A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 78


A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers
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1. Items in a published book appear in the following order: Copyright Page, Footnotes, Bibliography, and Index.
 

2. The books of Gulliver’s Travels are:

 Part I “Voyage to Lilliput”, Lemuel Gulliver describes the habits and politics of the people of Lilliput and the neighboring nation of Blefuscu.

 Part II “Voyage to Brobdingnag”, another voyage takes Gulliver to Brobdingnag, a land where every living being is twelve times larger than in England.

Part III “Voyage to Laputa”   Gulliver visits the islands of Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdribb, and Japan. Laputa, the Flying Island, is an allegory of the court and government of George I.

In Part IV “Voyage to Houyhnhnms”, Gulliver journeys to the land of the Houyhnhnms, rational horses, and the Yahoos, appallingly irrational humans. 

A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 77


A Set of 26 Objective Questions &  Answers
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1. Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (Hero: Raskolnikov ) explores the psychological depths of man. It examines tragedy as represented through the existential beliefs of many philosophers. Existentialist theory expresses the idea that man can satisfy his own needs, regardless of social codes, if he has the energy and ambition to act. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)    Raskolnikov has the ambition to act, but struggles internally with their actions, frightened of the consequences.  The story is very close to Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
2. Pecola is a character in: The Bluest Eye which is Toni Morrison's novel published in 1970.
3. Virginia Woolf was associated with the “Bloomsbury Group”( T. S. Eliot ,W. B. Yeats, T. E. Hulme  ). She is British novelist, essayist, and critic, who helped create the modern novel. Her writing often explores the concepts of time, memory, and people’s inner consciousness, and is remarkable for its humanity and depth of perception.

Critical Appreciation of Ruskin Bond’s "The Eyes Have It" : Theme of Self-Conscience and Blindness


"If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
King James Bible 
Matthew 15:14

The long-popular The Eyes Have It of Ruskin Bond is an engaging story told from the perspective of a blind person. The Eyes Have It's experiences lead him through a diverse series of encounters and bring him into contact with many inner characters within himself, including other blind people with stories of their own to tell. Bond uses The Eyes Have It's story to explore his theme of self conscience. He shows the positive results of kind treatment, while satirizing the escapist attitude in us. Bond believed that blind bonds were a societal problem that could not be ignored, a problem that was often caused by ignorance and curse, as well as intentional abuse. The lines between dream and reality are clearly drawn, and this fable is intended to leave the reader with a strong moral lesson that it is better to be a real person than an imagined one. The blinds are mistreated through no fault of their own by uncaring or insensitive people. Read More Short Stories In Bond's story the world is cruel because it is inhabited by corrupted people, who have the power to reform, if they wish.

Written during a major period of growth in the movement for humane treatment of physically challenged people, The Eyes Have It became the work that represented the movement. Read More Short Stories The Eyes Have It is not only the primary mode of transportation of feeling; it is also becoming   symbol or myth for light. It shares the need for new learning to learn about good care of physically challenged and marginalized people.  Bond decides that a creative format would be the most effective means of voicing his concerns because it would appeal to a large audience. And the result is The Eyes Have It

Now coming to the story, we find that the narrator’s eyes are sensitive only to light and darkness. While going to Dehradun by train he comes across a girl. He starts conversation and gradually becomes interested in her. He tactfully hides his blindness from the girl to impress her. Read More Short Stories But the conversation does not last long. The girl bids him good-bye as the train arrives at her destination. After her departure, a new male passenger comes into the compartment. From that man the narrator learns that the girl was completely blind. The revelation shocks the narrator. He feels that he has deceived himself. This is an ironical twist that makes the end of the story so appealing.

Bond wrote The Eyes Have It to expose the widespread underestimation of physically challenged. He depicts physically challenged that receive good care as well as those who are abused. The contrasts in the physically challenged personalities are sometimes startling.  Another of The Eyes Have It's themes is the difficulty of a blind man's life in general, and the particular difficulty of dealing with the hypocrisy of them who use a hide and seek to feign light. Read More Short Stories At the time that Bond wrote of a conversation that the three passengers had, and his resulting intention to portray the problem of hypocrisy in casual conversation. In this piece of writing, Bond relates the blind man's story of a journey whose meeting with another blind young girl passenger were actually mild hypocritical as to hand the blind man a tract on keeping a lie of light as they got out of their conversation on their way to Mussoorie.

The Eyes Have It is very much in the tradition of the moralistic ballads especially those that present self-improvement and social justice lessons in a story written in simple language to suit the reading levels of their intended audiences. Read More Short Stories It is an ideal short story both in length and breath. With limited set of three characters – the narrator, the girl and the new passenger, it illustrates Bond’s art of simplicity and universality. Using the first person narrative technique, it tells a simple tale in a lucid style with a deep insight into the psychology of men. It ends with a striking discovery, and its plot is well-knit. Bond makes the story a vivid one by using the first person narrative technique. It is full of ironical turns and twists. The blindness is contrasted to the beauty of Mussoorie. There is a real humour in the narrator’s attempt to conceal his blindness. But this humour takes an ironical turn when he discovers that the girl is also blind. It shows Ruskin Bond’s sympathy for the blind and for their troubles and loneliness. If the third person in the story is everyman, the train is no more an ordinary train, but a journey of life.

