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About the Author Lu Xun (Zhou Shuren)  (1881-1936) He belonged to a family with a strong Confucian background. Confucianism is a philosophy developed by Confucius, a philosopher and teacher who lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. It focuses on the importance of personal ethics and morality. He is considered China’s greatest author of the 20th century. He is known for his satirical observations of early 20th-century  Chinese society and also a pioneer of modern vernacular Chinese literature. Vernacular literature means the literary work that consists of dialects spoken by ordinary people. Background of the Story This story presents a comparison between Xun’s childhood memories and the middle age scenario. It depicts the conflict between memories, expectations, and realities. After returning to his old home to sell it for ever, he observes the suffering of lower class people. Through his experiences, he presents the gap between higher class and lower class ironically.  Character Analysis Lu Xun

  About the Author Herbert George Wells (H.G. Wells) (1866-1946) He was an English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, well known for science fiction novels. It is supposed that Wells used the concept of an atomic weapon in his 1914 book The World Set Free, which actually became true in the Second World War. He published his first fiction, The Time Machine, in 1895, which was immensely popular, which established him as a science fiction writer.  His science fiction novels include The Wonderful Visit (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) , The Invisible Man (1897) and others. Background of the story "The Treasure in the Forest" is a fictional story taken from the collection The Country of Blind and other Short Stories .  It is a story that represents the ominous adventure genre of fiction in which two men search for Spanish treasure, deceiving three Chinamen with the temptation of greed and crime. It shows how power and greed corrupt human beings. Characte

  About the Author Anita Desai (1937) In Mussoorie, India , Desai was born to a German immigrant mother, Toni Nime, and a Bengali businessman, D. N. Mazumdar. She is a novelist, short story writer and writer of children’s books.  She received the Sahitya Academy Award for her novel Fire on the Mountain in 1978 from India’s National Academy of Letters . Background of the story “A Devoted Son” is a realistic story set in a middle-class Indian family in an Indian village.  The story portrays how parents invest their lives for the children’s success and how a son should pay back to the parents by fulfilling his duty. Characters: Rakesh: He is the central character of the story. He stands first in the country in his medical exam. He even gets an opportunity to study M.D. in the USA and progresses enough to settle there. However, he returns to his hometown, India, to serve his parents.  Mr Verma : He is the father of Rakesh. He has worked as a kerosine vendor for forty years to educate

About the Author Kate Chopin (1851 to 1904) She was an American author of short stories and novels. She was born in St. Louis but became a resident of New Orleans after getting married to Oscar Chopin. Her stories aroused controversy because of the sexual connotations in her short stories. Her novel The Awakening was even banned from publishing because of this reason. She wrote more than 100 short stories, among which “Disiree’s Baby”, “Madame Celestin’s Divorce”, and “A Respectable Woman” are more popular than others. Background of the story: This story talks about the psychological conflict of the main character Mrs. Baroda as she gets sexually attracted to her husband’s friend.  This story follows the classical pattern of fiction, therefore moving from exposition to rising action and then to climax and resolution. Classical Pattern of the Fiction: Character Analysis: Mrs Baroda : She is the major character of the story who initially seems to hate her husband's friend, but later