Les Miserables

The convict Jean Valjean is released from a French prison after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf
of bread and for subsequent attempts to escape from prison. When Valjean arrives at the town of Digne,
no one is willing to give him shelter because he is an ex-convict. Desperate, Valjean knocks on the door
of M. Myriel, the kindly bishop of Digne. Myriel treats Valjean with kindness, and Valjean repays the
bishop by stealing his silverware. When the police arrest Valjean, Myriel covers for him, claiming that the
silverware was a gift. The authorities release Valjean and Myriel makes him promise to become an
honest man. Eager to fulfill his promise, Valjean masks his identity and enters the town of Montreuil-sur-
mer. Under the assumed name of Madeleine, Valjean invents an ingenious manufacturing process that
brings the town prosperity. He eventually becomes the town’s mayor. Fantine, a young woman from
Montreuil, lives in Paris. She falls in love with Tholomyès, a wealthy student who gets her pregnant and
then abandons her. Fantine returns to her home village with her daughter, Cosette. On the way to
Montreuil, however, Fantine realizes that she will never be able to find work if the townspeople know
that she has an illegitimate child. In the town of Montfermeil, she meets the Thénardiers, a family that
runs the local inn. The Thénardiers agree to look after Cosette as long as Fantine sends them a monthly
allowance. In Montreuil, Fantine finds work in Madeleine’s factory. Fantine’s coworkers find out about
Cosette, however, and Fantine is fired. The Thénardiers demand more money to support Cosette, and
Fantine resorts to prostitution to make ends meet. One night, Javert, Montreuil’s police chief, arrests
Fantine. She is to be sent to prison, but Madeleine intervenes. Fantine has fallen ill, and when she longs
to see Cosette, Madeleine promises to send for her. First, however, he must contend with Javert, who
has discovered Madeleine’s criminal past. Javert tells Madeleine that a man has been accused of being
Jean Valjean, and Madeleine confesses his true identity. Javert shows up to arrest Valjean while Valjean is
at Fantine’s bedside, and Fantine dies from the shock. After a few years, Valjean escapes from prison and
heads to Montfermeil, where he is able to buy Cosette from the Thénardiers. The Thénardiers turn out to
be a family of scoundrels who abuse Cosette while spoiling their own two daughters, Eponine and
Azelma. Valjean and Cosette move to a run-down part of Paris. Javert discovers their hideout, however,
and they are forced to flee. They find refuge in a convent, where Cosette attends school and Valjean
works as a gardener. Marius Pontmercy is a young man who lives with his wealthy grandfather, M.
Gillenormand. Because of political differences within the family, Marius has never met his father,
Georges Pontmercy. After his father dies, however, Marius learns more about him and comes to admire
his father’s democratic politics. Angry with his grandfather, Marius moves out of Gillenormand’s house
and lives as a poor young law student. While in law school, Marius associates with a group of radical
students, the Friends of the ABC, who are led by the charismatic Enjolras. One day, Marius sees Cosette
at a public park. It is love at first sight, but the protective Valjean does his utmost to prevent Cosette and
Marius from ever meeting. Their paths cross once again, however, when Valjean makes a charitable visit
to Marius’s poor neighbors, the Jondrettes. The Jondrettes are in fact the Thénardiers, who have lost
their inn and moved to Paris under an assumed name. After Valjean leaves, Thénardier announces a plan
to rob Valjean when he returns. Alarmed, Marius alerts the local police inspector, who turns out to be
Javert. The ambush is foiled and the Thénardiers are arrested, but Valjean escapes before Javert can
identify him.Thénardier’s daughter Eponine, who is in love with Marius, helps Marius discover Cosette’s
whereabouts. Marius is finally able to make contact with Cosette, and the two declare their love for each
other. Valjean, however, soon shatters their happiness. Worried that he will lose Cosette and unnerved
by political unrest in the city, Valjean announces that he and Cosette are moving to England. In
desperation, Marius runs to his grandfather, M. Gillenormand, to ask for M. Gillenormand’s permission
to marry Cosette. Their meeting ends in a bitter argument. When Marius returns to Cosette, she and
Valjean have disappeared. Heartbroken, Marius decides to join his radical student friends, who have
started a political uprising. Armed with two pistols, Marius heads for the barricades. The uprising seems
doomed, but Marius and his fellow students nonetheless stand their ground and vow to fight for
freedom and democracy. The students discover Javert among their ranks, and, realizing that he is a spy,
Enjolras ties him up. As the army launches its first attack against the students, Eponine throws herself in
front of a rifle to save Marius’s life. As Eponine dies in Marius’s arms, she hands him a letter from
Cosette. Marius quickly scribbles a reply and orders a boy, Gavroche, to deliver it to Cosette. Valjean
manages to intercept the note and sets out to save the life of the man his daughter loves. Valjean arrives
at the barricade and volunteers to execute Javert. When alone with Javert, however, Valjean instead
secretly lets him go free. As the army storms the barricade, Valjean grabs the wounded Marius and flees
through the sewers. When Valjean emerges hours later, Javert immediately arrests him. Valjean pleads
with Javert to let him take the dying Marius to Marius’s grandfather. Javert agrees. Javert feels
tormented, torn between his duty to his profession and the debt he owes Valjean for saving his life.
Ultimately, Javert lets Valjean go and throws himself into the river, where he drowns. Marius makes a full
recovery and is reconciled with Gillenormand, who consents to Marius and Cosette’s marriage. Their
wedding is a happy one, marred only when Valjean confesses his criminal past to Marius. Alarmed by
this revelation and unaware that it was Valjean who saved his life at the barricades, Marius tries to
prevent Cosette from having contact with Valjean. Lonely and depressed, Valjean takes to his bed and
awaits his death. Marius eventually finds out from Thénardier that Valjean saved Marius’s life. Ashamed
that he mistrusted Valjean, Marius tells Cosette everything that has happened. Marius and Cosette rush
to Valjean’s side just in time for a final reconciliation. Happy to be reunited with his adopted daughter,
Valjean dies in peace.

