Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is without doubt the finest of all the Middle English romances, for its mastery of plot handling, its realism, characterization, descriptive powers, and use of the alliterative long lines. At times the poet achieves real heights in his poetry which can stand comparison with that of any period. It occurs in the same manuscript along with Pearl, Purity and Patience, which are supposed to be the work of the same man, of whom nothing is known.It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who challenges any one of the assembled Knights to give him one stroke on the head by the great axe he holds in hand, provided that he comes to him in a twelve month and a day and receives a same stroke from him. As they are all hesitating, for the honour of the Round Table and King Arthur, Sir Gawain, the King's nephew takes the axe and beheads the unknown Knight. Unmoved the Green Knight picks up the head calling upon Gawain to keep his word, departs at a gallop. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving Lady Bertilak, the lady of the Green Knight's castle. It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which typically involves a hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess. In the liveliness and variety of its scenes, mingling of the marvelous and the natural, human and dramatic interest and the delicate psychology of characterization, the poem is unique among romances. It is a medieval romance in which Sir Gawain is held up as the model of virtue and chivalry.
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Monday, 21 May 2018
Areopagitica
Areopagitica
is a noble and impassioned plea for the liberty of the Press. It takes its name
from the Areopagitic speech by the Greek orator Isocrates in the 4th
century B.C. The ancient address called for a revival of the power and prestige
of the high court of Athens, the Areopagus. The tract by Milton was occasioned
by the Licensing Act of June 14, 1643, which required that all books be
licensed by an official censor before publication. Milton’s work is addressed
to parliament in an attempt to persuade its members to repeal the restrictive
measure. Milton reviews the entire history of censorship from ancient times. It has always been tyrannical. He
defends the free employment of books in order to attain knowledge in a complex
world where good and evil are woven together. Milton reaches eloquent heights
in his central contention that men cannot be made virtuous by compulsion.
Milton Attacks the measure as a hindrance to the search for truth and a threat
of intellectual stagnation.When we consider the style of Milton’s prose we must
keep in mind how it was occasioned. His pamphlets were cast off at white heat
and precipitated into print while some topic was in urgent debate either in
Milton’s or the public mind. Hence in method they are tempestuous and
disordered; voluble, violent, and lax in style. They reveal intense zeal and
pugnacity, a rich fancy and a capacious scholarship. They lack humour,
proportion and restraint; but in spite of these defects they are among the
greatest controversial compositions in the language.
Thursday, 26 April 2018
PART-2 SOLUTION TO THE PROSODY QUESTIONS OF MY YOUTUBE VIDEO ON "HOW TO SOLVE PROSODY"
Trochaic tetrameter and pentameter are used alternately. The last feet of the second and last lines are catalectic.
Sunday, 22 April 2018
PART-1 SOLUTION TO THE PROSODY QUESTIONS OF MY YOUTUBE VIDEO ON "HOW TO SOLVE PROSODY"
The predominant meter used in the above extract is Iambic pentameter. The second foot of the first line, the fourth foot of the second line and the second foot of the last line are Trochaic. The fourth foot of the first line, third of the second and fourth of the last are Pyrrhic while the last foot each of the first and second lines and the first foot of the last line are Spondee.
Iambic pentameter is used here with the following variations. The first line is Iambic trimeter. The second line is Iambic tetrameter. The first foot of the fourth line is Trochaic. The third foot of the third line is Pyrrhic. The fourth foot of the third line is Spondee. There is Elision in the first syllable of the last line.
Iambic tetrameter is used here with the following variations. The first foot of the first, second, and third lines are Acephalous.
Anapaestic and Iambic trimeters are combined. The first foot of the second line, the second foot each of the third and fourth lines are Anapaestic and the rest are Iambic. The third line is Hyper-metrical. The first three heavily accented monosyllables of the first line from three separate feet.
Saturday, 14 April 2018
HOW TO SOLVE PROSODY
The formula SADIV will help the beginners to remember all the stages of scansion. The significance of each capital letter is given below:
First stage -- S : Syllabification i.e., division of words into syllables.
Second stage-- A: Accentuation i.e. placing of accents over certain syllables.
