English Notes For You

  Humility ( By : Yuval Noah Harari) 1. Essay in Points : What is Humility : Humility is Humbleness, Modestness. It is the opposite of Arrogance. a. Introduction :  This essay is a comment on the superiority complex  of humans and their nature of having self importance in all the matters. This is egotism. We all think ourselves superior to other people. This the writer has said this in the reference of the confusing claims regarding the history of human civilization.  b. Illusions of Supremacy and Mastery : People of almost every country, religious group, or society think themselves to be forerunners of human civilization. They think the world became civilized only because of them. This is superiority complex. This is only egotism. All such claims are false. Here the essayist has proved such claims to be wrong.  c. Universality of Human Abilities : Rather than being the monopoly of this or that country or society, all human abilities and traits are universal. Mo...

  Knowledge and Wisdom By : Bertrand Russell [Bertrand Russell ] 1. Introduction :  This essay has been written by Bertrand Russell, (1872-1970). He was a famous British philosopher, mathematician, logician and a social reformer. He has written on a variety of topics like philosophy, morality, economy and political issues. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1950. The present essay 'Knowledge and Wisdom' is one of his most read essays. The title of the essay gives a clear hint about the type of content the essay includes. The two key words in the title are 'Knowledge' and 'Wisdom', so this essay is all about what is  'Knowledge' and what is 'Wisdom'. Some people might consider Knowledge and Wisdom to be the same thing. But that's wrong.  Knowledge and wisdom are not synonymous to each other. Knowledge is all facts, information, and skills acquired through experience, learning and education. Wisdom is to make us wise. Wisdom is the p...

  Unchopping a Tree [A Chopped Tree] 1. Introduction : This essay is against deforestation. It wants to give us a message that if we can not unchop a tree, it is better not to chop down a tree.  Chopping down a tree is so easy. But no body considers how to put back together a tree that has been felled (cut down).  The writer here provides a step by step instructions to reconstruct a tree that has been cut down. But as we start following his steps, we find it just imp0ossible to do the job. It is a very good example of 'pseudo-directive essay' . It means the speaker giving directions of doing some job, but when actually one wants to follow the given directions, s/he finds it to be impossible to follow the directions. So such essays have a deeper meaning than their surface meaning. Exactly the same happens in this essay. The writer has given directions of unchopping a tree, but it is impossible to follow the given directions. So the essay has another message for the readers...

The Fear  [A Psychological Story] Short Summary : This story deals with one aspect of human psychology. This story presents an incident of a man's life which shows how people generally behave when they get nervous, or when they get panicked (state of being scared). The main character of this story is Armando Gonzalez. His wife's name was Eva. He lived in the Maxico city. He was an economically weak person. He had a big family to look after. He himself, his wife, six children and a mother in law. He worked in a shoe shop. Eva also earned a little by taking care of children while their mothers worked outside. The greatest dream of Gonzalez and his wife was to have a house of their own. For this purpose they had saved some money (fifty thousand pesos)  little by little in the past twenty years  with a great labour and difficulty. One day he found a house fitted to his needs and within the limit of his budget. He talked and finalized the deal, and now he needed money for the ...

  A Respectable Woman BY --- Kate Chopkin 1. Main Characters : Mrs. Baroda : The Central Character Mr. Gatson : Mrs. Baroda's Husband Mr. Gouvernail : Mr. Gatson's college friend, and their guest 2. Plot Summary :  'A Respectable Woman' is the story of inner struggle of Mrs. Baroda.  When she comes to know that her husband's friend is coming to stay with them for a week or two, she didn't like it. Before meets him, she makes a prejudiced image of him, and decides  she won't like him. But when he comes, she finds he is not as she had imagined him to be. She wants to make him comfortable and at home by talking and accompanying him.  Gouvernail is a reserved person, so Mrs. Baroda finds it impossible to penetrate his silence although she honestly tries for it. She feels puzzled by his personality, and decides to leave for her aunt in a city the next morning. That evening as she was sitting on a bench under a tree, Gouvernail comes near him, and sits  beside he...