Analyses of Habib Tanvir’s play "Charandas Chor" as Thematic Complexity ( Paradox)

Habib Tanvir’s play Charandas Chor, is steeped in paradox simply because the title character Charandas in spite of being a thief   is really honest, sympathetic and truthful-  The very idea of the hero in the play is based on paradoxes and contradictions.   Read More Indian English   One could not conceive the play, Charandas Chor , in any other terms than seeing it as a putting together of truth and lie simultaneously in a man.  Read More Indian English Farther, there are liars, scoundrels, thieves, but they are men of principles as well. There are custodians of law, but they are breakers of it too. There are saints and sanyasis, but they run after money as well. There are men of intellect, but it is very easy to deceive them. There are rich, affluent people, but at heart, they are the poorest. Affluent people like the landlord are poor at heart. He cannot share a kilo with those who have nothing. There are paupers, but at heart, they are very rich. The paupers like the peasant are rich in heart. Thus, the theme of the entire play is embedded in a remarkable juxtaposition of opposites, one after another. In the play, as has been pointed out, truth and lie go hand in hand. Read More Indian English People who deceive and cheat others turn out to be humanitarian as well.  The theme and the characters of the play reveal and depict paradoxes and contradiction of the society and the human nature in the dramatic umbrela.

 Charandas, the so called hero or the anti hero in the play is a thief, who steals golden plates. He is all the time chased by a policeman. He robs the poor farmers, snatches jewellery from a wealthy merchant’s wife. He even enters into the temple and steals whatever he finds there. Read More Indian English He is even not afraid of anything while robbing the queen of her five coins. Though Charandas snatches the belonging of a poor peasant but he also readily shares the sattu with him. He robs a wealthy man’s wife and is expected to run away. But Charandas returns her ornaments because he cannot bear to see a woman weep. Overall, where a Munim is expected to guard the royal treasury, incidentally he steals. When he is caught and driven out from the court Charandas, a thief, criticizes him by calling him ‘thief'. This is a great paradox. Charandas himself gets the opportunity of marrying a queen and becoming a king. But he refuses because he wanted to keep his word. This is quite unexpected from a thief. The queen also suffers from a contradiction between the role of an administrator and a beloved. Thus,  Read More Drama  stealing and giving go hand in hand in Charandas' case. On the one hand, he is a thief, and thieves are not supposed to be humanitarian. They are supposed to run away with whatever they get. But, Charandas never does that, he first steals and then returns. For example, as it is briefed earlier, after stealing sattu from a poor peasant, he shouts, “Arrey, sattu, only sattu! Oh sattuwala! Come here! Come on back, don’t be scared. Sit down; let’s share this like brothers” (Tanvir 60). Charandas has stolen sacks of rice from the landlord. Yet the chorus sings: ‘Charandas is not a thief.’ — Why?


In the other instance, being faced a terrible famine in the village the peasant could not manage a single grain of food for three days to his children. He came to the landlord to beg alms. But in spite of giving a single grain of food the landlord behaved badly and drove out him. With the help of Rawat dancers Charandas and the peasant came in disguise to the landlord house. When landlord and his servant were busy in enjoying the dace they stole all the sacks of rice. Then they distributed the rice among all the villagers.In this time the chorus sang, Charandas is not a thief because the landlord is undoubtedly greater thief than Charandas. Being a thief Charandas steals in the night because stealing is his dharma but the landlord steals in the open daylight from the poor people. Landlord sucks the blood of common people and earns a lot but never shares a single grain of corn with the poor people.

 On the other hand, Charandas robs the wealthy and distributes the wealth among the poor. Read More Indian English He robs a wealthy merchant’s wife, he is expected to run away with all the booty, but, instead of this, Charandas cannot see her weep. He returns immediately whatever he has snatched. A wealthy merchant’s wife from Nandagaon enters in to the stage. She is covered in ornaments from head to toe. The heavy jewellery comes to the sight of Charandas. Then he hits upon a plan to snatch the jewellery. He tells her that Chhotey Babu is seriously ill. He keeps calling for his didi. He won’t take medicine from any other than his didi. The woman corrects Charandas that she is Cbhotey Babu’s bhabi. Charandas insists her to accompany him as there is no time to be wasted. He is on the verge of death. The women readily go with him. After walking a few paces Charandas stops. He frightens her saying that a man was attacked there just the other day. He suggests her to take off her ornament and put it in his gamchha. The woman does so. In the mean time she confesses that the jewellery is brought from Raigarh and the name of the jeweler is Ramlal. Then Charandas ordered the woman to hand them over to him for safety. The woman refuses to give it. Charandas snatches it. The woman calls him rogue and starts crying. She curses him. Charandas too starts crying. At last Charandas returns her ornaments because he can not bear to see a woman weep. 

