12th1.2 On Saying Please.ppt is a lesson in H,S.C

PPT

1. 1.2 on saying “please” by Alfred George gardiner

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Alfred george gardiner Alfred George Gardiner (1865 to 1946) started his literary career as a journalist .He wrote under the pen name, ‘Alpha of the plough’. He was a biographer, a social reformer and an essayist. His essays are elegant, graceful and humourous . Through his writings, he uniquely teaches the basic truths of life in an easy and amusing manner.He is known for his conversational style of writing.

3. SOME OF HIS BEST KNOWN WRITINGS

4. This essay tells us about the great value of good manners in social life and emphasizes the importance of courtesy and politeness in our daily behavior. Bad manners are anti-social Though bad manners are not considered criminal in the eyes of the law, the society always looks down upon the rude people. Good manners and bad manners are really contagious. If bad manners of one person influences others and make them rude and ill-tempered, good manners of one person also affects others and make them polite and kind. INTRODUCTION

5. Themes of on saying ‘‘please’’ Importance of Courtesy: In this essay, Gardiner points out that Courtesy is very important in life because when you are courteous people have a good impression of you and respect automatically follows, instead of hatred. He explains how polite speech and manner sweeten the atmosphere around & how discourtesy & ill manners spoil or pollute it. Value of good manners: Gardiner emphasizes the value of gentleness of speech & manner & concludes that politeness is a more effective tool of taking revenge on a discourteous person, as is seen in the case of Chesterfield than a violent attack by the liftman on the passenger. Learning to have courtesy is a must for everyone who desires to make progress in life.

6. Summary of on saying ‘please’ The essay starts with an incident of a lift man in a City office who threw a passenger out of his lift because he didn’t use ‘Please’. He just said “Top” and not “Top-please”. Both the passenger and the lift man had to suffer for not saying ‘ Please’as the passenger was hurt being thrown out of the lift ,he also felt insulted and the liftman suffered the mental agony and the punishment by the law.Both of them lost their peace of mind.

7. chain reaction A.G. Gardiner says, “ We infect the world with our ill- humours . Bad manners probably do more to poison the stream of the general life than all the crimes in the calender .” As courtesy is contagious, so is discourtesy. You receive what you give. It’s a Chain Reaction. The writer gives the example of lift man and it all started with the housemaid who insulted the cook,the cook behaved rudely with the wife of the employer,as she couldn’t fire the cook , she got angry on her husband ,then the nagged husband didn’t respond to his employee’s morning greetings,so the employee got tensed who went into the lift in bad mood and behaved rudely with the lift man and the lift man pushed him out of the lift.In this way the infection of ill manners spreads.

8. In contrast to the previous example ,Gardiner talks about a polite Bus Conductor who is the symbol of Courteousness and Mannerism. He is a very courteous, cheerful and compassionate Bus Conductor. One day the author boarded the bus and eventually came to know that he had no money to buy the tickets as he had forgotten his wallet at home.He thought that the bus conductor would consider him a cheat.But the polite bus conductor did not tell him to get off the bus but gave him the ticket without doubting him. The writer was really impressed with the Bus Conductor’s polite and understanding behavior. POLITE BUS CONDUCTOR

9. One day the author’s toe was unintentionally trampled by the conductor and he immediately apologized, he was so nice to the author that he chose to reciprocate by assuring the conductor that his toe wasn’t hurt. It shows that if we are good tempered ,kind and humorous towards others, We will receive the same in return. Courtesy is the light of life. He lightens up his own life and other people’s lives by being nice to everyone. POLITE BUS CONDUCTOR

10. Impoliteness is Worse than physical abuse When Sir Anthony Absolute bullied Captain Absolute ,the latter went out and bullied his man, Fag, whereupon Fag went downstairs and kicked the Page-boy. This is nothing but the ripple-effect that rude behavior causes, among people from top to bottom. So, if we are physically hurt ,it would pain us for a while and soon it may pass away. However, if someone hurts our self respect ,the wound stays deep. It remains with us for a long time and has a potential to ruin our entire day.

11. After that ,the author began to observe him whenever he boarded his bus. The Conductor would always make his passengers comfortable with his patience and courteous behaviour . Particularly,he was surprised with the ease with which the conductor got through his work. Bus Conductor’s attitude towards Old People Children Young People Blind Man As Considerate as a son As caring as a father Had a peculiarly warm place in his heart, cracked jokes Helped them as a caretaker and a supporter

12. The story of Chesterfield At the end, the author gives the example of Lord Chesterfield to explain that if you meet an uncivil person we should act politely .This will not only make the opponent realize his folly but also will restore our peace of mind. The lord replied politely to the rude man proving him to be a scoundrel himself whereas the liftman retaliated physically with the rude man.

13. CONCLUSION Gardiner says that we must get the civilities if we want to make life kindly and tolerable for each other. The polite man may lose the material advantage but he always has the spiritual victory. If the lift man had taken the moral high ground and continued to be polite to the man .He may have in fact changed the man’s approach to him. By showing civility the narrator argues that more is to be gained than if one is ill-mannered or ill-tempered towards another person. If anything the lift man has lost his peace of mind and possibly his freedom.