La Belle Dame sans Merci:

---- JOHN KEATS

"The Beautiful Lady without Mercy” A Ballade

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,

With anguish moist and fever-dew,

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful—a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She looked at me as she did love,

And made sweet moan

I set her on my pacing steed,

 And nothing else saw all day long,

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild, and manna-dew,

And sure in language strange she said—

‘I love thee true’.

She took me to her Elfin grot,

And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.

And there she lullèd me asleep,

And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—

The latest dream I ever dreamt

On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

Thee hath in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

With horrid warning gapèd wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,

Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge is withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

La Belle-the beautiful.

Damn- used to show that you are angry or annoyed at a person, thing, or situation.

Summary

The poem starts with the speaker who encounters a wounded knight on the side of the road. The
knight is in a pathetic physical and emotional state. He seems deeply troubled and was near
death. He assumes a distressed, languid (weak or faint) and crestfallen (sad and disappointed)
demeanor (outward behavior). His appearance is a far cry from the conventional heroic image
of knights. The unknown speaker seems to be deeply concerned for the knight and inquires after
the cause of his troubles.

The knight tells the speaker that he encountered a beautiful fairy (a small imaginary being of
human form that has magical powers, especially a female one) in the woods with whom he
felt in love with. This mysterious fairy lady has long hair and light foot. There seems to be a
supernatural aura (Impression, a supposed emanation surrounding the body of a living
creature) about this lady because she speaks an unidentified language and assumes a wild
expression in her eyes. He started courting her, making her garlands and letting her ride his
horse. The knight forgets all about his duties as a knight and spends his entire day in the
company of this fairy lady.

The fairy invited him to her cave where she offers him wild food consisting honey, roots and
manna-dew. The knight was lulled into a sleep. In his sleep, he saw all the knights and men the
fairy seduced and that they were all dead. The knight then woke up alone, finding himself
abandoned by the fairy lady. The knight is totally devastated by the disappearance of the fairy.
Heartbroken and emotionally depleted, the knight loiters alone, mourning the loss of the
mysterious fairy…….

1. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is a ballad

Keats wrote in a letter to his friend Richard Woodhouse, “A poet is the most unpoetical of
anything in existence, because he has no Identity.” Keats thought poets should remove their egos
from their poetry, to better allow for poetry to happen unfiltered by personality.You might
compare this poem’s content to “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, or its structure to
“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
 ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH---Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells2 for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out3 their hasty orisons.4

No mockeries5 now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –

The shrill, demented6 choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles7 calling for them from sad shires.8

What candles9 may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor10 of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk11 a drawing-down of blinds.12

MEANINGS

1 Anthem - perhaps best known in the expression "The National Anthem;" also, an important
religious song (often expressing joy); here, perhaps, a solemn song of celebration

2 passing-bells - a bell tolled after someone's death to announce the death to the world

3 patter out - rapidly speak

4 orisons - prayers, here funeral prayers

5 mockeries - ceremonies which are insults. Here Owen seems to be suggesting that the
Christian religion, with its loving God, can have nothing to do with the deaths of so many
thousands of men
6 demented - raving mad

7 bugles - a bugle is played at military funerals (sounding the last post)

8 shires - English counties and countryside from which so many of the soldiers came

9 candles - church candles, or the candles lit in the room where a body lies in a coffin

10 pallor - paleness

11 dusk has a symbolic significance here

12 drawing-down of blinds - normally a preparation for night, but also, here, the tradition of
drawing the blinds in a room where a dead person lies, as a sign to the world and as a mark of
respect. The coming of night is like the drawing down of blinds.

SUMMARY

The poem is dedicated to funeral rituals suffered by those families deeply affected by the First
World War. Our speaker asks us what sort of notice or holy ritual marks the deaths of soldiers
who are slaughtered in battle. He then answers his own question, pointing out that there are no
special occasions or pleasant ceremonies on the front—only the sounds of weapons and battle,
which he compares to a demented sort of song and ceremony.

