Slm-III Sem - Ba English - Appreciating Prose

APPRECIATING PROSE
III SEMESTER
(2019 Admission)
BA ENGLISH
CORE COURSE
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
School of Distance Education,
Calicut University (P.O), Malappuram,
Kerala, India 673635
19008
School of distance Education
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
Study Material
III SEMESTER
B A ENGLISH
Core Course ENG3 B03
2019 Admission
APPRECIATING PROSE
Prepared by:
Module I: Smt. Smitha N,
Assistant Professor of English
(On Contract),
School of Distance Education,
Calicut University.
Module II: Smt. Nabeela Musthafa

Assistant Professor of English
(On Contract)
School of Distance Education
Calicut University
Scrutinized by:
Dr. Muhammed Noufal K.,
Assistant Professor
Department of English
CKGM Govt. College, Perambra.
Appreciating Prose 2
Contents
General Introduction
Introduction to Prose
Francis Bacon – Of Studies
Charles Lamb – Dream Children: A Reverie
G K Chesterton – On Running after One’s Hat
Albert Camus - Nobel Acceptance Speech
Arundhati Roy – Come September
Pico Iyer – In Paris of the Humble Comma
Chinua Achebe – The Education of British Protected
Child
Marcel Junod - The First Atom Bomb
UshaJesudasan – Justice Versus Mercy
References
Introduction
This Self Learning Material of Appreciating Prose

has been designed and organized for students of third
semester B A English Programme. The text Appreciating
Prose is a collection of essays intends to familiarise the
students with the different types of prose writing. The first
module of this text gives the students awareness to the
important features of the different prose forms and the
evolution of prose writing. This historical insight will help
you to better understand and analyse the given prose
pieces of the second module. The selected prose pieces in
the second module fulfil the objectives of giving a flavour
of different prose forms like essays, memoirs,
autobiography, public speech and others. The topics
discussed in the prose pieces ranging from the very light
and casual way of looking at everyday life experiences to
the heart breaking traumas of the Bombing. Detailed
summary of the texts are provided with exercises in this
SLM. In addition, a model question paper is given at the
end to familiarise the students with the question pattern of
the university examination. We request you to read
original essays before going through this SLM. Wish you
a happy learning experience.
Introduction to Prose
What is prose?
Prose is the verbal or written language which follows
ordinary linguistic patterns and sentence structure. It is the
most common form of writing in literature. Prose is used
in both fiction and nonfiction. It follows grammatical
rules such as punctuation, sentence structure and
vocabulary. Prose comes from the Latin term ‘Prose
Oratio’ meaning straight forward or direct speech. The
word prose was first introduced in English in the 14th
century. According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, prose is the writing that is not poetry. It
consists of both Fiction and Nonfiction writings.
Functions of Prose
 Prose is used when the writer wants to tell a story in
a straight forward manner
 To resemble everyday language
 Convey an idea, information or a story in simple
language
 Writer fulfils a story’s benefits in prose
 Writer creates a voice for himself/herself through

prose
 Builds relationship with readers through
conversations.
 Prose applies a natural flow of speech
 Most comfortable way to express or convey ideas,
thoughts and feelings
 It is also common writing used in newspapers,
Magazines and many other communication mediums.
Prose varieties
Descriptive Prose
It refers to the type of prose writing used to describe
specific events, people or setting within prose.
Descriptive prose describes things as they are.
Narrative Prose
Narrative prose is a format of prose writing which
tells a definite story. In other words narrative prose means
ordinary speech that tells a story.
Exposing Prose
Exposing prose is the kind of writing through which
things are explained as facts, data, ideas, concepts and the
like. It is a prominent kind of writing in prose.
Different forms of fiction

Novel
The novel is an extended version of short story. The
word ‘Novel’ is derived from the Italian word novella
meaning ‘little new thing’ which was a short piece of
fiction. Novel is the most popular form of fiction since the
early eighteenth century. The Novel denotes a prose
narrative of characters and their actions in what is visibly
everyday life. It has various sub-genres like Picaresque
novel, epistolary novel, historic novel, science fiction etc.
Short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that focuses
on evoking a single mood or an event. It is usually shorter
than a novel and deals with few characters. Characters are
disclosed through actions. The setting of a short story is
often simplified (one time and place), and one or two main
characters may be introduced without full backstories. In
this concise, concentrated format, every word and story
detail has to work hard. Short stories typically focus on a
single plot instead of multiple subplots, like people might
see in novels. Some stories follow a traditional narrative
arc, with exposition (description) at the beginning, rising
action, a climax (peak moment of conflict or action), and

a resolution at the end. However, contemporary short
fiction is more likely to begin in the middle of the action
(in medias res), drawing readers right into a dramatic
scene.While short stories of the past often revolved
around a central theme or moral lesson, today it is
common to find stories with ambiguous endings. This
type of unresolved story invites open-ended readings and
suggests a more complex understanding of reality and
human behavior.
The short story genre is well suited to

experimentation in prose writing style and form, but most
of the short story authors still work to create a distinct
mood using classic literary devices (point of view,
imagery, foreshadowing, metaphor, diction/word choice,
tone, and sentence structure).
Tale
Tale is a prose narrative that describes the details of a

real or imaginary incident or story. It is an old form of
literature. Tale is one thing that many of us have listened
to when we were growing up. Tale has a great oral

tradition, and there have been stories passing from one
generation to another. These tales have constantly been
one of the most popular genres of literature and many of
them were written hundred years ago and still relevant.
A tale tells the story about a main character who is called
the protagonist of the story. This is one of the
characteristic of Tale and character need not necessarily
be a human being. It can be an animal, bird, superficial
being etc. These stories are mostly exaggerated. This is
done intentionally by the author to engage the reader.
Tales are funny as well.
Biography
Biography is a form of prose in which the subject
deals with the life of an individual. It is an account of
events happened in a person’s life. The word biography is
derived from the Greek word ‘bios’ meaning ‘life’ and
‘graphei’ meaning ‘to write’. Biographies are written to
share the hopes, moods and aspirations of that person.
Information included in biographies are based on
facts.The person’s life story is told with respect to other
people and events of the time they lived. In biography the
writer tells the story in a way that the reader can relate to
the person and believe in his actions. It tries to develop an
interpersonal relationship with the person and the reader.
Autobiography
The term autobiography refers to a biography written

by the person itself. In an autobiography the writer
attempts to reveal selected events or experiences of
his/her own life. The writing is necessarily subjective. It
cannot be a complete account of the author since the
future has still to be lived.When an autobiography is told
in chronological order, the author usually writes about the
circumstances of their birth, childhood experiences, and
educational background. Anecdotes about these life
stages and experiences are common. According to the
American poet W H Longfellow, “Autobiography is a
product of first-hand experience; biography, of second
hand knowledge”. The word autobiography was first used
by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical The
Monthly Review and in its present sense it was used by
Robert Southey in 1809.
Autobiographies are often about people who have

achieved some level of fame. In this case, parts of the
autobiography would explain the author's rise or journey
to fame. The author's career is usually discussed including
the personal details. Some autobiographies are written by
young adults, while others are written later in life. For
example, Helen Keller wrote her autobiography, The
Story of My Life, when she was a student in college. She
went on to live for over fifty years after her autobiography
was published.
Memoir
A memoir is a collection of memories of an individual
written in prose. In memoir, the writer describes events or
people happened in their life. In an autobiography
incidents are narrated in a chronological order whereas in
memoir, the timeline is scattered. When considering the
characteristics of a memoir, the style of the narrative must
be the important one. Memoirs are mostly written from a
first-person point of view. This means it comes from the
personal perspective of the individual in the form of first-
person narrative. The story comes from the narrative of “I”
instead of “you” or “we.” Memoir has a specific focus. It
can have the focus on anything. But, most of them tend to

focus on specific relationships or events that have already
happened.
Even though the memoir is very subjective when

someone reads it, they feel like they personally know the
writer. It should be personal and compelling in nature.
Memoirs are limited in nature. It is not a complete
chronology of a person’s life. Memoirs are about specific
incidents in time which have a story offered to the reader.
Memoirs are highly descriptive as well, transporting the
reader directly into each memory or story as if they are
really there, experiencing the events on a first-hand basis.
Newspaper Article
There are several types of newspaper articles such as
newspaper reports, features, editorials etc. They basically
focus on events happening around them. The major
function of newspaper article is to inform ordinary citizen
the events happening in society.
Journal Articles
These are scholarly articles focusing on specific
academic subjects like literature, science, history or art.
Journal articles contain a long text preceded with an
abstract and are provided with source of information.
Travelogues
Travelogues are the written piece of prose that
describes the experiences of a traveller. These are two
kinds of travelogues namely travel literature and travel
documentary. Records of the travel experience come
under travel literature. Travel documentary is the visual
records of travel. Travelogue, the definition says, it is a
narrative with the aid of slides and pictures before an
audience. Travel Accounts or Travel Literature needs to
be looked at from the point of view of its implication, the
style of writing and the involvement of the writer’s
personality according to the standards of literature.
Speech
A speech is written prose delivered by a speaker to an
audience. It is an art of public presentation.
Prose is divided into two major categories; fiction and
nonfiction. Fiction is the narration of imaginary events
and people. Nonfiction tells us facts and information
about the world around us. It can be on any topic. Fiction
includes Novel, Romance, short story etc. Essays, stories
based on real life, biography, autobiography etc. come
under nonfiction.
Essay
A moderate lengthy piece of prose written on a
specific topic is called essay. The word essay is derived
from the French term ‘essai’ meaning attempt. The
function of essay is to give an insight of the topic. It also
reveals the view of the author about the particular
discussion. There are two kinds of essays, one is informal
and the other is formal.Informal is more personal and aims
to entertain readers. Formal essays are more focused on
serious subjects. The style of a formal essay is objective
and thoughtful. Essays are of different types such as
philosophical essays, scientific essays. Philosophical
essay is an academic writing that defends a claim,
providing valid information and knowledge on topic. A
scientific essay deals with a scientific problem, through
analysis and tries to develop a solution. Scientific essays
are mostly featured. Each type of essay serves a distinct
purpose.
History of English Prose
The earliest English prose work is the law code of
King Aethelbert of Kent. It was written after the few years
of the arrival of st.Augustine in AD 597. Actual literary
prose dates from the 9th century when King Alfred

improved the state of English learning. He also translated
several works to English. The Anglo Saxon chronicle
gives an account of events such as Danish war, Norman
conquest etc. Aelfric, the student of Aethel wold of
Winchester was a prominent writer of 10th century. His
work ‘Homilies’ were popular in England. King Alfred
translated ‘Consolation of philosophy’ by Boethius.
English language had to face a stiff competition from both
Anglo Norman and Latin. In 14th century tracts of Richard
Rolle were popular. His works include The
commandment, Meditations on the passion and The form
of perfect living. Middle English period was a blooming
period for English prose. Many translations were involved
in the growth of Middle English prose. A major example
is The mirror of the blessed life of Jesus Christ by
Nicholas Love. A slight shift was there from the religious
tradition during 14th century. Chaucer’s Tale of Melibee
(Tale of Melibeus) is an example. His other works such as
‘The treatise on the Astrolabe and Equatorie of the
Planetsalso come under this category. John of Trevisa
translated Renulf Higden’s ‘Polychronicon’(c. 1385-87)
and BartholomaeusAnglicus’sDe ProprietatibusRerum

(1398, ‘On the properties of things’). These are the
examples of secular prose. Most widely read secular prose
work of the period is ‘The voyage and the travels of sir
John Mandeville’. The 15th century witnessed the serious
writings in prose such as ‘The chronicle of England’ by
John Capgrave (1393 -1464) and ‘The Governance of
England’ by Fortescue (c. 1394 – 1476). Elyot
popularized educational prose in the 15th century. William
Caxton, Sir Thomas Malory are the most prominent prose
writers of the middle English period.
William Caxton (1422 -1490)
William Caxton is known as the ‘The English Printer’.
He printed most of the English works including Chaucer
and Malory. Caxton made and printed twenty-four
ttranslations from various languages. Most remarkable of
them were, The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1471)
and The game and Playe of chesse(1471).
Sir Thomas More (1478 -1535)
Thomas More is known for his Latin works. Most
popular is Utopia, which presents the idea of an
imaginative ideal state. His other works are, The Lyfe of

John Picus and The history of Richard III.
Sir Thomas Malory
He is known for his Romance ‘Morte’d Arthur’ a
cycle of Arthurian legends, which was given the title ‘Le
MorteDarthur’ by William Caxton when he printed his
edition in 1485. It is a skillful blend of dialogue and
narrative, full of colour and life.
Prose had risen to a position of priority during Elizabethan
Age. It was an age of intellectual esteem in English
Literature. The tradition of Latin almost passed away.
Richard Hakluyt’s ‘Principle Navigation voyages and
discoveries of the English nation, (15890, a collection of
travelogues was popular of time. William Painter,
Geoffrey Fenton and George Pettie are the other early
Elizabethan prose writers.
16th Century Prose
It can be divided into two periods; prose writing
before 1579 and prose writing during the early years of
16th century. English prose till 1579 didn’t show any
notable growth. But after that there was a rapid growth in
the production of prose in English literature. ‘Of the laws
of ecclesiastical polity’ by Richard Hooker is the first

English classic of serious prose. The 16th century prose
includes romances; a number of romances were produced.
They were all written in Euphemistic style, a prose style
developed by John Lyly. ‘Euphues; The Anatomy of Witt’
by John Lyly is the most prominent work of the time.
Elizabethan pamphlets were known for its satirical style
and unformed structure. Popular of them were Thomas
Nashe, Robert Greene and Thomas Lodge. Sermon
writing was also a flourishing genre of the time. Donne
was the most famous among them. Lot of texts were
translated from other languages to English during 16th
century. Some of them are;
Virgil by Phaer and Stanyhurst
Plutarch’s lives by Thomas North
Ovid by Golding and Chapman
Homer by Chapman
Elizabethan period also witnessed the birth of literary

criticism. Stephen Gosson attached poetry as immoral in
his book ‘The School of Abuse’. Philip Sidney’s ‘The
apologie for poetrie’ was a reply to Gosson’s argument.
William Webbe’s‘A discourse of English poetry’ is the

first historical survey of poets and poetry. Poetry as an art
was considered in Puttenham’s‘The arte of English
Poesy’.
17th century
The period of prose can be divided into two,
1. Prose in the age of Milton
2. Prose during restoration
Interest in scientific details and observation marked

the prose of 17th century. There was clarity, directness and
economy of expression. The impetus towards a scientific
prose derived ultimately from Francis Bacon who took
“all knowledge for his province”. In the advancement of
learning and ‘The NovumOrganum’ are two prominent
works of Bacon. He visualized a great scope of knowledge
through his works. The style which Bacon followed was
entirely different from the Elizabethan and 16th century
prose. It is loose in structure, easy to comprehend,
elaborate and coloured. It was also a period of biography,
autobiography, history and personal essays. The prose of
this age possessed a strong philosophical character.
Important prose writers and their work

