James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

Chapter 1

At four years-old, James Henry Trotter lived with his parents in a wonderful house along the sea, until his parents were eaten by a rhinoceros during a day trip to London. Soon after his parents' death, James was sent to live with his aunts, bringing nothing with him but a pair of pajamas and a toothbrush.Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker forced James to do all the house work, locked him up for punishment, and never let him leave their house and garden. From the top of the hill that the house was on, James could see woods, fields, and sometimes his house. There was little for James to do in the house or garden, and the only thing that remained on Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker's unpleasant property was an ancient peach tree that never grew peaches.

Hassan Khan VI-A

Chapter 2

Three years after James began living with his aunts, on a day a rather peculiar, very peculiar, and fantastically peculiar moment occurs. James' two aunts watch him while he chops wood in the heat, each of them talking loudly about her own beauty, complimenting her own eyes, hair, clothing, and other bodily features through in a song.While James chops wood, he thinks of other children in the world and their happiness. At one moment, he is overwhelmed by his thoughts and begins to cry. When his aunts begin to yell at him,  he begs them to take him to the beach one day. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge threaten to beat James, and James runs away to a corner of the garden and begins to cry hysterically.

Sohaib Siddiqui VI-A

Chapter 3

James is crying in the corner of the garden when an Old Man appears from behind the bushes. This is a small Old Man who rests on his cane for support, and he calls James to come closer to him. When James moves towards the man, the old man reveals a small white paper bag filled with tiny green things that resemble crystals, each one about the size of a grain of rice. Soon James sees that the tiny green crystals are moving, and the Old Man tells James that these little items had "more power and magic...than the rest of the world put together." When James asks what the items are, the Old Man responds that they are "crocodile tongues boiled up in the skull of a dead witch for 20 days with the eyeballs of a lizard." After this brief yet confusing explanation, the Old Man gives the bag to James and tells James that the items are now his.

Chapter 4

In Chapter 4, the Old Man gives James special instructions for using the moving magic crystals. James must pour the little green things into a large jug of water and then add 10 of his own hairs to the mixture, one by one. As soon as the mixture begins to boil, James is to drink it down, and then magical things will begin to happen to him. He will no longer be miserable. The Old Man gives one last instruction before he leaves James - don't let the green things escape, or else they will work their magic upon somebody else instead!

Sabrina Saif  and Taha  VI-C

Chapter 5

James was running back towards the house as fast as he could go. He would do it all in the kitchen, he told himself - if only he could get in there without Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge seeing him. He swerved away from them so as to go round the other side of the house, but then suddenly, just as he was passing underneath the old peach tree that stood in the middle of the ground, his foot slipped and he felt flat on his face in the grass. The paper bag burst open as it hit the ground and the tiny green things were scattered in all directions and they quickly disappeared in the ground. Aunt Spiker scolded him and sent him back to the chopping of fire wood. Today and tomorrow and the next day and all the other day as well would be nothing but punishment and pain, unhappiness and despair. He picked up the chopper and was just about to start chopping away again when he heard a shout behind him that made him stop and turn.

Rumaisa Shahzad and Abdul Ahad Imran VI-A

Chapter 6

While James was busy in chopping the woods, Aunt Spiker shouted for Aunt Sponge. She wanted to tell Aunt Sponge that the old peach tree that never had a blossom on it, had a beautiful peach on it. When Aunt Sponge heard about the peach she didn’t believe it until she witnessed it herself. The peach looked ripe so Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker couldn’t resist eating it. They called James and ordered him to climb the tree and pluck the peach for them and they also warned James not to eat a single part of it. He turned around and was surprised to see that what his aunts had said was true. He went near and was about to climb the peach tree according to his aunt’s order, he was stopped because ... the peach was growing bigger and bigger! The peach was miraculously growing and during all this James’s heart was pounding and telling him that something peculiar ,something extraordinary was about to happen. They couldn’t believe this was happening and considered it as a miracle. The aunts were very happy.

Humayl Zafar, Sonia and Alina Saghir  VI-A

Chapter 7

Suddenly, there was an absolute silence and the two aunts and James stood silently, staring at the peach. James felt very happy while seeing the peach growing and aunt Sponge started dancing with happiness.The peach grew as big as a pumpkin.Then suddenly, Aunt Spiker yelled at poor James and commanded to stay away from the peach. In few minutes, the amazing fruit became as large as Aunt Sponge, soon it was the size of a small car. Then, because of excitement, both aunts started speaking all silly words. Poor little James just stood and watched the whole thing happening and when he tried to comment, he was ordered to keep quiet by Aunt Spiker. The mighty peach now started to gain speed and grew faster than ever. At last, few minutes later, when it had become as tall and wide as the tree itself, it gently touched the ground and the speed of its growth slowed down. Now slowly, Aunt Spiker walked around the peach and stared at it. Then she touched the peach with her finger tip.When the peach stopped growing, Aunt Sponge asked Aunt Spiker that if they could now take a big chunk out of the peach to eat but Aunt Spiker did not allow this and, being repulsive and clever, she suggested that they will earn money with this peach.

