HSEB Nepal

The Lost Doll               Maria Del Carmen is the only child of Roberto and Rosa Soto. She is beautiful, right, kind and loving child. However, she is sick from the day of her birth. As time passes, she becomes more and more weak and finally she dies when she turns four. Since everyone in the village loves the child, all of them attend her funeral. They bury the child in the cemetery outside the village.               After some days, Rosa gives Carmen’s clothes and playthings to the priest from another village. She gives them so that she will be able to forget Carmen easily. Moreover, the doctor says that she won’t be able to give birth to another baby after Carmen. But Roberto doesn’t become happy to hear this. He wants to save the things because he still hopes that Rosa will give birth to another child. He consoles her that because Rosa was busy in...

The House Call It is a day after Christmas, 1903, 9:30 in the evening. A famous German Surgeon, Dr. Emil Braun is sitting in the dining room of his apartment in Berlin. He had performed and supervised difficult surgical operations that day for more than eight hours. So, he is trying to write notes and have dinner also. But he is too tired so he becomes asleep on the table. He wakes up when he hears a doorbell and also hears a girl saying to his wife that her mother is very sick. The doctor then goes to the door and there he sees a thin little girl wearing cotton dress, old shoes and shawl. The girl wants to take the doctor because her mother was dying. Though the doctor was very tired, he becomes ready to make a house call because he is very dutiful.               The doctor picks up his black bag and goes out in the night. In the light rain he follows the girl but the girl walks very fast in the street. She stops ...

Fear               Fear is a psychological story from Mexico with Armando Gonzalez as its main character. The story examines how baseless fear results in nervousness and how things get worse when people become unnecessarily nervous.               Armando goes to a bank in Mexico to withdraw 50000 pesos. He has a dream to buy a house with this money. The bank teller asks unnecessary questions and counts the money loudly which helps to increase Armando’s fear. As he leaves the bank he puts his hat on backwards due to nervousness. A number of people look at him and a heavy man looks at Armando twice in the bank.               Armando starts sweating with fear because he thinks that somebody is going to rob him. His mouth becomes dry and his heart starts beating faster. He holds the wad of m...

The Loving Mother               The story The Loving Mother is about a mother’s love for her child. It talks about how a mother’s spirit is not in peace after leaving behind a small child. Even after the death the mother comes back to the child in order to look after her. Since it talks about spirit and ghost it is a supernatural story.               Shoji Sakota is a pharmacist in Sapporo, a city in northern part of Japan. He lives alone in an apartment behind the drugstore. His wife has died earlier. The building being the same he sometimes works till late. One stormy night Shoji Sakota is busy preparing his annual business report. At about midnight there is a knock at the door. He ignores the knock and goes back to his work. When there is s knock for second time he thinks it could be the wind. The knock is louder next time and he goes towards the do...

“MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD”               The poem “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” is written by William Wordsworth an English poet and worshiper of nature and simplicity. The poem is based on the recollection of poet’s childhood experience and feelings that bear the stamp of continuity.               The poem deals with the spontaneous overflow of those powerful feelings and joys as felt by the heart of the poet in his childhood and manhood at the sight of rainbow in the sky and the poet hopes to feel the same in the old age.               The poet describes the influence of a rainbow upon his heart. According to his words, he feels overjoyed to see it in the sky and his heart leaps up every time he notices a rainbow. He further points out that he used to feel the same joy and h...

“SPEAKING OF CHILDREN” - By Barbara Holland Q. Does this essay speak in favour or against having many children? Give reasons. The essay “Speaking of Children” is written by an American Writer, Barbara Holland. It is an informal piece of writing made lively and effective through the device of conversation. It examines the negative aspects of having more than one child. Hence it speaks against having many children.               The advantages of parents for having one child are quite obvious. One child is an appendage and it can be outnumbered by parents. It can be carried along on pleasure trips. The most important of all is the privacy, which remains intact. On the contrary, plural children will be the end of advantages and the beginning of disadvantages. They will be counter-culture in the house and the parents will be outnumbered. There will be no place left in the living room because of the toys all over. Lo...

“LOOK AT TEACUP”               “Look at Teacup” is a complicated essay with a great deals of hidden meaning to be read in between the lines. The essay abounds with rich as well as vivid description of China dishes especially tea cups and scattered information about the writer’s parents, her relation with mother and her views.               As for the tea cups, they were made in Czechoslovakia and bought in 1939 by her mother. These cups which have been given to the author have a tiny “Czechoslovakia” stamped on the bottom. Each piece is thin and transparent having the palest water-green shade. One can see thin bands of gold around the edges of the saucer and cup. There is also a band of gold on the inner circle of the saucer. Inside the cup, flowers are depicted in different falling attitudes. It seems that as if someone had scattered a bouquet and the ...

