TRANSFORMATION OF SENTENCES WITH ANSWERS

CHANGE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES AS DIRECTED

1. The police went into the house and made an inquiry. B: The police did not 

2. Our talks with the agitators were fruitful and all were happy. B: Had

3.We took the decision at the last minute. B: It

4. "I was watching them from my place of hiding", said the boy. B: The boy

5.They all gather at this place every Sunday, encouraging the children to play. B: Every Sunday

6. Rohit stood beside the oppressed people and used his innovative ideas to help them. B: Besides

7.Shylock lamented the loss of the precious stone and became emotional. B: Not only

8.The speaker paused every five minutes to continue with the speech. B: The speaker could not

9.Rohan was late but he did not regret it. Omit 'but'

10.Raima and her friends were assisting the volunteers. B: Raima with

11. They searched for the fugitive and went to many places. B: Their

12. The last decision made everybody confused. End with: confusion. 

ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUETIONS

1.The police did not make an inquiry until they went into the house. 

2. Had our talks with the agitators not been fruitful all would not have been happy. 

3. It was at the last minute that we took the decision. 

4. The boy said that he had been watching them from his place of hiding. 

5. Every Sunday witnesses them all gather at this place to encouage the children. 

6.Besides standing beside the oppressed people Rohit used his innovative ideas to help them. 

7.Not only did Shylock lament the loss of the precious stone but also became emotional. 

8.The speaker could not continue with his speech without pausing every five minutes. 

9.Though Rohan was late he did not regret it. 

10.Raima with her friends was assisting the volunteers. 

11.Their search for the fugitive took them to many places. 

12. The last decision led to everybody's confusion. 

PRE EXAMINATION PREPOSITIONS WITH ANSWERS

                                                                                                                                                                                          

The programme ended on a happy note. There I sat listening to the notes of the birds. I told my sister to note down what the saint had said. The beauty of the place appealed to me. By the time we reached the castle, the mayor was not there. We learnt to adjust ourselves to the circumstances. Finally it dawned on us that we had made a mistake. There was no one to respond to our call. The author has a number of tiles to his credit. The author is credited with a number of titles. She is known for her flair for mischief mongering. They did not let the wounded man bleed to death. They rushed the wounded man to a hospital. Some armed men rushed into the bungalow. The prince despaired of the role of the general.  The dishonest trader chose to confess to his offences. The leader is to account for his actions. The leader was accountable to the people. The poet had been confined to a small room for the rest of his life. The captain was down in the spirits and did not talk to anyone. When the detective caught sight of the stranger, he alerted the police. The son wanted to step into the shoes of his father. The factory has decided to step up production. Under pressure of the media the tainted leader had to step down Security has been stepped up across the country. The success of the project hinges on the co-operation of the local people. The minister hinted at some changes in the cabinet. We learnt that many changes are on course. Blood courses through our veins. The player was hated for his addiction to drugs. The teacher will explain the passages at length. Some of the accused are still at large. They have raised an objection to our proposal. I mistook the stranger for one of my friends. My father called on the teacher at his house. I could not call up the first two lines of the poem. In the land nobody is above law. As soon as the food was served, I tucked into it. The little boy began to draw away at the sight of the bear. A few years into the college, he progressed in an excellent manner. The fight over landed property led to their woes. The men chose to fight for their rights. Cato did not want to die at the hands of his enemies. The teacher sent for some of the boys. The climber died of a heart attack. Many new issues came up for discussion. A building is likely to come up on the vacant plot of land opposite to our house. I gazed at the face of the stranger for some time. The wounded man was gasping for breath. The new project will rid the local people of many difficulties. The woman was shocked into silence. I was shocked at his reaction. The refugees were treated with disdain. We were treated to a good fare. Arun deals in electrical equipments. The police could not deal with the protestors. A smile spread over the face of the doctor. The cavalry came charging at the foot soldiers. One of the employees was charged with bias. The matter pertained to some of us. They closed the matter once and for all. The speaker said something contrary to what the teacher had opined. The body of the soldier was finally consigned to flames. A man fails when he resorts to unfair means. Finally the realization dawned on us. Finally we arrived at a conclusion. The singer was endowed with a good voice. Nature testifies to our goodness. A man is blind when he is seized with frenzy. Left with no choice we decided to seize upon that opportunity. Every war we have perpetrated will bear witness/testimony to our frenzy. We decided to dispose of the old pieces of furniture. The government has ordered an inquiry into the incident of carnage (massacre). My father subscribe to a number of magazines. The doctor held out hope. The captain held out his hands. I ran fast to catch up with others. The actor was tired and wanted to catch up on some sleep. A dishonest man resorts to unfair means. The aircraft has run out of fuel. The officer was finally relieved of his responsibilities. The battery of the car has run down. The doll was stuffed with rags. The boy stuffed some marbles into his pockets. The shepherd was busy tending to his flock.

