THEMES OF THE PLAY Ghashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar A digest by Student Help.

THEMES OF THE PLAY Ghashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar

A theme is the subject of (he play - the view and message that the playwright communicates. 

A play may have more than one theme and it is quite possible to have a main theme and several sub-themes that originate from it. 

What then is the main theme in Ghashiram Kotwal? 

The personality clash between the Nana and Ghashiram may appear to be the theme at the surface level but we know that Tendulkar has examined the relationship between religion, caste. sexuality and violence to expose the structures of power that maintain the status quo.

As we have noticed, Tendulkar is concerned about the politics of power and its various implications. According to Saimik Bandhopadliyay, 'In Ghashiram, power is defined 'horizontally' in terms of individuals against individuals from humiliation, to revenge in assertion, to eventual victimization.. ...' (Ghashiram Kotwal, Seagull, Calcutta, 1984, p.v.)

 Do we agree with this?

 It might seem on one level that an individual is pitted against another. However, at another level it is clear that the forces of state and society remain supreme even after individuals have perished. For example, Ghashiram, an innocent newcomer to Poona is unjustly accused of stealing and is beaten up by the Poona Brahmans. 

This incident makes Ghashiram vow to revenge himself on them. 

It is interesting that Ghashiram, himself is a Brahmin, has turned against his other brethren.

 The opportunity for getting even with the Brahmans presents itself when the lecherous Chief Minister of the Peshwa. The ageing Nana Phadnavis desires his beautiful daughter Lalita Gauri.

 Then begins the game of power in which Gauri is made a pawn and sacrificed to Nana's lust. 

In return. Ghashiram is made the Kotwal of Poona. 

This serves two purposes: 

one, it gives Ghashiram the opportunity to take his revenge and unleash terror on the people of Poona and two, it allows Nana to have his cake and eat it too.

 He has Gauri on the one hand and on the other his own tyranny is obscured by Ghashiram's cruelty.

 It is clear even at this stage that the deal is an unfair one as the benefit lies mainly on the side of Nana.

 And finally, Nana sacrifices Ghashiram to the bloodthirsty crowds without the slightest compunction or regret and at the end of the play we find that he himself continues to thrive. 

Who is really powerful; Nana or Ghashiram? 

We notice that the power is only deputed in Ghashiram who does not realize this and begins to mistake it for real power. 

When he loses Lalita Gauri and his game is up, lie realizes his error and the reality of his position.

 It isNana's misdeeds that have been "credited to his account". 

It seems then that power conceals itself behind its agents and continues to thrive unchallenged. 

Does the power rest with Nana? 

It would seem so but even Nana call be summoned at any moment by the Peshwa.

 The Peshwa himself is a symbol of power within the context of feudal society. 

Thus the power vested in him is underpinned by the social set-up which functions on the basis of maintaining the status quo. The king or the Peshwa in this case has the power by virtue of the Divine Right. His position is maintained by various state apparatuses like the army, the police, religious and social institution, etc. Here the power is delegated in the Nana who further deputes it to Ghashirarn by making him the Kotwal who then operates through a police force.

 Thus, there is a whole hierarchy of power positions.

 It seems then that it is an individual against an individual. For example, if a person is beaten up by the police. he can see the evil face of that particular policeman alone. 

He does not realize that the policeman is backed by the police force which again is maintained by a particular state.

 The state itself functions according to a certain ideology. A society structured in such a way ensures that power is maintained and supported by such hierarchies. 

The attention is focused on individuals who are passed off as culprits. 

But the real culprit, the social set-up continues unchallenged as individual is pitted against individual. And even if Ghashirams are created and destroyed, society remains unchanged. The attention is diverted from the real problem which still remains untouched. 

 And Tendulkar's play very subtly makes us think about and analyse this phenomenon. 

We have seen how power operates more overtly through violence and oppression.

 At a subtle level, it functions through such social attitudes that help in maintaining  hierarchies and hiding the real source of power which is delegated in agents such as Ghashiram who are also victims of that same power. 

Religion and sexuality are also used as the strategies of power. 

Religion

While the army and police are used by the state to maintain control within societies, there are other subtler strategies that are also used.

 For instance, religion. 

Most religions tell us to turn the other cheek if we are hit. This prevents us from reacting against tyranny and injustice.

 When we imbibe these values during childhood, first in the family. then in the school and finally in society at large, they become so deeply ingrained in us that they do not allow us to challenge or change our social situation. 

Such values are imparted to us so subtly that we do not question if they are right or wrong.

Take the case of Ghashiram Kotwal. 

The play begins with a religious hymn and the popular gods dancing on stage.

 This sets the context against which the drama unfolds itself

. The Brahmans go to Bavannakhani to see the dancing girls and say they are going 'to the temple' to give a sermon oil 'Vishwamitra and Menaka'. They justify their decadence by comparing Bavannakhani to holy Mathura. 

The 'abhanga' or devotional song is often sung with the 'lavani'or love song in his play. Scenes of violence arid cruelty are alternated with devotional songs. When Nana tries to seduce Gauri in front of the statue of the holy Ganapati, he simply dismisses her fears saying: That all holy Ganapati? The maker of Good? Look, he has two wives. One on this side, one on that side'.

