DBA 114

Ans.1-
Joseph Addison contributed to English Literature as a pamphleteer poet, dramatist and essayist. Though
his drama Cato and poem " The Campaign" won march acclaim and popularity during his lifetime, it is as
an essayist that Joseph Addison has secured a unique place for himself in the history of English Literature.
He wrote most of his essay for the periodicals , The Spectator, The Tatler and The Guardian with his co
editor Richard Steele. Their motive behind these essays was moral and didactic: their aim was to Reform
British society.

There are nearly 400 essays written by Addison, which are of almost uniform length, excellence of style
and on a wide variety of subjects. He is an objective, dispassionate observer of the lifestyle of his time,
which he exposes faithfully and unerringly to his readers. He became a mild critic of the morals of his age
and most of his essays deal with contemporary issues like popular superstitions, social manners, polite
conversation, fashion, practical jokes and so on. Though he touched on the subject of politics, he dealt with
it cautiously, without hunting sentiments. Literary criticism also found a distinctive place in his essays;
several editorials maintained a conversational tone with his readers. They enjoyed them because he
punctuated his essays with wit and humour. His best creation however is the famous series dealing with
the fictitious The Spectator club.

Steele created an imaginary sir Rodger De Coverley, an eccentric old country knight who is the member
of the Spectator Club at London. There are other characters created in contrast to him like a city merchant
- Sir Andrew Freeport, a middle aged man - Will Honey Comb, the sophisticated and fashionable young
man of the town - Will Wimble, a soldier - Captain Sentry and a shy introvert - Mr Spectator. Addison
infused life into those characters, made them adventurous and interesting, so much so that some scholars
have regarded the Coverley papers as the forerunner of the novel.

In Addison's words, his aim in his essays was to point out, ' those vices which are to trivial for the
chastisement of the law, and too fantastical for the cognizance of the pulpit..... All agreed that I should be
at liberty to carry the war into quarters I pleased; provided I continued to combat which criminals in a body,
and to assault the vice without hunting the person'. Addison was so successful that his essays became the
range of the day. Only men but women also read his essays, which was a real achievement. His essays
definitely influenced the 18th century reading public.

Though modern day reader may not be able to comprehend this adulation accorded to his essays today
when we have become a lot more complex in politics as well as in social matters, one must have a proper
knowledge of the century in which Addison stood out alone as an individual withstanding the follies and
vices of his time.

As an essayist, Addison influenced British society. The 'middle style' which he perfected has been
criticised as being weak, lacking the energy and force which can be provided by passion and intellectual
energy. Yet, this attitude which seeks to be just, humane and moderate helped him to acquire his goal for
bringing diverse people reading, thinking and talking about his essays. Most importantly, people responded
to the sincere affection and simple but logical advice, which his essays communicate to his reading public.
Ans.2-
First Paragraph:

The man is a charitable man. He cares about others, gives to others, and shares with others, but he pretends to
not care about the well-being of others. He is “ashamed of his natural benevolence.” While he pretends to
have a disliking for mankind, he’s not very good at pretending to be. The author reveals that his poker face is
not up to par. “… While his looks were softened into pity, I have heard him use the language of the most
unbounded ill-nature.”

Second Paragraph :

The “Man in Black” is so concerned with the place of the poor, that he complains to the author of how
ignorant the countrymen, or wealthy, are to the state of living of the poorer people. He says that the poor only
want a few things – food, housing, clothes, and warmth but cannot obtain those things due to the negligence
of the fortunate.

Third Paragraph:

The man in black gives a beggar a piece of silver, but when doing so, he appeared “ashamed” to present his
weakness to the author; the man has too much pride to show his soft spot for the less fortunate.

