Democracy and its developments.

Democracy and its developments.

Appropriately the word ‘Democracy’ is of Greek origin .the Greek word Democratic is a combination of the words demos (meaning the people) and kratos (meaning power or rule).so democracy in both the ancient and modern worlds is the idea of rule by the people, whether directly-through personal participation or indirectly, through elected representative. Democracy was achieved through struggle and against considerable odds. Indeed, the struggle for democracy everywhere and throughout history, has simultaneously a struggle against political inequality based on, and justified by, inequalities of birth and wealth. A democracy is in few forms like as historically, theoretically, and geographically. Even as it has become the most dominant principle of modern political system, democracy is still fraught with many new and contemporary challenges. The history of democracy tends to begin with an invocation to its origins in ancient Greece. Democracy in the modern world bears any similarity with democracy in ancient Greece. It has been, and continues to remain, one of the most contested concepts in the political vocabulary of the modern world. It means many different things to different people, but the fact that all manner of political regimes have sought to appropriate the label ‘democracy’ to legitimize them, clearly shows that it carries a positive normative connotation. Rather like justice and freedom then democracy is widely perceived to be a good thing, and a desirable attribute for a polity to process. Task of determining which democracies are truly worthy of the name, or of distinguishing between polities in terms of the extent of democracy they have achieved, is a difficult if not impossible one. But judging contemporary democracies is so fraught with difficulty; the task of describing the evaluation of democracy in the modern world is no less contentious. Historians disagree about the origins of modern democratic ideas, as also about the emergence of democratic institutions. The French declaration of the rights of man was an early statement of democratic principles, while for others it was a manifesto of the bourgeois class which. Though opposed to hierarchy based on nobility, was neither egalitarian nor democratic. By jean-Jacques Rousseau democracy is that, with his faith in the direct participation of the citizens in the making of laws, who is the premier philosopher of democracy. John Locke is for some the first significant theorist of liberal-democratic ideas, for others he is at best a theorist of constitutional government. But the 2500 years of (1992) democracies were enthusiastically celebrated all over the world. This anniversaries statesman, founding of nations are quite commonly celebrated. Democracy in modern world is quite different from democracy as it was practiced in ancient Greece 2500 years ago. The practice of democracy is in the modern world having varied greatly. Each of the nation-states that today claims to be democratic has arrived at its own distinctive form of democracy by a quite distinctive route. History, society and economy are powerful influences shaping democracy, as are democratic ideas and ideal. It is a mix of material and the ideological that must explain democracy anywhere. Finally we can say that, the struggle for democracy is never concluded; it just constantly assumes new forms.

Describe the major issues in the world trade highlighting the growing popularity of regional arrangements, globalization, electronic commerce and environment. Also outline briefly the recent trends in world trade.

Describe the major issues in the world trade highlighting the growing popularity of regional arrangements, globalization, electronic commerce and environment. Also outline briefly the recent trends in world trade.