“A WORN PATH”               “A Worn Path” is the story about an old Negro woman, Phoenix Jackson who undertakes a long hazardous journey from her country area up to city. She does it to fetch medicine for her grandson suffering from chronic throat trouble. It is written by An American novelist, Eudora Welty. She takes the readers into old phoenix’s mind with great delicacy and discloses her firm dignity. The story is filled with such minute details about various obstacles overcome by Jackson that it gives the impression of a story of heroism. During a Christmas time Phoenix Jackson leaves the country for the city with dreadful cold around. Being rather old and small, she walks along a path slowly through the pinewoods. She comes across various obstacles till she reaches the hospital for medicine. The first obstacle that old woman of about hundred years old encounters is the frozen earth in front of her. While tapping i...

THE THREE DAY BLOW               “The Three Day Blow” is a story with an analogy between the three day blow and the mental ordeal of the protagonist Nick. The story, which is written by an American writer Ernest Hemingway, traces a movement from conflict, through separation and suffering to reconciliation. It conveys the fullness of a formal ritual.               It is the story of Nick Wemedge who intended to marry Marjorie. In order to get married with her, it was necessary for him to get back home to find a job and earn money. That was his original plan in the beginning and later he decided to stay in Charlevoix all winter so that he could be near Marge. He made a plan to go to Italy with her, visiting different places while having a lot of fun together. Unfortunately they had to break away and his plans went astray. All of a sudden, their relation c...

“THE POPLAR TREE” - By William Cowper “The Poplar Field” is a poem remarkable for its celebration of the rural and it is a nostalgic poem. It was written by William Cowper in a second half of the eighteenth century. The poem is based on the recollection of the poplar field in whose shade the poet passed his time listening to the melody of the blackbird. Now all the trees have been cut down. There is neither shade nor the whispering sound of the trees. The wind and the rustling song of the leaves are distant things of past. Twelve years have passed since he took a look of his favorite field. Now the trees are lying in the grass, providing seats to the people around. One can no more hear the song of the blackbird in the particular place for it has flown to another shelter. The poet is struck with grief because of it and feels that he will be dead soon before another grove will appear in the old place. The reference to his death in the near future vindicates the adverse effect of de...

“UNCHOPPING A TREE” Is unchopping a tree possible? What does this essay suggest about conservation and against deforestation?               The essay “Unchopping a Tree” is a persuasive discourse written by an American writer W.S. Merwin, It is typical of giving directions with the use of imperative form of the verb for the most part. However at the level of meaning and action, it ceases to be directive. Since the task directed in the essay is impossible, it is assumed to have a different meaning and message which is hidden.               The essay begins with the direction for unchopping a tree which implies the process of reversing the action of “chopping” a tree. Once can see the impossibility of the tack. Also the essay indicates the unpleasant consequences of our unwise chopping of trees. Unchopping a tree involves reassembling the leaves, twigs ...

KEEPING THINGS WHOLE               "Keeping Things Whole" is a modern poem written by a Canadian – born poet, Mark Strand. It is a poem composed as a defense of nature conservation. The poem pleads for wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life. Owing to the minimalist style, the poem appears to be packed with meaning that conveys the message for taking step to end the fragmentation in nature.               By using simple expressions, the poet manages to include the complex knowledge of ecosystem. Hence the poem begins with the expression that he is the "absence of field in a field" and wherever he is, he is "what is missing". This ambiguous expression makes the readers feel that the speaker has objectified himself into those aspects of nature, which are missing. It denotes his consciousness about the missing elements of nature. It ...

“CONCRETE CAT” - By Dorothy Charles The poem “Concrete Cat” is the best example of “Concrete Cat” in which the poet uses the words as the visual things. Such a poem is devoid of emotions and ideas. In the present poem, the poet has depicted the picture of a cat in a action by shaping the words such as ‘ear’, ‘eye’, ‘mouth’, ‘tail’, ‘whisker’, etc. in the visible form. While going through this poem, the readers are made to feel that the poet has worked like the one who makes the concrete doll of a cat by assembling the readymade components such as ‘tail’, ‘stripe’ etc. into the form of a cat.               In order to create the exact shape of ‘eye’, ‘mouth’ and ‘tail’ etc the poet used the words in a way that resembles the exact appearance of these things. This required the poet to capitalize ‘A’ in ‘ear’ and ‘U’ in ‘mouth’, and to use spaces between the letters in the words ‘tail’.      ...

OOPS! HOW’S THAT AGAIN                 “Oops! How’s that Again?” is a humorous essay about bloopers with a great deal of psychological information about such verbal errors. It is written by an American writer, Roger Rosenblatt. The essay deals with different types of errors and psychological causes from such errors and types of laughter.               While illustrating the errors, the writer divides them into slips of the tongue, mistranslation, bloopers and spoonerism and faus pas. He cites number of examples for each type of the error committed by celebrities. A slip of the tongue refers to the verbal error which is relatively a minor error that takes place in course of conversation. He gives some of the instances when the great personalities like Nancy Regan, France’s Prime Minister Raymond Barre and Businessman Peter Balfour etc. committed suc...