Robert Burton
Robert Burton (1577-1640) wrote "The Anatomy of
Melancholy," an analysis of the symptoms, causes, and
cures of the melancholic temperament. It is considered as
the most remarkable work of English Literature. He
devoted most of his life to composing his magnum opus,
The Anatomy of Melancholy. This work was first
published in 1621, and later had many editions
incorporated Burton's revisions. In the Anatomy Burton
uses the device of a fictitious author, Democritus Junior.
The utopia, which he includes in the introductory section
and which is the first example of this genre to be written
by an English author, shows acute awareness of economic
abuses and practical remedies. He advocates a planned,
capitalistic society which makes maximum use of
resources of men and materials, and he cogently analyzes
England's faults, treating them as a sort of national
melancholia. Burton then presents an exhaustive medical
analysis of the disease of melancholy based on the old
theory that a healthy body contains a proper balance of
four "humors," or fluids: phlegm, blood, choler, and black
bile. Imbalance makes a man phlegmatic, sanguine,

choleric, or, if the excess is black bile, melancholy. The
melancholy man could be introspective like Hamlet, or
mildly eccentric and able to enjoy a good cry like Jacques
in Shakespeare's As You Like It, or healthily
contemplative like Milton's II Penseroso.
Thomas Browne
The works of Sir Thomas Browne are mostly a mixture of

religious faith and scientific details. That applies to his
most read work ‘Religio Medici’ too. he composed
Religiomedici (A Doctor's Religion) "as a personal
exercise."
In 1635, while working as a young doctor in

Yorkshire.HisReligio, contrasts with the doctrinaire
religious rigidity of his contemporaries. He wrote as a
humane Anglican, convinced of his own faith, delighted
by the wonders of theology, but open-minded and aware
of the limitations of human logic and the problems of
false prejudices. In an age of intolerance, he respected
every man's right to decide on his own beliefs: "I could
never divide myself from any man upon the difference of

an opinion."
The Religio is a deliberately digressive, liberal testimonial

of Browne's experiences in religion and thought. He
explores such topics as the relations of logic and faith,
nature as God's art, musical harmonies, witchcraft, and
man as inhabiting the "divided and distinguished worlds"
of soul and spirit, reason and sense. The treatise is a
revelation of self, but it is written from the perspective of
eternity and filled in richly, imaginative, ornate, and
flexible prose. Urn Burial is considered to be his another
master piece. It is a reflection of human mortality induced
by the discovery of some ancient urns. Brown was a great
stylist of the time.
John Milton
John Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, widely

regarded as the greatest epic poem in English. Together
with Paradise Regained, it formed his reputation as one
of the finest English prose writers. In his prose works he
advocated the abolition of the Church of England.
Milton’s prose was written either in personal interest or in

public interest. After completing his studies at Cambridge,
Milton spent six years living with his family in
Buckinghamshire and studying independently. In that
time, he wrote “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” “On
Shakespeare,” “L’Allegro,” “Il Penseroso,” and
"Lycidas," an elegy in memory of a friend who was
drowned. Milton was a Puritan who believed in the
authority of the Bible, and opposed religious institutions
like the Church of England, and the monarchy.He wrote
pamphlets on radical topics like freedom of the press, in
favour of Oliver Cromwell during English civil war. In
1667, he published Paradise Lost in 10 volumes. It is
considered to be his greatest work and the greatest epic
poem written in English. The free-verse poem tells us the
story of how Satan tempted Adam and Eve, and their
expulsion from the Garden of Eden. A revised, 12-volume
version of Paradise Lost was published in 1674.
Restoration Prose
This period is known as The Age of Reason and The
Enlightenment because of the country’s shift from an
emotional approach to thinking to an educational and

factual one. With the exception of the works of John
Dryden and Bunyan, the prose works of the Restoration
times were of little importance. Dryden mainly focused on
literary criticism and Bunyans’ works were allegorical in
nature.
John Dryden
The poet, critic, and playwright John Dryden was a
prominent figure of the restoration period. Over the span
of nearly 40 years, he wrote in a wide range of genres to
great success and acclaim. As a poet, Dryden is best
known as a satirist and was England's first poet laureate
in 1668. Beside satires, Dryden wrote elegies, prologues,
epilogues, odes, and panegyrics. His most famous poem
is Absalom and Achitophel (1681). Dryden was so
influential in Restoration England that the period was
known as the Age of Dryden.
Born at a vicarage in North Hampshire in 1631,
Dryden was the son of parliamentary supporters, but
exhibited royalist sympathies early. His poem “Upon the
Death of Lord Hastings'' supports a royalist agenda. Three
years after graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge,
he moved to London and wrote his "Heroic Stanzas" in

1659. After writing the poem "Annus Mirabilis'' in 1667,
Dryden was named the poet laureate of England.
Dryden wrote plays throughout the 1670s, and was at
the forefront of Restoration comedy. His best-known
plays were Marriage à la Mode in 1673 and All for Love
in 1678. Although he had written many plays, they were
never as successful as his poetry, and he eventually turned
back to satires. Most of his satires were aimed at the
Whigs. At the end of his career, Dryden returned to
theatrical writing and also took up translation. He died in
the year 1700.
John Bunyan
Bunyan was the contemporary of Milton who was as
prominent as him. The Pilgrim’s Progress is his
masterpiece, an allegory which takes the form of a
dream. The narrative stands for it’s style enriched by the
beauty, simplicity and vividness of its language. He was
the first one to use such a simple language in prose fiction.
That made an appealing effect on readers. His other
known works are The life and death of Mr.Badman and
‘The Holy War’.
18th Century Prose

18th century witnessed a great production of prose
works. Matthew Arnold called it a century of prose. He
had also suggested that even the poetry of the era had a
prosaic nature. The only prominent poet of 18th century
was Alexander Pope.
Daniel Defoe
The novelist, pamphleteer and journalist Daniel
Defoe is best known for his novels 'Robinson Crusoe' and
'Moll Flanders. Daniel Defoe was a merchant and
participated in several failing businesses, had to face
bankruptcy. He was also a powerful political writer who
was put in jail for slander. He turned into fiction later in
life, and wrote Robinson Crusoe one of the most widely
read fictions of all the time. Having always been
interested in politics, Defoe published his first literary
piece, a political pamphlet, in 1683. He continued to write
political works, working as a journalist, until the early
1700s. Many of Defoe's works during this period were in
favour of King William III, also known as "William
Henry of Orange." Some of his most popular works
include The True-Born Englishman, and the Review.
Defoe took up a new genre ‘novel’ in 1719, around

the age of 59, when he published Robinson Crusoe, a
novel based on several short essays that he had composed
over the years. A handful of novels followed soon after—
often with rogues and criminals as lead characters—
including Moll Flanders, Colonel Jack, Captain Singleton,
Journal of the Plague Year and his last major fiction piece,
Roxana (1724).
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) was a British essayist,
dramatist, and a politician who is best known for his series
of essays written in collaboration with Addison. After his
school education, he got acquainted with Addison and
both of them went to Oxford. Before finishing his college,
he joined cadet service. During the years of military
service in London, Steele became acquainted with a circle
of literary and artistic figures, and he began to write. His
first comedy, The Funeral, or Grief A-la-mode, was
performed successfully at Drury Lane Theatre in 1701.
This play was a satire on the new profession of
undertaking. It was followed by The Lying Lover, or The
Ladies' Friendship in 1703. His third comedy, The Tender
Husband, or The Accomplished Fools, produced in 1705,

achieved some success, perhaps because Addison helped
him write it. Steele launched his own paper, the Tatler, On
April 12, 1709.The major part of the Tatler issues were
authored by Steele, Addison writing about 46 by himself
and about 36 in conjunction with Steele. The Tatler,
though well accepted, discontinued publication for
obscure reasons on Jan. 2, 1711.The Steele-Addison
literary partnership is one of the most successful in the
history of English literature. Steele made many
contributions into periodical journalism. The most notable
of these, some of which were purely political, were the
Guardian, the Englishman; and the Lover, which saw the
publication of 40 essays by Steele. The Plebeian (1718),
Steele's most famous political journal, put him in a dispute
with Addison.
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift the author of the widely read novel of
all time 'Gulliver's Travels,' was an Irish author and
satirist. He was dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
Swift graduated from Trinity college and worked as a
statesman. Swift had written many political works but
Gulliver’s Travels popularised him as a great writer. In

1713, he took the post of dean at St. Patrick's Cathedral in
Dublin. While leading his congregation at St. Patrick's,
Swift began to write what would become his best-known
work. In 1726, he finished the manuscript, then he
traveled to London and benefited from the help of several
friends, who anonymously published it as Travels into
Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By
Lemuel Gulliver, first a Surgeon, andthen a Captain of
Several Ships also known, more simply, as Gulliver's
Travels. The book was an immediate success and hasn't
been out of print since its first run. Interestingly, much of
the storyline points to historical events that Swift had
lived through years prior during intense political turmoil.
Joseph Addison
Addison was a versatile writer who was known for
his drama, poetry and essays. He is the founder of the
periodical “spectator'' with Sir Richard Steele. Addison
used poetry to reflect his political ambitions; his earliest
poems include flattering references to influential men. In
1699 Addison was rewarded with a grant of money which
allowed him to make the grand tour, a series of visits to

the main European capitals, which was a standard part of
the education of the 18th-century gentleman. One record
of his travels is his long poem Letter from Italy. In 1709
Addison had begun to write for the Tatler, a magazine
edited by his friend Sir Richard Steele; Addison
contributed to all 42 essays. The last issue of this
periodical was published in January 1711. Two months
later, under the joint editorship of Addison and Steele, the
first number of the Spectator appeared.In 1713 Addison
wrote Cato: A Tragedy, a play in which he undertook to
imitate and to improve upon classical Greek tragedy. The
play was a success, probably because some of the
audience took it to be a political allegory. Alexander Pope
wrote the prologue, and Samuel Johnson later praised the
play as Addison's noblest work. Addison was known for
his political writings. He died in the year 1719.
2nd Half of 18th Century
The second half of the 18th century witnessed the rise
of great writers like Dr.Johnson, Goldsmith, Gibbon and
Edmund Burke.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson commonly known as Dr.Johnson
was a great author, poet, moralist and literary critic. One
of Dr. Johnson’s greatest contributions was publishing, in
1747, The Dictionary of the English Language. He left
oxford without finishing college due to his financial crisis.
After trying a few things, Johnson left for London where
began spending more time writing. He made a living
writing for the Gentleman’s Magazine – a report on
Parliament. He also wrote a tragedy, Irene, and some
attempts at poetry.
Johnson was also employed to catalogue the
extensive library of Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford. This
gave Johnson the opportunity to grow his great love of
reading and the English language. He was inspired to start
working on a comprehensive dictionary of the English
language. It would take him eight years, but it was
considered to be his finest achievement. Though other
dictionaries were in existence, the ‘Johnson Dictionary of
the English language’ was a huge step forward in its
comprehensiveness and quality.
Johnson was a prolific writer. For two years he almost

single-handedly wrote a journal – ‘The Rambler’ full of
moral essays.Johnson also embarked on an ambitious
project – “Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets” (10
volumes) and an influential edition of Shakespeare’s
plays.After a series of illnesses, he died in 1784.
After his death, his contributions to English literature
were increasingly admired. He had left a great body of
work and was credited with being England’s finest literary
critic of his time.
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith was a prolific poet, dramatist,
novelist and essayist. He has done an extensive amount of
writing, to say he wrote, translated and compiled more
than 40 volumes. His writings were admired for their good
sense, moderation and intellectual honesty. Goldsmith
was a medical practitioner by profession. But he used his
monetary benefits from the practice for contributing
essays and articles for famous journals such as the
Monthly' and the ‘Critical’. His first book, An Enquiry
into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe (1759),
included an important essay on the English stage. By the

mid-1760s Goldsmith, or "Goldy" as Dr. Johnson fondly
nicknamed him, had established a steady income as a
compiler. An original member of the famous "Club"
founded by Dr. Johnson in 1764, Goldsmith enjoyed the
friendship of such 18th century notables as Edmund
Burke and Sir Joshua Reynolds, who later wrote a brief
biographical sketch of him.Goldsmith made his early
literary reputation as an essayist. The eight weekly
numbers of the Bee (1759), which contain some excellent
small poems, dramatic criticism, moral tales, and serious
and fanciful discourses, exhibit his preoccupation with
vivid and rich human detail and his felicitous style.
Perhaps his finest sustained work as an essayist, however,
was The Citizen of the World (1762), which had appeared
serially in the Public Ledger in 1760-1761. Goldsmith
employed the popular 18th-century device of a foreign
traveler commenting in letters to his home country upon
the strange customs of the lands through which he passed.
These "Chinese Letters" exhibit Goldsmith at his relaxed,
playful, and graceful best.
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon is known for his historical work “The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."Gibbon's
"Autobiography" is a classic of the genre. He published in
1761 an Essay on the Study of Literature, written in
French, and considered possible historical subjects. He
began a history of the Swiss republics in French in 1767,
which he abandoned. David Hume, who read this work,
urged him to write history, but in English. He joined the
famous Literary Club and became a Member of
Parliament in 1774, and in February 1776 he published
the first volume of his Decline and Fall.
19th century Prose
Prose in the Romantic period
First half of the 19th century known as romantic
period witnessed a great amount of poetry Though
they were poets Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats and
Shelley contributed a substantial amount of prose
works. Poetry dominated prose in the romantic period.
Jane Austen and Walter Scott were the prominent
figures in novel
Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt and Thomas De

Quincey expanded the genre of essay. The French
Revolution triggered heated discussion about the
political and social issues. Many journals came into
the limelight during the romantic period such as,
The Morning Chronicle -1769
The Morning post - 1772
The Times- 1785
The Edinburgh Review- 1802
The Quarterly Review- 1802
Blackwood’s Magazine -1817
The London Magazine -1820
Other major contributions in Prose
 Richard Price- Love of our Country- (written on the
background of French Revolution)
 Edmund Burke- Conservative Reflections on the
Revolution in France
 Mary Wollstone craft- A Vindication of the rights of
the Men (1790)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). This
book is considered as the bible of feminist movements.
 Wordsworth- Preface to Lyrical Ballads (A specimen

of work considered to be the niche in the history of
Literary Criticism)
 Shelley- Defence of Poetry (1821)
 Sir Walter Scott- Dryden (1808)
Swift ( 1814)
Lives of the Novelists(1821-24)
Life of Napoleon(1827)
The Tales of a Grandfather (1828-30)
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb was one of the most original essayists
in the tradition of English who captivated the discerning
English reading public with his personal essays in
the London Magazine, collected as Essays of Elia (1823)
and The Last Essays of Elia (1833). Known for their
charm, humor, and perception, and laced with
idiosyncrasies, these essays appear to be modest in scope,
but their soundings are deep, and their ripples extend to
embrace much of human life—particularly the life of the
imagination.
William Hazlitt (1778 -1830)