Actually, Charandas inadvertently takes five vows before the Guru.  According to them, he will never eat in golden plate, never presides an elephant procession, never marry a queen and never be a king. He also says that he will never lie in future. Now, on the one hand, he is not ready to abjure stealing, which he calls as his “Dharma” (Tanvir 101), on the other hand, he pledges to remain truthful. No doubt, he does not give up stealing, but he also adheres to his oath of becoming a truthful man. Read More Indian English A thief is generally supposed to be selfish, mean and egocentric. Charandas happened to hear that a new Minister was coming to inspect the treasury. He made a plan with his Guru. He also took the help of the Havaldar. The havaldar brought flowers and garlands. The Guru greeted the new Minister by offering garlands in such a way that he could see nothing. Thereafter, the Guru engaged the Minister to inaugurate a lot of shops and market places. In the meantime Charandas, in the disguise of the new Minister collected the key of the royal chest from the Münim. He befooled the Munim and the sentries with his authoritative attitude. Charandas opened the chest and took only five gold coins just to make the queen know that she had been robbed. After that Charandas returned the key to the Munim and left the place. But, Charandas is of a helping nature. He robs the landlord not for his own sake, but for the sake of the entire village. He robs the Queen not to enhance his fortunes, but to make his presence felt. Later on, time tests him. He is given opportunity of leading a procession, marrying a queen, eating in a golden plate and becoming a king. But, he refuses to do any of the things. Had there been any other common man, he could have pounced upon this golden opportunity without caring for future consequences. 

Interestingly, the Queen happens to be young and pretty, and she also offers to pay off all penances: “Do penance, if necessary. We can hold an atonement ceremony and gather all the ascetics and holy men and fulfill all the rituals necessary to absolve you” (Tanvir 110). Charandas is expected to surrender, but no, he is very firm. Read More Indian English This explains the nature of paradox. He prefers to die rather than succumbing to all pressures. 

Another paradox dealt within the play is: Spiritualism versus Materialism. This is evident from the conduct of the Guru and the Priest. On the one hand, there is religion represented by the Guru and the Priest. As Guru is supposed to be a man of restraint, a man who has renounced all worldly considerations, a man who is selfless and benevolent. The Guru in the play also asks his followers to give up their vices, and yet he is a man of this world, he is more concerned with money than with salvation. The song which he sings constantly proves this: That’s all you have to do, just give the guru his due. Is it salvation you want? Just Give the guru his due (Tanvir 64). The Priest is also supposed to be a man of pious nature. He is expected to be well versed in the Vedas Read More Indian English. Now, the priest in the play does perform ceremonies yet reading of many religious scripts fail to turn him into a man of wisdom. He is not able to penetrate beneath the mask which Charandas is wearing. His heart leaps when he sees a basket full of golden ornaments. He is not here motivated by any humanitarian instinct. His eyes are set simply upon the precious booty which forces him to make Charandas stay there. 

To conclude, it can be said that Charandas Chor is a remarkable play steeped in paradox. Read More Drama These paradoxes not only make the play interesting, but make it complex as well. What Tanvir is trying to prove is that, perhaps, nothing is final and noting is absolute? Truth becomes lie and lie becomes truth. Preserve becomes offender and offender becomes preserver. Meaning is never fixed. It is determined by the context. Secondly, these paradoxes also surprise and amuse the readers because of the innate irony which they carry in them. One expects one thing, but something quite different and surprising happens. This constant shifting from one meaning to the other makes the play a delightful and illuminating reading.  The death of Charandas apart from being tragic is ironical. Like Socrates, Jesus Christ and Gandhi. Charandas died for truth. Read More Indian English He is a common, simple and unheroic. He took vows not to tell lie. His truthfulness raises him from the status of a petty village thief to that of a popular hero. He was honoured by the queen when he told the truth about the theft of five coins. Again his truthfulness brought death to him. When the queen requested him not to tell people what happened between them, Charandas did not agree to tell a lie. Charandas did not go the convenient way of saying yes to the queen. The queen is not simply a tyrant, but a crude politician. There was no way she could let him go free. As soon as she knew that the populace would get to know, she feared her position. So, she ordered him to be killed to save her honour. This death of Charandas presents a struggle between the state and a protagonist. This is seen throughout history that such people are always eliminated.

Key Points:

  1. Charandas Chor is a play about a thief who is also a man of principles.
  2. He is honest, sympathetic, and truthful, even though he is a criminal.
  3. This paradox is explored through the play's themes of good and evil, truth and falsehood, and justice and injustice.
  4. The play suggests that there is no such thing as absolute good or evil, and that even the most "evil" people can have good qualities.
  5. It also suggests that the truth is often more complex than it seems, and that there is no one right way to see the world.

Works Cited

1. Das, Sisir. A History of Indian Literature 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular. Sahitya 

Akademi, 2005.