Regional arrangements:
The foreign ministers of the seven South Asian countries during the inaugural session signed two conventions.  One on preventing and combating trafficking in women and children for prostitution and the other on regional arrangements for the promotion of child welfare in South Asia. Trafficking of women and children, and child welfare, have remained a common problem to the South Asian region, home to one-fifth of the world population. Expressing hope that the signing of the conventions would contribute in welfare of women and children, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba laid foremost priorityon poverty reduction in the region where more than half a billion people earn less than $1 a day. “We must expand production and markets, increase trade, raise incomes and consumption, as well as pro-poor policies,” he said. Deuba highlighted the need to empower people with better education and health services, widening of job market . While we seek to expand trade outside the region, efforts must be exerted to stimulate regional trade. To achieve that, we should finalise the South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAFTA)framework treaty, fix priority and sequence execution, he said. Deuba also took up the “visionary goal” of establishing South Asian Economic Union.
Globalization
Globalization is what we call the process of the world becoming a smaller place. This is happening more and more and in many different ways, with results both good and bad: people move around more than ever; our society is increasingly ethnically and culturally diverse; we have instant access to information from anywhere in the world via satellite television and the internet; we’re increasingly governed by international organizations and trade agreements rather than national governments; and most of our goods, and even many of our services, come from the other side of the world.It’s this last form of globalization – economic globalization – that is the most controversial. Unemployment is high in North America, while manufacturing jobs are continually outsourced to the developing world. Technical jobs and support services are increasingly moving to India and Southeast Asia. And endless boatloads of cheap goods, often produced in sweatshops in a modern equivalent of serfdom or even slave labour, flood into our stores at low prices. But even beyond the ethical arguments against sweatshop labour, I would argue that economic globalization is neither sustainable nor resilient.
Electronic commerce
The Internet is not the Wild West contrary to what many people think. It is in fact heavily regulated. This is due in the main because the existing laws relating to say for example the sale of goods will apply to sales over the internet as well as the possibility of two countries laws being applicable to a particular contract.Legislators were concerned. As a consequence a significant amount of legislation was introduced on a pan European basis which sought to provide a framework and safety net for ecommerce
Environment
Major controversy surrounding trade and the environment centers on the WTO Secretariat's current position that countries cannot put up barriers to products based on the process of how they were made. The primary concern is that if such exceptions were allowed, countries would make them very freely and thus create a barrier to trade. In PIPA’s 1999 and 2004 trade polls, strong majorities rejected the WTO Secretariat's position that, in general, countries should not be able to restrict imports based on the environmental effects of their production, even though the argument defending the WTO position also mentioned the potential costs to the economy and job.
The Recent Trends in World Trade:
World trade flows are continuing their recovery, building on the large gains of 2010, with slower but still slightly above average growth in 2011. However, recent events in the Middle East and Japan have raised the level of global economic uncertainty and tilted the balance of risk towards the downside.
WTO economists’ baseline projections for world merchandise trade in 2011 would see exports grow by 6.5%, with shipments from developed countries increasing by around 4.5% and those from developing economies and the CIS advancing 9.5%

Curbing Corruption.

Curbing Corruption.

Corruption is a significant problem in India and much of the developing world. The inefficiencies engendered by corruption can be a significant drain on local development. While policymakers and the man on the street recognize the importance of the problem, the solution to the problem is quite tricky and, as a result, evades consensus on how best to reduce the menace. A recent economic research concludes that the right combination of external audit and grassroots monitoring by community members, and careful implementation of the same may be effective in reducing corruption.
One approach to reducing corruption suggests that the right combination of monitoring and punishments can control corruption. In practice, however, the very individuals tasked with monitoring and enforcing punishments may themselves be corruptible. In that case, increasing the chances that a low-level official would be monitored by a higher-level official would result only in bribes and other such forms of transfers between the officials, not in a reduction in corruption.
An alternative approach to reducing corruption, which has gained prominence in recent years, is to increase grassroots participation by community members in local-level monitoring. Community participation is now regarded, in much of the development community, as the key not only to reduced corruption but also to improved public service delivery more generally. For example, the entire World Development Report 2004 is devoted to the idea of “putting poor people at the centre of service provision: enabling them to monitor and discipline service providers, amplifying their voice in policymaking and strengthening the incentives for service providers to serve the poor”. The idea behind the grassroots approach is that community members are the people who benefit from a successful programme; therefore, they would have stronger incentives to monitor corruption at the local level than disinterested central government bureaucrats.

Critically examines the approaches to social problems and brings out their inadequacies.

Critically examines the approaches to social problems and brings out their inadequacies.

Social problems, also called social issues, affect every society, great and small. Even in relatively isolated, sparsely populated areas, a group will encounter social problems. Part of this is due to the fact that any members of a society living close enough together will have conflicts. It’s virtually impossible to avoid them, and even people who live together in the same house don’t always get along seamlessly. On the whole though, when social problems are mentioned they tend to refer to the problems that affect people living together in a society.