William Hazlitt is best known for his humouristic
essays. Charles Lamb introduced Hazlitt to William
Godwin and other important literary figures in London. In
1805 Joseph Johnson published Hazlitt's first book, An
Essay on the Principles of Human Action. The following
year Hazlitt published Free Thoughts on Public Affairs,
an attack on William Pitt and his government's foreign
policy. Hazlitt opposed England's war with France and its
consequent heavy taxation. This was followed by a series
of articles and pamphlets on political corruption and the
need to reform the voting system. Hazlitt wrote several
books on literature including Characters of Shakespeare
(1817), A View of the English Stage (1818), English Poets
(1818) and English Comic Writers (1819). In these books
he urged the artist to be aware of his social and political
responsibilities. Hazlitt continued to write about politics
and his most important books on this subject is Political
Essays with Sketches of Public Characters (1819). He
wrote many volume of essays of which the most effective
is The Spirit of the Age(1825) Hazlitt’s prose is forceful,
original and at times musical.
Thomas De Quincey (1785 -1859)

Thomas De Quincey is English essayist and critic,
best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-
Eater. The highly poetic and imaginative prose of the
Confessions makes it one of the enduring stylistic
masterpieces of English literature. De Quincey is known
as the writer of ‘impassioned prose’. His prose works are
more imaginative and melodious than many poetical
works
He was an ardent critic of the classism of the neo
classic period. The English Mail Coach(1849), Suspiria
de Profundis (1845) and One Murder considered as one
of the Fine Arts (1827) are his most famous works.
Victorian Prose
Democracy and reform are the main characteristics of
Victorian period. These two words encompass changes in
political, social, intellectual and religious fields
unparalleled in many previous periods of British history.
Material prosperity coupled with brilliant prospects for its
indefinite continuance opened by science and technology
induced in most people a mood of optimism. Novel
became more popular during this period with Eliot,
Dickens, and Thackeray producing some of the

masterpieces of English language. Victorian age produced
poets like Tennyson, Browning and Arnoldand in prose
John Ruskin, William Morris, Thomas Carlyle and
Macaulay.
Thomas Carlyle (1795 – 1881)
Thomas Carlyle was one of the most influential
essayists in the Victorian period. His earliest works were
mostly translations, essays and biographies. His great
novel Sartor Resartus was appeared in instalments in
Frazer’s Magazine (1834). It was published in book form
in 1838 after his success with The French Revolution
( 1837). His historical works besides The French
Revolution are The Letters and Speeches of Oliver
Cromwell (1845) and The Monumental History of
Frederick the Great (1858-65). His Life of John Sterling
appeared in 1861. The series of lectures which he
delivered in 1837 was published as On Heroes, Hero –
Worship and the Heroic in History(1841). His style was
entirely personal which is poetic and full of shrieks-
capitals, italics, dashes, exclamations – strange coinages
and bewildering syntax.
John Ruskin (1819 -1900)

Ruskin was the leading English critic and essayist of
the Victorian era. The number of Ruskin’s works is so
large and he wrote on variety of themes including
literature, education, geology, architecture, myth,
ornithology, botany and political economy. His work on
art are: Modern Painters(1843-60) in five volumes, The
Seven Lamps of Architecture(1849), and the Stones of
Venice (1851-53). In these three great works Ruskin gave
a comprehensive description of almost every piece of
architecture and paintings in Europe in a magnificent style.
His most celebrated work Unto the Last (1860-62)
appeared in the Cornhill Magazine. The literary term
‘Pathetic fallacy’ is Ruskin’s contribution.
William Morris (1834-96)

William Morris carried forward Ruskin’s approach to
social and economic problems through art to active
propaganda for socialism. He hatred industrialism and
delivered lectures and wrote essays on this subject. Of his
socialist writings the best known are News from Nowhere
(1891) and A Dream of John Ball (1888).
Macaulay (1800-59)
Macaulay is the most thorough and the most brilliant
representative of the early Victorians. He was a poet,
essayist and historian. His fame as a man of letters rests
on Lays of Ancient Rome, critical and historical Essays,
and his History of England. He contributed five
biographies for Encyclopaedia Britannica. The typical
Macaulay essay is a dissertation or long discourse in
which the subject is treated against its historical
background. Milton, for example, is viewed in the
representative of the political and religious conditions of
his time. His essays also dealt with literary subjects like
Milton, Byron, Bunyan etc. His History of England
remained unfinished with four volumes of the books
completed during his life time.
Walter Pater (1839 – 94)
Pater was an English essayist, literary and art critic,
and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His
works on Renaissance subjects were popular but
controversial in his times. The collection of his essays
appeared as Studies in the History of the Renaissance
(1873). His Appreciations (1889) is on literary themes
with an introductory essay on style. Pater was a

representative of the school of Aesthetic criticism. He
was a strong believer of the theory of the art for art’s sake.
He focused his attention always on form rather than
subject matter.
R L Stevenson (1850-94)
R L Stevenson was a Scottish essayist, poet, and
author of fiction and travel books, best known for his
novels Treasure
Island (1881), Kidnapped (1886), Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). His collection of essays
includes An Inland Voyage (1878), Travels with a Donkey
in the Cevennes (1879) and VirginibusPuerisque (1881).
Mathew Arnold (1882 -88)
Mathew Arnold was an English poet and cultural

critic whose critical essays were marked for their highest
value. Essays in Criticism (1865&1889) contains
Arnold’s most important essays on English Literature. His
most significant work of social criticism is Culture and
Anarchy (1869). He is a man of lucid and elegant style.
Prose in 20thCentury
20th century literature is greatly influenced by the
changes in ideology, beliefs and political stances after the
world war.The effects of the war reflected in the prose
written at the time. These changes were seen in the fiction
as well as non-fiction. Though many prose works came
out, fiction seemingly dominated other genres. The two
world wars, social and political changes, emergence of
capitalism, birth of technology, the struggle of post-
colonial people; all these things contributed to a great
amount of literature produced in the 20th century.
A loss of style happened in prose by the end of the
19th century. Because most of the prose writers were from
a journalistic background.The literary or personal Essay
continued to flourish in 20th Century. Fiction became a
prominent and independent genre. The 20th century was
very prolific in the production of criticism and many
movements sprang up with their own theories and
interpretation of literary works. Travel writing and
historical writings gained popularity during this period.
Major writers of 20th century
A G GARDINER
Alfred George Gardiner known as A G Gardiner was
an English Journalist, essayist and editor. His essays,
written under the alias "Alpha of the Plough", are widely
acclaimed. He was also Chairman of the National Anti-
Sweating League, an advocacy group which campaigned
for a minimum wage. From 1915 he contributed to The
Star under the pseudonym Alpha of the Plough. At the
time The Star had several anonymous essayists whose
pseudonyms were the names of stars. Invited to choose
the name of a star as a pseudonym he chose the name of
the brightest (alpha) star in the constellation "the Plough."
His essays are uniformly elegant, graceful and humorous.
His uniqueness lay in his ability to teach the basic truths
of life in an easy and amusing manner; the collections
Pillars of Society, Pebbles on the Shore, Many Furrows
and Leaves in the Wind are some of his best-known
writings. A reviewer of Pebbles on the Shore said
Gardiner wrote with "fluency, deftness, lightness, grace,
and usually a very real sparkle".
E V LUCAS
Edward Verral Lucas was a versatile and popular
English writer of the 20th century. He was journalist with
a very wide range of learning. He is recognized as the pre-
eminent editor of Charlie’s Lamb’s works and the
biographer of Lamb. His editions of the life and letters of
Charles Lamb was the result of his lifelong sympathy and
devoted research. It goes to his credit that he popularized
the love of Charles Lamb in the twentieth century. Though
he wore the mantle of Lamb there are a few dissimilarities
between the two writers. His essays enjoyed immense
popularity. They are marked by fancy, literary articles,
commonsense, lightness of touch, wit, ease, irony and
humour. His humour, though generally kind and humane,
is sometimes almost harsh and savage as in “Those Thirty
Minutes in which he raised against those people who
agonize their friends by seeing them off in railway
journeys.
Following are some of the major works of EV Lucas;
The Open Road (1899)
Highways and Byways in Susser (1904)
A Wanders in London (1906)
Over Bemerton (1908)

Good Company (1909)
Old Lamps for New (1911)
Fixed Vintages (1919)
Giving and Receiving (1922)
Hilaire Belloc (1870 – 1953)

Joseph Hiaire Rene Belloc, a French-born poet,
historian, and essayist, was among the most versatile
English writers of the first quarter of the 20th century. He
is most remembered for his light verse, particularly for
children, and for the lucidity and easy grace of his essays.
He was a very close friend and collaborator of Chesterton
and were jokingly named together “the chesterbelloc”.
His essays collections are On Nothing, On Something, On
Everything etc.
G K Chesterton (1874 -1936)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of the prolific
essayists of the 20th century. As an essayist Chesterton
was generally fantastic but nevertheless genuinely
thoughtful. Due to his excessive use of paradox, he has
been referred to as ‘the prince of paradox’. The best of

essay books of Chesterton include All Things Considered
(1908), Tremendous Trifles (1909), A Defence of
Nonsense (1911) and A Miscellany of Men (1912). He
made his mark with his contributions to the Daily News.
Max Beerbohm (1872 -1956)

Mas Beerbohm, the brilliant dramatic critic of the
Saturday Review, was a master of irony and satire. His
best known work, In Christmas Garland, he parodies his
contemporaries: Benson, Wells, Conrad, Bennett, Shaw
etc. His first book of essays characteristically entitled The
Works of Max Beerbohm appeared in 1896. He was a good
satirist as well. A G Ward describes him as “philosophic
jester bursting bubbles of snobbery and pretence with wit
and irony and satire.
Robert Lynd (1879-1949)
Robert Lynd, scholar and critic, was an essayist of
exceptional charm deriving from his wit and wisdom. His
best is contained in The Pleasure of Ignorance (1921) and
Essays on Life and Literature (1951). He used the letters
Y.Y. to write week essays for the New Statesman for a

number of years.
Biography in the 20TH Century
Biography in the twentieth century reflected in the
rise of modernism in the arts. Works of Darwin, Marx,
Feud and Carl Jung influenced the writings of Biography.
Changes in style also were reflected in biographers’
adoption of a scientific outlook. Works of modernist
biography include Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians
(1918) and Queen Victoria (1921) and the Numerous
Lives by Andre Maurois (1885 -1967).Lytton Strachey is
regarded as a great modern biographer. He brought radical
changes in the conventional laundry biographical tradition
which presented the persons as heroes and heroines, and
tried to present his men and women as human beings of
flesh and blood with natural follies and weaknesses. He
presented Victoria not as a queen but as a woman with all
her virtues and weaknesses. Strachey was a master of
brilliant prose style. The chief characteristics of his style
were clarity, penetration, precision, humour and irony.
The influence of psychology, especially the works of
Freud and Jung, eventually led to the development of
psychobiography. Experimental forms and methods were

explored in works as diverse as Virginia Woolf’s mock
biography Orlando(1928). Peter Ackroyd’s biography of
Dickens is regarded as one of the best biographies in
English Language. Ackroyd’s other biographies included
T S Eliot (1984), Blake(1995), The Life of Thomas
More(1998), Charlie Chaplin(2014), and Alfred
Hitchcock (2015).
Another major development in the late 20th was the

widespread appearance of biographies by and about
women, and in particular the emergence of feminist
writings as a literary form. Late twentieth century feminist
biographies were numerous and included several lives of
Woolf. Feminist biographers have drawn inspiration from
the works of earlier feminists, including the writings of
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) and Woolf's
essays A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas
(1938).
21stCentury Prose
It is an age of multiple trends. Prose in this century

celebrates varieties of forms—of prose that breaks the
rules, bends conventions, and reconfigures genre. History
remains as the major concern of the era. Contemporary
issues like climate change, environmental issues and
international conflicts also received global attention.
Science fiction is another major genre of 21st century. Use
of pastiche (parody) is one of the characteristics of 21st
century prose. As the century is in early stages, prediction
of the literary trends and styles of the century is indeed a
difficult task.
MODULE II
REFLECTIONS AND SPEECHES
FRANCIS BACON
Bacon worked as a lawyer as well as a scientist during

his lifetime. He also served as an attorney general and as
Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon’s most valuable work
revolves around philosophical and Aristotelian concepts
that supported the scientific method. He is known as the
father of the scientific method that was influenced by his
own ‘Baconian’ method. He is known as the father of
modern English prose as well.
Francis Bacon published over 50 essays beginning with
“Of” like “Of Atheism”, “Of Marrriage”, “Of Truth” etc.
He published three editions of his essays, the first one in
1597, second in 1612 and the final one in 1625. The last
two editions were published along with a few additional
essays as well.
OF STUDIES
TEXT (Taken from the 1625 edition of Essays or

Counsels, Civil and Moral)
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for

ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and
retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in
the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men
can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one;
but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of
affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend
too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much
for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by
their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature,
and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are
like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and
studies themselves do give forth directions too much at
large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty
men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise
men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is
a wisdom without them, and above them, won by
observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to

believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and
discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to
be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be
chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read
only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and
some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and
attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and
extracts made of them by others; but that would be only
in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of
books, else distilled books are like common distilled
waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man;
conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And
therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great
memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit:
and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to
seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise;
poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy
deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Abeuntstudia in mores [Studies pass into and influence
manners]. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit
but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of
the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good

for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast;
gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and
the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the
mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called
away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not
apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the
Schoolmen; for they are cyminisectores [splitters of
hairs]. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up
one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the
lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind may have a
special receipt.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Bacon begins the essay by stating that there are three

basic purposes for studying, one is for delight (pleasure),
second is for ornament (showing off) and the third is to
attain ability (skill). So basically, he believes that studies
help those who read for enjoyment, those who wish to
improve their written or spoken language skills and also
those who want to add value to the products or services
that they bring to the marketplace. According to Bacon,

studying for delight is used as a private or retirement
activity and for ornament, it is used in discourses (both
written and spoken) and to attain ability, it is used in the
judgment and nature of business. He then goes on to say
that ‘expert men’ (may be a reference to practically
experienced men with less or no formal education) are
definitely capable in their own way but not as good as
learned men.
He also says that spending too much time on studies
is unproductive and leads to laziness (sloth), similarly
using studies chiefly for ornament leads to artificial and
pretentious language. And to make judgments and
decisions only by conforming to the rules studied is a
scholar's state of mind. Therefore, Bacon suggests a
combination of both studies and practical experience for
achieving the best. He emphasizes the reciprocal relation
shared by experience and studies.
Bacon then goes on to describe three kinds of men,

crafty men, simple men and wise men. He states that
crafty (cunning) men criticize and disapprove of studies
not realizing its value, while simple men admire and

appreciate studies. On the other hand, it is the wise men
who use studies effectively and wisely combining it with
observation. Bacon warns one against reading merely in
order to argue or refute nor should one read in order to
take it at its face value believing everything. He also says
one mustn’t read in order to find something to talk about
or discuss, but one must read in order to consider and
contemplate. He then goes on to talk about different kinds
of books and advises one to spend time on each kind of
book depending on its quality. Some books only need to
be tasted, while some others may be swallowed and others
may be chewed and digested. Meaning that one must not
spend too much time on books that need only be tasted or
skimmed through and one only needs to briefly go through
some other books or can be understood through secondary
sources too. But the third kind of books that are to be
chewed and digested needs close and careful reading as
these are useful books of good quality. Bacon defines the
purpose of reading by stating that reading makes a man
‘full’ or complete, while conference (or conversation)
makes one a ready man and writing makes one an exact
man. The essayist also says that if a man writes less, he

will lack a good memory, he speaks too little he will lack
wit and presence of mind, and if he reads less he won’t
have much knowledge and learning.
Bacon then goes on to shed light on the different aims

of studying subjects like History, Maths etc. A study of
history makes one wise while studying poetry makes him
witty. On the other hand, studying Math’s makes a man
exact, accurate and precise and studying philosophy
increases the depth of one’s mind. Similarly, studying
morals makes a man serious whereas studying logic and
rhetoric makes him ready to defend through arguments.
Bacon concludes the essay by suggesting that studies help
one to remove the defects that his or her mind may have
and highlights the fact that every small problem of the
human mind does have an impact on the individual and
the world as well.
This essay focuses on two everlasting themes that

Bacon believed in, the first being the superiority of the
learned in making judgments, the second is the concept
that the value of studies is connected with its usefulness.

