The Summer of the Beautiful White

Horse Summary
Mourad said they will see as it was for his own safety.
He got to know that Mourad had stolen the horse a
month ago and was riding it every morning. Aram
and Mourad were two poor boys who belonged to
the Armenian Garoghlanian family who were known
for their honesty since the eleventh century. One
early morning when Aram was asleep and was
enjoying pleasant dreams, his cousin Mourad showed
up to his window with a beautiful white horse. Aram
could not believe it and was thinking it was a dream.
But since there was a little light outside, he knew this
for sure that the horse was real. As they were
poverty-stricken, he couldn’t believe that the horse
was their own. He was trying to figure out if the horse
had been stolen by his cousin. Mourad had come to
invite him for a ride-along. He asked him to make it
quick before everyone in the world wakes up. Aram
wore his clothes and jumped out of the window and
sat behind Mourad on the horse.
They rode on the old countryside of the area where
they lived – Walnut Avenue. After some time, Mourad
asked him to get off as he wanted to ride the horse
alone. Aram asked him if he could also ride the horse
alone just like him to which
 The Address Summary 

After ringing the doorbell of Mrs. Dorling who lived at Number 46,
Marconi Street, the protagonist was given a cold reception and Mrs
Dorling took much time to recognize her. Mrs Dorling had thought
everyone in the protanogist’s family was dead and asked if anyone
else had come along with her. Mrs Dorling refused to let the
protagonist inside her home and told her to come back sometime
later. The protagonist recognized her mother’s green cardigan which
Mrs Dorling was wearing. She decided to go back to the train station
and thought about her mother and how she told her about Mrs.
Dorling who was an acquaintance of hers. During the war, Mrs
Dorling would visit their house and take their possessions with her as
she didn’t want them to get lost if they ever left the place. Mrs.
Dorling had a broad back.
The protagonist decided to go to Mrs Dorling’s home to get back
their belongings. When she rang the bell, Mrs. Dorling’s daughter
answered the door. She let her in and asked her to wait in the living
room. When they were crossing the passage, the protagonist noticed
their Hanukkah candle stand that they had never used because it
had been unmanageable. When she reached the living room, she
was horrified as she saw all her mother’s things that were arranged
in a tasteless manner. The furniture was ugly and the room had a
muggy smell and it made her disinterested and she wanted to leave
the place. Mrs. Dorling’s daughter offered her a cup of tea and the
protagonist noticed the old table cloth that had a burn mark on it.
When the girl was showing her the silver fork and spoons that
actually belonged to the protagonist, she jumped up and walked out
of the house. She decided not to visit the place again as it brought
back memories of the past and hence, she decided to forget the
address.
A Photograph Summary
The poem is a tribute to the poet’s mother. She is looking at
an old photograph of her mother which has a frame of
cardboard. The picture has three girls in which the middle
one is the oldest and tallest.
It is her mother when she was twelve years old or so. Beside
her, on both sides are her two cousins, Betty and Dolly, who
are holding her hands and are younger than her. They went
for paddling on a beach holiday. Her uncle took the
photograph then. The poet could not help but notice her
mother’s sweet face. The sea touched her terribly transient
feet which depicted that she changed over the years and the
sea remained the same.
After twenty-thirty years, her mother would laugh at the
photograph. She would make the poet look at the
photograph and tell her how their parents would dress
them up for the beach holiday. The beach holiday was her
mother’s favourite past memories while her laugh was the
poet’s favourite memory. Both of them lost something
which they cherished a lot and yet cannot live that moment
again.
Those sweet moments were memories now.
Now, the poet’s mother had been dead for the past twelve
years, which is the same number as of her age when the
photograph was taken back then. She cannot express the
grief that she has from her mother’s absence.
 We’re Not Afraid to Die Summary

