B.A.
I YEAR SPECIAL ENGLISH
PAPER-I:
PART-II: MODERN LANGUAGE
NOTES
PREPARED
BY
K
L PRAPHULLA MA., C.T.E., B.Ed
LECTURER IN ENGLISH
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
ANDHRA UNIVERSITY
SYLLABUS
Unit-1: History of English
Language:
A) 1. Old
English
2. Middle English
3. Renaissance
4. Standard English
5. Word formation and
growth of vocabulary
6. Foreign influences—French,
Latin and Scandinavian
7. Change of Meaning or
Semantics
8. The Outline History of the English
B) Understanding/
Comprehension
i)
of a literary prose passage
ii)
of a poem
UNIT-2: Forms of Poetry:
evolution, kinds and variations.
Sonnet :
Wordsworth -
“-Scorn not the Sonnet”
Ode : Shelley - “Ode to the Skylark”
Elegy : Thomas Gray - “Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard”
Ballad : W.B.Yeats - “The Ballad of Father Gilligan”
Lyric : Robert burns - “A Red Red Rose”
Dramatic : Robert Browning - “My Last Duchess”
Monologue
UNIT-3: Elements of Drama:
Plot/Structure : Farrell
Mitchell -“The Best Laid Plans”
Character : J.B.Priestly -“Mother’s day”
Dialogue : Anton Chekov -“The Marriage Proposal”
UNIT-4: Elements of fiction:
Point of view : Khushwant Singh -“The Interview”
Setting/atmosphere : Edgar Allen Poe -“The Tell Tale Heart”
Style/narrative
Technique : O. Henry -“The Gift of
the Magi”
Unit-1
1.
THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY
The languages brought into relationship by descent or
progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a
family of languages. The surviving languages shoe various degrees of similarity
to one another, the similarity bearing a more or less direct relationship to
their geographical distribution. They accordingly fall into nine chief
branches.
1.
Indian
2.
Iranian
3.
Armenian
4.
Albanian
5.
Balto-Slavic
6.
Greek
7.
Italic
8.
Germanic
9.
Celtic
These are the branches of the Indo-European family tree. These branches seem to fall into two-well
defined groups. They are Satem group and Centum group. The Satem group includes
the Indian, Iranian, American, Balto-Slavic, Albamian branches. The Centum
group includes the Greek or Hellemic, Italic, Primatic Germanic and Caltic
Branches.
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Celtic
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Italic
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Balto
Slavic
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Armenian
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Indian
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Primitive
Germanic
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Greek
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Albanian
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Iranian
Ii |
Among these branches primitive
Germanic branch occupies an important place because English belongs to this branch.
Primitive Germanic is divided into three branches in North
Germanic, East Germanic and West Germanic.
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North Germanic
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East Germanic
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West Germanic
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North Germanic further divided into West Scandinavian
includes Icelandic, Norwegian, Parvese and East Scandinavian includes Danish,
Swedish and Gunlisy.
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West Scandinavian
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East Scandinavian
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Icelandic
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Norwegian
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Parvese
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Danigh
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Swedish
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Guntish
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East Germanic is divided into three branches Burgundian,
Vandal and Gothic.
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Burgundian
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Vandal
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Gothic
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West Germanic branch is again divided into Old High German,
Old Saxon, Old Low Francerian and Anglo Frision. High German is emerged from
Old High German, Low German is emerged from Old Sexon, Duter is emerged from
Old Low from Conian. Anglo Frisian is
further divided into Old Frisian from which Frisian is evolved and Anglo Saxon
or Old English is evolved, from Old English to Middle English and from Middle
English to Modern English is evolved.
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Old High German
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Old
Sexon
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Old Low Francerian
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Anglo Frisian
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High German
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Low German
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Dutch
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Old Firisian
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Anglo
Saxon
(Old
English)
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Frisian
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Middle English
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Modern English
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2.
OLD ENGLISH
Old English Period extends from 450-1100 A.D. It was the
language spoken by the Germanic tribes ‘Angles’, ‘Saxons’, and Jutes who
invaded Britain and established their power and language by 600 A.D. English
and England came from ‘Angles’, the most powerful tribe of the three.
Characteristics
of Old English:
Spelling:
Old English used many symbols which are no longer in use.
/ /
and / / were used to represent the sound of ‘th’ in
‘with’ and ‘this’ respectively. Old English also used the symbol / / to
represent the vowel sound in words ‘man’ and ‘cat’ etc.
‘sh’ sound
was represented by ‘sc’
Eg: Sceap for sheep
Biscop for bishop
‘k’ was represented by ‘c’.
Eg: cynn for
kin
The symbol ‘f’ stands both for ‘f’ and
‘v’.
The symbol’s’ stands both for ‘s’ and
‘z’.
Pronunciation:
Old English was essentially phonetic in character. There were
no silent letters and no extra letters.
Two important features of Old English were gradation and mutation. They represent the
change in vowel sounds of some verbs and
nouns on account of shifting of stress. As a result of this, the word ‘tooth’
formed its plural ‘tothiz’ and then ‘teeth’. Similarly from ‘long’ and ‘strong’
came the nouns ‘length’ and ‘strength’.
Grammar:
Old
English was a synthetic language. It was full of complicated inflexions.
1. Old English was mostly a pure language. There
were a few foreign words. Words were inflected according to their number, case
or ending (vowel or consonant). Thus the modern English ‘stone’ and ‘stones’
have a number of forms like ‘stan’, ‘stanas’, ‘stan-es’, stan-a, stan-um etc.
2. Old English gender was grammatical
gender. It was not based on sex.
Eg: mona (moon) was masculine.
Sunne
(sun) was feminine.
Wif
(wife) was neuter.
3. The personal pronoun had singular,
plural and dual number.
4. The verb had two forms, strong and
weak.
Vocabulary:
Old English was mostly a pure language. There were a few
foreign words. A large part of the vocabulary disappeared now. Those that
remain are grammatical words like pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and
auxiliary verbs and words like,
Mann (man)
Wif (wife)
Hus (house)
Mete (meat)
Leaf (leaf)
God (good)
Old English coined new compound words from the same roots.
Eg. From the root god, there were
God-cnd
(divin)
God-cundness
(divinity)
God-ferht
(god fear)
God-had
(divine nature)
God-spell
(gospel)
There were many self explaining compounds.