Throughout the essay, Bacon advises against using studies
as a means to show off in front of others or to use it to
argue with others. Instead, he believed that studies had the
ability to help discipline the mind.
BACON’S STYLE:
Talking about Bacon’s prose style, Dean Church
famously noted that, “They come down like the strokes of
a hammer.” Bacon’s sentences are indeed as powerful and
impactful like the strokes of a hammer. He took English
prose to a completely different level and thus also set a
golden standard for prose writing. Montaigne is the one
who popularized the essay as a literary genre, but his
essays were quite personal while Bacon’s essays show no
glimpse of Bacon in it. Bacon very successfully keeps
himself and his character or nature completely detached
from his essays.
But what sets Bacon’s prose apart is his aphoristic style.
An aphoristic style means one that is brief, condensed and
terse. You could take one sentence from his essay and
elaborate that one sentence into an entire essay itself,
which means each of his sentences were that concentrated

and contained that much scope. He never rambled about
or bothered about giving introductions to the topics dealt
with in his essays, he jumped straight into the topic. He
also used metaphors and similes extensively and always
at apt places so that it would thrill and charm the reader.
He also used Latin quotations generously throughout his
prose. And even though his style was heavy with learning,
it was still lucid and understandable. It was also quite
flexible as he dealt with a variety of subjects using the
same style. Despite his unique and unmatchable style, his
themes were universal and very relatable for almost
everyone.
I. EXERCISES (AS GIVEN IN THE UNIVERSITY

PRESCRIBED TEXT)
1. What should be the purpose of reading?
2. What does spending too much time in studies

indicate?
3. Explain Abeuntstudia in mores.
4. Which subject is fit for a man who is unable to

concentrate?
5. What is the subject fit for a man who is unable to

distinguish or find differences?
II. Answer the following in a paragraph.

1. What are the different modes of reading?
2. How does Bacon classify books?
3. What are the remedies suggested by Bacon for

mental deficiencies?
III. Write an essay on the following.

1. Bacon’s essay “Of Studies” contains short maxims
which exhibit an astonishing treasure of insight.
Elucidate.
2. What features of Bacon’s prose style have you

identified from the essay you have studied?
Activity
Compare Bacon’s “Of Studies” and Samuel
Johnson’s “On Studies”.
FURTHER REFERENCES
1. http://www.shanlaxjournals.in/pdf/ENG/V2N2/E
NG_V2_N2_007.pdf
2. https://earlybritishlit.pressbooks.com/chapter/fran
cis-bacon-essays/
CHARLES LAMB
Charles Lamb was born in London in 1775 and educated

at Christ’s Hospital where he met Coleridge. He worked
in the East India Company after leaving a job as a clerk at
the South Sea House. It was only late in life that he started
writing. “Tales from Shakespeare” was the first book that
brought Lamb the recognition and fame he yearned for.
Essays of Elia is a collection of essays that he had written
to London magazines, most of them being
autobiographical in nature; Dream Children is part of this
collection. “Essays of Elia” was first published in book
form in the year 1823. His family, his descent, his school
days, his early surroundings etc. are the subject matter of
the essays in Essays of Elia. Elia is the persona that Lamb
uses when writing essays.
DREAM CHILDREN - A REVERIE
Now remember that Elia is the pen name of Charles Lamb

and so James Elia stands for Lamb himself. So one
evening, Lambs imaginary children, Alice and John ask
him about their great grandmother Mrs. Field and this is
how Lamb narrates the story of Mrs. Field and her great
house. He sways back and forth between the present and
past while he narrates childhood experiences along with
recording the children's present reactions to it. He
describes the charm of the old and big house that their
great grandmother lived in. The house did not actually
belong to her, she was the caretaker of this house and the
owner had built a newer and more fashionable house
somewhere else, leaving this house under the care of Mrs.
Field. In between there is a reference to the Ballad of the
Children in the Wood. This Ballad is a story about two
little orphans, a boy and a girl and how they had a very
cruel uncle who took them to a forest nearby and
abandoned the children there. The poor orphans died of
hunger and cold in that forest. Even the birds (Robin
Redbreasts) felt such pity for these two children that they
tried to cover their dead bodies with leaves. This is the

story of the ballad and there was a rumour that the ghosts
of these two children haunted the area and especially this
particular house in which Mrs. Field lived in. Now the
narrator says that this whole story was carved in wood and
kept for show as the chimney piece of this great mansion.
But the real owner of the house who is described here as
the ‘foolish rich person’ pulled down this carved piece and
put a marble piece of modern invention in its place. Now
this new piece had no story in it and changed the look of
the entire place. Now when Elia narrated this detail, Alice
put a disapproving, yet soft look on her face which looked
just like one of her mother’s looks. Lamb paints a noble
picture of Mrs. Field (Mary Field) as well. She was well
respected and she looked after the house with great care
even though it wasn’t her own. And after her death, the
house was untended and left to decay. Many of the good
old decorations of this mansion were then ripped away
and put up in the owners fashionable, new house which
according to Elia made it look really awkward and out of
place. John smiled when Elia narrated this.
Elia then narrates how grandmother Field’s funeral was.

Since she was a very religious and charitable person, there
was a huge crowd attending her funeral. When Elia goes
on to describe Mrs. Field as a tall and graceful person who
danced well, little Alice’s feet played an involuntary
movement (pretending to dance a small step). He says that
even though cancer bent their great grandmother’s body
in pain, her attitude and spirit were untouched and
remained strong. She was also quite a brave lady who
slept alone in that huge mansion which was believed to be
haunted. Mrs. Field once told Lamb how she had seen the
ghosts of those two orphans (from the story of the Ballad
narrated earlier) playing along the staircase, but she wasn't
afraid of them as she believed they were innocent souls
who could do no harm. On the other hand, Elia himself
was quite scared to sleep alone in that house and always
insisted his maid slept in the same room for he wasn’t half
as religious as his grandmother and so believed the ghosts
may harm him. But he never saw those ghosts. Now here
John actually feels scared listening to all this talk about
ghosts, but he tries to put on a brave look. Now Elia goes
on to tell the children how generous and good their
grandmother was to her grandchildren as she allowed

them to come and stay over and play at this great mansion
during the holidays. Here Lamb’s childhood experiences
are portrayed in the essays describing the great gardens
and how Lamb spent his idle time there. He used to stare
so much at the marble statues of the Twelve Caesars that
he would feel either himself becoming a statue or the
statues coming alive. The narrator used to love roaming
about the great house and the great gardens. The
description he gives of the gardens is so tempting as Lamb
engages all the five senses of his readers in this piece of
description. Elia declares that he took a lot of pleasure in
roaming around the garden unlike other children who
would have preferred to enjoy the sweet flavours of the
different fruits found in the garden. On hearing this, John
immediately keeps back the bunch of grapes that he had
taken from a plate with the intention to eat and also share
it with his sister, Alice.
The narrator then shifts his focus to a description of the

kids' uncle, John L, who seemed to be the favourite of
Mrs. Field. Elia says he was quite handsome and lively.
He was so strong that he rode horses at a very young age

and also joined the hunters. Now James Elia is described
as being lame-footed (although Lamb was never lame-
footed)and so John L, Elia’s brother, would carry him on
his back for miles. But later on in life, John L also became
lame and the narrator regrets to admit that he (Elia) wasn’t
as considerate as John L used to be. And when John L
died, Elia initially thought he wasn’t so affected by his
brother's death, but then it gradually began to haunt him
and he started to miss everything about John L. The
narrator then started sincerely wishing John L was alive
again even if it was to quarrel with him. Elia felt as
uncomfortable as he imagined John L would have felt
when his limb was taken off by the doctor. At this point,
the kids plead him to stop and instead tell them something
about their pretty mother, Alice. Lamb thus narrates how
he courted the beautiful Alice (probably referring to Ann
Simmons) for seven long years and while at it he notices
the children growing fainter and fainter until he could see
nothing but two sad features that reminds him that they
are not his or Alice's children, or children at all for that
matter. Lamb then ends the essay by waking up in his
bachelor chair where he had fallen asleep and was having

a daydream.
AN ANALYSIS
The essays Lamb wrote under the pseudonym

“Elia” under the title “Essays of Elia” are mostly intimate
revelations of his own personal life, experiences,
emotions and thoughts. In Dream Children, Lamb uses
‘stream of consciousness’ technique to write the essay.
Stream of consciousness refers to a style of writing in
which the writer narrates his thoughts and ideas in the
same flow as they come into his mind. The essay sort of
blurs the line between fiction and essay. Lamb has used a
conversational and informal tone throughout the essay.
There seems to be two settings in the essay, one Lamb’s
real world (where he is seated in his arm-chair) and
second, the place in Lamb’s dream where he is narrating
the story to his children. Beneath the wit and humour of
Lamb’s “Dream Children” lies a strong note of nostalgia,
regret and melancholy. It almost feels like Lamb is trying
to hide or go past these emotions of disappointments and
frustrations by laughing rather than weeping.
There is a mingling of both joy and sorrow

throughout the essay. Even in his description of the good
old days at his grandmother’s house, death and such harsh
realities are still portrayed in it like in his stating of the
fact that his grandmother died of cancer despite being a
highly respected and religious woman. Lamb also hints at
the unfortunately early death of his elder brother John
Lamb in the essay. “Faithful Bridget” in the essay refers
to Lamb’s elder sister, Mary Lamb, who never married
due to her mental health conditions. She is called
“faithful” as she is the sole companion in Lamb’s life and
when the daydream ends, he finds her sitting beside him
not Ann or the children he and Ann might have had
together. The narrator’s bachelor armchair symbolizes his
loneliness and lack of a wife and children.
Lamb uses the essay as a medium to express his long

unfulfilled desires and longings, like his desire to marry
Ann Simmons. He tried escaping into the world of fantasy
and memories by narrating his childhood days but then
crash-lands back to reality in the realization that the
children are imaginary after all. By the end of the essay he
returns back from the imaginary world to the realization

that he never got to marry Ann as Ann married someone
called Bartrum. Lamb is therefore just a bachelor who is
having a reverie. Although the essay begins on a
misleadingly realistic note, the subtitle “A Reverie”
(which literally means a daydream) prepares the reader for
a return to reality.
The humoristic attitude of the essay gradually

washes off revealing a melancholy picture. The readers
are in for a painful awakening at the end of the essay when
they realize that the narrator is a bachelor after all and the
children were merely products of his imagination. His
description of the children's reactions and their
expressions seemed so realistic that one finds it hard to
believe he never was a father after all. It also reveals the
author’s keen observation and knowledge about child
psychology. And thus we come to the significance of the
title “Dream Children” as Lamb dreams or longs to have
children of his own.
EXERCISES
I. Answer the following in two or three sentences
1. Why is the essay entitled “A Reverie”?
2. How does Lamb present his brother John L -- ?
3. Whom does Lamb refer to as “faithful Bridget”

by his side?
4. How does Charles Lamb describe Alice W--

whom he courted?
5. What does the author mean by “busy -- idle

diversion”?
II. Answer the following in a paragraph
1. Write a brief note on the autobiographical

elements in the essay “Dream Children”.
2. How does Lamb present his grandmother Field

before his dream children?
3. What are the similarities between Alice, the

mother and Alice, the daughter?
4. Discuss the element of pathos in the essay “Dream

Children”.
III. Write an essay on the following
1. Justify the statement that “Dream Children : A

Reverie” is a lyric in prose.
2. Give a critical appreciation of Lamb’s essay

“Dream Children”.
Activity
Compare Charles Lamb’s “Dream Children” and Robert

Lynd’s “A Disappointed Man”.
FURTHER REFERENCES
1. Text of the essay :

http://essays.quotidiana.org/lamb/dream_children
_a_reverie/
2. https://www.grin.com/document/308448
G.K.CHESTERTON
Gilbert Keith Chesterton is an English novelist, short

story writer, playwright, critic, essayist, biographer and
poet. He gained popularity in the literary field as the
author of the Father Brown detective series. With the
publication of works like “Robert Browning”, “Charles
Dickens”, “William Blake” etc., he earned himself a
position as a literary critic. His autobiography was
published in 1936.
ON RUNNING AFTER ONE’S HAT
Throughout Chestertons’ writings, he attempts to

employ elements of paradox, parable or allegory in order
to shed light on spiritual truths, due to which he earned
himself the nickname, ‘The Prince of Paradox’. His
writing is often described as being witty and clever. He
used paradox not only for the fun of it but also as a weapon
against social satire. In “On Running After One’s Hat”,
Chesterton attempts to encourage an optimistic approach
towards life’s silly little annoyances. He believes that any
person can easily overcome the hardships of life if they

are willing to view life through the eyes of a child,
especially in the face of inconveniences.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
In the first paragraph, the narrator expresses his

optimistic view on the London floods. He almost feels
envious that the flood has begun when he is not there in
London town, it seems almost as if he was talking of a
concert or an entertaining event that he missed because he
was out of town. He thus successfully lends a romantic or
almost poetic tone to the flood.
In the second paragraph, he points out that we must

take an optimistic as well as romantic stand when faced
by adversities and calamities, like floods or fires, in our
lives. Such an attitude is always better than being too
serious and complaining about such circumstances. He
also admits that it is certainly not possible to enjoy real
pain when experiencing it, but it could still be taken as
something positive and can be supported in such a
manner. He declares that most of the time, human beings
(both men and women), are either sad or angry over things
that are mere figments of their imagination. Here he
contrasts the view of a kid versus that of an adult while
waiting for a train to arrive. The kid’s imaginative and
open mind would find this waiting time fun, interesting
and new as opposed to the irritated feeling that an adult
would have because he may find the exact same situation
as boring, mundane and tiresome. In fact, adults are so
serious and solemn that they spend such fun times
thinking and contemplating over serious matters. The
author says that he himself is a victim of such a habit. And
so he goes on to say that if he had been there in Clapham
Junction right now, he would have been so engrossed in
his own thoughts that he would be covered in water (upto
his waist at least), before even realizing that he is standing
in water. In fact, for adults, all such daily activities could
turn easily into annoying ones just because of their
emotional outlook and attitude. The narrator states that
this is just an example which may be applied for almost
all other cases of daily irritations that we face.
In the next paragraph, he points out that it is generally