Then he asks what ritual can be done to make those deaths a little easier to swallow. He
concludes that only tears and the pale, drained faces of their loved ones will send these deceased
boys off; the tenderness of patient minds will be like flowers on their graves. In the last image,
our speaker shows us an image of civilians pulling down their blinds at dusk………

The poem reminds us of the sonnet that Mr. Brooke wrote to glorify war and England in that
jingoistic manner; Owen has used the same sonnet form

Jingoistic-Characterized by extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike

foreign policy.

A lyrical ballad is a poem that combines two different genres: story-telling (a ballad) and
intense expressions of subjective and emotional experience (a lyric)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING--SHAKESPEARE

Leonato, a kindly, respectable nobleman, lives in the idyllic Italian town of Messina. Leonato
shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his
elderly brother, Antonio (who is Beatrice's father). As the play begins, Leonato prepares to
welcome some friends home from a war. The friends include Don Pedro, a prince who is a close
friend of Leonato, and two fellow soldiers: Claudio, a well-respected young nobleman, and
Benedick, a clever man who constantly makes witty jokes, often at the expense of his friends.
Don John, Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, is part of the crowd as well. Don John is sullen and
bitter, and makes trouble for the others.

When the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile,
Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other
in the past. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another and decide to be married. To pass
the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game. They
want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall
in love. Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with
each other.

But Don John has decided to disrupt everyone’s happiness. He has his companion Borachio
make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving woman, at Hero’s window in the darkness of the night,
and he brings Don Pedro and Claudio to watch. Believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful
to him, the enraged Claudio humiliates Hero by suddenly accusing her of lechery on the day of
their wedding and abandoning her at the altar. Hero’s stricken family members decide to pretend
that she died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about
her innocence to come to light. In the aftermath of the rejection, Benedick and Beatrice finally
confess their love to one another. Fortunately, the night watchmen overhear Borachio bragging
about his crime. Dogberry and Verges, the heads of the local police, ultimately arrest both
Borachio and Conrad, another of Don John’s followers. Everyone leahyurns that Hero is really
innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.

Leonato tells Claudio that, as punishment, he wants Claudio to tell everybody in the city how
innocent Hero was. He also wants Claudio to marry Leonato’s “niece”—a girl who, he says,
looks much like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the others, preparing to marry the
mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero’s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked
woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Benedick then asks Beatrice if she will marry him,
and after some arguing they agree. The joyful lovers all have a merry dance before they celebrate
their double wedding.
 Character List

Beatrice - Leonato’s niece and Hero’s cousin. Beatrice is “a pleasant-spirited lady” with a very
sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but, like Benedick, continually mocks other people
with elaborately tooled jokes and puns. She wages a war of wits against Benedick and often wins
the battles. At the outset of the play, she appears content never to marry.

Benedick - An aristocratic soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a friend
of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns. He carries on
a “merry war” of wits with Beatrice, but at the beginning of the play he swears he will never fall
in love or marry.

Claudio - A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the
recent wars. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon his return to Messina. His unfortunately
suspicious nature makes him quick to believe evil rumors and hasty to despair and take revenge.

Hero - The beautiful young daughter of Leonato and the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is lovely,
gentle, and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John
slanders her and Claudio rashly takes revenge, she suffers terribly.
Don Pedro - An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred
to as “Prince.” Don Pedro is a longtime friend of Leonato, Hero’s father,
and is also close to the soldiers who have been fighting under him—the
younger Benedick and the very young Claudio. Don Pedro is generous,
courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends, but he is also quick to
believe evil of others and hasty to take revenge. He is the most politically
and socially powerful character in the play.

Leonato - A respected, well-to-do, elderly noble at whose home, in

Messina, Italy, the action is set. Leonato is the father of Hero and the
uncle of Beatrice. As governor of Messina, he is second in social power
only to Don Pedro.
Don John - The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro; sometimes called “the Bastard.” Don John is
melancholy and sullen by nature, and he creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of Hero and
Claudio. He is the villain of the play; his evil actions are motivated by his envy of his brother’s
social authority.