OLD LOVE

 AN INTRODUCTION: An intense rivalry between two extremely meritorious students of English literature from the University of Oxford metamorphosed into a strong bond of love that sustained them throughout their lives marked by their characteristic idiosyncrasies. Both William and Philippa showed the keenness of their competitive zeal, trying to beat the other. They both finished their graduation with distinction and set about preparing themselves for the prestigious Oldham Shakespeare prize competition. They begun to cull facts from different sources, never tiring of badgering the professor with questions to know what they thought was germane to the competition.                                                                  

Two exceptionally brilliant undergraduate students namely William and Philippa came to their respective colleges for the study of English language and literature and evolved as fierce competitors. They improved steadily and vied with each other, developing their potential as much as they could, backed up by the tutelage of their professor, Mr. Simpson. They successfully steered themselves through two years at the college, never failing to prove their edge on each other through their well honed arguments. In the third and the final year of their undergraduate studies they were encouraged by their professor to enter the Oldham Shakespeare contest to prove their unique distinction. The competition required them to submit a twenty five thousand word essay on satire in the works of Shakespeare. In an attempt to brace themselves for the contest they both dedicated themselves to a serious study of the subject, culling resources from different sources. Before they could submit the essay for the contest they had to sit for the final year honours examinations. They studied hard and came out with flying colours in the final examinations. Both of them secured first class degrees.  Then came the contest of having to write the lengthy essay on the theme of satire in Shakespeare.

In the wake of the contest when William wanted to ease the feeling of the strain, he ended up discovering his arch rival, Philippa in an emotional crisis on account of the death of her father, a patient of cancer who went out of his way to give education to his daughter at the citadel of oxford, being extremely meticulous in concealing his deadly disease from her. He reached out to her in a gesture of compassion and offered to drive her to her house for the funeral of her father. That over the years of their competition they had developed soft corners for each other became evident from the way they discovered an undercurrent of love in their mutual relationship. The drive to the house and back marked a turning point in their relationship. They both made another trip to Stratford and on their way back home when they had been stranded due to the fact that the car had run out of petrol, William proposed to Phiippa asking her in a lighter vein if she would marry him if he won the Oldham contest.  As they both waited with bated breath along with the other contestants on the day of the competition, Philppa was declared to have been the winner. Philippa gave expression to her love for William when her eyes welled up with tears as the reality of her winning the contest made her conscious of the fact that William would not be able to marry her as his marriage hinged on his winning the Oldham prize contest.  But her feeling of utter depression gave rise to one of euphoria when both Philippa and William were declared as joint winners of the contest. There was an open recognition of their love when they embraced each other in public. After their marriage in a month they joined their colleges with junior fellowships and settled down to serious creative work.  

They stood by each other with commitment enduring their relationship with love but it was not without the characteristics of trying to show off their superiority to each other. Each of them boasted of their professional excellence as professors, highlighting their achievements with conceit. Despite their lofty achievements Phillipa failed to be a mother and she made up for it by showering her motherly affection on her students. They both worked together decoding messages to and from German warships, proving to be hugely indispensable to the allies. They both rose to prominence, transcending the confines of academic life. Phillipa was honoured with the royal title of the dame and she began to exult in her distinction trying to show off her superiority to William. Her delight did not last long as William soon caught up with her after the title of knighthood had been conferred on him. While solving crossword puzzles Phillipa debated about a word suggested by William while the latter emphasized on the existence of such a word on the dictionary going for a bet with her.

Soon after Phillipa had died of a heart attack in the kitchen William was discovered in his room lying in a pool of blood. He had shot himself in the head with a note that he had no choice but to kill him as he had to tell her that the word did exist in the works of the writer.

A QUICK GLANCE AT THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

What did Salerino say commenting on the parting of Bassanio and Antonio? What did Bassanio say later
commenting on the nature of Antonio to Portia?

THE SPEECH OF BRUTUS AND MARK ANTONY                                                    

 What was Brutas’ explanation to the listeners with regard to the assassination of Julius Caesar?

