Kerala Class XII English Reader

Unit 1: Flights of Freedom

• Focuses on women's empowerment through education, determination, and courage, breaking socio-cultural taboos.

• Includes works like Christine Lagarde's speech "The 3Ls of Empowerment", Katharine Tynan's poem "Any Woman", Ashapurna Debi's story "Matchbox" , and Sudha Murty's anecdote "Horegallu".

The 3Ls of Empowerment

• Education is fundamental to any change and helps women overcome exclusion
• Provides an African proverb about how educating a girl equals educating a village while educating a boy only trains an individual
• Labor is crucial for women to realize their potential, and they often get stuck in low-paying jobs
• Women globally earn three-quarters of what men earn, even with similar education
• Advocating for equal pay and property rights is important
• Leadership allows women to use their abilities, but improvement is needed
• Women tend to make inclusive and compassionate decisions
• Women must embrace change and confidence to take risks

Any Woman

• The poem presents a woman as the pillar of the house and essential for family well-being
• A woman provides fire, light, and warmth like the sun and is central to children's lives
• Mothers create a sacred ring of love that prevents children from going astray

Matchbox

• Comparison of women and matchboxes
• Women as powerful (gunpowder) yet meek and innocent
• Story explores Nomita's anger over Ajit’s habit of secretly reading her letters
• Incident is described as an attempt to take advantage of Nomita
• The text describes how a woman was able to send her mother little money in secret
• Ajit reads his wife, Nomita's letters, and tries to hide them from her

Horegallu

• Emphasizes the importance of support during life's journey, comparing it to a stone bench (Horegallu)
• Highlights the author's memory of her grandfather who offers solace and rest for the weary people around him
• Ratna during lunch hours has a similar role in modern life to support colleagues and reduce their burdens

Analysis of I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr.

• Delivers this speech on August 28th, 1963, speaking to African Americans and others gathered in Washington

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

• The Speech is characterized by repetition, logical structure, clear sequencing of ideas, and repetition
• The Speech encourages careful attention to stresses, rhythm, and intonation, with a formal tone, for maximum impact

Unit 2: Heights of Harmony

• Promotes qualities and principles to maintain social harmony

• Includes Robert Frost's "Mending Wall", Piri Thomas's "Amigo Brothers", and Percival Wilde's "The Hour of Truth".

Mending Wall

• Explores themes of maintaining boundaries and questioning tradition
• Challenges the necessity of walls, especially where no practical need exists
• The neighbor quoted saying "Good fences make good neighbors."

Amigo Brothers

• Narrates the story of two close friends, Antonio and Felix, who face each other in the division finals of a boxing tournament

• The contest is a means for the two teens to achieve their dreams of obtaining an award as their hard work shows

• Describes boxing the challenges that they face, with the main concept focusing on keeping on going

The Hour of Truth

• Focuses on Robert Baldwin's moral dilemma of whether to lie or tell the truth against John Gresham in support of his testimony

Unit 3: Challenges of Life

• Exploration of life's challenges: entrepreneurship, dignity of labor
• Includes an interview with Irfan Alam on his rickshaw business, Shaheen Mistri's story of founding the Akanksha Foundation, and Satchidanandan's poem "Stammer".

A Three-Wheeled Revolution - A conversation with Irfan Alam

• Irfan Alam was able to begin business at the early age of 13
• Irfan founded SammaaN due to the poverty of the rickshaw pullers
• SammaaN gives the operators training on etiquette
• To keep dignity, he had the operators wear uniforms
• The company also offered health and accident insurance to encourage them

Didi

• A description of life for Shaheen Mystry while she was working at an orphange in India

Unit 4: Live and Let Live

• Considers the importance of protecting the environment and health

• Features Wangari Maathai's "When a Sapling is Planted", Chemmanam Chacko's "Rice", and Hardin B. Jones's "Dangers of Drug Abuse".

The text of “When a Sapling is Planted’ by Wangari Maathai

• Recipient accepts his prize on behalf of all the people of Kenya and Africa
• As a child, the speaker witnessed forests being cleared and replaced by plantations
• In 1977, the Green Belt Movement was formed, responding the the requirements from rural woman like water and shelter
• The group planted 30 million trees in their tenure and improved local environment
• Through the trees, they fight for political and national peace

“Rice” by Chemmanam Chacko

• Portrays a changing landscape where the promise of better cash from crops has displaced traditional rice culture and cultivation methods
• Also displays the narrator's mixed feelings about his home and family in the face of rapid change

Text of “Dangers of Drug Abuse” by Hardin B Jones

• Explores harmful drugs and its chemical makeup and effects of drugs on users
• Shows how the public has been manipulated

Unit 5: The Lighter Side

• Brings out the use of humor as a way to cope with life, while also being able to tell of a more serious side. The test includes a one-act play by R.H. Wood, a poem by Ogden Nash, and a story by R.K. Narayan

Text of the Play “Post Early for Christmas’ by R.H. Wood

• Set at a postal office in England, a timebomb causes fear while in pursuit of peace

Poem by Ogden Nash names, “This is Going to Hurt Just a Little Bit”

• In a light-hearted way, this poem tells of his struggles and thoughts in the Dentist's chair and tells of different devices that are used to relate

Story by R.K. Narayan that details “Crime and Punishment”

• It also shows another side of the difficulties of teaching, with the teacher causing their fate when their students try to fool them