Eg: earth+craft --
geometry
Number+craft –
arithmetic
Old English also made use of prefixes and suffixes.
Thus Old English differed from modern English in all the
above features.
3.
MIDDLE ENGLISH
OR
FRENCH INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Middle English period extends from 1100 to 1500 A.D. old
English features began to undergo steady and continuous changes since the
second part of the 11th century. These changes were mainly due to
French influence. In 1066, the Normans conquered England. They made French as
the official language. Thereafter French language had enjoyed a superior status
for almost three hundred years.
Ninety percent of the population spoke English, but their
language was greatly influenced by French due to the intermingling of both the
people. English gradually became a hybrid of English and French. These changes
continued till 1300. Historians call the English of this period, Middle
English. Middle English differs from old English in its grammar, pronunciation
spelling and vocabulary.
Grammar:
1. Grammar was greatly simplified due to French influence.
2. The complicated inflections disappeared. Only
the genitive ’s’ remained.‘Of’ also came into use for possessives. Most of the
nouns formed their plurals by adding ‘-en and ‘-es’.
3. Natural gender replaced the grammatical
gender.
4. The definite article ‘the’ was used in all
places.
5. ‘She’
replaced ‘her’.
6. The number of strong verbs decreased
and weak verbs increased.
7. A number of new verbs from other
languages, especially from French came into English.
Pronunciation:
The long ‘a’ became ‘o’. Thus ‘stan’
became stone; ham became home.
In open syllables, short vowels became
long as in tiling, filing caning.
In closed syllables long vowels were
shortened as in tilling, felling canning.
Long /e/ became /i:/ eg, feet which was
pronounced like fate became /fi:t/
Food, doom, boom, and shoe were
pronounced like ‘fode’, ‘dome’, ‘bone’ etc.
before
Spelling:
English
spelling lost its phonetic character during this period. The Norman scribes
spelt the language using the Norman conventions.
The long ‘u’ was written ‘ou’. Thus ‘hus’ was
written as ‘house’, and ‘mus’ was written as ‘mouse’.
The hard ‘c’ became ‘k’. Thus ‘cying’ became ‘king’.
/ /and /
/ gave way to ‘th’
‘sc’ became ‘sh’, and so on.
Vocabulary:
Since French enjoyed a supreme status
for 300 years, thousands of French words poured into English. Since French and
English were use side by side, two words were used to express the same idea.
Thus a number of synonyms came into
the language.
English French
Wed
marry
Child
infant
Meal repast
Since the Normans were the ruling
class, a number of formal scholarly, feudal, legal, religious and polite words
came into force.
Law and court:
attorney, Jury , crime, gown , parliament, council
Fashion: collar, button, robe, gown
Religion: theology,
sermon, confession, clergy, altar, penance
Thus Middle
English paved the way to Modern English
4.
SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE
Scandinavians or Danes or Vikings were daring pirates who
plundered Britain in the beginning, and later settled down. They were closely
related to the Teutonic tribes, in language and other features. The Scandinavian influence was mainly
confined to the Old and Middle English periods during which the Danes ruled
over and settled in English and the two races mixed with each other.
Scandinavian influence can be seen in place names, new vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation.
Place names:
some places in England bear Scandinavian place name terminations like –by,
-toft, -thwaite, -thorpe etc.
E.g: Derby, Witby, Rugby
Longtoft, Nortoft
Braithwite, Linthwaite, Applethwaite
Althorpe, Bishopthorpe, Linthorpe etc.
New words: A number of Scandinavian words
adapted into English during Old English and Middle English period fell into
disuse. Yet, many words passed into common speech.
E.g: husband, fellow, law, outlaw,
i.e., knife, haven, hide, root, skin, anger, boon, sky, skill, want, again,
cosy etc.
Sometimes
both the Scandinavian and the English words were used side by side. Some of
them which are still in use are:
English
Scandinavian
No
nay
Whole hale
Rear
raise
From
fro
Craft skill
Hide
skin
Grammar: Scandinavian influenced the inflexional endings of
English words. It hastened the process of leveling them.
Pronunciation: the ‘g’ was pronounced hard by
Scandinavians. Since their influence was more on the North, words ‘gill’ and
‘gesture’ are pronounced with a hard ‘g’ in the North and a soft ‘g’ in the
South. The Scandinavian influence on the whole was significant.
As Simeon
Potter said, “the gain” was greater than loss. There was a gain in directness,
in clarity, and in strength.
5.
LATIN INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH
English is not a pure language. It has borrowed words and
other elements from many languages over the centuries, and enriched itself.
Scandinavian, French and Latin are considered major among them.
Latin words came into English at different times and in
various manners. The first Latin words entered English during the Roman
invasion (55BC to 410AD). But most of
them disappeared after the Romans left. Only a few survive.
Eg: wine from
Latin vinum.
Wall from Latin valum
The Germanic tribes invaded Britain in 450 AD. They already
had a number of Latin words in their language which they acquired through Roman
invasion of Europe. A few examples of Latin words during this period are:
Devil from latin ‘diabolus’
Night from latin ‘noct’
Christian missionaries introduced a number of religious words
from Latin during the Anglo Saxon period.
E.g. cross, creed, comet, idol,
saint, clergy man etc.
During the
Middle English period (1100 – 1500) a number of Latin words entered English via
French in the spheres of religion, law, medicine and alchemy.
Latin influence during
the renaissance was very great. The increased availability of books led to
revival of classical leaning. There was an influx of words from Latin. About
one fifth of the words in a Latin dictionary entered English directly or
indirectly through French.
Today, a number of Latin terms or expressions
are reserved for academic or technical purposes.
E.g. prima facie, Ipso facto, Vice versa etc.
Radius, dictum, quantum, psychology, Zoology etc.
Thus the
influence of Latin on English has been significant.
6.
RENAISSANCE
Renaissance literally means rebirth. In the history of
Europe, renaissance refers to the revival of learning during the 14th
and 15th centuries. In 1453, Constantinople, the seat of learning
was captured by Turks. A number of scholars fled to Western Europe carrying
their rich literature with them. They first settled in Italy, and started the
intellectual awakening or Renaissance. This renaissance spread throughout
Europe and reached England about the year 1500. The new scholarship and
learning brought new vitality to English life and literature. Renaissance led
the way to modern English by 15th century.
