A Little Boy's Dream (Katherine Mansfield)

 About the Author: Katherine Mansfield (14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic. She is considered to be an important author of the modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world, and have been published in 25 languages. Mansfield wrote short stories and poetry under a variation of her own name, Katherine Mansfield, which explored anxiety, sexuality and existentialism. New Zealandian identity is the predominant tone in her works. When she was 19, she left New Zealand and settled in England, where she became a friend of D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Lady Ottoline Morrell and others in the orbit of the Bloomsbury Group. Mansfield's in the poem, "A Little Boy's Dream" portrays the meaning of life through the dream of a little boy.

Analysis of the Poem: 

Dream: Life is filled with dreams. Kids always remain happy in their lives because they keep on dreaming constantly. “A Little Boy’s Dream” depicts the dream of a little boy who is sailing all alone on a boat. Katherine Mansfield by using the child as the subject managed to connote a deeper hidden meaning. By way of depicting the dream of a little boy, the poet is actually telling the biggest reality of life. All of us have to walk all alone in our life’s journey. Here leading our life is referred to journey. In our life, we are surrounded by the people we love and the people who love us but still when we are born and when we die, we are alone.

Journey: The poet by the means of a dream visualization of the boy, explains the biggest truth of life. The little boy says “Sea and sky, sea and sky, quietly on the deck I lie, having just a little rest”. Here the poet means that only the sea and sky are walking with him which are actually non-living things. She also means that human life is mortal and Nature is immortal. Living things in the sea, like fish for instance, also make a distance from the little boy. This is also a truth of real life. Only the nature walks with us when we are alone, all the living beings stay away. Nature is as a matter of fact, a man’s best friend. The little kid in his dream is sailing to a far-away unknown lands, in a similar manner we lead our life to the unknown destiny and during the course of life we learn the reality one by one without knowing the future of us. Of course, we are completely unaware of the circumstances which we have to face in the future but still we keep on moving.

Duty: The little boy understands the truth of life in his dream itself. He also says “I have really done my best, In an awful pirate fight, but we captured them all right.” Here the poet means to say that in our journey called life, we give the best we can, as a result of which the outcomes occur. If we do not work for making our lives better, we will stay the way we are.

Love: The poet also explains the significance of a mother’s love in the poem. The child wakes up from his dream and is scared to have witnessed loneliness. Seeing the child’s embarrassment, his mother comes and embraces him. When the mother embraces her the fear of the child is gone.  Now the child feels that he is safe and secured in the embrace of his mother. Thus, the poet epitomizes mother’s love which is selfless than the love that one experience from kith and kin around him.

Conclusion: The poet makes the child acquainted with the realities of life through a dream. Like the child, the individuals also in some way or the other, sooner or later get acquainted with what life is really all about.

Part II English (Composition - Semester III)

 

Curriculum Vitae
Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      A summary of the application at the start of the CV acts as a statement of objectives.
• 2.      Generally, how many references are to be mentioned in a CV?    Two.
• 3.      Which is not compulsory to mention in a job description CV?   Nationality.
• 4.      “Curriculum Vitae” is a word form which language?   Latin.
• 5.      Apart from your name and contact details, the most important part of your CV is Educational details.
• 6.      A CV is longer professional document of an individual.
• 7.      A CV contains one’s experience, certificate and personal details.
• 8.      The best CV format is the reverse-Ch (Chronological) one.
• 9.      Generally a CV may not contain a nationality/ ethnicity of the CV holder.
• 10.   A student’s CV is a representation of his/her scholarly identity and  achievements in his/her field.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      What are the features that make a CV look feasible?

The headers sch as ‘Personal Profile’, ‘Experience’, ‘Achievements’, ‘Career History’, and ‘Personal Details’ and the relevant information in ach header make a CV look feasible.

• 2.      How do you write your CV? Design it.

Curriculum Vitae Name   Address and other contact details   Objective   Experience 1.      Employment details  a.      Designation b.      Job responsibility and achievement Education 1.      Courses studies in reverse chronological order. 2.      Academic Achievements   Reference

 

3.      What are the four types of CV?

Functional, Chronological, Skill-based, and Targeted.

4.      What is the purpose of writing a CV?

CV is written to sell he/she to a prospective employer.

5.      What type of information should a CV contain?

CV should reflect that he/she possesses the right education, skills, experience, behavior, attitude and morality, professional competency and communication skill that the employer is seeking.

