Rivers and Tides

 Hello Friends.....

Have you ever seen wind and water making art by themselves? Have you ever seen an artist who without any particular tool makes beautiful piece of art? Have you ever thought Time can make art more beautiful? Have you ever meet a person who don’t believe in immortality of art? Well here it is. Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings.

He don’t use any particular tool to create his piece of art. He goes to the nature, finds something which is given by nature, and after making it give it back to the nature. He is working with time. He knows when the sea will touch his work. He knows after how many days the art will show up. With that understanding of time he creates something beautiful. He believes in flow, flow of everything. He also says that everything has fluidity. Here we are talking about his documentary, “River and Tides – Working with Time”s This movie based on British artist Andy Goldsworthy. He was master to making arts. 

He created arts with natural materials such as rocks, leaves, flowers and intricate.As we all know nothing remains permanent. As it is Andy Goldsworthy working with time and nature. Goldsworthy is famous throughout the world for his work in ice, stone, leaves, wood, and he felt that he has deep connection with the earth. May be he is working seasonal changes. He made a sculpture with the help of stones. One beautiful thing is he uses the natural background music. 

 He creates mountain shape with stone in the river and show what is reaction of nature carry or change. This experiment through we can say he respects process of life and death. He created lot of things sometimes he became success and sometimes he became failure to making arts but he never deficted. Goldsworthyy says that "Art for me is a form of nourishment". He notices sculpture, "The very thing that brought it to life, will bring about its death." The documentary described about Scottish landscapes. 

He talks about the impact of sheep on the Scottish landscape, and made a chain of green leaves and placed them in the water. Beautiful stonewall, crosses a field, and goes under a river, and emerges to wind through the trees on the other side. Goldsworthy finds red stone, terns it in a powder and release it into a waterfall. He does all the things and explained it with certain philosophy. 

He creates an igloo out of driftwood collected from the beach. When the tide comes in, the wooden structure begins to float and then drift to the sea in a slow swirl. But he is not attached with his arts and he believed nature free from every boutage so we can not bluge in one shape.

As friendly I say I am most inparied to watching this movie. I learn what is important of experience and learning, most of we feel disappoint but it is not good process of learning. Most of we are forgotten we are part of the nature.

His most famous quotes 

     "We often forget that we are Nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves."

                       - Andy Goldsworthy 

Assignment P-12

Name :- Sejal N. Solanki

Course & Year :- M.A. Sem 3(2019-2021)

Roll No. :- 25

Enrollment No. :- 2069108420200037

Paper :- English Language Teaching

Topic :- The Role of English in India.

Email :- sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com

Submitted :- Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir

                  :- Department of English

                  :- M.K.B.UNi.

English is not our native language; this language is borrowed from England. In this modern and global world English becomes necessary. Every field required Basic English. In education, business, multinational companies, science and technology, marketing and advertising, we use English language. That’s why English language is important for us and without it we can’t attach in the world. For example, if we go to foreign, visa is necessary, this process is done only when we are eligible in speaking English.

Sometimes in our mind question arises that why we have to learn English language?

    Many people believe that our mother tongue is this so we have to speak only this language. For example, if my mother tongue is Gujarati, I need only this language. But this idea is breaks when we go to another state because they have their own language. So we can’t understand it. English language is necessary to learn because it is the central language of the world. 

The role of English in India is now conducted with new generation and English as a globe in whole the world e pretend to learn and think. English is a skill to get a healthy job and survive in the international world. We cannot ignore the way that the English language has emerged as a powerful agent for change in India. 

India is a multilingual country but the spread and growth of English language is now on the top. And in India we see English education is now expanding very futile way. ELT is the curriculum that gives us techniques of this process and how in India it is become fashion and the thing of learning. When SLA comes in learners of English, that time we have to discuss the globalization world and one cannot ignore the world of E-learning. After that it is also necessary to include the term of CALL that now is so important in role of English that L2. TESOL is the base in which English in India is on the trek to call as Role of English in India is educated fruitful with it. 

Wherever we go, if we know English we can easily communicate with those people who knows English. In 21st century, computer and technology played a vital role in our world. Through technology, our world has become the dreamland.The English language is a powerful force not just for economics, business, and trade, but for mutual respect and progress. It is also becoming the common future of human commerce and communication. English is the best tool to provide good opportunity for the learner to learn. 

This is also the language of instruction in all the Universities and colleges across the country. The scenario is such that one needs to polish the skills of English to obtain a job. Mere knowledge of subjects is no more the only criteria to secure a job in today’s date. With the growing globalization, one must definitely be able to communicate in English and should have a good English vocabulary, if one wants to go across the country for educational or job purposes. Through multiple computer or mobile applications within a second or minute, we can transfer many things. So in all these fields English become necessary.

The Role of English in India 

When India attained freedom in 1947, many changes take place. In institutional and instrumental functions were retained, a new national flag symbolising, new values, pride and power to the emergence of a new society. Then which language make to official language, Hindi or English that question arise. Finally Hindi selected as Devnagri script, which will become the sole official language. In 1963, the parliament passed the Official Language Bill providing for the continued use of English. English now is the associate official language of the Union. The official language of the States with provision for continued use of English.

There are many important functions which English continues to perform in India today according to the reports of various commissions appointed by the Government to assess the role of English in India. The following pertinent conclusions can be drawn:

English is the language in which nearly all contemporary knowledge is accessible. It is the language of development. Obviously then, for healthy development in all fields of our national life, our scientists, technologists, doctors, engineers, agriculturists, economists and experts in numerous other fields must have access to the international professional literature in their respective fields, be able to contribute to it and exchange their views on important issues with their counterparts in other parts of the world. Most of these functions can, at present, be performed only through the medium of English and therefore it would not be wrong to say that it is our "window on the world".English enjoys the status of the "associate official language" and the de facto link language in our country.

 It is the language favoured by the industrial houses, legal and banking systems, trade and commerce and defence. English continues to be the medium of instruction at many post-graduate institutions, All India Institutes and other professional and technical institutions of higher learning. It is expected that English will continue to perform these functions for a long time to come. It is therefore necessary to provide facilities for learning English to those students who may want to pursue their higher studies at these institutions. The role of English as a "library language" cannot be undermined even where the medium of instruction is other than English.

After Independence, the different regions and linguistic groups to share its benefits because of the dependence on international powers. Positions of power dependence on international powers. Positions of power depended on the advantages of English. In the country, democratic political system people demands for equal treatment to all the major languages. Then English was projected as the neutral language with no regional or ethnic base in the country. English served as a political weapon for the non-Hindi elites to contain the emergence of Hindi as the new language of power. 

At that time lower castes in education employment through the system of reservation, English language give them access to wealth, power and status as it did to the higher castes earlier. In schools the medium of language is English. English is an alternative medium of school education like primary, middle and secondary. English medium is prestigeous and is in great demand. Because of the effect of the English lack of development of Indian languages. English taught in more than 2,00,000 schools. As a second language of bilinguals in India English stands for top of the list. More value of English become not good for India, because we face double face of English in India. For example, the number of the students learning English has greatly increased, but their level of competence in English has decreased. That’s why only learning English is not important but its level is important. 

The increasing demand for English decreases its standard. Speaking is one of the most difficult skills language learners would face. In spite of this, it has traditionally been forced into the background while teachers of English, have spent all the classroom time trying to teach students how to write, to read and sometimes even to listen. English speaking is generally thought to be the most important of the four skills. This skill is the most complicated due to the fact that non-native speakers have to interpret not only the message that other speakers try to express, but also take into account other possibilities. The term Second Language is understood in two different ways;

Ø English as second language at primary

Ø English as a second language in school education after the primary stage and has a pedagogical as well as functional definition, in the context of ‘three- language formula’

English Language understood as a Second Language to Historical Perspective:

English in India is a symbol of linguistic centralism. Indian languages seen to be as represent linguistic regionalism. ‘English-knowing’ is a part of conceptual structure and it has three parts: 

modernization, mythology and language policy.

Concept of modernization and internationalism were invoked in English became the language of both modernization and internationalism.

Language-planning operated with a whole set of lexical weaponry that gradually created a new mythology. 

Regional Languages- ‘regional’ is in opposition to ‘national’. English is one ‘pan-Indian’ language that would promote National Integration.