 Further on in the play, when Gauri is dead and the distraught Ghashiram  confronts Nana and accuses him of his daughter's death, the latter reassures him: 'He - the Omnipresent - He makes everything happen ...... We are merely instruments .......' He then urges him to ' forget what has happened. All merges into the Ganga. 'Thou shalt not grieve over what is gone. The Vedas have said that' (P 44). "

Don't you think here is a case of the devil citing scriptures to suit his purpose?

 Religion then becomes a useful alibi in covering people's misdeeds.

 By invoking religion, all kinds of evils are glossed and even sanctified. Rituals are encouraged to fill the pockets of the greedy Brahmans. Moreover their position as the 'twice born' is reinforced by the prevalence of the caste system.

Caste

Alorigwith religion, caste is also a major factor in the play.

 Is it a comment on the decadence of the Brahmans? 

When the play was first performed it was banned for being anti-Brahman and for fear of there being a revolt in the audience. 

Is it really meant to expose Brahmans, their corruption and moral degradation? 

According to the playwright he was more interested in 'the emergence, the growth and the inevitable end of the Ghashirams ..... 

The decadence of the class in power (the Brahmans, incidentally, during the period which I had to depict) also was incidental though not accidental. 

Caste is used as an instrument of power. 

The Sutradhar reports that according to Ghashiram 'to eat with a lower caste person is a crime' (p. 26). To sleep with a 'Maliar woman' (a lower caste among the untouchables) is also considered a crime. On the other hand, the Bralimans, have no hesitation in chasing and pestering a white Sahib for money. This shows that race and colour constitute a higher position in the social hierarchy. And the white Sahib ranks higher than the privileged Brahman who is feasted and showered with gifts in the Peshwa's Poona.

Tendulkar has depicted the hypocrisy of the Brahmans, their arrogance, authoritarianism and their, debauched and adulterous behaviour. Rather than being identifiable by their good deeds and noble behaviour, the Brahmans are known by their 'shaven head', 'holy thread' and 'pious look'. It is this pious look that conceals their petty deeds. Nana himself a Brahman is marrying for the seventh time not to mention his lusting after numerous young girls, Lalita Gauri among them.

 Though full of revenge and hatred for the Brahmans, Ghashiram is himself a Brahman. 

And his conduct in bartering his daughter's virtue for the dubious distinction of becoming the Kotwal of Poona, can hardly be justified and speaks of his inhuman opportunism as well as total lack of paternal sentiment and sensitivity. The total picture of the Brahmans that emerges from this play is one of hypocrisy. double standards, self-indulgence and moral degradation. It exposes the rottenness of the caste-system that privileges a person on the basis of birth rather than merit and maintains the rigid hierarchy to control and suppress persons. 

Sexuality 

Women too, as we have seen, have become a pawn in the power game. In fact there is a close nexus between sexuality and power.

 Consider, for example, Nana's statement with reference to Lalita Gauri: 'Our grandeur's gone if she's not had' (p.20).A man's self-image, identity and machismo is definable only, it seems. in relation to the conquest and oppression of women. There is a close connection between sexuality and religion as lavanis (love song) and abhangas (devotional song) are sung at the revelries in Bavannakhani which is likened to Mathura and the erotic dances to Krishan Lila.

 The garb of religion helps to justify and whitewash the debaucheries of the Brahman men. Gulabi's tantalizing dances, the Nana's lustful pursuit of Lalita Gauri, the clandestine meeting of the Brahman wife with a Maratha lover, all serve to create an underlying strain of eroticism throughout the play. 

Violence 

Tendulkar did research on violence in India because of which he has explored its many dimensions. He is not only concerned about the violence of the State against the people but against the violence of people against other people.

 This is clear in Ghashiram's torture of innocent Brahmans and the belligerence of Gulabi's men against Ghashiram when he is forcibly divested of the necklace that Nana had given him. A stark example of this violence is the ordeal-by-fire episode. An innocent Brahman, accused of theft, unsuccessfully tries to convince Ghashiram of his innocence. Even though the evidence indicates that the Brahman has been unjust!y implicated, Ghashiram has an ordeal set up to test his innocence. The nails of the Brahman's right hand are pulled out and his fingers are washed with lemon juice and soap and then hands are sealed in a bag. Seven Rangolis are drawn on the floor and an iron ball is heated red hot. The ball is then placed forcibly on the hands of the protesting Brahman. Naturally, his hands burn and the cruel Ghashiram triumphantly proclaims that this would not have happened had he told the truth for only liars get burnt. He then urges the agonized man to 'confess' or else tlie ordeal would be repeated. Left with no choice, he falls into the trap - '1 confess that I stole'. (p.36). Instead of letting him off Ghashiram orders the soldiers to 'cut off his hands and drive him out of Poona'. (p.36). Here is an example of the extreme physical and mental violence that can be perpetrated by one human beings on another. How does this square with the so-called religious commitment of the Brahmans? In addition to this is also the more subtle violence that human beings are capable of. This is the violence of mental cruelty-the kinds we witness when Nana subdues Ghashiram's agony and anger at the death of his daughter by invoking protocol. 