The list of social problems is huge and not identical from area to area. In the US, some predominant social issues include the growing divide between rich and poor, domestic violence, unemployment, pollution, urban decay, racism and sexism, and many others. Sometimes social issues arise when people hold very different opinions about how to handle certain situations like unplanned pregnancy. While some people might view abortion as the solution to this problem, other members of the society remain strongly opposed to its use. In itself, strong disagreements on how to solve problems create divides in social groups.

Other issues that may be considered social problems aren't that common in the US and other industrialized countries, but they are huge problems in developing ones. The issues of massive poverty, food shortages, lack of basic hygiene, spread of incurable diseases, ethnic cleansing, and lack of education inhibits the development of society. Moreover, these problems are related to each other and it can seem hard to address one without addressing all of them.

It would be easy to assume that a social problem only affects the people whom it directly touches, but this is not the case. Easy spread of disease for instance may tamper with the society at large, and it’s easy to see how this has operated in certain areas of Africa. The spread of AIDs for instance has created more social problems because it is costly, it is a danger to all members of society, and it leaves many children without parents. HIV/AIDs isn’t a single problem but a complex cause of numerous ones. Similarly, unemployment in America doesn’t just affect those unemployed but affects the whole economy.

It’s also important to understand that social problems within a society affect its interaction with other societies, which may lead to global problems or issues. How another nation deals with the problems of a developing nation may affect its relationship with that nation and the rest of the world for years to come. Though the United States was a strong supporter of the need to develop a Jewish State in Israel, its support has come at a cost of its relationship with many Arabic nations.

Additionally, countries that allow multiple political parties and free expression of speech have yet another issue when it comes to tackling some of the problems that plague its society. This is diversity of solutions, which may mean that the country cannot commit to a single way to solve an issue, because there are too many ideas operating on how to solve it. Any proposed solution to something that affects society is likely to make some people unhappy, and this discontent can promote discord. On the other hand, in countries where the government operates independently of the people and where free speech or exchange of ideas is discouraged, there may not be enough ideas to solve issues, and governments may persist in trying to solve them in wrongheaded or ineffective ways.
The earliest approach to the study of social disorganization is that of the social problems. The problems were discussed without any particular sociological frame of reference both the facts and suggested reform programmes being taken from the fields in which the problems were found. Each problem was considered in complete isolation from others. It was assumed that society could progress if it would attack the mal-adjustment which delayed human advancement. Thus the social problems were the diseases of society which threatened the welfare of the group. This is not a scientific approach because social problems in one period of history are not so considered in another. Besides some of the so called social problems are not generally accepted as such. Therefore this approach is called evangelistic one. For all its imperfections and inadequacies the social problem approach contributed to the understanding of social disorganization paving the way for a more scientific analysis.
The second approach to the study of social disorganization is the bio-pyschological.It is the result of the development of the sciences; biology and psychology. The beginnings of this approach can be traced in the formulation of racial theories by Gobineau.He and his followers declared the theory that the decay of all societies is the result of racial intermixing. This is because that the races are not equal in capacity. The eugenists were of the view that there are biological differences not only between races but between individuals within the same race. Therefore society would take drastic steps to prevent conception among the mentally unfit. This is only way open to solve social problems and for the prevention of social disorganization. This approach helps us to know that the disorganization of society is the direct result of deficiencies in the biological make-up passed on from generation through heredity. The third approach is geographical. Geographical factors such as land, water, rainfall, climate and soil decide the superiority of a given culture or the backwardness of people. The forms of social disorganization which are explained in terms of geographical factors are crime, cultural retardation, illiteracy, suicide, divorce and insanity. Geography imposes limitation to man's ingenuity but it does not determine the patterns of social adjustment.

The fourth approach to the study of social disorganization is cultural because it explains social problems in terms of cultural processes. Thus the different forms of social-organization show institutional malfunctioning.