Memos, Notices, Agendas and Minutes

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      Which document is prepared before a meeting to list the items to be discussed or acted upon?    Agenda.
• 2.      Which of the following would be found in the New Business section of a Minutes?   CEO Reports
• 3.      Articles of Association is the most important document of a company.
• 4.      What do the Notices convey?  Announcements.
• 5.      It is mandatory for all companies to have any memorandum or articles of association.
• 6.      The heading component of an Agenda has the name of the company/ organization, type of meeting, the date, time and venue of the meeting.
• 7.      The last component in a business meeting minutes is call to order and adjournment.
• 8.      A memorandum usually abbreviated as Memo.
• 9.      All members should sign the MOU in case of private company.
• 10.   Memos are generally circulated within the organization and companies.

 

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      What is a Memo?

A Memo is a formal written message to people within an organization to meet a specific need.

• 2.      What is the purpose of writing a Memo?

Memos are written to inform, explain, persuade, warn, and seek explanations for misconduct by an employee within an organization.

• 3.      How do you appraise a notice?

If a notice contains (i) heading or subject, (ii) body, (iii) date of issue and (iv) signature or name of issuing authority with designation then the notice is a good notice.

• 4.      How do you write an Agenda?

An Agenda is an outline of the business to be carried out during the meeting. It contains the list of events to be executed during the programme in time sequence.

• 5.      Assess the importance of writing minutes

Minutes of meeting is important for documenting details such as what the group discussed, reports that were reviewed, the decisions taken proposed activities and future topics of the next meeting. These details allow those who were present to recall important information and prepare for future meetings.

 

 

E-Mail

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      How do you send a copy of an e-mail to a new recipient?   Forward.
• 2.      Which is the main folder om E-mail?       Inbox
• 3.      People who receive e-mails are Recipients.
• 4.      Internet scammers do tricks to collect the personal information of people are Hackers.
• 5.      What does SMTP stand for? Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
• 6.      You can star an e-mail in you want to remember and also put it into a special folder for easy access.
• 7.      The first part of the e-mail address identifies user’s name.
• 8.      E-mail is a technology that allows you to send and receive message over the internet.
• 9.      The E-mail ID of the secondary recipient of must be entered into CC/BCC field.
• 10.   Unsolicited E-mails may be filtered and separated into spam.
•  

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      What does “BCC” stand for?  

Blind Carbon Copy

• 2.      What is the purpose of emotions in E-mail communication?

They get the reader’s attention. Besides, they emphasize an important message and inject spirit into your communication.

• 3.      What are the ‘3Ds’ in E-mail management?

Delete it, Do it, Delegate it or Defer it.

• 4.      What does it mean when an E-mail “bounce”?

The reasons may be 1. the email address does not exist, 2. The inbox is full, 3. Server outages, 4. poor sender reputation due to spam complaints, 5. flagged content in the message content and 6. a restrictive DMARC record for your seeding domain.

• 5.      What are the ‘5Cs’ of effective email writing?

Clear, Complete, Concise, Courteous and Correct.

Part II English (Poetry - Semester I)

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“Upagupta”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      The poem “Upagupta” presents two moments in the life of the dancing girl.
• 2.      Upagupta is the disciple of Buddha.
• 3.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl meets the ascetic again after a long time.
• 4.      Upagupta, a great ascetic appears in the life of a dancing girl.
• 5.      The seasons described in the poem are Monsoon and Spring.
• 6.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl’s life is being stricken with black pestilence.
• 7.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl is seen lying down on the same rampart.
• 8.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl was proud of her youth and beauty.
• 9.      The poem, “Upagupta” establishes the importance of humanity.
• 10.   According to  Upagupta, the dancing girl’s life is being stricken with black pestilence.

Short Question and Answer:

• 1.      Who is Upagupta?

Upagupta is a disciple of Buddha. He is also an ascetic.

• 2.      What is the dancing girl proud of in the poem “Upagupta”?
  The dancing girl considers her youth and beauty and also her dancing profession as her pride.

The dancing girl considers her youth and beauty and also her dancing profession as her pride.

• 3.      What is the dancing girl stricken with?

The dancing girl is stricken with black pestilence.

• 4.      What are described as two cardinal moments in the life of the dancing girl?

In the beginning, the dancing girl is beautiful and young. Later she is stricken with black pestilence and red sores found all over body. Her beauty is gone. These are the two cardinal moments in her life.

• 5.      How does Upagupta comfort the dancing girl when she is ill?

The ascetic applies the sandal balm on the sores found on the body of the dancing girl.

