Supplementary Reader in English for Class XII
(Core Course)
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12075 – VISTAS
ISBN 81-7450-723-X
Supplementary Reader for Class XII
First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
April 2007 Chaitra 1929 q No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
Reprinted mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior
November 2007, February 2009, permission of the publisher.
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trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the
January 2012, November 2012, publisher’s consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in
October 2013, December 2014, which it is published.
December 2015, December 2016, q The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page,
November 2017, November 2018, any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any
other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable.
December 2018, August 2019,
July 2021 and November 2021 OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION
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Joel Gill
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FOREWORD
The National Curriculum Framework, 2005,
recommends that children's life at school must be
linked to their life outside the school. This principle
marks a departure from the legacy of bookish
learning which continues to shape our system and
causes a gap between the school, home and
community. The syllabi and textbooks developed
on the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement
this basic idea. They also attempt to discourage rote
learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries
between different subject areas. We hope these
measures will take us significantly further in the
direction of a child-centred system of education
outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).
The success of this effort depends on the steps
that school principals and teachers will take to
encourage children to reflect on their own learning
and to pursue imaginative activities and questions.
We must recognise that, given space, time and
freedom, children generate new knowledge by
engaging with the information passed on to them by
adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole
basis of examination is one of the key reasons why
other resources and sites of learning are ignored.
Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we
perceive and treat children as participants in learning,
not as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school
routines and mode of functioning. Flexibility in the
daily time-table is as necessary as rigour in
implementing the annual calendar so that the
required number of teaching days are actually
devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching
and evaluation will also determine how effective this
textbook proves for making children's life at school
a happy experience, rather than a source of stress
or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to
address the problem of curricular burden by
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restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different
stages with greater consideration for child
psychology and the time available for teaching. The
Supplementary Reader attempts to enhance this
endeavour by giving higher priority and space to
opportunities for contemplation and wondering,
discussion in small groups, and activities requiring
hands-on experience.
The National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT) appreciates the hard work
done by the Textbook Development Committee
responsible for this book. We wish to thank the
Chairperson of the Advisory Committee in Languages,
Professor Namwar Singh and the Chief Advisor for
this book, Professor Amritavalli for guiding the work
of this committee. Several teachers contributed to the
development of this Supplementary Reader; we are
grateful to their principals for making this possible.
We are indebted to the institutions and
organisations which have generously permitted us
to draw upon their resources, material and
personnel. We are especially grateful to the members
of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed
by the Department of Secondary and Higher
Education, Ministry of Human Resource
Development under the Chairmanship of Professor
Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande, for their
valuable time and contribution. As an organisation
committed to systemic reform and continuous
improvement in the quality of its products, NCERT
welcomes comments and suggestions which will
enable us to undertake further revision and
refinement.
Director
National Council of
New Delhi Educational Research
20 November 2006 and Training
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RATIONALISATION OF CONTENT
IN THE TEXTBOOKS
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative
to reduce content load on students. The National
Education Policy 2020, also emphasises reducing
the content load and providing opportunities for
experiential learning with creative mindset. In this
background, the NCER T has undertaken the
exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes.
Learning Outcomes already developed by the NCERT
across classes have been taken into consideration in
this exercise.
Contents of the textbooks have been rationalised
in view of the following:
• Content based on genres of literature in the
textbooks and supplementary readers at different
stages of school education
• Content that is meant for achieving Learning
Outcomes for developing language proficiency
and is accessible at different stages
• For reducing the curriculum load and
examination stress in view of the prevailing
condition of Pandemic
• Content, which is easily accessible to students
without much interventions from teachers and
can be learned by children through self-learning
or peer-learning
• Content, which is irrelevant in the present context
This present edition, is a reformatted version after
carrying out the changes given above.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Vistas is a supplementary reader in English
(Core course) for Class XII, based on the guidelines
of the National Curriculum Framework 2005. The
main objective of this book is to make extensive
reading an enjoyable experience, lead students to
appreciate some of the best examples of writing and
understand the social milieu they live in.
An attempt has been made to attain these
objectives by presenting varied themes and genres
of writing. The themes range from scientific fantasy,
political satire, and adventure, to ethical and moral
issues and personal conflicts.
Jack Finney’s ‘The Third Level’ is a scientific
fantasy, while ‘The Tiger King’ by Kalki is a political
satire. ‘Antartica’ is a travel piece, with a suggestion
that the young reader could take part in the
expedition by logging on to [Link].