Margaret - Hero’s serving woman, who unwittingly helps Borachio and

Don John deceive Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful. Unlike
Ursula, Hero’s other lady-in-waiting, Margaret is lower class. Though she
is honest, she does have some dealings with the villainous world of Don
John: her lover is the mistrustful and easily bribed Borachio. Also unlike
Ursula, Margaret loves to break decorum, especially with bawdy jokes
and teases.
Borachio - An associate of Don John. Borachio is the lover of Margaret, Hero’s serving woman.
He conspires with Don John to trick Claudio and Don Pedro into thinking that Hero is unfaithful
to Claudio. His name means “drunkard” in Italian, which might serve as a subtle direction to the
actor playing him.

Conrad - One of Don John’s more intimate associates, entirely devoted to Don John. Several
recent productions have staged Conrad as Don John’s potential male lover, possibly to intensify
Don John’s feelings of being a social outcast and therefore motivate his desire for revenge.
Dogberry - The constable in charge of the Watch, or chief policeman, of
Messina. Dogberry is very sincere and takes his job seriously, but he has
a habit of using exactly the wrong word to convey his meaning. Dogberry
is one of the few “middling sort,” or middle-class characters, in the play,
though his desire to speak formally and elaborately like the noblemen
becomes an occasion for parody.
Verges - The deputy to Dogberry, chief policeman of Messina.

Antonio - Leonato’s elderly brother and Hero's uncle. He is Beatrice’s father.

Balthasar - A waiting man in Leonato’s household and a musician.

Balthasar flirts with Margaret at the masked party and helps Leonato,
Claudio, and Don Pedro trick Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice.
Balthasar sings the song, “Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more” about
accepting men’s infidelity as natural.
Ursula - One of Hero’s waiting women.

Julius Caesar--SHAKESPEARE

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar is a powerful Roman political and military leader who gets stabbed
in the back (and the arms, legs, and guts!) by a group of conspirator...

Brutus

One of the conspirators, Brutus is supposed to be Julius Caesar's BFF but he ends
up stabbing his so-called pal in the back, literally and figurati...

Antony

Antony is a good friend of Julius Caesar who launches himself into a major
position of power over the course of the play. And, yes, this is the same...

Portia

Portia is Brutus' devoted wife. She doesn't get a whole lot of stage time but we
think she's an interesting figure, especially when it comes to the p...
Calphurnia

Calphurnia is Julius Caesar's wife. Just before Caesar is assassinated at the

Capitol, Calphurnia has an ominous dream that seems to predict Caesar'...

Cassius

Cassius is the ringleader of the conspirators. He's politically savvy and

manipulative, and he absolutely resents the way the Roman people treat Jul...

Casca

Casca is a Roman conspirator who takes part in Caesar's assassination. Like all the
other conspirators, Casca is worried that Caesar will be crowned king, which goes
against the ideals of the Roma...

Octavius

Octavius (a.k.a. "Young Octavius") is Julius Caesar's adopted son. Like his
adoptive father, Octavius doesn't appear on stage that much. Throughout most of
the play, Octavius is off travelling th...

Soothsayer

This is the guy who famously and cryptically warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of
March" (1.2.21). The "Ides of March" refers to March 15, the day Julius Caesar is
assassinated by the Roman conspir...

Cinna (the Conspirator)

We first meet Cinna in Act 1, Scene 3, where he schemes with Cassius about how
to get Brutus to join the conspiracy against Caesar. He's also assigned the task of
planting some phony documents in...

Cinna (the Poet)

This poor guy is the victim of mistaken identity when an angry mob confronts him
on the streets of Rome:CINNA THE POET Truly, my name is Cinna.FIRST
PLEBIAN Tear him to pieces! He's a conspira...

Flavius and Murellus

Flavius and Murellus are two snooty conspirators against Caesar. In the opening
scene, they catch a bunch of commoners celebrating Caesar's victorious return to
Rome and try to give them a spanki...

