Summary of Bacon’s “Of Friendship”

 

Introduction

Bacon is considered as the father of English prose.  He has written many prose pieces on various topics.  His language is to the point and short.  He uses powerful words.  In almost all his prose pieces, he tries to prove himself as an educated scholar.  He quotes Latin and Greek works and myth casually to prove his knowledge.  The prose “Of Friendship” shares Bacon’s ideas and views about friendship.

 

Lonely People

Bacon begins the essay by quoting Aristotle, who once said that people who are alone are either god or a beast.  He calls a lone human to be a beast because when we are alone we would hate society and behave like animals.  Bacon does not accept a lonely man to be godly because they cheat people in the name of higher conversation.  Bacon claims that people who are in crowd also would feel alone and look at others as pictures and mere sounds.  This is true for people living in big cities.  When a city is big, solitude is also big.

 

Principle Fruit of Friendship

The major advantage of friendship is that it makes us to share our heart in an open way.  It is a medicine that cures our hear.  We share our griefs, joys, hopes, suspicions and counsels with a true friend.

 

Friendship in the Past

In the past, kings would spend money over people and make them friends.  They raise their servants and ordinary people s their friends.  According to Bacon, such friendship should not be maintained.  He gives the example of Sylla and Pompey, Ceaser and Brutus, Augustus and Agrippa, Septimius Severus and Plautianus etc. All these men tasted a bitter fruit of friendship. 

 

First Fruit of Friendship

Friendship increases joy.  It reduces the intensity of sorrow.  If a man shares his happiness with a friend he feels more happy.  If he shares his sorrow, he feels lighthearted.

 

Second Fruit of Friendship

The second fruit of friendship is about understanding.  Friendship brings light when we are darkness or in confusion.  A friend is therefore a counselor.  He helps us to come out of our confusion.  It is better to share our problem with our friend than to meditate for a whole day.  If we are in a trouble we should think critically and friends would help us with our thought.  Friendship will help us and guide us.

 

The Final Fruit of Friendship

            The last fruit of friendship is the multi-purpose of friendship.  Friends are helpful to us in many ways.  For example when a friend dies at an early age, it is our duty to continue the noble works of our friend in his remembrance.  If we cannot talk something openly with our close relations, a friend can do that for us.  A friend is far better than any relation is.

 

Conclusion

Bacon concludes the essay by comparing life with a stage.  A stage needs many actors and a person cannot perform on his own.  If a man does not have friends it is better he exit from the stage.

Summary of Abraham Lincoln's " A Letter From Abraham Lincoln to His Son’s Teacher"

Introduction

Abraham Lincoln was the President of America.  His father was a hard working cobbler.  Lincoln worked harder than his father and he became the President.  After becoming the President, he fought for the equality of people and brought peace between the black and the white people.  “A Letter From Abraham Lincoln to His Son’s Teacher” is a letter written by Lincoln to his son’s teacher.  This letter shows Lincoln’s vision and his idea about real education.

Theme of Abraham Lincoln’s Letter

Abraham Lincoln’s son joins school for the first time.  Lincoln writes a letter to his teacher explaining what education is and his vision for the younger generation.  In his letter, Lincoln wants the teacher to teach his son not only subjects and books but to teach life.  He wants the teacher to teach him gently.  His son should learn that 10 cents earned is valuable than a dollar found.  It is good to fail than to cheat.  His son must not envy others.  He should learn to be glorious in failure and sad in success.

Teaching Faith, Love and Courage

            Lincoln says that to live life we need faith, love and courage.  He does not want his son to learn just from books but to go out and learn from nature.  His son should know that every scoundrel has a hero, for an enemy there is a friend and for every bad politician there is a leader.  His son must be courageous to be impatient and patient to be brave.  He must have faith in himself, so that he will have faith in mankind.

Idea of Listening

            Lincoln wants his son to listen to all people.  He should not believe in whatever he hears.  His son should filter what he hears and take only good things.  He must be unique.  He must believe himself and not follow the crowd.  He must be confident with his talents and brains.

 

Conclusion

            Through this letter Lincoln not only orders the teacher but teaches life to all of us.  Though this letter was written long back, it still holds truth and is applicable even today.

Summary of George Bernard Shaw's " Spoken English and Broken English"

Introduction

George Bernard Shaw is a famous English dramatist.  He has written many plays.  Most of his plays are called problem plays or social dramas because they deal with social issues.  Shaw tries to give solutions to social problems.  “Spoken English and Broken English” is a speech given by Shaw at BBC.  This talk is about spoken English.  Shaw tries to define and simplify what spoken English is.

 

Shaw’s Views on the BBC Committee

Shaw opens his speech by saying that the target audiences of his speech are foreigners who want to speak English and the native people, who want to speak perfect English.  Shaw says that there is no such thing called as correct English.  No two British persons speak the same way.  Shaw is included in the BBC to show the correct pronunciation of words.  His chairman is a Poet Laureate.  One of the members is an actor, who delivers dialogue in a fine way.  Shaw is selected because he is a playwright and a good speaker.  Shaw says that the committee members differ with themselves in pronouncing words like ‘yes’ and ‘no’.  Shaw himself is from Ireland and other members are from different countries.