English language had come into India along with colonization. The British, as they set their empire in our country brought in their language too. They realized the necessity for this for their own selfish needs. But it did do lots of good for us in the later years. The missionaries also did some role in spreading English education in order to preach their religion. There were lots of debates to eradicate English language in the post-colonial scenario. All these were more on a nationalistic sentiment basis. But these arguments came to an end and English was decided to be made the Associate Official Language until further decisions were taken. During the British reign, the medium of instruction in all governmental institutions was English. This continued now too. English was also helpful in solving the crises of languages in India. Our country has many languages and the States were divided on linguistic majority basis. So when time came to decide about a National language, there were lots of issues. Though Hindi is our National language today, there were lots of issues then. 

English acted as a link or bridge language and cut across all regional linguistic barriers solving a major issue. It became our language of communication. On example for this is the Judiciary system in our country. Almost every action from the dressing to the presentation of cases happens in the way it happened during the times of the British. They had created the system. We made certain small changes to it. But still many of that day’s aspect exist even today, just like the English language.

Assignment P-9 Sem 3

 Name :- Sejal N. Solanki

Course & Year :- M.A. Sem 3(2019-2021)

Roll No. :- 25

Enrollment No. :- 2069108420200037

Paper :- The Modernist Literature

Topic :- The Waste Land

Email :- sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com

Submitted :- Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir                                         

                 :- Department of English 

                 :- M.K.B. University.             

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

T.S.Eliot (1888- 1956) was an essayist, poet, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic. He belonged to an old Yankee family. He was born in St.Louis, Missoure. Later on in 1914 at the age of 25 he left USA and since 1927 he was a British citizen. He was a modernist writer. He brought Greek Chorus in modern poetry that start with striking title-----

“Nam sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis Meis

Vidi in ampulla pendere, ET cum illi pueri dicerent:

Sibylla ti theleis; respondebat ill: apothanein thelo.”

His works:

Some of his well-known poems are:

ü The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock 1915 ( this poem is seen as his masterpiece in modern literature)

The Waste Land 1922

The Hollow Men 1925

Ash Wednesday 1930

Four quartets 1945

He also wrote plays:

Sweeney Agonistes

Murder in the Cathedra

The Rock

The Family Reunion

The confidential Clerk

The Elder statesman

He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 and Order of Merit 1948

The Waste Land:

This poem is widely regarded as “one of the most important poems of the 20th century” and central texts in Modernist poetry. It was published in 1922. It contains 434 lines. It was first seen in the UK in the October issue of The Criterion. In the U.S. it was issued in ‘The Dial’. It contains famous phrases like

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

The Wasteland follows the legend of the ‘Holy Grail’ and ‘The Fisher King’. Many literary and cultural allusions are found in the poem. Some of the allusions of Western canon Buddhism and the Hindu Upanishads are delineated. Some critics regard the poem as obscure.

“The poem shifts between voices of satire and prophecy featuring abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time and conjuring of a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literature.

What is a Myth?

“A traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events” (oxford dictionaries)

An exaggerated or idealized conception of a person or thing: ‘the book is a scholarly study of the Churchill myth’.

A fictitious or imaginary person or thing: ‘nobody had ever heard of Simon’s mysterious friend – Anna said he was a myth’. (oxford dictionaries)

There are many myths which can be observed in this poem. T.S Eliot’s The waste land is an important landmark in the history of English poetry and one of the most talked poems of the same Age. Here T.S Eliot described the mythical background in his poem. This mythical technique can be elaborated as given below.

· The Grail Legend

· The King Fishers

· Myth of Tiresias

The grail Legend:

The Myth about this vessel was that at have acquired medicinal and miraculous properties so the result is that it became an object for purity or one kind of devotion and worship. The lance used to pierce the sides of Christ and kept with it. But a time the original Grail was mysterious disappeared and many of the bold Knights staked their lives and then search for this vessel. It was generally believed that the grail was sometimes couldn't be found in the sky as the floating saucer but it could only the seen by those, Knight's who were virginal beauty.

Themes of the poem:

“The Waste Land” possesses many theme and all these themes have been very well elaborated by T.S Eliot, who conveys these all themes through symbolism and of course with the help of various mythical technique, here in this poem “The Waste land”, T.S Eliot indicates his ideas so it is very much difficult to understand this poem at a first reading but an individual has to read twice or thrice then and then he/she can grasp the central idea of the poem.

Here are several themes, which can be observed

· Death

· Rebirth

· Love

· Lust

· Water

· Spiritual degradation

So now let’s discussed these themes in detail.

The waste land is one of the most popular poems of the 20th century. It is written by T.S. Eliot. It has been saluted as Eliot’s masterpiece the supreme power of the poetic art in modern times. It is a poem written in the epic mold. It presents messages for our turbulent times. His use of complex symbols and imagery adds richness and variety to the texture of the poem. It is full with allusions to myth, ritual, religion, history-both past and present. These things make the poem itself a virtual “waste land”. We can see a wide range of socio-cultural, religious and secular experiences common to both an individual life and the collective life of western society. It is a truly remarkable poem that broke new ground in English poetry. There are so many themes in this poem so I would like to discuss them one by one. The themes are like death, rebirth, the seasons, love, lust, water, history etc.

Death: -

              There are four sections and the two, of them “The burial of the Dead” and “Death by Water” refer specifically to this theme ‘Death’. There is complicate matter like death can mean life as in other words by dying a human being can pave the way for new lives. The poet asks his friend: “and the same way Christ, redeemed humanity and there by gave new life. The doubtful part of the poem is between life and death allusions to Dante, and especially in the limbo-like vision of the men flowing across London Bridge and through the modern city.

Life-in-death: -

            

         The theme of the poem is the spiritual and emotional barrenness of the modern world. This theme is like the living death of the modern Waste Landers. Man has lost of vitality of spiritual and vitality of emotional. The life in modern waste land is a life-in-death, a living death. According to Eliot’s philosophy, Human being must act do either evil as good and it is better to do evil than do nothing. Modern man has lost his sense of good and evil, and this keeps him from being alive. In the modern land the people are dead. They merely exist like dead things. They work as machine. They are to be compared to such dead things as a stick, a gutter, a pipe. A life of complete inactivity is listlessness and apathy. That is way winter is welcome to them and April is the crudest of months.

Rebirth: -

             

           We can see some images of the Christ along with the many other religious metaphors, rebirth and resurrection as central themes. The waste land lays fallow and the fisher king is powerless. The new beginning is that they needed something. Here we can take help of water, for one water can bring about that rebirth but it can also destroy. The poet turns the waste land in heaven with the climatic exchange with the skies: “Datta, Dayadhvam, and Damyata.” The poet’s sight is essentially of a world that is neither dying nor living. Hence the strength of grail can restore life and wipe the slate clean Eliot refers frequently to baptisms and to rivers in either spiritual or physical ways.

The seasons: -

              

           The poem opens with an invocation of the month ‘April’, “April is the cruelest month.” The season spring is depicted as cruel is a curious choice on Eliot’s part. As a paradox it informs the rest of the poem to a great degree. The life brings also death. It brings the seasons fluctuate from one state to another. They maintain some sort of stat is nothing everything changes like history. In there end of Eliot’s world hangs in a perpetual limbo, Waiting the dawn of a new season. We can see some aspects of seasons in the life-in-death, a life of complete inactivity, listlessness and apathy. That is why winter is welcome to them and April is the cruelest of months. It reminds them of the stirring of life and , they're dislikes to roused from their death-in-life. In this poem Eliot’s “waste land” there seems little hope of renewed life as the early spring rains manage to stir only “a little life” in the “dull roofs” and “dried tubers” that is await their renewal each spring. Easter Sunday commemorates Jesus’ resurrection, fall's in April. The poet ironically comments here that April is the “cruelest month” and also he comments that April as the stirring of natural life and the spiritual resurrection symbolized in Easter fill humans. Today is not with hope but fear and apprehension. There are some phrases suggested the same things, like “dead land”, “dull roots ”, “dried tubers and “forgetful snow”, these four phrases suggest the barrenness of earth and vacuity of life.