 

“Refugee Mother and Child”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      “Refugee Mother and Child” is written by Chinua Achebe.
• 2.      The poem, “Refugee Mother and Child” is about a mother and a child who have no home.
• 3.      The hair on the skull of the child is sparse.
• 4.      The mothers have lost all hope saving their children.
• 5.      Motherly love has been drained away from the mother.
• 6.      The refugee mother holding her child is compared to Mother Mary cuddling Infant Jesus.
• 7.      The mother puts flowers on the skull of the child.
• 8.      The act of putting flowers indicates the last display of maternal love.
• 9.      Madonna is Mother Mary.
• 10.   The child of the refugee mother gradually moves towards the grave.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      Who does the mother demonstrate her tenderness for in the poem “Refugee Mother and Child”?

  The mother shows her tenderness for her dying son who suffers from diarrhoea.

  2.      Give two phrases from the poem, they convey the economic death refugees.

  ‘washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms’    and     ‘blown empty bellies’

  3.      What does the reference to Madonna signify in the poem?

  Madonna refers to Mother Mary cuddling Infant Jesus. In this poem the refugee mother  holding her dying son like Mother Mary.

  4.      What have you understood of the condition of the child in the poem?

  The child is slowly dying since it suffers from diarrhoea since the hygienic condition is very            poor in the refuge camp.

  5.      What have you understood of the poet’s attitude reflected in the poem?

  The poet shows his sympathy for the poor condition of the refuge camp. He is also angry at             the government is lethargic while treating the refugees. 

 

“Don’ts”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      The poem, “Don’ts” is written by D.H. Lawrence.
• 2.      D.H. Lawrence is educating his young little boy to be real.
• 3.      Lawrence in “Don’ts” does not want his son to do all the same mistakes.
• 4.      In “Don’ts” the poet has done, many things to fall into the good habits of the people in the society.
• 5.      Lawrence wants his little boy to follow his heart.
• 6.      In “Don’ts” the poet wants his son to give the same lesson to his children.
• 7.      D.H. Lawrence advises his son not to live up to the standards.
• 8.      In the poem “Don’ts” the word ‘mater’ means informal use of Latin word for ‘mother’
• 9.      According to Lawrence the phrase ‘an enclosure for pigs’ is sty.
• 10.   According to Lawrence the message of the poem “Don’ts” could be to connect and find meaning in our experiences.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      What is the major advice of the poet to his son in the poem “Don’ts”?

The poet does not want his son to do all the same mistakes that he had done to fall into the good books of the people in the society. Instead he wants him to follow his heart.

• 2.      What does the poet educate his son to be?

He educate his son to be real

• 3.      What does the poet want his not to do?

The poet wants his son not to 1. fall to much to the good books of the people in the society, 2. life for the dear little girl, 3. earn too much of wealth, 4. swallow too much of culture, and 5. drink too much of beer.

• 4.      What does the poet want his son to follow?

He wants his son to follow his heart and to be as good as he can be.

• 5.      What lesson does the poet want his son to pass to his wards in future?

The poet wants his son to give the same message to his children in future that he is giving to him through the poem “Don’ts”.

 

“Digging”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet.
• 2.      Heaney reflects upon the rural history of his family in “Digging”.
• 3.      In “Digging” the speaker holds a pen like a spade.
• 4.      In the poem “Digging” the spade used by Heaney’s father is a thing of the past.
• 5.      Heaney  goes back to the memories of twenty years past.
• 6.      The poet used to involve in gathering of the potatoes in “Digging”.
• 7.      Heaney’s grandfather used to cut more turf in a day.
• 8.      The poet in “Digging” informs how he took a bottle of milk for his grandfather.
• 9.      The poet in “Digging” says that he has to follow the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
• 10.   The poets says the he too can dig with his squat pen in “Digging”.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      How many generations are drawn to the picture in the poem “Digging”?

Three generations are drawn to the picture in the poem “Digging”

• 2.      What is the speaker originally engaged in?

The speaker of “Digging” originally engaged in ‘writing’.

• 3.      What has distracted the speaker from his work?

The digging of the ground with a spade by the speaker’s father has distracted him from his work.

• 4.      What does the act of digging signify metaphorically in the poem?

The act of digging metaphorically signifies the act of digging up of the past of the speaker’s life.

• 5.      What have you understood of the speaker’s grandfather in the poem “Digging”?

The speaker’s grandfather has possessed the skill of digging more turf than any other farmer in the village.

Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History: Who Speaks for 'Indians' Pasts? (Dipesh Chakrabarty)

 Introduction:

Dipesh Chakrabarty (born in 1948 in Kolkata) is an Indian historian and leading scholar of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. He is the Lawrence A Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in history at the University of Chicago, and is the recipient of the 2014 Tonybee Prize, named after Professor Arnold J. Tonybee, that recognizes social scientist for significant academic and public contributions to humanity.

 

Domination of European History:

Dipesh Chakrabarty in his essay, “Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History: Who Speaks for ‘Indian’ Pasts?” tries to analyze the history of the world and the position of Indians in it. the world history were mostly written by European writers who were totally unmindful of the eastern values. Their histories were mostly produced at the institutional level. Europe being a royal power influenced the entire world order in terms of politics, trade, commerce, defence and other aspects of an advanced society. The European history dominated the entire world order and engulfed the theoretical subject of all histories including “Indian, Chinese, Kenyan” and so on. Therefore, the European history became a master narrative. In this sense, the  Indian history itself in a position of subalternity and can only express subaltern position in the name of history. Thus arises the question of domination and subordination. The great phenomenon of orientalism is willfully sacrificed at the altar of European imperialism. Europe dominates the phenomenal world of everyday relationship of power. Europe works as a silent referent in all historical knowledge.

 

There is a compulsion for the third-world and non-western historians to refer to works in European history but the historians of Europe do not feel any need to reciprocate.  European historians produce their works in relative ignorance of non-western histories. Hence Chakrabarty states that the dominance of “Europe” as the subject of all histories is the theorical condition under which historical knowledge produced in the third-world. this condition expresses in a paradoxical manner. This is the blatant result of cultural arrogance on the part of European historians. Karl Marx views this paradox in terms of social conditions. He uses terms such as “Bourgeoise” and Pre-bourgeoise” are “Capital” and “Pre-capital”. Bourgeoises and capitalists according to Marx give rise for the first-time to a history that can be seen as philosophical and universal category. History becomes for the first-time theoretical knowledge.

 

Marx’s View of Transition:

According to Chakrabarty, Marx calls for “equal pay for equal work” is the first call to move to the main stream social order. Marxism paved the way for the historical narratives. These narratives turn around the theme of historical transitions. Most modern third-world histories are written within problematics posed by these transition narratives. This tendency forms the backdrop of subaltern studies. Peasants dream of mythical kingdom, the left’s ideal of social revolution constitute the history of modern India. The transition narratives celebrated the imperialists’ capacity for violence and conquests. Alexander Dow’s “History of Hindostan” is the best example for this conviction.

The British introduced the “Rule of Law” in the place of “arbitrary” and “despotic”. In 19^th and 20^th centuries nationalism became the subject of Indian transition narratives. Transition from imperialism to nationalism is the most notable trend in Indian literary and social contexts. Raja Rammohun Roy and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay emerged as India’s most prominent nationalists’ intellectuals of the 19^th century. The peasants and the workers who formed the Indian subaltern classes were on the rise. Many Indians who were in London for education and livelihood returned to India to become nationalists which includes Mahatma Gandhi also. Many of the public and private subjects of modern individualism became visible in India in the 19^th century. This period also witnessed sudden development of four basic genres such as novel, biography, autobiography and history. Along with these developed modern industries, technology, medicine and legal system. Gandhi realized this as early as 1909. He remarked in his famous book, “Hind-Swaraj” “make India  English” or as he puts it otherwise to have “English rule without the English man”.

 

Inadequacy of Indian Transition Narratives: 

All Indians have now become “citizens’. They are well protected by the constitutions. The modern individual whose political life is lived in citizenship. They also supposed to have an interiorized “private-self”. Their private lives are not properly represented in this narrative. Since the middle of the 19^th century, there have been Indian novels, diaries, letters and autobiographies but they seldom yield pictures of an endlessly interiorized subject. Chakrabarty argues that all our autobiographies are fully public. Women writers just tell the stories of the extended family life. Nirad Chaudhury’s “autobiographies” are largely public than personal. Thus, the transition narrative situates the modern individual at the very end of history. literature produced in Bengal between 1850 and 1920 mostly deal with Bengali middle-class Hindu life. they are full of “domestic science”. The condition of women in 19^th century India was not well-presented in these  narratives. The idea of the “modern” individual, “freedom”, “equality”, and “rights” are all highlighted. Bengali literature have often become the subject of ridicule and scorn. Bengali women writers like Kundamala Devi and Indra Devi have expressed their views on the conditions of women in the family and society: “Unaffected by nature, of pleasant speech, untiring in their service (to others) oblivious of their own pleasures (while) moved easily by the suffering of others and capable of being content with very little”.