considered unpleasant to run after one’s hat. And he
wonders why this is so since running is obviously not the
problem for people could run so much faster when it
comes to sports or games. But when it's a nice silk hat
they're running behind, they feel humiliated. The narrator
points out that such incidents need not be considered as
humiliating or annoying events, rather they should be
taken as funny events that are worth doing. He says it is
as worthy as the act of making love and it is obviously not
as ridiculous as a man running behind his wife.
In the fourth paragraph, the author cites the same
example of running behind one’s hat on a windy day.
He confirms that if one feels rightly about it, this annoying
and humiliating situation could turn into an act of sacred
joy or a sportive event or even an exciting pursuit. He
further states that such an act of running behind your own
hat would be so funny to watch that it could give much
pleasure to the crown watching this scene.
In the next paragraph, the author says that if the same

example is applied to other daily nuisances like trying to
get a fly out of your milk or trying to open a jammed
drawer. These everyday annoyances wouldn't be that

irritating if we use our sense of humour and emotional
strength to turn it into a funny or challenging event. Like,
for example, the act of trying to open a jammed drawer
could be imagined as if you're fighting an oppressive
enemy. Basically, the narrator tries to convey that one
could simply use one’s imagination to turn an annoyance
into a fun event. This is the piece of advice that the
narrator gave to a friend with a jammed drawer and he is
sure that after hearing this, his friend would everyday be
turning the opening of a stuck drawer into a sportive, fun
battle like act.
In the final paragraph, the narrator sheds light on the
fact that inconveniences are born out of unimaginative or
accidental situations, which are also considered in the
wrong sense. So the London floods are not all that bad as
people make it out to be. And he ends his message quoting
a Catholic priest from a story who said that “Wine is good
with everything except water”. Now the narrator points
out that if we use the same principle for the London
floods, then “Water is good with everything except wine”.
And so he urges the readers to always remain optimistic
and imaginative no matter what his life circumstances

are.
This essay reminds us of the importance of a positive
attitude, especially regarding petty things in our daily life
which tend to irritate us. Inconvenient situations may be
turned into enjoyable ones with the right attitude and open
imagination. People may find such an approach
unrealistic or impractical, but Chesterton highlights the
fact that such romantic views are also equally logical and
at times more sensible as well. At the same time, he
ignores the hardships and loss that the poor would suffer
during the floods and such adversities. His views in this
essay are thus one sided to an extent. The significance and
power of the emotional point of view may be considered
as the basic message of the entire essay. Another valid
point that the essay makes is the need to get rid of thoughts
about humiliating oneself or being embarrassed about
oneself when doing the right thing or taking a childlike,
optimistic view of life. The importance of not being
bothered about the probability of the society laughing at
you is also highlighted by Chesterton here. On the whole
the essay prompts one to take life in a lighter and fun
manner.
EXERCISES
I. Answer the following in one or two sentences.
1. Why does Chesterton think that people find it

unpleasant to run after a hat?
2. What does Chesterton mean by “the most comic

things of all are exactly the things that are most
worth doing”?
3. What examples are given by Chesterton to make

the situations of frustration into thrilling and
adventurous ones?

1. Explain “inconveniences that make men swear
and women cry are really sentimental or
imaginative inconveniences -- things altogether of
the mind”.
2. What according to Chesterton, will become the

sport of the upper classes in the future?

1. How does Chesterton romanticize difficult
situations by dwelling on the notion that “an
inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly
considered”?
Activity
Compare Chesterton’s “On Running After One’s
Hat” with Robert Lynd’s “On Good Resolutions”.
FURTHER REFERENCES
http://essays.quotidiana.org/chesterton/running_a
fter_ones_hat/
2. http://sittingbee.com/on-running-after-ones-hat-
g-k-chesterton/
3. https://arsartium.org/wp-
content/uploads/2018/09/8.-Think-Healthy-Live-
Healthy-G.K.-Chestertons-On-Running-After-
Ones-Hat-by-Neelam-Agrawal.pdf
ALBERT CAMUS
Albert Camus was a philosopher, journalist, editor,

playwright, director and writer of novels, short stories,
political essays and activist. He had little to no faith in
rationalism and opposed systematic philosophy. Camus
categorized his works into three cycles. Each cycle
consisted of a novel, an essay and a play. The first cycle
published between 1942 and 1944 consists of The
Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus and Caligula. It is in this
cycle that he presents the world as essentially absurd. The
second was the cycle of revolt which includes The Plague,
The Rebel and The Just Assassins. The Rebel, along with
some of his other newspaper editorials, political essays,
plays and fiction earned him a reputation of a moralist.
The Rebel also brought him in conflict with his friend,
Jean-Paul Sartre, which provoked a major political-
intellectual divide of the Cold-War era, as both of them
went on to become the leading intellectual voices of the
anti- Communist and pro-Communist left.In 1957 he won
the Nobel Prize for literature. In 1960, he died in a car
accident, at the age of 46.
NOBEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
In Albert Camus’ “Nobel Acceptance Speech”,

Camus expresses his views on the role of a writer and also
his ideas on art and literature. In Camus opinion writers
should be servants to truth and they are supposed to
understand rather than judge. Camus highlights the need
for writers to put themselves at the service of those who
suffer rather than those who make history.
Camus begins his speech by expressing gratitude at
the honour conferred upon him and he admits that
everyone likes to be recognized, especially artists. Being
a young, modest and kind of shy person, he feels awkward
at receiving the Nobel and being pushed into the limelight
all of a sudden. He feels that there are greater writers in
Europe who are more deserving than him. He says it is
also a time of unending misery for Algeria (his
birthplace).
He declares that the Nobel Prize is a far too generous

fortune and was shocked to receive it. Now that he did
receive it, he cannot simply rest under its glory. Instead he
would have to live up to its expectations. And that he has

to support him to do this is his idea of his art and the role
of the writer. He then goes on to elaborate on these two
points for the rest of his speech.
Although art is an indispensable factor in Camus life,

he never prioritized it over and above everything else. For
him, art is a means to connect himself with his fellow men
and it allows him to live at the same level with them. It
kind of forces or urges the artist to mingle with others. He
also believes that one can experience the most down to
earth and universal truths of this world through art. True
artists don't mock or judge anything, rather they try to
understand and comprehend things. And if they, as artists,
had to take someone's side or support someone, they
would probably choose the creator over the judge.
Camus goes on to say that this doesn't mean the

writer’s job is an easy one. An artist has to help those who
suffer in history rather than those who make history.
Therefore, he must take care not to tag along with
tyrannous rulers. Instead, he should use his art to transmit
the silence or sufferings of some unknown person(whose

pain would otherwise go unheard) to the world.
Albert Camus states two major tasks or commitments that
every artist must attempt to attain. These are :
1. To accept the service of truth
2. To accept the service of liberty.
And the artist must stay away from lies and

subjugation (or servitude) for gaining popularity or
acceptance. No matter what an artist's personal
weaknesses are, Camus urges them to stay true to the
above given two commitments. And it is in this way that
the true nobility of an artist’s craft or work would be
brought out. It is not always easy to refuse to lie or resist
oppression, but an artist must take effort to do so.
Camus then admits that he too feels hopelessly lost

like all the people of his generation due to the impact of
the World wars and other atrocities. But what holds
Camus together and supports him is his commitment to
not just write but also share and take part in the misery
and hopes of his fellow beings. He also says that no one
has any right to ask anyone in his generation to be

optimistic because they are living in a Europe of torture
and prisons. And we must also try to understand the
rejection of religious or moral beliefs of this age. And
even in such trying times, most Algerians and other
Europeans have rejected this sort of nihilism and tried to
create their own second births. And they have openly
fought against all odds in the history of their times.
While each generation feels that it is their task to change
and better the world, according to Camus, his generation
had a different task. And that task was to prevent the
world from ruining itself. He describes his generation as
one with dead Gods, mad technology and failed
revolutions. He emphasizes that his age was also an age
in which intelligence was used to propagate and spread
hatred and oppression. He also expresses his concern and
doubts over whether his generation would be able to
succeed at the previously mentioned task or not. But still,
even an attempt at such a mission must be encouraged and
praised. And so Camus feels it would be appropriate to
pass on the honour he received to his entire generation.
Although the writer's craft is a noble one, we should not

always expect complete solutions or high morals from
him. Artists are bound to fail as they move towards
achieving the two goals of liberty and truth. Even Camus
himself, as a writer, is not a preacher of virtue. He has his
own personal weaknesses that explains his errors, but at
the same time has also helped him understand his craft
better.
Camus ends the speech by accepting the honour
bestowed upon him as homage paid to people like him,
who are involved in the same fight but haven't received
the privilege or honour that Camus himself had. And
unlike him, they are still suffering. Once again, he
expresses his sincere gratitude and makes a promise of
faithfulness which he believes all true artists silently
repeat to themselves every day.
EXERCISES
I. Answer the following in one or two sentences
1. Why does Camus say that he felt a kind of panic

and shock on hearing the declaration of Nobel
Prize?
2. Why does he say that he cannot live without art?

3. Why according to Camus an artist cannot remain
different and aloof from others in the society?
II. Answer the following in a Paragraph.
1. What are the roles and duties of a writer according
to Camus?
2. Why does Camus say that the task of his generation
is to prevent the world from destroying it rather
than reform it?
1. To what extent does the speech represent Camus
as a philosopher rather than solely as an author of
friction?
Activity
Compare Camus’ “Nobel Acceptance Speech” with
Doris Lessing’s Nobel Lecture, “On Not winning the
Nobel Prize”.
FURTHER REFERENCES
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literatu
re/1957/camus/speech/
2. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literatu
re/1957/ceremony-speech/
ARUNDHATI ROY
Suzanna Arundhati Roy is an Indian writer, actress,
political and environmental activist who won the Booker
prize for fiction in 1997 for her very first novel - “The
God of Small Things”. This novel sold over six million
copies and was published in around 16 languages across
nineteen countries although it did create controversy in
India as it is about a relationship between a Sryian
Christian and a Hindu ‘untouchable’. She also authored
many non-fiction books including “The Cost of Living”
(1999) which is a critical attack on the Indian government
for its handling of the controversial Narmada Valley dam
project and for its nuclear testing programmer. She has
published another collection of essays dealing with the
downfalls of democracy in modern India in a book titled
“Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy”
(2009).
She was awarded the Lannan Prize for Cultural Freedom
in 2003 and the Sydney PEace Prize in 2004 in
recognition of her involvement in human rights issues.
COME SEPTEMBER
This is an acclaimed Lannan Foundation lecture
delivered by Arundhati Roy on the 18th of September,
2002. This speech was delivered at Lensic Performing
Arts Centre, Santa Fe, New Mexico. While reading the
original essay (which is easily available online), I would
highly recommend you read it closely, giving time for
understanding each sentence and do not hesitate to use a
dictionary or google up the meaning of a word or phrase
when you don’t seem to understand it completely. What I
have provided below is more like a paraphrasing of the
essay for better and easier understanding.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Before beginning her speech, Arundhati Roy says
that she is going to be reading aloud her written speech
due to two reasons. One is that she is a writer and so she
feels more comfortable when she writes and secondly, the
problem she is going to speak about is quite complex and
one must take care of the language used while treating
such delicate subjects.
She then begins her speech by stating that writers

don’t exactly invent stories, rather stories choose writers
from the world and they insist upon being told. We often
think that only fiction is considered as stories, but Roy
says that both fiction and nonfiction may be taken as
stories. As far as she is concerned, she believes that she
can easily write fiction but non-fiction has to be forced out
of her. But whether it be fiction or nonfiction, one of her
basic themes is the relation between power and
powerlessness. On the surface level, her works might
seem to be about history or nations, but she says that they
are actually more about power. The ruthlessness and the
physics of power is what she is concerned with in
depicting in her works. Roy says that the governments of
India and Pakistan keep promising their citizens that there
will be a nuclear war and hence call the citizens of both
these countries as brain-washed citizens.
Roy thinks about the relationship between citizens
and the State and how citizens who have views that are
not in accordance with the Indian Government are
branded or termed as ‘anti-nationals’. She attributes most
of the genocide (or mass murder) of the 20th Century to
nationalism. Roy describes flags as ‘shrink wraps’ which

are used by the government to cover and subsequently
shrink (or reduce) the brains of their citizens in the name
of ‘nationalism’. She also points out that it is a worrying
matter when even artists like writers or painters etc. begin
to mould their art for the service of the nation. She says
that this sort of propaganda did happen in India in 1998
during the Nuclear tests and in 1999 in Pakistan during
the Kargil War. It even happened in the US during the
Gulf War and it is happening now under the pretence of
‘War against Terror’. And she gives china-made US flags
as an example for this. She states that she herself had been
termed as ‘anti American’ for criticizing the American
government's actions. This whole notion of Anti-
Americanism is turning into an ideology in itself.
According to Roy, the term ‘anti-american’ is used by the
American establishment to define its critics (she says it's
an inaccurate definition). Then Roy tries to define or give
a meaning to this term (Anti-American). And she points
out that merging America’s culture, its geographical
beauty, the ordinary pleasures of the ordinary people there
along with criticism of the American government’s
foreign policy is actually a purposely created, effective

strategy. On the other hand, Roy says that there are many
Americans who do not want to be associated with their
government’s policies. In fact, most of the time the most
severe and scholarly critiques of the hypocrisy and
contradictions in the U.S. government policy comes from
the American citizen itself. So when non- Americans need
to know about what's going on in America, they rely on
Americans like Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Howard
Zinn, Amy Goodman etc.
Now Roy compares this American scenario with the

present Indian scenario where many Indians would feel
embarrassed and ashamed if they were in any way
connected with the present Indian government’s
authoritarian policies which curbed the rights of the state
of Kashmir and neglected the government led massacre
against Muslims in Gujarat. And just as people are termed
anti-American, Indians or people who criticize the Indian
government are also termed as anti-Indian by the
government. She questions the rights of the Indian or
American or any government to define what ‘India’ or