Lust: -

           

           There is the most famous episode in the poem” the waste land”. It involves a female typist’s sexual relation with a “carbuncular” man. In this poem Eliot represents the scene as something similar to a rape. This chance sexual encounter carries with it mythological luggage the violated Philomela, the blind man Tiresias who lived for a time as a woman. There is sexuality goes throughout the poem “the waste land”. It takes the center stage as a cause of calamity in the part “the fire sermon”. Here in this poem the poet acts as a lawyer “a moment’s surrender” as a part of existence in “what the thunder said”. There are seven deadly sins in Christianity and lust may be a sin. Sex may be too easy and two flourishing in Eliot’s London. There is action is still is sex that produces life, that restores-sex. In needed is sex that is not sterile. Spiritual sterility is the central motif of all these myths of the past. Besides this there is an emphasis the sanctity of sex. There is decay and spiritual degeneracy whenever the sexual function is perverted. The purpose of the sexual function is procreation and it is sanctified only in marriage. When the sexual act is separated from procreation, there is spiritual degeneracy. In modern society there is perversion of sex and hence its degeneracy. Sex has been separated from love, marriage and procreation. The sex-act has become beastly or mere animal copulation and thus there is decay and spiritual degeneracy. Hence in Eliot’s poetry man is often linked to animals. Sexual sins, perversion of sex, have always led to degeneration and decay. The sexual sins of the king fisher and his soldiers laid waste his kingdom, and ancient Thebes was laid waste because its king was guilty of the sin of incest. Sexual violence has always been there. Philomela was raped and her tongue was severed so that she may not reveal the crime. Reference to Elizabeth and Leicester in the song of the daughters of the Thames shows that sex relationship in the past also has been equally futile and meaningless.

Love: -

              

          There are some references regarding the theme love in this poem. The first part of the poem “the burial of the dead”, in this part we can see some reference to Tristan und Isolde. The second part of the poem is “The Game of chess”. In this part there is a reference to Cleopatra and to the story of Tereus and Philomela suggest that love in the poem “the waste land”. It is often destructive. The characters Tristan and Cleopatra die while Tereus rapes Philomela and even the love for the hyacinth girl leads the poet to see and know “nothing”. The correlative love of life is found in this poem. When the poet writes regarding “hyacinth girl” and being so in love that he did not know if he was alive as dead. He was speechless. He was silence. This is an intense love that I interpret this to be more for the love of life than for love of the girl. The interest in the girl simply allows him to see the beauty of life. Joe even tries to commit suicide at one point, but he still seems to lack a real fear of death. However, Joe is the only one who begins to love his life. Joe finds his love for life through his lover, his freedom, and his that Joe comes to the realization that he has purposely ruined the life of one of his “brothers”. During the time of T.S. Eliot the people too young to come to terms with any real fear of death those people living during this time they did fear and thus their love for life was enriched. “Brothers three” never really found that fear of death they never found that true correlating love of life either.

Conclusion:-

In short the waste land at every angle reflected as a modern poem. Poem is feather on the hat of modern literature and also of modern people. But the poem has its own pros and cons. Pros in the sense it is gave the direction to the people. And cons in the sense that poems first announced as a depersonalizing of the poet but later on the secret was revealed that's poem was totally depends on the poet’s own experiences. Poet and his personal life fully reflected in the poem. Though it’s not the life of only T.S.Eliot instead of that it is reflected all the life of modern people.

                 

There are many themes. They are very helpful to understand the whole poem very easily. There are some important aspects remain in themes so themes can be important to study any other texts. 

Assignment P-10 Sem 3

 

Name :- Sejal N. Solanki
Course & Year :- M.A. Sem 3(2019-2021)
Roll No. :- 25
Enrollment No. :- 2069108420200037
Paper :- The American Literature
Topic :- The Scarlet letter 
Email :- sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com

Submitted :- Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir                                 :- Department English.  

                     :- M.K.B. University.

About the Author 

The Scarlet Letter was written by American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne, Sr., and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. He was a descendant of a long line of Puritan ancestors. In order to distance himself from his family's shameful involvement in Salem Witch Trials, Hawthorne added the "w" to his last name. 

After his father, a ship captain, died of yellow fever at sea when Nathaniel was only four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward relatively isolated pursuits. Hawthorne's childhood left him overly shy and bookish, which molded his life as a writer.

Hawthorne turned to writing after his graduation from Bowdoin College. His first novel, Fanshawe, was unsuccessful and Hawthorne himself disavowed the work as amateurish. However, Hawthorne returned to Salem where he struggled as a short story writer for 12 years. He published Twice-Told Tales in 1837. His insufficient earnings as a writer forced Hawthorne to enter a career as a Boston Custom House measurer in 1839. In 1842, he married Sophia Peabody and moved t The Manse in Concord. Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845. Hawthorne then devoted himself to his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter was​ an immediate success that allowed him to devote himself to his writing. He published The House of the Seven Gables in 1851. Hawthorne passed away on May 19, 1864, in Plymouth, New Hampshire, after a long period of illness during which he suffered severe bouts of Grave of Nathaniel Hawthorne dementia.

About the Book The Scarlet letter

The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.” The letter showcases her talent and artistry skills that allow her to live as a single parent in Puritan Boston. Also it represents her strength and independence. Then many years later, when Hester returns and voluntarily takes up the scarlet letter again, it has become, for her and others, a symbol of grace.

The Time Period 

The plot of the Scarlet Letter follows Hester Prynne, who has been forced to wear the letter 'A' on her dress, for committing adultery. In the time of the story, bearing a child (Pearl) without being married was a great crime, and was punished by the embarassment of having to wear the 'scarlet letter'. 

The story of the Scarlet letter is set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649. The Puritans had settled in New England to practice their religious beliefs after leaving the Old World, where they had been persecuted. The Puritans were a legalistic sect of Protestant Christians influenced by Calvinism. Their beliefs emphasized God's omnipotence and the concept of election, the idea that salvation is predestined. Religious behavior was seen as both a result of salvation and evidence of it. Thus, Puritan communities were centered on the idea of purity in thought and deed, and sins were rooted out and punished harshly. 

However, over time, people begin to misinterpret the letter as meaning that she is an important part of high society, due to the color and design of the letter. 

It is later revealed that the minister of the town was the father of the child, but they kept it a secret for various reasons. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's wayward husband eventually finds out about their plans to run away together, and is about to have his revenge when the minister confesses what he has done, and dies.

The physical setting of The Scarlet Letter reflects the beliefs and habits of the Puritans. Throughout the book, we are taken on a mini tour of the most important town buildings and structures. Law and religion form the heart of the town. Two main characters in The Scarlet Letter are Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. 

Hester is the mother of Pearl, and is later revealed to be the lover of Dimmesdale. She is the main character in the novel, and bears the letter A on her dress. 

Dimmesdale is a minister in Boston. Throughout almost all of the story, the general public doesn't know about his role in the birth of Pearl. However, fairly early on in the story, Hester's uncaring husband returns and finds out about it, and plots his revenge. Dimmesdale dies at the end of the story, and it is discovered that he bears the letter A on his skin.

There was some paradox.... 

Although Puritans embraced a strict life, it wasn't always somber and simple. They encouraged tradesmen and craftsmen to live among them They prized simplicity yet loved fine clothing. Their furniture makers developed great artistry and their leaders (like the governor Hester goes to visit) lived in fine houses.

Paradox is that the puritans stigmatize her with the mark of sin and in so doing, reduce her to a dull, lifeless woman whose characteristics color is gray and whose vitality and feminity are suppressed.

Over the seven years of her punishment, Hester's Inner struggle changes from a victims of puritans branding to a decisive woman in tune with human nature. When she meets Dimmesdale in the forest in chepter 18, Hawthorn says, "The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The Scarlet Letter was her passport into regions where other woman dared not tread".

In time, even the puritans community sees the letters as meaning "Able or Angel". Her sensitivity with society's victims turns her symbolic meaning from a person whose life was originally twists and repressed to a strong and sensitive woman with respect for the humanity of others. 

In her final years, " The Scarlet Letter ceased to be a, stigma which attracted the worlds scorn and bitterness and become a type of something to be sorrows over, and looks upon with awe, yet with revenge, too". Since her chracter is strongly tied to the Scarlet Letter, Hester represents the public sinner who changes and learns from her own sorrow to understand the humanity of others. Often humans being who are suffers great loss and life changing experiences become survivors with an increased understanding and sympathy for the human loses of others Hester is such a symbol.

Hester refuses to tell Pearl what the scarlet letter signifies, and Pearl becomes obsessed with the letter. Meanwhile, Chillingworth is working in Boston as a physician, though he has no formal medical training. One of his patients is Dimmesdale, who has fallen ill with heart trouble. Chillingworth moves in with Dimmesdale to care for him full-time and begins to suspect a connection between Dimmesdale's heart ailment and Hester's crime. When he discovers that Dimmesdale has carved a mark over his heart that resembles Hester's scarlet letter, Chillingworth realizes that Dimmesdale is Hester's lover. Chillingworth decides to torment and expose Dimmesdale.