 

Women are the Lakshmis of the community. If they undertake to impose themselves in the sphere of dharma and knowledge, then there will be an automatic amusement in the quality of social life. Hindu woman should be united in complete harmony with husband through mutual submission, loyalty, devotion, and chastity. If they are not so, the entire family is destroyed by the spirit of Alakshmi (not-Lakshmi). Thus, the Indian transition narratives focus much on making the family a site where the sacred and the secular blended   in a permanent principle that was heavenly and divine. Thus these voices combining the constituting theme of nationalism, class-based ideology, women struggle against men and the friendship between husband and wife are the deep ambivalence that marked these narratives.

 

There is a strong difference between European history and Indian history. Indian history, culture and tradition accord more importance to community and individual relationship, whereas the European history give smore importance to the nation and not the individual. This is the sharp difference between the European imperialism and the third-world nationalism which constitute the basic layers of subaltern studies. Therefore, there is continuous struggle and inherent confrontation between these cultures and histories. Third-world domain represents the rejection of modernity, historical values, individualism, science, and grand-narratives. These struggles include coercion of politically instituted symbolic violence. The Europe like the west is notably an imaginary entity. But third-world nationalism and modernizing ideologies are par-excellence. The strength of India lies with grand-narratives of “rights, citizenship, the nation-state, public and private spheres”

 

Conclusion:

Chakrabarty in this essay has effectively defended against the third-world counties being labelled as subaltern in the European context. he argues that the term subaltern has been created by the western thinkers who are totally ignorant of non-western narratives, cultural and traditional achievements. He concludes that Europe may be termed in the context of science and legal system but not in the sphere of literature, architecture and other traditional values of the third-world nations.  

 

 

 

 

EPIC

 Epic:

Definition: An epic is a long narrative in verse on a great and serious subject related in an elevated style.

 Dryden: According to Dryden “An Epic is a heroic poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest work which the soul of man is capable to perform.”

 Characteristics:

·       An epic tells a generally well-known story and is centred round a heroic or semi-divine figure on whose actions depends on fate.

·       The action of an epic is serious

·       There is a good deal of physical and spiritual conflicts.

·       The characters and events are portrayed in detail and descriptions are in elevated style and the language is also ornate.

 

Types of Epics:

 

Historically there are two types of epic – 1. the primitive epic or the epic of growth  and the epic of art or the literary epic.

 

The epic of growth is not entirely the work by a single author but it evolved from pre-existing legends, folk poems and sagas. The epic of growth contains supernatural or religious elements. The style of such epic is marked by directness and simplicity. Example: Homer’s “Iliad” and Odyssey”; Valmiki’s “The Ramayana” and Vyasa’s “The Mahabharata”.

 

The epic of art or literary epic is the product of individual poet. It is the scholarly research of the poet. Most traits of the epic of growth are found in the literary epic also. Example: Virgil’s “Aenid”; Milton’s “Paradise Lost”: Spenser’s “Faerie Queene”.

 

The man traits of an epic:

 

1.     The subject matter of an epic is heroic or mythical kind. The hero is a figure of national or even cosmic importance.

2.     The setting of an epic is vast and comprises several worlds.

3.     The action of an epic involves superhuman deeds. The action of an epic is often controlled by supernatural agents. Gods and goddesses mingle with the humans and fight on both sides.

4.     The pic contains a number of thrilling episodes like battles, duels, wanderings, ordeals and the like.

5.     In most epics there is a moral purpose. The hero represents a cause and the victory of good over evil is ensured.

6.     Epic is narrated in an ornate, ceremonial and grand style. Epic similes, figures of speech, classical allusions and references and repetitions are used.

7.     The epic is usually divided into 12 books through “Iliad and “Odyssey” have 24 books.

The Mock-Epic

The mock-epic is a narrative poem in which the conventions of the regular epic are employed in connection with trivial things. Thus, it becomes a parody. The finest example of a mock-epic poem in English is Pope’s “Rape of the Lock” published in 1712. Swift’s “Battle of the Books” also contains some traits of a mock-epic.

 

“Rape of the Lock” celebrates an absurdly trivial theme – the theft of a lock of hair from a girl’s head by her lover – in an epic manner. As in serious epic Pope invokes the Muse at the beginning. He introduces the supernatural elements as in all serious epics. The poem is full of fanciful concepts, expressions and images that remind the reader of a regular epic. The poet uses irony, satire, understatements, anticlimax, balanced sentences and similar devices to emphasise the mocking tone without spoiling the epic structure.