Araiz Adnan VI F

Chapter 8 

As the peach was now as big as a house, the news spread like a wildfire across the country. The next day, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker called the carpenters to build a strong fence around the peach and organized an exhibition. Huge crowd came to their house, scrambling up the steep hill. The aunts also sold tickets to visitors and were able to earn a lot of money. The first day was a financial success, yet they continued to mistreat poor James who was locked up in his room. When everybody left, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker ordered James to go outside and pick up all the banana skins and orange peels and bits of the paper that the crowd had left behind. They kicked James out of the house and locked the door in  the dark night.

Muzna Haider VI F

Chapter 9

As James went out in the garden alone at night, he saw the white moonlight covering the garden. He got a little scared too. James started to feel that something very peculiar and strange would happen. He  didn’t know what would happen but still excitement began to shine in his eyes. Just as he was touching the warm, juicy and big peach, he noticed that there was a hole on the side of the peach. He was thrilled to see that so he decided to crawl inside it.

Laiba Fouzan VI D

James was ordered by his aunts to clean all the mess in the garden and poor James was standing alone in the moonlight and was extremely scared. The peach was shining and glinting on it's curved sides and the peach seemed like a crystal. There was something mysterious about that night and James had a feeling in his gut that something stranger than ever this time is about to happen to him soon and it seemed like the whole garden was alive with magic and then after sometime, James started to move closer to the peach as there was some kind of force which was pulling him. As he came near the peach, he started to look at the gigantic peach with his bulging eyes and touched it gently with the tip of his finger and then, there he saw something really very strange that there was a hole on the side of the peach.

 

Anabiah Arif, Eshal Khan and Sunya Siddiqui VI D

Poetry

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Genre: Narrative and nature poetry

Main Themes:

·        A journey through woods and life

·        Nature

·        Beauty

·        Duty and responsibility

Background:

This poem is considered to be one of the finest works of Robert Frost and, ironically, he wrote it on a hot summer day. On the surface, the poem is simplicity itself, the speaker stops by the woods on a snowy evening and is taken in the lovely scene in near-silence. He is very tempted to stay for a long time but then he acknowledges the pull of obligations and the considered distance that is yet to be covered before he can rest for the night.

Once, the poet riding on a horse, passes through the forest, where the snow was gently falling and covering it. He stops to enjoy natural beauty of the forest. The poet says that he knows forest’s owner who lives in a village so he could not see him stopping there. His horse thinks it's strange to stop by woods because there was no farm house between forest and lake. It was just a dark and lonely place. It was considered darkest evening of the year. The sound which he could hear was of the blowing winds and falling flakes of snow. The scene of forest is very charming but poet remembers his promise which he has to fulfil. He has yet to travel a long distance before he may go to bed at home.

Stars

Genre: Lyrical and nature poetry

Main Themes:

·        Majesty of nature

·        Hope

Summary:

Sara Teasdale turned the simplest experiences into memorable ones by creating the perfect blend of simplicity and powerful images.

This is a poem that presents us with the speaker looking at the stars at night only to be struck with complete awe at their beauty and majesty. Focus on the way in which the stars are described. The speaker uses metaphors to compare them to precious stones, obviously emphasising both the way they emit light and also their inestimable value, describing them as "White and topaz, / And misty red." The poem then continues to imbue these stars with life as they are described as "Myriads with beating / Hearts of fire" and are said to be so old and ancient that even aeons are unable to "Vex or tire" them. As the speaker watches their "stately and still" progress up the dome of heaven, her response is one of complete awe as she is forced to contemplate the beauty of the stars and also is forced to evaluate her own smallness in the light of their majesty.
Stars are surrounding the sky and heaven, making us look so small and insignificant; they can take us by awe due to their splendor and elegance shown by their light and stillness among us in the sky.
Notice the way in which the word "Witness" is given a line to itself, clearly indicating that it is important. This poem, like so many other poems by Sarah Teasdale, shows the beauty of nature in our world if we have eyes to see it. The implication of this poem is that we are all able to be a "Witness" of such staggering sights, if we change the way that we look at nature and can therefore open ourselves to see its majesty.