At worst, Dimmesdale is a symbol of hypocrisy and self - centered intellectualism, he knows what is right but has not the courage to make himself to do the public act. When Hester tells him that the ship for Europe leaves in four days, he is delighted with the timing. He will be able to give his Election sermon and fulfills public duties before escaping. At best, his when he worries, that his congregation will see his features in pearl's face. 

Dimmesdale. When he leaves the forest and realises the extent of the devil's grip on his soul, he passionately writes his sermon and makes his decision to confess. As a symbol, he represented the secret sinner who fights the good fight in his soul and eventually wins.

In the play she suffers alot alone. Nobody gives support to her. Society creates difficulties for her. So it becomes difficult to live alone. But she does not loose her strength and faces the society. And she fights alone with society. She also confess her crime in front of society. She has courage to confess her crime. She does not loose her hope. But constantly society raises questions for her. But she gave the answer very clearly. She does not hesitate. But she has confident. And that's why her confidence gives strength to her. She also does not blames on Dimmesdale. She also does not takes his name in front of society. She remains silent. Maybe she has a hope that one day Dimmesdale confesses his truth in front of society. She is married that's why the situation becomes more difficult for her. And her hope becomes true and one day Dimmesdale confesses his truth in front of society. For Hester becomes difficult, and she get punishment to ware A, and that's why it becomes more difficult. Whenever she goes at place everybody talks about her. And they behave with her very rudely. But she becomes strong, and capable, dhe gives birth to child. And she takes the all responsibility. And she manages all.

Setting

It all goes down in mid-17th century New England, specifically Boston (Massachusetts Bay Colony). The Puritans had settled in New England to practice their religious beliefs after leaving the Old World, where they had been persecuted. The physical setting of The Scarlet Letter reflects the beliefs and habits of the Puritans. In the first chapter, we are taken on a mini tour of the most important town buildings and structures, the prison and the town scaffold. Law and religion form is the heart of the town.

Atmosphere

The novel The Scarlet Letter is mainly a gloomy, dark story because it is centered on sin in the puritan society.

Symbol/ Allegory

Pearl, Hester’s daughter, is a symbol of all that Hester gave up when she committed adultery and gave up her place in Puritan society. Pearl is a sort of living version of her mother’s scarlet letter. She lives in perpetual punishment because of Pearl, and that is why she loves Pearl so much. Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to live, bolstering her spirits when she is tempted to give up. The name “Pearl” makes us think of precious jewels, we know that she becomes a great and wealthy heiress.

Conclusion

It can be concluded here that Hester's strength, honesty, and compassion carry her through a life she had not imagined. Hawthorne attributes this transformation to her lonely position in the world and her suffering. No friend, no companion, no foot crossed the threshold of her cottage Hester lives on, quietly, and becomes something of a legend in the colony of Boston. The scarlet letter made her what she became, and, in the end, she grew stronger and more at peace through her suffering.

In the play both are equally part of this crime. But only Hester suffers. And Dimmesdale has a fear of society that's why he does not confesses his truth. And later on he realised his mistake and confesses his truth in front of society.

Assignment P- 11 Sem 3

 Name :- Sejal N. Solanki

Course & Year :- M.A. Sem 3(2019-2021)

Roll No. :- 25

Enrollment No. :- 2069108420200037

Paper :- The Postcolonial Literature.

Topic :- The Black Skin White Mask.

Email :- sejal.solanki3107@gmail.com

Submitted :- Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir

                  :- Department of English

                  :- M.K.B.UNi.

WHAT IS POST COLONIALISM ?

 

Post-colonialism means time after colonialism. Post-colonialism is the study of culture after the physical and political withdrawal of an oppressive power. Post colonialism rejects the dominance of western culture. It challenges Western Knowledge system about the East.

A study of postcolonial literature must begin with the historical contexts of colonialism, contexts that are constantly and frighteningly shot through violence. The violence of colonialism – cultural, economic, political and military - is so integral to the history of the ‘Third World’ nation that no literature or critical approach has been able to ignore it.

As a critical theory, post – colonialism presents, explains, and illustrates the ideology and the praxis of neocolonialism, with examples drawn from the humanities history and political science, philosophy and Marxist theory, sociology,

anthropology, and human geography, the cinema, religion and theology; feminism, linguistics’ and post colonial literature of which the anti conquest narrative garners presents the stories of colonial subjugation of the subaltern man and woman. Salman Rushdie, Ngugi wa Thiong, Frantz Fanon, Toni Morrison, Amei Cesire, Edward Said, Homi Bhaba, and many more writers exploded the Post colonialism.

Postcolonial literature seeks to address the ways in which non-European (Asian, African, South American and Settler colonies) literatures and cultures have been marginalized as an effect of colonial rule, and to find if possible, modes of resistance, retrieval, and reversal of their ‘own’ pre-colonial pasts.

It is a literature of resistance, anger, protest and hope. It seeks to understand history so as to plan for the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

The author of ‘Black Skin White Masks’ is Frantz fanon. He was born on July 20, 1925, at Fortde France, Martinique, France. He died at the age of 36, on 6th December1961 at Bethesda, Maryland. He was a revolutionary, philosopher, psychiatrist and writer whose writing influenced post colonial studies, Marxism and critical theory. He was an intellectual fellow political radical, existentialist humanist; He dealt with social, cultural, political problems. He supported the Algerian war of independence from France, and was also a member of the Algerian national liberation front. The life and works of Frantz fanon have inspired anticolonial national liberation movements in Palestine, SirLanka, and the U.S .He served in the French army. He studied Medicine. He was a psychiatrist.

Colonialism is not satisfied merely holding a people in it’s grip and emptying the native's brains of all from the content. By a kind of perverted logic it turns to the past of the oppressed people and distorts disfigures and destroys it”

- Frantz Fanon

Frantz Omar Fanon was born on 20th July, 1925 at Martinique (French colonial empire). He was Afro – Caribbean psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and the French writer whose works are influential in the field of post – colonial studies and Marxism. Fanon is best known for the classic on decolonization. Although Fanon wrote Black Skin, White Mask while still in France, most of his work was written in North Africa.

In France in the year of 1952, Frantz Omar fanon wrote his first book,’ Black Skin, White Masks.’ The book is an analysis of the negative psychology-cal impact of colonial subjugation upon black people. Originally, the manuscript was the doctoral dissertation, submitted at Lyon. Its title was “Essay on the Desalination of the Black” It was rejected and Fanon published it as a book.

Frantz Fanon was influenced by many thinkers and traditions including Jean-Paul Sartre, Lacan, Negritude and Marxism. He was influenced by Aime Cesaire, a leader of the negritude movement, was teacher and mentor to Fanon on the island of Martinique. Fanon referred to Cesaire writer's his own work. He quoted, for example, his teacher at length in “They live experience of the Black man “ a heavily anthologized essay of Black Skin, White Masks.

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

“Black Skin White Mask” is a book about the mindset of psychology of racism. The book is his doctoral thesis, Fanon wrote to get his degree in psychiatry. This book is worth reading since Fanon’s understanding of White French racism in early 1950 and it can also helps to understand White American racism in the 2010s.

Black skin white mask is a study of the psychology of racism and dehumanization inherent to colonial domination. Fanon describes that Black people experience in the white world. Fanon talks about, self – perception of the Black subject who was has lost his native cultural origin, and embraced the culture of the mother country. He also talks about the inferiority complex in the mind of the Black subject.

The book looks at what goes through the minds of blacks and whites under the condition of white rule and the strange effects of that in black people. The black man trapped in his blackness, the white man in his whiteness, both trapped into their mutual and aggressive narcissism. 

“There are too many idiots in this world. And having said it, I have the burden of proving it”

- Fanon, Black skin, White masks.

 

Fanon‘s growing popularity and influence and more recent postcolonial readings of black liberation and nationalism perhaps several as an index of his centrality to the movement for the Algerian self determinations in the 1950‘s that was shaped his diverse career as a political activist and critic. “Black Skin, White Masks” is a Book about the mindset of psychology of racism. The book looks at what goes through the minds of Blacks and the strange impacts that has, especially on the black people.

The black man and the white man are not. And yet they are, and the reality of their being is Fanon's starting point: the black man trapped in his blackness, the white man in his whiteness, both trapped into their mutual and aggressive narcissism.