MALINI               Malini is a poetic play composed by a Bengali Indian poet, writer and philosopher. Rabindranath Tagore. It is a story of love and hatred. The play deals with a conflict between love and hatred as well as selfish way of thinking and broadmindedness. It is based on the concept that Love in its absolute and pure form is all radiance, all pervading, and all compassionate. They play also shows that petty selfishness assumes the name of love and rules the world with hatred.               According to the story of the play, Malini, the princess, happens to be influenced by Buddhist way of thinking. As the result of the influence, she emerges as the embodiment of LOVE, PEACE and COMPASSION. This has an adverse effect upon the people following the ancient creeds and dogmas. These people under the leadership of a conservative thinker, Kemanka...

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN               "The Six Million Dollar Man" is a memorable essay written by Harold J. Morowitz, who is also a scientist. In this essay, he tries to make the specialized knowledge of science clear and engaging to non-specialist. Through this essay, the author reveals the complexity of the human body and amazing aspects of its creation. He seems to suggest that the human being is priceless.                 He makes us draw a philosophical conclusion in the infinite preciousness of each person. The explanations given to have such conclusion are highly convincing. The author moves step by step, preparing the readers for the grand philosophical conclusion. He shifts his subject. He starts the essay by talking about the human body and ends up by talking about the human being.         ...

“ON THE VANITY OF EARTHLY GREATNESS”                 “On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness” is a modern poem written by an American poet, Arthur Guiteman. It is a flawless poem, which shows the remorselessness of time and the vanity of human greatness.               Through this poem, the poem announces his philosophy of life or outlook that all those entities that symbolize earthly grandeur, greatness and power such as the tusks of mastodons, the sword of Charlemagne the Just, the Grizzly bear, Great Caesar etc will be reduced in course of time into things of non-entity.               The presentation of subject matter is quite ironical. Without using the negative words, the poet turns the things of earthly greatness into mere showpiece and nothingness. Each sentence is well balanced...

“THE GARDENER” - By Kipling               The Gardener is the story to be read in between lines. It is written by Rudyard Kipling. It is a well-written story with such a great craftsmanship and surprise ending that the readers find it necessary to go through the second reading and make readjustment in the relation between one and the other character. In other words, the end of the story acts as a switch back to the beginning of the story of the re-reading.               The story deals with the life of Michael who is said to have been the child of unmarried couple George Turell, an Inspector of Indian police and the daughter of retired non-commissioned officer. It is said that George Turell died of a fall from a horse in India a few weeks before Michael was born. After that, s admitted by George’s sister Miss Helen Turell, who had been to south of Fra...

“ESSAY ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN OUR SOCIETY”               The position of women in Nepal is found to have differed from one generation to another. In days of yore, they were given the subordinate treatment in spite of the respect given to mothers and sisters. The ruling class regarded them as a mere thing to yield pleasure to men. They were deprived of education because the guardians did not think it necessary. they were considered as the machines to serve the man and bear children to him. There used to be Sati System in which the wives of the dead husbands had to burn alive on the same funeral pyres where the dead-bodies were placed. Gradually with every decade that passed away, the outlook towards women changed bringing about the improvement in their situation.               As a result, presently they are equal to men in every walk of life. In th...

“ESSAY ON THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN OUR SOCIETY”               The position of women in Nepal is found to have differed from one generation to another. In days of yore, they were given the subordinate treatment in spite of the respect given to mothers and sisters. The ruling class regarded them as a mere thing to yield pleasure to men. They were deprived of education because the guardians did not think it necessary. they were considered as the machines to serve the man and bear children to him. There used to be Sati System in which the wives of the dead husbands had to burn alive on the same funeral pyres where the dead-bodies were placed. Gradually with every decade that passed away, the outlook towards women changed bringing about the improvement in their situation.               As a result, presently they are equal to men in every walk of life. In th...

Write in one sentence of the summary 1. My Heart Leaps up When I Behold               The poem “My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold” is about the joy the poet feels at the sight of rainbow which has been source of his ecstasy since his childhood and will continue to be so till his old age.  2. Speaking of Children               One child is appendage and the parents can be privacy and proper guidance of the child whereas the plural children are the end of privacy and the beginning of the obligations. 3. Look at a Teacup               The writer, who has decided to remain unmarried fearing disintegration, inherits china cups from her mother which were bought in 1939 and they have the pictures of falling flowers, which are significant and symbolical. 4. A Worn Path   ...