2. Detha Vijaydan. "The Crafty Thief." translated by Christi Merrill and Kailash Kabir, Pratilipi, issue 13, pratilipi.in/the-crafty-thief-vijaydan-detha/.

3. Guptal, Suchandana. “Raman Govt bans Tanvir Classic ‘Charandas Chor’, 4 Aug, 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Raman-govt-bans-Tanvir-classic-Charandas-Chor/articleshow/4854396.cms

4. Katyal, Anjum, translator. "My Milestones in Theatre: Habib Tanvir in Conversation." 

Charandas Chor, by Habib Tanvir. Calcutta:  Seagull Books, 2004.

5. Habib Tanvir : Towards an Inclusive Theatre. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2012.

6. Charan Das Chor (Vol. I) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/dni.ncaa.ICCR-315-UM

Ecocritical Appreciation of Gieve Patel’s "On Killing a Tree"

"In my childhood trees were green
And there were plenty to be seen. "
--Louis MacNeice 

The theme in Gieve Patel’s ecocritical poem  On Killing a Tree is the notion of a clash between two different attitudes, saving and cutting a tree. The focus for this is environmental degradation. The poem is very short. But it slashes out scar in our minds.  The ravages of modern industrial society are represented by the woodcutter. We think like of the cannibalizing its own guts and soon to destroy the living trees and home lives of our mother earth. Read More Indian English It was such a human story. A similar process is going on in the countries in the world which are being mined for profit. Patel launches into a tirade against the practice in his  On Killing a Tree but in a tone of total irony. 

 Cutting of trees is not simply cutting the branches or cutting its stem. Here it is given a ceremonial entity. The branches and leaves will grow again. We need to cut out the root and dry it in the sun so that it is destroyed. Read More Indian English Patel endorses that it will take too much time to kill a tree. The sarcastic tone is clear in view that cutting of trees need the same cruelty of a murderer. No Jagadish Chandra need to prove once again that trees have life. Only but our heartlessness deny this scientific truth. It is not just a simple jab, a quick stab or blow  to do the job. The tree has grown, like that of a growth of a child,  slowly consuming the earth: eating and drinking from it: rising out of the earth, feeding upon the crust of the earth, absorbing: taking in: innumerable years of sunlight, air water, out of the trees’ leprous hide: resembling the skin of a leper (here) refers to the discolored bark of the tree: the newly formed leaves begin to sprout:
“It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leperous hide
Sprouting leaves.”
A woodcutter simply the professional murderer of a tree may hack: cut or chop with repeated and regular blows: and chop, but still this alone will not do the job. The tree does not seem to feel any kind of pain because the bleeding bark seemed to heal all the time. The trunk of the tree from close to the ground will produced curled green twigs that will rise from the miniature bows. 

In contrast to this practice of ripping natural substances out of the ground, making them into something unnatural, and then returning the waste products to the earth in an indigestible form—all in the name of economic progress and profit— Patel presents the very different attitude that we have toward the earth. At first the difference puzzles Patel. Read More Indian English He asks us how it can be that a cutting a tree has remained productive for over a thousand years, but human civilization is pending destruction after only a period. The difference, as Patel later learns, is that cutting a tree is no childish job- rather a heartless process of infanticide. Patel endorses us to respect the earth as a living being and seek with humility to maintain the ecological balance that the earth needs. We should acknowledge that we do not own the earth but try to be responsible guests. So we need the cruelty to: 
“So hack and chop
But this alone wont do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.”

The most important thing to do while killing a tree is to ensure that the root is pulled out of the anchoring: source of security and stability: earth. The tree is to be rope-tied and pulled out: snapped out: pulled apart or break with a snapping sound: or it should be pulled out entirely from the earth cave:
“No,
The root is to be pulled out -
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out - snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.”

Finally, the strength of the tree will be exposed, from the very source where the white and wet, which is the most sensitive part which has been hidden for many years inside the earth. Read More Indian English Then it is only a matter of scorching: burning superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of: and choking: here drying up: in the sun. In the end, the tree will go through a process of browning, hardening, twisting and withering. Then ultimately, the tree gets killed:
“Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.”

Gieve Patel is himself a doctor, an environmentalist, and he is conscious of food chain and the preservation of it. His  On Killing a Tree says the same things, only sarcastically. The Earth was put here as a garden with trees for us not to conquer and extinct but to love and live. That way of thought is productive in On Killing a Tree.

Stunning Highlights: Ecocriticism of Gieve Patel's "On Killing a Tree"

Key Points:

  1. The poem explores the relationship between humans and nature, and the guilt and regret that can accompany acts of destruction.
  2. The speaker describes the tree as a living being, with its own thoughts and feelings.
  3. The act of killing the tree is seen as a violation, and the speaker is left feeling remorseful.
  4. The poem raises questions about our responsibility to nature, and the impact that our actions have on the environment.

In a Nutshell:

Gieve Patel's poem "On Killing a Tree" is an ecocritical exploration of the relationship between humans and nature. The poem describes the act of killing a tree as a violation, and the speaker is left feeling remorseful. The poem raises questions about our responsibility to nature, and the impact that our actions have on the environment.