The fifth approach is the cultural lag frame of reference. The term cultural lag explained by Ogburn is based upon the distinction between material and non-material culture. Rapid changes takes place in the material culture whereas slow changes in non-material culture. Changes in material culture necessitate related changes in non-material culture. According to this school the disorganization of the modern family is the result of a lag in the continued functioning of and failure to develop suitable substitutes for the old folkways and mores governing family relations. Cultural anthropologists attempt to broaden the concept cultural lag to include lack of harmonious functioning between two associated cultural traits. Thomas and Znaniecki in their Polish Peasant talk of the cultural approach. This may be called the culture conflict approach. According to them the social disorganization of the immigrant community is the result of conflict between the cultures of the old and the new worlds in which the control of the primary group breaks down.

Critically examine the basic formulations of the Harrod-Domar model of economic growth. How does the Harrod model explain the occurrence of trade cycles?

Critically examine the basic formulations of the Harrod-Domar model of economic growth. How does the Harrod model explain the occurrence of trade cycles?

The basic formulations of the Harood-Domar Model of economic growth are summarized as follows: -
(i)Investment is the central theme of the HDM. It plays a dual role. On the one hand it generates income and on the other it creates productive capacity.
(ii)The increased capacity results in greater output and greater employment, depending on the behavior of the income.
(iii)Condition regarding the behavior of income can be expressed in terms of growth-rates i.e , G, Gw and Gn. The equality between these growth rates would ensure full employment of labour and full utilization of capital stock.
(iv)These conditions, however, designate only a steady-line of growth. The actual growth rate may differ iron the warranted growth rate. If the actual growth rate is higher than the warranted rate of growth, the economy will experience cumulative inflation. If the actual growth rate is lower than the warranted growth rate, the economy will hurtle towards cumulative deflation.
(v)The business-cycles are viewed as the deviations from the path of steady growth. These deviations cannot go on indefinitely. There are constraints on upper and lower limits. The “full employment ceiling” acts an upper limit and autonomous investment and consumption act as a lower limit. The actual growth-rate fluctuates between these two limits.
Harrod has used his model to explain trade cycles. In the recovery phase, because of the existence of unemployed resources, G>Gn. When full employment is reached G = Gn. If Gw exceeds Gn at the full employment, slump is inevitable. Since G had to fall below Gw, it will, for the time being, be driven progressively downwards. Further, G itself fluctuated during the course of the business cycle. Savings as a fraction of income, though fairly steady in the long run, fluctuate in the short run. In the short run, savings tend to be residual between the earning and normal consumption. Companies, also, are likely to save large portion of their short-period increased in net receipts. Thus, even if Gw is normally below Gn, it is likely to ride above Gn in the later stages of advance, and, if it so happens, a vicious spiral of depression is inevitable when full employment is reached. If Gw does not ride above Gn in the course of advance, there would be continued pressure to advance when full employment is reached; this would lead to inflation and consequently, sooner or later, to a rise of Gw above Gn, resulting ultimately into a vicious spiral of depression. Actually, G may be reduced before the employment is reached because of immobilities, frictions, and bottlenecks and, if it so happens, depression may come before full employment is reached. If Gw is far above Gn, G may never rise far above Gw during the revival and the depression may result long before full employment is reached.Critically examine the basic formulations of the Harrod-Domar model of economic growth. How does the Harrod model explain the occurrence of trade cycles?