The play opens with two tribunes discovering the commoners of Rome celebrating Julius
Caesar's triumphant return from defeating the sons of his military rival, Pompey. The
tribunes, insulting the crowd for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, attempt to
end the festivities and break up the commoners, who return the insults. During the feast of
Lupercal, Caesar holds a victory parade and a soothsayer warns him to "Beware the ides
of March", which he ignores. Meanwhile, Cassius attempts to convince Brutus to join his
conspiracy to kill Caesar. Although Brutus, friendly towards Caesar, is hesitant to kill him,
he agrees that Caesar may be abusing his power. They then hear from Casca that Mark
Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar
refused it with increasing reluctance. On the eve of the ides of March, the conspirators
meet and reveal that they have forged letters of support from the Roman people to tempt
Brutus into joining. Brutus reads the letters and, after much moral debate, decides to join
the conspiracy, thinking that Caesar should be killed to prevent him from doing anything
against the people of Rome if he were ever to be crowned.

After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wife Calpurnia's own premonitions, Caesar
goes to the Senate. The conspirators approach him with a fake petition pleading on behalf
of Metellus Cimber's banished brother. As Caesar predictably rejects the petition, Casca
and the others suddenly stab him; Brutus is last. At this point, Caesar utters the famous
line "Et tu, Brute?"[2] ("And you, Brutus?", i.e. "You too, Brutus?"), concluding with
"Then fall, Caesar!"

The conspirators make clear that they committed this murder for the good of Rome, not
for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. Brutus delivers an oration
defending his own actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. However, Mark
Antony makes a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse, beginning with the
much-quoted "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!"[3] In this way, he deftly
turns public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the common
people, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech, yet there is method in his
rhetorical speech and gestures: he reminds them of the good Caesar had done for Rome,
his sympathy with the poor, and his refusal of the crown at the Lupercal, thus questioning
Brutus's claim of Caesar's ambition; he shows Caesar's bloody, lifeless body to the crowd
to have them shed tears and gain sympathy for their fallen hero; and he reads Caesar's
will, in which every Roman citizen would receive 75 drachmas. Antony, even as he states
his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the
violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is
taken by the mob, which kills him for such "offenses" as his bad verses.

Brutus next attacks Cassius for supposedly soiling the noble act of regicide by having
accepted bribes. ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his
body, that did stab, / And not for justice?"[4]) The two are reconciled, especially after
Brutus reveals that his beloved wife committed suicide under the stress of his absence from
Rome; they prepare for a civil war against Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son,
Octavius, whom have formed a triumvirate in Rome with Lepidus. That night, Caesar's
ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. (He informs Brutus, "Thou shalt see me
at Philippi."[5])

Antony (George Coulouris) kneels over the body of Brutus (Orson Welles) at the
conclusion of the Mercury Theatre production of Caesar (1937–38)

At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will probably both die, smile their last
smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant kill him
after hearing of the capture of his best friend, Titinius. After Titinius, who was not really
captured, sees Cassius's corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the
battle, but his victory is not conclusive. With a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next
day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, held for him by a loyal
soldier.

The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained
"the noblest Roman of them all"[6] because he was the only conspirator who acted, in his
mind, for the good of Rome. There is then a small hint at the friction between Mark
Antony and Octavius which characterises another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony
and Cleopatra.

WHAT IS NOTICE?

Written or formal information, notification, or warning about a fact, required to be made in law
or imparted by an operation of law.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal communication just means the exchange of information between two or more
people. As long as you are communicating with another person, you're involved in interpersonal
communication.

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Intrapersonal communication, or communication within the individual, is an area of study that is

fundamental to the study of all communication. Communication can be thought of as beginning
with the self.

GROUP COMMUNICATION

Group Communication involves understanding, listening, sharing ideas, experiences, accepting

others point of view and criticism. Group communication is much harder because people are
different and they are plenty. Group communication is especially important at work. Just as any
communication, group communication needs patience, understanding, accepting opinions, and
exchanging ideas, bringing criticism and taking decisions.