‘America’ should be.
She criticizes the extremes which such governments
apply in supposing that if someone doesn’t love them then
they ought to hate them or if someone doesn’t support
Bush then he must be a Taliban supporter. She also brings
into light the fake agenda behind the US war against
Afghanistan and shares her thoughts on how it actually
began in the pretense of capturing Osamabin Laden and
then turned into a pretense of liberating Afghan women
from their burqas. Roy points out that if the US actually
had a feminist mission on their minds then why haven’t
they bothered about raising a war against Saudi Arabia,
which is the country who supports them in their military
operations. And she points out that there are so many other
countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc where
women face injustices and other minority communities
also suffer. So should all these countries be bombed? Will
bombing prove an effective remedy for these injustices,
sectarianism and bias? Can those social evils be bombed
out of a place??Does bombing have the ability to transport
us to a feminist paradise asks Roy. By raising these
questions Roy is obviously hinting at the pretentiousness,

hypocrisy and futility behind the reasons for the US war
against Afghanistan.
Then Roy goes on to say that it’s a coincidence that
she is in America in September, which is a month of
terrible anniversaries. Nobody needs to remind anyone of
the anniversary of 9/11, you automatically remember
incidents that we just cannot forget. Roy recalls how
almost three thousand ordinary citizens were killed in that
terrorist attack on 9/11. She knows that the impact of that
attack still remains, the memory of it remains quite fresh
in everyone’s mind and the pain of having lost their loved
ones or the anger against those who did it hasn’t quite
gone yet. Roy says there is a strange and deadly war
burning around the world. And while she acknowledges
that the 9/11 attack’s impact or pain still remains she also
hints at the futility of war despite all this. She points out
that all those people who lost their loved ones in this
terrible terrorist attack also know deep inside that no war
or no amount of revenge is going to bring back their loved
ones or console the pain and sorrow or loss they are
experiencing. In fact, according to Roy, all that war can
do is to brutally violate or contaminate the memory of

those dead loved ones. Roy believes that fuelling a war
based on these sentiments only devalues or degrades grief.
And this whole concept of exploiting human feelings
(personal grief /sorrow) for political agendas or
commercial purpose is a terrible thing for a country or
State to do to its own people.
Roy admits it's not clever to talk about Loss in a
public platform and yet she would really love to talk about
it. She wants to talk about what loss means to individual
people or what it means to people who have learnt to live
it throughout their lives as if it was a constant companion.
She is not bringing up this dreaded topic of 9/11 in order
to accuse anyone or provoke anyone. Instead, she is doing
it to take part in the sorrow and also to clear out some of
the uncertainties related to it and very gently welcome
America back to the world. Basically to help American
citizens step out of their sorrow and despair.
Roy then recalls what happened in Chile on September 11,
1973 when US backed General Pinochet overthrew the
democratically elected government. So the first Marxian
President (President Allende) to be democratically elected
was found dead inside his palace and it still remains a

mystery whether it was actually a suicide or a murder. Roy
then enumerates the terror and brutality that followed
including the cutting off a musicians hand in public and
then throwing his guitar back to him and mockingly
asking him to play before being shot down. The
dictatorship that followed not only killed people but also
took the freedom and lives out of the living people and
Roy says General Pinochet must be held responsible for
stealing even the lives of the living Chileans. Through this
narration Roy also brings in to view the insensitiveness of
the US when General Pinochet was finally arrested in
1999. Roy says that there are many more countries where
the Central Intelligence Agency of the US works (or
plays) in, either openly or secretly. And then there are
other countries which suffered under not the CIA, but the
US military interventions like Korea, Indonesia etc. Roy
reminds us of the fact that many Septembers had passed
since the nuclear strikes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
so many bombings and slaughtering of millions of Asian
people have taken place during so many September. She
diverts from the topic and also mocks at how the National
Atomic Museum has commercialized the atomic attack in

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Roy states that September 11 has a tragic memory for
the Middle East as well due to British colonialism. She
calls Palestine and Kashmir as gifts of imperialism and
British colonialism to the modern world. She then goes on
to quote Winston Churchill and Israeli Prime Minister’s
notions of Palestine and Palestinians. She notes that they
all used terms like ‘dog’, ‘grasshoppers’ and ‘two legged
beasts’ to describe Palestinians and Roy reminds the
world that these came from the mouths of the Heads of
State and not from ordinary people.
The situation in Palestine still hasn't improved,
according to Roy, the people in Palestine still live without
dignity or any control over their natural resources. Many
young Palestinians have turned themselves into human
bombs or suicide bombers because of all the pent up
anger. Roy points out that Israel is still practicing
colonialism in Palestine under the pretence of a new,
twenty first century ‘war’. And as usual it is America who
backs and supports Israel in all their wars. A lot of
financial support is provided by the US to Israel for this
purpose. Here, Roy raises serious questions about

condemning suicide bombers and whether the cruelty and
violence they may have faced. For example, the
Palestinians have been going through a war for around
eighty years. So what can the world advise them to do
once they do come out of it eventually?
It is again on September 11th that George Bush made
a speech to a joint session of Congress announcing the US
government’s decision to rage a war against Iraq. She then
narrates how Saddam Hussain conducted a US and UK
governments backed genocide against his own people
initially in 1988. In 1990, Saddam Hussain invaded
Kuwait on his own without any US or UK intervention
which set his relation with them to deteriorate and so they
decided to exterminate him. Roy points out that the US
and UK governments casually decided to exterminate
Saddam Hussain, so casually as if he were their pet and
they had suddenly lost interest in the pet. And from 1991
onwards both America and British fired thousands of
missiles and bombs on Iraq for over a decade. And anyone
who did talk or write against these wars were accused of
moral equivalence.
Apparently a decade of bombing left Saddam Hussai

untouched and so then the US took to raging a war again
in the name of weapons asserting that Iraq has weapons of
mass destruction. Roy notes that the U.S. has the largest
collection of weapons and military equipment and is the
only country in the world to have used it on ordinary
citizens. She also mocks at the recent U.S. intervention in
holding back a war that was about to rage between India
and Pakistan. She asks sarcastically why it is so hard for
the U.S. to follow its own advice and stay away from
wars. She accuses them of being guilty of uselessly
moralizing as they waged wars while they preached about
peace. Ironically, George Bush calls the U.S. as the most
peaceful nation on earth and here, Roy points out that
America has been at war with one country or another
every year for the last fifty years.
Roy then writes how oil trade is another major

concern for the U.S.Roy writes that it is oil that keeps the
Free Market in America rolling and because of that the
U.S. believes that whoever controls the oil market
controls the world. And this explains their recent
interventions in the Balkans, Central Asia and their

constant guarding over the Middle East. Roy states that
the New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman, in his
article titled “Craziness Pays” and in his book called “The
Lexus and the Olive Tree” has written very accurately and
briefly about corporate globalization.
Here, Roy tries to give us a clear picture on how

America uses the Free Market also as one of their
weapons. And then she sarcastically draws out the
contrast between the ideals of Al Qaeda and America,
how the former stands for the Word and the latter stands
for profit. She equates U.S. with Al fayda (‘fayda’ means
profit in Urdu). This is merely Roy’s way of playing
around with words and also at the same time pointing out
that America is not that different from the terrorist
organization of Al Qaeda that they always seem to be so
against (Al Qaeda Vs Al Fayda). Although at present it
looks as if Al Fayda is winning the war, Roy says you
never know when things may change and flip around.

Throughout the rest of the essay Roy paints a bleak

picture of the effects of Corporate Globalization. She
notes how corporate globalization has not been able to
reduce the number of poor people in the country despite
having raised the world’s total income. And what is
actually happening under the banner of Corporate
Globalization is plundering of natural resources,
privatization of water, undermining of democracies etc.
And in developing countries like India, this project of
corporate globalization is cutting through the lives of
people. And so the poorer are getting poorer and richer
getting richer which is leading to a kind of civil unrest or
discord among people. And in order to suppress or control
those who are protesting against corporate globalization,
governments label such protestors as ‘terrorists’ says Roy.
But what Roy means by ‘civil unrest’ is not just protests,
but also a tendency to commit more crimes and other
terrible things start cropping up like cultural nationalism
(Cultural nationalism is a form of nationalism in which
the nation is defined by a shared culture), religious
intolerance, fascism (or authoritarianism) and the most
obvious one is terrorism. So according to Roy, these

evils are the outcome of corporate globalization. Roy

points out that the concept that the Free Market will break
down national barriers and the final destination of
Corporate Globalization is a sort of paradise where
everyone can live together happily inside John Lennon’s
song (“Imagine there’s no country”) is just a made up
story or a rumour.
The Free Market is in fact weakening or suppressing
democracy and corporate glozalization in order to attain
its aims sometimes use the police, the courts and at times
even the army. So Roy says that the police, the court and
the army are merely pretending to deliver justice and keep
the law. So basically whats being globalized is not respect
for human rights or free movement of people or
awareness about racial discrimination but instead
movement of goods, money, patents and profitable
services.
Roy points out that a year after the U.S. declared war
against Afghanistan (in the name of opposing terror), each
country in the world has sort of been losing freedom in the
pretence of protecting freedom and democracy. And any

kind of difference of opinion is treated or labelled as

‘terrorism’. And different kinds of laws are being passed
in order to sustain this suppression of freedom in the name
of terrorism. Sarcastically Roy points out that Bin Laden
and Mullah Omar are not even in the picture, they seem to
have disappeared altogether and even the Taliban have
disappeared but unfortunately their spirit is still alive.
This spirit, according to Roy, is coming up in the least
expected places like India, Pakistan, Nigeria, America,
Afghanistan and in all Central Asian republics under the
U.S. backed Northern Alliance. And meanwhile, all
natural resources and all signs of 4,600 million years of
evolution are being put up for sale. Mockingly, Roy says
that even justice is up for sales and that anyone who has
money can buy it easily.
So when Donald Rumsfed (a retired American
politician, who served as Secretary of Defence under
Gerald Ford and under George W. Bush also) said that his
aim in the War against Terror was to convince the world
that Americans must be allowed to continue their way of
life, Roy replies that the so-called ‘American way of Life

’ is not exactly that sustainable as they don't seem to

accept that there is a world beyond America.
Despite the bleak and terrifying picture of the world

that Roy painted uptil now in the essay, she senses that
there is hope as even ‘power’ has a shelf life. Hence it will
explode or go out of use one day. In fact, Roy feels that
cracks and bleedings have already started to appear. Roy
feels that the world is essentially being run by three
organizations (and not democracy). These three
organizations are The International Monetary Fund, the
World Bank and the World Trade Organization and all
three of these are dominated by the U.S. But such a world
run by leaders whom nobody elected or nobody even
knows is definitely not going to last for long says
Roy. She further points out that Soveit-style communism
failed because it allowed too few people to seize too much
power. And Roy believes that 21st Century market
capitalism is also doomed to fail just like this because of
the same reasons. Both of these notions (Soveit style
communism and Capitalism) are after all constructs of the
human mind and therefore incomplete.

She ends the essay by saying probably things will get

better after they get worse first. Maybe solutions will be
sent down from Heaven, some little God is either
preparing for us or is already on her way. Although many
of us won’t be here to greet her, on really quiet days, Roy
says she can hear this little God breathing. Basically, Roy
is conveying the fact that there is hope for the world and
it's not too far away. Roy thanks her listeners and ends this
enlightening speech.
Some of the main points made in the essay by Roy
are the ill effects of globalization and capitalism, the
hypocrisy of the U.S., the misuse of nationalism and the
growing gap between rich and poor. She also focuses on
other historical events that took place in the month of
‘September’ in which countries like America itself had
unleashed similar kinds of attacks as the September 11th
attack. Roy mocks and sarcastically presents her opinions
with the effective use of puns, phrases and apt quotations
which she combines with her political knowledge in order
to expose the injustices of the present world scenario.
However, she also provides hope for a better world in
future.

EXERCISES
1. What is the occasion of Arundhati Roy’s speech,

“Come September”?
2. What is the recurring theme of Roy’s writings?
3. Why does Roy call the people of India and

Pakistan as ‘brainwashed citizenary’?
4. Who is branded as an ‘anti-national’ in India,

according to Roy?
1. “Flags are bits of coloured cloth that governments

use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then
as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”Explain.
2. What does Roy conclude about the possibility of

being “anti” -an entire country? Does she accept
or reject this label? Explain her thinking in this
topic.
3. What kinds of experiences and emotions does Roy

believe that Americans share with others as a
result of the September 11 terrorist attacks?

4. Why does Roy believe that the American way of

life is not sustainable? Do you agree with her?
III. Write an Essay on the following
1. The concept of Nationalism and anti-

Americanism as discussed by Roy in her speech
“Come September”.
2. Does knowing that significant things happened on

other September change your perception of 9/11
as a historical term?Why?
IV. Activity
1. Roy gave this speech in 2002. How might
Roy’s speech be different if she was giving
it today? Think about events that would
have reinforced her narrative and also
those that may contradict her argument.
FURTHER REFERENCES
1. Text of the essay:
https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/com
e-september/217403

PICO IYER
Siddharth Pico Raghavan Iyer is a British born writer,
novelist and essayist.
He has also written introductions to more than 70 books.
He has also been simultaneously writing around a hundred
articles a year for Time, The New York Times, The New
York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine and many
more periodicals around the world. His books, which
include “The Lady and the Monk”, “The Global Soul”,
“Falling off the Map” etc. have been translated into
several different languages and published worldwide.
IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE COMMA

EXPLANATORY NOTES
In the opening paragraph, the humble comma is

compared to the Gods. Iyer laments the fact that the
comma is often underestimated. According to Pico Iyer,
the comma is often neglected, often used but very rarely
given any attention just like our breath.

In the next paragraph, Iyer emphasizes the

importance of punctuation in order to maintain law and
order. Punctuation is compared to the traffic lights and
other road signals, where the full stop (or period) is the
red light; the comma is the yellow light that reminds us to
slow down and so on. He says that the punctuation is
powerful enough to separate even the inseparables which
is probably why lovers detest it and try not to use it while
on the hand people like teachers love it.
In the third paragraph of the essay, Iyer declares that

punctuation is the pillar that holds the society upright. He
says that punctuation was quite important in the Victorian
age (which he calls as the age of the corset- a corset refers
to a tight fitting undergarment worn by women in order to
shape the figure). But then, modernists came in and threw
off the punctuation which resulted in a Molly Bloom’s 36
pages of unpunctuated prose in Joyce’s novel. The
rebellion against punctuation was so much that writers
like E.E.Cummings even began writing ‘God’ completely
in the lower case.

In the next paragraph, Iyer sheds light on the power

of punctuations to reveal the culture of the age it is being
used in. As an example, he says that the hustle and bustle
of the 60’s is quite evident in the exploding exclamation
marks and riotous capital letters they used.
In the fifth paragraph, the author states that

punctuation is much more than a mirror to a culture, it is
like the music in our minds. Punctuation is compared to
the small ways or actions humans use to express their
emotions. And thus punctuations, according to Iyer, are a
means of conveying human emotions.
In the next paragraph, he states that punctuation has

the power to change the tone and significance of a speech.
For example, a dropped apostrophe in a parent’s speech
may turn an ordinary sentence into a scolding or an order
and so on.
In the seventh paragraph, he compares the humble

comma to a necklace which is powerful enough to elevate
the entire look of a normal outfit. The comma is also

compared to the beautiful sound of gushing water that

takes a simple Japanese landscape to the next level.
Punctuations, according to Iyer, have the power to
transform ordinary sentences by lending it beauty and
subtlety.
In the eighth paragraph, Iyer says that a world with
just periods will result in a flat and monotonous world.
Words can't bend or curve, but it is the punctuations that
do it instead lending language a sort of rhythm and music.
In the final paragraph, Iyer emphasizes the emotional
quality of punctuations. Just as lovers focus on the small
details of their lover, punctuations are the small details
that make a big difference in one’s language. Punctuation,
no matter how small it is, can turn a sentence that would
convey ecstasy and love into one that gives a lover a
heartache instead. He ends the essay just as he began the
essay by comparing punctuations with the Gods.
“In Praise of the Humble Comma” is an essay by
journalist Pico Iyer published in the Times magazine on
June 24, 2001. In the essay, Pico Iyer basically conveys
the necessity of punctuation in everyday written language.
He believed that it was not just a grammatical need, but

also an emotional necessity. He presents punctuation in a

fun, humorous and inviting way which makes us view
punctuation in a way that we had never before thought or
imagined. He emphasizes that the power and role of
punctuation is very often underestimated. He personifies
comma in his essay to drive home the point that language
is made better with the use of punctuation. The comma is
described in the essay’s title as the ‘humble’ comma
because it is often overlooked, underestimated and
considered as a trivial or ignorable element in
language. Iyer opines that written language could
become dull and monotonous without punctuation. He
uses metaphorical language and also draws analogies to
emphasize his points. The main points that Iyer conveys
through the essay are that punctuation holds the society
upright and that it is a signature of cultures, music to our
minds and it also lends written words a human voice.
Punctuations, according to Iyer, are also capable of
communicating the general attitude of a particular time
period. Even inner or connotative meanings can be
conveyed with the use of punctuations. Iyer concludes the
essay by focusing on the significance of the little things in

life. He effectively uses instances from our daily life to

warn us against overlooking the little things in life, as you
need to focus on the smaller things in order to attain the
bigger achievements in one’s life. He believed that
punctuation has the power to influence the way we live
and love and not just the way we read and write.
EXERCISES
I. Answer the following in two or three sentences
1. Why does Pico Iyer compare the comma to breath

at the beginning of the essay? In what way are they
similar?
2. Why does Iyer say that school teachers exalt

punctuations but lovers defy them?
3. Explain the comparison of punctuation marks to

music.
4. Explain the oxymoronic saying that a comma

“separates inseparables”.

