Summarising : (3 marks)Write a ‘Summary’ of the above extract by using the following points :Class assignment – teacher’s encouraging feedback in the margin – fulfilment of the dream – Dalkoff as co-editor – School reunion experience.

Answer: A suitable title and a short summary in your own words covering all five points.

Title : Four Words That Changed a Life

Dalkoff was a shy, insecure boy with no self-confidence. In 1965 his English teacher, Mrs. Brauch, asked the class to write a chapter that would follow the last chapter of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. In the margin of his paper she wrote, “This is good writing.” These four words gave him confidence. He went home and wrote a short story, fulfilling a dream he had never believed he could achieve, and went on writing many stories for her to evaluate. He became co-editor of the school newspaper and began a successful life. At his 30th school reunion he visited the retired teacher, thanked her and told her that he had passed the same confidence on to his wife, who also became a writer.