COMMON BARRIERS

1.The use of jargon. Over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms.

2.Emotional barriers and taboos. Some people may find it difficult to express their emotions and
some topics may be completely 'off-limits' or taboo. Taboo or difficult topics may include, but
are not limited to, politics, religion, disabilities (mental and physical), sexuality and sex, racism
and any opinion that may be seen as unpopular.

3.Lack of attention, interest, distractions, or irrelevance to the receiver. (See our page Barriers to
Effective Listening for more information).

4.Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties.

Physical barriers to non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the non-verbal cues,
gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective. Phone
calls, text messages and other communication methods that rely on technology are often less
effective than face-to-face communication.

5.Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.

Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping. People often
hear what they expect to hear rather than what is actually said and jump to incorrect conclusions.
Our page The Ladder of Inference explains this in more detail.

Cultural differences. The norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, as do the
way in which emotions are expressed. For example, the concept of personal space varies between
cultures and between different social settings. See our page on Intercultural Awareness for more
information.

Nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication between people is communication through sending and receiving

wordless clues. It includes the use of visual cues such as body language, distance and physical
environments/appearance, of voice and of touch

Verbal communication

Verbal communication means sharing things by means of words

FOUNDATION ENGLISH-II

“The Old Man at the Bridge”

by Ernest He mingway

"Old Man at the Bridge," which Ernest Hemingway "cabled from Barcelona" to his publisher in
April of 1938, most likely grew out of the author's experiences as a journalist during the Spanish
Civil War (1936-1939). In this brief and spare story, Hemingway unleashes a multitude of
contrasts: young and old, war and peace, the man-made and the natural.

The story details a chance encounter between a young soldier and an old Spaniard at a pontoon
bridge. The old man's hometown of San Carlos is being evacuated because of artillery fire, and
he sits at the roadside before the bridge crossing, too tired to walk. The soldier, while
anticipating contact with the enemy, expresses concern about the man's safety and encourages
him to continue moving. The old man, on the other hand, is not concerned about himself but
worries about the animals he left behind. The old man's view of himself as a guardian of animals
contrasts ironically with the soldier's identity as a killer of people.

The old man tells the soldier that he was forced to leave behind two goats, one cat, and four pairs
of doves. The old man admits that "there is no need to be unquiet" about the welfare of a clever
cat, and also confirms that he left the dove cage unlocked—the birds will certainly fly to safety.
It is the fate of "the others"—the two goats—that he laments. The old man is very much like the
goats he left in harm's way, since they have nowhere to go and cannot take care of themselves.
Unlike the goats, however, this man is completely alone. Ultimately, both the goats and the old
man are left to their fates because the soldier admits that "there was nothing to do" but leave the
old man behind.

Finally, and almost parenthetically, the young soldier mentions that this encounter took place on
Easter Sunday. The image of the risen Christ is not unlike the image of the old man's doves being
released from their cage—both are symbols of hope and peace. The soldier, however, is not
hopeful about the old man's fate—he bitterly remarks that "all the good luck that old man would
ever have" was the fact that artillery planes were not flying that day and "the fact that cats know
how to look after themselves." In this tale of contrasts, Hemingway portrays the natural world as
morally and spiritually superior to the manufactured world of human beings because it does not
destroy itself in war. As a keeper of animals, the old man, though he has no family and no
political affiliations, is also morally and spiritually superior to the young soldier who leaves him
behind.

An old man with steel rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road.
There was a pontoon bridge

across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule-
drawn carts staggered up the steep

bank from the bridge with soldiers helping push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks
ground up and away heading out

of it all and the peasants plodded along in the ankle deep dust. But the old man sat there without
moving. He was too tired to

go any farther.

It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find out to what point
the enemy had advanced. I

did this and returned over the bridge. There were not so many carts now and very few people on
foot, but the old man was still

there.

"Where do you come from?" I asked him.

"From San Carlos," he said, and smiled.

That was his native town and so it gave him pleasure to mention it and he smiled.

"I was taking care of animals," he explained.