1. What are the different comparisons employed by
Iyer to describe the importance of punctuation
marks and commas?
2. How does Iyer justify the relation between a

comma and a human emotion?
3. What does Iyer say about Joyce and Cummings?

What point does he try to make by these two
examples about punctuation?

1. Bring out the linguistic and socio-cultural aspects
of punctuation marks as expressed by Iyer in the
essay “In Praise of the Humble Comma”.
2. Elucidate the titular significance of the essay “In

Praise of the Humble Comma”.
Activity
Compare Iyer’s “In Praise of the Humble Comma”
with Satchidanandan’s “Stammer”.
FURTHER REFERENCES
1. http://journoportfolio.s3-website-eu-west-
1.amazonaws.com/users/34517/uploads/1534ef07
-28cf-4f52-a278-758e776ef753.pdf

CHINUA ACHEBE
Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, critic and short

story writer and is often called as the “father of modern
African literature”.”Things Fall Apart” is his first novel
and it was published in 1958. He is also the recipient of
the Nigerian National Order of Merit, which is Nigeria’s
highest honour for intellectual achievement. Even Though
he writes in English, he makes it a point to incorporate
Igbo vocabulary, folktales and narratives into his world.
Thereby, he reminds his own people of the value of their
pasts and also informs the outside world of the richness of
Igbo culture.
Achebe’s first book of essays was published in 1975
and titled as “Morning Yet on Creation Day”. The same
year, he delivered a lecture titled “An Image of Africa:
Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, in which he
asserted that Conrad’s famous novel dehumanizes
Africans. It later went on to get published and became a
seminal postcolonial African work.

THE EDUCATION OF A BRITISH PROTECTED

CHILD
This essay, “The Education of a British Protected

Child” is taken from the book with the same title. This
book is a collection of autobiographical essays that deal
with a wide range of subjects ranging from the political to
the historical to the personal. In this excerpt from the
book, Achebe gives us a picture of his childhood years in
colonial Nigeria, recalling both happy, interesting pieces
of his memory along with the bitter truths of colonial rule.
Achebe begins the essay by warning the readers not

to expect a scholarly work. He then talks of how his
application to Trinity College, Cambridge was rejected
when he tried to get in for graduation. And he thinks that
had he been taken into Cambridge back then, this essay
that we are reading right now would have been more
scholarly rather than being a personal or subjective story
of a boy growing up in British ruled Nigeria. So basically,
he is saying that he has turned into a writer rather than a
scholar.

He then narrates how he was defined as a “British

Protected Person” when he needed to get a passport for
his first travel abroad. This happened three years before
Nigeria got independence from colonial rule. He then says
that if anyone expects him to talk about colonialism, he
will only hear the cons or disadvantages of colonialism
from Achebe’s mouth. And he wishes to take the middle
ground for this purpose and goes on to explain why the
Igbo people consider the middle ground lucky.
In the next few paragraphs, Achebe gives us a brief
sketch of the Igbo people. He writes that when a conflict
arises between themselves, the Igbo’s are more bothered
about restoring peace than thinking about who is right or
wrong. He describes the Igbo community as practical and
realistic people who are not dreamy or romantic. Achebe
declares that marriage is not so easy and colonial rule was
even stronger than any marriage in the Igbo community.
Then he promises his readers that he wouldn’t discuss
colonialism here but he intends to simply put forward his
basic reasons of objection towards colonial rule. Achebe
views colonialism as a major crime as it is a deceitful
practice to tear away a person's identity, land and even

their history and then pretend that the victim is some kind
of inferior or minor who needs protection. He says that
even the person committing this crime (i.e., the coloniser),
knows that he is doing a crime and so he tries to hide this
robbery and theft he is committing by pretending to be the
protector. Achebe calls this pretension as a shameless
kind of hypocrisy. He quotes King Leopold II of the
Belgians as an example for such hypocrites. These are the
words spoken by King Leopold II:
“I am pleased to think that our agents,
nearly all of whom are volunteers
drawn from the ranks of the Belgian
Army, have always present in their
minds a strong sense of the career in
which they are engaged, and are
animated with a pure sense of
patriotism; not sparing their own
blood, they will the more spare the
blood of the natives, who will see in
them the all powerful protectors of
their lives and their property,

benevolent teachers of whom they

have so great a need.”
Achebe states that the entire continent of Europe is
responsible for creating the terrible character of Mr. Kurtz
in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. He then goes on to say
that even the colonizer has to pay small prices in this
process of colonizing (so it’s not just the colonized victim
who suffers). For example, they lose their sense of
humour and sense of ridiculousness. The author then goes
on to talk about the victim or the colonized. The victim
lives on and accepts his fate with the help of his humour.
He then goes on to describe the state of the colonized by
giving an example from his mother’s life experience. In
return for her education, she had to work as domestic help
at her school Principal’s house (who was not a native, but
someone from the West) and was given a beating for
laughing at the Principal when this Western lady tried to
speak Igbo language. By the time Achebe started going to
school, native teachers had begun to teach, but the system
of punishments like using the rod to beat children,
remained the same.

The narrator then recalls memories of the different

photos, posters and pictures hung up on the walls of his
house and the colonial impact it had on his young mind.
Ironically, his father had put these up as a form of
education. Achebe knew that it would be imprudent or
cheeky to compare his story with the story of Moses, but
couldn't help doing so because there actually was some
similarity. He then talks of how Christianity creeped into
their lives and native culture and how it was different from
their native traditions, festivals and culture. As a child, he
looked forward to seeing the masquerades that were part
of their native festival (the Nwafor festival) and he
remembers watching them from far off as it wasnt safe to
go near them because they carried bundles of whip which
they were ready to use on anyone available to them. As
children, they would count the masquerades and usually,
in a good year, there used to be over a hundred
masquerades. He notes that Christianity sort of divided
their village into two sections of people. One section was
considered to be the people of the church and the other
section was taken as people of the world. But despite this
divide, they still enjoyed each other's traditions and

festivals. The Christians celebrated Christmas, Easter, the

Empire Day (on May 24th) and the Anniversary (on July
27th). The author then narrates his memory of the Empire
Day celebrations (which is the birthday of Queen
Victoria) in his school and the sports competition between
different schools which followed the celebrations. He
remembers how proud he felt when he turned ten years
old and was considered old enough to walk to a place
called Onitsha and back from there even though it was
quite an exhausting walk. He was quite a good student as
far as his school work was concerned and was nicknamed
‘Dictionary’ by his peers. However, he admits he wasn't
so good at sports and games but that wasn’t a big deal in
his culture anyway.
He then narrates in detail two memories from his trip
to Onitsha on the Empire day, which stands out in his
mind. One is that he felt he was all free in a big city like
Onitsha and had money in his pocket too. Both the
freedom and money together made him feel so proud and
independent that he bought himself half a penny worth of
groundnuts to eat and there was so much of it that even
thinking about groundnuts now made him feel sick. The

second detail is that he saw a legendary, eccentric

Englishman called Dr. J.M. Stuart Young walking down
New Market Road bare headed in the sun just as legend
said he would be. One more interesting thing about this
person that legend said was that he (Stuart Young) had
made friends with a mermaid of River Niger and he had
made an agreement with her that he would stay single if
he got great riches in return for it. It was only later on
that Achebe learned that it was doubtful if Stuart actually
had a doctoral degree or not. But what is to be noted about
Young is that although he arrived in Africa as a colonial
civil servant, he turned against the colonial system of
monopolizing the European commercial cartels (with the
help of native support from Africans). He also wrote
poetry and fiction and years later Achebe himself invoked
the memory of Stuart Young in a short story titled “Uncle
Ben’s Choice”.
The next event Achebe talks of is the Anniversary

which was held every year on July 27th as an annual
commemoration of the coming of the Gospel to Igbo land.
It seems that every Anniversary celebration had been

wrecked by bad weather and it is believed that it was

because there was heavy rain beating down on the Bishop
Adjai Crowther and his missionary team who brought in
the Gospel on 27th July, 1857. The best part of this
celebration however was that school children got to eat
juicy new yams and stew.
Achebe points out that colonization in Africa was not
exactly a labour intensive task as there were hardly any
British people working in the administration or the church
or even in commerce sectors. But despite this they were
still quite powerful and authoritative.
Achebe then goes on to enumerate a few religious
questions and answers about Christianity, which is known
as catechism and which was taught to preschool children
in those days. However, Achebe escaped from this
training and was instead given training at home by reading
portions from the Bible daily. Since the Second World
War began while Achebe was just finishing his second
year in primary school, most of his primary education
took place against the background of the War. He realized
the impact of the war on Africa when his art teacher was
enlisted to the armed service by two white people who

came along with their assistants to Achebe’s school. He

also remembers that there was a campaign to increase
palm kernel production in order to support Britain against
Germany in the war and as the war progressed, the
supplies they had at home and school depleted and there
came a time when salt was so scarce it just disappeared
from the open market. Achebe also noted down a song
titled “Germany is Falling” which was a popular war song
they all sang enthusiastically.
Then he moves on to memories of his secondary

schooling and how he joined the Government College at
Umuahia under the guidance of his elder brother, John,
who was a teacher. Although Achebe himself wasn’t that
happy to join there, he now admits that John made the
right decision back then because it was one of the two first
class boarding schools for boys set up by the British and
turned out to be the best one later on. Around this time the
Second World war began and the Government College,
Umuahia was closed down so that its buildings could be
used as a prisoner-of-war camp for German and Italian
citizens. But before the war ended itself, the College

reopened to impart education. And their new principal,

William Simpson, was a revolutionary person who
brought in a new concept known as the ‘Textbook Act’.
According to this Act, Simpson made a rule which
encouraged reading novels and prohibited the reading of
textbooks on three days of the week which the students
made use of as they had a good library as well. Achebe
also feels that the alumni of this college have played an
outstanding role in the development of modern African
literature. Another very interesting point that Achebe
makes here is that the books they read at the library in
their college were really books meant for English boys.
None of the Africans could really relate with them or their
exciting stories though they hardly ever realized it back
then. But it did get kind of prepare them for a day in the
future when they would be able to read between the lines
and realize the colonizing effect that these books had and
gave them the courage to question these.
Achebe got the chance to study in Nigeria’s first

university institution at Ibadan. Now he had turned from
a British Protected Child to a British Protected Person. He

then goes on to talk about one of the most remarkable

teachers he had met at Ibadan, named James Welch, to
whom Achebe expressed the growing discontent in the
students towards the college. To this, Welch replies, “We
may not be able to teach you what you want or even what
you need. We can only teach what we know.” Achebe
ironically asks his readers, ‘what else can an honest and
conscientious teacher teach but what he knows?’. And he
declares that the education program of the colonial system
is obviously far from being perfect as colonialism itself is
a refusal of human worth and dignity.
But as Achebe mentioned earlier on in this essay, he

was not focussing on the harsh humiliations of colonial
rule but rather on the little sparks of humanity here and
there even from the side of the colonizer at times. And as
an example for this, he points out that the logo of the
Government College at Umuahia was a pair of torches,
one black and one white, shining together ‘silently’, says
Achebe. And a generation after this logo was set up, an
Australian teacher added a motto to it - “In unumluceant”
which translates to “We May Shine as One”.

So Achebe’s real focus in this essay is on these people

who despite being the colonizer, had kindness or
humanity that shone through them and believed in
standing united with the colonized Africans, as the
symbol of Government College, Umuahia makes it clear.
People like William Simpson who knowingly or
unknowingly laid the foundation for the beginnings of
modern African literature and then the mysterious legend,
Stuart Young who stepped out of the colonial system and
set himself up as competition against his own people due
to which he earned himself a grand funeral from the
people of Onitsha. So there are such people from the side
of the colonizers who did make efforts to reach out across
the deep divide of colonialism, in order to touch the lives

of at least a few of the colonized victims. Achebe ends the
essay by pointing out an instance in the history of US and
African relations when the relations were at an all time
low. So in 1976, when Henry Kissinger met Joseph Garba,
the Nigerian foreign minister at the United Nations,
Kissinger asked what America was doing wrong in
Africa. To this Garba replied, “Every thing!” and this is
how Kissinger reacts to it: “Statistically that is impossible.
Even if it is unintentional, we must be doing something
right.” And Achebe feels that this dialogue between
Kissinger and Garba could easily have been about
colonialism. That is to say unintentionally, the colonizers
have done some things right in Africa. And these few
good things that they did do are what Achebe has fore
grounded in this particular essay.
EXERCISES
1. How did Achebe miss the opportunity of

becoming a clear-cut scholar?
2. What according to Achebe are the advantages of

taking the middle ground stand?
3. How do the Igbo people encounter human

conflict?
4. How does Achebe establish that the conversion of

Africans to Christianity was not an easy affair?
5. Who is Kurtz and why does Achebe mention the

anime in the essay?
6. What made Miss Warner give Achebe’s mother a

stern lecture on good manners?

1. Describe the experience of Achebe’s mother as a
first generation learner?
2. Give a description of the two secular festivals

celebrated by the Christians of Nigeria.
3. Who are those English men mentioned by Achebe

in the essay who crossed the divide of colonialism

and knowingly or unknowingly contributed to the

freedom of Africa?
4. What was the Textbook Act imposed by William

Simpson in Government College Umuahia?