Third stage-- D: Division into feet i.e. placing of a vertical line against each foot.
Fourth stage-- I: Identification of meter through nature and number of feet.
Last stage-- V: Variation (if any) and their treatment.
The first stage is syllabic division. The second stage is putting of accent marks on important syllables. Mark that the verbs and the nouns are accented; other unimportant syllables such as like, in and thy are also accented because of metrical reason and of their positions in the lines. The third stage is the division of each line into a number of feet. As the total number of syllables in each line is twice or about twice the total number of its accents, the feet are undoubtedly disyllabic. Hence we divide the lines into a number of feet by putting vertical lines after every two syllables. The fourth stage is the identification of the meter through the nature and number of feet employed in the lines. So far as the first four lines are concerned we observe that there is falling rhythm ( accented beginning and unaccented ends) in the normal lines. This helps us to take the feet as trochaic. When we pay our attention to each single foot, we find that it has an accented syllable followed by an unaccented one. This also convinces us that the feet are trochaic. In the last foot we observe that the rising rhythm (unaccented beginning and accented end) has been used, and each single foot has an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. Both these assure us that the feet are iambic. Now we shall have to decide the prosodic name. As in cases of verses composed irregularly of different meters, their prosodic name is determined according to the nature of the majority of the feet employed in them, we may say that the prosodic name here is trochaic trimeter. in the last stage we are to find out variations, if any. We observe that there are two variations at the end of the second line and the fourth. Since there is an accented syllable at the end of each of these lines, so the last foot of each is catalectic. Now we can write like the following: The first four lines are trochaic trimeter. The last foot of the second and fourth lines is catalectic. The last line is iambic hexameter.
First stage -- S : Syllabification i.e., division of words into syllables.
Second stage-- A: Accentuation i.e. placing of accents over certain syllables.
Third stage-- D: Division into feet i.e. placing of a vertical line against each foot.
Fourth stage-- I: Identification of meter through nature and number of feet.
Last stage-- V: Variation (if any) and their treatment.
The first stage is syllabic division. The second stage is putting of accent marks on important syllables. Mark that the verbs and the nouns are accented; other unimportant syllables such as like, in and thy are also accented because of metrical reason and of their positions in the lines. The third stage is the division of each line into a number of feet. As the total number of syllables in each line is twice or about twice the total number of its accents, the feet are undoubtedly disyllabic. Hence we divide the lines into a number of feet by putting vertical lines after every two syllables. The fourth stage is the identification of the meter through the nature and number of feet employed in the lines. So far as the first four lines are concerned we observe that there is falling rhythm ( accented beginning and unaccented ends) in the normal lines. This helps us to take the feet as trochaic. When we pay our attention to each single foot, we find that it has an accented syllable followed by an unaccented one. This also convinces us that the feet are trochaic. In the last foot we observe that the rising rhythm (unaccented beginning and accented end) has been used, and each single foot has an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one. Both these assure us that the feet are iambic. Now we shall have to decide the prosodic name. As in cases of verses composed irregularly of different meters, their prosodic name is determined according to the nature of the majority of the feet employed in them, we may say that the prosodic name here is trochaic trimeter. in the last stage we are to find out variations, if any. We observe that there are two variations at the end of the second line and the fourth. Since there is an accented syllable at the end of each of these lines, so the last foot of each is catalectic. Now we can write like the following: The first four lines are trochaic trimeter. The last foot of the second and fourth lines is catalectic. The last line is iambic hexameter.
Sunday, 18 March 2018
SHORT QUESTIONS OF VICTORIAN PERIOD
Q.1 Why are 1832 and 1859 important?
A.1. In 1832, the Reforms Act was passed heralding extension of democratic rights in England. In 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published heralding a new scientific era.
Q.2. What is the longest poem of Tennyson? What is the date of its publication?
A.2. In Memoriam, 1850 (the year of Wordsworth's death).
Q.3. Name the poem of Tennyson that handles the theme of 'the new woman'. Mention the date of its publication.
A.3. The Princess, 1847.
Q.4. Name Tennyson's poem which attempts a great theme that Milton abandoned. How was the poem published?