Here are some additional thoughts on the ecocritical significance of the poem:

  1. The poem uses personification to make the tree seem like a living being. This helps to emphasize the sense of violation that the speaker feels when he kills the tree.
  2. The poem uses natural imagery to create a sense of beauty and peace. This juxtaposition with the act of killing the tree highlights the destructiveness of human actions.
  3. The poem ends with the speaker asking for forgiveness from the tree. This suggests that the speaker is aware of the wrongness of his actions, and that he is trying to make amends.

Ardhendu De 
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gieve_Patel

Teaching a Good Literature Class through Story Telling - Necessity of Introducing Stories in the Classroom



 "A tale should be judicious, clear, succinct;
The language plain, and incidents well link'd;
Tell not as new what ev'ry body knows;
And, new or old, still hasten to a close."
William Cowper (1731 - 1800)

Introduction: The ancient art of storytelling continues to flourish in modern class room, partly in response to widespread media. This age-old practice of telling stories is a highly developed and much appreciated art form. It is also one of the best ways of imparting literature classes. It is wide of range and can be exercised from elementary to university classes. The Story telling in the classroom can widen the scope of foreign literature bearing as well as great milieu of oration. Read More Short Stories It is very necessary to introduce stories in the classroom as stories are interesting, captivating and absorbing even for the college or university students. We all know, that the children like to listen to stories and they wait with rapt attention to know the end of the happening and it is same arresting for young adults.  So a teacher can arrest their attention and concentration all through the lesson and make them listen to the words and sentences for few minutes in the class. The use of stories (folklore) has become the thread that links the past with the present in our society. These stories concern all parts of our life and often teach traditional values, beliefs, and behaviors. They are also a major form of entertainment in literature.

It has some direct benefits-    

Language Learning in the Classroom: The student can get the utmost interest if the enlighten teachers impart good stories to them. In this way the students will be more motivated to the target language and will try their own to acquire such. A classwise stories of English literature can be arranged likewise where epic stories must have to be included.  

Learning the other Cultures:  The students’ best acquaint with the foreign cultures comes through tales. There can be fruitful classes of languages through telling of stories. Stories can provide link with the world outside the classroom.  When a student listens to one of Aesop’s fables for example, the student is listening to language and at the same time, learning about the world beyond. Listening to stories in the classroom is a shared social experience which can help a student build up confidence and encourage social and emotional development.Read More Short Stories As young adults enjoy listening to stories over and over again, it leads to repetition and this repetition allows some language items to be acquired while other items are being reinforced. The repetition also allows young adults to anticipate what is about to happen or to be said next in the story which is very empowering. The repetition also allows participation, as young adults gradually become confident enough to start speaking along with the teacher. Here are such few examples:

Storytelling in various cultures: African Literature: Oral Traditions; Bible: The Development of the Old Testament; Chinese Literature: Prose; Icelandic Literature: The Saga; Rwanda: Culture

The evolution of storytelling:
 Allegory; Ballad; Bard; Children's Literature: The Middle Ages; Epic; Fable; Fairy and Fairy Tale; Folklore; Folktales; Novel; Parable; Poetry; Romance
Stories about storytelling,  Giovanni Boccaccio; Geoffrey Chaucer; N. Scott Momaday
Nonverbal storytelling,  Ballet; Dance

Places to hear or  stories:  Library; Opera; Theater

Enduring stories:    Arabian Nights; Arthurian Legend; Paul Bunyan

Learning the art of speaking: It enhances the listening skill of the students.  Stories are not only enjoying, they are motivating also. If a student enjoys hearing one story it is very likely that he or she will want to hear another one. Stories help to develop a positive attitude towards the foreign or second language being learned. Again if a student enjoys hearing a story in the English class, the student will in turn find interest in attending English Literature class. When the stories are axiomatically told by teachers, the words as well as postures becomes a living agent. Read More Short Stories That qualities can easily be imparted into the students is art of living. The good teacher through their tales can teach the students the best ways of acting-real life acting. Through imitation of their teachers, they can bear how to speak words with stress, pause, passion, emotions, intuition as well as rhythm. Here the teachers are more like an actor with best skill to downpour magic of tales.Read More Short Stories 

Stories Develop the Power of Imagination in Young Adults: Young adults become personally involved with stories as they try to identify with the characters and try to interpret the narrative and the illustrations. Stories allow young adults to become more creative. They often want to talk about or draw characters from the stories they like.

Comparative Discussion:  When the teacher start telling stories, the classroom becomes a theatre hall and the audience part is played by students. But there are no such silent students to mar the game.  The students will be silent with spellbound and   the teachers’ shining involves back bone of the literature class. The students in their natural query of the tales will transport as well as open up a vast field of discussion. Stories can develop a students’ general knowledge and touch as subjects across the curriculum. Stories help to reinforce a students’ conceptual development in areas such as colour, size, shape, time, cause and effect etc. Last but not the least listening to stories develops both the listening and comprehending skills of children. Read More Short Stories 

Formulating his/her own Story: A real life class with tales can formulate a cathartic appeal to the students. He/she can easily adapt his imaginative skill into fragmenting tales and these will enable the students to   emprise their skill of storytelling.