What, then, brings them or calls them into being, or sentences them to non-being? Writing of his childhood and emergence from it, Fanon remarks: I am a negro, but naturally I don’t know that because that is what I am. I am going to use nègre in French because of the ambiguity of its political semantics and because there is no single English quivalent: it is distinct from both noir (black) and the more recent homme de couleur (man of colour) and covers the whole semantic field from negroto nigger, the precise meaning being determined by context, the speakers position or even the speakers tone of voice. Fanons comment that he had to be told what he was is at one level a fairly banal example of the bracketing out of facticity in favour of simply being: at home, he remarks (meaning, presumably, in Martinique), the black man does not, has no need to, experience his being-for-others.

Judging by my own experience, it is, for example, perfectly possible to grow up in a uniquely white community in the north-east of England without knowing in any real sense that you are white. There is no need to know that, and it is well known that fish have no sense of wetness.

Here, we can I temperate that how this White and Black are portrayed in literature in different ways. Novel ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens’ In this novel we can find the controversy of Black and White. Here Christianity – Whiteness portrays as goodness, while Jew – Black portrayed as Evil. Here Readers can find conflict between Christian v/s Jew. The novel has an idea of Christianity and Jewish. At something's extent writers have to described Christianity as a superior and dark side of Christianity has been presented. He portrayed Jew in a negative connotation.

 

Black Skin White Mask is a sociological study of the psychology of racism and dehumanization inherent to colonial domination. Fanon describes that Black people experience in the White world Fanon talks about, self-perception of the Black Subject who has lost his native cultural origin, and embraced the culture of the Mother Country. He also talks about the inferiority complex in the mind of the Black subject.

Now we are analyzing the book of Fanon ‘Black skin, White Mask’ this book is divided into many chapters. Each chapter has its own importance. They deal with the psychological aspect. It includes the condition of Black people and their mentality. It also gives reflection of white people towards black people. Let’s have a brief look in chapters of this book.

This final chapter discuses the escaping the prison of one’s past and one’s race.“The negro is not: Any more than the White Man”. In Fanon’s words, his writing “Exposes an utterly naked declivity where an authentic upheaval can be born”

Fanon throughout the book deals with the inner struggle of black when they were colony ‘the black man and language’ deals with language. Here we saw the ideal of blackness, notion of desire, and idea of identity, what is humanism? Other,

self ego, civil rights, human rights, self desire, the idea of Negritude, idea of darkness. For him Black is attitude, attitude comes from culture. 

Black Skin, White Masks is certainly an amazing engagement with the fate of the black individual in society. The book deals with various questions and dilemmas faced by all humans. Its power lies in the fact that it remains surprisingly optimistic in spite of its serious subject matter. Fanon recognizes the problems faced by the former colonised and is quite aware of the psychologically draining position that he/she occupies. Yet, he focuses his attention on the debunking of whiteness as the epitome of being. He seeks to “work out new concepts” (Fanon, 1961, 255) and remains optimistic that this can indeed be done.

CONCLUSION

Fanon, in the whole book, tries to be analytical without attachment. He talks about black men’s desires to be white with psychological reasons. He never becomes insulting for blacks and also doesn’t present hatred for white people. But he fairly well describes their psychology of superiority mindset/complex.

Recent example which can prove Fanon’s psychology is great dancer Michael Jackson who tries to become white throughout his life.

Here fanon says that forget about the past and live in present world where there is no racial discrimination. Thus we can say this is the present time also white is considered as superior and Black as inferior. For e.g portrayal of Bollywood stars. They are selected because they are having white skin. Michal Jackson, who was very much obsessed with the white skin. 

Methods of English Language Teaching #ELT #Unit3

 Hello Readers.....

Method may be defined as: "The process of planning, selection and grading language materials and items, techniques of teaching", etc.

          In this unit we learnt different types of method which are very much different from each other. They are as given below:

The Grammar Translation Method

The Direct Method

The Audio Lingual Method

Total Physical Response

Suggestopedia

The Silent Way.

Indians who know English often mingle it with Indian languages in their conversation. It is also usual among Indians to abruptly move to speak fluent English in the middle of their conversations. English also serves as the communicator among Indians who speak different languages. English is very important in some systems – legal, financial, educational and business in India.

The history of language teaching presents a fascinating variety of methods. But, there is no single method that is to be considered effective and accepted by all. Different methods may be appropriate to different contexts. The following are some of the important methods to teach English as a second language.: p

In some of the methods I didn't liked are just coming in class and simply going through the lesson without any basic information. All students are not same and so all might not be having the clear idea about the topic and teacher has to keep all students in mind and teach.

Work sited : 

Narayana, Dr.R, Dr.N.Rajeshkharan Nair and Dr.Krushna Chandra Mishra. "ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN INDIA: A THEORETICAL STUDY." The modern journal of applied linguistics (2009): 1.

· Richards, Jack c. and Theodore s Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language teaching. Cambridge university press, 2001.

Film Screening: Midnight's Children and The Reluctant Fundamentalist

 Hello Readers.....

We had a virtual movie screening of "Midnight's children" and "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" at the Department of English, MKBU. So, this blog is a review of two movies from the post-colonial perspective, as a part of academic activity.

Midnight's Children is a 1981 novel by British Indian author Salman Rushdie. It deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. It is considered an example of postcolonial, postmodern, and magical realist literature. " Midnight's Children " a novel by Salman Rushdie and "Midnight's Children" film was directed by Deepa Mehta.Midnight’s children(novel), is story of Grandfather to son Saleem and another boy Shiva. With the born of independent India at mid night some children were also born and with their grows symbolically growing of India is presented. Movie is like collage of so any things. Many stories goes together with various symbols, hidden meanings and mechanics of the movie. Midnight’s children is like National History in Fictional way. Deepa Mehta try to make it Dreamy and Dramatic. Salman Rushdie is himself screenplay writer, though it is not as good as novel.

Decolonizing of human mind and how we look at freedom struggle or nationalism also is very important. This people who are cross over people hybrid identities like Deepa Mehta, Mira Niar.. They look at history in rather different perspective and which are normally not much in same way and their work hatred r being attacked by Hindutva identities or people.

The film is not very good film, the way Novel has been appreciated time and again and we see that screen play written by same writer of novel yet, even it is not as good as novel. It goes to that idea that when same writer translate the work, it’s not good translation but, it may be not 100% true theory because, writer like Harold Pinter, who was also screen paly writer, but His understanding medium of media and stage very well.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist 

During the discussion of the postcolonial study, we have watched the film 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' which was directed by Meera Nair. The film narrates the life of one Pakistani who is capable to work among American people but just being a Pakistani he suffered a lot and consider as a citizen of the second world. His self-respect has vanished with his clothes. 

“The Fundamental Reluctant” is movie released in 2014, directed by Mira Nair, it is not less than any Hollywood movie, its script is written by Mohsin Hamid, Mohsin is well known English writer in Pakistan who’s achieved readers of the world. This movie is based on his novel with the same title to movie in 2007. It’s all about a young man who is attracted by the American business culture, and then disillusioned of Americas’ reality, of racism, after the attack of 9/11, oppression of Asian, hate for religion, the real humanity and many other things movie take together in course of 128 minutes.

It is the story of young Pakistani boy Changez Khan, the hero of the novel, in frame narration story move forward, as Changez who at present live in Pakistan, tells his life story to an American. He becomes a victim of the situation and it's made a great impact on him. An educated person is considered as a terrorist who is actually a teacher but he needs more security for him because other want to kill him and this security made his frame as a terrorist. This movie is directed by Mira Nair and it is based on the novel with the same title written by Mohsin Hamid. 

The main theme of the movie is how Muslim's were disrespected after the attack of 9/11. Here the protagonist Changez Khan goes to America to earn money. He makes friends fall in love with the American lady. But after the attack of 9/11, his colleagues started misbehaving with him. We can see a postcolonial aspect here when the Muslims are disrespected by the Americans professor working in the University of the Lahore, and the journalist suspect Changez behind all this.

Why always Pakistani or south Asians are suspected when anything bad happen with European?  Colonial mindset? May be ye Changes tells his life in America in last one decade, how he lived, and then leaved U.S.  as like others he was also enchanted with the American dream: good job, earning in dollars, good house, a beautiful girlfriend and so on. His analytical mind helped him to get good and respective job in MNC. Within no time his success was touching to the height. And soon he became the CEO and partner in company in which he was working. At first he enjoy this things and then also able to get good, loving girlfriend too. 

Robert Frost

 Hello Readers.....

