HSS/Merryland College, Biratnagar, rgautam78@yahoo.com.August 21, 2010.