Its influence on vocabulary:
The
increased availability of books led to the revival of classical learning. There
was an influx of words from Latin and Greek. About one fifth of words in a
Latin dictionary entered directly or indirectly through French
Revival of French literature brought a number of French words.
E.g.: genteel, ticket, vogue etc.
Increased travels to Italy brought words like
balcony, stanza, violin and volcano.
Renaissance
was also a period of exploration and commerce and colonization. Therefore it
brought many words from all the major nations.
E.g.: yacht, landscape, from Dutch
banana,
mosquito , potato from Spanish .
skunk,
canoe from American .
Pronunciation: There were considerable changes in the
pronunciation during the period.
E.g.; the final –‘e’ on words
like ‘came ‘ and ‘like’ pronounced as a
separate syllable in Chaucer’s time became silent .
The final ‘-ed’ on verbs pronounced as a separate
syllable in middle English lost its syllabic value .
The Middle English ‘u’ became
‘ou‘ as in house , mouse , cow etc.
Short ‘a’ was lengthened before ‘s’. f and ‘th’ and before ‘l’ before a labial .
Short ‘a’ was lengthened before ‘s’. f and ‘th’ and before ‘l’ before a labial .
Eg: father , ask , calf
etc.
Spelling:
The invention of the printing press had a far reaching effect
on the development of the English language. The printed book fixed the
spelling.
The
Latinized spelling was fixed for certain words like doubt, indict, and choir.
Grammar:
Grammar was further
simplified during renaissance.
1.
‘its’ replaced ‘his’ for neuter possessive. ‘His’
was confined to masculine gender .
2.
adding ‘s’ was
adopted for plural
3.
‘-er’ and ‘-est’
were used for comparative and superlative
Renaissance was followed by Reformation. Its influence was
purely religious and political. A number of Bible translations emerged. . The
authorized version of the Bible became the most popular. This helped in fixing
the language. It had popularized thousands of words. It had also influenced all
popular writers like Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Thus a number of factors, namely, the influence of
scholarship, the religious issues in the wake of Reformation, the various
translations of the Bible, the flourishing of literature, discovery of new
lands by sailors, opening of trade, and the invention of printing tended to contribute
to the rapid development of the language.
Renaissance
thus marked the beginning of the modern age.
7.
What are the different ways through
which words are formed?
Ans. The English language is the richest and has
the most extensive vocabulary in the world. New words have come into the
English language. The vocabulary has
also been enlarged in a numbers of ways. The following are chief among them.
1. by
imitation or onomatopoeia: This is one of the oldest methods of word making.
Words which describe some kinds of
sounds are imitative in nature
eg; bang , pop, buzz, click, hiss , giggle ,
ooh , aah etc.
2. addition
of prefixes and suffixes
:
This has been in
practice since Old English times .
prefixes
:
ex- exterior, exclude ,
extraordinary
super- super, superman,
superfluous
sub- submarine ,
subdivision .
un- unhappy , unknown,
unnecessary
suffixes:
-dom: kingdom ,wisdom ,
boredom
-th: strength , width ,
length
-ship : friendship ,
membership , leadership
3.
abbreviation :Abbreviation is the shortened form of a combination of words.
If the shortened from differs in meaning form the original word it becomes a
new word
Eg. bus from omnibus
extra from extraordinary
mob- mobile
tend from attend
4.syncopation: It is a
process of shortening of words where, a vowel is slid and the consonants on
either side of it are run together. As a result there is the loss of a
syllable. E.g. pram from perambulator
once from ones
else from elles
born from
boren
5.telescopicing: It is also
a process of shortening in which two words are run together.
Eg:
‘to don’ and ‘to doff’ from ‘to do on’ and to ‘to do off’
‘atonement’ from ‘at one moment ‘
6.
metanalysis: It also consists in running of two words or more together and
dividing them in different places
E.g. an orange
from a ‘norange’,
an umpire
from a ‘numpire’
7.
portmanteau words : A part of one word is combined with part of another to
form a new word, having the meaning of both the
words .
Eg; tragicomedy from tragedy and comedy,
brunch from breakfast and lunch,
melodrama from melody and drama etc.
8.
acronyms: Acronyms are words formed from abbreviation by combining all
the letters into a word
NAAC [national assessment and accreditation council ]
VAT [value added
tax]
9. back
formation: Many times suffixes are used to change the part of speech of
a word
Eg: worker form work .
Some words in English appear to be ending with such
suffixes Eg; beggar , peddler and editor
are original words . The last syllables are mistaken for suffixes. This is how
verbs like beg, edit, and peddle, are formed .
10.
deliberate coinages: An entirely new word is created to name an
invention. Such words are mostly formed
from Greek or Latin .
Eg; oxygen ,
hydrogen etc.
Zoology ,
archeology
8.
CHANGE OF MEANING OR SEMANTICS
Words of any living language
undergo change of meaning in course of time. They are not static or fixed. Even
Dr. Johnson failed to fix words. A particular word may evoke different
associations to different persons of different ages. “The subject which deals
with the change of meaning of words” is called semantics.
The following are a few semantic processes:
Generalization: A word
which at one time had a specialized meaning may become generalized, i.e. it
gets a wider application.
e.g. The word ‘box’ is
very general and common word in English today. Originally it was the
name of a tree and its wood. Since it was rare and costly it was used to make
small caskets to keep jewellery. In course of time such a casket was called
‘box’. Gradually, a box of any material was called ‘box’. And today a box may
be of any material and of any size. Other examples are pipe and comrade.
Specialization:
A word which originally had a general or wide meaning may become
restricted in course of time. This process is called specialization.
e.g. ‘Fowl’ meant any bird. But now it is restricted only to
hens.
‘Hound’ meant any dog. But it is now used for a special breed
of dogs used for hunting.
‘Deer’ meant any wild animal. Now it is specialized only to a
particular animal.
Radiation: In
‘Radiation’, the original meaning of a word acts as the nucleus or the centre
from which several other meanings spring up.
e.g. ‘Power’. Its basic meaning was, ‘ability to do’. A
number of words radiated from this meaning—regal power, hydro power,
intellectual power, political power, electric power, moral power etc.