Robert frost is one of the greatest of American poets, whose name is well familiar in India. His images from the New England countryside and his language from New England speech. Although frost’s images and voice often seem familiar and old and his observation have an edge of skepticism and irony his poetry of his poetry helped provide a link between the American poetry of the 19th century and that of the 20th century.

While studying the poem “Design” by Robert Frost our teacher gave us classroom activity to draw a sketch of nature. Anything about nature, whatever we want. All students have drawn their imagination. As I’m not that much good at drawing but I tried to draw a sea, as water, sea and ocean always fascinates me. Here is my drawing of sea.

Robert Frost is one of the most popular and honored poet of America. Robert Gaves called him .The voice of America"Like wordsworth he wrote about incident and situation from common life.

The poet through this poem speaks about the harsh reality of nature. He is not highlighting the only good aspects of nature, but has draws out attention towards the problem and bitter truth about the nature. After readind the poem ones. the following image came in my mind which is totallly different from the above image.

 It is not exactly like sea but I’ve drawn sea only. I know its funny. Well that round in drawing, it is symbol of my dream. I’ve drawn it at bottom because it is trying to float. It doesn’t know how to swim.

Then we have one other task to read “Design” poem and draw something which can show what poem is saying. Design, an Italian sonnet by Robert Frost was published in 'A Further Range' in 1936. Here is my drawing of poem.

Design" by Robert Frost

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth--

Assorted characters of death and blight

Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

Like the ingredients of a witches' broth--

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

What but design of darkness to appall?--

If design govern in a thing so small.

My interpretation

The poet by using these kind of metaphors assorted the characters of death and blight. In a way he is trying to make moth as a 'tragic hero' and spider as a 'villain'. The intesity of pain was there. All wants to survive, the spider eats moth just to live long.

Poet here choses the white color to justify the title of the poem and to show particular design of nature or of god. To find white spider is rare and to heal-all plants are normally blue but here they are also white and also the moth is white. The whole scene is also looking like white silky cloth. The day is also going to begun. The white color is symbolized is purity, beauty and goodness while day time or morning time also symbolized as life and also hope. But here in this poem the moth died when sun is rising and the white spider doesn’t look pure or good or beautiful. Here poet broke the myth of morning and white color, or may be poet wants to change the perspective and wants to show death is hope of beginning of new life and also wants to beautify death.

The very first line about the white color of spider breaks the archetypal symbol of white which stands for peace and innocence. Here the white spider is totally contrasting character. He is violent, aggressive, can do anything for food. Everytime white is not look beautiful someimes white is more uglier than black. The spider has taken moth's life and proves himself as a fighter.

The poet knows very well that the intensity of pain is always greater than the intensity of happiness. So he was successful in his attempt to attracts the readers towards his poem by drawing the picture of harsh reality, need for survive, fight or killing other for food.

While in next stanza poet asks some questions like what that heal-all flowers have to do with being white because they are normally blue, then what spider is doing at that height. Simply he wants say that if design of god or nature is governed in so small things like this then how terrifying the design of darkness will be?

Here may be Frost wants to tell us that whatever is happening in our life is designed by goodness or darkness. If something terrifying is happening to our life it may be can the design of darkness and if something good happens to us it may can be the design of goodness.

Therefore the poem Design is not something about beautiful design, but a design of darkness, death. The designed web of spider attract insects and they get caught in the web of death.

 

The Birthday party

Hello Readers....

Welcome to my blog...

Happy birthday Readers..! 

Don't have your birthday today ?

.....NO....!!??..OK no problem...Same thing happen with me also but don't worry.... We celebrate our birthday with happiness so here...let's start this blog....

This task given as for new way looking movie and play with certain things which may be normally never notify by audience and reader's inner side of mind. Last time I saw very short movie only 30 seconds with some questions and confusion but here I am going to discuss on one interesting play of Harold Pinter.

About the Author:-

Harold Pinter was born in 1930 and frequently comments on the irrelevancy of everyday speech. He was an English playwrighter, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist, and a poet. He was one of the most influential modern British dramatist who wrote for round about 50 years. His best known plays include “ The birthday party” (1958), “The caretaker” (1959), “The homecoming” (1964) and “The betrayal ( 1978) each of which he adopted to film. Some of the uses of Pinter’s techniques such as dramatic pause and the mixture of tension comedy have staples in theatre film. Pinter in his speech at the time of Noble prize:

 “ I have often been asked how my plays come about. I cannot say. Nor can i ever sum up my play, except to say that this is what happened. That is what they said. That is what they did”.

 He was also known for the “Theatre of the absurd” , that was a reaction to dramatic forms and theatrical conversations that had come before it and also reaction to the events on the II World War. In 2005, he was awarded the Nobel prise for literature including Tony award.

About the Play:-

Birthday Party, In act one was started with the mourning time in play Herold Pinter not uses out side of home but in movie he uses setting out side of as a street. He shows camera effect as a perspective of car driver and with disgusting sound use with intentionally because of this effect he make his movie powerful than the play. Conversation of Meg and Petey tries to convey a unknown fear what was going to happening starting of the movie don’t show face of car driver so it is also symbol of unknown fear. 

And also mirror also a symbol when Meg see her face in mirror she looks happy but mirror show always unrealistic image. In movie voice of airplane landing it also shows threatening effect of world war. Herold Pinter writes about his own past and childhood experience. Windows and door are also uses for symbol. And Standly constant fearful one after another way MCCan convinces to Gold berg you have to do it is your duty. And MC Cann was constantly observing so it is also show his fearful mind. 

In starting of act two MC Cann broken a news paper cutting it shows inner stress and he avoid Standly. And forcefully celebration of Standly’ of Birthday . How a forcefully society make you celebrity so after celebration keep our self ready for downfall and behind on it comedy of menace. Society don’t leave alone as a artist so this event was free to interpret that he may also singed some contract also. Mac Cann and Goldberg ask question to Standly and Standly not give proper answer. So it shows a power and lower position. 

How a one artist breakdown himself behalf of society. The dialogue of question and answer it also shows child hood experience of Pinter When he passed from British colony he suffer a lot because of he was Jew. Pinter the way he write women character it shows that in this play women don’t like see a reality live in only illusion. And Pinter also shows that the play was constantly moved ahead perspective of Standly. 

In act three as an artist Standly lost his creativity. The pieces of newspaper are also shows broken personality of Standly. So news paper was use as a symbol. The laughing of Lulu is also a sinister laughing we can compare with witch laugh in the forest. Close room and darker setting are shoes the room prison and Standly was a prisoner. 

The game of Blindman’s bluff it is also very symbolic. This symbol referred theme of blindness and man groping in the darkness search for identity and search for Existential human predicament. And another was a plight of an artist. and toy drum was a symbol of a broken personality of Standly. And meg say it is still playing so after meet society as a artist he dose not make any creative art.

     

To the light house

 Hello Lerners....

To The Lighthouse' is written by Virginia Woolf in 1920. It is a revolutionary book. Woolf was attempting something quite new in English novel. She wanted to capture, in words , the nature of human consciousness - What it actually feels to be alive.The novel at some extent - It is a biography of writer herself - Virginia Woolf. readers can feel during reading novel that...

"One isn't always hurrying to turn over the page, urgently wanting to find out what happens next." 

'To The Lighthouse' is in the category of the 20th century literature. So, we may assume that what is it about. Obviously reading modernist literature do not provide the pleasure or delight but it creates anxiety and it constantly hammering on readers mind. Thought story of novel is too short, the novel is full of length. One can describe the plot and the main concept of the novel in short also. 

"Arnold Bennett summarized the novel like..." 

"A group of people plan to sail in a small boat to a Lighthouse. At the end of some of them reach to the Lighthouse in small boat. That is the externality of the plot."

In above review , Arnold Bennett deliberately emphasised on the plot's 'externality'. In the novel , something is more deeper rather than the surface actions which is going on in life. At the first sight it seems like that the whole events which are described by Woolf themselves quite unimportant.

What is Feminism?

Feminism is a social theory or movement with the purpose of advancing the status of females and protecting their legal rights due to the sexual discriminations and inequalities in the man-dominated society. 

The word "feminism" was first used by Charles Fourier in 1837 and since then it has been gradually known by people in the world. “Feminism represents one of the most important social, economic, and aesthetic revolutions of modern times.” As a matter of fact, the history of feminist movements consists of three "waves”. The First Feminism Wave took place at the turn of the 20th century, in which Virginia Woolf was a prominent representative. 