End Notes: Making the class alive, the insipidity of little knowledge stuff can be enlivened by sweet tales. History of English literature comes alive when they are told with agility and anecdotes. So, be bold to tell stories. Simply, we love stories.

Highlights: The Importance of Storytelling in Literature Classes

Key Points:

  1. Storytelling is a powerful way to engage students and teach them about literature.
  2. Stories can help students to understand different cultures, values, and perspectives.
  3. They can also help students to develop their own creativity and imagination.
  4. Storytelling can be used to introduce students to different genres of literature, such as poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
  5. It can also be used to help students to analyze and interpret literature.
  6. Storytelling is a versatile tool that can be used to teach students about literature in a variety of ways.

Summary:

Storytelling is a powerful way to engage students and teach them about literature. Stories can help students to understand different cultures, values, and perspectives. They can also help students to develop their own creativity and imagination. Storytelling can be used to introduce students to different genres of literature and to help them to analyze and interpret literature.

A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 76


A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers
UGC NET ENGLISH QUESTION BANK

1.      After Chaucer there was a decline in the poetry of England. Occleve, Lydgate, and Skelton were the only English poets writing poetry in imitation of Chaucer. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   They are called English Chaucerians. Of these the first two are considered hopelessly dull, only Skelton showed some originality, but he, too, lacks the Renaissance spirit.

2.      James I, Robert Henryson, Wiliam Dunbar, Gavin Douglas are the best known Scottish Chaucerians. The treatment of nature by the Scottish poets is the most remarkable feature in the poetry of the Scottish Chaucerians. In comparison to the English Chaucerians , the Scottish Chaucerians were better poets.

3.       Dr. Johnson was the first English writer who used the term ‘Metaphysical’ as applied to poetry. He had borrowed it from Dryden’s phrase about Donne- “He affects the metaphysics.” Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   About the beginning of the seventeenth century appeared a race of writers that may be termed the Metaphysical poets--- The Metaphysical poets were men of learning, and to show their learning was their whole endeavour.” This is Dr. Johnson writing about the Metaphysical School of Poetry.

4.       The term  Metaphysical is, applied to the poetry of John Donne and his followers chief of whom were George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Henry Vaughan and Abraham Cowley who were all religious poets and also Carew, Suckling, Lovelace and Marvell who wrote secular poetry, and Herrick who wrote both secular and religious poetry. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Thus, by Metaphysical poetry we mean the poetry of these poets.  
    
  5.      Ben Jonson’s comedy is called the comedy of humours as it aimed primarily at the representation of such characters as were motivated mainly or entirely by their peculiar, dominant passions or humours. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Jonson felt that, in the words of a critic, “the purpose of comedy is to note those elements in human character which are either naturally and permanently dominant in each man, or which on occasion, in the hazard of life, overflow and exceed their limits at the expense of the other contributing elements to represent a number of characters differently humoured; and in the clash of contrasts to paint with pleasant laughter, the moral of these disorders.

6.      The Restoration age is associated with the rise and development of what is called “the comedy of manners. This kind of comedy was indeed a true mirror of the temper and outlook of the society-rather a section of the society of the age. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Unlike the Elizabethan romantic comedy, the comedy of manners is characterized by realism, social analysis, and satire. Its use of prose served to heighten the realist effect.

7.      The writers of the comedy of manners gave much more importance to the wit and polish of, their dialogue than to the construction of their plot-which Aristotle thinks is the soul of a tragedy (and therefore quite important for a comedy too. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Some love intrigue or love intrigues provided them with the ground work of their plot. But they seldom harmonized or even developed their plot with much architectonic skill. The lesson of Ben Jonson in this sphere was entirely lost. What was important for these playwrights was the dialogue and the individual scene or episode. They did not mind incorporating into a comedy numerous plots and sub-plots.

8.      The Satire is a literary composition whose principal aim is to ridicule folly or vices It is a light form of composition intended to keep the reader in a good humour even when it is at its most caustic. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Dryden, a great satirist said, “the true end of satire is the amendment of vices by correction.”

9.   Origin: The Satire is of classical origin. The plays of the Greek Dramatist, Aristophanes are masterpieces in this vein. Its chief exponents in Latin Literature were Forace, Persius and Juvenal. They were imitated all over Europe during and after the Renaissance.

Satire: Some of notable satires in English poetry are Dryden’s ‘Absalom and Achitophel’, Butler’s ‘Hudibras’, Pope’s ‘Dunciad’ and ‘The Rape of the Lock’. Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is a great satire in fiction. In prose Addison’s Essays are great satires. George Bernard Shaw’s plays are also good satires.