‘Head’ is another example. The primary meaning is –‘a part of
the body’. It radiated a number of meanings. E.g. head of a pin, head of a
coin, head of a fountain, head of a table, head of a family etc.
Prudery: This is a
type of euphemistic usage. There is an element of social snobbery in these
expressions. But in course of time have become common words.
e.g. Paying guest for boarder; financier for money lender;
sanitary engineer for plumber; fertiliser for manure etc.
Reversal of
Meaning: I this process we find
a total reversal in the meaning of the word. E.g. ‘grocer’ originally meant a
wholesaler. But now it refers exclusively to a retail trader.
‘Restive’ originally meant still or at rest. But now the
meaning is impatient or restless.
Poetry
9. SONNET
‘Sonnet’ is derived from the Italian word “Sonnetto”, which means a little sound. This literary form was popularized by Italian
poets Petrarch and Dante. Sonnet is a
short poem with a single thought or feeling. There are two types of
sonnets. They are Italian sonnets and
English sonnets.
ITALIAN SONNET: -
The sonnet is a poem of 14 lines .The first 8 lines are
called “Octave” and the next six lines are called “sestet”. The octave is again
divided into three quatrains. It makes
the statement or explains the theme of the poem in detail. The sestet is again
divided into two tercets. It makes the
illustration and necessary conclusion. Its rhymes scheme is ABBA, ABBA, CDC,
CDC, CDE, CDE. It is also called classical sonnet or ‘Petrarchan Sonnet’.
THE ENGLISH SONNET: -
The sonnet was introduced into England in the 16th
century .It was introduced by Thomas Wyatt Henry Howark and Earl of
Surrey. Surrey introduced a new
method. He wrote three quatrains and
ended it with a couplet. Its rhymes
scheme is ABBA, CDCD, EFEF,GG. It is
also called ‘Shakespearean sonnet’.
English sonnet: The English sonnet had its glory in the hands
of William Shakespeare, Spencer,William Wordsworth ,John Keats, P.B.Shelley and
others.
SCORN NOT THE SONNET
William Wordsworth in his sonnet “Scorn not the Sonnet” asks
the critic not to be mindless of a sonnet’s honour. Then he goes on to cite
examples of many great poets who composed greatest poems by using the sonnet
form.
William Shakespeare wrote a sonnet
sequence consisting of 154 sonnets addressed to W.H and to his beloved - a
black beauty. He unlocked his heart through his sonnets. The sonnet might be
like a small lute, but its melody was able to soothe the love laden heart of
the Italian poet Petrarch. Tasso also wrote a number of sonnets. Camoes a
Portuguese poet described his exile in his sonnet and got relief for his grief.
Dante described his love for Beatrice in his poems .The English poet Spencer
wrote sonnets, to describe the dark realities of the world. John Milton, a
great epic poet used it as a trumpet and moved the hearts of the readers. He
proved himself a great sonneteer.
According to William Wordsworth a
sonnet is “contentment in limitation”. It is a narrow and limited poetic form
but it expresses a variety of thoughts .The present sonnet has meaningful
phrases like “Visionary brow” and “soul animating strains”. It ends with rhymes like “Key-Melody”, ”wound
–sound “, ”grief-leaf”, “lamp-damp,” land -hand “, ”flew-few” etc.
This sonnet is written in defense of
the short literary form which can produce beautiful imagery and memorable ideas
and expressions.
10.
THE ODE
The ode is of Greek origin.
It is a serious and dignified composition. It is often in the form of an address.
The poem is exalted both in subject
matter and manner of presentation. The
expression is more elaborate, impressive and diffuse. Hence it is longer than its parent form the
lyric.
It is often addressed directly to
the being or the object it treats. Shelley’s “Ode to the Skylark“ and Keats’s
“Ode on a Grecian Urn “ are examples.
There are two kinds of odes.
1)
The
Dorian or Pindaric ode of Greek origin.
2)
The
Lesbian or Horation ode of Latin origin.
ODE TO A SKYLARK
“Ode to a
Skylark” is one of the most famous odes of “Shelley”. Shelley idealizes the
song of the skylark in this poem. The poet finds an ecstasy and rapture in its
song which is unattainable by man. He
contrasts the sorrow of human life with the joy of the skylark.
Shelley addresses the skylark as
a spirit which pours fourth rich melodies from somewhere in the sky. The bird is invisible like the star during
the day times, but its sweet joyous music is clearly audible. The whole earth
and air over flow with its music as the whole sky is lit up by the white light
of the moon.
The poet describes the music of
the bird using a number of similes. The skylark is like the poet who soars to
high regions –the meaning is not easily understood but the music can be fully
enjoyed. It is like a high born maiden
singing from her tower. It is like a glow worm hidden in the flowers and grass
whose presence is known only by the light it spreads around. It is like a rose which is hidden in its
leaves, but it is felt by the sweet scent it fills the air.
The skylark sings with pure joy.
It is ignorant of human suffering and also the sad satiety of love. Perhaps it has
a deeper knowledge of the mystery of death.
Man can never attain this state. Even his happiest songs of marriage or
victory are inferior to those of the skylark.
Shelley feels that if he could
experience half of its joy, he would be able to compose sweet songs like the
bird. The poem is thus a marvel of music and melody.
11.
ELEGY
An Elegy can be defined as a poem or song expressing sorrow
or lament, or one pervaded merely by a tone of pensive sadness. In ancient
Greek and Roman literature, any poem written in the elegiac measure was known
as an elegy.
An elegy is a poetic attempt to perpetuate and also to
decorate the memory of a dear departed, involving real passion and intense
personal sorrow. The dirge differs from the elegy in that it is short and less
formal and is presented as a text to be sung.
There are five kinds of
elegies. They are the simple elegy, the
encomiastic elegy, the reflective elegy, the critical elegy and the pastoral
elegy.
Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard
Thomas
gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard” is a poem of high perfection
and universal appeal. As an elegy the poem is sovereign. An elegy is a poem or
song of sorrow for the dead. In this elegy the poet pays a glorious tribute to
the simple and innocent people of his village who are dead and gone.
The poem begins with the
creation of the evening atmosphere of gloom and melancholy suitable for an
elegy.
