Here, you will find short summaries, notes, textbook solutions, answers, extras, pdf of Alternative English which is a part of the syllabus of NBSE Class 11 students (Nagaland Board of School Education). These solutions, however, should be only treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 1: The Letter ‘A’
Introduction to The Letter ‘A’: In “The Letter A,” Christy Brown describes how, with willpower, firm determination, and his mother’s unwavering support and love, he overcame his massive handicap. Christy Brown was the tenth child in a family of twenty-two children. When he was four months old, his mother tried to feed him and his head would constantly fall backwards. As he grew older, his hands clenched and twisted unnecessarily. Because he couldn’t open or close his mouth freely, he couldn’t even hold the bottle’s nipple. At six months, he could only sit by resting his back on the mountain of pillows. His mother was alarmed by all of these symptoms, prompting her to seek medical attention.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 2: The Luncheon
Introduction to The Luncheon: The story “The Luncheon,” written by famed author William Somerset Maugham, is about a woman who admires the author. The storey is based on an episode that occurred in Paris twenty years ago, when the author was still a resident there. She’d read one of his books and written him a letter in which she expressed her thoughts. Her visit was announced in another letter, along with her desire to have a quiet luncheon at the upscale Foyots restaurant, where French senators dined. Maugham was not a wealthy man and had never anticipated finding himself in this predicament, but he couldn’t refuse her. In the end, his decision to attend the lunch proved to be a huge blunder.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 3: After Bhopal
Introduction to After Bhopal: The Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984 is viewed as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. Harsh Mander’s story After Bhopal is about Sunil, an eleven-year-old boy whose life was drastically altered as a result of this incident. Sunil survived the Union Carbide gas explosion in 1984, which killed his two brothers, three sisters, and both parents. As a result, Sunil struggled and suffered tremendously throughout his life in order to provide a good life for his surviving younger brother and sister. However, he eventually became mentally ill and committed suicide.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 4: Dream Children (A Reverie)
Introduction to Dream Children (A Reverie): Dream Children by Charles Lamb emphasises the emotional torment of losing loved ones in life, leading the essayist to indulge in a dream world fantasy in order to reflect on the delightful past memories. The essay, which is rich in pathos, outlines the significance of childhood and dear ones in the life of an individual without whom the world appears to be a dark alley suffocating the individual at every turn.
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NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 5: The Fly
Introduction to The Fly: The Boss is sitting at his desk, entertaining an old friend, Mr Woodfield. Mr Woodfield recently suffered a stroke, and his family only allows him to visit the city once a week. He went to the Boss’s place of business today to get a cigar. Woodfield explains that his family has visited his son’s grave in Belgium, where he died and was buried. Woodfield claims that his family also visited the Boss’s son’s grave. Woodfield departs, and the Boss begins to reflect on his son. A fly has become trapped in his inkstand, he notices. He fishes it out and observes the fly cleaning itself and preparing to fly. Cruelly, the Boss smears ink back onto the fly and watches it clean itself. The fly dies as a result of him dropping another blot. Finally, the Boss can’t recall what he was thinking about.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 6: The Slave’s Dream
Introduction to The Slave’s Dream: H.W. Longfellow’s poem The Slave’s Dream is about a slave who escaped despite all odds. The Slave is lying on bare earth when the poem begins. The Slave was in a dreamy swoon, bare-chested, his tangled, unkempt hair buried in the sand, still clutching his sickle, too exhausted to continue his work of gathering rice. He dreams of Africa, his home, his Native Land, in the mysterious shadows of sleep. The slave sees the majesty of the Niger River in his dream. He imagines himself to be the king he once was. Imagine a valiant warrior-king striding through the plains, beneath priest-like palm trees, listening to the distant tinkling of caravans down a mountain road.
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NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 7: Mending Wall
Introduction to Mending Wall: The poem “Mending Wall” is written by American poet Robert Frost. It was published as the first poem in Frost’s second book of poems, North of Boston, in 1914. The poem is set in rural New England, where Frost was living at the time and is inspired by the rhythms and rituals of daily life there. The poem describes how the speaker and a neighbour meet every spring to rebuild a stone wall between their properties. This ritual raises some important questions throughout the poem, as the speaker considers the purpose of human borders and the value of human labour.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 8: Money Madness
Introduction to Money Madness: Money Madness is a look at the modern consumerist world based on money and material wealth. People today are so obsessed with accumulating wealth that they are willing to sacrifice their morals, if not their sanity. Money and greed for it, according to the poet, are our own form of insanity that is destroying us as a society. Individuals becoming overly concerned with money has resulted in the entire world becoming overly concerned with money. Each episode of insanity turns the entire world into a money-grubbing maze.
NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 9: She Walks in Beauty
Introduction to She Walks in Beauty: She Walks in Beauty is a poem of eighteen lines about female beauty. The speaker describes a woman who is attractive both on the outside and on the inside. Although it is commonly classified as a love poem, the poet never expresses his feelings for the subject. The central theme of “She Walks in Beauty” is a perfect woman’s beauty and goodness. Byron makes no attempt to individualise his subject, instead making her universal, so that any man in love can recognise himself in the poem.
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NBSE Class 11 Alternative English Drama: Ever Young
Introduction to Ever Young: Four older women meet, some of whom have lost their husbands through death, while others have lost their husbands through divorce. They talk about their lost loves as well as how they deal with their place in life and society. Some parents want to be involved in their children’s lives, while others prefer to stay away. Some mourn the loss of their husbands, while others yearn for a love they can’t have.
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