During this period, women’s suffrage movements was organized to defend women’s right to vote. Then, accompanied by the women’s liberation movement, the second wave was unveiled in the 1960s. The focus of this wave was women’s legal and social equality against patriarchy. As a continuation of the second wave, third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s.

Feminism in "To The Lighthouse"

Virginia Woolf has been criticized by many for her feminist streak in her works .Her A Room of Her Own though praised for her illuminating facts and regarded as one of the greatest feminist classic of the century made her a target and some of the critics even felt her wok suffered because of her feminism. 

But, what her critics ignore, is the fact that what was close to her heart was the androgynous nature of the creative artist. This paper aims at highlighting an important fact about Woolf’s creative instinct which was against this dichotomy of male and female and projected the unity of mind, which took both the male and female perceptions to create a new artistic experience in all its spirit. 

The paper is also my tribute to my favorite writer who is and always be my inspiration to continue to look at every work with both sides of the spectrum and not just my own female experience. To the Lighthouse seemed to be an appropriate work to explicitly show the androgynous mind of Woolf with its symbolic character, themes and stream of consciousness. To the Lighthouse, although unremarkable in character depiction by today's standards, was a radical departure from the norm in the period in which it was written. 

At that time, women were expected to conform to tradition, to remain subservient to men. Virginia Woolf, in creating Lily Briscoe defied convention by allowing her to assert her independence. While the novel remained traditional in the sense that it included female characters who deferred to men, the inclusion of a woman such as Briscoe, an independent thinker, shocked many readers in the Modernist Era. 

As a woman writer, Virginia Woolf formed her unique feminine consciousness which was rooted in her life experiences and social background back then. In her lifetime, she dedicated herself to the feminist literary criticism and uttered women’s rights through her works. Marcus claims that: Woolf’s relationship with feminism is a symbiotic one. Her explicit feminist politics, her concern and fascination with gender identities and with other women’s lives, histories, and fictions have shaped her writing profoundly.

Deconstructive reading of Sonnet 18

 Hello Readers....

As we know that Deconstruction by its very nature defies institutionalization in an authoritative definition. The concept was first outlined by Derrida in Of Grammatology where he explored the interplay between language and the construction of meaning.

 From this early work, and later works in which he has attempted to explain deconstruction to others, most notably the Letter to a Japanese Friend, it is possible to provide a basic explanation of what deconstruction is commonly understood to mean. Three key features emerge from Derrida’s work as making deconstruction possible. These are, first, the inherent desire to have a centre, or focal point, to structure understanding (logocentrism); second, the reduction of meaning to set definitions that are committed to writing (nothing beyond the text); and, finally, how the reduction of meaning to writing captures opposition within that concept itself (différance). 

These three features found the possibility of deconstruction as an on-going process of questioning the accepted basis of meaning. While the concept initially arose in the context of language, it is equally applicable to the study of law. Derrida considered deconstruction to be a ‘problematisation of the foundation of law, morality and politics.’ For him it was both ‘foreseeable and desirable that studies of deconstructive style should culminate in the problematic of law and justice.’ So, lets discuss the deconstructive reading of the Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare :

William Shakespeare ( born date:- 26 April 1564 , Died:- 23 April 1616) needs no introduction to the students of English in general and poetry in particular. Shakespeare published 154 sonnets, and although they are all poems that are of the highest quality, there are some that have entered deeply into the consciousness of our culture to become the most famous Shakespeare sonnets. These most famous sonnets are quoted regularly by people at all levels of modern western life – sometimes without even realising that they are quoting a line from a Shakespeare sonnet.William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is justifiably considered one of the most beautiful verses in the English language. The sonnet’s enduring power comes from Shakespeare’s ability to capture the essence of love so clearly and succinctly.

It is traditionally aspects that Shakespeare's sonnet sequence can be divided into three sections : the first expresses the devotion and admiration of the poetic voice (often associated with that of Shakespeare himself) towards an anonymous young man (this would be include sonnet 18); this is followed by a sequence addressed to the dark lady towards whom the poet is attracted; and finally , there are the sonnet which deal with the young man's attraction towards the same lady.

So, here I would like to put one TED-ED video by Dr. Dilip Barad, which helps us to better understand deconstruction theory in easy way. In this video he discussed Deconstructive reading of " Sonnet 18" by Shakespeare.

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date: 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; 

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest: 

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

PARAPHRASE

Shall I compare you to a summer's day?

You are more lovely and more constant:

Rough winds shake the beloved buds of May

And summer is far too short:

At times the sun is too hot,

Or often goes behind the clouds;

And everything beautiful sometime will lose its beauty,

By misfortune or by nature's planned out course.

But your youth shall not fade,

Nor will you lose the beauty that you possess;

Nor will death claim you for his own,

Because in my eternal verse you will live forever.

So long as there are people on this earth,

So long will this poem live on, making you immortal.

Sonnet 18, often alternately titled Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?, is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Part of the Fair Youth sequence (which comprises sonnets 1–126 in the accepted numbering stemming from the first edition in 1609), it is the first of the cycle after the opening sequence now described as the Procreation sonnets. Most scholars now agree that the original subject of the poem, the beloved to whom the poet is writing, is a male, though the poem is commonly used to describe a woman.

In the sonnet, the speaker compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. He also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem. Scholars have found parallels within the poem to Ovid's Tristia and Amores, both of which have love themes. Sonnet 18 is written in the typical Shakespearean sonnet form, having 14 lines of iambic pentameter ending in a rhymed couplet. Detailed exegeses have revealed several double meanings within the poem, giving it a greater depth of interpretation.

The poem starts with a flattering question to the beloved—"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" The beloved is both "more lovely and more temperate" than a summer's day. The speaker lists some negative things about summer: it is short—"summer's lease hath all too short a date"—and sometimes the sun is too hot—"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines." However, the beloved has beauty that will last forever, unlike the fleeting beauty of a summer's day. By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever. "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." The lover's beauty will live on, through the poem which will last as long as it can be read.

The poet never describes anything specific about the beloved. None of the qualities which make the beloved superior to a summer's day are actually possible - remaining eternally young and beautiful and never dying - nor are they inherent in the beloved. They are qualities given to the beloved by the poet through the act of writing the poem and only existing within it.

Sonnet 18 is a typical English or Shakespearean sonnet. It consists of three quatrains followed by a couplet, and has the characteristic rhyme scheme:abab cdcd efef gg. The poem carries the meaning of an Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet. Petrarchan sonnets typically discussed the love and beauty of a beloved, often an unattainable love, but not always.[4] It also contains a volta, or shift in the poem's subject matter, beginning with the third quatrain.

Summary

The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison. In line 2, the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summer’s day: he is “more lovely and more temperate.” Summer’s days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by “rough winds”; in them, the sun (“the eye of heaven”) often shines “too hot,” or too dim. And summer is fleeting: its date is too short, and it leads to the withering of autumn, as “every fair from fair sometime declines.” The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (“Thy eternal summer shall not fade...”) and never die. In the couplet, the speaker explains how the beloved’s beauty will accomplish this feat, and not perish because it is preserved in the poem, which will last forever; it will live “as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.”

Commentary

This sonnet is certainly the most famous in the sequence of Shakespeare’s sonnets; it may be the most famous lyric poem in English. Among Shakespeare’s works, only lines such as “To be or not to be” and “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” are better-known. This is not to say that it is at all the best or most interesting or most beautiful of the sonnets; but the simplicity and loveliness of its praise of the beloved has guaranteed its place.

On the surface, the poem is simply a statement of praise about the beauty of the beloved; summer tends to unpleasant extremes of windiness and heat, but the beloved is always mild and temperate. Summer is incidentally personified as the “eye of heaven” with its “gold complexion”; the imagery throughout is simple and unaffected, with the “darling buds of May” giving way to the “eternal summer”, which the speaker promises the beloved. The language, too, is comparatively unadorned for the sonnets; it is not heavy with alliteration or assonance, and nearly every line is its own self-contained clause—almost every line ends with some punctuation, which effects a pause. Sonnet 18 is the first poem in the sonnets not to explicitly encourage the young man to have children. The “procreation” sequence of the first 17 sonnets ended with the speaker’s realization that the young man might not need children to preserve his beauty; he could also live, the speaker writes at the end of Sonnet 17, “in my rhyme.” Sonnet 18, then, is the first “rhyme”—the speaker’s first attempt to preserve the young man’s beauty for all time. An important theme of the sonnet (as it is an important theme throughout much of the sequence) is the power of the speaker’s poem to defy time and last forever, carrying the beauty of the beloved down to future generations. The beloved’s “eternal summer” shall not fade precisely because it is embodied in the sonnet: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,” the speaker writes in the couplet, “So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

Waiting for Godot

 Hello Readers.....