Reflection:

The musical deals with themes of forgiveness, class warfare and disparity
between the rich and the poor that's reflect like in our situation in the country.

Romeo and Juliet

In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of the feuding noble families of
Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the fighting, but is himself embroiled when
the rash Capulet, Tybalt, arrives on the scene. After citizens outraged by the constant violence beat back
the warring factions, Prince Escalus, the ruler of Verona, attempts to prevent any further conflicts
between the families by decreeing death for any individual who disturbs the peace in the future. Romeo,
the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio, who had earlier seen Romeo moping in a grove of
sycamores. After some prodding by Benvolio, Romeo confides that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman
who does not return his affections. Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more
beautiful one, but Romeo remains despondent. Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s
hand in marriage. Her father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since
Juliet is not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a
masquerade and feast he traditionally holds. He invites Paris to the feast, hoping that Paris will begin to
win Juliet’s heart. Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Capulet servant bearing
the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend, since that will allow Romeo to compare his
beloved to other beautiful women of Verona. Romeo agrees to go with Benvolio to the feast, but only
because Rosaline, whose name he reads on the list, will be there. In Capulet’s household, young Juliet
talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not
yet considered marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she could fall in
love with him. The feast begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their witty friend Mercutio to
Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her; he
forgets about Rosaline completely. As Romeo watches Juliet, entranced, a young Capulet, Tybalt,
recognizes him, and is enraged that a Montague would sneak into a Capulet feast. He prepares to attack,
but Capulet holds him back. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction.
They kiss, not even knowing each other’s names. When he finds out from Juliet’s nurse that she is the
daughter of Capulet—his family’s enemy—he becomes distraught. When Juliet learns that the young
man she has just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows equally upset. As Mercutio and Benvolio leave
the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the orchard wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind.
From his hiding place, he sees Juliet in a window above the orchard and hears her speak his name. He
calls out to her, and they exchange vows of love. Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar
Lawrence, who, though shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers
in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between Capulet and
Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence’s cell and are married. The
Nurse, who is privy to the secret, procures a ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window
for their wedding night. The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt—Juliet’s cousin—who,
still enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a duel. Romeo appears. Now
Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, Romeo begs the Capulet to hold off the duel until he understands why
Romeo does not want to fight. Disgusted with this plea for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt
himself. The two begin to duel. Romeo tries to stop them by leaping between the combatants. Tybalt
stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt. Romeo flees from
the scene. Soon after, the Prince declares him forever banished from Verona for his crime. Friar
Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua
the following morning. In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters, and,
after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt. Distraught, Juliet suddenly finds herself
married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she resettles herself, and realizes that her duty
belongs with her love: to Romeo. Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and at last they
consummate their marriage and their love. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when
they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the recent events, now intends
for her to marry Paris in just three days. Unsure of how to proceed—unable to reveal to her parents that
she is married to Romeo, but unwilling to marry Paris now that she is Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her
nurse for advice. She counsels Juliet to proceed as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris, who is a
better match anyway. Disgusted with the Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to
Friar Lawrence. He concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her
wedding to Paris, Juliet must drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest
in the family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free to live with
Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding. Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved
ahead one day, and she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion, and the Nurse
discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve, and Juliet is entombed according
to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message explaining the plan to Romeo never reaches Mantua. Its bearer,
Friar John, gets confined to a quarantined house. Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead. Romeo learns
only of Juliet’s death and decides to kill himself rather than live without her. He buys a vial of poison
from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds back to Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside
the Capulet crypt, Romeo comes upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight, and
Romeo kills Paris. He enters the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks the poison, and dies by her
side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that Romeo has killed Paris and himself. At the same
time, Juliet awakes. Friar Lawrence hears the coming of the watch. When Juliet refuses to leave with
him, he flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and realizes he has killed himself with poison. She
kisses his poisoned lips, and when that does not kill her, buries his dagger in her chest, falling dead upon
his body. The watch arrives, followed closely by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montague. Montague
declares that Lady Montague has died of grief over Romeo’s exile. Seeing their children’s bodies, Capulet
and Montague agree to end their long-standing feud and to raise gold statues of their children side-by-
side in a newly peaceful Verona.

Reflection:
The tale of Romeo and Juliet is known to be a tragedy because of its bitter story ending in the
deaths of the two lovers. It seems that life on earth was too cruel for them in order for them to be
together. And also because of their immeasurable love to each other.

The Iliad and Odyssey

Odyssey battles internal and external conflict to take part in the Trojan War. It is at a time when his son
Telemachus, is only a month old. Ten years after the war, Odysseus retraces his steps back home. By that
time, Telemachus is twenty and living with his mother Penelope in Ithaca. His mother has to deal with
108 suitors, who are boisterous and adamant that she should agree to marriage. Athena, Odysseus's
guardian, decides with the King of Gods according to Greek mythology, Zeus, to take the form of Mentes,
a Taphian chief and speak to Telemachus. She urges the boy to look for his father. Telemachus and
Athena witness Phemius the bard entertaining the rowdy suitors with "Return from Troy". Even as
Penelope objects, urged by Athena, Telemachus orders Phemius to read on. Athena finds Telemachus a
ship and crew and helps him to depart for the mainland. Welcomed by the Nestor family, Telemachus
then embarks on a land journey alongside Sparta, Nestor's son. He chances upon Helen and Menelaus
bear witness of a meeting with sea-god Proteus. They inform Telemachus that his father has been
captured by Calypso, a nymph. Odysseus, meanwhile, spends seven years in captivity. He is released only
to incur the wrath of Poseidon, the sea-god who was not present on Mount Olympus when Athena and
Zeus interacted. Escaping the wreckage, Odysseus swims ashore exhausted and falls asleep. He then
seeks the hospitality of Arete and Alcinous. Odysseus struggles through a situation where his identity is
always in doubt. A raid on his twelve ships by storms, lotus eaters and blinded with a wooden stake,
leaves the hero a broken man. A boon from Aeolus, the wind god helped Odysseus harness all the winds.
However, with destiny playing truant, Odysseus does not retain the only 'safe' wind that could blow him
homeward. His escapades with the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses, a treacherous sailor,
Laestrygones the cannibal, Circe, the witch goddess and the spirit of Tiresias, leave Odysseus spent and
longing for home. Odysseus' lucky meeting with the Phaeacians, buys him a home-bound journey.
Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus learns about his family. He meets Penelope with the intention of testing
her love for him. Penelope proposes that a contest be held to find the suitor whom she will marry. She
declares that the person who can string Odysseus' great bow and shoot an arrow through a dozen
axeheads will win the contest. As it is his bow, Odysseus can only pull off the feat and then he proceeds
to kill all the other contesting suitors in the process reveals his true identity. As a result of the killing of
the suitors by Odysseus a feud erupts between the kin of the slain suitors and Odysseus. This potential
battle is averted when Athena intervenes and on the command of Zeus, persuades the warring parties to
end the vendetta between the two sides. At last peace is restored to Ithaca. Odyssey the word itself has
come to refer to an epic voyage. One of the major themes is wandering or loneliness, a desire for
homecoming which becomes the basis of Odysseus' journey over several years. Another theme that
emerges is that of temptation and weakness which lies inside each person and makes that individual
vulnerable. A frequent and dominant motif in the Odyssey is disguise, be it in the Trojan horse, or as a
beggar when Odysseus returns home.

