1.

What was the driving force that made the boys do

various jobs?

Prose: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Author: A. J. Cronin

Theme: Selfless sacrifice of the two boys

“Good character is a property.

It is the noblest of all possessions”

Nicola and Jacopo were two brothers who were 13 and 12

years respectively. They belonged to the city of Verona in Italy.
They were childish and innocent. Jacopo was lively as a
squirrel. Nicola was steady and engaging. They were engaged
in different works to earn money which shows that they were
hard working. Though they were young they were mature
enough to understand the situation.

Nicola and Jacopo’s widowed father was a well-known singer.

He was killed in the early part of the war leaving Lucia, his
daughter behind to take care of the little boys. Shortly after a
bomb destroyed their home. The three children were thrown
into the streets. They had always known a comfortable and
cultured life. Lucia was training to become a singer. Suddenly
they were uprooted from their cozy life. They had suffered
from near starvation and exposure to cold winter. The home
they rebuilt from the rubbles was not weather-proof.

“War demands sacrifice of the people.

It gives only suffering in return”

The boys joined the secret services of resistance moment as

they hated Germans. When they returned home after the war,
they found their sister affected by tuberculosis of the spine.
They persuaded a private hospital to take Lucia in. Every week
they worked hard to pay for their sister’s medical expenses.
To achieve it they had to sacrifice a lot.

“Commitment is an act, not a word”

They were quite focused on their goal of earning money for

the treatment of their sister. They didn’t even care about
themselves which shows their care and understanding for
their sister. Nicola was very cautious in keeping his secret. In
fact, he did not like to get any help from anyone. They were
honest and truthful. They carried family values of love, care,
and sacrifice. In fact, one can find hope for human society in
their characters.

At their young age itself, they were ready to shoulder

responsibilities without any hesitation. They behaved in a
mature way which gets revealed by the fact that they were not
ready to accept others feeling of sympathy
towards them. So they maintained their secrecy in a perfect
way till the end. They never lose hope. They didn’t even bother
about their own personal appearance in their run towards
earning money. They were ready to do all kinds of odd jobs to
achieve their goal. The little boys sold wild berries, shined
shoes and hawked newspapers. They showed visitors through
the town to Juliet’s tomb and other places of interest. They
even booked a seat for the narrator in a theatre and got
American cigars too. Even in that situation they did not
choose the wrong path. With all these qualities the two boys
can be rightly called gentlemen.

“As long as people are willing to sacrifice for the well-being

of others,

there is hope for humanity”

2. How safe was the castle? How was it conquered?
Poem: The Castle
Poet: Edwin Muir
Theme: Greed leads to fall; Greediness defeats
not just the castle but everything.
“All through that summer at ease we lay”
The soldiers of the castle were confident of their castle’s
physical strength. Through the turrets they were able to watch
the mowers and ready to shoot down the enemy at sight. Not
a single enemy was spotted all up to the distance of half-a-
mile. They were proud that only a bird could have the boldness
to enter the fortified castle.
“For what, we thought, had we to fear”
They had plenty of weapons to protect them and a large
quantity of ration in stock. The soldiers stood on the towering
battlement which were one above the other. They were
watching the tower to shoot the enemy at sight. Allies were
ready to pitch in at a short notice. They believed that the
castle was absolutely safe because their captain was brave
and the soldiers were loyal.
But the soldiers were unaware of the truth, “the strength of the
strongest chain lies in its weakest link”. The loyal soldiers and
their brave captain expected enemies from outside the castle.
Their arms and army were ready to fight them. But they could
not identify the enemy within.
“A little wicked wicket gate.
The wizened warder let them through.”
There was a wicket gate guarded by a wicked guard. He let in
the enemies inside the famous citadel through the secret
gallery and intricate path. The strong castle became weak,
thin and treacherous because of the greedy disloyal warder.
As the enemy was hidden within the soul of their own city,
they had no weapon to fight it. Gold was ultimately their
enemy. Jesus Christ was betrayed for “thirty pieces of silver
by his own disciple”. Similarly, the wicked gatekeeper betrayed
his country for a bag full of gold. The great citadel fell without
even a groan of protest and without shedding “a jot of blood.”
The citadel was captured by the enemies for gold. Thus the
castle was conquered.
“Greed breeds sorrow”

.
3. Describe the reminiscences of the poet, when
she sees the casuarina tree.
Poem: Our Casuarina Tree
Poet: Toru Dutt

“LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round

The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars”
Like Wordsworth, Toru Dutt is also a great lover of nature.
Toru Dutt begins the poem ” Our Casuarina Tree” with the
description of the tree.
The casuarina tree is tall and strong, with a creeper winding
around it like a python. The creeper has left the deep marks on
the trunk of the tree. The tree is so strong that it bears the
tight hold of the creeper and allowed it to stay around its neck
like a scarf.
“At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;”
She remembers how her days started with the sight of the
casuarina tree from her casement. She remembers how the
accommodated the birds to sing songs during day and
night.The sweet song of the birds is heard at night. The poet
spends her winter watching the baboon sitting on top of the
tree. Its offspring leaps and plays among the boughs of the
tree. The cows are grazing and the water lilies are springing in
the pond. The Casuarina tree is dear to poet’s heart not only
for its impressive appearance but also for bringing the
nostalgic memories of her happy childhood.
“Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played;….”
She remembers how her loving companions played under the
giant Casuarina tree. The memory of her beloved companions
brings hot tears because they had succumbed to cruel
tuberculosis. She remembers how her loving companions
played under the giant Casuarina tree. The memory of her
beloved companions brings hot tears because they had
succumbed to cruel tuberculosis.
The poet could communicate with the tree even when she was
in a far-off land. The emotional bonding between herself and
the giant Casuarina tree is beyond reason. When she is away
on the shores of Italy and France, she could distinctly hear the
dirge-like murmur of her beloved tree who obviously missed
her.
“With deathless trees - like those in Borrowdale”
The poet consecrates the tree’s memory to her loved ones,
who are not alive. She immortalizes the tree through her poem
like the poet Wordsworth who sanctified the “yew tree” of
Borrowdale valley in his poem. Taking inspiration from him,
she decides to prevent her favourite tree from dying and
passing into the irreversible world of oblivion by writing a
poem about the tree. She expresses her wish that the tree
should be remembered out of love and not just because it
cannot be forgotten.
“May Love defend thee from oblivion’s curse.”
4. “These two children had given me a profound lesson
…” Elucidate.
Prose: In Celebration of Being Alive
Author: Dr. Christiaan Barnard
Theme: Doctor’s new perception of life
Dr. Christiaan Barnard, a South African surgeon, performed
the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation
and wrote extensively on the subject. In this essay, he gives an
account of being alive to be a boon in the human life. He
narrates an experience which has changed his perspective of
life.

Few years ago, Dr. Barnard and his wife met with an accident
while crossing the street. A car had hit them and knocked him
into his wife. Dr. Barnard experienced not only agony and fear
but also anger. He asked himself why should this happen to
them. Few years ago, Dr. Barnard and his wife met with an
accident while crossing the street. A car had hit them and
knocked him into his wife. Dr. Barnard experienced not only
agony and fear but also anger. He asked himself why should
this happen to them.
“Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes
from indomitable will”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Once Dr.Christiaan Barnard visited Cape Town’s Red Cross
Children’s Hospital. There he came across a ‘Grand Prix’ of
two boys driving a food trolley happily in the hospital. Grand
Prix means International car race. The author saw two boys, a
mechanic and a driver driving a food trolley happily in the
hospital. The mechanic provided motor power behind the
trolley with his head down, while the driver, seated on the
mower deck, held on with one hand and steered by scraping
his foot on the floor. The choice of roles was easy because
the mechanic was totally blind and the driver had only one arm.

The mechanic was all of seven years old. One night, when his
mother and father were drunk, his mother threw a lantern at
his father, missed and the lantern broke over the child’s head
and shoulders. He suffered severe third-degree burns on the
upper part of his body, and lost both his eyes. At the time of
the Grand Prix, he was a walking horror, with a disfigured face
and long flap of skin hanging from the side of his neck to his
body. As the wound healed around his neck, his lower jaw
became gripped in a mass of fibrous tissue. The only way this
little boy could open his mouth was to raise his head.

The other boy, trolley’s driver had a hole in his

heart. Dr.Barnard had successfully closed a hole in his heart.
He had returned to the hospital because he had a malignant
tumour of the bone. A few days before the race, his shoulder
and arm were amputated. There was little hope of his
recovery.
The Grand Prix opened the author’s eyes to the fact that he
was missing something in all his thinking about suffering –
something basic that was full of solace for him.
“A smallest act too makes difference”

Dr.Barnard realised that the joy of living is most important in

the world. This is the lesson he had learnt from the two boys.
He also learnt that the business of living is the celebration of
being alive. He realised that we don’t become a better person
because we are suffering. If we experience suffering, we will
become a better person. If we don’t know darkness, we can’t
appreciate light. Unless we suffer chillness, we can’t
appreciate warmth. Thus the children showed him what we
have lost is not important but what we have left is important.
“Sometimes the best lessons of life are learnt from children”

“Anything happens in Grand Prix racing, it usually does”

- Murray Walker, commentator
Yes, it can bring a new perspective to life too.