I welcome to all Readers on my blog.This blog is part of my academic activity. To see the task and more information click here. I'm this blog I'm writing about the best work of Samuel Beckett is Waiting for Godot. Samuel Beckett was the best writer, he wrote many things And many famous work. 

Samuel Beckett was born on 13 April, 1906 at Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland and died on 22 December, 1989 in Paris. His pen name was Andrew Belis. He was a novelist, playwright, poet, and essayist. Some of his remarkable works are:

1. Murphy (1938),

2. Molloy (1951),

3. Endgame (1957),

4. Malone Dies (1951),

5. The Unnamable (1953),

6. Waiting for Godot (1953),

7. Watt (1953),

8. Endgame (1957),

9. Krapp’s Last Tape (1958),

10. How It Is (1961) 

He was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in literature. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy. He is one of the most influential writers of the 20thcentury.

Here I am talking about Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot with religious interpretation. Waiting for Godot is commonly interpreted within the context of the Theater of the Absurd, existentialist literature, or Christian allegory. After reading this play within the context of Christian Existentialism, new insights are uncovered as to what the play may be saying about the existential dilemma.

The story revolves around two seemingly homeless men simply waiting for someone—or something—named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett’s language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post-World War II Europe. His play remains one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.

Nothing happens, but that is the beauty of it.

Who wants to see a play in which nothing happens? Who wants to see a play in which the characters make little or no sense? Who wants to see a play in which the same senseless nothingness is repeated in the second and only other act? Not me that’s for sure. I honestly don’t think I could sit through a production of this, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate its artistic merit on the page.

A famous theatre reviewer once said “this is a play in which nothing happens, twice.” He was right, of course, but at the same time recognised the brilliance of the play. The fact that nothing happens is the reason why this play is so clever and tragic. The characters are stuck in this cycle of nothingness; they are destined to spend each day waiting for the mysterious entity known as Godot. He never comes. If nothingness didn’t happen twice then we, as the audience, would be unaware of this fact and, consequently, be ignorant to the tragic brilliance of the play.

“ESTRAGON: I can't go on like this.

VLADIMIR: That's what you think.”

Indeed, the plot is bizarrely simple: two men Vladimir and Estragon are simply waiting for Godot. They don’t remember why they are waiting or even who this Godot character is. They just know that they must wait. Whilst they wait they encounter two equally as strange characters, Pozzo and Lucky. Lucky is Pozzo’s slave for no apparent reason and the two seem completely dependent on each other like Vladimir and Estragon are themselves. The four engage in a weird and perplexing conversation, and then go about their business. The next act is very similar to the first.

Beckett breaks the rules

The play belongs to the absurdist theatre branch, which challenges the conventions of the realism theatre of the ninetieth and early twentieth centuries; it does the exact opposite to what was considered a well-made play. The characters carry out a chain of repetitive and mundane dialogue, which is completely devoid of any concreate meaning. There are no geographical or historical specifications as the dialogue is reduced down to a series of pointless statements. We have no idea where these characters are or where they’ve come from. The play appears illogical and rich in purposelessness, but it is utterly brilliant; it was something completely “out there” at the time, and still is really.

Estragon: We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?

Vladimir: Yes, yes, we're magicians.”

In all honestly this play is excruciating to read; it is completely awful in parts and frustrating, but the idea Samuel Beckett conveys at the same time is grand; it makes up for the torture he has put you through as you look back and realise what he has achieved: you look back and understand why he has broken all the conventions and wrote a play that is as absurd as it is genius.By doing so he has recognised the strange absurdity that is human existence, and questioned the purposelessness of this thing we call life. 

He has created a Tragedy, as great as any that came before it, by using the most unconventional of methods. I could never give this a five star rating because it is just too painful to read regardless of what it achieves. However, to ignore the artistic merit of the play would be an act of pure self-conceiting ignorance. As Estragon says:

“Estragon: People are bloody ignorant apes.”

I will never read this again, or ever go to watch it at a theatre, but it is something I look back on and say “what a brilliant idea” even if I found the reading process quite painful and dull.

Conclusion :-

“Tied to Godot! What an idea! No question of it. For the moment”.

So, at the end we can conclude this topic with the help of all the things that this play is very much connected with Christianity.   

After every single line we can find references taken from Bible. So we can say that this play Waiting For Godot is very religious play. Title itself reflects idea of God.

Existencialism

 Hello Everyone....

This blog is about existentialism. In that blog we can learn about Existentialism and also connect this thing with other terms. The oxford meaning of Existencialism is 'A philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.'

Key Concepts of Existentialism

1. Man is not the manifestation of any absolute or infinite substance. Man’s existence is not proof for the existence of the ultimate reality or God. Existentialism rejects idealistic concepts like ‘Consciousness’, ‘Spirit’, ‘Reason’, ‘Idea’ and ‘Over Soul’

2. Existentialism tries to find out the meaning of Being (Being= nature and essence of a human being, his existence). It denies the absolute reality of man.

3. When a man looks for the meaning of his existence he may get different answers. From these answers he must select and then commit himself to that selection.

4. Existentialism is concerned with man’s relationships with other men and things. Man is viewed always as a being-in-the-world. He may try to extend beyond himself and reach out to the being of other men and things.

5. Existentialism asserts that it is the duty of a man to find out the meaning of his life. Therefore he must engage in a life of reflection and commit himself to his own projects.

6. Each man must learn to act as a free person rather than as a mere part of a crowd.

7. Some existentialists deny God. But many claim that a man’s aspirations may lead him to God as a living reality and as a bond among humans.

Interpretation of the Videos:

#Video 1

It starts with the general definition of existentialism. Soren Kierkegaard is considered as pioneer of Existentialism. Jean-Paul Sartre, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Albert camus, Simone de Beauvoir all are known as the existentialist philosophers.they all have different belief about existentialism but they share same concept about it. They think about the human existence and mainly concerned with subject that is individual.

We all are alone and unique piece in this world. they gave the concept of triangle of 'freedom, passions and individuality'.No one can escape from the sorrow and suffering of life. every life is full of pain. this theory talks about the burning issue of human life such as suicide, passions, emotions, anxiety, freedom, despair so it really affects the young generation.

In this video i am really impressed by the thought of "Philosophical suicide". if person believe in God then there is a philosophical suicide of individual because he accepts everything without reasoning.

Video - 2

There we find comparison with movie 'Stay'. it said that " An elegant suicide is the ultimate work of Art." Tramp or stranger are living without any profound purpose so for them Death can be mistress " Death is my Mistress". 

In this video i really influenced by the idea that is there logic to the point of death? Life is a gift for us given by someone. but this is a unexpected gift so we have all rights to end our life but there should be logical reason behind suicide.

Video - 5

Every life is full of adversity, anxiety, despair, absurdity. But we are free to choose our own way of living. once we chose the things then we are responsible for it's consequences.Normally we find that people chose their own way of life but after that they tried to escape from it's result. this should not done by individual.

Existentialism is differs from Nihilism. After world war 2 people's life became miserable and full of despair. Everyone tried to find the meaning of life. In this video I really like the one thing that we are responsible for our own choices in life.

Video - 9

existentialism talks very freely about the dark side of life such as anxiety, death and despair. It makes us ready toideo  accept good as well as bad side of life. it affects to think about everyday life. it helps us to understand things as laughing child or flower. Suffering is something which life asking us to experience. we learn more thing from suffering. Existentialism teaches us that suffering is not our enemy. We can live life with more color and passions. 

This video teaches us ten things to live life very deeply which i like most. 

(1) Remember that you are born to a brilliant and terrifying universe.

(2) Build responsible community.

(3) Recover the ability to play.

(4) Inhabit the present movement.

(5) Power in life.

(6) Learn to live with passions.

(7) See how free you can be.

(8) Learn from difficult experience.

(9) Start relating the big picture.

(10) Start questioning.

Existentialism and Literature

Already we have seen the influence of Existentialism on European Literature after the Second World War. It may not be far from truth if we state that Existentialism owes its popularity not to philosophy but to literature. After Sartre made it popular through his writings other writers attempted to express their existentialist angst through their writings. Chief among them are Kafka, Camus and Samuel Beckett.