But what is Tendulkar's aim in portraying this violence? According to Sudhir Sonal kar 'It [violence], has to somewhere grasp the tragic human condition, it has to have a poetic dimension to it ..... The violence of greek tragedy, moves and enriches. Tendulkar's violence shocks and even when it disturbs, the ethical question remains both untouched and unanswered'. ('Vijay Tendulkar and the Metaphor of 

violence' The Illustrated Weekly of India. Nov. 20, 1983, p.2 1). By leaving the ethical question open, Tendulkar is perhaps inviting his audience to think about the solutions for themselves. 

Is Tendulkar trying to convey a 'message'? 

As we know the function of art is not to provide answers or solution but to raise questions. If indeed it begins to have 'palpabale designs on us' as Keats would say, it becomes mere propaganda. In this play, as we can see, Tendulkar provides us with a blueprint for an unforgettable theatrical experience by satirizing the utter decadence of feudal society . By exposing the foibles and hypocrisies of Brahmans, he forces us to think about the situation of our own society. There are no easy answers. Underlying the .entertainment is a thread of seriousness and you may have felt slightly confused after completing the play. The 'end' in fact makes you think - How has Nana got I away scot free?

 How can the celebrating crowd be so oblivious to the fact that the real evil remains? And the fact that such questions come to mind proves the success of Tendulkar's enterprise

Write a note on Boswell technique in his "Life of Johnson".

Write a note on Boswell technique in his "Life of Johnson".

Or

Discuss some prominent features of Boswell's biographical art.

Or

Examine the biographical techniques used by Boswell in Life of Johnson.

The biographical techniques used by Boswell in Life of Johnson are:

Birth and Early Childhood: Boswell's narration of Johnson's family background is worth noticing in this paragraph. Boswell maintains that Johnson's father did not come from a well-to-do or known family.

The title of Gentleman, Boswell tells his readers, was 'taken by those who could not boast of gentility'. His mother on the other hand came from a well-known family of small landowners. Boswell, no matter how appreciative of Johnson, was a biographer, who wished to enable his readers to see the man described and discussed in the life, and not a panegyrist. He was in a way, following Johnson's precept. 'He that narrates,' wrote Johnson in Idler No. 84, 'the life of another..... shows his favourite at a distance, decorated and magnified like the ancient actors in their tragic dress and endeavours to hide the man that he may produce a hero!' Boswell tried to project the man. There is also an emphasis on 'never' in the first paragraph. It gives a hint of the amount of research and interviews Boswell conducted in order to arrive at definite facts on the life of Johnson. In the second and third paragraphs, Boswell tried to establish the precise nature of Johnson's precocity (prematurely developed in some faculty).

 Lord Chesterfield's Neglect: Boswell takes a lot of pain to discover the true story about Johnson's break with Chesterfield. He tells us about the testimony of Lord Lyttelton that palliates the act of Chesterfield to some extent.

He narrates the manner in which he got a copy of the letter Johnson wrote to Chesterfield and having given the letter he tells us what one of his eminent contemporaries William Warburton thought about Johnson. Boswell's biography is interesting and useful not only because he tries to tell us the true story objectively but also because he draws inferences from the events described. For example, in 'Birth and Early Childhood' Boswell said that he would endeavor to record the 'various excellences' of Johnson's character. It is this effort to record the qualities of man and of course, his shortcomings that is of central importance to the readers. We may point out that there is a letter of Johnson quoted in full in this section. It is so perfectly worded that it has been committed to memory by many. Historians have pointed out that this letter signals the end of the system of patronage in England. Boswell painstakingly collected all the letters of Johnson he could and incorporated them into his Life. This set the trend in the nineteenth century, of writing the two-volume Life and Letters of 171 so and so. Johnsons and Paoli: One of the strengths of Boswell's Life is his reports of meetings and conversation of Johnson with or about the other eminent people of the age and many a time also with people not so well known.

In the short space of the first paragraph, Boswell describes Johnson's views on language, disloyalty of husband and wife towards one another, courage and fear that he expressed before Paoli. In the second paragraph, Johnson discusses good breeding and free will and pre-determination with Boswell. In the west very frequently and sometimes in India as well religious people wish to know to what extent human beings are free to take moral decisions in their lives and fulfil those and to what extent they are pre-planned for specific actions and functions by God. Orthodox Christians believe that we are free unlike animals and Johnson's holds the same point of view.

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Look Back in Anger play written by John Osborne Summary

Look Back in Anger  Summary

Look Back in Anger (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive upper-middle-class wife Alison.

The characters act well in unison to give a unified touch to the play.

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Jimmy is agitated as he has not been able to find a job according to his qualification.

He earns his living by working at a candy shop.

Helena is from, a good family.

Jimmy's Friend cliff tries to calm fights.

Friend of Alison Helena has a bad character.

Incites the husband and wife to fight and hence gets close to Jimmy.

Lives as a mistress of Jimmy.

Colonel Redfern Father of Alison presented as a headless person.

He takes away Alison without trying to reach a negotiation between his daughter and Jimmy.

After some time Alison discovers that she is pregnant.

Alison who was pregnant goes through miscarriage and returns to meet Jimmy.

She pleads to Jimmy who forgives her.

Also Helena realizes that she was wrong in tempting Jimmy and hence breaking the house of Porters.