The narrator and his wife plan a voyage around the world just like famous
Captain James Cook. They have been preparing and perfecting their
seafaring skills for the past 16 years. They get a ship which is 23 meters
long and weighs 30 tons wooden-hulled, named Wave Walker. They test it
in the rough weather for months.
In July 1976, they all start their journey from Plymouth, England. They sail
from Africa to Cape Town which was quite a pleasant journey. Before
heading East, the narrator hired two crewmen, Larry Vigil, and Herb
Seigler, to help them tackle one of the roughest sea – the Southern Indian
Ocean.
They encounter strong and alarming waves during the second day. By
December 25, they all manage to reach 35,000 kilometers east of Cape
Town. The family, somehow, manages to surpass the bad weather and
celebrates Christmas together.
The weather changes for the worse and on January 2, the big waves hit
them. They try to slow the ship down by dropping storm jib and hit a
heavy mooring rope in a loop across a stern but it doesn’t help much.
They carry their life-raft drill, attach lifelines, don life jackets and oilskins.
Later, in the evening, a vertical and huge wave strikes the ship and the
narrator is thrown off from the ship. He accepts his ‘approaching death’
and starts losing consciousness. When the ship is about to overturn, a
huge wave hit again and turns it right back. He suffers injuries in ribs and
mouth. He grabs the guard rail and sails into the ship’s main boom.
He instructs his wife Mary to guard the wheel as he realizes that the ship
has water in the lower parts. His crewman starts pumping out the water.
The narrator goes to his children’s cabin and checks on them. His
daughter, Sue, informs him about a bump on her head which he ignores
because his major concern is to save the ship.
The narrator does water-proofing on the gaping holes. This makes water
to deviate on the right side. The hand pump gets blocked due to debris
and electric-pump gets short-circuited. However, he later finds a spare
electric pump and connects it to drain the water. They all keep pumping
the water all night long. Their Mayday calls are not answered as they are in
the remotest corner of the world.
 Discovering Tut:
the Saga Continues is a chapter that gives us an in-depth insight of Tutankhamun, the last ruler
of the powerful Pharaoh Dynasty in Egypt. He was a teenager when he died and his death was a
mystery. Some speculated that he was murdered.
He ruled in Egypt and its empire for centuries. In 1922, his tomb was discovered by Howard
Carter, a British Archaeologist. After 80 years, he was taken from his resting place for CT scan
which offers to solve the mystery of his life and death by creating a forensic reconstruction.
Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III, was a very powerful Pharaoh who ruled over a period
of forty years. His son, Amenhotep IV, thrived him and began the strangest period in the history
of Egypt.
He promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk). He changed his name to Akhenaten meaning
servant of the Atens. He also moved the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of
Akhenaten, called Amarna.
Further, he attacked Amun, a god, smashed his images, and closed his temples. Another
mysterious ruler succeeded him who died soon. Next, Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, sat on
the throne and ruled for nine years. He worshipped god Amun in the old ways. However, he died
mysteriously.
When Tut’s mummified body was discovered, he was laid with lots of gold, wealth and everyday
items like a bronze razor, games, clothes, cases of food and wine. Carter discovered him after
searching for many years.
After researching on the treasures, he decided to investigate his three nested coffins. Some parts
of the Tut’s treasures in the tomb were already looted.
His tomb was rock-cut, 26 feet underground, which had wall paintings. On the outer coffin, Tut’s
face was gilded. In the first coffin, he found the garlands of olives, lotus petals, and cornflowers.
It showed that he was buried in the months of March or April. The third and final coffin put
Carter into trouble.
The resins used to cement Tut to the bottom of the solid gold coffin was hardened enough
making it impossible to move. He put the coffin in the sun for several hours in hope for the
resins to loosen up but it didn’t work. Finally, he removed the resins with the help of chisel and
hammer.
Carter felt he didn’t have any other choice as to if he hadn’t cut the mummy from limb to limb,
thieves would have looted the gold. His men first removed his head, then they cut off every joint.
After removing the body parts, they placed it on the layer of sand in a wooden box and put it at
the original place.
In 1968, the mummy was X-rayed by an anatomy professor, revealed few facts – his breast bone
and front ribs were missing.
Later, on January 05 2009, Tut was taken for CT (Computed Tomography) scan which takes
hundreds of X-Rays and creates a three-dimensional image. The night of the scan, the workmen
carried his body from the tomb in a box.
They climbed ramp and stairs and lifted it on a hydraulic trailer that held the scanner. The
scanner stopped working which paused the procedure. After using a pair of spare fans, the scan
was finally done. After three-hours, his body was taken back to his tomb where his body is
resting in peace.
 Summary of The Portrait of a Lady
The chapter ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ is the story of the author and his
grandmother. The grandmother was an old woman with a wrinkled face.
The author had always seen her like this, for the past twenty years. She
