NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Chapter 1 The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse William Saroyan

NCERT Solutions for Class 11 for English Chapter The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse by William Saroyan

The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse - William Saroyan 

Reading with insight: 

Q1: You will probably agree that this story does not have breathless adventure and exciting action. Then what in your opinion makes it interesting? 

Answer 

The students may prepare the answer on their own. Some points are given here for their reference.  

The story is narrated by a child – highlights the innocent outlook of a child on the social ethics –  questioning the conventional morality - arouses the sympathy of the reader through the technique of the self-criticism by the narrator -  teaches the lesson that all childhood dreams do not come true  

Q2: Did the boys return the horse because they were conscience-stricken or because they were afraid? 

Answer 

The students should prepare the answer on their own. A model answer is given for their reference.  

The boys were conscience-stricken rather than afraid of being caught in the act of stealing John Byro’s horse. They were actually innocent but had the dream of riding a horse. They realised their fault when they met a pure-hearted soul like John, a noble man who couldn't even think of people of their clan stealing. Even after finding that the horse has all the features of his horse, he made a comment that it was the twin of his horse. In fact, he must have given an opportunity for the boys to recognise their crime. The reaction of John Byro pricked their conscience and they were reminded of keeping the prestige and honour of their families. In the end the children learned the importance of being honest and returned the horse.  

Q3 : "One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream..." The story begins in a mood of nostalgia. Can you narrate some incident from your childhood that might make an interesting story?  

Answer 

The students should prepare the answer on their own. A model answer is given for their reference. 

Nowadays children are loaded with numerous programmes like summer camps, Scouts and Guides, Cricket, swimming, abacus… the list is endless. Till I finished the primary school I along with the rest of my siblings used to go away to grandma’s place!  The most exciting part of it was going there and doing nothing! The joy of doing nothing was enough to make us happy! 

I remember a few summer vacations which are quite distinct in my mind because of some fond memories attached to it. One of such vacations, my parents stayed back in Mumbai when my siblings and I went to my grandmother in Chennai. Grandmother used to cook lady’s finger curry which was one of my favourites. Nobody could make it like her. Grandmother lived in a typical house that looked like a railway compartment, i.e. the hall, bedroom and kitchen were all in one line.  Behind the kitchen there was a lot of space all around the house to run about.  

Another memorable incident was filling a ‘Kool Keg’ (a huge can-like jug to store water) with Rasna and drinking it from the tap. Sometimes, the can was full of ants but that didn’t stop us. We used to strain it and drink.  There was one more memorable incident about an ice-cream man, who used to come around 2 pm in the afternoon and ring the bell. We used to steal the entire money that our grandmother stored under her sari for buying ice-creams. Grandmother never scolded us when she discovered that we stole the money but happily accepted it.  

These wonderful memories never seem to fade out from our memory. But at present the summer vacation is very much hectic with so many programmes that there is no time to relax and enjoy.  If only, we could once again experience the true joys of summer vacations as we did! 

Q4 : The story revolves around characters who belong to a tribe in Armenia. Mourad and Aram are members of the Garoghlanian family. Now locate Armenia and Assyria on the atlas and prepare a write-up on the Garoghlanian tribes. You may write about people, their names, traits, geographical and economic features as suggested in the story.  

Answer 

The students may prepare the answer on their own. Some points are given here for their reference.  

Garoghlanian tribe is an Armenian tribe  - settled in some parts of California - clinging to tradition and values of the past -  known for their honesty - Social gatherings revolve around large amounts of food – following strictly the Christian doctrines of love and forgiveness