It is evening time and
the poet sits in the village church yard. The church bells are ringing; cattle
are returning home and the farmers are walking home tired. Darkness is
gathering all around. At that calm hour he thinks of the poor folk of the
village who are dead. He looks at the graves under the calm trees. The rude
forefathers of his hamlet sleep there.
The pleasant morning air
or the music of the birds cannot wake them up. They miss all domestic
happiness. No children run to them at home. When alive, they had been experts
in their work, happy with their farming.
The poet advises others
not to mock their useful labor and simple homely joys. No doubt there is no
grandeur in their life. But death equals
all. Men of wealth, beauty or power, none can escape death. “All paths of glory lead but to the
grave”
Among the dead, there
may have been one full of heavenly inspiration, another fit to rule a country.
Yet another may have been skilled in music. But the pity is they never got a
chance to display their talent. Poverty had crushed their talent and abilities.
There are many gems of brightest and purest quality in the sea. There are many
sweet flowers in a forest. But they all remain unnoticed and un-enjoyed. These humble
people died similarly. Some of
them might have been great poets like Milton, or great states men like Cromwell.
But they did not get a chance to show their capabilities.
However the poet finds
one consolation that they never had the need to commit any crime because they
never enjoyed position or power. Their poverty had prevented them from it. They
never ran after power and pelf (money). They remained modest and enjoyed a
peaceful and happy life. Thus the poet sings the glory of the short and simple
annals of the poor.
12.
BALLAD
Literally
Ballad means a dancing song, a song to be sung by dancers. Now it means a short
tale told in a light rapid meter, in the simplest language. The popular ballad
is a song, transmitted orally which tells a story. Typically the popular ballad
is dramatic and impersonal. There are two types of ballads. They are broad side
ballad and literary ballads.
1 Broad
side ballad: The broad side ballad
is a ballad printed on one side of a single sheet telling a current issue, and
sung in a well known tune.
2 The
literary ballad: The literary ballad is a narrative poem
written by a modern poet in imitation of the form and spirit of the popular
ballad. Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a good example.
Structure of the Ballad: The ballad stanza is generally of two of four
lines. Most commonly the stanza consists of alternative four and three stressed
iambic lines rhyming on the second and the fourth as in the opening verse of
“Sir Patrick’s Pens”.
The Ballad of
Father Gilligan
William Butler Yeats was a popular
Irish poet. He supported the freedom struggle of Ireland. He worked for the
revival of Irish language and literature.
Ballad measure:
The poem is written in quatrains.
The first and third lines are four feet iambic, the second and four lines are
three feet iambic. There may be variations in syllables and lines to set the
requirement of thought.
Short story in verse:
The poem is about an old priest
named Peter Gilligan. It is his duty to attend the sick and the dying and to
offer spiritual comfort. The priest is over worked as he received such calls
frequently. He suffers from physical exhaustion. He feels that he is deprived
of rest, joy, and peace.
One night father Gilligan falls
asleep and is unable to attend a poor dying man. He wakes up in the morning and
rushes to the man’s house. The man’s wife tells him that her husband has
breathed his last. She also tells him that her husband died as merry as a bird.
It is only due to his presence at the bed and his words of comfort. She wonders
why father has come again.
Father Gilligan understands that it
is the work of “Him”, who hath made the night of stars--- with planets in his
care. He has pity on the least things like Peter Gilligan, who has neglected
his duty. He has sent his angel to help the needy. Peter Gilligan was
profoundly thankful to him.
Opens
abruptly:
The
tale of Peter Gilligan opens without
any introduction
“He works night and day and craves for rest”.
Impersonal:
The poem is without personal
touches, there is nothing to show the writer’s identity or personality. The
reader does not find the comments or the judgment of the poet. Such is ballad
tradition.
The refrain:
The same words or lines are repeated
from stanza to stanza.
E.g.: “ the old priest peter Gilligan” such refrain
is meant for singing and it is part of folk culture. The refrain sets the mood
and tone of the dancing song.
13. THE LYRIC
The lyric is of Greek origin. It meant a song sung by a
single voice to the accompaniment of a lyre .Today it means any short poem
which deals with a single emotion word.
Music is an important element of the lyric.
The lyric is a subjective poem
expressing the varying moods of the poet. It is a well knit poem and generally
has a definite structure. A lyric can be
divided into three distinct parts. They correspond to the three moods which the
poet passes when he is inspired by some emotion. The first part states the emotion; the second
part expresses the thoughts suggested by the emotion; and the last part often
gives a judgement or a summary of his emotions.
However all lyrics may not follow this division strictly. A poet’s
emotion dominates.
A RED, RED ROSE
Robert Burns is one of the most popular lyric poets of
Scotland. “A Red Red Rose“ is a lyric of great beauty . Love is the central theme of the poem. An intense passion of love pervades the poem.
The poem is a beautiful musical
composition. The lover sings joyfully
about his sweet beloved. She is
beautiful and charming like the fresh red, red rose of June.
The lover has fallen deep in love
with her. He says his love is steady and
permanent .He will love her till all the seas become dry and the rocks melt in
the sun. He will love her as long as “The sands of life shall run”.
The lover bids her farewell for a
while. He will come again. Distance does
not matter. Death is only temporary. They will be united again after crossing the
path of ten-thousand miles.
The lyric “A Red Red Rose, “has
three distinct parts. The first part
(i.e.) the first stanza vividly conveys the emotion. It describes the mood of the lover and his
intense love for his beloved. The second
part (the second and third stanzas explains the charm and the beauty of the
girl. It also reveals the depth and
constancy of the lover. The third part
of the lyric is an apt conclusion. It
ends with a parting smile and sigh. It strikes an optimistic note. Similes,
Metaphors and hyperboles, and music, all these poetic devices have added to the
beauty of the poem.
14.
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
Dramatic
Monologue is a kind of a comprehensive soliloquy. Its stage is the soul itslf.
In a dramatic monologue the poet explains his experiences and convictions. A
dramatic monologue imitates action focused in a particular time. It is an
implicit drama. It portrays intensive movements. Psychological insight,
analytical subtlety and power of dramatic interpretation are the prime features
of a dramatic monologue.
Ex: Browning’s “My Last Duchess”, “The Bishop
Orders his Tomb”,” “Andrea Del Sarto”
Tennyson’s,
“Ulysses”; T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” etc are famous dramatic monologues.