Fourth paragraph:

When a man with a wooden leg passed the author and the man in black, the author ignored him. The man in
black showed much attention to him, but instead of giving him alms, he called him out to be a poser of the
needy. But once hearing the sailor’s story of fighting in defense of the country while others “did nothing at
home”, the man gave alms to him.
Fifth paragraph:

The man in black and the author ran into a woman who was an obvious example of helpless, but he had no
money to give her. He became shameful, as it was presented in his face, but once he found a “shilling’s worth
of matches”, and placed it in her hands, he was pleased with himself seeing the smile in the woman’s face. This
anonymous man, the Man In Black, is a man of benevolence, and is bluntly shameful of it. There is no
understanding of why.

The man is one who cannot exhibit generous behavior without being ashamed of it. He wants the world to see
him as a man who does not care too much about the well-being of others; much less, the unfortunate. He is
the “Man In Black”, because he hides his benevolence. He does not want to be noticed for it. He is, the Man in
Black.

Ans 3.
Children like to hear about their elders when they were children. So, our author’s children sat around him to
listen to the stories of childhood of their great grand-mother Field. She lived in a great house in Norfolk. The
most interesting fact about this house was that the whole story of ‘the Children in the Wood’ was carved in
wood upon the chimney-piece of the great hall. But later this was replaced by a marble chimney piece by a rich
person. Great grandmother Field was not the real owner of the house but due to her behaviour, manners and
her great religious devotions she was respected by everyone. She, however, used the house as if it were her
own. But later, the ornaments were taken off from the house to the real owner’s home, which was in the
adjoining country. When Mrs. Field died, her funeral was attended by both the poor and the rich. Men from
many miles around came to show their respect for memory. She was indeed a very gentle-hearted and pious
person. She knew the Psalms by heart and also a great part of the Testament.

Lamb then began telling them about their great grandmother’s youth; when she was regarded as the best
dancer in the country. But she was attacked by cancer, and that desisted her from dancing any further. Her
good spirits, however, could not be broken, and she continued to be religious and kind hearted. She used to
sleep by herself in a desolate chamber of that great house. She thought that she saw two apparitions of infants
at midnight, but she was sure that were good creatures and would not hurt her. She was also very kind to her
grandchildren, who went to her during holidays. Lamb himself used to spend hours in gazing upon old busts of
the Emperors of Rome. He used to roam around the large silent rooms of that huge house and looked through
the worn-out hangings, fluttering tapestry, and carved oaken panels. He also used to hang about the garden,
gazing at the trees and flowers. He was satisfied thus roaming about, and preferred this to the sweet flavours
of peaches, nectarines, and such common habits of children.
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Ans 7.
At the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam gave one of his finest speeches,
where he articulated his visions for India.

Here is a transcript of his inspiring speech:

I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come
and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards, The Greeks, the
Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us,
took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered
anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and Tried to enforce our way of
life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.

That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857,
when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and
build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India’s DEVELOPMENT, For fifty years we have been A developing nation. It is
time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of
GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements
are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed
nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect?

I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up
to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a
military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to
have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish
Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have
worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.

Ans.5-
Sir Francis Bacon was a true Renaissance man in that he was accomplished
in many areas, one of which was essayist (read a brief bio at the link
below). Some scholars believe it was he who invented the essay as a literary
form. Even more amazing is that he wrote essays for fun.

His essays cover a huge range of subjects and the writing style is quite
varied. Some are philosophical, some are witty, some are deep, some are
humorous. Bacon often takes both sides of an argument in his essays,
seeming to enjoy the role of “devil’s advocate” arguing against himself.
Writers and speakers (including even Shakespeare!) have quoted from his
essays.

You can see the variety of his essays by examining their topics, some of
which include: Truth, Death, Anger, Envy, Revenge, Travel, Marriage and
Single Life, Suspicion, Riches, Ambition, Goodness and Goodness of Nature,
Plantations, The Colors of Good and Evil, etc. (see link below). There is even
a Bacon group right here on enotes (see link).

Two of my favorite quotes:

From Of Truth:

There is no vice, that doth so cover a man with shame, as to be found false
and perfidious.

From Of Atheism

It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in
philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.