"Oh," I said, not quite understanding.

"Yes," he said, "I stayed, you see, taking care of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of
San Carlos."
 He did not look like a shepherd nor a herdsman and I looked at his black dusty clothes and his
gray dusty face and his steel

rimmed spectacles and said, "What animals were they?"

"Various animals," he said, and shook his head. "I had to leave them."

I was watching the bridge and the African looking country of the Ebro Delta and wondering
how long now it would be

before we would see the enemy, and listening all the while for the first noises that would signal
that ever mysterious event

called contact, and the old man still sat there.

"What animals were they?" I asked.

"There were three animals altogether," he explained. "There were two goats and a cat and then
there were four pairs of

pigeons."

And you had to leave them?" I asked.

"Yes. Because of the artillery. The captain told me to go because of the artillery."

"And you have no family?" I asked, watching the far end of the bridge where a few last carts
were hurrying down the slope

of the bank.

"No," he said, "only the animals I stated. The cat, of course, will be all right. A cat can look out
for itself, but I cannot think

what will become of the others."

"What politics have you?" I asked.

"I am without politics," he said. "I am seventy-six years old. I have come twelve kilometers now
and I think now I can go

no further."

"This is not a good place to stop," I said. "If you can make it, there are trucks up the road where
it forks for Tortosa."

"I will wait a while," he said, " and then I will go. Where do the trucks go?"
"Towards Barcelona," I told him.

"I know no one in that direction," he said, "but thank you very much. Thank you again very
much."

He looked at me very blankly and tiredly, and then said, having to share his worry with
someone, "The cat will be all right, I

am sure. There is no need to be unquiet about the cat. But the others. Now what do you think
about the others?"

"Why they'll probably come through it all right."

"You think so?"

"Why not," I said, watching the far bank where now there were no carts.

"But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery?"

"Did you leave the dove cage unlocked?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then they'll fly."

"Yes, certainly they'll fly. But the others. It's better not to think about the others," he said.

"If you are rested I would go," I urged. "Get up and try to walk now."

"Thank you," he said and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards
in the dust.

"I was taking care of animals," he said dully, but no longer to me. "I was only taking care of
animals."

There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing
toward the Ebro. It was a gray

overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how
to look after themselves was

all the good luck that old man would ever have.

1. What was the old man doing in his native town?

a. taking care of animals b. begging on the streets

c. helping the soldiers d. talking care of children

2. What is special about the day the narrator encounters the old man?

a. It is Easter Sunday. b. It is the last day of the war.

c. It is Thanksgiving. d. It is Christmas Day.

3. Why does the old man leave the animals?

a. because the children are taking care of them b. because he loses interest

c. because they all die d. because of the artillery

4. Which animal is the old man least concerned about?

a. the goats b. the pigeons c. the cat d. the dog

5. The trucks are crossing the bridge and going where?

a. Vera Cruz b. Barcelona c. San Carlos d. Tortosa

6. What is the old man's native town?

a. Vera Cruz b. Ebro Delta c. Barcelona d. San Carlos

7. What is the narrator's job?

a. He questions people before they cross the bridge. b. He protects the people who cross the
bridge.

c. He scouts ahead for the enemy's location. d. He stops people from crossing the bridge.

8. Why does the old man stop and not go across the bridge?

a. He is asked not to cross the bridge. b. He doesn't need to cross the bridge.

c. He is too tired to cross the bridge. d. He isn't interested in crossing the bridge.

9. The old man is a symbol of what?

a. the causes of war b. the patience of the soldiers

c. the civilian victims of war d. the apathy of the civilians

10. How old is the old man?

a. ninety-four b. sixty-six c. eighty-four d. seventy-six

 A Midsummer Night's Dream Summary

A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in Athens. Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is planning
his marriage with Hippolyta, and as a result he is a planning a large festival. Egeus enters, foll
owed by his daughter Hermia, her beloved Lysander, and her suitor Demetrius. Egeus tells
Theseus that Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius, wanting instead to marry Lysander. He asks for
the right to punish Hermia with death if she refuses to obey.