She departs and from here on Alison and Jimmy live happily.

Look Back In Anger by John Osborne Characters List Summary

Look Back In Anger

Characters List

Husband Jimmy Porter

Friend of Jimmy Porter Cliff Lewis

Wife of Jimmy Porter - Alison Porter.

                                    Helena Charles Friend of Alison Porter.

                                                 Father of ----Alison Porter.

Introduction
Look Back in Anger (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne.

 It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet impassive upper-middle-class wife Alison.

Discuss Boswell's Life of Johnson as a piece of art. |BEGE 105| Ignou Notes By Student Help | ignounotesbystudenthelp |

Discuss Boswell's Life of Johnson as a piece of art.

Or 

What impression do we gather of Samuel Johnson from Boswells "Life of Johnson"? 

Or

 Discuss some important features of Boswell's art of writing biography.

Biography is often defined as an account of a person's life and a branch of history.

 In Boswell's own time there were at least four others who wro Johnson's life, i.e. Mrs. Piozzi, John Hawkins, William Shaw and Arthur Murphy. Many others have written since then and Johnson is still popular as a subject of biography. C.L. Reade, Joseph Wood Krutch, James L. Clifford and lohn Wain have written Johnson's life in this century and the need for another life of Johnson is still felt and Donald Greene is writing one another Notwithstanding this, Boswell's Life of Johnson is still read and edited, despite its voluminous size. James Boswell's The life of Samuel Johnson' is perhaps the best-known biography in English literature and it marked a turning point in the art of biography writing. Boswell's Life of Johnson is a piece of art. In spite of the fact that the arrangement of the material is chronological rather than topicwise, there is a unity of design. This unity is given to the work by Boswell's respect for the penetrating wisdom of the man that Johnson was, his piety, his courage, his wit, his learning, his sympathy for the oppressed, the weak and the poor. 

It is often said that Boswell kept notes on Johnson's conversations. This is true but the way he recorded just the essence of a talk and not the chaff of the trivialities that often go on in company makes Boswell's biography Paoli and Johnson. Boswell was there on that occasion but there is no mention of him saying anything. Possibly because he wanted to maintain an artistic distance. Hence, it is in his selection of material that Boswell employed his artistic talent. Related to this is the issue of authenticity. Modern scholarship, through its comparison of the accounts of incidents related in the biography with those in the notes or the journals of Boswell and reports of others present on the occasions shows that Johnson was absolutely faithful in reporting the words of different persons. It is in condensation that Boswell exercised his artistic manipulation. so effective. For example, Boswell's report of the meeting of  Sir Harold Nicolson has pointed out that Boswell's artistic talent lay in 'projecting his detached photograph with such continuity and speed that the effect produced is that of motion and of life. There is both narrative speed and descriptive force in Johnson's biography. The reader not only follows the narrative or a philosophical discussion but also see Lucy Porter talking to Johnson and Boswell in a homely setting and Johnson and Paoli in a very formal one. The reader feels the hurt pride of Samuel Johnson as he hits back Chesterfield in his reply tension of October 10, 1769 in Boswell's mind when Paoli paid Johnson a visit. These are made possible by Boswell's peculiar abilities of description and narration, analysis, exposition and intuitive understanding of his subject's mind. Boswell was also revolutionary in portraying his material in dramatic scenes, in contrast, for example, to Johnson's own 'Lives' of the Poets', which are presented as judgemental commentaries. Boswell has combined the mimetic skill of the novelist with the accuracy of the diarist and has been called the first 'mimetic biographer'. to him.

 The reader also lives the James L. Clifford suggested that Boswell constantly tried to make his expression precise and suggestive of colour and charm. For instance, 'loved and caressed by everybody' of the notes become, 'caressed and loved by all about him', 'remarkably lively and gay and very happy' became 'a gay and frolicsome fellow'. Thus, we find that the power of Boswell's Life of Johnson is a result of a variety of talents Boswell possessed painstaking research, accurate description, honest narration, an imaginative understanding of the subject and a command over the English language.

Write a short note on the life of Samuel Johnson. | Ignou | BEGE 105| | Ignou Notes By Student Help |

Write a short note on the life of Samuel Johnson.

                     

BEGE-105 Understanding Prose

Samuel Johnson has been called the symbol of the genius of England.

Strong common sense, learning, wit, courage, honesty and sympathy are some of the qualities that people admire wherever we find them but we find all these together in any one person so rarely Johnson was born into a family of average means. His father Michael was a bookseller. 

He was also a learned man and his philosophical nature rather interfered with his trade and prosperity.

His mother, Sarah came Birmingham family of Fords who were well-to-do. She was not much educated but feared that their economic condition was getting worse.

 The result was that there was not much peace in the family. Johnson had a younger brother, called Nathaniel, He committed suicide in 1737 and within a few days Johnson too moved to London, in search of a job. There he entered the service of Edward Cave (1691-1754) the printer and wrote for The Gentleman's Magazine. Johnson had to give up his studies at Oxford in 1729 for financial reasons. In his search of employment he went, among other places, to Birmingham. There he wrote essays for the Birmingham Journal and translated Jeronymo Lobo's French version of Voyage to Abyssinia into English. Apparently, during his stay at Birmingham, Johnson also met Elizabeth Porter, wife of the draper Harry Porter.