MY LAST DUCHESS
Robert browning is a great master of the art of representing
the inner side of human beings. The poem “My last duchess” is a popular
Dramatic Monologue by him. It has the
fallowing characteristic features. they are (a) one character (b) begins and
ends abruptly (c) psychological.
One character:
The Duke of
Ferrara was the only one character on
the stage. The count’s messenger was a silent listener.
Begins and ends
abruptly:
The poem begins with a direct explanation of the duke on the
painting of his last duchess on the wall. It ended when the duke decided to
heed the count’s messenger. The poem has no introduction and conclusive.
Psychological
The poem explains the nature of the duke. The duke was a man
of jealousy and hatred. He was against the courteous and sensitive behavior of
his duchess. The duchess was easily impressed even for a small gift and she was
soon made glad. She liked whatever she looked at and her looks went everywhere.
The duke said that she talked somehow. She thanked her servants and she liked
to move like a commoner. The duke did not like it. He wanted to need her
attitude. But he did not do so as he did not like to steep to her level.
Finally the duke gave commands then all her smiles stopped forever.
The messenger was looking at the painting every pretty on
the wall all the information given by the duke himself. It reveals the cold
blooded villainy of the duke. He was even expecting great dowry from the count. There was the painting of the last duchess on the wall. It was
worked out by Frapandolf, a great painter.
Thus the poem fulfills all the requirements of a dramatic
monologue
One - Act Plays
15.
Write an essay on the plot and structure
of the play “The Best Laid Plans”.
Farrell Mitchell’s One
Act play “The Best Laid Plans” has a well knit plot. The play describes a well
planned burglary by two criminals Slick Jack and Bungler Bill. The former is
proud of the meticulous care he takes in planning every robbery he commits. But
he is finally out witted by Primrose, the butler and Mr. Wood. The plot can be
divided into five sections.
Exposition:
In the opening scene, we find the two
friends Spender and wood. Spender asks Wood whether all the jewellery is locked
away. Wood says that they are properly kept in an iron safe. It is locked and the key is hidden under the
carpet by the fire place. Technically this part is called exposition. The
information about all the characters is also given in this part.
Complication:
Slick Jack and Bungler Bill
enter the house. As Jack is the architect of the burglary, he asks Bill not to
touch anything with his hands lest he should leave his fingerprints. His name
is already kept at Scotland Yard as a notorious criminal. Jack gives the
correct plan for their burglary with timings and other details. They have
already opened the cabinet by finding the key. No traces of identification are
left. Later Jack may write about this perfect burglary in his autobiography.
What is hinted in the exposition takes a definite shape.
Crisis:
Wood and Spender enter with a loaded
revolver. Immediately Spender retorts that Jack will have plenty of time in
prison to write his autobiography. Spender asks Bill to put the jewellery on
the table. He says that Jack and Bill may have to share a prison sentence
instead of jewellery. The rise in action leads to it crisis.. The police are
summoned. Before that Jack asks Wood to see out of the window twice to know
whether it is raining or not. It is a signal for a fake cop arranged by the
burglars.
Denouement:
The fourth part of the play is full
of suspense. The so-called policeman says that he has been waiting for a long
time to arrest Jack and Bill. The cop
takes a pair of hand-cuffs. The burglars never seem to be worried. Wood and
Spender do not know the cop is fake.
Solution:
The
last part of the play is to clear off suspense. A solution should be given and
moreover, this is a comedy. The flying squad arrives followed by Primrose. The
butler has understood the true nature of Jack and brought the real detectives.
The first detective points out that he is a false policeman who has come to
protect Jack and Bill. Wood exposes the light-soled shoes of the false cop.
Jack has revealed the truth that he always keeps a man standing by to come to
his rescue if he is caught red-handed. Thus all the problems are solved.
16. What is the central theme of the One-Act play, “Mother’s Day”?
J. B. Priestley’s One-Act play, “Mother’s Day”, is a
delightful comedy. It describes the plight of many mothers at home. “Mother’s Day,” is a play about one such
ordinary mother, who has an extraordinary friend, Mrs. Fitzgerald.
Mrs. Pearson is a teased, troubled and harassed house wife.
Mrs. Fitzgerald is a fortune-teller living next door to Mrs. Pearson. Though
kind at heart, she has a heavy and sinister personality.
Mrs. Fitzgerald knows the magic of changing bodies. She
clearly understands all the domestic problems of Mrs. Pearson. She observes that
Mrs. Pearson is laboring like a servant, while her family are enjoying
themselves. Mrs. Fitzgerald wishes to make her friend the mistress of her
house. She convinces Mrs. Pearson to exchange bodies, so that in Mrs. Pearson’s
body she would teach a lesson to the members of Pearson’s family.
. Thus in the body of Mrs. Pearson, Mrs. Fitzgerald starts
her psychiatric treatment. She sits calmly smoking a cigarette. First, Doris,
her daughter comes home expecting her mother to press dress and make the food
ready. But she is shocked to see her mother smoking. Further, she is very upset
at the tone of her mother’s voice.
Then Cyril, the son comes in. He is in a hurry to go out
again and so he orders his mother to make everything ready. The mother talks to
him in the same fashion. The children are shocked to see their mother smoking,
playing cards and drinking strong beer.
When George, her husband enters she continues the same
behavior. She makes George realize that he is mocked and laughed at in the club
and is called names behind him.
Mrs. Pearson, in the body of Mrs. Fitzgerald returns to her
house. Her loving heart is unable to tolerate the harsh treatment given by Mrs.
Fitzgerald. She requests her to change back the bodies. When she becomes her
own self, Mrs. Pearson is pleasantly
surprised. There is a great change in the behavior of the entire family. The
shock treatment seemed to have worked excellently.
Mrs. Fitzgerald warns Mrs. Pearson to be tough with the
members of her family now and then with a look or a tone of voice. Thus the
clever and practical Mrs. Fitzgerald
succeeds in making her friend Mrs. Pearson, the mistress of her family.
17. THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL
-Antov
Chekov
‘’The
Proposal’’ is a one act Play by the famous Russian writer, Anton Chekov. It is
a dramatic comedy or a farce. It has a number of highly exaggerated and funny
situations to create humour aimed at entertaining the audience. The basic
purpose of a farcical comedy is to evoke laughter. Although a farce may appear
only funny, however they also contain deeper implications on account of the use
of satirical elements.