1. Briefly describe Achebe’s experience as a student
under the colonial education system.
Activity
Critically evaluate the middle ground space that
Achebe describes in the essay using Bhabha’s
postcolonial concepts of hybridity and in the third space.
FURTHER REFERENCES
1. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/13/
chinua-achebe-british-protected-child

MARCEL JUNOD
Marcel Junod was a Swiss doctor and a field delegate

of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
He is remembered for his selfless service during the
Abyssinian War, the Spanish Civil War and World War
II. He was also the first foreign doctor to reach Hiroshima
after the atom bomb attack by the U.S. on 6th August,
1945. In 1947, he published a book about his experiences
which was titled “WArrior without Weapons”. He then
worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) in China and then settled in Europe in 1950. In
the year 1952, he was appointed as a member of the ICRC
and held the position of Vice President here until his death
in 1961.
THE FIRST ATOM BOMB
In this essay, Junod describes the terrible destruction

of the once prosperous and thickly populated city of
Hiroshima in Japan during the Second World War. It was
on the 6th of August, 1945 that an atom bomb was used

for the first time in warfare on the city of Hiroshima. This

essay begins by describing the once prosperous
Hiroshima, then goes on to give us a very detailed account
of the destruction of the city after the atom bomb attack
and also sheds light on MacArthur’s speech on the futility
of war. Through the essay, the essayist expresses his
contempt for war and his genuine worry about the future
of mankind with the emergence of such deadly modern
weapons like the atom bomb.
The essay begins by Junod stating that it has been

three weeks after the two atomic bombs were dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He then goes on to describe the
response of the Americans when he mentioned the word
‘Hiroshima’ as well as the response of the Japanese. He
then writes of the inconclusive and uncertain number of
deaths, injuries and other related symptoms of the atom
bomb in Hiroshima. And then he goes on to talk of the
telegram he had received from Bilfinger.
The telegram conveyed that almost ninety percent of
the city of Hiroshima had been destroyed along with many
hospitals which were either destroyed completely or

crucially damaged due to the bombing. The effects of the

bomb remained mysterious and uncertain. The surviving
victims were still in dangerous conditions and needed
proper medical care, but there was a serious shortage of
medical material like bandages and medicine etc. Appeals
had been sent out for supplies to be urgently parachuted
to the center of the town. According to the telegram, the
things that were urgently required were large supplies of
bandages, cotton wool, ointments for treating burns,
sulphamides, blood plasma and transfusion kits. The
telegram ended by stating that urgent action was required.
The author took this telegram along with a few

photographs which he still had with him and immediately
set off to the Yokohama Chamber of Commerce where
General MacArthur and his staff had already positioned
themselves. Marcel Junod then goes on to describe the
reactions of General Fitch, Chief of the U.S. Information
Service, Colonel Marcus, of the Prisoners of war
DEpartment, Colonel Webster, Chief of the Hospital
Service and Colonel Sams, incharge of assistance for the
civil population towards the telegram and the

photographs. Despite the telegram clearly mentioning that

it was an urgent matter, these officials gave their consent
to send in fifteen tons of medicament and hospital
material, only after a week (on 7th September). They also
asked Marcel Junod to board a plane to Hiroshima along
with a commission of inquiry (or an investigation team)
to analyze the situation there.
Once the investigation team of the International Red

Cross reaches Hiroshima, they meet two Japanese
interpreters - Miss Ito (Canadian born) and a Japanese
journalist (who spent 20 years in the U.S.). According to
Miss Ito, Hiroshima (the name means ‘the broad island’)
was a busy and prosperous town placed on the delta of the
river Ota. It was also the seventh largest town in Japan and
the seven branches of the river Ota came together here in
a perfect triangle. Hiroshima had many factories, oil
refineries, a harbour and veen an arsenal with a population
of around 2,50,000 people. They also had a military unit
of 1,50,000 soldiers.

After this account of the previous state and glory of

Hiroshima, the journalist gives an account of the day that
Hiroshima was hit by the atom bomb which was on the
6th of August. The journalist says that on that particular
day the sky was clear and visibility was perfect for nearly
twelve miles. On that day, at 7:09 am, an air-raid warning
was given and four American planes appeared in the sky.
However, the planes flew off without causing any
disturbances and at 7:31 am the all-clear message was
given, so people felt safe and came out of their shelters
and returned back to their work and normal routines. All
of a sudden, a harsh whitish pink coloured light appeared
in the sky along with an unnatural tremor and a
suffocating wave of heat and wind which was so powerful
that it carried off all that was in its way. In a few seconds,
many people were killed and severely injured by the
scorching heat. Walls, houses, trams, trains etc were lifted
off and flung into the air. Animals met with the same fate
as man. Trees and plants were burnt and left like dry straw
on the ground. Most of the people inside the houses were
killed and those who had managed to stay alive died a few
days later or even a month later because of the delayed

effects of the deadly gamma rays. The journalist stated

that half an hour after this explosion, the sky around
Hiroshima was still cloudless, but a rain began to fall on
the town and went on for about five minutes. This was
caused by the instant rise of overheated air which went to
a great height, where it condensed and fell back in the
form of rain. After this a violent wind came up and the
fires grew rapidly as most Japanese houses were built out
of wood and straw. This fire faded out only by evening
and then went out completely as there was literally
nothing left to burn. Hiroshima had died. All the Japanese
could utter was the word ‘look’ and this word was spoken
with an indescribable but constrained emotion. The entire
town was wiped off and all that remained was a stony
waste. As the journalist finished his account, they stepped
out of the car they were travelling in and made their way
through a dead city where not even an animal could be
spotted. They go on to meet Professor Tsusuki who was
one of the best surgeons in Japan. He led the way and
spoke loudly so the whole group could hear him clearly.
The words that came out of his mouth were unconnected
as it was driven by deep emotion. He said, “We must open

our minds... we must try to understand everything.” He

then pointed to the remainders of a base wall and said that
it was once a hospital with two hundred beds, eight
doctors and twenty nurses but now all of them, including
the patients, had been killed by the atomic power. He then
says, “That’s what an atomic bomb does...”
A few days before Marcel Junod left Tokyo, he was

informed that General MacArthur wished to receive the
delegation of the International Red Cross. When the
General received them in his office, he was wearing the
normal service uniform of the U.S.Army and the only sign
of his high rank were the five stars hung around each of
his shoulder strap. In a casual and relaxed manner, he sat
down with them, smoking his pipe and thanked them for
the work they had done on behalf of the imprisoned
Americans. But it was evident that he was not thinking
merely about his own men but also of all those who had
no other hope of assistance. Unexpectedly, here he speaks
against his professional character, rejecting the use and
application of force. And the General says that, “Even
with our present weapons, not including those still to be

developed, a new war would leave nothing behind worthy

of mention.” And so Marcel Junod ends the essay raising
questions on the future of mankind if another war takes
place and the urgent need for saving mankind from itself.
EXERCISES
I. Answer the following in a sentence or two.
1. What was the only information given

regarding the effect of atomic bombardment
prior to the Hiroshima attack?
2. Why did the Japanese maintain silence

regarding the disaster at the beginning?
3. What did Junod do after receiving the telegram

from Dr. Bilfinger?
4. Who were the Japanese interpreters who

accompanied Junos and the team?

1. What was the content of the disjointed report sent
by Bilfinger?

2. What were the details given by Miss Ito about

Hiroshima?
3. How did General MacArthur, the chief architect of

victory in the Pacific, react to the incident?

1. Give an account of the devastating havoc created
by the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Further Reading (As given in the text)

Dr. Takashi Nagai : Letter from Nagasaki
Dr. Tamiki Hara : Letter from Hiroshima
USHA JESUDASAN
Usha Jesudasan is a writer and journalist who spent

much of her life working with the neglected and
downtrodden people in order to bridge the gap between
people, cultures and faiths. She has also travelled
extensively, especially Western Europe, researching and
working with people and children who are victims of
violence. She has also authored books like “A Child’s
Path”, “I will Lie Down in Peace”, “Being an Instrument

of Peace”, “Brokeness” etc. Some of her articles include
“An Act of Discovery”, “The Ahimsa Way”, “Mind
Matters” etc.
JUSTICE VERSUS MERCY
Usha Jesudasan’s “Justice Versus Mercy” is an essay

that deals with the conflict between justice and mercy
using the story of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables”.
Through the essay, Jesudasan attempts to bring out the
need for mercy to be incorporated or blended with justice,
especially where the poor and powerless are concerned.
Hugo uses his novel, Les Miserables to condemn the
unjust class-cased structure of 19th Century France. He
exposes how it is the society’s structure that turns good,
innocent people into beggars and criminals. In Les
Miserables, the central character, Valjean transformed
from a hate-filled criminal into a well-respected Mayor
and philanthropist only because of the love and mercy he
received from the Bishop.

Usha Jesudasan begins the essay by pointing out that

justice and mercy are twin concepts that have been
explored in both life as well as in literature. She then
raises important questions on what mercy and justice
actually are and what their scope is. Jesudasan states that
these twin themes have been explored and revealed in
their real form in Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables.
She feels that Hugo also gives us space to express our own
thoughts and doubts regarding these two concepts (i.e.,
justice and mercy).
Jesudasan then goes on to narrate a gist of the story
of Hugo’s Les Miserables. It is a story of a young,
unemployed peasant named Jean Valjean who was sent to
prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister and her
seven starving children. As he attempted to escape from
prison several times, his sentence was extended to 19
years. He finally does manage to get out of prison and he
seeks food and shelter at a Bishop’s house. Out of his
frustration and anger towards the privileged of the society,
he steals the Bishop’s silver candlestick and runs off. But
he is caught by the police and brought back to the Bishop.
However, unexpectedly, the Bishop rescues him by

saying that Valjean was a friend and that the Bishop

himself had given the silver candlestick to him. Though
the policeman (Javert) doesn’t believe this, he is forced to
let go of Valjean. This incident changes Valjean into a
better, hard working and committed person who goes on
to become the Mayor of a town (after changing his
original name). But Javert, the policeman, hunts him
down and exposes him but Valjean somehow manages to
escape. But Valjean is then forced to live a life of constant
fear of being caught again and being sent back to prison.
Javert continues to spend all his time trying to hunt down
Valjean and take him back to prison for his theft and for
taking up a false identity. All his life, Javert continues to
pursue Valjean and when finally one day Valjean gets a
chance to kill Javert, he decides to forgive him and he puts
aside his feelings of bitterness and spares the one who
harmed and hurt his life so much.Now, Javert, being an
upright and just man, wants no favours from a thief and
so he kills himself.
Usha Jesudasan uses this story to raise questions on

who exactly is right or wrong. Javert’s attitude and

notions of right and wrong are quite straightforward. He

believed that if a person commits a crime, then he should
pay for it. In the Bishops point of view, the Bishop
believed more in mercy to change a person rather than
punishing and further derogating a person. Jesudasan
points out that some of us can easily relate with Javert
(who stands for fairness and justice), while some others
can easily identify with the Bishop (who stands for
mercy). So should evil be condemned and rooted out
before it destroys the society or shouldn't Valjean have
been given a second chance after being punished with 19
years of imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread for
starving family members? This conflict between justice
and mercy keeps on repeating itself in real life also. She
sheds light on the fact that it is usually the innocent
victims of social and economic injustice who suffer in the
name of justice, while the real perpetrators escape due to
their wealth, power or fame. She then ends the essay by
asking how one reacts to being forgiven. Does it hurt your
ego or make you feel ashamed like Javert? Or do you
gradually destroy yourself because of your pride and self

esteem? Or does it have the ability to change your life for

the better like in the case of Valjean?
EXERCISES
1. Who is the author of Les Miserables?
2. How long was Jean Valjean in prison and why was

he in prison?
3. What tempted Valjean to steal the silver

candlestick from the Bishop house?
4. Why did Valjean decide to forgive and spare

Javert?

1. Do you think Javert is justified in going to such
lengths to pursue Jean Valjean? Why?
2. Briefly describe the incident that led to the

transformation of Jean Valjean.
3. Why do you think Javert committed suicide?

4. In what way does Les Miserables reflect a

Christian parable?

1. How does Les Miserables illustrate that people are
warped by an unjust social system?
2. What is Hugo’s perspective on Justice? How is it

similar to and different from the legal definition of
justice? Are there characters that embody these
differing ideas of what justice means?
Activity
Compare Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and Leo
Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
References
Abrahams M. H A glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed.
Boston: Heile&Heinle, 1999. Print.
Albert Edward . History of English Literature, Fifth
Edition, Oxford University Press,2000. Print

Nayar M G (ed.) A Galaxy of English Essayists,

McMillian India Limited, 1986. 2nd Edition. Print.
E- Sources
www.britannica.com/art/English-literature/Prose
www.users.bergen.org/raybat/prose.html
www.scribd.com/document/261276935/Understanding -
Prose-IGNOU
www.britannica.com/art/English -literature/The -lyric
www.britannica.com/art/English-literature /Later-Middle
-English -Prose.html
www.francis-bacon.com
www.chesterton.com
www.Britannica.com,art/biography/Albert-Camus
www.Charles LambSociety.com
www.ushajesudasan.com

Slm-III Sem - Ba English - Appreciating Prose

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APPRECIATING PROSE

Module II: Smt. Nabeela Musthafa

This Self Learning Material of Appreciating Prose

 Writer creates a voice for himself/herself through

Different forms of fiction

action, a climax (peak moment of conflict or action), and

The short story genre is well suited to

Tale is a prose narrative that describes the details of a

to when we were growing up. Tale has a great oral

The term autobiography refers to a biography written

Autobiographies are often about people who have

can have the focus on anything. But, most of them tend to

Even though the memoir is very subjective when

prose dates from the 9th century when King Alfred

and BartholomaeusAnglicus’sDe ProprietatibusRerum

imaginative ideal state. His other works are, The Lyfe of

of ecclesiastical polity’ by Richard Hooker is the first

Virgil by Phaer and Stanyhurst

Plutarch’s lives by Thomas North

Ovid by Golding and Chapman

Elizabethan period also witnessed the birth of literary

William Webbe’s‘A discourse of English poetry’ is the

The period of prose can be divided into two,

1. Prose in the age of Milton

2. Prose during restoration

Interest in scientific details and observation marked

Important prose writers and their work

bile. Imbalance makes a man phlegmatic, sanguine,

The works of Sir Thomas Browne are mostly a mixture of

In 1635, while working as a young doctor in

never divide myself from any man upon the difference of

The Religio is a deliberately digressive, liberal testimonial

John Milton is best known for Paradise Lost, widely

Milton’s prose was written either in personal interest or in

emotional approach to thinking to an educational and

he moved to London and wrote his "Heroic Stanzas" in

18th Century Prose

Defoe took up a new genre ‘novel’ in 1719, around

Husband, or The Accomplished Fools, produced in 1705,

Gulliver’s Travels popularised him as a great writer. In

allowed him to make the grand tour, a series of visits to

Johnson was a prolific writer. For two years he almost

included an important essay on the English stage. By the

Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt and Thomas De

 Wordsworth- Preface to Lyrical Ballads (A specimen

William Hazlitt (1778 -1830)

Thomas De Quincey (1785 -1859)

Dickens, and Thackeray producing some of the

John Ruskin (1819 -1900)

William Morris (1834-96)

with an introductory essay on style. Pater was a

Mathew Arnold was an English poet and cultural

Major writers of 20th century

Over Bemerton (1908)

Hilaire Belloc (1870 – 1953)

G K Chesterton (1874 -1936)

been referred to as ‘the prince of paradox’. The best of

Max Beerbohm (1872 -1956)

Y.Y. to write week essays for the New Statesman for a

psychobiography. Experimental forms and methods were

Another major development in the late 20th was the

It is an age of multiple trends. Prose in this century