11.  Ben Jonson's Volpone is his sardonic farce, satirizing greed, blended Renaissance masque with mummery and satire. In Volpone, or, The Fox (1605), Jonson mocks the way money can corrupt individuals. Volpone, the main character, is an unmarried businessman who, with the help of his assistant, Mosca, cheats other wealthy people out of their money.  The main characters in the play are: Volpone – Fox, Voltore – Vulture, Mosca – Gad fly, the parasite, Corbaccio – Crow, Corvino- the raven , celia corvino’s wife, Nano-the dwarf, Androgyno – the hermaphrodite, Castrone –eunuch.

12.  The Gothic Romances: No account of the eighteenth century novel would be complete without a notice of the curious terror novel which made its appearance in the last quarter of the century. In the, words of S. D. Neill, ‘The English Romantic movement, which found its supreme expression in poetry, was reflected in a somewhat cruder and more primitive manner in the novel, where it helped to inaugurate a new literary genre-the thriller.” The eighteenth century novel had developed as a picture of men and manners. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   The profound reaction that grew against the long domination of reason and authority helped in expanding the novel in many directions of which the revival of romance was one. Renewed interest in the Middle Ages was a prominent feature in the great changes which were then coming over popular taste. This gave further impetus to the revival of romance.

13.  Horace Walpole occupies a very important place in the revival of the romances. In 1747, when the classicism, was at its height, Walpole brought a small house near Twickenham. Gradually he transformed it into a miniature ‘Gothic Castle’. In this he installed his collection of curiosites and art treasures, suits of armour, and other miscellaneous art treasures, suit of armour, and other miscellaneous articles. He called his novel ‘Castle of Otranto’ as ‘Gothic’ romance. This Medieval romance was given a new name of ‘Gothic’ romance by Walpole. Clara Reeve’s ‘Old English Baron’ followed ‘Castle of Otranto’ in 1777. Reeve’s novel was also described as a Gothic story’. Ann Radcliffe is another important name in this class of novelists. Her three novel ‘Romance of the Forest’, ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho’, and ‘The Italian’ are full of thrilling situations and horrors. Matthew Gregory Lewis earned fame by his ‘Ambrosio or the Monk’. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   It outdoes both ‘The castle of Otranto’ and ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho’ in the wild sensationalism of its machinery and effects.

14.  The Victorian Age is a great era of women novelist of whom Mrs. Gaskell, the Bronte sisters-Emile, charlotte and Anne, George Eliot, Mrs. Trollope. Mrs. Gore, Mrs. Marsh: Mrs. bray, Mrs. Henry wood, charlotte yonge, Mrs. Oliphant, Mrs. Lynn Lynton, M.E. Braddon, “Oulda’ Rhoda Broughton, Edna Lyall are the greatest.

15.    Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell is one of these novelists who have effectively used the novel as an instrument of social Reform. We have novels like Maryarton (1 848) , Cranford (1853) which deal with social and Industrial problem.

16.   The Three Bronte sisters - Made notable contribution to the English novel during the victorian era. Their Chief novels are the following. Charlothe Bronte - The professor, villethe, Jane Eyre, shirley.Emile Bronte - Her only novel wuthering Heights. Anne Bronte - The Tenant of wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey. George Eliot is one of the great novelists of the victorian Age. George Eliots important novels are the following- The mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, Romela, Felix Halt, Silas marner, Daniel Deronda, Middlemarch. After leaving Cambridge.

17.   Marlowe moved to London, where he became a playwright and led a turbulent scandal-plagued life. He produced seven plays, all of which were immensely popular. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Among the best known of his plays are Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta and Doctor Faustus. In his writing, he pioneered the use of blank verse— nonrhyming lines of iambic pentameter—which many of his contemporaries, including William Shakespeare later adopted.

18.   In 1593, however, Marlowe’s career was cut short. After being accused of heresy (maintaining beliefs contrary to those of an approved religion), he was arrested and put on a sort of probation.

19.  On May 30, 1593, shortly after being released, Marlowe became involved in a tavern brawl and was killed when one of the combatants stabbed him in the head. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   After his death, rumors were spread accusing him of treason, atheism, and homosexuality, and some people speculated that the tavern brawl might have been the work of government agents. Little evidence to support these allegations has come to light, however.

20.   The Aesthetic Movement, the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and the Oxford movement reflect some of the multifarious aspects of Victorianism. The Oxford movement aimed at the revival of Romman Catholicism; the Pre-Raphaelite movement took the form of the glorification of art and artistic values, chiefly in pQetry: the Aesthetic movement did the same in prose and criticism. Walter Horatio Pater was the mentor of the Aesthetic movement. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)    He gçt the inspiration from Ruskin, who gave to his generation the impulse to appreciatethe beauty of natural phenomena. Oscar Wilde became th chief exponent of the Aesthetic Movement. J.A.Symonds is another representative of the same school of thought; but is inferior to Pater both as a critic and as a stylist. In the field of poetry, D.G.Rossetti had been its greatest exponent. Morris and Swinburne were the other two great poets of this group. They were called the Pre-Raphaelites.