After the death of her husband, Johnson married Elizabeth who had a son as old as Johnson himself. She was 20 years older than him. With the help of the dowry she brought, Johnson opened a school at Edial. One of its students, David Garrick, became eminent in the theatre and Johnson's lifelong friend. However, the attempt was unsuccessful and the school had to be closed.  One of the works that built Johnson's reputation was his Dictionary of the English Language (1755) in which he defined over 40,000 words, illustrating them with the help of 1,14,000 quotations.

These were drawn from books in every branch of knowledge written since the time of Sir Philip Sidney (1563-1626). Nathaniel Bailey had preceded Johnson in the task but Johnson's was so much superior to Bailey's that the latter was soon wiped out of public memory.

 However, there are many words in the dictionary to which Johnson attached indefensible meanings either in sport or petulance. Some of these were not of this class. 'Pastern' Johnson defined as 'the knee of a horse.' When a lady asked him how he came to do that, he replied with admirable frankness, Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance. There are some other definitions that are commonly remembered.

Lexicographer given to a state hireling for treason to his country. These, however, are no specimens of the precision of the definitions of words in the Dictionary Apart from the journalism for the Magazine, Johnson wrote many short lives of eminent and not so eminent men. In all he wrote about 70 of them. In Rambler, No. 60 (Oct. 13, 1750) he wrote: "I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a was defined as 'a harmless drudge' and pension 'a pay nt judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful. For not only every   man has in the mighty mass of the world, great numbers in the same condition with himself to whom his mistake and miscarriage, escapes and expedients, would be of immediate and apparent use.

However, there is such an uniformity in the state of man, considered apart from adventitious and separable decorations and disguises, that there is scarce any possibility of good or ill, but is common to human kind." In short, biographies are more useful to us than other branches of literature because from them we learn about the merits and shortcomings and their effect on the lives of certain people, which can be examples for to imitate or avoid. Johnson preferred autobiographies to biographies because the former could convey the truth better. 

Write a critical note on Anne Frank's diary.Or How does Anne Frank's diary acquaint you with her life and time? Anne Frank's The Diary of a young Girl is much more than a personal account of her experiences. Do you agree? Discuss.| Student Help| Ignou Notes By Student Help | ignounotesbystudenthelp

Write a critical note on Anne Frank's diary.

Or

How does Anne Frank's diary acquaint you with her life and time?

Or

Anne Frank's The Diary of a young Girl is much more than a personal account of her experiences. Do you agree? Discuss. 

Anne Frank's Diary describes the incidents in her life from her thirteenth birthday in June 1942 till she was captured by the Gestapo in August, 1944.

The entries are full of interesting anecdotes, thoughts and dreams that are part of the life of a young girl.

 She truthfully describes the fear and hopes of a group of people comprising immediate family and friends who took refuge in a secret hideout to escape the persecution of the Nazis.

Anne's early recollections of Jewish persecution Anne was born of Jewish parents in Germany who immigrated to Holland in 1933, when Anne was four years old, due to Jewish persecution.

Even there, the family felt the impact of Hitler's anti-Jewish laws.

Once the Second World War started and the Germans captured Holland, life became really hard. Many Anti-Jewish laws were passed.

Jews had to wear a yellow star to distinguish them, they had to hand in their bicycles and they were banned from trams and forbidden to drive. They could shop only between three and five and only in Jewish shops. Cinemas and theatres were forbidden to Jews and they could not take part in public sports. Jewish children could study only in Jewish schools. So Anne had to discontinue her regular school and attend the Jewish Secondary School.

The family's escape to the 'Secret Annexe' Anne's father had decided that they would escape the Germans before they came to collect them.

When the Nazis summoned Anne's sister Margot, the family decided that the time has come to go into hiding. Anne and Margot packed their essentials into school bags. Their friends Miep and Henk took some bags filled with clothes. Early in the morning, each family member put on a number of clothes and giving the were going to school, they walked to the secret annexe in the building of Anne's father's office.

The annexe was hidden behind the office and contained a few rooms with minimum facilities.

They were soon joined by  the Van Daans and later on by a dentist called Albert Dussel. Thun group of eight people lived in the confines of the secret annexe for years.

 Anne's relationship with her parents

Anne's relationship with her mother was strained. But she was attached to her father Ofto Frank.

She felt that her mother loved her sister Margot more than her.

 Anne adored her father to whom she was emotionally the closest deeply.

 Anne's relationship with others in the Secret Annexe Initially

 Anne looked forward to the arrival of the Van Daan at the secrt annexe since there would be more company.

 She describes their son, Peter as not yet sixteen and rather soft, shy and gawky.

At first, she does not like his company but later on they fall in love.

Anne does not like the quarrels between Mrs. and Mr. Van Daan who shout at each other. She constantly makes fun of Mrs. Van Daan who is often described as unbearable.

What is the difference between biography and autobiography?

What is the difference between biography and autobiography?

 The main difference between biography and autobiography are as follows:

·        In autobiography, childhood is portrayed prominently. On the other hand, in biography the author concentrates on the active period of the individual especially his/her success.

·        The biographer places special emphasis on the death of the individual while in an autobiography, needless to say, death does not figure at all.