Reflection: it describes some of the most significant episodes in the Iliad and odyssey suggests and
that the alien world it presents to our contemporary eyes may be relevant to us and our students in
unexpected ways. The world of the Iliad can be recognized as one in which a great civilization and city
are disintegrating in the face of war and barbarism.

Moby Dick
Ishmael, the narrator, announces his intent to ship aboard a whaling vessel. He has made several voyages
as a sailor but none as a whaler. He travels to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he stays in a whalers’
inn. Since the inn is rather full, he has to share a bed with a harpooner from the South Pacific named
Queequeg. At first repulsed by Queequeg’s strange habits and shocking appearance (Queequeg is
covered with tattoos), Ishmael eventually comes to appreciate the man’s generosity and kind spirit, and
the two decide to seek work on a whaling vessel together. They take a ferry to Nantucket, the traditional
capital of the whaling industry. There they secure berths on the Pequod, a savage-looking ship adorned
with the bones and teeth of sperm whales. Peleg and Bildad, the Pequod’s Quaker owners, drive a hard
bargain in terms of salary. They also mention the ship’s mysterious captain, Ahab, who is still recovering
from losing his leg in an encounter with a sperm whale on his last voyage. The Pequod leaves Nantucket
on a cold Christmas Day with a crew made up of men from many different countries and races. Soon the
ship is in warmer waters, and Ahab makes his first appearance on deck, balancing gingerly on his false
leg, which is made from a sperm whale’s jaw. He announces his desire to pursue and kill Moby Dick, the
legendary great white whale who took his leg, because he sees this whale as the embodiment of evil.
Ahab nails a gold doubloon to the mast and declares that it will be the prize for the first man to sight the
whale. As the Pequod sails toward the southern tip of Africa, whales are sighted and unsuccessfully
hunted. During the hunt, a group of men, none of whom anyone on the ship’s crew has seen before on
the voyage, emerges from the hold. The men’s leader is an exotic-looking man named Fedallah. These
men constitute Ahab’s private harpoon crew, smuggled aboard in defiance of Bildad and Peleg. Ahab
hopes that their skills and Fedallah’s prophetic abilities will help him in his hunt for Moby Dick.
The Pequod rounds Africa and enters the Indian Ocean. A few whales are successfully caught and
processed for their oil. From time to time, the ship encounters other whaling vessels. Ahab always
demands information about Moby Dick from their captains. One of the ships, the Jeroboam, carries
Gabriel, a crazed prophet who predicts doom for anyone who threatens Moby Dick. His predictions seem
to carry some weight, as those aboard his ship who have hunted the whale have met disaster. While
trying to drain the oil from the head of a captured sperm whale, Tashtego, one of the Pequod’s
harpooners, falls into the whale’s voluminous head, which then rips free of the ship and begins to sink.
Queequeg saves Tashtego by diving into the ocean and cutting into the slowly sinking head. During
another whale hunt, Pip, the Pequod’s black cabin boy, jumps from a whaleboat and is left behind in the
middle of the ocean. He goes insane as the result of the experience and becomes a crazy but prophetic
jester for the ship. Soon after, the Pequod meets the Samuel Enderby, a whaling ship whose skipper,
Captain Boomer, has lost an arm in an encounter with Moby Dick. The two captains discuss the whale;
Boomer, happy simply to have survived his encounter, cannot understand Ahab’s lust for vengeance. Not
long after, Queequeg falls ill and has the ship’s carpenter make him a coffin in anticipation of his death.