The basic formulations of the Harood-Domar Model of economic growth are summarized as follows: -
(i)Investment is the central theme of the HDM. It plays a dual role. On the one hand it generates income and on the other it creates productive capacity.
(ii)The increased capacity results in greater output and greater employment, depending on the behavior of the income.
(iii)Condition regarding the behavior of income can be expressed in terms of growth-rates i.e , G, Gw and Gn. The equality between these growth rates would ensure full employment of labour and full utilization of capital stock.
(iv)These conditions, however, designate only a steady-line of growth. The actual growth rate may differ iron the warranted growth rate. If the actual growth rate is higher than the warranted rate of growth, the economy will experience cumulative inflation. If the actual growth rate is lower than the warranted growth rate, the economy will hurtle towards cumulative deflation.
(v)The business-cycles are viewed as the deviations from the path of steady growth. These deviations cannot go on indefinitely. There are constraints on upper and lower limits. The “full employment ceiling” acts an upper limit and autonomous investment and consumption act as a lower limit. The actual growth-rate fluctuates between these two limits.
Harrod has used his model to explain trade cycles. In the recovery phase, because of the existence of unemployed resources, G>Gn. When full employment is reached G = Gn. If Gw exceeds Gn at the full employment, slump is inevitable. Since G had to fall below Gw, it will, for the time being, be driven progressively downwards. Further, G itself fluctuated during the course of the business cycle. Savings as a fraction of income, though fairly steady in the long run, fluctuate in the short run. In the short run, savings tend to be residual between the earning and normal consumption. Companies, also, are likely to save large portion of their short-period increased in net receipts. Thus, even if Gw is normally below Gn, it is likely to ride above Gn in the later stages of advance, and, if it so happens, a vicious spiral of depression is inevitable when full employment is reached. If Gw does not ride above Gn in the course of advance, there would be continued pressure to advance when full employment is reached; this would lead to inflation and consequently, sooner or later, to a rise of Gw above Gn, resulting ultimately into a vicious spiral of depression. Actually, G may be reduced before the employment is reached because of immobilities, frictions, and bottlenecks and, if it so happens, depression may come before full employment is reached. If Gw is far above Gn, G may never rise far above Gw during the revival and the depression may result long before full employment is reached.

Define Short Story.

Define Short Story.

Short Story: A short story is a work of fiction usually written in a narrative prose. A short story is not a novel in an abridged form. A short story is complete in itself. Therefore, a short story writer must have great skill to achieve an impression of completeness in a few pages. The characters and incidents are sketched in a few effective strokes. A short story thus has intensity and a singleness of purpose. There is no single acceptable definition of a short story. All that we can say is that it is short, has a plot and character(s) and has a beginning, middle and an end. According to one definition, a short story is a relatively short narrative which is designed to produce a single dominant effect and which contains the elements of drama. Although the short story is expressly defined by its length, the precise length of stories that can be considered 'short varies between critics and writers, especially when taking account of the diversity of the form across genres. The aim of a good short story is to make the reader feel, to make him/her enter into the experience of the characters. Short stories can be read in magazines as well as in anthologies. Short stories date back to oral story-telling traditions, which originally produced epics such as Homer's iliad and odyssey.

Differentiate between prose and poetry.

Q. Differentiate between prose and poetry. June-2010, Q.No.-7 (c)

Ans. The main difference between prose and poetry is that prose is direct or straightforward writing. Here, the writer communicates his/her thoughts or feelings as clearly and precisely as possible. In poetry, which is generally written in verse, many things may be left to the imagination of the reader. Prose is like walking, i.e. it is functional and provides information. Poetry on other hand is like dancing and aims to delight. A French poet and critic, Paul Valerie, compared prose to walking and poetry to dancing, we walk in order to go from one We do it for a particular purpose. When we walk for exercise, we do it for the improvement of our health. In other words, walking is utilitarian purposes, i.e. it is something that we do with a purpose in view. Thus, ordinary prose is like walking place to another. When we go to see a dance, we are not interested in seeking information. When we see a good dance, we enjoy it. In other words, the objective is enjoyment and not mere information or instruction. When we like a particular dance, we go and see that dance repeatedly because every time we see it, we get a new aesthetic experience. In the case of poetry and literary prose, we call our favourite poem or passage. We read it several times and are not tired of it. If it is an ordinary prose passage, the moment we understand the meaning, we don't want to read it again. This is the major difference between prose and poetry