A.4. Idylls of the King; In 1859,1869, and 1889 Tennyson issued a series of Idylls of the King.
Q.5. Name some plays written by Lord Tennyson.
A.5. Tennyson's plays are three historical plays-- Queen Mary, Harold and Becket.
*The Falcon is a comedy based on a story from Boccaccio; The Cup is based on a story from Plutarch.
Q.6. Name the first poem of Browning and mention its date of publication. What was the next work?
A.6. Pauline (1833).
Next work was a play Strafford.
Q.7. Name some plays of Browning.
A.7. Pippa Passes, A Blot on the Scutcheon, ASoul's Tragedy.
Q.8. Who was the wife of Robert Browning? In which poem, she expressed her love for her husband? Mention any two of her other poems.
A.8. Elizabeth Barret Browning.
She expressed her ardent love for her husband in her Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Other poems-- Aurora Leigh, The Cry of the Children, A Musical Instrument.
Q.9. Who was Christina Rossetti's brother? To which movement they were linked? Mention the greatest work of the brother and the principal works of the sister?
A.9. D.G. Rossetti.
Pre-Raphaelite Movement.
D.G. Rossetti's greatest work was the poem, The Blessed Damozel. C.G. Rossetti's poems include Goblin Market and other poems, The Princes's Progress.
Q.10. Who wrote 'Atlanta in Calydon'? Mention the date of its publication? What type of work is it?
A.10. Swinburne in 1865.
The work is an attempt at an English version of ancient Greek tragedy.
Q.11. Who wrote ' Sketches by Boz'? What is Boz? What is the writer's next work?
A.11. Charles Dickens.
Boz is the pen name of Dickens.
Dickens' next work is The Pickwick Papers.
Q.12. Who wrote the 'Book of Snobs'? What is his chief work?
A.12. William Makepeace Thackeray.
His chief work is the novel, Vanity Fair.
Q.13. Name the three sisters who wrote novels in the Victorian period. Name their chief works.
A.13. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte.
Charlotte Bronte-- Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette; Emily Bronte-- Wuthering Heights; Anne Bronte-- Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Q.14. What is the real name of George Elliot? What did she write?
A.14. Mary Ann Evans wrote under the pen name of George Elliot.
Her novels include Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda.
Q.15. Mention chief novels of George Meredith.
A.15. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Evan Harrington, Adventures of Harry Richmond.
Q.16. Mention two historical novels of Victorian age.
A.16. Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, George Elliot's Romola.
Q.17. Name two novels of Anthony Trollope.
A.17. The Warden, Barchester Towers.
Q.18. Who wrote ' The Woman in White'? What are his other works?
A.18. Wilkie Collins.
His other works include The Dead Secret, No Name. The Moonstone is one of the earliest and the best of the detective stories which are now popular in modern age.
Q.19. Who wrote Sartor Resartus? What is the meaning of the title?
A.19. Thomas Carlyle.
It means 'the tailor untailored' which deals with 'clothes philosophy'- language is the clothing of thought, body is the clothing of the soul, the entire universe is the living garment of God.
Q.20. In which year was the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed? Name four members of this group.
A.20. 1848.
It was movement of painters D.G. Rossetti, Holman hunt, John Millais and Burn Jones were members of this group.
Q.21. What is known as Pre-Raphaelitism in poetry?
A.21. Pre-Raphaelitism in art means purity and simplicity that characterised the art before Raphael. In poetry, it means simplicity, sensuousness and mysticism as exemplified in Rossetti's poem, The Blessed Damozel.
Q.22. Name the literary movement of which Oscar Wilde was a representative. Give the title of an Oscar Wilde's play.
A.22. Oscar Wilde was a representative of the literary movement called the Decadent Movement. One of his popular plays is 'Importance of Being Earnest'.
Q.23. What was the title of D.G. Rossetti's Journal? How long did it continue?
A.23. In 1850 Rossetti and some of his colleagues initiated a little periodical, The Germ as a medium of the promulgation of their doctrines and vehicle for their poems. But it died after four numbers.
