Name – Shreetam Mazumder

Class – 11 Section—B
Roll no-- 03
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE
How is the study if English Language in
ISC helping you to enrich your skill of
speaking,writing,reading and listening

English language is the central language using in communication between different

countries. So it is very necessary to improving English skill and which in turn need to
increase their opportunity for graining new ability. Furthermore technology is also tool to
improve our English skill. How would we develop our English skill with technologies? Well
there are lot of way such as educational video, movie, video game, music, etc. Technology is
a modern way of learning English but before technology the only way to learn English is
studying English in school or college or courses regarding English.

In order to improve teaching of masses of Indian the “ Council for the Indian School
Certificate Examinations (CISCE)” was setup in India. It is a is a privately held national-
level board of school education in India. Around 2300 school in India and abroad are
affiliated to CISCE. It was established in 1958. The initial objective of this Indian board was
on the grounds that a board was required to administer the examinations being conducted
in India by the University of Cambridge and to optimally tailor them according to the
nation's need.

The ICSE Board has core instructions in English. They do not encourage any other
language as the main subject. Whereat one hand, CBSE is affiliated to both English and
Hindi, ICSE is only restricted to English medium school which leads in great English listen and
speaking. The course of English study in CISCE has a lot of verity of novel, drama, poem and
story from Victorian era to modern era. Some cise school also have debating compition
which help in improving debating skill in English. The English study in CISCE also teaches us
how to write email, letter, notice, proposal and review which is a great asset for the future
of the student. To increase the vocabulary of English CISCE also teaches as many poem and
drama of vintage era

One salient feature of studying in English include study multiple topic. The
English language syllabus  from 9th grade ICSE kids have only tenses, preposition and
do as directed (changing the sentences without changing the meaning and according to
the given instruction). These grammar elements are used in everyday life to speak. To
answer these questions, we solve loads of sentences and eventually end up learning
where to use what. Prepositions are very important to express whatever one wants to
convey. While in English literature syllabus it has a gulmohar textbook for literature till
8th grade was actually quite amazing and helpful. Those books made our basic strong.
After 8th grade, we had three separate text books for literature; prose (The treasure
trove), poetry (The treasure trove) and drama (Shakespeare's Merchant Of
Venice). The students of CISCE are also taught to critically analyse a particular text,
improve our communication skills by debating and speeches. We were encouraged
to read voraciously; be it various books and magazines. In ISC the student have to
write huge essays and critical analysis of every story and poem and even
Shakespearean dramas. This makes us read a lot of critical appraisals and increase
our vocabulary.
Lastly, with so much English injected in the student of CISCE right from the
beginning, makes them think also in English. When a person starts thinking in a
language, it means it is no longer a foreign language. After 12+3 years spent with
this language, English embraces the student of CISCE and it is no longer a foreign
language.
 ENGLISH LITERATURE
'John Brown' by Bob Dylan debunks
the belief in heroism surrounding war.
Discuss with close reference to the text

About Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman,(May 24, 1941 ) is an American songwriter,
singer, artist and writer. He has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five
decade . Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when his songs chronicled social
unrest. Early songs such as ‘Blowin’ in wind and “The Times They Are a-Changin” became anthems
for the American civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving behind hid initial base in the
American folk music revival his six-minute single ‘Like a Rolling Stone”, recorded in 1965, enlarged
the range of popular music.

Dylan’s lyrics incorporated a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary
influences. They defied existing pop music convention and appealing to the burgeoning
counterculture. Initial inspire by the performances of little Richard and the song-writing of the
Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and personalized musical
genres. His recording career, spanning more than fifty years, has explored the tradition in
American song-from folk, blues, and country to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly to English,
Scottish and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and the Great American Songbook. Dylan
performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica . Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he
has toured steadily since in the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His
accomplishment as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but song-
writing is considered his greatest contribution. In 2016 he won the Nobel Prize for literature

General description of the poem “john brown”

John Brown is anti war poem

Explanation:
“John Brown” is an anti-war song written by Dylan in 1962. This song
was never included in Dylan’s official studio albums. The song
highlights the toll war takes on young men who are blinded by the
aura of heroism and machismo surrounding war only to realize later
that they were nothing but cannon fodder. It is basically a recorded
song in the form of a ballad. This song consists of twelve verses
written in a simple and easily comprehensible language. John Brown
is the titular hero of Dylan’s song. This song brings into limelight
Dylan’s deep-rooted pacifism. Literature has often glorified and
romanticized war as a heroic deed. Writers have idealized war heroes,
celebrated their triumphs and disregarded the defeated enemies.
However, after the world war, war poets in literature have significantly
changed the perceptions about war by displaying the horrifying
aspects of war. Dylan, in this poem, tries to highlight the fatality of
war.