Theseus agrees that Hermia's duty is to obey her father, and threatens her with either entering a
nunnery or marrying the man her father chooses. Lysander protests, but is overruled by the law.
He and Hermia than decide to flee by night into the woods surrounding Athens, where they can
escape the law and get married. They tell their plan to Helena, a girl who is madly in love with
Demetrius. Hoping to gain favor with Deme trius, Helena decides to tell him about the plan.

Some local artisans and workmen have decided to perform a play for Theseus as a way to
celebrate his wedding. They choose Pyramus and Thisbe for their play, and meet to assign the
roles. Nick Bottom gets the role of Pyramus, and Flute takes the part of Thisbe. They agree to
meet the next night in the woods to rehearse the play.

Robin Goodfellow, a puck, meets a fairy who serves Queen Titania. He tells the fairy that his
King Oberon is in the woods, and that Titania should avoid Oberon because they will quarrel
again. However, Titania and Oberon soon arrive and begin arguing about a young boy Titania
has stolen and is caring for. Oberon demands that she give him the boy, but she refuses.

Oberon decides to play a trick on Titania and put some pansy juice on her eyes. The magical
juice will make her fall in love with first person she sees upon waking up. Soon after Puck is sent
away to fetch the juice, Oberon overhears Demetrius and Helena in the woods.

Demetrius deserts Helena in the forest, leaving her alone. Oberon decides that he will change this
situation, and commands Robin to put the juice onto Demetrius's eyes when he is sleeping. He
then finds Titania and drops the juice onto her eyelids. Robin goes to find Demetrius, but instead
comes across Lysander and accidentally uses the juice on him.

By accident Helena comes across Lysander and wakes him up. He immediately falls in love with
her and starts to chase her through the woods. Together they arrive where Oberon is watching,
and he realizes the mistake. Oberon then puts the pansy juice onto Demetrius's eyelids, who upon
waking up also falls in love with Helena. She thinks that the two men are trying to torment her
for being in love with Demetrius, and becomes furious at their protestations of love.
The workmen arrive in the woods and start to practice their play. They constantly ruin the lines
of the play and mispronounce the words. Out of fear of censorship, they decide to make the play
less realistic. Therefore the lion is supposed to announce that he is not a lion, but only a common
man. Bottom also feels obliged to tell the audience that he is not really going to die, but will only
pretend to do so. Puck, watching this silly scene, catches Bottom alone and puts an asses head on
him. When Bottom returns to his troupe, they run away out of fear. Bottom then comes across
Titania, and succeeds in waking her up. She falls in love with him due to the juice on her eyes,
and takes him with her.

Lysander and Demetrius prepare to fight one another for Helena. Puck intervenes and leads them
through the woods in circles until they collapse onto the ground in exhaustion. He then brings the
two women to same area and puts them to sleep as well.

Oberon finds Titania and releases her from the spell. He then tells the audience that Bottom will
think is all a dream when he wakes up. He further releases Lysander from the spell. Theseus
arrives with a hunting party and finds the lovers stretched out on the ground. He orders the
hunting horns blown in order to wake them up.

The lovers explain why they are in the woods, at which point Egeus demands that he be allowed
to exercise the law on Hermia. However, Demetrius intervenes and tells them that he no longer
loves Hermia, but rather only loves Helena. Theseus decides to overbear Egeus and let the lovers
get married that day with him. Together they return to Athens.

Bottom wakes up and thinks that he has dreamed the entire episode. He swiftly returns to Athens
where he meets his friends. Together they head over to Theseus's palace. Theseus looks over the
list of possible entertainment for that evening and settles on the play of Pyramus and Thisbe.
Bottom and the rest of his company perform the play, after which everyone retires to bed.

Puck arrives and starts to sweep the house clean. Oberon and Titania briefly bless the couples
and their future children. After they leave Puck asks the audience to forgive the actors is they
were offended. He then tells the audience that if anyone disliked the play, they should imagine
that it was only a dream.