Poetry is art in itself. It is a rhythmical type of literary composition that usually serves to excite the readers. Either written down or spoken orally, poetry is characterised by an imaginative and attractive expression of one's thoughts, usually in an elated manner. It is metrical, which means that poems are metered or structured. Poetry also observes a sense of pattern that puts into consideration the words that connect each other either in terms of sound or original word meanings. That's why readers often encounter rhyming words in poetry. These rhymes act, not just as mere ornaments, but also help to convey the overall meaning of the piece. In addition, poetry is represented in lines and not in sentences and that's why one can quickly distinguish the lines one, two and so forth for the entire piece On the other hand, prose is quite ordinary. It is regarded by many as the most typical language form because it is observed in many areas of writing, most especially in newspapers, magazines and even encyclopaedias. Prose can be either written or spoken but without the metered and structured quality of poetry. Prose is characterised by being simple, common and not that expressive. Often, it is even regarded by literary experts as a dull form of expression. It is more informal and that's why readers find it a little disorganised to read. There may be slight rhythm and repetitions in the prose, but these are not significant enough to be noticed. The sentence is also considered to be its basic unit, wherein there are no line breaks, like observed in poetry. To summarise, poetry is more rhythmical, formal and metered in terms of structure as compared to the more ordinary prose. Poetry is more expressive and attractive as opposed to the usual dull quality of prose. Lines are considered as the basic units of poetry, whereas sentences fill the exact same role in the case of prose. Generally, poetry often has some rhymes and relationships between its words as opposed to their absence in prose.

Q. What do you understand by denotation and connotation of words?

Q. What do you understand by denotation and connotation of words?

 Ans. Words have a denotative and also a connotative meaning. Denotation is the literal meaning of a word. For example, in the sentence "This is a stone, we are referring to an object which is a stone. It is a clear statement There is no other meaning of this sentence. On the other han sentence 'She has a heart of stone' the meaning changes. It simply means that she is cruel or hard-hearted. In fact, it refers to all the qualities, which can be associated with the stone. When we say that a word has several connotations, the word 'home' means a place where one lives with one's family. This is its primary meaning but it also suggests warmth, intimacy family security, comfort, affection, etc. A house is also a place where one lives but it does not have the same connotations of the word 'home. Poetry is full of connotations and appreciation of poetry stems a great deal from the connotations of words used in it. in the Connotation is very different because it pertains to the more loose associations of a particular word. It can also include the emotional input that is connected to a certain term or word. The connotative definition or description coexists with its denotative meaning. Thus, denotation is the literal meaning of a word whereas the connotation is the meaning gained by association. For example, the word rose denotes a flower and if somebody admires anyone as a rose, this refers to the beauty of a person.

Hindi Version!

Q।  शब्दों के अर्थ और अर्थ को समझने से आप क्या समझते हैं? 

उत्तर:।  शब्दों का एक अर्थ होता है और एक अर्थ भी होता है।  पदावनति एक शब्द का शाब्दिक अर्थ है।  उदाहरण के लिए, वाक्य में "यह एक पत्थर है, हम एक वस्तु का उल्लेख कर रहे हैं जो कि एक पत्थर है। यह एक स्पष्ट कथन है। इस वाक्य का कोई अन्य अर्थ नहीं है। अन्य फांसी की सजा पर 'वह पत्थर का दिल है।"  अर्थ बदल जाता है। इसका सीधा सा मतलब है कि वह क्रूर या कठोर है। वास्तव में, यह उन सभी गुणों को संदर्भित करता है, जो पत्थर से जुड़े हो सकते हैं। जब हम कहते हैं कि किसी शब्द के कई अर्थ होते हैं, तो 'घर' शब्द का अर्थ होता है।  वह स्थान जहाँ कोई किसी के परिवार के साथ रहता है। यह इसका प्राथमिक अर्थ है, लेकिन यह गर्मी, अंतरंगता परिवार की सुरक्षा, आराम, स्नेह आदि का भी सुझाव देता है। एक घर भी एक ऐसी जगह है जहाँ कोई रहता है, लेकिन इसमें शब्द के समान अर्थ नहीं होते हैं  'घर। कविता में कथनों की भरमार है और कविता की प्रशंसा उसमें प्रयुक्त शब्दों के अर्थों से काफी हद तक उपजी है। धारणा में बहुत भिन्नता है क्योंकि यह एक विशेष शब्द के अधिक ढीले संघों से संबंधित है। इसमें भावनात्मक भी शामिल हो सकता है।  इनपुट जो एक निश्चित अवधि से जुड़ा है  या शब्द।  सांकेतिक परिभाषा या विवरण अपने अर्थ के साथ सह-अस्तित्व का वर्णन करता है।  इस प्रकार, निरूपण एक शब्द का शाब्दिक अर्थ है, जबकि अर्थ संघ द्वारा प्राप्त अर्थ है।  उदाहरण के लिए, शब्द गुलाब एक फूल को दर्शाता है और अगर कोई गुलाब के रूप में किसी की प्रशंसा करता है, तो यह एक व्यक्ति की सुंदरता को दर्शाता है।