Choobukov
and Lomov belong to the upper-class society. They are neightbours and fellow
land owners. Lomov comes to Choobukov’s house to propose to his daughter, Natalia
whom he likes. But soon they pick up a quarrel on a silly issue. Being a
hypochondriac, Lomov feels that his disease is shooting up and he is dying. The
Proposal for marriage is made and disposed, made again and disposed again, due
to the foolishness of both. The whole episode is thus nothing but a storm in s
tea cup which exposes the foibles of this society.
The Conflict
between is Lomov and Natalyia is intresting. The marriage proposal, instead of
being pleasant and romantic, turns out to be a war of words. It begins with a
disagreement between the two on the issue of the ownership of Volvyi Meadows.
Natalyia argues that they have absolute rights over the meadows, and calls
Lomov a usurper. Lomov begins to palpitate and shouts in return that they are
his. Meanwhile Choobukov enters the scene.
The
conversation becomes hotter and Choobukov states that Lomov is a ‘’Malicious,
double faced mean fellow’’. Suddenly Lomov walks to the door saying he is
dying. Choobukov shouts at him not to set his foot again in his house again.
Natalyia asks him to take the matter to the court. This episode contributes a
lot for considering the drama a farce.
On hearing
from her father that Lomov had come on amarriage proposal, Natalyia asks him to bring him back, because she is in love
with him. Again the marriage proposal is put forward. Again there is a silly
problem, now the issue is the superiority of their dogs, Flyer and Tryer. Lomov
argues his dog Tryer is better than Natalyia’s. A heated argument follows. Again
Lomov gets a palpitation.
Lomov abuses
Choobukov as “Old rat and hypocrite”. These words make him very angry. He
shouts at him in anger that he would shoot him with a dirty gun like a
partridge or a wind bag. Lomov retorts that Choobukov is often beaten by his
wife. Again Lomov gets a hypochondriac fit and falls down. But the whole
episode ends happily when Choobukov asks Lomov and Natalyia to get married.
Short Stories
18. THE INTERVIEW
1.
Explain
the point of view in the interview?
Khushwant Singh is one of the most famous Indian English writers.
He is a versatile writer. He is a popular journalist, novelist, short story
writer and above all a humorist. He made his literary reputation with his first
novel Train to Pakistan as a writer
he is free, frank, humorous, pungent often stingingly satirical. His style is
gripping and readable.
“The Interview” is an amusing satire on the hypocrisy and empty
headedness of the bureaucrats. The narrator is a public relations officer one
day an American tourist’s Mr. Towers visits his office with his family. He
introduces himself as a famous numismatist. The PRO is empty headed. He does
not know the meaning of numismatist. Yet he pretends his best to cover his
ignorance. But Mr. Towers’ enthusiasm for the subject puts him in an
embarrassing situation. So he sends a chit to his secretary requesting her to
bring a dictionary. When the lady gets it, the PRO, cleverly tries to divert
Mr. Towers’ attention and look up the meaning of the word. But Towers snatches
it from the PRO thinking it is the latest book on numismatics. The PRO is thus
caught red handed and his hypocrisy is exposed.
Point of view is one of the important features of fiction. It
signifies the way in which a story is told. It is the perspective established
by a writer. It is through the point of view that the character, action,
setting and events are presented to the reader. The question of point of view
has always been a practical concern of the fiction writer. Authors have
developed different ways to present a story. Sometimes the story is told in the
author’s perspective. Then it employs omniscient narrative. Sometimes it is
told in the perspective of a character in the story. Then it is a first person
narrative.
In “The Interview”
Khushwant Singh employs first person narrative. The narrator addresses
himself as ‘1’. He is a PRO and the main character. The story is told in his
point of view. The story has a tinge of social satire. We come across many
people like the PRO in the society. They try to pretend themselves as
intelligent people. They also try to show off their status and power. The
writer successfully exposes such hypocrisy through his powerful narrative
skills.
19. THE TELL-TALE HEART
-EDGAR ALLEN POE
Setting and Atmosphere:
Edgar Allen
Poe is a well known American poet, critic and short story writer. He is
considered one of the most important American authors of the 19th
century. His short stories deal with mystery, horror, and crime, in the
tradition of the Gothic novel. Character, emotion and psychological analysis,
are the prominent features in his short stories. The short story, “The Tell
Tale Heart,” bears the stamp of Poe in all these respects.
“The
Tell-tale Heart,” is one of the finest horror tales of Poe. It is the story of
a man who commits a gruesome murder for no valid reason. The murderer himself
is the narrator. He hates a harmless old man simply because he does not like
his right eye. In fact, he likes the old man. But his vulture like right eye
enrages him. It haunts him day and night. Finally he decides to kill the old
man to get rid of the eye.
The action
and the atmosphere suit the theme of the story. The narrator begins saying that
he has been dreadfully nervous but he is not mad. He says he heard all things
in heaven, earth and hell. With the striking word “HEARKEN”, the readers are
drawn to the whole story. The narration is gripping.
The man
took seven nights to complete the assignment. During this period, he behaved
more kindly and more politely with the old man. Every night he used to enter
the old man’s bed room at the hour of mid night to have a look at his vulture
eye. He practiced to turn the latch of the old man’s room noiselessly, holding
a dark lantern in his hand. He focused a thin ray on the old man’s vulture eye.
But he could not see it because he lay asleep at that hour.
On the
fateful night the old man suddenly woke up in terror. The light ray fell on his
open eye. The killer could not control his rage. He dragged the old man on to
the floor, pressed the heavy bed over him and killed him instantly. He felt
relieved to think that his eye would not trouble him anymore.
The killer
deposited the old man’s body under the planks of his own room floor. The police
arrived at 4’0’ clock in the morning. The man did not panic. He answered their
questions in a cool manner. The police did not suspect him either. But the
man’s head started aching. His face became pale and there was a loud ringing in
his ears. The sound increased every minute. He gasped for breath. And suddenly
he shouted and admitted that the dead body lay under the floor. Thus he
revealed his own crime.
Thus Poe’s
tale is full of horror, suspense and excitement.
20. THE
GIFT OF THE MAGI
-O HENRY
PLOT:
The
Gift of the Magi is a well-known short story by American short story
writer O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter.
