Complete Notes for BA/B.Sc. English

A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary The narrator and his woman friend are leaving a wild animal show. The woman wonders aloud how Mr. Martin, the animal tamer, is able to perform tricks with dangerous wild animals. The narrator, who has learned of Mr. Martin’s secrets from a soldier, suggests that he can explain the mystery, but hesitates to do so verbally. He finally concedes, after much begging and solicitation, to write the solution out for her. The next day, he sends her a strange story about a soldier from Napoleon’s invading army, who is fleeing from his Egyptian captors, searching for his regiment in the Egyptian desert. He stumbles into a cave to take refuge for the night. When a female panther returns to this cave after hunting, she snuggles up next to the sleeping soldier and prevents him from leaving as he had planned. Afraid that the panther will eventually kill him, the soldier thinks only o...

The Little Willow by Francis Tower B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary “The Little Willow” is a story of silent love. Both Lisby and Simon love each other, but they do not express their love for each other. The army officers on leave are always welcomed in courthouse. Three sisters Charlotte, Brenda, and Lisby live in that courthouse. Lisby is the youngest. She is different from her sisters. Her sisters are insincere and hollow. When Simon Byrne comes to the courthouse for the first time, he stands there on the threshold for some time. Lisby looks at him and realizes that he was his kind of person. They have common interests. Both Lisby and Byrne love each other, but do not express their love to each other. When he comes to say goodbye, she gives him a little Willow tree as a gift. Later he is killed in a war prison camp. The war ends and the lovers of Charlotte and Brenda return safely. Once a guest tells Lisby that, he was with Simon when he d...

  The Fly by Katherine Mansfield B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary The story “Fly” throws light on the fact that time is a great healer and it conquers grief. Mr. Woodifield comes to see his ex-boss. He is retired and is a heart patient. He praises the new setting and furniture of the office. Then the boss offers him whisky. After drinking it, Mr. Woodifield remembers what he has forgotten. He tells the boss that his daughters have visited the graves of the boss’s as well as Mr. Woodsfield’s son. Actually, they have died in a war. When Mr. Woodifield has gone, the boss remembers his dead son. He tries to have the same feelings of grief as he felt on the day of his death. However, he fails. For the last try, he decides to go to the photograph of his son, but a fly in an inkpot attracts his attention. He forgets all about his son. He takes the fly out of the inkpot and puts it on a blotting paper. As soon as the fly is about to fly, he drops a...

  A Conversation with My Father by Grace Paley B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary This story introduces two generations in terms of writer and her father. The writer represents the new generation and her father represents the old generation. As the story proceeds, we learn that there is a difference of opinion between the approaches of both the characters defending two different generations. We notice a lack of willingness in both characters to accept the idea of reality interpreted by their own observations and exposures. This surely creates a generation gap that is apparent in the story. Her father is of quite an excessive age a heart patient. The practical existence of this generation gap is more obvious when her father asks her to write a story like Russian writers used to write. The writer doesn't like telling stories that way because "it takes all hope away. Everyone, real or invented, deserves the open destiny of life." Even ...

  The Duchess and the Jeweler by Virginia Woolf B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary The story “The Duchess and the Jeweler” reflects the English society of writer’s time. It was an age of change. The high-ups were coming down because of their moral decadence and the commoners were coming up. Once Oliver Bacon was very poor and lived in a filthy, little alley. He worked very hard and used fair and unfair means to become the richest jeweler of England. He enjoys his present position. He is suffering from inferiority complex. There is a great difference between his present and past condition. He has become so important that each day he receives invitation cards from the aristocracy of the city. He has become very rich, but he is so greedy that he wants more and more wealth. One day the Duchess of Lambourne comes to sell some fake pearls. She induces him into buying those fake pearls very cleverly. She uses her daughter Diana as bait. She also in...

  The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant B.A/B.Sc. English Notes Short Stories Summary and Question Answers Summary The story “The Necklace” is about the fact that even a small thing can change the life of a person. Chance or fate plays a very important role in human life. It is more powerful than human resolution. It is man’s destiny. Mathilda is the central character of the story. She was very pretty. She thought that she was born in the family of clerks by the error of destiny. Her husband, Loisel was also a clerk. She believed that she was born for all the luxuries of life. She did not like her poor house. She always dreamed of a big house. One day her husband brought an invitation card for a ball at the residence of the Minister of Education. She was not happy with the invitation because she had no good dress to wear at the party. Loisel gave her 400 francs to buy the dress. However, she was still unhappy. Now she wanted some jewels to wear. She went to her friend to borrow some je...