If I were Lord of Tartary

Genre: Lyrical

Main Themes:

• Escapism
• Fantasy world 

In this poem, the poet imagines himself as the sole owner of a rich and fertile territory where every desirable item is available. He will live in a palace furnished with luxurious items of furniture like ivory bed and golden throne. Beautiful peacock will spread their wings and will decorate his court. There will be tigers in the forests of his imaginary land. Fish would swim in the ponds and their shining bodies will enhance the beauty. He will live like a great king. The announcement of royal meal-times will be made by the trumpeters. In the evening, multi-colored lamps will be lighted to increase the splendor of royal palace. They will shine in yellow and red colors. The music of different instruments like harp, flute and mandolin will be enchanting. He will wear robes of unknown value as they will be decorated with diamonds and precious stones. Before the appearance of dawn, he will wear his martial dress and equip himself with the arms to go out of palace in the carriage drawn by seven zebras. This territory will be full of natural gifts, i.e. God’s blessings in the form of high mountains, thick forests and fertile valleys flowing with rivers of fresh water. He will be the owner of all these things. The valleys and mountains will produce agricultural and fruit varieties in abundance.The fragrant breeze will make the atmosphere extremely pleasant. The lakes, sea sand chirping birds will fly from tree to tree and will increase the charm of the land. Thus in this manner the poet associates himself with great kings and monarchs of the past. His servants and general public will be overawed with his extraordinary riches.

 Duck and the Kangaroo

Genre: Lyrical

Main Themes:

• Friendship

The poem, “The Duck and The Kangaroo” by Edward Lear begins with a sweet conversation between a duck and a kangaroo.

The Duck praises the Kangaroo about the way he hops. The Duck says that how gracefully the Kangaroo hops over the fields and water that it seems like it has no ending. The Duck feels sorry for himself as his own life is a bore and already spent half of his life in the nasty pond. The Duck wishes to hop like the Kangaroo. Then the Duck requests the Kangaroo to give him a ride on his back. He also promises that he would not say anything apart from a ‘Quack’ for the whole day long. The Duck again earnestly requests the Kangaroo to give him a ride.The Kangaroo thinks about the Duck’s proposal deeply. He has an objection to his request because the duck’s feet are cold from water which would trouble the Kangaroo if the Duck sat on his back for the ride. The Duck had a quick solution to the Kangaroo’s problem. He said he was carrying a pair of socks which will keep his feet neat and warm.

The Kangaroo finally agrees to take the Duck on a ride. The Duck sits steady on the Kangaroo’s tail. They hop the world thrice and are the happiest creatures in the world.

Try Again

 

Genre: Lyrical

Main Themes:

• Hope
• Struggle

The poem “Try Again” by William Edward Hickson talks about the behavior of human beings. The poet in this poem is giving a message of hope, courage and optimism. When we are on the road to success, we come across many obstacles and hardships. The poet advises us not to give up and keep trying again and be courageous. If one believes that he can, then he can surely overcome his fear and conquer the territory of success. The poet also emphasizes on the fact that there is no disgrace to lose in the first attempt. Trying again and again with steady efforts and patience is always fruitful. The poet gives us examples of those great peoples who worked in difficult circumstances and rose to the height of glory through their steadfastness and honesty. One needs to make constant efforts. It is the perseverance and the will power blessed to human being which lets him go through the most miserable circumstances.

My Shadow

Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson

Genre: Lyrical, Narrative

Themes: Innocence, Childhood

This poem was written for children as they are unable to understand the true nature of their shadow and why is it formed. The character in this poem has no understanding of Science, therefore, he does not understand that his shadow is not a real person. The shadow has life-like physical and emotional qualities. He looks like the boy from the heels to the head, he can jump, he grows up like an india-rubber ball, and sometimes he shrinks to almost nothing. These descriptions help people to picture what the shadow looks like; a vibrant, not stagnant object. The emotional qualities of the shadow are that he's useless, he makes a fool of the boy, he's a coward, and he's lazy. However, in the end of the poem, when the poet says that one day he woke up very early even before the sunrise, he noticed that his shadow is not with him so he assumed that he must still be in bed.

Little by Little

Genre: Lyrical

Theme: Struggle, Course of Nature, Temporary Existence

 The poem Little by Little talks about how everything grows with the passage of time. When we sow a seed in the soil, it is very small. But when time passes and it gets the required conditions fulfilled, it starts growing into a big tree which provides shade to animals, home to birds and many little insects. Similarly, human beings also take a lot of time to grow up. They go through a number of emotions each day. Life is a constant struggle to survive and once, the struggle is over, we all meet our ultimate destiny; death. Every living thing, be it plants, animals or humans, are temporarily present on this earth.