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·        Autobiographies often feature the relationships with parents and siblings. Biographies, on the other hand, deal with relationships with friends and colleagues who directly in indirectly contributed to the person's success.

·        A biographer has to rely close relationship with the subject. Or he may reconstruct his/ her life by culling evidence from documents, diaries and letters. An autobiographer does not need to rely on such evidence. S/he can take recourse to his/her memory on external evidence.

·        The main difference, lies in the point of view. In biography, the life is recreated by a third person narrator, who may or may not be objective. In autobiography, the first person narrator is mainly subjective.

EEG-06 UNDERSTANDING POETRY - June, 2019 Question Paper ELECTIVE COURSE: ENGLISH

EEG-06 UNDERSTANDING POETRY - June, 2019 Question Paper ELECTIVE COURSE: ENGLISH
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BEGE-106 UNDERSTANDING POETRY - June, 2019 Question Paper ELECTIVE COURSE: ENGLISH

No. of Printed Pages : 4+3=7
BEGE-106/EEG-06 BEGE-106
BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMME Term-End Examination June, 2019
ELECTIVE COURSE: ENGLISH
BEGE-106 UNDERSTANDING POETRY
Maximum Marks: 100
Time: 3 hours
Note: Answer questions no. 1, 2 and 3 and any two of the remaining questions.

1(a) Comment on any one of the following passages in respect of the prosodic features:
(i) Thy way not mine, O Lord However dark it be Lead me by thine own hand, Choose out the path for me.

(ii) How fleet is the glance of the mind!  Compared with the speed of its flight
The tempest itself lags behind
And the swift winged arrows of light.

(b) Write short notes on any tw0 of the following: 2x5-10
(i) Ballad Stanza
(ii) Rhyme Royal
(iii) Satire
(iv) Syneedoche
(v) Terza Rima
(vi) Apostrophe

2 Comment on any four of the following passages with reference to their context. .      4x8-32

(a)Yet in these thoughts myself
almost despising
Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising. From sullen earth, sings hymns at heavens gate;

(b) But All subsists by elemental strife; And Passions are the elements of Life. The gen'ral Order, since the whole began, Is kept in Nature, and is kept in Man.

(c) Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!

(d)  If I trip him just a-dying. 
Sure of heaven as sure can be,
Spin him round and send him flying
Off to hell, a Manichee?

(e) We slowed again,
  And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled
A sense of falling, like an arrow-shower Sent out of sight, somewhere becoming rain.

(f) When I heard the Earth-song.
I was no longer brave;
My avarice cooled.
Like lust in the chill of the grave

(g) We're blessed  by our own seed & golden hairy naked accomplishment - bodies growing into mad black formal sunflowers in the sunset.

(h)  She opened her wormy legs wide.
I felt the hunger there
  the other one, the fish slithering,  turning inside.

3. Bring out the salient features of English poetry 16 in the fourteenth century
            OR

Write short notes on any two of the following: 16
(a) Anne Bradstreet
(b) Phillis Wheatley
(c)The Fireside Poets
(d) Chicago Renaissance

4. Critically evaluate any one of the following poems: 16

(a)When the Assault Was Intended to the City

(b) Ode to the West Wind  

(c) Pied Beauty

(d) No Second Troy

(e) Death Sets a Thing Significant

(f) Damayanti to Nala in the Hour of Exile

5). Attempt a critique of any one of the following poets: 16
(a) Andrew Marvell
(b) Thomas Gray
(c) William Wordsworth
(d) Seamus Heaney
(e) Robert Frost

6) How is Indian poetry in English different from English and American poetry? 16

Fst 01-Class2 on ||Social forestry || in Hindi. #fst #fstlecture #ignou ...

Fst 01-Class2 on ||Social forestry in Hindi || in Hindi. #fst #fstlecture #ignou #studenthelp #fst01

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Last Resort in the South by Bill Aitken

Last Resort in the South by Bill Aitken  

Tiruchendur is a tiny temple town that occupies the coast between Kanyakumari and Rameshwaram. Its white gopuram is almost on the shore. What looks like the giant hour-hand of a clock, affixed in neon lights, is actually the symbol of the lance with which Lord Murugan vanquished a particularly troublesome asura. Unusually this tower has been built to the west of the sprawling temple. Surrounded by the blue sea and waving palms, a more delightful end to one's metre gauge journey from the northern arid zone around Fazilka could not be imagined. 

The small station has recently been renovated and is immaculate in appearance and operation. A notice threatens to fine anyone Rs. 16 who enters without a platform ticket, so quickly I buy one to photograph the train about to leave. This is the "732 Tirunelveli Passenger" hauled by a diesel. Though I can jump aboard and return by the "733 Down", the blue of the sea is too inviting and instead I settle for some conversation with the station master, who apparently has been alerted of my coming. When in Delhi, promises of flashed messages to ease my way had seemed a kind gesture by the Railway Information Officer, but to my pleasant surprise the friendliness with which I was met along the way was largely due to the promises kept in Delhi. 