 21.  Epic is a narrative poem. It deals with the martial exploits of some national hero. It is chiefly of two types-Classical and Romantic. There is yet another classification of epic-epic of growth, epic of art. Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is a classical epic. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)    Spenser’s ‘Faery Queen’ is a romantic epic,. Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ and Balmiki’s ‘The Ramayan’, and Vyasa’s ‘The Mahabharat’ are other famous epics. Normally an epic is a long narrative poem in twelve books. Its subject is solemn. Its style is grand. There are many episodes in an epic. Supernatural machinery is a very important characteristic of an epic. It the beginning of the poem the poet first invokes the Muse, the goddess of poetry. The poet first gives a summary of the entire narrative and expresses his purpose of writing the poem. Milton wrote ‘Paradise Lost’ to justify the ways of God to men”.

22.  Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ is a classical epic. It has all the common features of the epics of Homer and Virgil. It is a long narrative poem in twelve books. Its subject is solemn, style is grand. It has unity of theme and treatment. There is plenty of supernatural invention in the poem. God and his angels, Satan and the other fallen angels are the characters. Adam and Eve are the only two human beings in the story. The fall of man is the central point of the theme. Milton is famous for the use of Similes. His similes are Homeric in Character. They are also called Miltonic Similes. Milton has given vivid descriptions of hell. In the beginning of the poem he invokes the Muse and expresses his purpose of writing his epic-To justify the ways of God to men.” Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   There is controversy as to who is the hero of the poem. Some say that Satan is the hero, while some say that Adam is the hero. God, Christ, and Milton are also called by Some Critics to be the suitable characters for the title of the hero.

23.   A Shakespearean hero is either a king or a prince, or some other man placed in high degree. The tragic hero is placed in such circumstances which he and he alone cannot battle with. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   Thus in a Shakespearean tragedy the tragic hero is himself responsible for the tragedy that befalls him. The tragic hero is endowed with some human quality which in him is in an excessive degree. Macbeth, for instance is over-ambitions, Lear is proud, Hamlet is indecisive, and Othello is excessively Jealous. The ‘tragic trait’ becomes the ‘fatal flaw’ and the cause of tragedy. The hero errs, or makes some wrong judgment infatuation and the tragedy occurs. Thus, in a Shakespearean tragedy character is destiny. In other words, the tragic hero is himself responsible for the tragedy that befalls him.

24.  Milton is universally recognised as the greatest poet of England. He is the only poet who wrote an epic. His ‘Paradise Lost’ is he first and the last epic in the English language. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   It is a classical epic. Paradise Regained’ is another great work of Milton. ‘Lycidas’ is a famous pastoral elegy written by him. ‘L’ Allegro’ and Il Penseroso’ are other well-known poems. Milton was a great Sonneteer. His sonnets are balled Petrarchan or classical sonnets. They are also called Miltonic sonnets. He was a great prose-writer also. ‘Areopagitica is Milton’s great prose-work. ‘Samson Agonistes’ is Milton’s great dramatic poem. In Milton’s poetry there is a blend of the Renaissance and the Reformation. We also find in him an amalgamation of Hellenism, Hebraism, and Puritanism. He is known for his grand style. High seriousness and sublimity are the chief characteristics of Milton’s poetry.

25.  William Shakespeare was born at Stratford on-Avon. That is how he is called the ‘Bard of Avon’. He is considered the greatest dramatist of England. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   He wrote thirty seven plays. Of these his Tragedies are the, most popular. ‘Hamlet’, ‘Lear’, ‘Othello’, ‘Macbeth’ are, his four great tragedies. ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’‘Julius Ceasar, and ‘Coriolanus a other tragedies. ‘As you Like It’, ‘Merchant of Venice’, and ‘Twelfth Night’ are his famous comedies. ‘The Tempest’ is a tragi-Comedy. He wrote Historical plays also. Shakespeare was a great Sonneteer also. He wrote 154 Sonnets. ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘Lucrecee’ are his narrative poems. He is noted for the unique command over the resources of the language. His vocabulary is computed to run to some 15,000 words. Shakespeare wa3.a’realist. Universality is the chief note of all his poetical works.

26.  Absurd Drama: Esslin to describe the drama that was written after the Second World War. In fact it was the period of disillusionment in entire Europe. The old values stood Shattered; the new ones had not yet taken shape. Morality was the greatest casualty. Read More A to Z (Objective Questions)   The sensitive men and women lived in a void and felt extremely bewildered. All talk of truth; justice, morality, struggle and dignity seemed meaningless and absurd. Albert Camus, the French writer was the first to give a philosophic description of the absurdity of human existence. He realized that the world had become an unintelligible and a meaningless place in which his own position was very insignificant. The absurdity is brought to its end by death which is the only recognizable reality. Therefore, artificial beliefs and illusions had to be created since they work as anesthesia against reality. The term ‘absurd’ was applied to the plays which reflected the spiritual


Ref: 1. History of English Literature- Albert     
2. The Concise Cambridge History of English Literature
3. UGC NET OLD QUESTION PAPERS

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