 

Spoken English – Broken English

Shaw says that there is a variety of English.  People speak different English in public and different English at home.  In his home, Shaw’s wife would say that he always mumbles.  Shaw asks the listeners to eavesdrop on a couple through a keyhole on how they speak.  After some time we should knock on the door and enter the room and we would see that their language is entirely different.

 

Shaw’s Warning to Foreigners

If a foreigner visits England and he speaks good English, he would not be understood by the native speakers.  His English will have a different accent.  Even when he speaks correct English the native speaker will think him to be a beggar or a trickster.  Shaw advises a foreigner to speak in broken English because he will find many people to help him.  Shaw also warns people not to speak correct English because it would affect the sentiments of the native people.

 

Conclusion

Through this speech, Shaw simplifies English speech.  He proves that there is no correct English but only acceptable English.

Summary of Shakespeare's "All The World’s A Stage"

 

Introduction

William Shakespeare is the most famous English writer.  He has written many dramas, sonnets, and a few long poems.  He is the most translated English dramatist.  He is popular even today for his variety and characters.  “All The World’s A Stage” is an excerpt from Shakespeare’s famous play, “As You Like It”.  This poem is a monologue spoken by a character named melancholic Jacques.

 

Life is a drama

Shakespeare, as a dramatist, compares life with a stage.  He extends this metaphor throughout the poem.  Shakespeare compares the world with a stage.  All men and women are actors in the play.  Every human being has their entry and exit.  Every stage has an entrance and exit; similarly, our lives have birth as an entry and death as an exit.  Every person plays different roles in their short period of life.  According to Shakespeare, everyone plays seven different stages or roles in our lifetime.

 First Stage

The first stage is our infancy.  In this stage, we cry in the nurse’s arms.  We mewl like a kitten.  We vomit the milk that we drink.  We are totally dependent on others.

 Second Stage

In the second stage, we become a schoolboy.  The school boy’s face shines in the morning.  He carries a huge school bag like a snail.  He goes to school without willingness.

 Third Stage

In the third stage, we play the part of a lover.  Men fall in love with women.  They glow like a burning furnace.  They spend most of their time writing poems.  Most of the poems are about the eyebrows of their lady love. 

 Fourth Stage

This is the next stage of our life.  We play the role of a soldier.  In this stage, a man takes strange oaths.  He has a beard like a leopard.  He is jealous of honor.  He is quick in quarreling with people.  He stands bold and proud even before a canon.  He looks for a quick reputation and fame.

 Fifth Stage

            We become mature in this stage, after experiencing half of our life.  We must have read many books and try to prove ourselves as a judge.  We have a formal beard and a round belly at this stage.  We try to speak wisely.

 Sixth Stage

In this stage, a man steps into his old age.  He becomes lean and his clothes become loose.  He wears slippers and pantaloons.  He becomes physically weak.  He wears spectacles on his nose.  He has a purse in his side to hold coins and money.  His loud voice becomes shrill and feeble.  His speech is like whistling.

 Seventh Stage

This is the last stage of human life.  Shakespeare calls life a ‘strange eventful history.  In this last stage, we become very weak.  Shakespeare calls our last stage a second childishness.  We lose our memory, teeth, eyesight, taste, and our life and breath. 

 Conclusion

            Shakespeare proves himself as a genius through this short monologue.  He is able to explain the philosophy of life and life cycle in a very simple way.  He has compared life with drama, which is his profession.

Summary of Walt Whitman's O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman is a famous American poet.  He has written many poems on the theme of democracy.  O Captain!  My Captain is an elegy written on the death of Abraham Lincoln, the President of America.  In this poem, Whitman compares Lincoln as captain of a ship that returns after the American Civil war.

The poem opens with the poet addressing the captain, Abraham Lincoln, who is returning to the shore after winning the civil war.  The poet imagines that he is standing among the people on the shore waiting to celebrate the captain’s arrival and victory.  The ship has passed through all hardships and it is grim and daring.  In the deck of the ships, the captain is lying dead and cold.  The hearts of the people are bleeding with drops of red blood.

The poet asks the captain to rise up from death on hearing the bells and bugles.  He wants the captain to wake up and see the flag, bouquets, the wreaths and the shore that is crowded with people.  The people on the shore are waiting eagerly to look at the victorious captain.

The poet addresses the captain as his father and asks him to wake up from death.  It is more like a dream for him to see the captain cold and dead in the ship.  For all the cries and calls, the captain does not open his lips, which has become very pale.  There is no pulse in his arms and the father does not feel the poet’s touch.

The ship reaches the shore and is anchored safely.  The voyage ends with the people after a victorious journey for the sake of the people.  The ship stops after achieving its objectives.  These lines could also be taken metaphorically.  The ship’s voyage represents the life of Abraham Lincoln, which has come to a halt after the strenuous and victorious journey.  The poet and the crowd are at a loss.  They do not know how to respond to this situation.  They came to celebrate the victory of the war and their captain but the captain is dead.  The poet asks them to ring the bells and he walks to the deck to see the captain, who is cold and dead.

Though the poem is an elegy, Whitman uses many figures of speech like extended metaphor, transferred epithet, simile, etc. to convey his grief in an effective way.  The poet, through this poem, expresses his true love and affection of the people of America towards their president.