Compulsory English-Grade-XII_Kesh Rana

1. On Libraries- Oliver Sacks  Summary In "On Libraries," the author extols the virtues of intellectual liberty, volunteerism, and the joy of an unexpected outcome. The great neurologist, novelist, and avid reader was one of the legends of the mind and heart-shaped and nurtured by libraries. In the autobiographical essay, he recalls the time he spent in his home library, which originally belonged to his parents. The library was his favourite place, where he spent hours reading books. He further emphasizes that reading in the library gave him true education. The library, where he used to feel free to quench his thirst for knowledge, had a quiet atmosphere. However, he disliked school because he had to be quite passive in following instructions from the teacher and passively taking in information. Similarly, his interest in science, particularly astronomy and chemistry, grew when he started school at St. Paul’s School. He was able to quench his thirst for reading science b...

  1. A Day- Emily Dickinson Summary Emily   Dickinson’s poem ‘A Day’ describes the rising sun, causing events and changes, and the setting of the sun from an innocent child’s perspective. The poem begins with the speaker confidently describing how the sun rises, and the subsequent events. This speaker shows excitement on spotting birds, hills, and the rising sun itself. The second stanza explains how the rising sun drives away the mist or fog that is covering the hills. The rising sun also invites the birds to sing songs. The speaker in this stanza is confident of the changes brought about by the rising sun. However, the third stanza shows that he seems unsure about how the sun sets. He just describes the sky gets dark when the sun sets. This stanza presents the transition from sunrise to sunset as life to death. In a metaphorical way, this stanza describes humans like the speaker, who would rather talk about more exciting things t...