Brutus made his speech justifying the need to kill Julius Caesar. He told the people listening to him that if in the gathering there was anyone who loved Caesar, he would like to let him know that his love for Caesar was no less than his. Now as for the question why he still went against him, he would like to say that it was not because he loved Caesar less but his love for the country was greater than his love for an individual. He further said that he regarded Caesar as a tyrant and wanted to nip the possibility of his emergence as a tyrant in the bud. He did so by killing Caesar even though he was his beloved friend only to ensure the liberty of the people. He then hurled the question to the people to tell him if it would be better to allow Caesar to live at the cost of the freedom of the people or to kill him to ensure their freedom. He said that if there was anyone who did not love his country or did not honour the dignity of a true Roman, then he was really guilty of killing Caesar.

What did the people tell him in response to his question?

 The people listening to Brutus told him that there was not among them anyone who did not love his country or did not consider the value of the dignity of the free life of a Roman precious.

In what way did Brutus want the people to treat him in future?

Brutus told the people listening to him that in future if he was found to be an enemy of the people, they should not hesitate to kill him with the very sword with which he had killed Caesar.

What did Brutus tell the people before he left the pulpit?

 Before Brutus left the pulpit he told the people that they should show reverence to the dead body of slain Caesar and listen to the speech of Mark Antony relating to the glory of Caesar. He also told the people that in the archives in the capitol the merits of Caesar would not be underplayed nor his offences be exaggerated.

How did the people react to the speech of Marcus Brutus?

The people who held Brutus in high esteem were further swayed by his speech. This was evident from the way they talked about him with honour and enthusiasm. They wanted to celebrate the killing of Caesar as a tyrant and lead Brutas to his house in that spirit. They in their enthusiasm proposed to have a statue of him installed beside that of his celebrated ancestor, Lucius Junius Brutus.

What did Mark Antony say at the very beginning of his speech?

At the very beginning of his speech Mark Antony told the people that he had appeared to make a speech on the occasion of Julius Caesar’s funeral with the permission of the likes of Brutus who were very honourable and he was grateful to them for the permission given to him.

What were the very charges against Caesar that Brutus had contradicted?

The charges that Brutus had contradicted were those of greed, lack of compassion and ambition.

What did Mark Antony say about Caesar not being greedy?

Mark Antony contradicted the charge of greed against Caesar. He said that the amount of money collected from the prisoners Caesar had brought with him in return for their freedom had not been appropriated by Caesar. On the other hand he had put the entire amount of money in the public treasury for the welfare of the people.

What did Mark Antony say highlighting the fact that Caesar was compassionate?

Mark Antony told the people that Caesar was very sensitive to the sufferings of the poor and miserable people. He said that when he saw people in miseries, he was moved to pity and shed tears. According to him a man who was a tyrant should be of a severe nature and not that of the soft and tender nature of a man like Caesar.

What did Antony say contradicting the charge of ambition brought against Caesar? What was his tone?

Mark Antony told his audience that one of the charges that were brought against Julius Caesar was that he was ambitious. He contradicted the charge by telling the people about how they had been witness to the fact that one the festive day of Lupercal Caesar had turned down the kingly crown that he had presented to him three times.

The tone in which Mark Antony spoke was one of apparent allegiance (loyality) to Brutus and he kept referring to him as an honourable man. He said with humility that he did not intend to oppose what Brutus had said in his speech but he wanted to express what he knew about Caesar.

Why did Mark Antony pause in the middle of his speech for some time?

Mark Antony paused in the middle of his speech for some time to mourn the brutal killing of Caesar and said that his heart was in the coffin with the corpse of Caesar. He said that he would resume his speech when it would come back to him.

 Did Mark Antony succeed in swaying the minds of his listeners by contradicting the charges brought against Caesar?

When Mark Antony contradicted the charges brought against Caesar by the conspirators and expressed his feeling of profound grief over the brutal murder of the man who cared for the people, the people began to see Caesar in a different light. This was evident from the words of the different members of the audience. The first citizen said that he was of the opinion that there was much substance in the words of Mark Antony. The second citizen expressed his opinion saying that a proper consideration of the matter related to Caesar would prove the fact that a great wrong had been done to him. The third citizen expressed his apprehension saying that the one who would come in the place of Caesar would only be worse. The fourth citizen said that judging by the words of Mark Antony one could learn that Caesar had refused the crown and that proved beyond doubt that Caesar was not ambitious.  The first citizen was excited enough to point it out that if it was really proved that Caesar was not ambitious those responsible for painting him as one would heavily bear the consequence of it. There was also an outpouring of sympathy for Mark Antony and this was evident from the way the second citizen referred to Mark Antony as poor soul whose eyes had been red from weeping. The third citizen lauded him saying that there was not a nobler man in Rome than Mark Antony.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

How did Mark Antony use the will of Caesar? What did Mark Antony think would be the reaction of the people if he had read out the contents of Caesar’s will to them?