appeared to be so old that he could not imagine her being ‘young and
pretty, someone who had a husband. She was short, fat, and slightly bent.
The author had seen his grandfather’s portrait- an old man with a turban
and a long white beard covering his chest. To the author, his grandfather
didn’t seem like a man who could have a wife and children, but someone
who could have lots of grandchildren. His grandmother used to move
around the house in ‘Spotless White’ with her one hand resting on her
waist and her other hand counting the beads of her rosary.
In the initial days, the author and his grandmother had a good
relationship. She used to wake him up and get him ready for school. She
used to pack the things required by him for the day and walked him to
school every day. She used to visit the temple that was attached to the
school. She had a routine of reading the scriptures. The author along with
other children sat on the verandah singing alphabets and morning
prayers. They both used to come back home together with stray dogs
roaming around them as his grandmother would carry the stale chapattis
to feed them.
Soon, the parents of the author who went to the city to settle in and called
them. As they reached the city, his relationship with his grandmother took
a turn. Though they shared the room, there bond grew apart. He started
going to an English medium school, she no longer accompanied him to his
school, and there were no longer stray dogs who roamed around them
while walking back home. She, however, used to ask him about his day
and what he had learned. She didn’t understand anything as everything
was in another language which she could not understand. She didn’t
approve of the new syllabus that he was studying because she thought
that they did not teach him about God and the scriptures. They saw less of
each other.
Birth Summary 
The lesson begins with Andrew walking towards his home after
having an unpleasant time with his girlfriend Christine. Upon
reaching home at around midnight, he finds Joe Morgan outside his
house waiting for him. Joe and Susan had been expecting a child.
Upon reaching, Joe tells Andrew that he is too anxious to be going
inside, so Andrew walks in alone. He realizes that there is still some
time left. Susan’s mother, who is wise but tense at the moment,
offers him some tea. While he is sipping his tea, he begins thinking
about his girlfriend. He recalls how his friends too are having a hard
time in their relationships. On the other hand, he feels that marriage
is meant to be something peaceful and cheerful. Thus, he finds
himself in a conflict. Susan’s mother tells him how worried Susan is
for the child because the situation is complicated. After performing
the procedure, the child is born, but is lifeless. Confused between
addressing the child or the mom, who herself laid unconscious at the
moment, he chooses to look after Susan first. He injected her with a
few medicines and when he realised that her heart was regaining its
strength, he turned towards the child. It was a boy in perfect shape.
He suddenly remembered that it was a case of restricted oxygen
supply and thus, he instructed the nurse to get hot and cold water.
The nurse, reluctant at first, got him what he needed and he juggled
the child in hot and cold water simultaneously. After all his efforts,
the child still lay lifeless. All others had already lost hope, while he
continued with the procedures. Finally, the child heaved and got his
breath. His body was no longer still, leaving everyone surprised. The
nurse muttered words of prayer while holding the child. The
grandmother was also praying, while Susan still laid unconscious.
Exhausted, Andrew left while informing Joe that all is well. While he
was walking home at around five in the morning, his heart was full at
having accomplished something real in his life.
 Summary of The Laburnum Top
The Laburnum Top Summary will help students learn about this
poem in a simplified manner. It is written by Ted Huges. The poem
revolves around a Laburnum tree and a Goldfinch bird. The core
theme of the poem shows us the repaying relationship between the
two. Further, it begins by describing how the Laburnum tree is pretty
quiet in the yellow September light. He notices the yellow leaves of
the tree and the seeds on the ground. It appears to be still fleetingly
till a goldfinch bird perches on its branch. The poet witnesses the tree
come to life as soon as the bird starts chirping. Upon the arrival of the
mother goldfinch, the tree and the nestlings, start chirping and
become alive. She keeps flying in and out to feed her young ones.
Thus, when she leaves, the tree once again dons its elusive silence

The Voice of the Rain Summary 

In the poem, the poet asks the soft-falling shower, ‘Who are you?’ to
which she replies that she is the poem of earth. It is a strange thing
for the rain to reply to the poet. The rain told the poet that she
cannot be touched as she rises in the form of water vapor in the sky
from the land and the bottomless sea. It changes its shape yet it
remains the same. The vapor changes into clouds due to
condensation.
It falls back on the surface of the earth to provide water to the
drought-prone areas and to beautify and purify the earth (its
birthplace). It provides life to the seeds inside the earth and helps
them grow.
The rain doesn’t care if anyone bothers about her deeds or not, she
completes her work and comes back home. The poet also compares
the rain with a song as they both share a common journey. The song
originates from the heart of the singer, travels across to fulfill the
aim and comes back with due love for the singer (its originator).