The two stories that follow are by Pearl S. Buck.
Buck’s story sets human fellow-feeling against
national loyalty.
The play by Susan Hill is on the themes of
disabilities while excerpts from Bama’s ‘Karukku’
and an excerpt from ‘The Land of the Red Apple’, a
story in Zitkala-Sa’s, book ‘The School Days of an
Indian Girl’.
Each unit has questions. The question on the
texts in the supplementary reader take the learner
beyond factual comprehension to contemplating on
the issues that the texts raise. Activities suggested
take off from the texts.
What will now
happen to the
astrologer? Do you
think the prophecy
was indisputably
disproved?
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Gandhiji’s Talisman
I will give you a talisman. Whenever
you are in doubt or when the self
becomes too much with you, apply
the following test:
Recall the face of the poorest and
the weakest man whom you may
have seen and ask yourself if the
step you contemplate is going to be
of any use to him. Will he gain
anything by it? Will it restore him
to a control over his own life and
destiny? In other words, will it lead
to Swaraj for the hungry and
spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts
and your self melting away.
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TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSON, ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TEXTBOOKS
INLANGUAGES AT THE HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL
Namwar Singh, Professor and formerly Chairman,
School of Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi
CHIEF ADVISOR
R. Amritavalli, Professor, English and Foreign
Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad
CHIEF COORDINATOR
Ram Janma Sharma, Professor and Former Head,
Department of Education in Languages, NCERT,
New Delhi
MEMBERS
Chaya Nautiyal, Deputy Director, Secondary
Education, Directorate of Education, Allahabad
Gayatri Khanna, ELT Consultant, New Delhi
Indu Khetarpal, Principal, Salwan Public School,
Gurgaon
Kirti Kapur, Assistant Professor, NCERT, New Delhi
Malathy Krishnan, Professor, EFLU, Hyderabad
Nasiruddin Khan, Reader (Retd.), NCERT, New
Delhi
Pranjit Dev Savema, PGT, J.N.V, Roing, Arunachal
Pradesh
Rajendrasinh Jadeja, Director, [Link] Institute
of English Training and Research, Vallabh
Vidyanagar, Gujarat
Saryug Yadav, Associate Professor, RIE, Ajmer
S.K. Shyamla, PGT , Demonstration Multi Purpose
School, RIE, Mysore
MEMBER-COORDINATOR
Meenakshi Khar, Assistant Professor, Department
of Education in Languages, NCERT, New Delhi
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The National Council of Educational Research and
Training is grateful to Professor Harish Trivedi and
Professor Alok Rai from the Department of English
Delhi University and Vandana R Singh, Consultant
Editor for going through the manuscript and making
valuable suggestions.
For permission to reproduce copyright material
in this book, NCERT would like to thank The Hindu
for ‘Journey to the end of the Earth’ by Tishani Doshi
and for Macmillan India Limited for Bama, ‘Karukku’,
Dalit writing and Translation by Bama; Penguin
Books India Pvt Ltd for ‘The Tiger King’ by Kalki; and
Blackwell Publishers for ‘The Cutting of my Long Hair’
by Zitkala-Sa.
The Council is grateful to the members of the
Review Committee for Rationalisation of Curriculum
constituted by Department of Curriculum Studies
NCERT, from CBSE and Department of Education in
Languages NCERT New Delhi for reviewing the
textbooks and Supplementary Readers.
The Council acknowledges the services of
Sunanda Khanna and G C Chandrakar, Copy Editors;
Surender K Vats, Proof Reader; Mohd. Harun, DTP
Operator; and Parash Ram Kaushik, Incharge,
Computer Station. The efforts of the publication
Department, NCERT are also highly appreciated.
It has not been possible to trace the copyright in
all cases. The publishers apologise for any omissions
and would be glad to hear from any such
unacknowledged copyright holders.
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CONTENTS
Foreword iii
Rationalisation of Content in the Textbooks v
About the Book vii
1. The Third Level Jack Finney 1
2. The Tiger King Kalki 8
3. Journey to the end of the Earth Tishani Doshi 18
4. The Enemy Pearl S. Buck 24
5. On the face of It Susan Hill 48
6. Memories of Childhood 63
• The Cutting of My Long Hair Zitkala-Sa
• We Too are Human Beings Bama
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