Q.24. Who wrote In Memoriam? On what occasion was it written?
A.24. In Memoriam was written by Alfred Tennyson, the Victorian poet. It was written on the occasion of the death of his friend Aurther Henry Hallam.
Q.25. Mention the titles of two dramatic monologues by Robert Browning.
A.25. 'My Last Duchess' and 'Two in the Roman Compagna' are two dramatic monologues of Browning.
Q.26. Who is the author of 'The Scholar Gipsy'? Mention the title of another poem by the same poet.
A.26. 'The Scholar Gipsy' was written by Mathew Arnold, The Victorian poem. His other poem is 'The Dover Beach'.
Q.27. Who wrote Sonnets from the Portuguese? Name another book of poems by the same author.
A.27. Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1847. Other poems-- Aurora Leigh(written in blank verse), The Cry of the Children.'
Q.28. Who translated the poems of Omar Khayyam in 1859? What is the title of the book of translations?
A.28. Edward Fitzgerald. Name of the translations-- Rubaiyat.
A.1. In 1832, the Reforms Act was passed heralding extension of democratic rights in England. In 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published heralding a new scientific era.
Q.2. What is the longest poem of Tennyson? What is the date of its publication?
A.2. In Memoriam, 1850 (the year of Wordsworth's death).
Q.3. Name the poem of Tennyson that handles the theme of 'the new woman'. Mention the date of its publication.
A.3. The Princess, 1847.
Q.4. Name Tennyson's poem which attempts a great theme that Milton abandoned. How was the poem published?
A.4. Idylls of the King; In 1859,1869, and 1889 Tennyson issued a series of Idylls of the King.
Q.5. Name some plays written by Lord Tennyson.
A.5. Tennyson's plays are three historical plays-- Queen Mary, Harold and Becket.
*The Falcon is a comedy based on a story from Boccaccio; The Cup is based on a story from Plutarch.
Q.6. Name the first poem of Browning and mention its date of publication. What was the next work?
A.6. Pauline (1833).
Next work was a play Strafford.
Q.7. Name some plays of Browning.
A.7. Pippa Passes, A Blot on the Scutcheon, ASoul's Tragedy.
Q.8. Who was the wife of Robert Browning? In which poem, she expressed her love for her husband? Mention any two of her other poems.
A.8. Elizabeth Barret Browning.
She expressed her ardent love for her husband in her Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Other poems-- Aurora Leigh, The Cry of the Children, A Musical Instrument.
Q.9. Who was Christina Rossetti's brother? To which movement they were linked? Mention the greatest work of the brother and the principal works of the sister?
A.9. D.G. Rossetti.
Pre-Raphaelite Movement.
D.G. Rossetti's greatest work was the poem, The Blessed Damozel. C.G. Rossetti's poems include Goblin Market and other poems, The Princes's Progress.
Q.10. Who wrote 'Atlanta in Calydon'? Mention the date of its publication? What type of work is it?
A.10. Swinburne in 1865.
The work is an attempt at an English version of ancient Greek tragedy.
Q.11. Who wrote ' Sketches by Boz'? What is Boz? What is the writer's next work?
A.11. Charles Dickens.
Boz is the pen name of Dickens.
Dickens' next work is The Pickwick Papers.
Q.12. Who wrote the 'Book of Snobs'? What is his chief work?
A.12. William Makepeace Thackeray.
His chief work is the novel, Vanity Fair.
Q.13. Name the three sisters who wrote novels in the Victorian period. Name their chief works.
A.13. Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte.
Charlotte Bronte-- Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette; Emily Bronte-- Wuthering Heights; Anne Bronte-- Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Q.14. What is the real name of George Elliot? What did she write?
A.14. Mary Ann Evans wrote under the pen name of George Elliot.
Her novels include Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda.
Q.15. Mention chief novels of George Meredith.
A.15. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Evan Harrington, Adventures of Harry Richmond.
Q.16. Mention two historical novels of Victorian age.
A.16. Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, George Elliot's Romola.
Q.17. Name two novels of Anthony Trollope.
A.17. The Warden, Barchester Towers.
Q.18. Who wrote ' The Woman in White'? What are his other works?
