SELF HELP LEARNING

The Awakening Age  Summary: In the poem "The Awakening Age," the poet Ben Okri depicts the struggles of African people and offers a demand for unity, peace, and solidarity among human beings from all over the world. This poem depicts how Nigerians have suffered a long history of starvation, poverty, unemployment, and conflicts (ethnic, religious, political, terrorism, militancy, electoral, and so on) that have rendered them a vulnerable community. Northern Nigeria has been oppressing the Igho group, which has resulted in ethnoreligious conflict. The poem depicts the narrative of a people whose optimism binds them together like glue, even though they are led by invisible powers. Dwell upon the Text a. Who are the people 'who travel the meridian line'? = The people who travel the meridian lines are people who cross the border of their countries in search of opportunities and jobs. b. What does the poet mean by 'a new world'? = ‘A new world' for the poet is t

The Half-Closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun Main Summary: "The Half-Closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun" by Shankar Lamichhane is a simple story being told through a discussion between two characters: a tourist and a guide. It was included in the anthology Himalayan Voice: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature, which was released in 1991. The story is set in and around Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. In the story, both of the characters act as narrators. The first is a Nepali guide, and the second is a foreign tourist. However, the western tourist pretends to be an expert, saying, "I could take you along your ancient ways." "You are my tour guide for today, but I feel I can help guide you as well," the Nepali guide replies, indicating that he understands more about the subject at hand. The story begins with a pleasant  atmospheric description of the Kathmandu valley, complete with visual beauty and various colo

Read the poem and do the following exercise:  Leave This Chanting Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever. Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow. 1. Match the words in column A with their meanings in column 3.  Column A Column B  a) meditation (i) full of dirty marks ' _  b) till

My Old Home Summary  Lu Xun's ‘My Old Home" is an autobiographical novel about the authors' persona, Lu Xun, as the narrator and his memories which he is recalling of his childhood in his brilliant home. He can't describe how much he loved it and how proud he was to grow up in the home. The story projects the conflict between recollections and realities. The narrator revisits his Old Home after twenty years in 1911 during the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty; he doesn't believe his eyes at first. Here, his Old House as a symbol represents his old recollections. He is greeted by his mother and nephew. So many changes have been made but not in positive tracks rather he finds his house in a ruined position, twenty years of weather, renovations and other families. Lu Xun reconciles with his relatives including Mrs Yang, a neighbour who accuses him of being miserly. Xun feels ashamed when the bean curd lady says he is being miserly for he does not want to give away his furn

Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Summary A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez narrates the story of Pelayo and his wife Elisenda, who discover an old man with wings in their courtyard after killing crabs in a rainstorm. Pelayo, a poor fisherman, discovers a homeless, disoriented old man with incredibly huge wings in his courtyard. The old man speaks in an unfamiliar language. As a result, he and his wife speak with him in vain. Pelayo and his wife, Elisenda, believe after consulting a neighbour woman that the old guy must be an angel that attempted to come to take their sick child to heaven. The neighbour woman advises Pelayo to club the angel to death. And they lock the angel in the chicken coop, and their child's fever breaks in the middle of the night. As a result, Pelayo and Elisenda feel sorry for their visitor. The local priest, Father Gonzaga, tells the people that the old man is most likely a fake angel because he is shabby and does not speak Latin.

Summary "The Treasure in the Forest” is an ominous adventure story in which two men search for Spanish treasure, letting greed get the better of their awareness. As the story moves ahead to show how power and greed corrupt human beings. The fundamental message of The Treasure in the Forest is to not take risks when we are unprepared. The two Englishmen took risks in an unfamiliar wilderness and were killed soon. This story was about two Englishmen who heard about gold on an island and obtained a map from a Chinese. So they paddled a canoe to the island, having fallen asleep aboard the boat. They drove their boat into a lagoon and up a river in the forest, following the chart and successfully arriving at their destination. When they discovered the death of the Chinese they had spoken with, they were terrified and began to worry about their safety, but nothing occurred. They were packing the gold when Evans received a puncture from the gold. Evans tried to forget about it, but the d