To make my day a steam engine lay smoking idly in the siding, waiting to haul the last of the three daily Passengers. For the end of the line, everything was perfect. The station building had been remodelled in the temple style, but tastefully so, and the miniscule reservation office must be the only one in the whole of India where the green discs are permanently on display. In fact you wonder how long this branch line can compete with the faster and similarly priced buses. With Tuticorin less than 40 km away, it is understandable that a famous port town can use a railway link. A friend had advised me to give Tuticorin a miss since it held little of railway or aesthetic interest.

The bus is much more direct than the train for the Rameshwaram-Tiruchendur section, but you pay for the convenience by becoming part of a hectic running battle between North and South. A party of 14 Hindi speakers got on a Rameshwaram-bound bus and from the word go there was bickering between them and the Tamil running staff. There were some rain clouds about and the travellers were worried about their luggage on the roof getting wet. The bus crew could not provide a tarpaulin and this began the acrimony. "If it rains, you can report me", said the conductor helpfully, implying that the clouds would go away - which they did. Next there were complaints of having to spend 25 paise every time the passengers from the free-peeing North went to spend a penny in the bus stations. Another grouse was that the driver was a great gobber, who marked each furlong with the discharge of spit. At speed this meant some of the passengers shared the fall-G:. 

The wayside halts for refreshments were spotlessly clean but almost blew customers away from their counters with the volume of Tamil rock music belted out. Another source of friction lay in the strict interpretation of 5 minutes by the bus crew. The timeless North assumed it meant anything up to 15. When you consider that most of the long-distance passengers between Rameshwararn and Kanyakumari are pilgrims from the North it means this verbal warfare occurs daily on the Tamil Nadu government buses. So much for the claims of cosy cultural integration that the temple at Rameshwaram puts out. 

The resilience of Hindu culture is reflected in the casteless appeal of the six Murugan temples, of which Palani is considered third in importance. Tiruchendur is the second in the list and referred to as "The Abode of Fulfilment" - a very apt description of my feelings at completing the extended and involved metric circuit. It is besieged by busloads of pilgrims who sport on the beach as the rust-coloured breakers add another curious effect of this place with a cave valued for its "medicinal" properties. (Shankaracharya was cured here.) Many are the black-clad, bare-bodied Ayappa piligrims bound for the Sabarimala temple in the Kerala hills. That too is a casteless attraction and it could well be the orthodox priests, seeing where the pickings are to be had, will decide to throw open their temples. Tiruchendur for all practical purposes seems a spiritual holiday resort. Devotees rent cottages overlooking the sea and though they may not have a whale of a time at least they upstage the much richer tourist clientele at the Hotel Tamil Nadu run by the government which is situated further behind. This hotel only had double rooms for 80 rupees, so I inquired at a new lodge nearby and ended up with a much better deal for 40 rupees, overlooking the temple and the sea. One breathed in the tantalizing realization that the elation one had felt at the start of one's journey on the majestic expanse of the Brahrnaputra was echoed exactly in the furthest pounding of the waves at Tiruchendur, though the cultural chasm between the two is enormous. In shrinking the physical poles the metre gauge had performed a kind of alchemical union of opposites. I was tickled to recall at the half-way mark of my probings (near Dwarka) the stout teetotaller proposition that India's ancient propitiatory beer Somras was lugubriously "non-injurious to health," because the outstanding memory of this MG quartering had been my constant intoxication at the sheer wonder India still is. Those who declare India to be "poor" announce only their own poverty of acquaintance. But will they listen to the proving imprint of a lesser track that gave this traveller a unique glimpse of a rare unity; soon to be dismantled.

The Poetic Diction of Steam by Bill Aitken summary.

The Poetic Diction of Steam  by Bill Aitken summary.

 (Travelogue)

Bill Aitkens travel by lesser line was published in 1993.

Bill Aitken was born in Scotland in 1934; he became a naturalized Indian by choice in 1972. He has written a number of books about India, capturing its Himalayan majesty, its scenic beauty and its spiritual core.

He studied Comparative Religion at Leeds University in England and he moved to India in 1959.

He lived in Himalayan ashrams for some time and undertook many trips all over India, extending from Nanda Devi, a Himalayan peak in the North to Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip in the South. Most of his excursions were either on an old motorbike or by the steam railway. It was not only the Indian scenic beauty that fascinated him, he was also attracted by the steam engine that helped him cover the whole of India from the North to the South, from the East to the West.

The Poetic Diction of Steam

Fulfillment is not just the satisfaction of seeing a laborious job through but is also felt in the more subtle relief of having performed a financial tight-rope act and managed to land on one's feet.

 My metric path veered crazily at times, to take in special likes such as the high ranges of Kerala. Looking back it went like a dream and all the worries about reservations and the elbowing through crowds that travel in the North implies simply did not arise on the meter gauge in the South. It was leisure all the way.

Full marks to the Railways for their unfailing efficiency and close sense of duty. This vast network with its million-and-a-half employees pulls together impressively to keep the economy running and the passengers for most of the time from complaining.

When I started out from Ledo in furthest Assam, it was to see if it was possible to cover the whole of India by meter gauge. The answer is yes, provided you believe that journeying is as important as arrival.

That way the journey can teach you more than any university can about the diverse wonders of India so few of our political masters have the width of vision to encompass. Their India is nowhere near so remarkable as the real one which can only be viewed without blinkers.