A.18. Wilkie Collins.
His other works include The Dead Secret, No Name. The Moonstone is one of the earliest and the best of the detective stories which are now popular in modern age.
Q.19. Who wrote Sartor Resartus? What is the meaning of the title?
A.19. Thomas Carlyle.
It means 'the tailor untailored' which deals with 'clothes philosophy'- language is the clothing of thought, body is the clothing of the soul, the entire universe is the living garment of God.
Q.20. In which year was the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed? Name four members of this group.
A.20. 1848.
It was movement of painters D.G. Rossetti, Holman hunt, John Millais and Burn Jones were members of this group.
Q.21. What is known as Pre-Raphaelitism in poetry?
A.21. Pre-Raphaelitism in art means purity and simplicity that characterised the art before Raphael. In poetry, it means simplicity, sensuousness and mysticism as exemplified in Rossetti's poem, The Blessed Damozel.
Q.22. Name the literary movement of which Oscar Wilde was a representative. Give the title of an Oscar Wilde's play.
A.22. Oscar Wilde was a representative of the literary movement called the Decadent Movement. One of his popular plays is 'Importance of Being Earnest'.
Q.23. What was the title of D.G. Rossetti's Journal? How long did it continue?
A.23. In 1850 Rossetti and some of his colleagues initiated a little periodical, The Germ as a medium of the promulgation of their doctrines and vehicle for their poems. But it died after four numbers.
Q.24. Who wrote In Memoriam? On what occasion was it written?
A.24. In Memoriam was written by Alfred Tennyson, the Victorian poet. It was written on the occasion of the death of his friend Aurther Henry Hallam.
Q.25. Mention the titles of two dramatic monologues by Robert Browning.
A.25. 'My Last Duchess' and 'Two in the Roman Compagna' are two dramatic monologues of Browning.
Q.26. Who is the author of 'The Scholar Gipsy'? Mention the title of another poem by the same poet.
A.26. 'The Scholar Gipsy' was written by Mathew Arnold, The Victorian poem. His other poem is 'The Dover Beach'.
Q.27. Who wrote Sonnets from the Portuguese? Name another book of poems by the same author.
A.27. Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1847. Other poems-- Aurora Leigh(written in blank verse), The Cry of the Children.'
Q.28. Who translated the poems of Omar Khayyam in 1859? What is the title of the book of translations?
A.28. Edward Fitzgerald. Name of the translations-- Rubaiyat.
Sunday, 7 January 2018
SHORT NOTE: The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
The Golden Notebook is extremely long and not very well organized; despite its being considered a novel, it is a compendium of Doris Lessing's views on all those issues which have occupied her. The story of the novel is of writer Anna Wulf, the four notebooks in which she records her life, and her attempt to tie them together in a fifth, gold-coloured, notebook. Lessing indicates in her introduction to her novel that the major theme of The Golden Notebook is that of cracks or mental breakdown. To emphasize the significance of this theme, in the opening page of the novel, one of the first statement made by Anna is: "everything's cracking up". The form of the novel and its topics were praised by some and scorned by others when the book was first released. The novel experiments with chronological sequence and narrative voice and it deconstructs language as an endeavor to search for meaning and truth. All of these experimental aspects became the principle elements of the postmodernist movement that followed the book's publication. The Golden Notebook also touches on feminist issues that were only just beginning to be debated at the same time it was published. Additionally the book openly discusses the protagonist, Anna, as being attracted to communism. At the same time, however, Anna is dissatisfied with communism as a practice. Anna's fragmentation mirrors the fragmentation of society. Horrors of war left people afraid and divided, unable to connect. Anna is unable to connect pieces of herself and of her life and of her art. That is why she splits herself into different selves: Anna the mother, Anna the friend, the writer, the communist, and Golden notebook is an attempt to connect all the pieces and bind the book The Golden Notebook together.
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The predominant meter used in the above extract is Iambic pentameter . The second foot of the first line, the four... -
Anapaestic and Iambic tetrameter are used here while the first and third lines are Hypermetrical. Troc... -
And Pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd Upon the sightless couriers of the air Sh...