He recovers, however, and the coffin eventually becomes the Pequod’s replacement life buoy. Ahab
orders a harpoon forged in the expectation that he will soon encounter Moby Dick. He baptizes the
harpoon with the blood of the Pequod’s three harpooners. The Pequod kills several more whales. Issuing
a prophecy about Ahab’s death, Fedallah declares that Ahab will first see two hearses, the second of
which will be made only from American wood, and that he will be killed by hemp rope. Ahab interprets
these words to mean that he will not die at sea, where there are no hearses and no hangings. A typhoon
hits the Pequod, illuminating it with electrical fire. Ahab takes this occurrence as a sign of imminent
confrontation and success, but Starbuck, the ship’s first mate, takes it as a bad omen and considers killing
Ahab to end the mad quest. After the storm ends, one of the sailors falls from the ship’s masthead and
drowns—a grim foreshadowing of what lies ahead. Ahab’s fervent desire to find and destroy Moby Dick
continues to intensify, and the mad Pip is now his constant companion. The Pequod approaches the
equator, where Ahab expects to find the great whale. The ship encounters two more whaling ships,
the Rachel and the Delight, both of which have recently had fatal encounters with the whale. Ahab
finally sights Moby Dick. The harpoon boats are launched, and Moby Dick attacks Ahab’s harpoon boat,
destroying it. The next day, Moby Dick is sighted again, and the boats are lowered once more. The whale
is harpooned, but Moby Dick again attacks Ahab’s boat. Fedallah, trapped in the harpoon line, is dragged
overboard to his death. Starbuck must maneuver the Pequod between Ahab and the angry whale. On
the third day, the boats are once again sent after Moby Dick, who once again attacks them. The men can
see Fedallah’s corpse lashed to the whale by the harpoon line. Moby Dick rams the Pequod and sinks it.
Ahab is then caught in a harpoon line and hurled out of his harpoon boat to his death. All of the
remaining whaleboats and men are caught in the vortex created by the sinking Pequod and pulled under
to their deaths. Ishmael, who was thrown from a boat at the beginning of the chase, was far enough
away to escape the whirlpool, and he alone survives. He floats atop Queequeg’s coffin, which popped
back up from the wreck, until he is picked up by the Rachel, which is still searching for the crewmen lost
in her earlier encounter with Moby Dick.

Reflection:

The novel, Moby-Dick, can teach you many things if you can remain focussed long enough.
However, the most prominent lesson that can be learned from the work is not that complicated and
rather apparent. This lesson can be summed up in one sentence; don’t become to focussed and
obsessed with one goal to the point that you exclude the more important things in life.

Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her high-born kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me -
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud one night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we -
Of many far wiser than we -
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling -my darling -my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea -
In her tomb by the sounding sea

Reflection:

There is a difference between loving someone and being in love. Loving your family or loving a
friend is an example of one type of love. It is a type of love when you care about the person a lot and
have an emotional attachment. Loving your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend are examples of
being in love. This type of love is stronger because you have a passionate desire for the person and or
deeper affection for them. To either love someone or be in love the emotion is powerful and can make
a person feel and do many wild things.
Homer
William Shakespeare
Edgar Allan Poe
Victor Hugo
Herman Melville