Analysis
He points out the tragic aspect of wars. “ John Brown,” tells the story of a
young soldier who was proudly sent off to war by his mother expecting to
find glory and recognition and win medals but returned many months later
in a distorted shape, “all shot up”. He returned with a disfigured face that
even his mother couldn’t recognize. Thematically, this song resembles the
old Irish folk song “ Mrs. Mcgrath. The false notion of glorification of war is
eliminated by this realistic representation of the people who take part in a
war. The young soldier tells his mother of all the horrors and terrors of his
experiences on the battlefield.  
The critical use of dialogues between the mother and son expresses
different viewpoints in the song. The mother speaks in the first person to
her son and expresses the desire to possess and display the medals that
his son is going to achieve after the war is won. His mother’s dialogues in
the first few stanzas embody her sense of pride and joy in seeing her son
serve the nation. However, John Brown’s dialogue on returning home from
war reveals his disgust and horror against the glorification of war.
“But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine”.  
The poem John Brown by Bob Dylan expresses how soldiers are just
treated like puppets in the hands of warmongers. They are expected to
obey their orders and slaughter their enemies without a hint of remorse or
sympathy. The gruesome reality of war is vividly depicted in this song. John
Brown’s mother proudly sends him off to war with a hope of possessing
and displaying the medals that her son would acquire after the war is over.
She is extremely proud to see her son in the uniform but is totally ignorant
of the harsh reality of the war. She anticipates her son’s return in the same
condition as she had seen him last, “tall” and “straight”. All her hopes and
illusions are shattered as she sees her son with his disfigured face, blown
up arms and “all shot up”. The war didn’t kill him but it has left him hopeless
and shattered. He is unable to even gather his strength to speak in an
audible and recognizable voice. All these images add up to build the
horrifying aspect of war.  
The universality of this poem lies in the fact that does not refer to any
particular war as such. Any kind of war in any country is as terrible as it
gets. Soldiers are affected both physically and mentally in any war they
participate in.

In what way does John Brown become a

victim of so-called glorious war? Discuss
with close reference to the text.

 There are many persons who regard war as something glorious and those who fight it as
heroes. They believe that war may be destructive but it is essential to finish the enemy.
Wars, in their eyes, are never obsolete.

In the poem ‘John Brown’ the poet shows how young soldiers like John Brown are
nurtured on the illusion of heroism in fighting the war. John Brown’s mother takes pride in
false sense of heroism and encourages her son to join the army, fight bravely and win
medals. So John Brown is soon enamoured of military glory. He joins the army leaves for
the battlefield. His mother, seeing him in the uniform, enflames his fervour for heroism.

Oh, son , you look so fine, I’m glad you’re a 

son of mine
You make me proud to know you hold a gun
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you
will get…….

Thus,  John Brown inspired by heroic ideals goes to the front. He obeys his mother and
tries to fulfil her ambition. When he returns home, his mother goes to the railway station
to receive her son. She fails to recognise him. How can he be his son? In place of a young,
dashing handsome young man, he is a cripple with badly disfigured face. Brown is now a
totally helpless creature. He has lost his eyes and one of his hands. He wears a metal
brace which provides him support to stand erect. He can hardly open his jaw. What he
speaks is so low that it is mostly incomprehensible.

In this way, the poet shows how John Brown becomes a victim of the so-called glorious
war.

Conclusion
John Brown' by Bob Dylan is an anti-war lyric. It is a lyric, which questions the nature and procedures
of mankind Throughout the lyrics, Dylan has pointed out how prestigious and rewarding might being
a soldier be by mentioning situations of glory and great pride. The reader by reading the lyric realises
that the military involves unusual amounts of hard work and patriotism towards the country in order
to felicitate soldiers with the glorious medals - which are no more than mementoes of their bravery
and their experiences during the war

All civilians, in reality, might find war to be as painful as it actually is until they have a military
background or are soldiers themselves. The motive of the lyric is to make realise of the pains
encountered at the borders. Such wars are no good to any society as strength is lost after investing
in war. While soldiers suffer the most, their pains multiply when they reach their families and the
world. The only solution to avoid wars is to live in peace and harmony

Dylan sets up a vital scene in his lyric- that of a hometown'. A hometown is where everything starts
and ends. It begins with a soldier leaving his hometown to satisfy his mother's desire to see him in a
uniform, hold guns and win lots of medals. Ignoring the dangers of being at the borders, she sends
her son to the military, to ultimately destroy his youth, bright opportunities, and life

Acknowledgment
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my English literature teacher “Mrs. R
Chowdhury” for their able guidance and support in completing my project

Bibliography
I have collected the information of this project from :-

1) ISC Reverie book

2) https://www.icserankers.com/
3) https://qforquestions.com

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