The story first appeared in The New York Sunday World on December 10, 1905 and
was later published in O. Henry's collection The Four Million on
April 10, 1906.
The
story tells of a young married couple, James, known as Jim,
and Della Dillingham. The couple has very little money and lives in
a modest apartment. Between them, they have only two possessions that they
consider their treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch that
belonged to his father and his grandfather, and Della's lustrous, long
hair that falls almost to her knees.
It's
Christmas Eve, and Della finds herself running out of time to buy Jim a
Christmas present. After paying all of the bills, all Della has left is $1.87
to put toward Jim's Christmas present. Desperate to find him the perfect gift,
out she goes into the cold December day, looking in shop windows for something
she can afford.
She
wants to buy Jim a chain for his pocket watch, but they're all out of her price
range. Rushing home, Della pulls down her beautiful hair and stands in front of
the mirror, admiring it and thinking. After a sudden inspiration, she rushes
out again and has her hair cut to sell. Della receives $20.00 for selling her
hair, just enough to buy the platinum chain she saw in a shop window for
$21.00.
When
Jim comes home from work, he stares at Della, trying to figure out what's
different about her. She admits that she sold her hair to buy his present.
Before she can give it to him, however, Jim casually pulls a package out of his
overcoat pocket and hands it to her. Inside, Della finds a pair of costly
decorative hair combs that she'd long admired, but are now completely useless
since she's cut off her hair. Hiding her tears, she jumps up and holds out her
gift for Jim: the watch chain. Jim shrugs, flops down onto the old sofa, puts his
hands behind his head and tells Della flatly that he sold his watch to buy her
combs.
The
story ends with a comparison of Jim and Della's gifts to the gifts that
the Magi, or three wise men, gave to Baby Jesus in
the manger in the biblical story of Christmas. The narrator concludes that Jim
and Della are far wiser than the Magi because their gifts are gifts of love,
and those who give out of love and self-sacrifice are truly wise because they
know the value of self-giving love.
Theme and Moral
The
Gift of the Magi is a classic example of irony in literature. Irony is
a literary technique in which an expectation of what is supposed to occur
differs greatly from the actual outcome. In this case, Jim and Della sacrifice
their most treasured possessions so that the other can fully enjoy his or her
gift. Jim sells his watch to buy Della's combs, expecting her to be able to use
them. Della sells her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch. Neither expects
the other to have made that sacrifice.
The
irony here works both on a practical and on a deeper, more sentimental level.
Both Della and Jim buy each other a gift that ultimately seems financially
foolish. Being poor, they can't afford to waste money on things they can't use.
However, what they get is something they don't expect: a more intangible gift
that reminds them how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice to
make each other happy.
The
story's setting at Christmas time makes it a popular story for the holiday
season. Its major theme is the difference between wisdom and foolishness,
or having or not having, a sense of judgment and understanding.
Both
Jim and Della behave impulsively, sacrificing their greatest treasures without
thinking about the consequences and focusing instead on making one another
happy. From an entirely practical perspective, this doesn't make much sense
because they can't enjoy the gifts that are supposed to make them happy.
Jim
and Della are thinking about the present moment and the material possessions
that give us pleasure. What they foolishly don't realize, however, is that
they've given each other a greater gift: their sacrificial love. The lesson
they ultimately learn is that their love for each other is worth more than all
of the material possessions money can buy. O. Henry makes a somewhat humorous
though a meaningful comparison between the Magi in the Bible and Jim and Della
at the end of the story:
The Magi, as you know, were wise men -- wonderfully wise
men -- who brought gifts to the newborn babe in the manger. Being wise, their
gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in
case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful
chronicle of two foolish children in a flat… who most unwisely sacrificed for
each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the
wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were
the wisest.
NARRATIVE
TECHNIQUES:
O HENRY breaks grammar rules.
There are lots of sentences that aren't really sentences, like the opening one:
"One dollar and eighty-seven cents". There's no verb or action in
that sentence; it just states a sum of money. We need more information about
what that sum of money "means" or "does" in order to
understand the sentence. We get that information in the next sentence:
"That was all" . Although the second sentence at least has a verb,
it's also technically not a complete sentence: the subject, "that,"
is unspecified, and only makes sense given the previous sentence.
Likewise, the narrator is fond of starting sentences with words that grammar sticklers would say you're not supposed to start with, like "And" or "Which." This also has the effect of making one sentence hinge on the sentence before. (And if you look, you'll notice that Shmoop does this sometimes too – it's part of what makes us and O. Henry sound conversational.)
Looking at those first two sentences clues us in on how the story's style tends to operate as a whole: lots of short sentences that often depend on other sentences in order to work. This technique has a way of weaving together the story across individual sentences and gives it a flow that would be broken apart by writing in more complete, self-contained sentences. It's typical of the ways we tell stories when we speak. This style keeps listeners hanging on from one sentence to the next. It also prevents them from getting lost in overly long sentences. Since when you're listening to a story you can't go back and read a sentence again, it's important that you don't get lost. If you get caught on a particular sentence it might make you lose the thread of the whole story.
Of course, as O. Henry is trying to capture that feel of telling a story orally, he also throws in plenty of addresses to his audience of listeners, as in, "Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends – a mammoth task". This further creates the feeling that he is talking directly to us.
Likewise, the narrator is fond of starting sentences with words that grammar sticklers would say you're not supposed to start with, like "And" or "Which." This also has the effect of making one sentence hinge on the sentence before. (And if you look, you'll notice that Shmoop does this sometimes too – it's part of what makes us and O. Henry sound conversational.)
Looking at those first two sentences clues us in on how the story's style tends to operate as a whole: lots of short sentences that often depend on other sentences in order to work. This technique has a way of weaving together the story across individual sentences and gives it a flow that would be broken apart by writing in more complete, self-contained sentences. It's typical of the ways we tell stories when we speak. This style keeps listeners hanging on from one sentence to the next. It also prevents them from getting lost in overly long sentences. Since when you're listening to a story you can't go back and read a sentence again, it's important that you don't get lost. If you get caught on a particular sentence it might make you lose the thread of the whole story.
Of course, as O. Henry is trying to capture that feel of telling a story orally, he also throws in plenty of addresses to his audience of listeners, as in, "Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends – a mammoth task". This further creates the feeling that he is talking directly to us.
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