Q. What are the different literary forms in prose?

Q. What are the different literary forms in prose?

Or

Describe Diary as a prose form. June-2010, Q.No.-7 (d)l[Dec-2011, Q.No.-7 (b)I June-2012, Q.No.-1 (d)]

Or

Describe Travelogue as a prose form. [Dec-2010, Q.No.-7 (d)]

Ans. The different literary forms in prose are:

 (1) Short Story: A short story is a work of fiction usually written in a narrative prose. A short story is not a novel in an abridged form. A short story is complete in itself. Therefore, a short story writer must have great skill to achieve an impression of completeness in a few pages. The characters and incidents are sketched in a few effective strokes. A short story thus has intensity and a singleness of purpose. There is no single acceptable definition of a short story. All that we can say is that it is short, has a plot and character(s) and has a beginning, middle and an end. According to one definition, a short story is a relatively short narrative which is designed to produce a single dominant effect and which contains the elements of drama. Although the short story is expressly defined by its length, the precise length of stories that can be considered 'short varies between critics and writers, especially when taking account of the diversity of the form across genres. The aim of a good short story is to make the reader feel, to make him/her enter into the experience of the characters. Short stories can be read in magazines as well as in anthologies. Short stories date back to oral story-telling traditions, which originally produced epics such as Homer's iliad and odyssey.

(2) Novel: A novel is a long prose narrative that usually describes fictional characters and events in the form of a sequential story. The genre has historical roots in the fields of medieval and early-modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. Like the short story, it is difficult to define a novel. A novel usually means certain length. A novel is an individual vision of the novelist. It is a picture of life as viewed by the writer. It has a story, which tells us what happened and a plot, which tells us how it happened. E.M. Forster, an English novelist, told the difference between a story and a plot by the followirng example, i.e. The King died and the Queen died' is a story. The King died and then the Queen died of grief is a plot. The difference is quite clear from this example. The plot and characters in a good novel leaves a lasting impression on the readers. A good novel gives us an insight into the world and ourselves; it is full of vitality and humanity and appeals to human sensibilities. The style varies from one novelist to another. Each novel bears the signature of the novelist. piece of fiction, written in prose and of a nitian eally.of moderate.

 (3) Essay: An essay is a piece of prose composition usually of moderate length. It is often written from an author's personai point of view. The word 'essay derives from the French word "essai" or attempt. An essay "attempts" to throw some light on the subject under discussion. The Frenchman Michel de Montaigne was the first author to describe his work as essays; he used the term to characterise these as "attempts" to put his thought into writing. There are two kinds of essays. One is informal or personal and the other is formal. Anything can be said in an informal essay as long as it is interesting and pieasing to the reader. The style of the essay is generally familiar and conversational. The subjects can often be light such as in 'Apology for Idlers,' 'On Tremendous Trifles', 'On Bores' and so on. The informal essay tries to inform, persuade or entertain the reader. A formal essay is a serious one and it weighs, evaluates and judges. It discusses the merits and the demerits of the topic in question. The style is objective and serious. A good essay however, is balanced, thoughtful and not biased. The judgement is based on facts.