The will of Caesar was an ace up Antony’s sleeve and he wanted to use it to play on the emotions of the people to win their support.

Mark Antony told the people that he had found a will of Caesar but he did not want to read it out to them as they would be greatly moved by the contents of the will. The contents of the will would have such an effect on the people that they would rush to kiss the wounds of Caesar and dip their napkins in his sacred blood. They would keep with them strands of Caesar’s hair as a precious heirloom and at the time of their death would mention it in their will bequeathing it to their successors as a rich legacy.  

What did Mark Antony tell the people to do when he had been able to arouse interest in them to know the contents of the will?

When Mark Antony became certain that the people wanted to know the contents of the will and insisted that he read out the will to them, he told them to have patience for some time and make a ring round the corpse of Caesar so that he could descend from the pulpit and show to them the manner in which Caesar, the friend of the people, had been murdered by the conspirators.

What did Antony tell the people showing them the corpse of Caesar? D

Drawing the attention of the people to the corpse of Caesar, Mark Antony told them to be moved and get ready to shed tears if they had any.  He showed the cloak in which Caesar had been clad when he was murdered. He said that he still remembered the day he wore it. He put it on a summer evening in his tent and that very day he had conquered the fierce Nervi tribe. Mark Antony showed them the hole made by malicious Casca and the one in which Brutus who was so loved by Caesar had plunged his dagger. When Brutus plucked the dagger out the blood of Caesar flowed out as if to be sure if it was really Brutus who was stabbing him in such a cruel manner. Caesar had the reason to feel that way as he loved Brutus from the core of his heart. Antony wanted Gods to judge this action of Brutus in the light of Caesar’s profound love for him. He described the attack of Brutus as the cruelest because when Caesar saw Brutus stab him in such a monstrous manner, he was overcome with the feeling of ingratitude coming from none other than his dearest Brutus stronger than the cruelty of the conspirators or traitors. This realization defeated him and shattered his mighty heart and he fell at the base of the statue of Pompey covering his face in the cloak. Mark Antony compared that fall of Caesar to the fall of the whole country including all of them. He also said that as Caesar fell it was treason that triumphed over them. Then he told the people that he could see tears in their eyes due to a feeling of pity and described their tears as gracious drops. He further told them that they when they wept at the sight of Caesar covered in his cloak having the rents, they would be beside themselves with grief when they would see the very body of Caesar scarred by the stabs of the traitors. Mark Antony then removed the cloak of Caesar to allow the people to have a better view of the body of slain Caesar.

How did the people react when Mark Antony had show the body of Caesar to them?

When Mark Antony had shown the body of Caesar to the people, there were greatly shocked. They described the sight of slain Caesar as being extremely tragic and hailed Caesar as being noble. They described the conspirators as traitors and wanted to avenge the assassination of Caesar. They shouted their determination to kill and burn down the traitors and not spare anyone.

Why did Mark Antony pacify the people? What did he tell the people?

Mark Antony pacified the people to drive them to the height of frenzy by telling them about the contents of the will of Caesar which were in their interests and incite them to mutiny against the conspirators in an indirect manner.

He told the people that he did not intend to provoke them to be initiated in a sudden action of mutiny as the people who had assassinated Caesar were honourable. He said that he did not know what personal grievances had motivated them to murder Caesar but he knew that they were honourable. He said that it was not his intention to win them over secretly. He emphasized the fact that he was not an orator like Brutus. He said that people listening to him knew it very well that he was a plain and blunt man who was genuinely loved his friend, Caesar, as was known to those who had given him permission to speak him in public. He did not have intelligence, rhetorical style, eloquence, action and the power of speech to provoke people to be vindictive. He said that he only spoke straight out what the people themselves knew to be right. He only showed them wounds of sweet Caesar which were poor speechless mouths, making them speak for him.  In an extremely cunning tone he told them in an apparent show of emotions that if he were Brutus and Brutus were Antony, he would certainly be there before them to stir them up and make every wound of Caesar speak for revenge stirring every stone of Rome to rebellion.