 With its astounding array of human types and sublime array of beauty, anyone exposed to the marvel becomes a natural patriot. Whether it's boatmen on the Brahmaputra or toddy- tappers in Telengana, the railway gives you India like nothing else can. It enables you to ride camels in Jaisalmer and catamarans in Tiruchendur.

Unlike the politicians who pass through in their helicopter you will know the difference between the two! Add the flavour of the metre gauge and you get the extra magic of the classic age of railway travel - the poetic diction of steam.

" To make my day a steam engine lay.. ."(para 3) .

Apart from delighting in the architectural beauty of the temple and the $tation  in the vicinity of the blue sea - the author says that his day was made richer by the presence of the steam engine in the station.

In his concluding chapter "The Poetic Diction of Steam", he pays a tribute to the steam engine for giving him the ride through fourteen states in a single metre gauge line. It had also been inexpensive in comparison to the fast moving broad gauge express trains whose fares are much higher. In its leisurely pace, with no jostling crowds around, the steam engine chugged its way through different regions of India gave Aitken a glimpse of the vast country. The train travel was almost like a pleasant dream as he could see the beauty of the land, listen to the animated talk of the co-passengers, feel the spiritual quest of the people and sway to the rhythmic motion of the slow moving steam locomotive. The author feels a great sense of repose, almost sublime, similar to repose one experiences in the writing and reading of poetry.

Last Resort in the South by Bill Aitken summary.

Last Resort In The South.

(Travelogue)

Last Resort in the South by Bill Aitken summary.

Bill Aitkens travel by lesser line was published in 1993.

Bill Aitken was born in Scotland in 1934; he became a naturalized Indian by choice in 1972. He has written a number of books about India, capturing its Himalayan majesty, its scenic beauty and its spiritual core.

He studied Comparative Religion at Leeds University in England and he moved to India in 1959. He lived in Himalayan ashrams for some time and undertook many trips all over India, extending from Nanda Devi, a Himalayan peak in the North to Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip in the South. Most of his excursions were either on an old motorbike or by the steam railway. It was not only the Indian scenic beauty that fascinated him, he was also attracted by the steam engine that helped him cover the whole of India from the North to the South, from the East to the West.

Last Resort In The South.

(Travelogue)

Lesser line refers to the meter gauge rail track, and implies that the look is an account of journey undertaken by the author on the metre gauge Railway track from Ledo ,the easternmost station in Assam, to Bhuj, the westernmost station in Gujrat,
and again from Fazlika in Punjab to Kanyakumari In Tamil Nadu.

The journey as we can imagine made him travel through many states across the length and breadth of the country.

The entire journey was made on meter gauge to answer to one of the most famous “travel riddle” i.e.

“Can one travel all the way by one gauge?”

The travel was alike a railway marathon, which includes all the four corners of India.

A bonus we readers get while reading this amazing piece of text is that we get to know the writers perception of various cultural and social differences that exist in various parts of this Vibrant Nation.

Mainly the cultural differences between South India and North India are evident in his writing.

Another notable point from this text is the writer’s fascination for Steam Engines.

The theme of the text is basically the description of things that the writer sees during the journey.

He sees the railway station at Tiruchendur.

Which he describes as having been remodeled “tastefully”.

He describes the station as having same “Aesthetic” value as that of the temple (such is the beauty of the station!).

Further to add more similarities both the temple and the Station are situated at the shore.

There is a giant lance at the top of the tower of the temple which appears like the hour-hand of a clock.

It is also a symbol of the mighty lance of Lord Murugan , which in turn symbolizes strength and solidity.

What we need to note here is the stunning description of the hour hand of the clock and its comparison to the lance of the mighty Lord Murugan.

While commenting and describing the cultural and habitual differences between people from the Southern States of India To the people from the Northern States Of India, Aitken does not show any bias however, what he describes is seemingly true and we seem to believe it!

He refers to the verbal bickering(heated arguments) between the pilgrims of North India and the South Indian bus staff.

This proves to be a good difference between the two groups of people.

Secondly, Aitken remarks, that the people from South India were punctual and always on time. However, the people from North India were not punctual and often late.

Third point of difference as the writer describes it is evident in the sense of Hygiene. The South Indian people are described as more civilized and as people who maintain good hygiene.

However, the people from North Indian States don’t give much importance to hygiene.

To prove his point Aitken Remarks that paying 25 paisa was an extravagance for people from free peeing North India for using the public toilets.

However , the bus driver described in the Travelogue is a South Indian who didn’t mind spitting on the roads throughout the journey much to the consternation of the travelers inside the bus.

The North Indian luggage conscious people have another heated round of arguments with the bus staff on the point that their luggage has been placed on the open roof of the bus.

While the bus staff takes this lightly the passengers are worried about their luggage and hence end up bickering with the staff.

By the end we realize one who would undertake such journey would feel elated just as one would have felt at the start of one's journey on the majestic expanse of the Brahmaputra was echoed exactly in the furthest pounding of the waves at Tiruchendur, though the cultural chasm between the two is enormous. In shrinking the physical poles the meter gauge had performed a kind of alchemical union of opposites.

The travelogue throws light on the basic fabric of unity.

No matter what(North Indian or South Indian we are Indians).

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