(4)Letter: Another form of non-fictional prose is the letter. On a personal level, a letter is a spontaneous expression of one's self and on a social level, letters hold up a mirror to the age in which

they are written. Letter writing came to be recognised as a literary form in England during the Renaissance when critics came in touch with the works of Seneca, Cicero and Guevara. A good public letter is a literary piece of work that explores an Issue idea, impression or interpretation. It has a focussed point and has both informative value and aesthetic appeal.

(5)Travelogue: Travelogue is a piece of writing about travel. It is written in a style that is both interesting and informative. The passion for knowledge about other countries have always driven men to embark upon land travels and sea-voyages to distant lands, the accounts of which have been left by them for posterity The history of travelogues is as old as the history of man's travels Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring place for the pleasure of travel. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or may involve travel to different regions within the same country. The systematic study of travel literature emerged as a legitimate field of scholarly inquiry in the mid-1990s, with its own conferences, organizations, journals, monographs, anthologies and encyclopedias’. Literary travelogues generally exhibit a coherent narrative or

aesthetic beyond the logging of dates and events as found in travel journals or a ship's log. Travel literature is closely associated with outdoor literature and the genres often overlap with no definite boundaries. Another sub genre, invented in the 19th century, is the guidebook The form comprises many of the finest writings in prose during the 'Romantic Age'. Not only were the romantics more alive to picturesqueness and quaintness but also they were in love with nature. They were eager to study local colours and climates and to depict them in the settings for their imaginative stories. Also, travel gave the romantic writer the illusion of flight from his wearied self. Early examples of travel literature include Pausanias' Description o Greece in the 2nd century CE, and the travelogues of Ibn Jubayr (1145-1214) and Ibn Batutta (1304-1377), both of whom recorded their travels across the known world in detail. Burton Holmes was an American traveller, photographer filmmaker, who coined the term "travelogue". and Many "fictional" works of travel literature are based on factual journeys, i.e. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and presumably, Homer's Odyssey while other works, though based on imaginary and even highly fantastic journeys, i.e. Dante's Divine Comedy, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver Travels nevertheless contain factual elements.

(5) Biography and Autobiography: A biography is a detailed description on account of someone's life. A good biography usually tries to project an

objective picture of the life of a particular person. It avoids the temptation either to praise too much or to be too severe and critical. In this kind of writing, the writer selects the salient features of a particular life and gives them a shape. It tries to make the reader share the hopes, the fears, the interests and aspirations of that person. A biography presents a subject's life story highlighting various aspects of his/her life, including intimate details of experience and may include an analysis of a subject's personality In an autobiography, the writer attempts to reveal selected experiences of his/her own life in retrospect. Here the picture presented is necessarily subjective. It presents the events and impressions of the past as recollected by the writer af the time s/he is writing the autobiography. It cannot be a complete account of one's life, as the future has still to be lived. The word autobiography was first used deprecatingly by Taylor in 1797 in the 'English Periodical the Monthly Review. The autobiographies of Gandhi and Nehru are good examples of this form of writing.

(6)Diary: A type of autobiographical writing, a diary is essentially a regularly kept record of the diarist's activities and reflections ostensibly for the author's use alone, although some diaries are eventually published. Its name is derived from the Latin word dies', meaning "days," which suggests the "day-to-day" nature of the writing. As a genre, it has been practiced for over five hundred years. The diary is also a valuable historical document of an individual life and gives us written evidence of the historical, social and political circumstances of a particular period. Many diaries of notable figures have been published and ferm an important element of autobiographical literature. One of the most famous modern diaries, widely read and translated, is the posthumously published. The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank, who wrote it while in hiding during the German occupation of Amsterdam in the 1940s. Speeches: A speech is a spoken communication or expression of thought in prose addressed to an audience. It presents the personal viewpoint of the speaker in a convincing manner, on a subject that is of universal importance. A good speech is not ed with the aim to excite or rouse the audience. Rather it is made to inspire and persuade the hearers to think along the lines the speaker wishes them to. A power-packed speech is one that is charged with the sturdy conviction the speaker has in his/her beliefs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------